Targeting the Crane Alliance!

The instant the old man vanished, a flicker of guilt crossed Tang Ru's eyes. Yet he did not evade the immediate problem, nor did he hesitate for a single second. Taking out a jade slip, he said in a heavy voice, "I'm sorry. Your whereabouts were leaked by my people." "Leave Jinxiang City right now, immediately!" Within Li Guanqi's sleeve, the jade slip flickered faintly. Gazing at the space beginning to twist and warp around him, he murmured under his breath, "Too late... I can't leave now." The moment the words left his mouth, the pedestrians and stall vendors beside Li Guanqi violently erupted into action! In an instant, an earthen-yellow barrier screen sprang open, its boundary completely enveloping the void within a thousand zhang. Nearly thirty Nascent Soul realm experts struck at once! Li Guanqi cast aside all disguise. The sword coffin manifested behind him, and the pitch-black sword casket suddenly snapped open! *Clang!* Red Lotus flashed into his palm. Li Guanqi continued to suppress the agitated Jiuxiao. Jiuxiao was, after all, a true dragon, and still a juvenile at that. If people with ill intent caught wind of him, it would not just be Nascent Soul and Soul Formation cultivators coming after him. Besides... it was only a handful of Nascent Soul cultivators. He did not take them to heart in the slightest! *Boom!* "Sword Prison—Open!" In an instant, more than twenty people soaring through the air discovered to their horror that the void within a thousand zhang had turned entirely into a thunder pool! Immediately following that, a wave of scorching lightning and flame swept across heaven and earth! Gripping Red Lotus in his left hand, Li Guanqi unleashed nearly a hundred slashes in the blink of an eye! *Boom! Rumble, rumble, rumble!* Agonized shrieks rang out one after another, so shrill that even the few standing outside the barrier could hear them with crystal clarity. Through the heavy barrier of light, they could vaguely make out figures twisting and wailing amidst the flames. Before they could even react, wave after wave of thunderous sword light slammed relentlessly into the thick formation barrier. *Clang, clang, clang! Boom, boom, boom!* Explosive roars sounded without pause. Accompanied by the eruption of flames inside, the entire space of the barrier began to melt away frantically. *Crack! Crack, crack, crack!* *Boom! Bang!* The barrier shattered. Li Guanqi's figure instantly appeared before one cultivator's eyes, and before the man could react, a beam of sword light had already flashed past! Lightning glinted, and the afterimage faded. The moment the barrier ruptured, several headless corpses tumbled from the sky. The instant their Nascent Souls drifted out, heavenly flame enveloped them and burned them into nothingness! The entire area within a thousand zhang in Jinxiang City turned into a sea of fire! Every building was reduced to ash in this moment, leaving a crater a thousand zhang wide in the massive city. Even the ground was scorched into oblivion by the searing flames. Li Guanqi retracted the power of the flames, a glint of cold light flickering in the depths of his eyes. Even so, he sensed a continuous stream of auras rapidly closing in! A stifling, suffocating fury welled up within him! With cold light flashing in his eyes, Li Guanqi murmured softly, "If you want to kill me, you'd better be prepared to die." Without waiting for those people to arrive, he flickered and vanished from the spot. Before departing, however, Li Guanqi looted the corpses of every cultivator he had slain and stored them all away. This time, he chose not to destroy the bodies. He wanted to see which sects had dared to make a move against him. He was a petty man who never let a grudge go unpaid. Since they had dared strike at him, he would certainly repay the favor in full. Stepping forward, he teleported straight out of the city. The remaining cultivators within Jinxiang City had not known what was happening at first. Only when they saw the youth carrying the sword coffin, holding that scarlet longsword, did it dawn on them. The sword cultivator Li Guanqi, who had stirred up waves across the Great Xia Domain, was right here in Jinxiang City! In an instant, countless people picked up jade slips to send out word. By the time they transmitted the news, Li Guanqi had already left Jinxiang City behind. Inside his study, Tang Ru paced anxiously, deeply unsettled. Only when he learned Li Guanqi was safe and sound did he finally breathe a sigh of relief. Yet clutching the jade slip connected to Li Guanqi, he did not dare send a message... He understood that after this incident, it would likely be difficult for Li Guanqi to trust him again. Things went precisely as he anticipated. The moment Li Guanqi left Jinxiang City, he crushed Tang Ru's jade slip. Even so, Li Guanqi knew this matter likely had nothing to do with Tang Ru himself. Still, he was now facing an entire domain's worth of enemies; he could not afford to drop his guard in the slightest. Li Guanqi glanced in the direction of the Crane Alliance. Giving a cold snort, he turned into streaks of lightning and vanished into the void. Jiuxiao harbored quite a bit of resentment over Li Guanqi not letting him fight. Li Guanqi smiled. Somewhat helplessly, he tossed the dragon an assortment of miscellaneous pills, consoling him in a soft voice, "You're my trump card. There's no need for you to step in just yet." Jiuxiao shook his massive head in mild confusion, exhaled a puff of dragon breath, and finally let it rest. Sitting atop the dragon's head, Li Guanqi turned numerous matters over in his mind, murmuring softly, "According to Tang Ru, the Mo Family contacted an assassin organization named Dark Crow." "Yet so far, not a trace of them has been found." With that, Li Guanqi produced the Tianji jade pendant and began looking into information concerning the Dark Crow organization. Soon, the jade pendant responded with an overview of Dark Crow: "Dark Crow, the largest assassination organization spanning all Six Domains. Boasting an extremely high success rate, they once assassinated a Domain Lord." "No one knows who Dark Crow's leader is, nor does anyone know where their base lies. No one has ever seen a member of Dark Crow." Just this single piece of information cost him five high-grade spirit stones. Li Guanqi's expression turned solemn, his brow furrowing tightly. "Even the Tianji Pavilion doesn't know who their leader is, nor where their base is located." "It seems this Dark Crow organization truly cannot be underestimated..." "Heh, no one has ever seen a member of Dark Crow... Looked at another way, everyone who saw them is dead!" Yet out of all that information, only one line truly shocked him: "They once assassinated a Domain Lord!" This put Li Guanqi on high alert, prompting him to take stock of the resources at his disposal. By nightfall the next day. Li Guanqi appeared silently amidst lush, verdant mountains. A thousand zhang away atop a mountain peak, a majestic sect stood towering above the clouds. *Buzz!* Red Lotus drifted out and landed firmly in Li Guanqi's grasp. Cold light flared in his eyes! According to the information he had obtained through the jade slip, the Third Elder of the Crane Alliance had made a move against him on direct orders from their sect master. *Whoosh!* Space rippled slightly. With two consecutive teleportations covering a distance of a thousand zhang, Li Guanqi materialized out of thin air directly above the Crane Alliance. *Boom!* The Sword Prison domain snapped open instantly, unleashed with his full power to envelop the entire Crane Alliance in a single breath! Countless people were jolted awake from their cultivation. Looking out at the space that had turned into a prison of thunder, their hearts seized with terror. Flames swept across heaven and earth, waves of fire coalescing into a barrier that trapped everyone inside. Today, he, Li Guanqi, would take on an entire sect with his strength alone!