Li Guanqi acted as though he had not heard the artifact spirit's pleas for mercy.
Prying at the mask with the sword in his left hand, he gripped it tightly with his right and tore at it relentlessly.
His eyelids were ripped away with it, leaving only exposed eyeballs that rolled in their sockets—a truly gruesome sight.
With a savage, twisted expression, Li Guanqi did not care in the slightest about the power boost the mask offered him.
As the mask was peeled away, his aura instantly fell into disarray.
Yet he carried on regardless.
"Stop!"
"Don't you want my power?!"
"With the strength of your essence blood, I can elevate you three whole realms!"
"If the two of us join hands, who in the entire Immortal Realm could stand against us?!"
Urgency laced the ghost face's voice as it tried to tempt Li Guanqi at frantic speed.
Right now, Li Guanqi's heart burned with scorching fury. His conflict with Su Xuan back then had stemmed from whether he was real, whether he was still himself.
And now, this tattered mask dared to devour his memories!
It had even dared to touch his memories of Ye Feng and the others!
This had undoubtedly struck his reverse scale, violating his absolute taboo.
Li Guanqi had already made up his mind: this artifact spirit had to die.
Without a second thought, he unleashed the power of Spirit Absolution once more!
"Go die, you bastard!"
Boom!
Tens of thousands of red threads surged like a tidal wave, blanketing Li Guanqi's face.
Instantly, the ghost face let out a shrill, agonized shriek!
Blood pooled across the ground beneath Li Guanqi's feet, drenching his robes.
The mask was peeled away bit by bit, yet its bloody flesh radiated a bizarre power that fought against the Spirit Absolution blood threads.
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered, and he bellowed chillingly, "Either die or submit!"
The ghost face's spirit hesitated for only a moment. Realizing it had no hope of taking control, it pleaded humbly, "I submit! I submit! Don't kill me!"
Li Guanqi's gaze sharpened, his voice low and cold. "Fine. Then stop resisting."
At those words, the ghost face visibly hesitated.
Immediately, scorching flames enveloped it, threatening to reduce it to ash.
"Ahhh! I submit! Truly!"
Li Guanqi did not stop; the flames continued to surge, roasting the mask.
He showed no sign of softening, nor the slightest hint that his immortal primal energy was running dry.
Panic seized the mask's spirit. It hurriedly retracted all its tentacles from Li Guanqi's face, opened its mental defenses, and allowed Li Guanqi's Spirit Absolution blood threads to pierce through the mask.
"I beg you, don't kill me! I submit! I submit to you!"
Li Guanqi said nothing. Stamping one foot down onto the mask, he erupted with endless Spirit Absolution blood threads—ten times more than before.
Boom!
Li Guanqi swallowed several more pills. Only then did the spirit realize that the immortal primal energy in Li Guanqi's body was nearly depleted.
Yet just as it prepared to lash out violently and seize total control of Li Guanqi, a long sword slammed down, pinning it ruthlessly to the ground.
Without hesitation, Li Guanqi drove the Spirit Absolution blood threads to obliterate the artifact spirit!
"Skreee!"
A piercing screech tore through the air, like a rat being crushed beneath a boot—hideous and chilling.
The mask struggled violently against the floor, shattering the bluestone beneath it.
Countless fleshy tentacles burst forth, wildly trying to reach Li Guanqi's body.
How could Li Guanqi give it that chance?
A terrifying burst of thunder-flame erupted, burning those tentacles to cinders.
After several breaths, the mask's spiritual glow completely vanished.
Li Guanqi slumped to the ground, drenched in sweat.
His face was a bloody, mangled ruin. Half-kneeling, he gasped for breath, large beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks to splash upon the stone floor.
The mask lay silently on the ground, devoid of any luster.
Its power earlier had been far too formidable; had it not been cut off from a continuous supply of essence blood, Li Guanqi would certainly have died.
From beginning to end, Li Guanqi had not let on that his immortal primal energy was exhausted.
In a situation like that, had he revealed the slightest weakness, the entity would have fought him to the death at all costs.
A full half-shichen passed before Li Guanqi recovered somewhat. Swallowing healing pills alongside a Mystic Primal Pill, his complexion improved slightly.
His present appearance was hideous, like an evil ghost.
After another moment, Li Guanqi finally rose and picked up the mask.
This was the first time he had encountered such a terrifying immortal artifact—so bizarre and sinister.
Yet he could not deny that for a fleeting instant, under the artifact spirit's influence, he had almost lost himself to that surging wave of power.
Still, the price of having his essence blood devoured filled him with lingering dread.
Holding the mask, Li Guanqi examined it closely.
Its fanged, gaping maw could actually move, looking spine-chilling even at a glance.
Now that he had thoroughly eradicated the artifact spirit, he felt a bit more at ease.
After a brief hesitation, he inspected it once more with the power of Spirit Absolution. Once he confirmed that the spirit was entirely destroyed, he bit his fingertip and let a drop of essence blood fall onto the mask.
The moment the blood landed, Li Guanqi established a mental link with it.
The mask drifted upward, hovering before him.
Li Guanqi froze slightly as a massive, incomprehensible flood of information rushed into his mind.
His gaze went vacant and dazed under the torrent of knowledge.
"Rakshasa Ghost Mask... Fifth... Rank Five?!"
Li Guanqi stood rooted to the spot. His neck stiffened as he looked down at the Rakshasa Ghost Mask in his hand, swallowing hard.
His mouth felt completely dry.
He counted on his fingers.
"Mystic Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, Golden Immortal, Im... Immortal Monarch!"
"Was this ghost mask forged by an Immortal Monarch of the Nether Sect?"
Suppressing the shock in his heart, his divine sense combed through the vast influx of information.
His lips parted slightly, his eyes brimming with astonishment.
"Two of the Six Paths: the Purgatory Path and the Asura Path..."
"So that's how it is... That cold, evil aura I felt earlier was the aura of the Purgatory Path."
"And that sea of blood and those figures were the Asura Path of slaughter!"
"No wonder... No wonder it could resist the power of Spirit Absolution."
Leaning against the stone wall, Li Guanqi stared at the mask in his hand in disbelief.
It was hard to imagine that this mask was an immortal artifact forged by an Immortal Monarch—Rank Five!
At this moment, Li Guanqi even began to doubt whether this secret realm truly belonged to the Ten Lands.
A secret realm of this scale would be exceptionally precious even within the Eight Desolations.
Not only that, but Li Guanqi also discovered an extraordinarily powerful sword technique within the mask!
"Purgatory Asura!"
That immense wave of information from earlier was the manual for this fifth-rank sword technique.
A long time passed before Li Guanqi finally collected himself, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.
"This... is truly a tremendous opportunity!"
"It wasn't in vain that I suffered such heavy injuries."
Li Guanqi mobilized his divine sense, intending to see just how formidable this fifth-rank sword technique was.
Awkwardly, however, he realized that with his current cultivation, he could only access the mnemonic formula for the very first stance.
As the formula for the Purgatory Asura Sword Technique surfaced in his mind, Li Guanqi remained in his cultivation state for an entire incense stick of time before finally coming to.
"Ghost Screech... What a domineering sword technique!"
Indeed, with just that single stance, Li Guanqi could already sense how extraordinary the technique was.
Its mental method subtly encompassed the Purgatory Path and the Asura Path of the Six Paths.
The aura of slaughter was dense and potent, yet profound and obscure; one had to study both paths before truly mastering the art.
After some thought, Li Guanqi decided not to devote his energy to studying the sword technique just yet.
He rose, looked toward the stone doors, and murmured, "I've wasted quite a bit of time here."
Chapter 1606