*Boom!*
The terrifying force drove half his body directly into the earth.
Xuan Lin, bleeding from all seven facial orifices and buried waist-deep in the dirt, stared out through frantically trembling pale-golden pupils!
The terror of death flooded his mind in an instant!
"W-what is that thing?!"
He hadn't even clearly made out the second character!
Only after a long while did Xuan Lin feel that crushing pressure bearing down on him dissipate.
He crawled out of the pit, not daring to lift his eyelids even a fraction!
His throat bobbed with difficulty. Only now did he understand what Li Guanqi had just been through.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Four figures appeared on the summit in rapid succession.
These four could be considered the strongest among those who had entered, nearly all of them mighty late Soul Formation experts.
As soon as the four elders arrived, they saw Xuan Lin clambering out of the deep pit.
To his surprise, the four bowed in Li Guanqi's direction, one after another.
One gray-haired elder lowered his head and muttered under his breath, "Did Xuan Lin get beaten up again as soon as he came up?"
Li Guanqi paid them no mind. Having come this far, whether one could obtain anything depended entirely on strength.
Yet right at that moment, Li Guanqi noticed that the mysterious horizontal plaque had vanished without a trace.
*Hum!* An inscrutable pressure violently swept outward!
*Boom!*
A terrifying orange light barrier instantly enveloped hundreds of zhang of surrounding space!
The dense barrier soared straight into the clouds. The moment Li Guanqi reacted, his sword casket snapped open, and he swung a sword strike outward with a roar!
*Boom!*
The terrifying sword light sent chills through the soul, but when this formidable strike slammed into the light barrier, it merely stirred up ripples across its surface.
Li Guanqi's heart sank abruptly as an inexplicable sense of crisis welled up inside him.
The cultivators down below were startled as well, looking up at the sky above.
A brilliant orange light barrier had suddenly cloaked the entire main peak within itself.
"A supreme treasure has definitely emerged!"
"Sigh... that pressure kept us from even getting up there. Some died, some were maimed, and we haven't gained a damn thing from this godforsaken secret realm."
At those words, many nodded in agreement.
They had thought a secret realm radiating such immense fluctuations would yield some benefits, yet now all three supreme treasures had fallen into Li Guanqi's hands.
Just as everyone was grumbling endlessly, Li Guanqi, atop the peak, suddenly narrowed his eyes and turned to look in all directions!
*Buzz... Hum!*
Outside the light barrier, within a hundred-li radius, brilliant pillars of light rose one after another without pause.
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth, already exceptionally rich, churned restlessly at this moment as if boiling over.
Vast seas of spiritual energy were drawn like clouds toward the locations of each light pillar.
One of the late-arriving elders drew the saber at his waist with a snap.
*Swish!*
A terrifying arc of saber energy instantly struck the light barrier.
Yet the dense barrier didn't budge in the slightest...
"Hmph! S-secret treasures are emerging constantly out there!"
"Doesn't this mean we're trapped here to die?!"
The gray-haired elder also gazed beyond the light barrier with complex emotions.
It was abundantly clear that those towering pillars of light marked rare treasures, spiritual plants, or immortal fruits.
Regret gnawed at every one of them.
Beneath the light barrier, the eyes of the remaining cultivators sharpened.
"Hahahaha! The strongest among them are trapped up there!"
"As expected! I told you this secret realm had treasures beyond just the three peaks!"
"Gentlemen, I'll take my leave first!"
*Swish, swish, swish!*
The nearly two hundred remaining Soul Formation cultivators scattered in every direction.
Plentiful as the newly revealed treasures were, their numbers were still finite.
Bloodshed and competition among them were inevitable!
Li Guanqi retracted his gaze and looked up at the main gate, where the horizontal plaque had vanished, then stepped forward slowly.
*Hum!*
Red Lotus completed its Soul Release in an instant, and his aura surged straight to its peak.
Pengluo's voice abruptly sounded in Li Guanqi's ear.
"Master, I think it's best not to enter this tower..."
Li Guanqi paused and murmured, "Having come all this way, I have to go inside and take a look no matter what."
Pengluo went quiet for a moment before speaking softly: "If... if you need to, you can chop off my arm and swallow it."
Li Guanqi gave a wry smile. "Why?"
Pengluo rolled its eyes and said, "It can save your life."
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved upward as he said with utmost confidence, "Below the mid Void Refinement stage, I won't be needing that arm of yours."
Primal energy roared within his body as his cultivation method circulated furiously, gradually refining the power within the Heavenly Thunder Bead.
The rudimentary form of his second dantian had already manifested; before long, the second dantian within his Nascent Soul would be fully formed and stabilized.
After all, the very foundation of the second dantian was the Heavenly Thunder Bead itself.
In other words... the Heavenly Thunder Bead was the second dantian.
Therefore, though Li Guanqi looked slightly weak right now, only he knew how many trump cards he still held.
His right hand pressed slowly against the stone door, and with blood and qi roaring through his body, he shoved it open!
*Creeeak!*
The sound echoed relentlessly across the quiet summit, like an ancient temple that had slept for thousands of years finally being unlocked.
An inscrutable chill swept in all directions. Xuan Lin watched the scene with flickering eyes.
Flames flashed beneath his feet, bringing him instantly before the door beside Li Guanqi.
The Tower of the Wheel of Fate had six doors in total, corresponding to the six people present.
Looking at the contorting space before him, Li Guanqi took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly, and stepped forward!
*Buzz! Whoosh!*
His figure was instantly sucked inside.
Xuan Lin likewise slammed a hand onto his stone door.
*Creak...*
The stone door cracked open only as wide as a pinky finger.
Xuan Lin's face flushed red, and feeling rather embarrassed, he brought both hands to bear.
*Creeeak!*
The door was pushed open to the width of a shoulder, and Xuan Lin was sucked inside in an instant.
The other four exchanged glances, each seeing the glint of determination in the others' eyes.
Clearly, they did not believe the treasures inside this colossal tower would be inferior to those outside.
If that were the case, there would have been no need to seal them here at all!
Next, the four employed every method at their disposal and managed to open the remaining doors.
Outside the light barrier:
"Die! The Great Sea Spirit Drizzle is mine!"
"Get lost! You don't deserve it!"
Someone clutched a stalk of spirit grass, laughing wildly: "Hahahaha! The Mysterious Bright Jade Flower! It's actually the Mysterious Bright Jade Flower!"
*Crack, crack, crack! Spurt!*
Before the man could finish speaking, the protective barrier of primal energy around him shattered in succession, and even an ancient jade pendant was cleaved apart.
A bloodstained longsword suddenly pierced his chest.
The wrist holding the spiritual plant was lopped off in an instant, and a dark shadow vanished in a flash!
Such scenes were unfolding everywhere as spirit treasures, spiritual plants, and immortal fruits surfaced one after another!
The slaughter... seemed to have only just begun at this moment.
A heavy stench of blood hung in the air, yet no one noticed that the blood of the fallen cultivators was being absorbed into the earth.
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi finally arrived at the first floor of the Tower of the Wheel of Fate.
*Hum!*
Chapter 442