Having traveled less than a thousand zhang, Li Guanqi personally witnessed a black-robed man flying at high speed engulfed by over a hundred azure butterflies.
No matter how desperately the cultivator struggled or how he raised his immortal primal energy barrier, he could not fend off the creatures.
In merely three breaths of time, a cultivator of the third layer of the Mystic Immortal realm died right before his eyes.
*Thud!*
The corpse plummeted onto the damp, muddy ground. Over a hundred butterflies swarmed upon it, and in the blink of an eye, the cultivator was reduced to a desiccated corpse stripped of every drop of blood essence.
The bodies of the butterflies then swelled at a rate visible to the naked eye.
*Puff! Puff, puff, puff! Puff, puff—*
Pengluo’s expression looked utterly foul, while Li Guanqi stared in astonishment at Pengluo’s already swollen lips.
“So that’s… where the thick mist released by the Soul-Guiding Butterflies comes from…”
With lips swollen as red as sausages, Pengluo said impassively, “I knew that all along.”
“You knew, yet you still licked one.”
“Ahem, let’s not talk about that.”
The hundred or so Soul-Guiding Butterflies then fluttered their wings and vanished.
Li Guanqi licked his lips, his gaze grim and his brow slightly furrowed.
“These things are truly not to be trifled with…”
From then on, Li Guanqi grew even more cautious on his path toward the valley depths.
Several times along the way, those butterflies abruptly materialized and nearly settled onto him.
Li Guanqi had attempted to strike out with his sword to slay them, but every time his blade moved, the butterflies would instantly melt away into the mist—an eerie sight to behold.
***
On the western side of Nether Spirit Valley.
A fairly pretty woman of pure, delicate appearance looked deathly pale, the waist of her snow-white dress soaked in blood.
The young man beside her held her by the waist, his expression solemn.
In a frail, trembling voice, the woman said, “Senior Brother Liu… are we… are we still going to keep pressing forward? Junior Brother Zhao is already dead, so we…”
The young man possessed sharp, sword-like brows and starlike eyes. Gripping a longsword, he surveyed their surroundings warily, his face equally grim.
“We have to go. Otherwise, wouldn't Junior Brother Zhao have died in vain?”
Having said that, the young man did not forget to look down at the beauty in his arms.
The woman’s body trembled slightly, her gaze flickering as she kept her head lowered.
She could feel the arm around her waist tightening more and more.
“Senior… Senior Brother Liu, you’re… you’re hurting me.”
The young man was taken aback for a moment, only then slowly loosening his grip as he explained, “I'm sorry. I was just too tense.”
The woman kept her head down, producing a healing pill and popping it into her mouth.
The three of them had traveled together earlier, never expecting to be ambushed by a vast swarm of Soul-Guiding Butterflies the moment they landed.
By the time she came to her senses, their fellow junior brother was already a corpse.
Had Liu Nansheng beside her not dragged her along as they fled, she would likely have died there as well.
At the time, she had only felt a hand pulling her along, the world spinning so violently that she couldn't see clearly.
Only… she kept feeling that her junior brother’s death was rather suspicious.
Just as her mind was wandering, the young man’s low voice sounded by her ear.
“Don't worry. My elder brother came this time as well. As long as we join up with him, we will definitely be safe.”
“The sect mission offers an exceedingly rich reward. If we can secure the Soul-Nourishing Nectar, our cultivation realms will surely reach the next level!”
“Zixuan, you have to believe in me.”
The woman nodded in a daze, her heart settling somewhat.
Liu Nansheng’s elder brother was Liu Xiong, the Chief Disciple of Xutian Palace.
A favored pride of heaven at the fourth layer of the Heavenly Immortal realm.
If they could travel together with him, they would be far safer.
***
Elsewhere, a middle-aged man clad in green robes slashed repeatedly with his sword. Shifting and maneuvering his frame, he actually slaughtered every single one of the several hundred Soul-Guiding Butterflies around him!
As the butterflies fell, they were drawn in by an invisible force.
The man held a pitch-black stone in his hand, upon which mystical patterns shimmered with an eerie light.
