BOOM!
Earthy yellow sword light raged across the arena, its sharp, chilling gleam flashing violently.
Tang Chuan swung his blade in an impenetrable blur.
The sight left the onlookers thoroughly impressed by Tang Chuan's prowess. Even out in the world, such strength would place him among the very best.
Yet no sooner had that thought crossed their minds than their gazes drifted to the figure strolling leisurely through the storm of sword light.
Li Guanqi even had a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
He wanted to see just how capable the Wind Thunder Sect's foremost disciple truly was.
Li Guanqi held his sword in his right hand, striking with effortless ease. Yet despite his casual demeanor, every thrust tapped directly against his opponent's weak points.
Though Tang Chuan's offensive looked ferocious, only he knew how miserable he actually felt on that stage.
He had clearly broken away from rigid patterns, yet that blind youth seemed capable of seeing through everything.
Every counter came just a fraction of a heartbeat ahead of his own moves.
It was precisely that tiny margin that made Tang Chuan feel as though every ounce of power he threw out was sinking uselessly into cotton.
The stifling sensation drove him mad.
BOOM!
A surge of powerful pressure erupted from within Tang Chuan, and he slammed a hand violently against the ground!
"Earth spikes?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Li Guanqi's eyes as he vaulted into the air.
Immediately after, jagged stone spikes ten feet long shot up from the ground across a ten-foot radius right where he had been standing!
Yet just as Li Guanqi hung in midair, the corners of Tang Chuan's mouth curved slightly upward.
The protruding spikes snapped in an instant, turning into stone spears that hurtled into the sky.
The sharp projectiles shrieked as they shot upward.
A sharp gleam flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes, tinged with mild surprise.
Yet that was the extent of his reaction. Raising his hand, a purple Thunder Whip manifested in his grasp.
With a sweep of his left hand, he shattered every incoming stone spear into dust.
Right at that moment, Tang Chuan's figure materialized behind Li Guanqi, his sword slashing out with sudden fury!
"Hahaha! You lose!"
Yet at the very instant the longsword swept toward him, Li Guanqi's lips curved into a smirk.
SWOOSH!
The blade sheared through Li Guanqi's neck, drawing gasps of horror from the crowd!
"Ah!"
SWOOSH!
The sword struck empty air—the afterimage abruptly vanished!
Li Guanqi planted a kick right on Tang Chuan's backside with tremendous force.
Tang Chuan's entire body bowed backward into an arch, a sickening crack echoing from his waist.
THUD!
With that single kick, Tang Chuan's entire pelvis was fractured...
He was left sprawled on the ground, wailing uncontrollably.
Li Guanqi said rather boredly, "And this is what passes for the inner sect's number one? Tsk. With the strength you've shown, if you were out in the world, any three rogue cultivators at late Core Formation could kill you."
Li Guanqi pulled no punches. Down below, many of the watching disciples felt he had gone a bit too far.
Suppressing his cultivation by an entire realm to defeat Tang Chuan was undeniably astonishing, but speaking like that made the rest of them sound utterly worthless, didn't it?
Li Guanqi looked up at the elders hovering in the sky and said, "You don't need to doubt the truth of what I say. Cultivators out in the world are far more troublesome than you imagine. They have no moral bottom line and no humanity; as long as it gets you killed, they'll resort to any scheme imaginable."
At that, he glanced down at Tang Chuan and smiled. "Unconvinced? Come on, I'll give you another chance. No need to glare at me."
With that, Li Guanqi tossed the sword in his hand back to Tang Jing, then reached out and beckoned over an utterly ordinary black iron sword.
Giving it a casual flourish, he shifted the weapon to his left hand, pointed the blade at Tang Chuan, and said, "Come. Use everything you have to kill me!"
BOOM!
The power within Li Guanqi erupted with a roar, yet his cultivation remained firmly suppressed at late Core Formation.
Feeling the sheer force and momentum bursting from him, the elders in midair felt their hearts tighten.
If they hadn't taken Li Guanqi seriously before, they were now forced to view him in a whole new light.
Even though he kept his cultivation strictly at late Core Formation, the aura radiating from him was already faintly overpowering Tang Chuan!
Having already lost face, how could Tang Chuan let such an opportunity slip away?
He swallowed several healing pills in quick succession and slapped several talismans onto his body, boosting his speed by more than thirty percent!
Moving like the wind, he charged straight at Li Guanqi in an instant!
As earthy yellow primal energy surged wildly, the sword momentum in Tang Chuan's hands abruptly turned immensely heavy.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, Tang Chuan flashed beside Li Guanqi and brought his sword crashing down with all his might!
The earthy yellow sword ray was breathtakingly immense, shocking everyone present!
This kind of power... if Tang Chuan couldn't rein it in, it could very well cut Li Guanqi down!
"Mountain Collapsing Sword Slash!"
BOOM!
Though Li Guanqi could have easily evaded the strike with his speed, he chose not to do so.
Instead, lightning flashed beneath his feet, and his body blurred into several afterimages as he charged head-on toward Tang Chuan!
This was Tang Chuan's strongest blow.
Li Guanqi murmured softly, his expression blank, "Seven Fiends."
BOOM!
A bone-chilling killing intent swept through the arena, and Tang Chuan's master shot to his feet!
BOOM!
SPLAT!
Amid the shattering sword light, the screech of thunder abruptly tore through the air!
Scorching blood sprayed in all directions!
A black iron sword pierced straight through Tang Chuan's shoulder!
Standing before him, Li Guanqi looked at the undamaged black iron blade and scoffed, "Flashy nonsense."
By now, Tang Chuan's eyes were completely numb. He couldn't comprehend why he had been rendered so utterly pathetic before this opponent.
He couldn't understand... the other party's aura had clearly remained at late Core Formation the entire time, so how could he unleash such terrifying lethality?
During that clash just now, Li Guanqi hadn't dodged at all; he had pierced straight through Tang Chuan's sword light from the front.
If Li Guanqi hadn't angled his strike slightly upward at the last second, Tang Chuan would already be dead.
The old man in midair let out a cold snort, descending to support the injured Tang Chuan.
Before leaving, he gave Li Guanqi a deep look, though he said nothing.
He even nodded slightly to Li Guanqi. In truth, from the very beginning, Li Guanqi had been using his actions to show everyone that their strength was worth nothing in the eyes of rogue cultivators in the outside world.
"Whoa! He really beat Tang Chuan!"
"Bro is too fierce! Way too fierce!"
"D-Did I see that right...? An ordinary black iron sword, an entire realm lower... and he still pulled it off?!"
"He's truly ruthless!"
Tang Jing's eyes shone brightly as she gazed at the youth on the stage.
Yet Li Guanqi merely curled his lip and said, "Does anyone else want to try sparring against an outside rogue cultivator?"
Hearing this, the crowd below instantly fell into a stir.
They had originally come only to watch the excitement, never expecting Li Guanqi to be so formidable that he could defeat Tang Chuan, the inner sect's foremost disciple, with such effortless ease.
At this point, however, no one dared step onto the stage to test themselves; after all, Li Guanqi's terrifying strength was plain for all to see.
Yet right then, Liu Man spoke up, her eyes gleaming bright. "I will!"
Chapter 303