Just as Xiahou Cang was describing Chu Yuan's words and conduct, a fluctuation of unprecedented power suddenly erupted!
*Rumble—!*
A violent blast was accompanied by the shaking of the earth and the collapse of mountains.
A thick pillar of blue light abruptly shot forth, piercing straight into the clouds!
Li Guanqi and the others sprang to their feet!
When they saw the terrifying blue pillar of light outside the city, their expressions shifted one after another.
With a grim look, Li Guanqi spoke up. "Damn it... The pocket realm has opened ahead of schedule!"
At the same time, two formidable True Immortal auras permeated the void.
Immediately following that, the spiritual glow of barrier arrays abruptly rose.
"Quick! Raise the city-defending array! Under no circumstances must cultivators from outside the bay be allowed in!"
Xiahou Cang hurriedly crushed a jade slip.
A fiery-red barrier instantly flared into existence!
The defensive arrays of all six cities merged together, completely blanketing the interior of the bay. The interconnected, overlapping power of this colossal array barrier grew even more formidable.
A flicker of excitement surfaced in the depths of Chu Yuan's and Chen Ce's eyes. Neither of them had expected things to unfold so quickly.
This fluctuation clearly carried the aura of the Cold Soul Jade Glaze!
Li Guanqi's face darkened. The power within the barrier had erupted far too fast.
It was not part of his plan at all!
With his back turned to Xiahou Cang and Yu Su, Li Guanqi's eyes shifted slightly. Xiahou Cang also cried out in shock at that moment.
"How could it burst open so suddenly?!"
"Hurry! We must seize the initiative!"
With those words, the man's figure vanished from the study along with Yu Su in an instant!
Looking at the empty study, Li Guanqi muttered in a bone-chilling tone, "What a move, Xiahou Cang. You secretly threw ice-element spiritual items into the rift beforehand to force the pocket realm's barrier to erupt early, didn't you?
"Did you think that would be enough to shake my chessboard?"
Li Guanqi reached back, drew out two jade slips, and said softly, "I am going to kill Xiahou Cang."
As the transmission rippled out, the expressions of both Chu Yuan and Chen Ce changed!
Both men were speeding toward Xialin City from different directions.
Yet upon hearing Li Guanqi's words, both narrowed their eyes with conflicted looks.
Meanwhile...
Having crushed his jade slips, Li Guanqi counted silently under his breath.
"One breath. Two breaths..."
"Heh. I see."
At the third breath, a jade slip flickered faintly with light, but Li Guanqi did not even bother to listen. He crushed the jade slip directly!
With a shift of his body, he activated the Demon King Body. The power of Dark Concealment melted into the shadows, completely erasing his presence.
The moment Chu Yuan and Chen Ce hesitated, Li Guanqi understood a great deal.
The premature eruption of the pocket realm meant the third step of his scheme—driving a wedge between them—had not been fully carried out...
Coupled with their hesitation,
Xiahou Cang had likely discussed other matters when he went to see the two of them.
Such as...
Killing Li Guanqi to preserve their current tripartite balance of power!
Just a moment ago, he had caught the bewilderment and unease in Yu Su's eyes.
Even with his own son held in Li Guanqi's hands, Xiahou Cang had still chosen to break the shackles Li Guanqi placed upon him, burning his boats behind him...
Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Xiahou Cang, oh Xiahou Cang... you truly are ruthless. You'd throw away your own son just like that?
"If you are heartless, don't blame me for being merciless.
"I had originally intended to spare your life..."
Light flashed across a teleportation array as Xiahou Cang and Yu Su instantly appeared in the cavern from before.
The moment they emerged, Yu Su shoved the man beside her like a madwoman and shrieked, "Xiahou Cang, have you lost your mind?!
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?! Our son is still in his hands!!
"By doing this now, you're trying to break free of his control and cast him aside! What about our son?!"
*Smack!*
A crisp, loud slap rang out. The cavern was filled with Xiahou Clan cultivators—a full seven Heavenly Immortal experts.
Yet Xiahou Cang struck his lawful wife with an exceptionally venomous expression.
The blow carried immense force, knocking the woman straight to the ground.
Yu Su's eyes filled with utter disbelief.
She could not believe the man before her was the person she knew.
The once gentle and refined man was nowhere to be seen, replaced entirely by a Xiahou Cang dripping with hostility.
"Shut up!"
"Young Master Li this, Young Master Li that—he is nothing more than a Heavenly Immortal! What right does he have to control me?"
"I've already allied with Chu Yuan and Chen Ce! We will divide the realm equally among ourselves first, and then destroy him!!"
