Li Guanqi knew nothing of these happenings.
He knew only that cultivators ascending from the lower realms faced immense hardship and would encounter many forces beyond their control.
Yet he believed his brothers would handle everything in stride.
When Cao Yan ascended, pill dao rhymes coalesced around him of their own accord!
Immediately afterward, he was taken away by a supreme titan of the Pill Hall, who did not exchange a single word with the Ascension Hall attendants the entire time.
Ye Feng's situation was somewhat similar to Li Guanqi's; no sooner had he ascended than a Mystic Immortal baptism descended upon him.
Fighting desperately, he was pursued and hunted for seven full months.
Xiao Chen likewise received a Mystic Immortal baptism, which set the spears in the hands of the spear cultivators around the Ascension Platform trembling incessantly.
Whether it was because of that or his fair-faced, handsome charm, he caught the eye of a major sect master's daughter, who insisted on taking him with her no matter what.
Even though he repeatedly protested that he already had a Dao companion, she didn't care in the slightest.
When Tang Ru ascended, heavenly anomalies manifested: black and white karmic dao rhymes condensed across thousands of feet, with the Eight Trigrams taking shape.
Such a tremendous commotion drew countless powerhouses from major sects into fierce competition over him.
In the end, Tang Ru was chosen as a disciple by a powerhouse from a great sect and forcefully whisked away.
All in all, though the brothers had faced bumps and trials, none were in mortal peril.
On the other hand, Meng Wanshu...
Meng Wanshu had ascended from the Zhongtian Lands. Her talent and status as the Ultimate Frost Master triggered anomalies in heaven and earth.
With merely a Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivation, she froze the land for a hundred li!
The strange celestial phenomenon drew crowds of mighty cultivators watching in awe.
A few breaths later, the firmament shattered.
In the end, it actually drew an Eight Desolations powerhouse who breached the realm barrier and descended, ordered to bring her to the Emperor Heaven above the Nine Heavens!
And it was said...
The cultivator who had descended from the Eight Desolations was an Immortal Monarch of the Immortal Realm, acting under orders.
Their sect was even more unimaginably formidable.
In Emperor Heaven, one of the top three among the Nine Heavens, a colossal hegemon dominating a vast expanse: the Nine Tripods Heavenly Palace!
As for the others, each met with their own fortunes.
Yet... what remained the same was that every single one wore a gilded earring.
In each of their eyes lay resolute determination, believing that one day they would reunite once more.
And... that day would not be long in coming.
***
Inside the tavern, Li Guanqi slowly lowered his winecup and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
The reason he had chosen to blow the Tianhua Sword Sect affair up to such a grand scale was precisely to make his name echo across the Fuyu Lands!
With Qinzhou as his foundation, he would make his fame resound in all eight directions!
That way, any one of his brothers, even in some unknown distant corner, might hear his name.
Walking out of the tavern, Li Guanqi looked at the bustling crowd with the corners of his lips curling slightly upward, then flickered away and departed the city.
Soaring above the clouds, Li Guanqi pondered for a moment, took out a map, and checked his position.
He discovered that his current direction happened to be toward Qinzhou City.
"I might as well pay that kid a visit."
"And I can ask him a few things while I'm at it."
Thinking this, Li Guanqi hesitated no longer, put away the map, and flew into the distance.
Along the way, Li Guanqi held jade slips, studying them.
"Azure Sea Ripple Grass, Nether Epiphyllum of the Void, Soaring Swallow Grass of the Empyrean, Cinnabar Ink Lotus..."
"Well now... are there really this many varieties of first-grade immortal herbs alone?"
When Li Guanqi took inventory of his spoils of war, he had found several jade slips.
Among them were records of myriad immortal herbs of the Immortal Realm, as well as the Register of Myriad Demons recording great demons.
Just committing these to memory had taken Li Guanqi quite a bit of effort.
After all, the records were exceptionally detailed, ranging from appearances of spiritual herbs to their effects.
Some peculiar spiritual herbs even required specific techniques to harvest.
As for the Register of Myriad Demons, it exhaustively recorded many great demons' weaknesses, along with notes on the spiritual herbs they preferred to guard.
