One Sword Shatters Thirteen Thunderbolts!

The moment Li Guanqi opened his eyes, the Nascent Soul within his body erupted with an intense, blinding radiance. Immediately following, the Nascent Soul—previously in the form of a simple infant—began to change rapidly! At the same time, a suffocating agony that tore at his soul abruptly washed over him. His faint blue soul began to merge with the Nascent Soul, and the Nascent Soul's power began to multiply! Sensing the power swelling drastically within him, Li Guanqi gained a sudden insight. So the Nascent Soul in the Soul Formation Realm was merely a transition toward an origin spirit—a so-called "pseudo origin spirit." Only when the Nascent Soul completely fused with the soul to become an origin spirit would one step into the Void Refining Realm. Boom! A terrifying pressure instantly erupted, sending shockwaves billowing in all directions! Without even glancing at the heavenly tribulation thunderbolts falling from above, Li Guanqi turned to Xuan Luo and made a throat-slitting gesture. Seeing this, Xuan Luo felt a shudder in his heart, and an unbidden nervousness welled up inside him. He had fought countless battles throughout his life, his hands stained with endless blood, and had seen far too many so-called chosen pride of heaven. Yet all of them paled in comparison to the youth before him. The youth seemed born with the innate qualities of a supreme powerhouse. What was more... Xuan Luo could actually sense a trace of power from him that struck fear into his heart. At this thought, Xuan Luo could not help murmuring inwardly, *Could it be... he hasn't been using his full strength all along?* But he immediately dismissed the thought. Though he had made few moves in their earlier battle, a single slip in any clash would have ended in death and total ruin. Could it be... even under those circumstances, the youth still held back a trump card? Rumble! Over a dozen thunderbolts, each as thick as a water bucket, cascaded down in rapid succession! The thunder churned heaven and earth, whipping up wild gales in an instant. Xuan Luo's pupils contracted violently at the sight. The power of such heavenly tribulation lightning was enough to obliterate him right then and there! Everywhere the lightning passed, the firmament was torn like tattered cloth, revealing countless pitch-black rifts. Seeing how effortlessly the thunder ripped open the sky only solidified Xuan Luo's conviction. Even Jiuxiao stiffened slightly beneath the terrifying lightning, but it still raised its head to look at Li Guanqi. Its eyes were filled with worry. The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved upward slightly. Looking down at Jiuxiao, he murmured softly, "Don't worry." "If I can't even cross a tribulation like this, how could I be your father?" Boom! As Li Guanqi's words fell, lightning ravaged heaven and earth, and a bloody thunder-infused sword light suddenly surged from the ground! "Demon Shadow Slash: Dark Night!" Boom! The moment the strike was unleashed, heaven and earth plunged into darkness, as if nothing remained between heaven and earth except that terrifying sword light crashing into the tribulation lightning! Dong! Boom! Boom! Boom! The sword beam shattered the thunderbolts like splitting bamboo, hurtling unabated straight toward the thunderclouds in the firmament! Rip! As the sword light slashed across, the heavenly tribulation thundercloud spanning a thousand zhang across was ripped open, leaving a gap hundreds of zhang wide! Raising his hand, Li Guanqi drew lightning into his body, continuously refining its power to transform the spiritual roots within him, rendering his primal energy all the more terrifying. One sword shattered thirteen thunderbolts! The Soul Formation Realm! Two thousand years of lifespan! The tribulation thunderclouds slowly dispersed, and hazy streams of light resembling galaxies flowed back to nourish Li Guanqi. His dantian and sea of consciousness expanded madly several times over, while a dense vortex of spiritual energy howled as it poured wildly into his body. At the same time, fueled by his breakthrough, blood and qi surged through Li Guanqi, accompanied by the faint roar of dragons and elephants within! His muscles swelled tautly, the veins on his neck bulging as his face flushed crimson. Jiuxiao realized what was happening in an instant. Without hesitation, it drew a claw across its chest. A drop of pale golden essence blood immediately floated to Li Guanqi's lips. Li Guanqi looked at Jiuxiao in surprise, only to see it wagging its large head and nudging its dragon claw forward. Taking a deep breath, Li Guanqi opened his mouth and swallowed the drop of essence blood. Boom! The terrifying pressure blasted even Jiuxiao several zhang away. As his blood and qi roared and the Dragon Elephant Prison Suppressing Art circulated, he broke through to the fifth level of the Dragon Elephant Prison Suppressing Art in practically a single breath! Moreover, the faint illusory phantom of a true dragon within his blood and qi grew noticeably more solid. By now, the blessing of heaven and earth had concluded, and a tempestuous power swept across the surroundings! Li Guanqi slowly took a step forward with his right foot. Thud! Unable to bear his weight, the void beneath his foot cracked outward like a spiderweb. That terrifying power inflicted an unprecedented sense of oppression upon Xuan Luo! Standing upon the void, Li Guanqi looked down at Xuan Luo and spoke with indifferent eyes. "I hope you can hold out a little longer." Holding his short blade across his chest, Xuan Luo narrowed his deep eyes and looked at Li Guanqi, asking in a low voice, "Breaking through... you planned this all along, didn't you?" Holding Red Lotus, Li Guanqi lightly twirled the sword, yet the subtle flick tore jagged cracks into the surrounding void. "That's right. I just didn't expect you to be this strong." With those words spoken, neither wasted any more breath—both vanished from where they stood in an instant! Thud! Thud! Two muffled thuds echoed as the ground beneath one shattered while the void beneath the other collapsed by a zhang. The two collided, and immediately, flashes of blade and sword flickered ceaselessly in midair. Blades and swords clashed with sparks flying in all directions, both driven by the resolve to kill the other. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, they exchanged over a hundred moves in midair. Every strike was lethal; every slash of blade and thrust of sword aimed straight for vital points. Both possessed immense combat experience, trading blows back and forth until fresh wounds covered them both. Yet Li Guanqi's physical body was simply too formidable. His skin was now as tough as solid bedrock; a blade striking it could only cut through a sliver of skin, unable to even sever his muscle. Yet only Li Guanqi knew the sheer agony each breakthrough in the Dragon Elephant Prison Suppressing Art brought! Had he not desperately devoured thunder to numb his body, he might have passed out from the pain long ago. In contrast, Xuan Luo was drenched in blood, with a large chunk of flesh sheared from his shoulder. "Boundless Blade!" Boom! Boundless golden blade qi erupted around Xuan Luo as a terrifying blade intent unleashed without restraint. A gleam of golden light crept across his short blade, the razor-sharp blade qi slicing through the void and creating dense clusters of pitch-black cracks around his body. Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. His left hand slowly condensed a sheath of thunder, and his posture dipped low. Within the scabbard burned the searing Purple Dragon Thunder Flame! Boom! Xuan Luo teleported to within several zhang of Li Guanqi, gripping his blade with both hands and slashing upward with explosive force! For a moment, Li Guanqi actually sensed a vast, desolate momentum in his opponent's blade stance! Li Guanqi dared not be careless in the slightest. Crouched low, he exhaled a breath of stale air. Then, his right hand whipped Red Lotus from its sheath! This strike was as swift as a startled swan! With the incoming blade light a mere three inches away, his sword struck second yet arrived first! "Sword Draw Stance: Rushing Thunder!" Boom!