A Sword Opens Heaven's Gate, the Might of the Sword Spirit!

With a savage grimace, Li Guanqi drew the true sword of the sword spirit. The entire world shuddered. In that instant, even the Heavenly Dao seemed on the verge of shattering, and the whole Youhuang Realm trembled faintly. Heaven and earth were enveloped in boundless crimson radiance as an inexplicable aura of chilling slaughter swept outward. The icy killing intent seemed to affect the very world. A layer of blood-red haze fell over the eyes of every mortal, and an urge to slaughter gnawed at their minds. The higher one's cultivation realm, the more intensely this sensation was felt. Li Guanqi's entire left arm had turned to ghastly white bone, the jade-like skeleton still clinging to bits of shredded flesh. Stepping forward and leaning down, Li Guanqi wore a ferocious expression. This was also his first time seeing the sword spirit's true blade. The hazy phantom within the Sword Ruins had now fully manifested, sending waves of turbulent emotion through his heart. Yet the bones in his body let out an agonizing, overwhelmed crackle, and his vitality drained away at a terrifying pace. Which meant... He had the strength to unleash only a single strike. One strike was enough! Hideous fissures cracked open in the void. Violent power rampaged across the heavens. Centered on Li Guanqi, the space for a hundred li around seemed to churn with a sea of blood. Tu Yuan felt as if the blood throughout his body had frozen. He was numb all over, his consciousness drifting, completely paralyzed. The sword spirit's haughty gaze remained just as it was when they first met, looking down upon all living beings with sovereign contempt. Her figure dispersed into motes of spiritual light, ultimately merging into the longsword. *Hum!* A low, muffled drone began, swelling into a piercing sword cry that resounded through the clouds, its ethereal reverberations lingering endlessly. *Screech!* As the sword cry rang out, the sword spirit's emotions poured forth without restraint! A monstrous wave of hatred surged toward the heavens, as if declaring war against the entire Immortal Realm! In her own way, she was proclaiming to all of the Immortal Realm that she was coming back! *Boom!* At that very moment, Li Guanqi's aura surged to its absolute limit, rivaling the late Ascension Realm. Pengluo's power was unleashed to its utmost. Li Guanqi held the sword in one hand, his mind aligning completely with the sword spirit's will. That same illusion of looking down upon the world and holding all living beings in contempt welled up in his heart. It was a state of invincibility where no one stood before him. The instant Li Guanqi gripped the blade, he felt a surging conviction that he could cleave the Immortal Realm apart, that no one was beyond his ability to slay. Tu Yuan, meanwhile, went cold from head to toe, feeling as though he had plummeted into an abyss of blood. His consciousness wavered on the brink of collapse. Merely the wisps of killing intent wafting from the blade were enough to drag him down into an inescapable illusion. The scenes within that illusion tore at his very soul! Endless mountains of corpses radiated terrifying pressure, stretching as far as the eye could see. Severed limbs and broken arms littered the ground beneath his feet, and the thick, nauseating stench of blood from the sea of gore turned his stomach. His arms and legs felt as heavy as lead, utterly immobilized. Paralyzed by sheer terror, he had lost control of his own body. A dignified Mystic Immortal had actually lost control, a foul, yellowish liquid trickling down his trouser leg... Li Guanqi's gaze was sharp as a blade. Thunder surged around him, and a crimson sheen enveloped the lightning and flames. The sword in his grip was slightly heavier than Red Lotus, but the balance was exquisite, feeling as though it had been made just for him. Immortal essence surged within his body, and the sword burst forth with an overwhelmingly terrifying pressure, its scarlet brilliance glistening as if bathed in fresh blood. *Boom!* The void across a thousand zhang beneath Li Guanqi's feet abruptly shattered! "World Annihilation!" He slowly turned the blade in his hand, and the violent power poured into the longsword almost without hindrance. The broken tip seemed not to affect the blade in the slightest. *Boom!* A terrifying sword light spanning ten thousand zhang shot forth, carrying every ounce of Li Guanqi's might. This single strike drained nearly all of Li Guanqi's power! *Boom!* "Die!" A ragged, hoarse roar tore through the heavens as a streak of blindingly fast sword light arrived in an instant. Tu Yuan's skin split, and the pendant around his neck abruptly shattered. Startled awake, he realized the sword light was already upon him. Facing mortal danger, the awakened Tu Yuan burst his robes, driving his cultivation in a manner that virtually destroyed his own foundation! If he did not stake everything now, he would not even have the chance to strike back. Terrifying azure astral winds flooded the heavens, condensing into a majestic sword light that slashed downward! "Nine Nether Slash!" *Boom!* The sword glow resembled the astral winds of the Nine Nethers, radiating an eerie, somber light. Astral winds tore through heaven and earth. Tu Yuan's eyes bulged with rage, and every meridian in his body shattered. He drained every drop of primal energy within him, staking his life on this desperate blow. Life and death hung on this single clash. Yet what followed filled him with absolute despair. The blood-red sword light effortlessly shattered his own strike, sweeping through with irresistible momentum. The moment he sensed his sword light crumble, all vitality and spirit drained out of Tu Yuan. His arms fell limp, his eyes turning hollow and vacant. "To think that I, Tu Yuan... would die in the Spirit Realm..." "Li Guanqi, just what kind of monster are you?" *Boom!* Everywhere the sword light passed, the heavens fractured and the void ruptured. Accompanied by Li Guanqi's furious roar, the sword light swept through. Tu Yuan's body was instantly obliterated within the radiant blade light! *Rumble!* After slaying Tu Yuan, the sword light continued onward unabated. Before the disbelieving eyes of all the cultivators, an ethereal light of immortal spirits gradually began to shine from the rift tearing high into the boundless sky. If someone were gazing down upon the mortal realm from the true void beyond the domain, they would see a massive gap torn nearly all the way through the hazy Heavenly Dao hovering above this vast world. And as for that fissure above the heavens... One sword had pierced two realms! Li Guanqi stood at the peak of the heavens with his back to the crowd. His chest heaved violently, his shoulders trembling faintly, his legs shaking. The blood on the blade seemed to have been absorbed, leaving not a single drop to fall. Covered in blood and grievously injured, Li Guanqi looked up at the sky, his throat choking with emotion. Glancing down, he slowly raised his hand, and dazzling, kaleidoscopic sword lights burst forth in an instant! Within a single breath, bodies plummeted from midair like dumplings dropping into a pot. Not a single foe could withstand a single blow! Beneath the realm of immortals, Li Guanqi was without equal! As he unleashed that final sword strike, Li Guanqi's entire left arm instantly shattered! *Bang!* The longsword hovered before Li Guanqi, letting out a faint sword hum, as if asking whether he was all right. Li Guanqi shook his head. The divine markings receded, and a weakened Pengluo tumbled out of the void. A large hand caught it gently in his embrace. Li Guanqi looked down and whispered softly, "Thank you for your hard work..." Swallowing the rebel blood churning in his throat, Li Guanqi gazed out over the battlefield, where nearly sixty percent of their forces had fallen, his eyes filled with sorrow. This battle had ended in a tragic victory for the Human Spirit Realm! Every eye was fixed upon Li Guanqi. With a soft whoosh, the sword spirit darted back into the sword coffin; the toll from this strike had simply been too great... Blood blurred Li Guanqi's vision. Raising his mangled right hand, he wiped his eyes. He bowed deeply to everyone below! Then, summoning every ounce of his remaining strength, he roared toward the heavens: "The! Human! Spirit! Realm! Has! Won!" "Fellow Daoists! Please ascend!"