Treacherous Plot, Bloody Battle!

Boom!! Crack, crack, crack!! The shattered barrier came crashing down like broken shards of porcelain. Yet what those eight ballista bolts shattered was more than just the defensive barrier. It shattered the final shred of resolve lingering in the hearts of the Ziyang Palace disciples! The sword casket behind Li Guanqi snapped open! The crimson Red Lotus sword instantly flashed into his grasp. Li Guanqi lowered his eyes, which were mapped with bloodshot veins. A savage contortion seized his expression as he rasped in a low growl, "Kill!!!" Boom!! That fierce roar rang out as if shouting in unison with the disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect across the heavens! In an instant, sword gleams and spear glints erupted throughout the sky. The cultivators of the Great Xia Sword Sect, who had been on the verge of exhaustion, saw the barrier shatter and felt a savage surge of fighting spirit swell within their chests! Many of them bit down and crushed the red pills hidden in their collars! In a flash, though the Great Xia Sword Sect disciples were fewer in number, every single one of their auras surged madly, climbing an entire minor realm in the blink of an eye! Their depleted dantians replenished considerably. Corpses of Ziyang Palace disciples began plunging ceaselessly from the sky. The purple-robed disciples of Ziyang Palace were already seized by the urge to retreat, constantly fleeing through the air toward the grand hall. Yet now that Ziyang Palace lacked the protection of its grand formation, the disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect had already stormed onto palace grounds! Many directly swept up the spirit stones scattered across the ground into their pouches, and in passing did not even spare the plates of the spirit-gathering arrays. Han Tiange had already sensed disaster the moment he saw those eight bolts. Yet Ling Daoyan clung to him like a maggot on bone, tangling him in relentless combat. Lu Kangnian sneered, "Han Tiange, let's see how you turn the tables now!!" Suddenly, Han Tiange laughed. Weaving and dodging through the air, he said in a chilling voice, "Since that's how it is, don't blame me." "Come forth!!" Boom!!! In an instant, several colossal teleportation arrays abruptly flared to life across Ziyang Palace grounds! Streams of figures poured out from the teleportation arrays in continuous succession! Dressed in vivid purple robes, Ye Shaozhen stepped out with a cold expression, his voice heavy. "Han Tiange, I hope you keep your word!" Ye Shaozhen, Sect Master of the Qixian Sect! Behind him marched over a hundred disciples from the Qixian Sect. The other two teleportation arrays carried the forces of Qinglong Island and Zixiao Pavilion! Although the three sects had not deployed in full force, the Core Formation disciples they brought numbered nearly one hundred and fifty! Nascent Soul elders totaled fifteen! Such a concentration of powerhouses was enough to thoroughly alter the course of the battle! Han Tiange's eyes turned icy as he said in a deep voice, "Rest assured! Not a single thing promised to you will be shorted!" "The Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect didn't come?" At these words, Yu He, Island Master of Qinglong Island, sneered with contempt. "They didn't come. They got scared. Combining the strength of our three sects is more than enough!!" Seeing this, Lu Kangnian's face turned dark as stagnant water as he fended off the four opponents before him. Turning toward the three sect masters, he barked in a heavy voice, "You lot really were born to be lackeys! Think carefully—don't end up losing the battle and forfeiting your lives!" Yu He sneered, "Lu Kangnian, mind yourself first! Disciples, slaughter them!! As long as they belong to the Great Xia Sword Sect, leave none alive!!" Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!! In a flash, the disciples and elders of the three sects completely encircled the cultivators of the Great Xia Sword Sect. Lu Kangnian roared urgently, "Fall back! Form groups of three, back-to-back!" Boom!! A longsword slammed against a spear, its terrifying force cleaving straight into the shaft! Before the young man's terrified eyes, the blade of Red Lotus sheared through the spear, its sword gleam flashing past in the span of a breath! A head went flying. Even in death, he could not fathom how the origin energy of his opponent's Core Formation had not yet run dry. Panting heavily like an ox, Li Guanqi felt his arms trembling uncontrollably; relying on the spear's leverage, his opponent's strength had been immense. Suddenly!! Li Guanqi snapped his head toward a spot three hundred zhang away! The clash there had abruptly turned ferociously intense. Amidst flashes of sword light, Xu Zhengjie was already falling into a severe disadvantage. Without a second thought, Li Guanqi shot toward the elder at full speed!! Suddenly!! Li Guanqi vaguely sensed a faint aura creeping stealthily behind the elder! "Elder Xu!! Watch your back!!!!" Infused with origin energy, his shout carried hundreds of zhang in an instant! Yet before the sound could even reach the elder's ears, Li Guanqi saw the space three zhang behind the old man ripple faintly. 'An invisibility talisman!!' Shhk!! Li Guanqi came to a sudden halt. Inhaling deeply, he reversed his grip on the hilt of Red Lotus and planted his feet in a throwing stance. With his blood churning, he took a fierce stride forward. His waist twisted, his body drawing taut like a full bow, and he hurled the Red Lotus sword from his hand with explosive force!!! "Haaah!!!" In that split second, the space around Li Guanqi warped faintly as purple lightning crackled relentlessly along the blade of Red Lotus. The longsword shot out like a spear, gleaming with crimson radiance!! Screeech!!! Red Lotus let loose an ear-piercing sword cry midair, trailing a bolt of purple lightning as it tore forward like a streak cleaving through the night sky!! Li Guanqi's shout rang in Xu Zhengjie's ears, accompanied by that shrill sword hum. Almost simultaneously, from the warped space behind the elder, a gleam of cold light struck straight toward the back of his head! Driven almost purely by instinct, the elder shifted a zhang to the side!! The crimson sword grazed the elder's cheek as it flew past, pinning the figure behind him and carrying him flying more than a dozen zhang! Spurt!! "Aaargh!" Yet what caught Li Guanqi completely off guard was that as he closed to within a hundred zhang of the elder, he sensed another concealed aura right in the path where the elder had shifted!! "Watch out!!! There's another one!!" Li Guanqi's eyes bulged with rage, and his voice cracked in a hoarse roar. Yet it was already too late... A figure lurking in midair abruptly materialized, and a longsword gleaming with cold light thrust straight through the elder's body! A single strike through the heart! "No!!!!" "No!!! I'll kill you all!!!" Li Guanqi's eyes widened in horror, refusing to believe the scene unfolding before him. Xu Zhengjie did not hesitate for an instant. Before the swords of the three attackers could hack him to pieces, an incomparably violent surge of energy erupted from within his body! In the very next breath! The old man seized the two cultivators beside him in an iron grip, while his legs locked tightly around the one directly in front of him. He cast a look of quiet gratification toward the youth in the distance, looking as though he had so much left to say. Boom!!! The terrifying blast flung Li Guanqi back dozens of zhang before he could even reach them! The figures who had stood in the sky were blown into bits of minced flesh... In the final moment of his life, Xu Zhengjie had chosen to self-detonate his golden core, dragging those around him into mutual destruction. Li Guanqi roared toward the heavens, "Aaargh!!!" In an instant, his vision turned completely blood-red, and the world observed through his mind's eye was painted scarlet. Red Lotus flashed back into his grasp. Li Guanqi—one man and one sword—charged like a savage beast straight into the throng of disciples from the Qixian Sect and Qinglong Island!