What the Hell Are You Looking At

Li Guanqi sat cross-legged in the void, powerful ripples of primal energy surging ceaselessly through him. The wounds across his body were also rapidly mending. Yet for some reason, an empty ache lingered in his chest. Even after killing Chen Zhi, it remained. "When people die... they are truly gone..." There were people you parted with, never knowing that a particular parting was fated to be the very last. He had to treasure every person by his side. Li Guanqi exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, dispelling much of the gloom weighed upon his heart. His thoughts began to replay the battle with Chen Zhi. His greatest gain had been his sword intent, which had faintly brushed against another realm. Checking his bearings, Li Guanqi woke Jiuxiao and had the dragon carry him toward the place where the ancient ruins were about to open. *Mingchuan!* Mingchuan lay in the Southern Domain of Lingxu Continent, quite a long journey away. Even with Jiuxiao carrying him at full speed, it would take a solid three days. Li Guanqi slowly closed his eyes. Three days should be enough for him to touch that realm. Sword Gall Realm sword intent... As Li Guanqi's breathing grew extraordinarily long and slow, his overall aura underwent a gradual transformation. Though Chen Zhi had been powerful, Li Guanqi always felt that if Chen Zhi's strength were placed in Qingyun Continent, he might not truly have been able to claim the title of number one. For reasons unknown, he always felt that the cultivators of Qingyun Continent were somewhat stronger. Shaking his head, he reflected on how perilous the clash had been. From start to finish, the tempo of their combat had been fiercely rapid. Neither had dared to give the other even the slightest breathing room. It was precisely because he had kept his true strength concealed all along that his final, earth-shaking strike had achieved such an unexpected effect. *Sword Draw Stance...* In truth, a single notion had always lingered in his mind. When fighting an enemy, if one could unleash their strongest strike, then strike with only that one sword! Thus, his current Sword Draw Stance stood as the strongest sword strike he could muster. This strike was quite complex, resembling the Heaven Shatterer technique from the Heaven Breaker Sword Art. Yet the Heaven Breaker Sword Art was immensely difficult to comprehend; to this day, he had not even touched the threshold of the third sword. The second sword was Heaven Shatterer, so what was the third stance called? Shaking his head, Li Guanqi began pacing slowly across the dragon's back while a shimmering purple radiance emanated from his body. He fell into an exceptionally profound state, sword intent surging restlessly around him. He constantly recalled the surging sword intent he had felt when facing Chen Zhi. Gradually, the pressure radiating from Li Guanqi grew stronger, and his sword intent thickened. As the resolve in his heart grew clearer and firmer, suddenly— A terrifyingly vast, majestic sword intent surged into the sky, piercing through the clouds! Li Guanqi snapped his eyes open, raised his arm, and slashed out with his sword!! *Clang! Boom—!* A condensed, ten-zhang sword beam blasted outward in an instant. The void space along its path was twisted and torn out of shape before detonating within the emptiness. *Rumble, rumble, rumble—!* The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly, and he looked down at the sword in his hand. The Red Lotus sword gleamed with a soft crimson glow, yet he felt a subtle, mystical resonance. That strange sensation was ethereal and elusive, still somewhat beyond his grasp. The broken sword within the Sword Ruins of his spiritual terrace trembled faintly, yet something was still missing. "Could it be... Red Lotus can become even stronger?" He did not fully understand the abilities of the Sword Ruins, but after Soul Release, Red Lotus's lethal power had increased by at least thirty percent. His divine sense hummed as he surveyed his surroundings, and he froze for a moment. He had clearly only closed his eyes to comprehend for the time it took an incense stick to burn, so how had they already flown all the way here? Jiuxiao rolled its eyes. It had been flying at full speed for three whole days. Li Guanqi gave an awkward smile. Seeing the grievance in Jiuxiao's eyes, he hurriedly tossed it two pills. As for why he had not let Jiuxiao join the previous battle, the reason was simple. Earlier, Jiuxiao's strength had been somewhat greater than his own, and he did not want to develop a habit of relying on external help to fight his battles. One man, one sword—that was his greatest reliance! At that moment, another sword lay buried within his sword coffin: an entirely pitch-black longsword, Xuanming. The Coffin of Buried Swords! Li Guanqi checked his map. He was now barely a thousand li away from Mingchuan. After a moment's contemplation, Li Guanqi said softly, "Jiuxiao, go back to sleep." Hearing this, Jiuxiao happily transformed into a bracelet and coiled around his right wrist. Dragons were naturally fond of sleep. After enjoying a hearty feast and being allowed to slumber, Jiuxiao was overjoyed. Li Guanqi gradually reined in his aura, ultimately disguising himself as a middle Nascent Soul cultivator. He retrieved a face-changing bug, placed it against his cheek, changed casually into a navy robe, and stepped out of the void. The lands of Mingchuan were surrounded by endless stretches of mountains and rivers. However, the rivers here were different from those commonly seen in the outside world. Every single river flowed with an eerie black water! Legend had it that the rivers of Mingchuan connected to the true Netherworld River and could lead into reincarnation. Yet such tales were merely myths. The waters of Mingchuan simply contained a higher concentration of Yin-Nether power, possessing nothing truly extraordinary beyond that. Various sects and clans resided throughout Mingchuan. Though the land was vast and sparsely populated, it was remarkably lively, rivaling any great mortal human city of the outside world. Standing midair, Li Guanqi looked at the scattered points of light in the distance. Light flashed beneath his feet as he sped toward Mingchuan. Gazing at the misty rift flickering with faint luminescence above Mingchuan, Li Guanqi furrowed his brows and murmured, "Such immense ripples of primal energy..." "These ruins... will likely draw quite a crowd." Matters unfolded just as he anticipated. The emergence of the ruins above Mingchuan drew closer by the day. More and more cultivators were converging from every direction. *Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!* A series of faint whooshes sounded beside Li Guanqi's ears as numerous void rifts slowly tore open. Cultivators in all sorts of bizarre attire appeared one after another. When some laid eyes on Li Guanqi, their gazes turned distinctly malevolent. Only then did he realize that most of the people capable of coming here were at peak Nascent Soul, with even more in the Soul Formation Realm. His cultivation of middle Nascent Soul truly stood out a bit too much. Helpless, Li Guanqi glared at the cultivator radiating murderous intent toward him and barked, "What the hell are you looking at? If you've got a problem, come have a go at me." The corners of the mouth of the man hung with several white skulls at his waist twitched slightly. Turning, he stepped forward, instantly appearing right before Li Guanqi. Li Guanqi wasted no words. As if foreseeing the move, he reached out and clamped his hand straight onto the man's face. It looked as if the moment the man teleported into view, he had delivered his face directly into Li Guanqi's palm. *Boom—!* The heavenly flame detonated, and before the man's terrified eyes, his entire body was instantly reduced to a handful of flying ash. All that remained in midair was a set of clothes and a bizarre, exaggerated pile of skulls. Li Guanqi gave them a look of disgust, but in the end, he still put on the man's clothes. His aura rose, ultimately settling at early Soul Formation. With a slight contortion of his features, his cheeks hollowed out. His complexion grew pale and his eye sockets deeply sunken, making him look as if his oil were burnt dry and his lamp extinguished. "Off we go." *Swish!* Li Guanqi vanished from the spot in a single stride, stepping into Mingchuan.