Still, considering he had nothing else urgent to attend to anyway, it was the perfect time to consolidate his realm.
With a wave of his hand, he conjured a map of the Eastern Domain and checked his current position.
The map in his possession was far from comprehensive, but he decided to head toward the Southern Domain. After all, the map he had didn't align with the Eastern Domain, nor was it a map of the Northern Region. He might as well just make his way south.
*Whoosh!*
Li Guanqi reached out and tore open the void before him, setting out toward the Southern Domain.
He didn't idle during his journey either, devoting virtually all his time to honing his swordsmanship and tempering his physical body. His method for tempering his flesh was simple and brutally direct: he would activate the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art and walk straight into the void!
The void's violent spatial turbulence and tearing forces shredded at his body without ceasing. Consequently, he had to combat this power every single moment. Stripped of the protection of spatial energy, he had no choice but to endure it through sheer physical strength.
As time passed, Li Guanqi went from barely enduring a few breaths before having to step out and recover, to being able to hold out in the void for an entire incense stick's duration on physical strength alone after just three days.
Fourfold dragon-elephant power amounted to a staggering hundred thousand jun!
In other words, relying solely on his raw physical strength, Li Guanqi was powerful enough to split mountains and rivers with his fists!
However, the sword spirit had also informed him that if he wished to continue enhancing his physical strength in the future, routine tempering alone would not suffice. He would also need to absorb the violent energy within beast cores and the essence blood of great beasts belonging to the dragon or elephant lineages.
At present, the meridians inside Li Guanqi's body were exceptionally thick and remarkably resilient. Because of this, his primal energy circulated with extreme speed, roaring through him like a thunderous dragon.
During this period, the sword spirit merely urged him to practice his swordsmanship without imparting new techniques. Instead, she had him focus on controlling the power of his existing forms. Only when he could control them at will would she consider teaching him other techniques.
His footwork had also advanced tremendously, making him as swift as a startled swan and as fast as lightning.
Li Guanqi found great enjoyment in what might have seemed a monotonous routine. Every day, he would emerge from the void dripping with blood, and once his wounds healed, he always felt the power in his body slowly increasing. In truth, this sense of growth was merely an illusion—it was simply his existing strength gradually coming under his full mastery.
Watching Li Guanqi covered in blood, the sword spirit nodded quietly to herself before vanishing into the sword coffin's space, where she pondered for a long time. Lying face-down in the void, she clutched her head in frustration and muttered, "With a physical body like that, he definitely needs a set of fist techniques to go with it... Fist techniques... I still need to think."
Li Guanqi remained completely unaware of this. Immersed in cultivation every day, he felt as though he never had enough energy to spare. Fortunately, Chu Xingxian had been very generous upon his departure, leaving him with an abundance of cultivation resources. Adding that to the high-grade spirit stones remaining from the female Soul Formation cultivator, he had no need to worry about resources in the short term.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, nearly two months had passed since Li Guanqi left the Wind Thunder Sect.
He had been traveling continuously throughout those two months and was now extremely close to the Southern Domain. The climate here was pleasantly warm—far better than the biting, icy winds of the Northern Region.
Having endured the elements for so long, Li Guanqi had been cooped up within himself for far too long. At this point, even if he ran into a beggar, he would probably stop and chat for hours.
Soon, following his senses, he picked a direction rich with spiritual energy and sped off!
*Swoosh!*
The clear sky's cloud layer was abruptly sliced in two!
The people walking below noticed nothing amiss.
Before long, several colossal mountain peaks loomed before Li Guanqi's eyes. These mountains appeared massive not because of sheer height; on the contrary, the interconnected peaks were not particularly tall, yet they were exceptionally imposing. The mountainsides of all five great peaks merged almost into a single expanse. Terraces, pavilions, and towers undulated across every slope, their varied heights forming an immense architectural complex. Towering multistorey pavilions and grand structures could be spotted throughout.
With just a slight sweep of his senses, Li Guanqi realized the population across these peaks was immense—at least in the tens of millions! Yet it did not look like a single city; rather, it resembled many cities conjoined together.
Li Guanqi raised an eyebrow and murmured softly, "This place looks pretty lively!"
Liveliness was precisely what he needed right now; he hadn't spoken to a single soul in two whole months.
*Swish!*
Li Guanqi quickly changed into a plain white robe and flashed down onto the street.
The crowd here dressed quite breezily. Most of the women wore sleeveless gowns, some with even lower necklines. For a moment, the sea of fair, exposed skin along the streets almost dazzled him.
The chatter of nearby cultivators drifted into his ears.
"Whoa! Guess who came to Wuzi City today?"
"Who? Throw a brick in this place and you'd hit two or three Core Formation cultivators. What difference does it make who comes?"
Just as the youth finished speaking, his companion leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially into his ear, "Anyone else wouldn't matter, of course. But what if... it's Xue Yan, ranked thirty-ninth on the Nascent Soul Tianji Top Hundred?"
"What?! Xue Yan, ranked thirty-ninth on the Tianji Top Hundred?! When did this happen? Wait, isn't that guy a rogue cultivator? What is he doing in Wuzi City?"
A sharp glint flashed across Li Guanqi's eyes upon hearing this. He was quite curious about these so-called Tianji Rankings, and the organization known as the Tianji Pavilion was even more enigmatic. Almost no one knew who actually belonged to the Tianji Pavilion. A member could be an inconspicuous beggar on the street, a wealthy merchant, or a world-renowned chosen talent.
Still, he didn't dwell on it too much. He simply found the most upscale tavern near the center of the city. A day's lodging cost merely a single low-grade spirit stone. Naturally, the tavern had even better accommodations equipped with spirit-gathering arrays in the rooms. As for other amenities, they had everything one could ask for, so long as one could afford the price.
Li Guanqi paid no mind to the extras. He only wanted to take a proper bath, get something to eat, and then take a night stroll through Wuzi City.
Yet just as he finished bathing and was heading downstairs for a meal, a robust young man suddenly approached from the opposite direction.
The youth had short black hair and wore black martial attire. His features were sharp, with sword-like brows and eyes bright as stars. As the young man walked up from below, Li Guanqi brushed past him.
Just as Li Guanqi descended the stairs, the youth seemed to sense something. He whipped around to stare at Li Guanqi, eyes gleaming with sharp intensity as he muttered in wonder, "So strong! Who is that guy?"
Chapter 312