After rushing across the terrain for a long time, the group could finally make out the hazy silhouette of that colossal sect.
Covering nearly ten thousand zhang across, it resembled a massive city.
Yet before long, a clamor of noise reached their ears once again.
Li Guanqi raised his hand, signaling everyone to halt, and poked his head out from behind a boulder to peer forward.
Six or seven Tier One spirit beasts were besieging several young men clad in earthen-brown robes.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly. They were disciples of Zhenyue Mountain.
Presumably, they had discovered some treasures and drawn the attention of the beasts.
Two of the disciples were already injured; if this continued, they would not hold out for long.
Li Guanqi weighed the pros and cons rapidly in his mind before finally deciding to step in!
Seeing this, Ye Feng asked in a low voice, "Old Li, you're going to help?"
Li Guanqi explained quickly, "We have to! It isn't because we have a close relationship with Zhenyue Mountain."
"We've already killed disciples of the Qixian Sect."
"The Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect and Zixiao Pavilion are clearly allied, and we clashed with Qinglong Island as soon as we arrived."
"Right now, we need to pull an ally to our side as well!"
Hearing his words, the others nodded in agreement. Li Guanqi was certainly not arrogant; he was capable of analyzing their current predicament with a clear, calm head.
Without hesitation, the group sprinted at full speed toward the battle a hundred zhang away.
Li Guanqi shouted in a deep voice, "Brothers of Zhenyue Mountain, hold on! We're here to help!"
The eyes of the Zhenyue Mountain disciples lit up, though the disciple leading them still warned via voice transmission, "Stay on your guard!"
The three uninjured Zhenyue Mountain cultivators shielded their two wounded companions and began pulling back toward the other side.
With Li Guanqi's group joining the fray, the battlefield dynamic shifted instantly.
Tier One spirit beasts were far inferior in size and strength compared to the two Tier Two beasts from before.
In particular, Ke Qin's abilities countered these beasts effectively. The sonic waves plucked from her guqin carried spiritual power that threw their minds into disarray.
Before long, Li Guanqi and his companions had slain four purple demon lizards.
The disciples of Zhenyue Mountain also finally finished off the remaining two.
Li Guanqi instructed Lin Dong to harvest the beast cores while he walked over toward the Zhenyue Mountain disciples.
The disciple in the lead had a stocky build and a resolute face.
Stepping before Li Guanqi's group, he cupped his fists and said earnestly, "Shen Qi of Zhenyue Mountain! Many thanks to our brothers and sisters of the Great Xia Sword Sect for your rescue!"
He spoke with genuine sincerity. If Li Guanqi and his companions had harbored ill intentions, they would have attacked already.
Given the formidable strength they had displayed, they had no need for underhanded plots.
Li Guanqi introduced his companions one by one, then said solemnly, "This realm crawls with beasts, and we shouldn't linger. Let us head toward the sect ruins together."
Shen Qi nodded, and both groups set out toward the towering mountain.
Along the way, Li Guanqi learned what had just happened.
It turned out that members of Qinglong Island had stolen eggs from the purple demon lizards' nest and deliberately diverted the trouble onto them.
"You really had terrible luck—getting injured without even catching a share of the spoils," Li Guanqi remarked with a smile.
Shen Qi only grew angrier the more he thought about it.
"If I ever get my hands on those Qinglong Island bastards, I'll teach them a lesson they won't forget!"
"Oh, right. I heard from Qinglong Island that you had a clash with those sneaky dogs from the Qixian Sect?"
Li Guanqi smiled without answering, while Ye Feng shrugged from the side and spoke up.
"Those bastards tried to ambush us the moment we entered. We killed three of them."
Shen Qi's pupils contracted slightly, though his expression remained unruffled.
Li Guanqi took note of every subtle reaction. The reason he had not stopped Ye Feng from mentioning it was simple: one could never be too cautious. Giving the Zhenyue Mountain group a gentle warning would discourage them from harboring any ulterior motives.
Just as they drew near the city-like sect, Li Guanqi abruptly stopped in his tracks.
Squatting down, he pressed a hand to the ground, and his expression instantly twisted into shock!
"Run!! Something's wrong!!"
Without a single question, the Great Xia Sword Sect disciples bolted at full speed.
Their sheer responsiveness momentarily stunned Shen Qi, but he quickly sprinted after them, calling for his companions to follow.
"Brother Li! What is it? Why are we running?" Shen Qi yelled anxiously from ten zhang behind.
Li Guanqi's face darkened with gravity. "A massive horde of spirit beasts is charging straight toward us!"
"A huge horde!! So many of them!!"
They had barely run for a short while, still eight hundred zhang away from the towering city walls and gates, when plumes of dust billowed violently hundreds of zhang behind them!
Li Guanqi whipped his head around. Hundreds of beasts were surging forward abreast, and among them in the sky was that very dark bat from earlier.
The earth shook, and beasts roared in fury.
The party of ten wished they had been born with an extra pair of legs.
They were running from the south, but to their left, other figures suddenly appeared, fleeing frantically toward the sect.
Li Guanqi's gaze sharpened. It was the disciples of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect and Zixiao Pavilion—and mingling with them were the cultivators of Qinglong Island and the Qixian Sect!
Li Guanqi's face turned icy cold. "Pick up the pace!! We can't let them beat us inside!!"
This open plain offered no cover whatsoever.
Their only chance of survival was to enter the sect ruins and shut the city gates!
Meanwhile, the disciples of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect and Qinglong Island also spotted them.
Luo Hu's face hardened with malice as he urged in a chilled tone, "Senior Brother!! Quick!! We have to get in first!"
The opposing group surged forward even faster. Li Guanqi's heart sank as he calculated their speeds.
If he did not intervene, they would shut the gates and leave everyone outside to die!
Li Guanqi glanced back at Shen Qi and said gravely, "I'm going to intercept them! We can't let them shut the gates after entering."
"Hurry as fast as you can!"
Before Shen Qi could even nod, the muscles across Li Guanqi's entire body coiled tight. His foot blasted a deep crater into the earth, and he shot forward like a loose arrow.
His terrifying burst of speed was even fiercer than a hunting cheetah's.
Beside him, Ye Feng clicked his tongue. Others might not realize it, but he knew exactly how heavy the sword casket on Li Guanqi's back was!
To move this fast while carrying a five-hundred-jin stone casket was staggering!
Li Guanqi tore through the air, wind roaring past his ears. Gripping his longsword, he charged straight toward the nearest cultivators from Qinglong Island.
Seeing Li Guanqi rushing toward them, Luo Hu's eyes flashed with a vicious glint.
The humiliation he had suffered back at the Great Xia Sword Sect remained fresh in his memory; thankfully, he had managed to join Qinglong Island.
Luo Hu hissed in a venomous voice, "Senior Brothers, that blind brat from the Great Xia Sword Sect looks like he's trying to stop us from entering!"
At those words, a murderous glint flashed in the eyes of the two remaining disciples from the Qixian Sect.
"Then we'll slaughter him first!!"
Chapter 47