Ke Qin had long since frozen in terror, rooted to the spot and unable to move.
Squelch!
At that razor-thin moment of life and death, a hand suddenly clamped onto the dagger's blade with an iron grip!
Fresh blood trickled down Li Guanqi's palm. Expressionless, he walked in front of Ke Qin and flung the dagger back with a flick of his wrist.
Thwack!
The dagger drove straight through the youth's palm, pinning him firmly to the ground.
Li Guanqi stared fixedly at Ke Qin with his lifeless eyes, paying no heed to her pale face as he spoke in a low, heavy voice.
"This is the one and only time you are permitted to go softhearted, because this time, I can afford the consequences."
"If there is a next time, I will abandon you and leave you to fend for yourself."
"Let me make this clear: since they declared life and death are on our own heads in this mystic realm, don't treat it like a game!"
"You only have one life! I will not let a softhearted fool drag me down!"
Slash!
With those words, a flash of sword light burst from Li Guanqi's hand, and the Qixian Sect disciple was decapitated!
Having done this with a cold, blank face, Li Guanqi said gravely, "We need to leave at once. Their people won't take long to find this place."
With that, Li Guanqi gathered the fallen disciple's storage bag and identity jade slip.
Pale-faced, Ke Qin was trembling from head to toe, a few spatters of fresh blood staining her cheeks.
Li Guanqi turned to her and said coldly, "If you're not moving, you won't ever have to leave."
Only then did Ke Qin snap back to reality, stammering in a panic, "I'm coming... I'll go!"
And so, the five-person squad sprinted away in another direction.
No one spoke along the way. Only the thick-skinned Ye Feng ventured to ask, "Have you killed people before?"
Li Guanqi answered without expression, "I have."
Right then, however, Li Guanqi abruptly veered!
He snapped his eyes open and said in a low voice, "Ye Feng, Zhong Lin, circle around from behind them. Keep a distance of five hundred zhang."
"Wait until I strike before you show yourselves!"
Lin Dong said in a heavy tone, "You picked up traces of Qixian Sect disciples?"
Ye Feng curled his lip and replied, "Why else do you think he took that guy's identity jade slip?"
"Zhong Lin, with me!"
Whoosh!
The two figures vanished into the tall wild grass in an instant.
Li Guanqi glanced back at Ke Qin, who was still in a daze, and sighed inwardly.
*All of them are pampered lambs raised in a greenhouse...*
"Lin Dong, come with me from the east!"
"There are only two of them. End it quickly!"
The party of three moved toward the east. Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, calculating in his mind.
*Now that conflict has arisen, wipe them out down to the roots!*
This had always been the mindset his grandfather drilled into him.
Ever since he was young, Su Xuan had taught him that once friction arose with someone, either do not act at all, or resolve the trouble once and for all!
Yet even in his childhood, he had often wondered why his grandfather had always insisted on being so reasonable with the people in the village.
Rustle!
When two purple-robed disciples laid eyes on their decapitated sect brother, rage flared instantly!
"What nerve from the Great Xia Sword Sect! How dare you slaughter a disciple of our Qixian Sect?!"
Yet before the man could finish his grief-stricken roar, a voice suddenly rang by his ear!
"Why wouldn't I dare?"
Clang!
Li Guanqi's sword was barely parried. In that very instant, the man had broken through to the tenth level of Qi Refinement!
The youth possessed a sleek, cold face, narrow eyes, and exceptionally faint brows—the very picture of a sinister and scheming individual.
"So you haven't fled after all! The Great Xia Sword Sect has truly produced a vicious character."
Clang!
Li Guanqi's sword rained down upon his opponent like a violent storm, a cold smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.
"You talk too much!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Bang!
The two swords clashed in midair, sending sparks flying in bursts. Despite reaching the tenth level of Qi Refinement, the youth was forced into retreat step by step under Li Guanqi's vast, surging primal energy.
Li Guanqi's blade was swift as the wind and ferociously aggressive.
Even with his breakthrough, the youth could barely hold his ground before being kicked several zhang back.
Before he could steady his footing, Li Guanqi had already closed the distance!
