Slaughter! Drawing Away the Assassins!

Li Guanqi materialized silently beside the two cultivators like a ghost. A flash of sword light flared, and two corpses collapsed heavily to the ground with dull thuds. His eyes narrowed. With a wave of his hand, he hoisted their bodies high into the branches, leaving crimson blood trickling slowly down the bark. By the time dozens of approaching auras drew near, Li Guanqi had already concealed his presence and vanished from the spot. The entire crowd had been driven mad by the exorbitant bounty offered by the Tianhua Sword Sect. Rumbles and agonized screams echoed unceasingly through this nameless mountain range. In just one short shichen, Li Guanqi had lost count of how many people he had killed. Clutching his chest, he hid among the branches of a towering ancient tree. Shattering several storage rings in succession, Li Guanqi finally unearthed some healing pills and Xuanyuan Pills. As he nursed his injuries, he murmured under his breath, "Next time, I need to have Qi Mobai refine a batch of pills specifically for restoring blood and vitality..." Li Guanqi was moving with extreme caution now. More than seventy cultivators were scouring the forest in search of him, and he had already slain twenty-seven Mystic Immortal realm experts. Even with his abilities, he had narrowly escaped disaster several times, nearly ending up surrounded. Fortunately, he still had plenty of hidden cards up his sleeve, allowing him to navigate the peril with composure. It had to be said that the inscribed talismans Gu Li had left for him had proven critically important ever since he ascended to the Immortal Realm. Without them, many situations would not have been resolved so smoothly. After catching his breath, Li Guanqi peered into the depths of the forest, his eyes narrowing. Tianlong and Diya were exceptionally strong. He had sensed it from that fleeting clash alone. If he wanted to engage them in an all-out battle, he would first have to deal with these small fry! Yet... his whereabouts were already exposed, so relying on intimidation would accomplish little. He had strung up every body he had slain in the forest. However, this gruesome sight had done nothing to deter the cultivators coming after them. Moreover, the arriving pursuers were growing increasingly powerful. If he dragged this out any longer, Li Guanqi feared Heavenly Immortal realm cultivators might soon arrive. Not just outsiders, but the Tianhua Sword Sect itself... With that in mind, a plan quickly formed in his head. Surging his immortal primal energy, he instantly unsealed the restraint on the blood within his body. Activating the concealing power of his Demon King Physique, he bolted toward the Southern Domain, slipping past several waves of cultivators along the way. Tianlong and Diya immediately realized what Li Guanqi was trying to do. Not wanting too many outsiders interfering either, they concealed their auras and sped in furious pursuit after him. All along the way, Li Guanqi closed his eyes and focused his mind, attempting to commune with the world and recreate the power of spirit curses. Yet... he had overlooked one crucial detail. The formation of spirit curses in the Spirit Realm had been established by the ancients—a unique application of power acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao. If he wished to replicate the use of spirit curses in the Immortal Realm, he would have to reconstruct the entire system from scratch and gain the Immortal Realm's acknowledgment! The difficulty was no less than inventing a whole new set of divine arts. Still, Li Guanqi wanted to try. If he had the sealing and suppressing power of spirit curses at his disposal, he would not be caught in such a passive position! At present, he lacked high-grade magic treasures or dharma artifacts, putting him at a distinct disadvantage when clashing with formidable foes. After rushing forward for an unknown length of time, Li Guanqi arrived in a mountain range of jagged, bizarre rock formations. Towering crags and heaps of scree littered the terrain, looking as though a cataclysmic battle had once been waged here. Faintly glowing stones lay hidden among the scattered rocks here and there. Li Guanqi extended his senses; the cultivators from the forest had not caught up. The only remaining concern was whether those two assassins had disclosed his location to Chen Tianhua and Zhao Chengyong. As it turned out, his