"I've had enough of him controlling me!! Enough!!"
"Putting on an enigmatic act, playing the ghost... I was like a puppet left entirely at his mercy!"
With a twisted, hideous snarl, Xiahou Cang shouted, "Did he think that taking my son away would give him leverage over me?
"At worst, I, Xiahou Cang, will simply abandon him! I can always father another one later! But I will be the master of my own fate!!"
Yu Su lay sprawled on the ground, her cheek swollen red with five distinct finger marks.
Her eyes were wide and her lips parted slightly, as though unable to believe what she had just heard.
"Xiahou Cang... do you even know what you're saying?
"He isn't just my son, he is your son too! Your own flesh and blood!!
"How could you be so cruel?!"
With that, she lunged toward Xiahou Cang.
Xiahou Cang waved his sleeve, knocking her back, and clasped his hands behind his back with a cold snort.
"No one can stop me!
"Once I obtain the Cold Soul Jade Glaze, I can step straight into the seventh-fold True Immortal realm!
"No one can stop me... no one..."
With his back turned to Yu Su, Xiahou Cang waved his hand. Boundless immortal primal energy enveloped the cultivators beside him, and they leaped straight down into the rift!
Soon afterward, Chu Yuan and Chen Ce arrived with their subordinates as well!
It seemed Xiahou Cang had also given the two of them array plates keyed to the teleportation barrier.
By now, the cold energy inside the cavern had condensed to the extreme.
The vast cave was blanketed in frost, with a thick layer of ice reaching an entire zhang deep.
The gushing light gradually waned, the mountain trembled, and an occasional phoenix cry could be heard.
Only the woman remained collapsed on the ground, her eyes vacant as tears flooded out like a burst dam.
Her eyes wept red, and she lay on the frozen ice, crying helplessly.
She could not understand why he had become like this.
Or perhaps...
Xiahou Cang had always been this kind of person.
Using any means necessary to achieve his ends.
Even a ferocious tiger would not eat its own cub, yet to pursue absolute power and strength, Xiahou Cang had cast aside all emotion!
He smugly believed his scheme was flawless.
Yet in Yu Su's eyes, it was utterly foolish!
In terms of mind and cunning, he was simply no match for Li Guanqi.
What was more, he had abandoned her right here...
With only her Mystic Immortal cultivation, it would not be long before the cold poison seeped into her body and killed her.
Could Xiahou Cang not have known that?
No, he knew.
That was why Chu Yuan and Chen Ce had cast a deep, telling glance at Yu Su earlier.
Her heart had turned completely to ash...
Suddenly!
"Waaah... waaah..."
The sound of an infant crying rang out.
Wearing his ghost mask and cradling the swaddled baby, Li Guanqi stepped slowly out from the shadows.
Warming flames enveloped the child as Li Guanqi walked toward Yu Su. He pointed a finger, sending a wisp of flame to cloak her.
The biting chill receded, replaced by waves of gentle warmth.
Yu Su looked at the ghost-masked figure in disbelief. Her trembling hands took the child, her gaze overflowing with tender affection.
Her tears dripped down, landing softly against the infant's cheeks.
Remarkably, the baby's cries ceased at once. Plump, fair little hands waved about, reaching toward his mother.
Hugging the child close, Yu Su kowtowed repeatedly to Li Guanqi, the thuds ringing against the ground.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi understood everything about Xiahou Cang's sheer depravity.
With a sigh, Li Guanqi handed the woman an inscribed talisman and said softly, "Go.
"Take the child and leave this place.
"Xiahou Cang is not worthy of Madame Yu.
"Go. Nothing that happens here will have anything to do with you anymore."
Clutching the inscribed talisman, Yu Su gazed with reddened eyes at Li Guanqi's back, then turned her gaze toward the rift in the cavern floor.
She kowtowed repeatedly, until blood streamed down her forehead.
"Yu Su will etch Young Master Li's profound kindness into her heart forever."
As her words fell, the inscribed talisman in Yu Su's hand flared into ash, whisking her and the infant away from the cavern.
Amidst the mountain range stretching a thousand li, Yu Su held the child, muttering with a complex expression, "An empty hexagram... So this is what the empty hexagram truly meant...
"Xiahou Cang, oh Xiahou Cang... you scoundrel!!
"Heh... Hahahahaha! Drawing water with a wicker basket—all for naught!"
With that, the woman vanished with the child, leaving Dixiu Bay behind.
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi gripped an inscribed talisman and instantly slipped through the barrier deep within the rift!
Chapter 1755