At once, Tianji's aura surged to its absolute peak!
In the outside world, the Tianji Chart unleashed an immense power to contend against the two heavenly flames.
Half-step Void Refinement!
The berserk aura radiating from Tianji pressed right up against the Void Refining Realm!
His turbulent presence seemed ready to overturn the firmament, and the white tiles beneath his feet instantly shattered.
One after another, various sword intents manifested around Tianji!
Though none of these sword intents had attained the Sword Gall Realm, their sheer numbers were overwhelming...
Li Guanqi's breath hitched slightly. He licked his lips, his eyes blazing with an impassioned battle lust!
The four-foot Red Lotus erupted with waves of dazzling crimson light!
"Apocalypse: Red Lotus Sky Dance!"
Boom!
The tattered white robe on Li Guanqi burst apart in an instant.
Eerie, blood-red patterns flickered with an ominous glow.
Gradually... the blood markings on his chest began to fade away as though incinerated!
Li Guanqi's mind became crystal clear. Primal energy coursed through his entire body without the slightest lag, answering his command as naturally as his own limbs.
At this moment, Li Guanqi was like an enraged primordial demon, radiating an overwhelming, suffocating pressure!
Crack! Crack, crack, crack!
The white jade tiles beneath his feet gave off a barrage of sharp snaps, spiderwebbing outward in all directions.
Within the Sword Ruins on his spiritual terrace, the blood-red broken sword flared with brilliant crimson radiance!
"Killing Power! Blade Break!"
"..."
"Spirit Absolution!"
Indeed! After Red Lotus awakened its Apocalypse-grade form, under the influence of the Sword Ruins, it revealed its second ability as well!
Boom!
A profoundly enigmatic aura abruptly erupted from within Li Guanqi's body.
Tianji, whose aura had previously been far stronger, suddenly paled the moment he sensed this presence!
His pitch-black pupils contracted to needlepoints, trembling wildly.
The aura sent a chill straight down his spine, setting his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Fear...
It was as though this power was born to suppress his very existence!
"What... is this power?"
Thud!
Tiles burst apart, and Li Guanqi vanished from the spot.
Clang, clang! Bang!
Tianji gripped Red Lotus tightly and slashed twice with a sweeping blow to deflect Li Guanqi's incoming assault.
Yet Li Guanqi followed with a savage kick that sent Tianji hurtling more than a thousand zhang away!
Under the release of that terrifying force, half of Tianji's body was blown to pieces.
Suddenly!
A crimson blade light coiled in lightning and flame appeared in the corner of his vision.
Swish!
Tianji tumbled through midair, swinging his blade like a sweeping battle-ax to cleave furiously toward Li Guanqi!
Yet the moment the two Red Lotus swords collided, Li Guanqi let out a low roar.
"Spirit Absolution!"
"Kneel!"
Thud!
Tianji's body froze. It felt as though a sky-propping mountain had crashed onto his shoulders.
His knees buckled, and he dropped heavily before Li Guanqi.
Bang!
His knees smashed the immensely hard white jade tiles beneath him to dust!
Tianji's face flushed crimson from the strain, reddening all the way down his neck to the bases of his ears.
Veins bulged along his neck, and thick cords of sinew pulsed across his forehead.
The phantom Red Lotus sword in his grip let out groans under the unbearable strain, instantly becoming covered in cracks before shattering with a loud bang!
Li Guanqi drove his legs forward, striding ahead and gripping the extra-long hilt of Red Lotus with both hands!
Crouching low like a hunting leopard, he appeared before Tianji in the blink of an eye.
Beneath Tianji's terrified gaze, he swung the blade upward in a vicious slash!
If this strike landed true, under the power of Red Lotus's Spirit Absolution, Tianji would undoubtedly perish!
Boom!
An overwhelmingly powerful surge of energy abruptly erupted from Tianji!
Like a torn sack, Li Guanqi was blasted more than a thousand zhang back!
At the same time, the sky throughout the secret realm twisted incessantly.
The main peak vanished, and the Tower of the Wheel of Fate began crumbling from its very spire.
The entire secret realm seemed on the verge of complete collapse—mountains and rivers burst, and spirit herbs withered away.
The natural treasures that had been surfacing continuously dissolved into nothingness in this instant.
The hundred-odd surviving Soul Formation cultivators looked around in bewilderment; none knew what had happened.
"Look! The main peak is gone!"
"That black tower has disappeared too!"
Li Guanqi forced down his churning blood and surveyed his surroundings with a grim expression.
Buzz!
Tianji looked down at the wound on his chest that refused to heal, his eyes filled with sheer horror...
"Spirit Absolution... an ability of the Sword Ruins said to reign supreme between heaven and earth..."
"Just who are you...?"
Li Guanqi's mystery and formidable power had instilled a genuine thread of dread in him.
He had to unleash everything to slaughter Li Guanqi!
Perhaps only then... could he completely claim everything Li Guanqi possessed.
Boom!
Tianji's body began to dissolve as his strength reverted to its most potent, primal origin.
In an instant, space and realm shifted. Everything around them receded rapidly like a shattering illusion.
Amidst the pitch-black void, Li Guanqi held Red Lotus, his expression grave as he looked upon a ten-thousand-zhang scroll that unfolded before him!
Li Guanqi's brow twitched, his gaze narrowing as he observed the sight.
His heart sank bit by bit...
For the aura emanating from this Tianji Chart was simply too terrifying.
It gave him the chilling illusion that he would die beneath this scroll!
Tianji's voice, tinged with madness, rang out from within the Tianji Chart.
"Hahahaha!"
"Once I swallow you whole, I will truly become human and stand beneath the sun!"
Buzz!
The true body of the Tianji Chart suddenly erupted with an incomparable, terrifying pressure.
Feeling the oppressive weight bearing down from the Tianji Chart,
Li Guanqi had virtually no time to react. He reversed his grip and thrust Red Lotus into the scabbard of lightning and heavenly flame at his right hip.
All the power throughout his body surged frantically into the scabbard, accumulating with manic intensity.
Boom!
Li Guanqi's black hair whipped in the wind. With grim focus, he poured every ounce of his strength into building up the strike.
"Sword... Draw... Stance!"
Yet right at that moment, a long-lost voice suddenly drifted into Li Guanqi's ear!
"I'm here."
Upon hearing it, Li Guanqi broke into a grin and turned his head to the side.
The breathtaking, world-toppling profile of a woman was a mere three inches from his face.
The sword spirit, having manifested half her body, reached out and gently clasped his left hand.
Li Guanqi was slightly taken aback...
For in the sword spirit's palm, he felt the warmth of a human for the very first time!
Boom!
As the sword spirit's power poured into his body, sword radiance surged from the Red Lotus blade, extending over a hundred feet.
Under this terrifying might, the Tianji Chart was instantly compressed down to a mere ten zhang!
With a gaze full of cold disdain, the sword spirit said softly, "If it cannot submit, destroy it."
Boom!
A terrifying sword light soared from the ground in an instant!
Before the onlookers could even process their shock,
the terrifying sword light, carrying an all-annihilating force, obliterated everything in its path!
And this single strike... sheared the Tianji Chart right down the middle!
Across the entire secret realm, the sky tore open into a pitch-black rift a thousand zhang long!
All at once, the entire realm shook violently.
Chapter 446