worry was completely unfounded. Tianlong and Diya were bounty hunters who specialized in taking assassination contracts from the black market. They knew better than anyone not to inform their employer at a juncture like this. Their expertise lay in tracking the target. If the employer learned of the enemy's trail and exacted revenge personally, they would never receive the bounty. Thus, even now, Chen Tianhua only knew of the mountain range where Li Guanqi had first been spotted. He was still en route... Beneath his mask, Li Guanqi licked his lips, his gaze turning solemn as he watched the two figures tread through the air toward him from the distance. The two men were of identical height and shared a seventy-percent facial resemblance. Walking side by side, they exuded an overwhelming, stifling pressure. As dusk settled, a dark mist seemed to emanate from their bodies as they stepped toward Li Guanqi. Their blood-red robes flapped loudly in the wind, and the surrounding scree rattled in cascades. Each held a sword in hand. Beneath their ghostly masks, only a pair of blood-red eyes was visible, completely devoid of emotion. Sword qi crisscrossed around Li Guanqi as thunder and flame enveloped him. Ribbons of immortal aura condensed into near-tangible form, floating around his shoulders. As the two pursuers gently released their auras, black ribbons of immortal aura shimmered with a faint glow. The wind swept up coarse sand, and a chilling aura of slaughter rippled beneath the firmament. Li Guanqi gripped Red Lotus tightly in his left hand and Xue Ming in his right. Holding both blades pointed slightly downward, his presence was imposing. A rare flicker of solemnity surfaced in the depths of Tianlong and Diya's eyes. Li Guanqi was far from weak; he was stronger than any bounty target they had ever hunted before! A fist-sized rock rolled down from the summit. *Clatter!* *Boom!!!* Li Guanqi struck first! Red Lotus bloomed in his left hand. From the very beginning, he displayed his full might without holding anything back. Facing two formidable enemies, the only way forward was to cut through the knot swiftly; holding back in such a situation would be suicide. With his left hand, he opened with the Cloud Sword stance, thrusting straight toward Tianlong's face!! In his right hand, the sword light of Xue Ming flashed with blinding speed, streaking directly for Diya's throat. *Clang! Clang!!!* The two reacted with frightening speed. Almost the very instant Li Guanqi unleashed his blades, they swapped positions! Grabbing each other by the hands, they pulled and swung aside, causing both of Li Guanqi's strikes to hit empty air. "Hm?" *Whoosh, whoosh!! Swish!!!* Two streaks of sword light—one high, one low—slashed straight toward Li Guanqi's vitals. Not daring to be careless, Li Guanqi swung both swords to intercept! His divine sense surged outward, taking in every nuance of their movements. *Clang, clang, clang, clang!!* Figures crossed and sword shadows overlapped as the sharp clash of metal rang out continuously. The deafening din shook the air. The surrounding mountains trembled, loose scree tumbled down, and yellow sand filled the sky! *Clang, clang, clang!!!* *Bang!!* Tianlong delivered a swift kick against Diya's flank, narrowly evading Li Guanqi's sword ray by a hair's breadth, and chopped back with a reverse slash across Li Guanqi's back. *Rip!!* The blade sheared through the dragon scales, violently shattering them and tearing open flesh, sending a mist of blood spraying into the air. Li Guanqi's brow furrowed slightly as he whipped his sword around, aiming a strike at Tianlong's wrist. Yet Tianlong, who had just been right in front of him, was suddenly yanked three feet back as Diya caught his belt and pulled him clear!!! Li Guanqi vaulted backward, his eyes darting rapidly. Never before had he seen two people coordinate with such seamless tacit understanding; it was as though they were two halves of a single person. No matter which one he attacked, the other would step in at the critical moment to pull his partner aside, causing the strike to miss. They were at the eighth stage of the Mystic Immortal realm—even with the boost from the Rakshasa Ghost Mask, they were still a stage higher than him. Coupled with their seamless cooperation and complementary sword arts, their combined combat strength was easily on par with a ninth-stage Mystic Immortal!! "No wonder... They truly are strong!"