*Crackle! Crackle!!*
The crisp snapping of the campfire sounded particularly jarring in the dark night of the mountain range.
Yet what was strange was that in this mountain range teeming with demonic beasts, not a single beast dared approach within five hundred zhang of this place.
For the dragon might here was enough to deter the entire mountain range!
Whether out of insecurity or something else, Jiuxiao even coiled its body completely around Li Guanqi when it slept, penning him inside.
Sitting cross-legged in the center of the dragon's coils, Li Guanqi felt somewhat helpless.
However, he discovered that being with Jiuxiao made his perception of lightning-attribute spiritual energy much clearer whenever he cultivated.
Yet just as he was immersed in cultivation, his ears twitched slightly. The faintest rustling sounds drifted into his hearing.
Li Guanqi snapped his eyes open, a brilliant glint flashing through his white pupils before fading.
Frowning slightly, Li Guanqi turned his head toward the pitch-black depths of the forest.
He sensed several extremely formidable primal energy fluctuations.
He patted Jiuxiao, but it was fast asleep, its entire body giving off a faint, lustrous glow.
Remarkably, its body began to shrink slowly, transforming into the likeness of a small snake that coiled around his neck.
Li Guanqi was somewhat surprised. He had not expected this little fellow to possess such an ability.
Just as he prepared to leave, a flash of sword light shot straight at him!
*Whoosh!*
Li Guanqi leaned slightly to the side, dodging the sword beam in an instant, his gaze gradually turning cold.
That sword strike was by no means an accident...
*Thud!*
The sword coffin struck the ground, and Li Guanqi simply stood there, waiting for whoever had come.
Yet before the person who had swung the sword arrived, he saw a young girl hurtling through the air!
By the faint moonlight, Li Guanqi finally saw her appearance clearly.
The moment he saw her, his mind shook violently!
For her appearance... seemed neither fully human nor beast!
Her skin was ghastly pale, she had no ears, and along her lower jaw were several slits that opened and closed like fish gills.
Her clothes were torn and tattered, covered in blood and crisscrossed with wounds.
The shredded fabric exposed snow-white shoulders covered in blue scales, which shimmered with seven-colored light beneath the moon.
Her strength was not weak—around late Core Formation—yet a trace of demonic Qi lingered about her!
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes slightly, unsure of who she was.
Behind her, however, three cultivators were in hot pursuit.
Li Guanqi had concealed his aura; had he not been cultivating moments before, those fellows would never have sensed him.
The girl had not expected someone to be blocking her path. A red glint flashed in her eyes, and a burst of ferocity flared!
Raising her hands, she condensed two blue ice spears and launched them at Li Guanqi!
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
A piercing sound tore through the air. Li Guanqi raised a hand and casually flicked his fingers.
*Bang! Bang!*
Two successive explosions rang out, and the ice spears instantly shattered into a mist of water.
A look of astonishment flitted across the girl's eyes. Her gaze narrowed as she veered off, darting past Li Guanqi's flank.
Li Guanqi watched her retreating figure with a touch of curiosity. He did not know why, but even in such dire straits, her attacks had been meant solely to restrict movement, without any killing intent.
And as he looked at her back, his eyes narrowed slightly.
He noticed a faint blue glow emanating along her spine, with a thorn-like protrusion rising slightly at the nape of her neck.
Her back also bulged slightly, resembling the crest of a dorsal fin.
*Swish, swish, swish!*
"Who's there?!"
"If you don't want to die, get lost!"
"Hmph! Just kill him and be done with it!"
The three half-step Nascent Soul cultivators arrogantly opened their mouths, eager to strike down Li Guanqi on the spot.
Hearing this, Li Guanqi merely offered a faint smile. With their meager abilities, they naturally could not perceive his true aura.
Not wanting to cause trouble, he simply stepped aside to let them pass.
The man leading the three cast a deep look at Li Guanqi, waved his hand, and barked, "After them!"
"If we don't catch that one, with the young master's temper, none of us will live!"
*Whoosh!*
The two behind him nodded slightly. Yet just as the man with pointed ears and monkey-like jowls brushed past Li Guanqi, he suddenly noticed something unusual about the little snake around Li Guanqi's neck.
He was skilled in beast-taming arts, and he detected an extraordinarily powerful aura of a great demon coming from Li Guanqi!
What was more, this demonic aura belonged to a newborn juvenile!
An imperceptible gleam flashed deep within the man's eyes.
The instant he passed Li Guanqi, he suddenly lunged, thrusting his sword!
At the same time, he roared, "Kill him! He has the aura of a rank five juvenile great demon on him!"
The gaunt, horse-faced man beside him instantly spun around and thrust his sword as well!
Only the lead man shouted, "Do not stir up unnecessary trouble!"
Yet by the time he spoke, it was already too late. Before his terrified eyes, the blind man merely raised a hand and tapped two fingers against the tips of the two longswords!
In the next instant, the cold-gleaming longswords abruptly shattered!
*Bang!*
Sword fragments went flying through the air. Li Guanqi raised a hand and made a guiding motion, instantly entwining every shard with lightning.
With a flick of his sleeve, the fragments shot forth violently!
In an instant, they punched countless bloody holes clean through the two men's bodies!
In the blink of an eye, the two had turned into cold corpses.
Seeing this, the lead man halted dead in his tracks. He glanced sideways toward the direction in which the youth had vanished.
With solemn eyes, he looked at Li Guanqi and said in a heavy voice, "Senior, please hold your hand!"
"I am pursuing that youth under our young master's orders. They were blind to attack you, and their deaths are well deserved."
"Here is all my wealth—take it as an apology from me, Senior. I only hope you will let me leave!"
With that, the man threw over all the storage bags and storage rings on his person.
Yet those items simply landed in front of Li Guanqi; he made no move to pick them up.
He only looked at the man and said with a light chuckle, "If I am not mistaken, the sword strike that tried to kill me at the very beginning was yours, wasn't it?"
This man was indeed the strongest among the three: peak early Nascent Soul.
He had dark skin and wore coarse hemp clothes, his fierce tiger-like eyes flashing sharply.
Seeing that Li Guanqi had already figured it out, he simply gripped his sword and sneered.
"Take the respect you're given, lest you end up dead without even knowing how."
"Do you know who my young master is?"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly, folded his arms across his chest, and spoke.
"Oh? How big a reputation? Let's hear it."
The man narrowed his eyes and couldn't help sneering at Li Guanqi. "Then listen well."
"We risk our lives for the Eastern Domain's Mo Family!"
"Our young master's name is one you've definitely heard... Mo Congyun!"
Li Guanqi was slightly surprised. He pondered for a moment in his mind until he recalled the Heavenly Secret Top 100 Rankings, and suddenly realization dawned on him.
"Oh! Ranked sixth on the Heavenly Secret Top 100, the Overlord Sword, Mo Congyun."
Seeing Li Guanqi's look of sudden realization, the man sneered arrogantly.
"Hmph! Now that you know, quit lingering here and scramble out of our way!"
Li Guanqi's expression slowly darkened, and he gave a cold laugh. "And if I don't scramble, what can you do about it?"
Chapter 342