The palm-sized stone was exceptionally smooth and rounded, featuring a small depression in the center.
Once all the Soul-Guiding Butterflies were absorbed by the bizarre stone, the depression filled with a mystical azure spiritual liquid after a brief moment.
The basin was only the size of a thumb. The man’s eyes flickered, and he raised his hand to pour the spiritual liquid into his mouth.
Tilting his head back slightly, a look of mild pain crossed his face, yet his aura began to climb faintly.
The man had wheat-toned skin, sharp features, prominent cheekbones, somewhat sunken eye sockets, and a weary demeanor.
His face was crisscrossed with grotesque, twisted scars—not resembling sword wounds, but looking more like someone had maliciously disfigured his face with a dagger.
Slowly opening his eyes, the man stowed the stone away and scanned his surroundings with a sharp gaze.
Faint rustling sounds drifted from afar.
The man’s expression turned increasingly cold. Flickering into an afterimage, he sped toward the depths.
***
Li Guanqi wore a grave expression the entire way. He could sense turbulent undercurrents surging throughout this expedition.
There were too many people, and their factions were far too tangled…
Right at that moment, Pengluo, perched atop his head, suddenly yanked on Li Guanqi’s hair.
“What is it?”
“To the east! Something good! A spirit herb of at least the second grade, fourth tier!”
Pengluo’s eyes shone with golden light. Li Guanqi’s gaze flashed, and he instantly shifted direction, speeding toward the east.
Not long after taking flight, the clashing of weapons and fierce battle cries reached his ears.
Li Guanqi crouched upon a sturdy tree branch. With his scabbard slung behind his lower back, his left hand reached behind him to rest upon the sword hilt.
In the distance, a black-robed man soared through the air, wielding a short blade in each hand.
The man was handsome, yet exuded a venomous aura, much like a viper.
His narrow eyes gleamed with a sharp glint.
Facing a siege by four Mystic Immortals and one Heavenly Immortal, his expression remained chilled, his eyes tinged with madness.
As he darted and shifted, four overlapping luminous halos faintly manifested behind him!
*Pfft! Pfft!*
“Ahhhh!”
“Go all out!”
The man leaned aside to dodge two sword lights, a sneer curling at the corner of his lips.
“Ants trying to topple a tree!”
Slashing with his left hand, he severed one person’s arm, then raised his foot to kick the hilt of a dropped sword. The blade shot out like a bolt of lightning, piercing straight through another person’s throat.
Parrying with the short blade in his right hand, his left hand gripped his weapon in reverse and swept it horizontally!
A thread of blood instantly appeared across one cultivator’s neck. His right-hand short blade blurred into afterimages.
*Splatter!*
The Mystic Immortal’s head and limbs were severed into several pieces…
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, looking downward in surprise.
*What swift blades!*
*The fourth layer of the Heavenly Immortal realm?*
Yet it was precisely this gruesome sight that caused the opposing Heavenly Immortal cultivator to cry out in terror.
“You’re from Xutian Palace!”
“You’re… Liu Xiong!”
Having said that, the middle-aged man turned around and fled without hesitation.
Blood was splattered across the killer’s face. He stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from his cheek, merely casting an indifferent glance at the fleeing man.
The outcome of the remaining battle required no second thought; it was a one-sided massacre born of absolute strength.
Thoughts raced through Li Guanqi’s mind as his brow furrowed slightly.
*Xutian Palace! Is it the same Xutian Palace that Qisha spoke of?*
There was no time to ponder. He had already spotted an immortal herb resting in the center of the cold pool behind the man.
The immortal herb resembled a lotus, swirling with a soft pink luster, its stem emerald and translucent.
Reaching back, Li Guanqi donned his Rakshasa Ghost Mask and leapt down from the tree!
The hairs on Liu Xiong’s neck stood on end. Looking up, he saw a figure bearing a hideous ghost mask plummeting from the sky.
A pallid white bone scabbard, and fluttering from his shoulders were four ribbons of purple lightning immortal charm!
“Ghost Mask?”
Chapter 1673