Li Guanqi looked calmly at the black-robed man before him.
The man's features beneath the black cowl were somewhat indistinct, but Li Guanqi could see a pair of deep, piercing eyes.
With a flick of his sleeve, Li Guanqi drew the storage ring from Lu Yi's hand into his own.
Standing not far away, Xue Yan stared grimly at Li Guanqi.
The youth gave him an intensely dangerous feeling.
A sense of dread and unease that made his hair stand on end enveloped his entire body.
He raised a hand to touch the blood on his cheek, where a long gash had split open, tearing through the hood of his black robe. Had his reaction been a fraction of a second slower, he would have likely perished under that surging sword light.
Beneath the dark folds of his robe, his hands trembled uncontrollably. Only by erupting with Geng Metal power had he managed to purge every trace of the lingering lightning energy.
With starry eyes beneath sword-shaped brows, Xue Yan fixed his burning gaze on Li Guanqi and murmured under his breath, "What a formidable fellow! Lu Yi... did not die in vain."
Yet Xue Yan's appearance sent a violent shockwave through the countless experts in the city.
Even the old man behind Tang Ru narrowed his eyes slightly.
He had heard of Xue Yan. Though Xue Yan was ranked thirty-ninth—seemingly only one spot above Lu Yi—he was an anomaly.
His mastery of the sword was exceedingly high; he was practically a born sword seed.
When the Tianji Rankings were announced, many had speculated that if Xue Yan's cultivation reached a higher level, he would certainly possess the strength to break into the top twenty.
On the Top 100 Rankings, every gap of ten spots was an insurmountable chasm.
A fighter in the higher tier of ten could easily overwhelm someone in the next.
The top ten were considered monsters by everyone, while those in the top twenty were more than capable of crushing so-called chosen geniuses from all walks of life.
Tang Ru clenched his fists, muttering with a solemn expression, "Xue Yan!... Even he was raised by Second Brother?
"As I thought... they have all been secretly cultivating their own forces!"
The old man naturally heard every word Tang Ru said. His eyes deepened as he gazed toward the distant sky.
Bowing toward Tang Ru, he sent a voice transmission: "Young Master, could we perhaps win this Li Guanqi over—"
Tang Ru whirled around and cut him off sharply, "Absolutely not!"
His voice was laced with anger.
Tang Ru looked at the old man and said in a heavy tone, "Elder Qian, remember this: you must never entertain such an idea in the future, nor ever show the slightest trace of condescension before him."
With that, he turned back to look at the white-robed figure standing in midair with sword in hand.
"He is proud to his very bones.
"Even if we want to win him over, the only way is to befriend him with genuine sincerity.
"Trust me, being friends with him will never be a losing proposition!"
At the same time, Tang Ru made a silent decision. Regardless of how the situation before them unfolded, he had to do it!
Li Guanqi looked up at the man before him and said softly, "Xue Yan?"
Xue Yan did not deny it. Instead, he lifted his sword, bowed slightly in salute, and said softly, "I am Xue Yan. Please grant me your guidance."
Li Guanqi had not expected the man to be so courteous.
The onlookers below were buzzing with commotion, and scattered fragments of their conversations naturally reached his ears.
He could also sense that his opponent was formidable, and a surge of battle intent rose within him.
Even so, he spoke softly, "Are you... truly determined to make a move?"
Xue Yan was taken aback. He had not anticipated that this ruthless youth, who killed without batting an eye, would ask him such a question.
He understood the deeper meaning behind those words all too well.
Beneath the black robe, Xue Yan took a long look at Li Guanqi and broke into a grin.
"Yes."
A flicker of emotion stirred in Li Guanqi's eyes. "You will die," he said softly.
Xue Yan stiffened suddenly at those words. Then, right before everyone's eyes, he ripped off his black robe.
Beneath it, Xue Yan wore a dark navy robe that was far from luxurious—rather plain, in fact.
He wore an emerald jade crown upon his head. While his features were not handsome, they were remarkably resolute.
A trace of unprecedented, exhilarating laughter spread across his sharply chiseled face.
He looked at Li Guanqi before him and said softly, "I have no other choice."
He had been an orphan since childhood, and everything he possessed today had been given to him by the Tang family.
As he stood atop the mountain watching the earlier duel, he had known full well that he likely stood no chance against the youth before him.
Yet he stood here anyway, because right now... he was repaying a debt.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly. He saw the tangled conflict in Xue Yan's eyes.
He had not expected the answer to be 'no other choice.'
And in Xue Yan's eyes, a resolve for death had suddenly flared!
Boom!
A majestic pressure erupted with a roar, and razor-sharp Geng Metal power burst forth instantly.
A pillar of golden light surged straight into the clouds like a heaven-reaching beam.
Terrifying shockwaves rippled outward wave after wave, causing the surrounding onlookers' faces to tighten in alarm.
A Nascent Soul elder's eyes widened in sheer disbelief as he stammered, "Late... late Nascent Soul!"
"He has already broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage!"
Indeed!
During the time he had remained in hiding, Xue Yan had successfully broken through to the late Nascent Soul realm.
Tang Ru sensed this overwhelming pressure, instantly turned toward the elder behind him, and asked in rapid fire, "What realm is Xue Yan at right now?!"
The old man narrowed his eyes and said in a grave voice, "Late Nascent Soul!"
Tang Ru lowered his head, muttering under his breath, before abruptly turning toward Li Guanqi in midair and sending a panicked voice transmission.
"The odds are against you, withdraw!
"Go! Having broken through to the late Nascent Soul realm, Xue Yan's strength is enough to rank in the top twenty!"
Li Guanqi remained entirely unmoved by the warning. Standing where he was, he looked at Xue Yan not far away and said softly, "Is it worth it?"
What Li Guanqi wanted to ask was whether doing this was truly worth it.
Xue Yan's eyes were filled with complex emotion. Though he and the person before him were enemies, and though they had interacted only briefly, he could tell that Li Guanqi genuinely did not want to kill him.
If only... if only he were not Tang Yan's deathsworn agent...
Because the youth standing before him was someone he had felt a deep spiritual kinship with for so long.
He admired how the youth drew his sword in fury and spilled blood across three feet of earth when faced with powerful foes and injustice.
He admired how the youth had used his own deeds to forge the unyielding spirit of an entire sect for the sake of its rise!
He admired Li Guanqi for living as he pleased, following his own true heart in everything he did.
From the moment he learned of Li Guanqi's deeds, he had been filled with admiration and curiosity toward him.
He had never imagined that fate would play such a cruel trick on them—that their very first meeting would be with drawn swords, fighting to the death...
Li Guanqi also saw the turmoil in Xue Yan's eyes, an emotion so layered that even Li Guanqi, having weathered countless hardships of the mortal world, could not fathom it.
The corners of Xue Yan's eyes grew faintly moist, and the aura across his body surged once more!
Boom!
The youth clad in dark blue robes slowly raised his sword. His eyes turned sharp and cold as he stared at Li Guanqi, declaring in a resolute voice:
"If you respect me... use your full strength to kill! me! dead!"
Chapter 321