Lin Jinting left Dixiu Bay, intending to travel to the nearest city to exchange for some immortal crystals.
As was his habit, he concealed his form and aura as he sped through the air.
Soon, however, the man frowned, his brow knitting tightly as he glanced back toward the mountain range surrounding Dixiu Bay.
"Why are there so many concealed auras?"
As an expert at the eighth level of the True Immortal realm, Lin Jinting did not fear even Qiu Yanji.
His figure flickered as he darted toward the mountains. Before long, he detected numerous auras in a distant mountain col!
Reining in his presence even further, Lin Jinting drew closer to the col.
An invisible barrier materialized before him!
Lin Jinting frowned slightly. The scene inside the barrier looked normal enough, but a mere illusion like this was hardly enough to deceive him.
He produced a purple jade pendant and pressed it against the barrier.
As the jade shimmered with light, it miraculously split in two.
Lin Jinting pulled the two halves apart, tearing a slit through the barrier.
He slipped inside and retrieved the pendant without drawing anyone's attention.
A resplendent, magnificent palace stood nestled in the col.
From within walked a young man exuding an extraordinary demeanor.
"Ye Lingyun! He hasn't left yet?"
"Three True Immortals..."
"What is he planning?"
Concealed amidst the treetops, Lin Jinting's mind raced, and a possibility quickly struck him!
Ye Lingyun had most likely heard about Li Guanqi's hundred-battle pact.
The reason he had lingered was probably to wait for Li Guanqi to step out of the beast colosseum!
It seemed he was still unwilling to let matters rest...
Yet if that was all, Ye Lingyun could have simply left a single cultivator behind to keep watch.
Why set up camp here and wait in such force?
With only these few True Immortals, snatching someone from Qiu Yanji's grasp was far from enough!
Lin Jinting narrowed his eyes, his brow deeply furrowed.
Suddenly!
Something dawned on him, and his pupils contracted slightly.
"Could it be... the Ye family is sending reinforcements?!"
At the thought, veins throbbed on his forehead. With a flicker of movement, he darted back outside.
Once clear of the barrier, Lin Jinting did not even bother exchanging immortal crystals, hurtling straight back toward the beast colosseum.
With the six cities inside Dixiu Bay embroiled in chaos and factions vying for supremacy, hardly any cultivators traveled that way.
An hour later, Lin Jinting returned to the beast colosseum. Without even stopping by his private box, he headed straight for the first basement level!
Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap!
Inside the room, the elder frowned slightly and said in a heavy voice, "Enter."
"Hm? Fellow Daoist Lin, why have you returned?"
Lin Jinting's chest heaved slightly. He took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Ye Lingyun has set up camp a thousand li away. It won't be long before the Ye family arrives!"
The elder shot to his feet. "What! The Ye family is sending people?"
Lin Jinting nodded gravely. "Most likely. Otherwise... Ye Lingyun wouldn't have erected a barrier and pitched a palace to wait out there."
Qiu Yanji rose and began pacing the room.
"If Li Congxin remains in the beast colosseum, matters are simple enough.
"But if he leaves after the hundred battles... I won't be able to intervene.
"Even the Fuyu Immortal Sect behind me wouldn't get involved!"
The elder turned to Lin Jinting and asked in a low voice, "What if... you take him and leave early?"
Lin Jinting considered it, a bitter look surfacing on his face.
"I doubt he would agree to leave.
"And if the Ye family sends a Golden Immortal powerhouse, I won't be able to stop them either..."
The elder paced noticeably faster, his brow knitted tight.
"Then... what if he contacts the Jiuding Heavenly Palace?"
Lin Jinting could only nod.
For now, that was the only solution they could think of.
"Very well. I will have someone notify him."
Only then did Lin Jinting feel relieved enough to return to the private box. On the surface, he betrayed nothing, yet Lin Shengwu still noticed something amiss.
"Big Brother, did something happen? You came back a bit too quickly..."
Lin Jinting did not say much, secretly reaching out to Venerable Zhanhe.
At the same time, he also attempted to contact people from the Jiuding Heavenly Palace.
***
Second basement level.
Li Lei rushed over, heading straight for Room 96.
When the door opened, Li Guanqi asked in some surprise, "Brother Lei, what brings you here?"
With a solemn expression, Li Lei relayed everything they had learned from Elder Qiu.
"I'll take you upstairs right now. Contact the Jiuding Heavenly Palace immediately—delays breed trouble!"
Li Guanqi was equally surprised upon hearing this. He had assumed Ye Lingyun had left outright that day.
Who would have thought that not only had he stayed, he was actually calling upon the Ye family to send reinforcements!
He licked his lips, a glint of cold light flashing in his eyes.
Though he was reluctant to rely on Meng Wanshu's connections, only the Jiuding Heavenly Palace could contend against the Ye family's might right now.
"Alright. Brother Lei, please pass a message to Uncle Lin for me: tell him not to worry."
With that, Li Guanqi followed Li Lei out of the second basement level!
To everyone watching, the sight seemed utterly incomprehensible...
Arriving at the upper level of the colosseum, Li Guanqi had just taken out a jade slip to contact Meng Wanshu when the corner of his eye caught sight of a burly, blind man.
The man was broad-shouldered and powerfully built, clad in tattered hemp garments.
The left half of his face, centered around an empty eye socket, was shriveled and withered like dried tree bark.
Holding a bucket of swill, he emptied it into a trough. Just as he was about to straighten up, he sensed a killing intent rising behind him, so dense it was practically corporeal.
Li Lei was baffled. He saw Li Guanqi's eyes suddenly become laced with fine red veins, the killing intent erupting from his body swirling like a crimson light, bone-chillingly cold.
Boom!
Violent killing intent surged into the sky. The man whipped around, his lone remaining eye trembling in terror as he stammered, "Li... Li Guan..."
Boom!
Holding his sword in one hand, Li Guanqi unleashed a roar that shook the very heavens!
"Bai Su!"
Boom!
The blood and qi inside Li Guanqi boiled and roared, and the bluestone paving beneath his feet shattered across dozens of zhang in an instant!
Thud!
With a thunderous crash, Li Guanqi's aura surged, skyrocketing to a level comparable to an eighth-level Heavenly Immortal.
Swoosh!
A dazzling flash of purple lightning struck out. Moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, Li Guanqi hurtled toward the man.
Bai Su's pupil quivered. He turned to flee, but with his cultivation at merely the second level of the Mystic Immortal realm, how could he possibly escape?
Boom!
Li Guanqi stowed his longsword and planted a vicious kick right into Bai Su's back.
Whoosh!
The man's body shot out like a cannonball, smashing through several walls before crashing violently onto the beast colosseum's central plaza!
Dust billowed as Li Guanqi stepped slowly out from the rubble of the shattered walls.
That kick had severed Bai Su's spine; his lower half had lost all sensation, and blood gushed from his mouth.
Having felt Li Guanqi's terrifying pressure, Bai Su was engulfed in sheer terror.
Back in the Human Spirit Realm, Li Guanqi had risen rapidly with his monstrous talent.
Who could have imagined that here in the Immortal Realm, his monstrous talent would be displayed even more thoroughly!
In just a little over a year, he had already reached heights beyond Bai Su's wildest imagination.
"You worthless mongrel... I never expected to run into you here...
"Coward clinging to a pathetic life—surprised to see me?"
Chapter 1770