Channeling primal energy into his feet, Li Guanqi moved swift as a gale.
Squirt!
In an exchange of crossed blades, the sword tip plunged straight into the youth's chest!
At the same time, the opponent's sword stabbed into Li Guanqi's shoulder.
Without a flicker of emotion, Li Guanqi spun around instantly and threw himself into Lin Dong's fight behind him.
Neither Lin Dong nor Ke Qin had ever killed anyone. Even fighting two against one, they had only managed to contain their opponent.
Seeing that his senior brother had been slain by Li Guanqi, that disciple panicked at once.
"I am an inner disciple of the Qixian Sect! You cannot kill me!"
At those words, the swords in Lin Dong's and Ke Qin's hands hesitated.
"Damn it!"
Li Guanqi closed in on the two in a flash.
Meanwhile, Ye Feng and Zhong Lin rushed in from behind, but seeing this unfold, they were equally powerless to intervene in time.
That disciple was clearly clutching two purplish-black pills in his fingers!
In that desperate split second, Li Guanqi hurled his sword with all his might!
Infused with thunder primal energy, the longsword shot out like a lightning bolt.
Splat!
The blade punched straight through the disciple's skull, its tip stopping barely a finger's breadth before Ke Qin's face!
Ye Feng and Zhong Lin dashed in, scooped up Lin Dong and Ke Qin, and leaped into the distance.
Just as they cleared the spot, the two dropped pills hit the ground and erupted into roaring flames!
Breathing heavily, Li Guanqi slowly pushed himself up and walked over to Ke Qin.
He seized her by the collar and struck her across the face with an unhesitating slap!
Seeing this, Ye Feng parted his lips, but made no sound.
Zhong Lin called out, "Senior Brother Li!"
Smack!
The slap left Ke Qin utterly stunned. Her head hung low, and her eyes reddened at once.
A clear handprint stood out starkly against her fair skin.
Yet Li Guanqi roared in fury.
"If you want to fucking die, die on your own! Don't drag anyone else down with you!"
"If Lin Dong hadn't blocked several strikes for you just now, you would be fucking dead already!"
"Don't want to kill? Then stretch out your neck and let others slaughter you!"
Huff... puff...
His chest heaving violently, Li Guanqi turned and retrieved his longsword.
He stripped the storage bags from both bodies, casually tossing them to Ye Feng and Lin Dong, then threw the previous storage bag to Zhong Lin.
Having sorted everything out, Li Guanqi crouched on the ground without sparing a single glance at Ke Qin, whose shoulders were trembling.
Instead, he spoke in a flat voice, "Once you step into the cultivation world, forget about keeping your hands clean. If you don't kill others, others will kill you."
"If you can't wrap your head around that, I suggest you cripple your own cultivation, go down the mountain, and find a husband to raise children with."
"Let's move!"
Slumped on the ground, Ke Qin wanted nothing more than to yell at Li Guanqi, to scream, to vent all the grievance burning in her heart.
Yet listening to his words, something stuck in her throat. Her mouth hung open, but she could not utter a single word for the longest time.
Ye Feng put away the storage bag, got up, and said, "Since you chose to pursue cultivation, stop being so softhearted."
"We are all in the same boat. If you keep acting like this, we'll have no choice but to leave you behind."
Even the honest and gentle Lin Dong stood up in silence. He did not want to kill people either, but he wanted to die even less!
Roar! Roar!
Suddenly!
Bursts of beastly roars echoed from all directions. Li Guanqi signaled everyone to drop low at once.
Closing his eyes to focus his senses for a moment, Li Guanqi said in a low voice, "To the north! Move!"
The four dashed forward, paying no mind to Ke Qin.
Only after a long while did the red-eyed Ke Qin slowly pick up her sword, her gaze gradually turning resolute.
After two battles, the overwhelming strength and decisiveness Li Guanqi had displayed thoroughly won over the group, cementing him as the undisputed leader of the squad.
A look of admiration flickered in Ye Feng's eyes as well.
*Damn! Old Li is a real man! When he says he'll hit, he doesn't hold back!*
Chapter 44