Li Guanqi's eyes flickered with excitement; it seemed he had struck a massive bargain this time!
After putting away the stone bowl, Xiao Gutou caught sight of the other Void Heaven Stone in Li Guanqi's hand and swooped over in a flash!
Li Guanqi dragonified his left hand and shot it out swiftly!
Bang! Rip!!
Even through the dragon scales, a chunk of flesh was bitten off Li Guanqi's finger.
Seeing this, the Profound Bone Radiant Bug realized it had caused trouble.
With its head hanging low, it flew sluggishly toward Li Guanqi, glancing back at the Void Heaven Stone that had fallen to the ground, yet still continued flying toward him.
Pengluo flew into a rage. Divine runes spread across his body, and in the blink of an eye, his form swelled to the height of a grown man as he slammed a fist onto the golden beetle!
Boom!!
The ancient trees all around shook, and the bug was blasted over a hundred zhang away by the blow.
"Damn it all, can't you tell who's the boss around here?!"
Pengluo took to the air, determined to teach it a proper lesson.
Li Guanqi reached out to stop Pengluo and said softly, "Alright, it didn't do it on purpose. It must have been starving lately."
Whoosh!!
A streak of gold appeared before the two of them in an instant, moving so fast that even Li Guanqi was startled, to say nothing of Pengluo.
It turned out Xiao Gutou had taken the beating on purpose just now; otherwise, with its speed, how could Pengluo have ever touched it?
Not a single scratch marked Xiao Gutou's body. Pengluo's all-out strike had failed to harm it in the slightest!
After flying back, Xiao Gutou pointed its prolegs at the stone, then pointed at its mouth.
Then, right before Li Guanqi's eyes, the bone runes on the Profound Bone Radiant Bug's back began to gleam, and its abdomen swelled at a visible rate.
Li Guanqi's mouth fell slightly open. Before his stunned gaze, it laid a fingernail-sized, black-shelled egg!
Li Guanqi held the egg and examined it closely. He could sense an exceedingly faint life aura inside it!
"Is this... a Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug?"
Xiao Gutou nodded, then looked left and right before suddenly darting into the deep mountains!
After a while, it returned carrying a thumb-sized piece of silver ore in its mouth.
Gulping it down in a few bites, it laid a silvery-white egg.
Pengluo's mouth dropped wide, and he rubbed his eyes.
"A Silver-Backed Black Armor Bug???"
Xiao Gutou's eyes lit up, and it nodded repeatedly.
"What is that? Another kind of bug?"
Gulping, Pengluo clambered onto Li Guanqi's shoulder and took both insect eggs into his hands to inspect them.
"Good grief... Xiao Gutou possesses two ancient bloodlines. That might be why it showed signs of atavism.
"These Silver-Backed Black Armor Bugs boast astonishing defense. Back in ancient times, people hunted them down, strung them together, and refined them into suits of armor!"
Having said this, Pengluo realized he had wronged Xiao Gutou.
Looking up at the golden bug hovering in midair, he said, "Master, Xiao Gutou probably wants to help you raise an insect army, but it will need an enormous amount of resources—immortal ore."
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered. He, too, felt that his current Dragon Transformation technique had become somewhat lackluster.
After all, he was not a true dragon and lacked a dragon core in his body, so the defense of his scales naturally could not rival a true dragon's.
If his defense truly matched that of a true dragon, then against cultivators of the same realm, he could stand there and let them attack without them ever breaching his defense.
He comforted Xiao Gutou: "Alright. Going forward, I'll do my best to buy you as much immortal ore as possible."
Xiao Gutou nodded, and only then did it fly timidly over to Pengluo.
Pengluo wasn't so petty either; he extended a hand to cradle it and placed it on his head.
The large one and the small one were about to return into the sword coffin when Li Guanqi suddenly spoke.
"Um... how is she doing?"
Pengluo shrugged. "I can't even see that lady... so I don't know either."
Li Guanqi nodded, then returned to the inn in the city.
Early the next morning, he set off with Li Nanting once more toward Qingxuan Province.
Before departing, however, he spent nearly a million immortal crystals purchasing a large batch of second-grade immortal ore.
The steward's face nearly cracked from smiling so wide, assuming Li Guanqi was a weapon refiner and even extending an olive branch.
Xiao Gutou was overjoyed. After gnawing through a bucket-sized chunk of black ore, it fell into a deep slumber.
