Although he could not yet comprehend the sword art and mental formula of the Purgatory Asura technique, he was now fully capable of controlling the Rakshasa Ghost Mask's abilities.
Moreover, the mask had an immensely practical power: 'Myriad Transformations'!
As long as Li Guanqi willed it, he could assume the appearance of anyone—and it was a truly seamless disguise.
Holding the Rakshasa Ghost Mask, he still felt a lingering dread. Fortunately, the writhing flesh beneath the mask no longer possessed its former malevolent aura.
Li Guanqi took a deep breath, then placed the fanged ghost mask over his face.
In an instant, flesh melded over his cheeks, and tiny filamentous tendrils burrowed into his skin. He could feel his blood being siphoned by the mask. However, since he was not drawing upon its power to elevate his strength, the drain was practically negligible.
Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Li Guanqi underwent a complete transformation in demeanor with the Rakshasa Ghost Mask upon his face.
Broad-shouldered, tall, and lean.
A bloodstained white robe paired with the four-foot Red Lotus projected a terrifying, intimidating aura.
Rakshasa Ghost Mask, four-foot blade!
A cloak of blood-red, hiding his true name!
Beneath the mask, the corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly upward as he murmured under his breath, "Songsong... your big brother has no choice either. I'll be using your name to walk the Immortal Realm for a while."
***
In the Human Spirit Realm.
Li Congxin, already a cultivator of the Body Integration Realm, awoke with a start from his meditation and looked all around. Lowering his head to look at his arms, he found the hairs on both of them standing on end.
The silver-haired youth knitted his brow, grumbling to himself, "What's going on lately... Why do I keep feeling so uneasy?"
***
Within the pocket realm.
Wearing the mask and clad in the blood-red robe, Li Guanqi departed the secret chamber. He had discovered nothing inside that massive pit except a faint, lingering wisp of power—likely some special array once meant to seal the mask, now long broken.
After emerging from the ruins, Li Guanqi closed his eyes and focused his senses on the presence of any inscribed talismans. Yet after a long moment, he sensed nothing out of the ordinary.
Opening his eyes, he frowned deeply. Looking around, he found the entire pocket realm eerily quiet, without the slightest stir. Li Guanqi keenly sensed that something was amiss.
With a surge of immortal primal energy, the Rakshasa Ghost Mask twisted and warped. In the blink of an eye, Li Guanqi transformed into an utterly ordinary cultivator with triangular eyes, a flattened nose bridge, and a short, slight stature.
Having done this, Li Guanqi adjusted his revealed cultivation to the third layer of Mystic Immortal. After all, remaining at the second layer would be too conspicuous; among the rogue cultivators who had entered, he had seemed to be the only one at that level.
He sped forward, rushing toward the inner sect. Along the way were crumbling walls and ruined ramparts everywhere, accompanied by numerous signs of battle.
Before long, Li Guanqi spotted a pool of blood on the ground. Flying down, he reached out to touch it, hoping to gauge when the clash had occurred. To his surprise, the fresh blood seeped along his fingertips and was absorbed by the mask.
A shudder ran through him, followed by a sudden clearing of his mind, and his immortal primal energy was even slightly replenished. Li Guanqi's brow furrowed. Although this ability was astonishing, it still made him somewhat uncomfortable. On second thought, however, his mindset leveled out. An artifact was merely an artifact in the end; how it was used and who used it were what truly mattered.
From what he had just sensed, the deceased cultivator had died not long ago—roughly half an hour prior.
Concealing his aura, Li Guanqi sped toward the inner sect. Moments later, he picked up numerous presences! Swaying his figure, he slipped behind a broken wall perched up high.
Below lay the collapsed inner courtyard of an ancient complex, where quite a few cultivators had already gathered. And among them, Li Guanqi recognized several familiar faces!
Eight people were gathered there at the moment. One was Yin Zisheng, the poison cultivator. Another was the young man with whom Li Guanqi had clashed at the tavern—the fellow with "Qisha" tattooed on his neck. But there was another black-robed figure whom Li Guanqi had never expected to see, as he hadn't noticed him at all during the scramble for entry slots.
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth lifted slightly. *How did he end up here as well?*
Among the eight people, besides Yin Zisheng, there was also a middle-aged man dressed in teal robes. He too was a cultivator at the fifth layer of Mystic Immortal, but his aura was exceptionally dense and robust—the peak of the fifth layer. Right now, his teal robes were stained with blood, his hair was somewhat disheveled, and his expression was grim.
The eight individuals kept their distance from one another. Qisha stood leaning against a stone wall up high in his black robes, his left hand resting on his saber.
The teal-robed man said in a deep voice, "There's no point in continuing to argue here. What do the rest of you think about this?"
Yin Zisheng was seated atop a large boulder. In the dim courtyard, only a night-luminescent pearl in the center cast a faint, shimmering glow. The dim, yellowish light played across his face, accentuating a venomous, ruthless air. His chilly voice carried the impression of a venomous serpent fixated on its prey.
"If you ask me... this secret realm is likely a conspiracy plotted by the Tianhua Sword Sect. Ever since entering, every single disciple of the Tianhua Sword Sect has headed deep inside with clear purpose. They kill anyone they encounter along the way and collect the corpses..."
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes slightly. He had to admit that this Yin Zisheng was quite sharp.
Pausing briefly, the man continued, "In my view, we must find a way to draw out the Tianhua Sword Sect disciples and uncover their true objective!"
With that, Yin Zisheng turned to the teal-robed man beside him. "Du Zhonglai, what do you think?"
Right at that moment, one of the black-robed cultivators at the fourth layer frowned and spoke up, "Easier said than done. How are we supposed to lure out the Tianhua Sword Sect disciples?"
Qisha pushed away from the stone wall, his body tensing as his left thumb poised to pop his saber from its sheath.
Yin Zisheng chuckled. Turning toward the speaker, his face looked sinister in the faint light. "That's simple... Wouldn't providing them with someone who's critically wounded do the trick?"
The moment those words fell, the man sprang up violently to flee. Yet just as he rose, he discovered to his horror that his body refused to obey him. Dark green threads were spreading up his neck!
*Squelch!*
"You—!"
Yin Zisheng smiled nonchalantly, drew a dagger, and with a swift swipe severed the man's arms and legs. Dangling the heavily wounded man in his hand, Yin Zisheng looked at the man beside him and smiled. "I'll leave the rest to you."
With that, Yin Zisheng reached out to hand the man over to the teal-robed cultivator. His nostrils twitched slightly, and he abruptly snapped his head toward Li Guanqi's direction!
"Little mouse... Did you think I wouldn't catch you?!"
Li Guanqi's heart leaped, and he looked down. Beneath the rubble under his feet, at some unknown point, a drop of blood had fallen. Concealed beneath floating dust and gravel, Li Guanqi hadn't noticed it at all!
*Bang!*
The boulder shattered, and Yin Zisheng shouted without hesitation, "Kill that guy! I saw with my own eyes that he took tons of Rank-Three weapon-refinement immortal ores!"
Instantly, every gaze locked onto Li Guanqi. Cursing inwardly, Li Guanqi turned on his heels and bolted. Compared to investigating where the Tianhua Sword Sect disciples had gone, targeting someone loaded with treasures like Li Guanqi was obviously much easier.
Qisha blurred into an afterimage, lunging forward in an instant.
Silver radiance flashed around Li Guanqi's body, and he vanished from the spot!
"Spatial teleportation! Chase him—he can't have gone far!"
Chapter 1607