Sipping his wine, Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes at the wine cup before him and murmured in mild surprise,
"What a powerful bladesman."
Up on the second floor, the handsome young man with sharp, defined features felt an identical tremor in his heart.
Faint ripples stirred across the surface of the wine in his cup.
His left thumb stroked the hilt of his blade, his knuckles slightly pale.
The instant their eyes had met, he had been plunged into an illusion of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Fortunately, there was no enmity between them, and the other man was equally cautious.
The strong liquor went down his throat without leaving any taste. Narrowing his eyes, he was inwardly shaken.
Who is he?
When did such a figure appear in Qinzhou?
Li Guanqi and the man remained on guard against each other until the man finally could not resist setting down his cup and walking downstairs.
Li Guanqi focused his gaze toward the bottom of the stairway.
A youth clad in a snug black robe walked slowly down the stairs.
He wore black cloud boots and carried an archaic long blade sheathed in dark red.
Though his fingers were slender, his palms were covered in coarse calluses, and the back of his hands crisscrossed with scars.
A blade hung at his waist, his left hand resting casually between his belt and the scabbard.
He had a sharp jawline, a high nose bridge, fair skin, straight sword-like brows, and bright starlike eyes.
Yet across that face ran numerous crisscrossing scars.
The youth slowly turned his head, his gaze colliding with Li Guanqi's.
In an instant, a tiny few within the tavern heard the faint sound of clashing blades ring in their ears.
Suddenly!
The wine cup in Li Guanqi's hand shattered, and the youth stumbled, crashing against the wall!
A look of astonishment surfaced in the young man's eyes, and Li Guanqi caught sight of two small tattooed characters on his neck:
"Qisha!"
Li Guanqi frowned slightly. This was the first time he had seen someone touch upon the intent of the Po Realm!
Even that genius sword cultivator Lin Wujiu had not managed it.
Qisha gave Li Guanqi a deep, piercing look, as if etching his features and aura into his memory.
Then, without looking back, he vanished into the street.
Exiting the wine shop, he turned into a dark alley, leaned against the wall, and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Gasping for breath, his pupils contracting and trembling slightly, Qisha raised a hand to wipe away the blood.
What a terrifying sword cultivator... Could he be an old monster concealing his cultivation?
***
Li Guanqi found an inn at random and settled in. During this time, he once again altered his appearance and aura.
His facial features shifted subtly, and his entire demeanor changed with them.
Inside his room at the inn, Li Guanqi learned that the secret realm would open in three days.
By then, it would likely draw a massive crowd.
Meanwhile, he had heard the name Pei Tianchen mentioned numerous times today.
Supposedly, the man was an exceptionally formidable disciple of the Tianhua Sword Sect.
He had joined the sect sixty years ago and was already at the fifth layer of Mystic Immortal.
Even across all of Qinzhou, he had earned quite a reputation.
Leaning against the bed, Li Guanqi murmured,
"Qisha, Pei Tianchen... and those are only the ones I know of.
"Just what kind of secret realm is this to attract so many experts?
"Still... none of the cultivators who have shown up seem to be Heavenly Immortals.
"Could there be peak Mystic Immortals among them?"
Li Guanqi shook his head, quickly dismissing the thought.
From what he had gathered today, the Tianhua Sword Sect held absolute control over this secret realm's rift!
If the Tianhua Sword Sect wanted to expand its influence and attract a multitude of cultivators, yet still claim the treasures within for itself, they would certainly impose corresponding restrictions so as not to upset the balance.
Li Guanqi licked his lips. Without the slightest hesitation, he began attempting to break through to the third layer of Mystic Immortal!
Immortal essence surged within him. Not only was he striving to shatter the third shackle, but he was also continuously directing his immortal essence to blast through obstructed meridians, clearing and widening the blocked pathways.
On the journey to Donghua City, he had entered an epiphany while cultivating the movement technique Rushing Thunder Cloud-Stepping Art.
He had finally grasped its fundamentals, but to truly cross the threshold, he needed to circulate his energy through the meridians outlined in the manual, which inevitably required opening those pathways.
For three consecutive days, Li Guanqi did not take a single step out of the inn.
When he sensed the auras of the cultivators within the inn gradually dispersing, he finally stirred from his cultivation.
Exhaling a breath of turbid air, he shook off the impurities coating his body, donned a fresh black robe, and flickered out of the inn.
Following the trails of the traveling cultivators' auras, he darted rapidly toward the outskirts of Donghua City like a swimming dragon.
Along the way, Li Guanqi was inwardly astonished—the number of cultivators traveling in the same direction was staggering!
In his direction alone, nearly four hundred Mystic Immortals were sweeping out of the city.
Countless figures also traversed the sky above, and a massive contingent was arriving from the Tianhua Sword Sect atop Mount Tianhua.
From the look of it...
"There will probably be a thousand Mystic Immortals gathered here!"
Beneath his black robe, Li Guanqi licked his lips. A belligerent thrill stirred restlessly within him.
Vying for fortune alongside legions of cultivators, fighting to seize opportunity from amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood...
Li Guanqi could even feel his sword intent stirring in anticipation.
Dense, fine strands of sword qi coiled around his body.
Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, he maintained his composure.
Before long, Li Guanqi followed the steps of the multitude to a deeply secluded mountain hollow.
At a glance, Li Guanqi spotted an enormous rift eating into the mountain face, spanning more than sixty zhang across.
The rift had currently parted by over three zhang.
From outside, one could clearly sense the powerful fluctuations churning within.
Yet the rift distorted intermittently, clearly unable to withstand the pressure of overly powerful cultivators.
Like the others, Li Guanqi landed atop the canopy of an ancient tree, hands tucked into his sleeves, completely silent.
Yet his divine sense extended gently toward the vicinity of the rift.
The others were doing the same, though most withdrew their divine senses after discovering nothing.
Li Guanqi had not noticed anything either, but just as he was about to reel his divine sense back, he noticed the main body of the Tianhua Sword Sect arriving.
He saw a young disciple in a resplendent robe within their ranks look toward the rift with sheer dread in his eyes!
Reprimanded by the elder beside him, the youth quickly lowered his head.
Narrowing his eyes, Li Guanqi probed the surroundings of the rift once more.
This time, Shiwu's voice resonated in his mind:
"Master, this spatial rift has been opened at least twice before!"
A sharp glint flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes. He scented the smell of a conspiracy.
Right at that moment, however, a gaze fell upon Li Guanqi from the side.
Beneath his black robe, Li Guanqi whipped his head around, his sharp gaze sweeping the surroundings, but he saw only scattered cultivators and figures clad in black robes.
He could not pinpoint whose gaze it had been.
Beneath his own black robe, cold sweat covered Qisha's forehead.
What sharp perception! I was nearly discovered by him.
Suddenly!
An overwhelmingly tyrannical pressure descended with a crash!
Under this pressure, everyone was forced to bow their heads.
Because... this was the pressure of a True Immortal!
Chapter 1599