Li Guanqi settled Xiao Gutou directly into the Sumeru Treasure Hall.
After an arduous journey, Li Guanqi finally set foot on the territory of Qingxuan Province three months later.
During this period, by consuming medicinal pills and spiritual liquid, Li Guanqi's cultivation realm reached the peak of the third layer of the Heavenly Immortal Realm.
Under his guidance over this time, Li Nanting's cultivation also broke through to the Void Refining Realm.
Once he had mastered the basics of the cultivation art, his cultivation speed had noticeably accelerated.
By now, the old man no longer felt the embarrassment and unease from before.
Over the course of nearly half a year, he had gradually adapted to the Immortal Realm's environment.
Yet he trained with exceptional diligence. Whenever they encountered great demons of comparable strength, the old man would take the initiative to battle them.
Though he was injured at times, with Li Guanqi present, his life was never in danger.
Thus, under normal circumstances, Li Guanqi would not intervene, even in dire situations.
A hint of sharpness had begun to show on the elder's face—a sharpness that belonged solely to cultivators!
Dixiu Bay, Western Region of Qingxuan Province.
The scenery here was picturesque and beautiful.
High mountains and flowing waters meandered through the landscape, where a sprawling plain was dotted with cities.
River waters wound past like a crescent moon.
Li Guanqi and his master walked out from one of the cities, their eyes unable to hide their weariness.
It was hard to imagine how fast Lin Jinting had traveled when rushing to the Linluan Realm back then, and what price he must have paid. A teleportation array of that tier probably cost an astronomical sum of immortal crystals just for a single ride...
Stepping out of the teleportation array and breathing in the fresh air, Li Guanqi felt refreshed.
The air carried the clean scent of soil. Puddles had formed in the depressions of the bluestone pavement beneath his feet, suggesting it had rained recently.
The street vendors all wore smiles on their faces.
Outside the shops, some shopkeepers sat on benches, gently fanning themselves with folding fans, while others sat behind counters, clicking away at abacuses.
Li Guanqi took the elder beside him by the arm and chuckled softly. "Master, let's find an inn to stay for a few days and get some proper rest."
Li Nanting nodded slightly. "Alright. After traveling so far, I am indeed a bit weary."
The two walked through the streets and alleys, stopping occasionally along the way to soak in the local customs and atmosphere of the city.
Just then, a commotion erupted along the wide street.
A massive golden leopard great demon galloped toward them, pulling an ornate carriage!
The great demon's eyes were reddish. For reasons unknown, it had been provoked and was rampaging forward, bowling over and injuring quite a few commoners.
No matter how hard the cultivator aboard pulled on the reins, it was futile—the disparity in strength was far too great.
The great demon was second-grade, whereas the hemp-robed cultivator was merely at the seventh layer of the Mystic Immortal Realm.
Li Guanqi saw that the beast-taming collar around the demon's neck had already developed cracks!
Li Guanqi didn't want to meddle in others' affairs and pulled Li Nanting aside into a shop.
However, the cries of panic from the carriage and the wailing of a toddler caught his attention.
People and mounts were thrown into disarray, throwing the street into chaos. In the distance, Black-Armored Guards were galloping toward them, but they were still several hundred zhang away.
Amidst the surging crowd of fleeing people, a young child tripped and fell onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
A man nearby knelt without hesitation, bracing both arms over the child with eyes tightly shut, vainly hoping to block the great demon.
"Disciple—!"
Before Li Nanting could even finish calling out, Li Guanqi had already flashed into position.
Facing the frenzied great demon bearing down upon them, he leapt high into the air!
With his left index and middle fingers aligned like a sword, he slashed through the wood connecting the carriage to the beast.
His right hand balled into a fist, covered in dragon scales, and with blood vitality surging, he smashed it down onto the skull of the leaping great demon!
Crash!!
Bang!! Clatter!!!
The great demon, measuring two zhang long and weighing several thousand jin, was smashed right out of the air by that single punch!
Its body slammed onto the ground, shaking the surrounding buildings and shattering the bluestone bricks underfoot.
Li Guanqi cast a glance at the shattered beast-taming collar and turned to leave.
"Thank you! Thank you, immortal, for saving us! Thank you!"
Thud, thud, thud!
Having survived the ordeal, the man pulled his son down to kowtow repeatedly against the ground.
Li Guanqi raised a hand, releasing a gentle force that lifted the man up.
"Think nothing of it."
Chapter 1725