Boom!
At this moment, Li Guanqi felt as though his very blood were burning.
His thoughts flowed unhindered, and the sword in his hand let out a joyful hum.
Yet right at that moment, the sword coffin behind him began to tremble uncontrollably.
Immediately afterward, the golden sword plummeting from midair was suddenly tugged by a mysterious force and shot straight toward the sword casket!
Li Guanqi watched in astonishment. That golden sword was Zhao Beichen's soul armament.
Yet now, the sword—having already lost its spiritual nature—was abruptly drawn inside the sword coffin!
Intricate, profound patterns then surfaced across the sword coffin, followed by a sudden revelation in Li Guanqi's mind that left him appalled...
*Blade Break!*
The Blade Break ability belonging to Zhao Beichen's spirit ruins had been forcibly plundered!
As he looked down at Red Lotus in his hand, which radiated boundless sharpness, Li Guanqi's chest heaved violently.
This bizarre turn of events sent his heart racing, and his breath grew ragged.
He hurriedly asked, "Sword Spirit! What's going on?"
"Why was Zhao Beichen's Blade Break ability forcibly plundered, and why can I use it now?"
The sword spirit's voice echoed with seven parts arrogance and three parts disdain.
"Haven't you already sensed it? Plunder."
"Otherwise, why do you think your grandfather called this sword casket a sword coffin?"
"A coffin to bury swords!"
Li Guanqi's heart leaped into his throat, and he couldn't help drawing a sharp breath.
He muttered inwardly, *To think... sword coffin... so that's what it means!*
The sword spirit continued, "Bury the swords of the mighty; seize the ruins of the strong!"
"With your current strength, you can wield at most three abilities at once."
Suddenly!
A whistling sound sliced through the air behind Li Guanqi's head!
In an instant, purple light flared beneath Li Guanqi's feet. He shifted sideways several zhang, evading the strike.
Turning around, he found a Core Formation cultivator from Ziyang Palace glaring viciously at him.
A cold, frosty gleam flickered in the middle-aged man's eyes, and the sword in his hand was wreathed in an emerald-green glow.
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. Red Lotus blazed with blinding radiance, and his body turned into a streak of light as he charged at the man!
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
In an instant, purplish-red sword rays carved out dozens of arcs through the air, lightning-fast and falling upon his opponent like torrential rain!
Yet his opponent was no weakling either. By Li Guanqi's perception, the man was at least a peak mid Core Formation cultivator!
His faintly discernible pressure was imposing and majestic, nothing like a greenhorn newly stepped into the Core Formation realm.
Though the man's sword was not fast, his bizarre wood-attribute spiritual energy allowed him to parry two of Li Guanqi's strikes with a single blow at critical moments.
His sword was nimble and eerie, darting like a venomous snake.
*Buzz!*
The sword momentum of Red Lotus in Li Guanqi's grasp shifted abruptly!
Purple lightning surged all around them in a flash, and an eerie purple glow flitted across Red Lotus's blade!
In that breath, the speed of Li Guanqi's left-handed sword surged to its absolute limit!
The man merely blinked, and by the time he opened his eyes again, sword light filled his entire vision!
Emerald origin energy coursed through the man's body in an instant. An inch of sword light flickered at the tip of his blade as he swung with a profound momentum toward Li Guanqi!
*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Yet Li Guanqi brought his blade down without the slightest hesitation!
*Blade Break!*
*Boom!*
The sword momentum of Red Lotus was tremendously heavy, sparking showers of fire between them in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the man's sword shattered into countless fragments!
A cold flash streaked past, and the unused talisman hidden in the man's right sleeve slipped free and tumbled down.
He clutched his spurting neck, his eyes filled with sheer disbelief...
To his dying breath, he couldn't comprehend how his opponent's sword could so effortlessly chop his own blade to pieces.
Two hideous sword wounds scored Li Guanqi's chest and arm.
The burning sensation made his whole body quiver slightly, yet it was a quiver of excitement.
He had never imagined the Blade Break ability would be so terrifying!
Earth-shaking battle cries resounded across the sky, and Great Xia Sword Sect's disciples finally began to reveal their shortcomings.
Namely, their Core Formation disciples were simply too few. Among their hundred-odd Core Formation disciples, many had already sustained injuries during the daytime battle.
Not to mention that Ziyang Palace now fielded over two hundred Core Formation disciples.
Li Guanqi drew a deep breath. Activating his movement technique, he plunged into the battlefield of Core Formation cultivators.
However, he did not seek out late Core Formation cultivators; with his current strength, clashing with them would only bog him down in prolonged struggle.
He could kill them, but it would take considerable effort.
Instead, he set his sights on those who had only recently stepped into the Core Formation realm!
Among these Ziyang Palace disciples, many had auras that were still fluctuating violently.
They had been dragged out before their cultivation realms had even stabilized.
It seemed that after retreating during the day, Ziyang Palace had expended immense resources to force many disciples to break through!
Li Guanqi was like a god of slaughter now. As his blood boiled within him, his divine sense surged around his body.
Under the blanket of his divine sense, everyone's movements slowed to a crawl.
Like a razor-sharp blade, he charged straight into the crowd of Ziyang Palace disciples!
Against these disciples, his terrifying might was practically an overwhelming crush!
With every flash of sword light, blood sprayed through the air.
His white robes were dyed crimson, and blood trickled down his jaw.
Having killed until his eyes turned red, Li Guanqi radiated a terrifying aura that chilled the soul.
Higher up in the firmament, the roars and rumbles grew even fiercer—that was the battlefield of Nascent Soul cultivators.
Yet the elders of Great Xia Sword Sect had fallen completely into a disadvantage.
The enemy simply had too many Nascent Soul cultivators; almost every Great Xia Sword Sect elder had to face two opponents at once.
Even the mighty Qin Xian and a few others had to fight three Nascent Soul cultivators single-handedly!
Moreover, four origin energy domains spanning a hundred zhang flickered across the sky.
The power unique to Soul Formation cultivators was truly capable of cleaving mountains and splitting rivers!
At this moment, Ling Daoyan's sword erupted with waves of scorching, blazing sword light, pressing Han Tiange down completely!
Whether in cultivation realm or in mastery of arts and spirit incantations, Ling Daoyan's comprehension far surpassed Han Tiange's!
Though Han Tiange was hard-pressed, clad in his magic treasure robe with its tremendous defensive power, he still managed to hold on and even strike back when opportunities arose.
Yet in another part of the sky, Lu Kangnian—who had only recently entered the Soul Formation Realm—faced the long-renowned Guan Youzi, and his entire body was already covered in wounds.
Guan Youzi held his sword, casually deflecting the incoming sword light with ease, turning a blind eye to the earth-attribute origin energy domain shimmering beside him.
He let out an eerie cackle. "Lu Kangnian, this domain power of yours is still far too weak."
"Tell me, why bother going through all this?"
Chapter 171