Swish, swish, swish!
Li Guanqi swung his sword lightly with his left hand, and dozens of Soul-Guiding Butterflies instantly plummeted.
Just as these butterflies were about to dissipate into the dense fog, Li Guanqi slowly extended his hand and loosely clenched his right fist.
Buzz!
Lightning wove into a two-foot barrier, enveloping all the dead Soul-Guiding Butterflies within it!
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curled slightly, and he murmured beneath his breath, "It seems that facing these Soul-Guiding Butterflies is a dead end for Mystic Immortal cultivators..."
Stowing the corpses of the butterflies, Li Guanqi's gaze turned even more cautious.
Now that his cultivation had advanced to the Heavenly Immortal realm, he could sense ever more acutely the immense danger lurking in this valley, though he had yet to discover where that danger originated.
As he ventured deeper, the surrounding mist grew heavier and heavier, reducing his vision to a mere thirty zhang or so.
Along the path, bleached bones became increasingly common.
The valley turned ever more hushed—an eerie, frightening silence.
Just then, Li Guanqi suddenly detected dense waves of energy more than eight hundred zhang ahead!
*This aura...*
Narrowing his eyes, Li Guanqi flickered forward and arrived in an instant!
Not far off across an open clearing, an emerald immortal herb swayed in the wind, giving off a faint luminescence.
The life force of every spiritual plant surrounding it was rapidly draining away.
While the other spiritual plants gradually withered and yellowed, the spiritual glow of the emerald herb grew increasingly radiant.
A glint flashed across Li Guanqi's eyes as he recalled the records in the Compendium of Immortal Herbs.
Its leaves were long and narrow with feathered edges, and its slender stem bore intricate markings. Upon maturity, it would devour the life force of every living thing within a thousand zhang.
"Rank two, tier seven—the Herb of Moisture!"
"It enhances the resilience of a cultivator's meridians and overflows with vitality."
"What a treasure!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Guanqi darted toward the herb on the verge of maturity.
Whoosh!
A piercing screech tore through the air. A chill ran down Li Guanqi's back, and he spun around, raising his hand to parry!
A man clad in green robes glared at him with a cold, stern countenance.
The sword momentum in the man's grip was extraordinarily heavy, so potent that it startled even Li Guanqi!
Clang!
Sword qi swept out, and astral winds blasted in all directions!
A wisp of blood-red hue was laced within the green sword light.
So crushing was the sword momentum that it sent Li Guanqi reeling back a hundred zhang.
Li Guanqi spun midair and touched down, his toes lightly tapping the earth as he skidded back another zhang or so.
The crook of his right thumb had split slightly, his arm throbbing with numbness.
Yet the man had halted after retreating a mere dozen zhang.
Standing beside the immortal herb, the man washed over with rippling immortal primal energy as four Dao Rings of Spiritual Charm manifested behind his head!
Each ring was as thick as an index finger, semi-translucent.
The man frowned slightly, clearly not expecting Li Guanqi to possess such strength, having been driven back only a hundred zhang.
When he swung his sword, he had anticipated badly wounding Li Guanqi and forcing him to flee. Since the other was no personal enemy of his, he had not intended to kill him outright.
Yet when he caught sight of the Dao Ring of Spiritual Charm behind Li Guanqi—one that had practically solidified into substance—his pupils constricted.
"You're the one who just broke through to the Heavenly Immortal realm?"
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. The man before him was exceptionally strong!
"I am."
The man cast a glance down at the immortal herb unfurling its veins as it neared maturity, warning, "You cannot beat me. Back away."
Li Guanqi's brow knitted. He knew full well the man was powerful—far stronger, in fact, than Liu Xiong whom he had clashed with earlier.
Yet... the immortal herb was right before his eyes!
If the man wanted him to back off, strength alone would not suffice.
Li Guanqi slowly tightened his grip on Red Lotus. A crimson glow shimmered faintly, and its lotus petals bloomed.
Taking deliberate strides forward, Li Guanqi spoke with a calm gaze. "Oh? How do you know I can't beat you?"
As Li Guanqi's aura swelled with every step, the man realized something was amiss.
When he saw the dragon scales spreading over Li Guanqi's arm, his heart jolted violently!
