A sharp gleam flashed in the depths of Li Guanqi's eyes as thoughts turned in his mind.
From the man earlier, he had learned that Fumu Valley was rich in a special timber known as gold-silver driftwood. This wood grew deep within the silt swamps, and only when fully matured would it break free from the trees to become driftwood adrift in the mire.
Looking down at the driftwood in his hand, Li Guanqi had to admit that its texture was remarkably hard—truly fine material for crafting a zither.
An incense stick's time later, Li Guanqi arrived in the depths of Fumu Valley. The toxic fog pervading this area rendered sight almost impossible, and strange, eerie rustling sounds occasionally echoed from all around. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, as though nothing remained but the sound of his own breathing.
Suddenly!
Without a sound, a spiked branch as thick as a water bucket shot up from the swamp!
The hairs on Li Guanqi's body stood on end, and almost by pure instinct, he shifted sideways three chi.
The branch surged more than ten zhang out of the swamp, followed immediately by countless twigs and branches bursting forth beneath his feet!
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Pit after deep pit was blasted into the mire. A frenzy of branches flailed wildly across the air, stabbing toward his dodging figure.
His formidable divine sense swept across the entire area as Li Guanqi dodged the incoming branches with blinding speed. As more and more branches closed in, he was forced to strike back.
Thrusting out a punch, branches gleaming with a metallic luster shattered inch by inch.
*Boom! Boom!*
Yet no matter how he attacked, the number of incoming branches did not decrease in the slightest.
Li Guanqi looked down at the swamp beneath his feet, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. With a cold snort, his body began plummeting downward at breakneck speed!
*Splash!*
Vital energy and blood surged within him. Pulling his right fist to his waist, Li Guanqi twisted his torso and slammed a punch violently toward the ground!
*Boom!*
A thunderous roar suddenly echoed through the valley, and a deep crater spanning dozens of zhang abruptly caved into the vast swamp! Simultaneously, a barrier of flame flared up around Li Guanqi's body.
*Sizzle! Crackle!*
With thunder surging around him and heavenly flame enveloping his form, Li Guanqi plunged downward in rapid descent!
Perhaps the creature below sensed the danger, for more and more massive trunks and boughs surged forth to halt Li Guanqi's advance. Li Guanqi unleashed punch after punch, his descent not slowing in the least!
*Swish!*
A tree limb suddenly slashed across Li Guanqi's waist, gouging out a long laceration.
The searing pain of the wound made Li Guanqi gasp. If his senses served him right, that branch had carried subtle, mysterious golden patterns. Both in attack power and speed, it far surpassed the ordinary branches!
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he pushed his movement technique to its limit!
Moments later, Li Guanqi had sunk nearly two hundred zhang! Between the viscous mire and such a horrifying depth, the sheer pressure of the swamp alone was enough to crush an ordinary Soul Formation cultivator to death.
At last, Li Guanqi also sensed an overwhelmingly powerful aura.
*Buzz!*
*Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom! Bang! Boom!*
Li Guanqi's fists blurred into afterimages as he punched his way through, and finally, where his gaze fell, he caught sight of an ancient golden tree standing over fifty zhang tall!
The ancient tree's thick trunk was wide enough to require seven people with arms outstretched to encircle it, and its bare branches looked thoroughly eerie. Right now, the ancient tree swayed as its boughs flailed frenetically, stretching outward in a relentless assault on Li Guanqi.
As Li Guanqi weaved and dodged left and right, his heart suddenly gave a violent leap. For he discovered that in the center of the ancient tree's trunk was a massive hollow, gaping openly for all to see.
Li Guanqi raised a brow, narrowing his eyes slightly. Very quickly, he realized what had happened!
*Thud!*
His left hand slapped hard upon the sword coffin, and the Red Lotus sword flashed into his grasp! Li Guanqi's eyes hardened, and he stomped forward with force.
*Boom!*
A terrifying pressure erupted instantly, followed by a surging sword intent rising skyward from beneath him!
"Apocalypse: Red Lotus Sky Dance!"
Seeing Li Guanqi's aura spike in an instant, the ancient tree likewise erupted with bursts of golden light across its entirety! Every branch and bough where the golden radiance spread was coated in a layer of lustrous gold.
In a flash, thousands of branches lashed toward Li Guanqi like massive whips!
The entire swamp was churned into a violent tempest, boiling like rolling water.
*Thump!*
The swamp beneath Li Guanqi's feet abruptly caved inward. Even deep within the mire, his speed remained a blur! Yet having long adapted to this environment, the ancient tree whipped its branches even faster than Li Guanqi could move!
After surging forward only thirty to fifty zhang, the branches closing in from all around had already encircled him. With the speed he took pride in rendered useless here, Li Guanqi decided to break all techniques with brute force alone!
Gripping the Red Lotus sword tightly in his left hand, Li Guanqi extended his right hand and abruptly conjured a longsword of lightning! Flames clung to both blades. Twisting his torso, his body spun up instantly like a spinning top!
Every branch that came within a zhang of him was sliced to ribbons in an instant!
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Sensing danger, the ancient tree grew increasingly frantic, the golden patterns across its trunk spreading wildly. Clashing sounds of metal striking metal shrilled deafeningly all around Li Guanqi. Yet the heavenly flame clinging to Li Guanqi's blades was not to be trifled with.
In just a few moments, Li Guanqi pushed forward nearly another hundred zhang!
Suddenly!
Li Guanqi halted his feet abruptly, keeping a distance of three zhang from the incoming branches. Gathering explosive power into his feet, he engaged his escape technique, Flashing Lightning!
His body vanished from the spot!
Countless golden branches crashed into the place where Li Guanqi had just stood, and when he reappeared, he was already a mere three chi before the ancient tree!
"Heaven Breaker Sword Art: Demon Subduer!"
The four-chi Red Lotus suddenly unleashed a dazzling, fierce sword ray!
*Boom!*
The ancient tree's iron-hard trunk was as fragile as bean curd before the sword light. This single strike severely crippled the ancient tree's true form, nearly severing it in two at the waist!
*Boom!*
In an instant, the ancient tree's golden glow dispersed, and even the golden patterns along its trunk dimmed into dullness.
Li Guanqi stood in place, sword held in one hand. Though the difference in size between him and the ancient tree was colossal, his gaze at this moment was haughty, looking down upon the ancient tree like a monarch.
Slowly raising Red Lotus, he whispered softly, "Spirit Absolution!"
*Swish!*
Instantly, countless bizarre crimson threads burst forth from the blade of Red Lotus! Right after, Li Guanqi could clearly sense a palpable feeling of submission emanating from the ancient tree!
It was an extraordinary sensation; this technique of Spirit Absolution was truly tyrannical. Unlike Pengluo, who had signed a master-servant contract, the spirit of the ancient tree was entirely cowed by the power of the Sword Ruins.
Without wasting words, Li Guanqi raised his hand and used primal energy to construct Cang Lu's likeness. Yet just as he was about to speak, he discovered that the ancient tree's consciousness had abruptly turned wildly agitated.
"Kill... Kill him!"
Such was the indistinct message conveyed by the spirit of the ancient tree!
Its thick branches shifted sluggishly, and at last, the ancient tree pointed toward the hollow in its trunk. That place had clearly been forcibly gouged out by someone!
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered as he murmured inwardly, *Is Cang Lu truly this powerful?*
Chapter 467