Li Guanqi drank wine, riding atop the Red Lotus sword as he flew.
His white robe fluttered in the wind, his hair disheveled, a smile gracing his slightly narrowed eyes.
Li Guanqi took a deep breath, feeling as though, to some degree, he had attained a sense of freedom.
The Immortal Realm, drinking wine, sword-riding!
Red Lotus let out a crisp sword chime, seemingly overflowing with joy.
Li Guanqi smiled and channeled a wisp of immortal essence to nurture Red Lotus.
Although Xue Ming's power was formidable, it was... also profoundly sinister!
Yet he had to admit that the Xue Ming Sword was remarkably powerful.
Powerful enough to earn the recognition of the sword coffin.
What Li Guanqi didn't know was... after the Xue Ming Sword entered the sword coffin, it had even tried to make a move on Red Lotus.
In the end, it was forcefully suppressed by the enraged sword coffin, which nearly refined it away entirely.
Fortunately, the current Xue Ming Sword had no sword spirit consciousness. If it had, Red Lotus might not have been able to suppress it.
Now, Xue Ming was thoroughly subdued...
Li Guanqi looked down at Red Lotus beneath his feet and said softly,
"When the chance comes in the future, I'll help you grow stronger!"
*Creee!*
Red Lotus trembled slightly. Then, a thought struck Li Guanqi.
"Can I have Shiwu help refine the immortal ores in my possession for you?"
Red Lotus trembled gently, and Li Guanqi's eyes lit up.
From among all the immortal ores, Red Lotus picked out a dark gold piece and nudged against it with its blade.
Li Guanqi understood at once, then used Shiwu's power to begin refining the ore.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Time flew by. Li Guanqi did not choose to take a teleportation array.
By his estimation, even without a teleportation array, reaching Qinzhou City would take him less than two months.
Looking at the map, he would pass through several sizable mountain ranges and forests along the way.
He also wanted to see whether he could find some natural spiritual plants and immortal herbs.
He hadn't informed Lin Wujiu of his trip, wishing to give him a surprise.
Night fell. Li Guanqi sat upon a withered log with a bonfire blazing before him.
The flickering flames crackled, bringing an immense sense of tranquility to his heart.
*Rumble!*
The moonlight was swallowed by thick storm clouds. Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and a gale rose abruptly.
Li Guanqi glanced up at the sky as scattered raindrops began to fall.
With a casual hand, he wove large leaves into a shelter against the wind and rain.
Leaning against a tree, Li Guanqi warmed himself by the fire. The rain beside him grew heavier, drumming loudly against the foliage.
In the flickering firelight, Li Guanqi's heart was completely at peace.
Arms crossed over his chest, he watched the bonfire before him, his lips curling slightly.
"If only I had a roasted sweet potato right now, that'd be perfect..."
Just like that, arms held tight, Li Guanqi curled up under the shelter he had built.
Warming himself by the fire, he listened to the gentle patter of rain in his ears.
Before he realized it, Li Guanqi drifted into a half-asleep state, sword clutched in his arms.
In his dreams, the Thunder Execution Divine Art circulated on its own.
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi's consciousness was submerged in contemplating the dharmic principles of the Purgatory Path and the Asura Path.
As for the sword art of the Purgatory Asura Sword, he had already gained an entry-level mastery.
At his current strength of the seventh realm of Mystic Immortal, he could unleash three strikes.
Back then, the very first strike of the sword art had enabled him to slay Tianlong and Diya.
The following two strikes were even more potent.
Yet at times, Li Guanqi was reluctant to delve too deeply into the two paths.
Due to their peculiar nature, Li Guanqi often fell into self-examining torment over perceived karmic sin and the slaughter he had wrought.
This clashed with his Dao of freedom, which followed his true heart.
From the very beginning, when he killed, he judged only whether his true heart felt guilt.
As for the two paths contained within the Xue Ming Sword, regardless of right or wrong, they laid all karmic sin upon oneself, plunging the cultivator into the tempering of purgatory in search of peace of mind.
Therefore, after reaching the third sword strike, his progress in the sword art had completely halted.
Chapter 1636