And as Li Guanqi took another stride forward, unveiling the surging, tempestuous sword intent of the peak Po realm, the man's face turned gravely solemn. His hand gripped his sword hilt with unconscious force.
Just then, more than a dozen auras surged rapidly from the surroundings, causing Li Guanqi's expression to shift slightly.
*Liu Xiong... and Liu Nansheng?!*
*How are the two of them together?*
The man's eyes flickered. He cast a wary glance around, swiftly reaching a decision in his mind.
Looking up at Li Guanqi, he said, "You don't know who I am."
"Why should I know you?"
"You wouldn't want to get dragged into a chaotic melee either, would you?"
Li Guanqi frowned and said in a deep voice, "Say what you want directly."
The man already understood that Li Guanqi was no easy target; he had no confidence in killing him within a short time.
"We split this immortal herb evenly!"
Li Guanqi refused outright.
"No. Cutting an immortal herb destroys its medicinal efficacy—it would be a total waste."
"Either we wait for those people to arrive and see who takes it with their own methods!"
Li Guanqi was unwilling to squander it. Having just broken through, refining this immortal herb would bring him no small benefit.
The man wasted no words. He pulled out a pitch-black stone and aimed it at the fully matured herb.
A flash of spiritual light burst forth, and the immortal herb was instantly obliterated!
Cursing the man's cunning under his breath, Li Guanqi erupted into motion and charged, blasting a deep crater into the earth beneath his feet.
With his current physical might alone, his raw speed was terrifyingly swift.
Lightning flashed, and in the blink of an eye, Li Guanqi closed the distance to within three feet.
The man's expression changed drastically. His pupils shrank as he flickered and darted backward.
Yet Li Guanqi pursued him relentlessly, pressing closely with every step.
Suddenly!
A droplet of emerald spiritual liquid the size of a fingernail shot toward Li Guanqi's forehead.
Li Guanqi caught it with an upturned palm, only to see the man pour the remainder of the liquid straight into his own mouth.
The man's figure then blurred, fleeing swiftly through a weak point in the approaching encirclement at blistering speed.
Li Guanqi had Pengluo inspect the droplet. Only after confirming nothing was wrong did he swallow the spiritual liquid!
Buzz!
A potent surge of energy circulated through his entire body. His meridians were enveloped and nourished by the liquid, radiating an emerald luminescence.
The efficacy left even Li Guanqi astonished!
*What kind of contraption was that stone in his hand?*
*Though this spiritual liquid isn't as potent as a pill, it's countless times better than swallowing the herb raw.*
With no time to dwell on it, the ten-odd cultivators behind him were already closing in.
Li Guanqi immediately triggered Dark Concealment, vanishing into the shadows to slip away.
Two breaths later, more than a dozen black-clad figures converged at the clearing where the two had clashed.
Liu Xiong squatted, running his fingers along the trench carved by their stray sword qi, his eyes glinting intensely.
"This is... the aura of that ghost-masked sword cultivator!"
"And the other aura belongs to him!"
"Do the two know each other? Or did Li Congxin come here to kill him as well?"
A youth's voice came from behind.
"Brother, I think Li Congxin must have come to hunt him down too! After all... who wouldn't be tempted?"
Liu Nansheng offered his reasoned analysis, and Liu Xiong did not dispute it.
Waving his hand, the dozen or so black-robed men around him instantly dispersed in all directions.
Every single one of these black-clad cultivators was at least at the second layer of the Heavenly Immortal realm!
Hiding in the shadows several hundred zhang away, Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes.
*Their target was that man just now?*
Leaving the area, Li Guanqi continued deeper into the valley. Whatever grievance they shared had nothing to do with him.
He had no desire to get involved.
His goal was the Soul-Nourishing Nectar. As long as he obtained it, reviving his master would be ninety percent complete!
Suddenly!
The hairs on Li Guanqi's body stood on end. He halted sharply and threw himself into a frantic retreat!
Bursting through the thick fog came a dense swarm of black beetles hurtling straight at him!
The beetles were marked in black and white, each as long as an index finger, with ferocious gnashing mandibles, pale-yellow eyes, and carapaces gleaming with an eerie sheen.
The four pairs of transparent wings on their backs buzzed without a trace of sound, stirring not the slightest ripple in the air.
Chapter 1677