Glutton for Punishment

The sword coffin behind him continually surged with threads of profound power, feeding it back into Li Guanqi. Within the sword coffin, only half of Xuanming remained, looking as if something had gnawed away the rest. The power drawn from the sword was the Sword Gall Realm sword intent Chen Zhi had wielded in life. Only now did Li Guanqi truly understand why his grandfather called the sword casket a sword coffin. "A coffin to bury swords... this is absurdly monstrous." The sword spirit was on the verge of awakening. He had officially stepped into the middle Soul Formation Realm, and his sword intent had broken through to the Sword Gall Realm. Moreover, when he used the Sword Ruins earlier, he had sensed that Red Lotus's true might was far beyond what it had shown... Clenching his fist, Li Guanqi felt his strength multiplying compared to before. Looking up toward the distant land of Mingchuan, he knew he had to venture into the upcoming mysterious ruins! Once things were settled here, he also planned to search for Ye Feng. He still hadn't been able to contact the man, and had no idea how he was faring. As for Cao Yan... even the Tianji Pavilion couldn't find a trace of where he was. He had no idea whether the fellow had been captured. Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Li Guanqi suppressed the tangled thoughts in his mind. *Buzz!* Having disguised himself in the dead man's appearance, Li Guanqi suddenly pulled to a halt. Sensing no one around, he quickly took out a jade slip. From the jade slip came Shen Lan's voice. "Guanqi, your master has recovered! His golden core has been reformed!!" The anxiety pressing upon Li Guanqi's heart finally lifted, and he hurriedly asked, "Mistress, is Master awake yet?" To his surprise, Lu Kangnian's overjoyed voice came through the jade slip instead. "Hahahaha, rest easy, kid!" "With his golden core reformed, your master no longer has any lingering worries. Drawing on hundreds of years of accumulated foundation, he's breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm right now!" At that point, Lu Kangnian's voice paused slightly. "To obtain that medicinal pill... you must have paid quite a hefty price, didn't you?" "I've heard bits and pieces. Take care of yourself out there." Li Guanqi nodded silently, lowered the jade slip, and let out a long breath. Naturally, he knew how perilous this journey was. Otherwise, with the Tianji Pavilion's immense influence, he didn't believe they couldn't produce figures even stronger than those on the Tianji Rankings. Having fought the Dark Crow organization, he had come to understand a fundamental truth. The truly formidable individuals never appeared on the Tianji Rankings. They were unranked, yet far stronger than those on the list. Chen Zhi... had been quite a handful. If not for that final Sword Draw Stance coupled with the Purple Dragon Thunder Flame suppressing him, it would likely have devolved into another grueling battle. With no more worries weighing on his mind, lightning flashed beneath Li Guanqi's feet, and he vanished from where he stood. Li Guanqi's figure slowly rematerialized. He had no choice; before him stretched the defensive barrier of a massive grand formation. Like everyone else, he had to reveal himself and enter through the city gates. Looking up, a colossal city wall over thirty zhang high loomed before him. Built from massive blocks of pitch-black stone fitted together without the slightest seam, it possessed an imposing, solemn grandeur. The immense battlements atop the wall spanned more than a hundred zhang across, and the colossal gates gleamed with a metallic sheen. High above the gate hung an enormous stone plaque, upon which two characters were inscribed in bold, sweeping calligraphy: *Mingchuan.* Currently, however, the main gates were tightly shut, and all the cultivators arriving here had to enter through a side postern. Two rows of black-armored guards stood outside the entrance. Their leader wore no helmet; he had an elongated face, a hooked nose, triangular eyes, and greasy hair plastered to his forehead. A ruthless hostility hung between his brows, yet the faint pressure emanating from him was immensely formidable—middle Soul Formation! The queue to enter the city was not long. Many wore black robes, while others were powerful cultivators whose eyes gleamed with sharp light as they scanned their surroundings. Li Guanqi had wrapped the sword casket on his back in coarse linen, making it look as though he were carrying an oversized coffin. This naturally drew quite a few glances, though none made a move. After all, nobody wanted to stir up trouble right at the city gates. Noticing several ill-intentioned stares, Li Guanqi curled his lips into an uncanny smile. He wouldn't mind killing a few more people—after all, he had been short on spirit stones lately. Soon, as the queue moved forward, it was Li Guanqi's turn. The black-armored leader narrowed his eyes at Li Guanqi and twitched his nose slightly. Suddenly, his gaze turned razor-sharp!! With a swift motion, he drew his sword and pressed it against Li Guanqi's neck! The surrounding black-armored soldiers immediately closed in, encircling Li Guanqi. The man squinted his triangular eyes at Li Guanqi and rasped coldly, "Who are you?" Li Guanqi answered without missing a beat. "Ye Feng." The black-armored man didn't respond immediately, his eyes locked onto Li Guanqi. "Dressed like that... you'd be considered an evil cultivator, wouldn't you?" Li Guanqi glanced down at himself. A bloodstained robe, a skull hanging from his waist, and an object like a coffin strapped to his back. And the fellow he had killed looked like someone with one foot already in the grave... Li Guanqi gave a slight shrug and said softly, "And so what?" The black-armored leader sneered, "So what? There isn't the slightest stench of blood on you. I strongly suspect your identity! Take him away!" Seeing this, many onlookers watched on as if enjoying a show. Quite a few among them had also come with concealed identities. "Heh, this guy really doesn't know how to play the game. Something that could be solved with a little coin—why make it hard?" "If you're going to disguise yourself, at least make it convincing. What an idiot." Li Guanqi ignored the jeers buzzing around his ears. Catching the teasing mockery in the guard leader's eyes, Li Guanqi sighed helplessly. "Taken for a soft persimmon to be squeezed, huh..." Li Guanqi slowly raised his head, murderous intent flickering in his eyes as he looked at the man. His finger curled slightly, and a streak of scarlet light flashed in an instant! In the next breath, all the black-armored soldiers around him froze in place, utterly motionless. As for the black-armored man, though he appeared not to have moved, an extra footprint had appeared beneath him on the ground. The man's pupils shrank to pinpricks. His throat bobbed slightly, and suddenly, a line of blood surfaced across his neck!!! *Thud, thud, thud!* The heads of the seven or eight black-armored soldiers encircling Li Guanqi dropped to the ground in an instant, blood gushing forth like geysers! This scene terrified everyone present... Killing without a second thought over a minor disagreement—this was undoubtedly the hallmark of an evil cultivator! The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curled into a cold sneer. Immediately afterward, a boundless, chilling killing intent erupted from his body. This killing intent distorted the surrounding space. The air temperature plummeted abruptly, making the hairs on everyone's arms stand on end. Within a hundred zhang, an illusion of mountains of corpses and seas of blood appeared before everyone's eyes!! A sickeningly sweet stench of blood rushed straight into their nostrils!! And the figures in that illusion had likely been formidable cultivators in life... Terrified by this sudden onslaught, the black-armored man collapsed limp to the ground. He was the one directly facing Li Guanqi! Trembling violently, his face was as pale as ash, drenched in cold sweat as if he had just been hauled from a pond. Li Guanqi slowly leaned down, his voice chillingly cold. "Now... do I look like an evil cultivator?" The man nodded frantically. With trembling hands, he frantically fished out several jade tokens and held them out to Li Guanqi, dropping a few onto the ground in his panic... Li Guanqi slowly straightened, took the jade tokens, and sent the man flying with a kick. Muttering under his breath, he cursed, "What a glutton for punishment."