Ran Qingshuang frowned, murmuring inwardly, *What a formidable Mystic Immortal aura. Who goes there?*
Yet just as her thoughts were wandering, a voice suddenly piped up from below her.
"Um... Hero, let's talk this out. I'll get my master to give you some nice benefits if you let go first... please?"
"Wuwu... It hurts too much..."
Ran Qingshuang looked down and nearly threw Pengluo away on reflex, her hand jerking upward in disgust.
The sight before her truly gave her the creeps...
Her left hand was holding the green leaves atop the spirit monster's head, facing away from her. Yet the creature was currently curling upward upside down, both legs wrapped tightly around her wrist. Because she was gripping so hard, its contorted face glared at her with wide eyes, staring upside down.
*Bang!*
Ran Qingshuang drove her knee up in a vicious strike!
"Awooogh!"
The blow caused Pengluo to foam at the mouth, his eyes rolling back as his limbs went limp. Childhood memories even began flashing through his mind...
Ran Qingshuang raised a hand, releasing immortal primal energy to conjure a small cage, shutting Pengluo inside.
Glancing down, she saw that her hand was covered in Pengluo's drool.
She instinctively lifted her hand to wipe it on her clothes, but thought better of it; yet leaving it there made her feel sick to her stomach...
Left with no choice, the heroic-looking woman tore off the hem of her robe, wiped her hand clean, and tossed the scrap of cloth away.
Had Pengluo not been a spirit monster of the sixth layer of the Mystic Grade, she likely would have skewered him on her spear long ago.
At that moment, the three men had not gone far. Concealing their presence ten thousand zhang away, they hid amid the surrounding mountains.
"Don't bother watching. The newcomer is only at the ninth-layer Mystic Immortal realm. Facing Ran Qingshuang, he's just courting death."
"Wait a bit longer. What if the snipe and the clam clash, and we profit?"
The third man said nothing, his eyes glinting sharply as he drew in his aura even tighter.
Li Guanqi's body was currently surging with immortal might. In his eyes, the woman was holding Pengluo captive with ice-attribute immortal primal energy, waiting nonchalantly for his arrival.
He had no idea that the one who had attacked Pengluo wasn't the woman before him.
Having taken a knee strike directly, Pengluo was knocked out cold...
To Li Guanqi, the spear-wielding woman possessed an aura tightly restrained, far different from the crude control exercised by ordinary Mystic Immortal realm cultivators. Her pressure and aura were completely gathered within, mastered with effortless ease.
Through the vision of Li Guanqi's mind's eye, two pale blue halos drifted behind her!
This startled him. Opening his eyes, he frowned and murmured to himself, *Could those be the outward manifestations of a Heavenly Immortal realm cultivator's cultivation?*
There was no time to ponder further. Facing a second-layer Heavenly Immortal cultivator, Li Guanqi instantly activated his Demon King Physique and underwent Dragon Transformation.
*Boom!*
In merely a single breath, he closed the distance to within a hundred zhang of the woman!
Ran Qingshuang's brows arched. A sharp glint flashed through her eyes, her pupils shrinking slightly as she flicked her wrist to bring her spear to bear.
*Formidable!*
Immediately after, she saw the ribbons of celestial resonance drifting beside Li Guanqi—four of them!
This sight utterly shocked her.
She knew all too well what multiple ribbons of celestial resonance signified. Back when she had been in the Mystic Immortal realm, she had possessed two ice-blue ribbons of celestial resonance!
Yet the person before her... possessed four ribbons of lightning celestial resonance!
*Who is he?!*
The moment the thought arose, the sword light arrived!
*Clang!*
A deafening crash erupted. Hidden in the shadows, the three men opened their mouths almost simultaneously, staring in disbelief at the scene in midair.
The rushing figure had actually forced Ran Qingshuang back dozens of zhang with just a single sword strike!
The overwhelming force caused space itself to ripple and twist along the path of her backward flight.
The webbing between the woman's thumbs and forefingers cracked open, her arms trembling, yet the spear in her hands did not slip. Exerting force through her arms, she stomped on the void, forcibly halting her momentum as her upper body leaned back slightly.
With a sweep of one hand, she pulled the cage holding Pengluo behind her!
Li Guanqi frowned slightly. That a female cultivator possessed such physical strength was truly astonishing to him. With the force contained in that single strike just now, even a male Heavenly Immortal cultivator would have had their weapon knocked from their grasp. Yet she had only suffered cracked webbing between her fingers, barely shedding any blood.
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. As she swung her spear, he caught sight of her hands.
Both of her palms were covered in calluses and scarred skin, crisscrossed with deep grooves—rougher even than many men's hands!
*She is no simple opponent...*
Yet compared to Li Guanqi's surprise, an overwhelming storm raged within the woman's heart!
*Ninth-layer Mystic Immortal, and having just broken through at that... yet he wields such terrifying lethality!*
*I've only been away from Quping Prefecture for three years. When did such a figure emerge?*
Ran Qingshuang slowly came to a steady stance. Her expression was solemn and composed, her gaze gravely serious.
Gripping her spear with both hands, she assumed a combat stance, resembling a great beast crouching low.
A chill ran down Li Guanqi's spine; his expression turned stern. He had not expected a woman to exude such an intensely dangerous aura!
Bending her torso slightly, veins bulging across both hands, she twisted her spear and shot forward like an arrow released from a bow!
*Thud!*
The vibration of the air produced a sonic boom. A transparent shockwave collar formed around the spear tip.
*Sssst!*
A line of blood abruptly welled up on Li Guanqi's neck!
Li Guanqi stared unblinkingly at the movements of her spear.
Stepping forward sideways, he raised his sword in his left hand to thrust diagonally!
With his right hand, he slapped fiercely toward the spear shaft, lightning coiling around his palm.
Yet the instant his palm was about to touch the shaft, the attack hit empty air.
The spear had somehow already been pulled back!
The woman kept her eyes locked on Li Guanqi's movements, yet her body suddenly spun. And precisely because of that twist of her body, the blade of Red Lotus grazed right past her cheek!
*Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!*
The spear retracted and thrust out again, a dense barrage of spear light descending like a tempest!
Holding his sword in his left hand, Li Guanqi slashed wildly, forming a curtain of sword light!
The two figures clashed violently in midair!
Deafening booms echoed endlessly.
A single misstep would mean the curtain of swords being breached, leaving Li Guanqi severely wounded; or Ran Qingshuang failing to block Li Guanqi's sword, meeting a tragic end.
Heaven and earth trembled as swaths of ancient trees in the mountains below collapsed.
The three men hiding in the dark were all shaken to the core.
"Who in the world is that guy?"
"How can he fight Ran Qingshuang for this long with only a ninth-layer Mystic Immortal cultivation?"
"What terrifying strength!"
Right then, however, Ran Qingshuang was kicked flying!
Several streaks of sword light shot forth, slashing her robes to shreds as blood sprayed into the air.
With a gentle flick of Li Guanqi's wrist, a bead of blood flew from the sword tip.
Looking at the woman indifferently, Li Guanqi spoke softly:
"Release Pengluo, and I won't kill you."
The proud Ran Qingshuang narrowed her eyes. To her understanding, Li Guanqi's words were an outright insult!
Just like those men who looked down on female cultivators.
Squinting her eyes, Ran Qingshuang wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
"Kill me? With just the likes of you?!"
Chapter 1661