Densely packed spirit stones numbered in the tens of thousands, every single one of them a mid-grade spirit stone.
The bystanders beside them were utterly stunned. Disciples like them could exchange sect points for spirit stones on ordinary days, but they would never amass such an enormous sum. It seemed Zhao Ling had indeed encountered some good fortune in his time.
A confident smile touched the corners of Zhao Ling's mouth as he looked at Li Guanqi. "How about this for a stake?"
He eyed Li Guanqi with immense smugness, convinced that the sheer spectacle of all these spirit stones had intimidated the boy.
Yet to his surprise, when Li Guanqi looked upon the pile, his eyes held nothing but utter disdain.
To tell the truth, Li Guanqi was short on many things right now, but spirit stones were genuinely not among them. Setting aside the spirit stones the Tianji Pavilion had handed him for the Tianji Chart, he hadn't even spent all the spirit stones Tang Ru had given him, not to mention those from Lu Kangnian.
Speaking of which, Li Guanqi reached into his robes and produced an intact monster core from a Jiutian Deer, followed by another from a Three-Tailed Kunwu Wolf.
Either of those dazzling, light-suffused monster cores was worth several times more than all the spirit stones Zhao Ling had presented.
Yet Li Guanqi merely said, "I don't even care for things like these. Don't you have anything else?"
Zhao Ling choked on Li Guanqi's words, so thoroughly humiliated that he sputtered for a long time without managing a single sentence.
He did have some other pills and items in his storage ring, but compared to the monster cores of rank-six great monsters, they were like rotten bones a stray alley dog wouldn't even spare a glance.
Staring at the monster cores in Li Guanqi's hand, Zhao Ling's eyes burned with feverish greed. If he could obtain that Jiutian Deer core and hire a weapon refiner to reforge his personal sword, his weapon would certainly advance in grade!
Gritting his teeth, Zhao Ling retrieved a jade slip radiating an ancient aura from his storage ring.
Faintly etched across the slip was the character for "sword."
Zhao Ling said in a deep voice, "This is an ancient sword technique I obtained from a secret realm. The Treasure Pavilion appraised it as low-grade Earth rank at the very least!"
Li Guanqi nearly pinched his own philtrum in exasperation. He had wondered what grand treasure it might be, only for it to be this.
With a flick of his wrist, he drew Red Lotus and struck outward with a sudden slash!
A terrifying burst of power plunged the surrounding sky into sudden darkness.
The sword light slashed into the rock wall, leaving a deep furrow behind. That sight thoroughly dumbfounded everyone present.
The cliff walls at the bottom of the Sword Abyss had endured thousands of years of surging sword intent, hardening until they rivaled spirit tools. Yet even so, that monstrous strike from his blade had actually carved a sword scar into the rock!
That sword technique...
Li Guanqi shrugged. "Does that look like a Heaven-rank technique to you? Want to see more? I've got a few others."
Zhao Ling's lip twitched. Thoroughly embarrassed, he tucked the jade slip back away.
Just as he was searching for an excuse to leave, Li Guanqi spoke with a hint of impatience.
"Fine. We'll bet for those spirit stones of yours. Thirty-eight thousand, right?"
With that, Li Guanqi withdrew over three hundred high-grade spirit stones with a flick of his hand.
He flung all the spirit stones into the air and formed a lightning barrier around them. "Tell me, how do we compete?"
Zhao Ling's face turned solemn. "Three shichen—three shichen is the limit! During this time, whoever comprehends the essence of one sword intent wins!"
Li Guanqi signaled indifferently that either way was fine by him.
A look of delight surfaced on Zhao Ling's face. Light flashed beneath his feet, and he instantly appeared before one of the sword intents.
Frost coated the rock around that particular sword scar, and a terrifying chill coiled through the air, making it nearly impossible for anyone to approach.
Zhao Ling plopped down thirty zhang before the mark. "I pick this one!"
With that, a flash of light left his hand, and a thick, tall stick of incense drove into the ground and caught fire. It was measured to burn for precisely three shichen.
As though terrified that Li Guanqi might back out, Zhao Ling sat cross-legged and shut his eyes.
The remaining two men and two women were stuck in place, unable to leave or stay comfortably, and could only wait quietly behind Zhao Ling.
At that moment, one of the female cultivators sent a low voice transmission: "Isn't this... a bit unfair?"
The triangular-eyed youth hissed in return, "What's unfair about it? The blind kid agreed to it himself."
The heavily made-up young woman glanced toward Li Guanqi, who was still strolling about as though taking a leisurely walk, and couldn't resist remarking, "Earlier, that blind kid had clearly entered a state of sudden enlightenment, only to be jolted out of it by Senior Brother Zhao. Besides, this is the eighth time Senior Brother Zhao has come here for the Frost sword intent."
The triangular-eyed youth clamped a hand over her mouth and growled viciously, "Shut up! Either wait here quietly, or get lost and head back on your own! Fairness? What does fairness even mean?"
Ignoring the two women beside him, a sneer curled on his lips. "Senior Brother Zhao's understanding of the Frost sword intent has long reached the critical moment. Last time he came, he was just a sliver away from fully comprehending it. This time, he'll definitely grasp it! Hmph... so what if he's the Young Sect Master's friend? Competing in comprehending sword intent takes far more than just showing up once! Senior Brother Zhao will certainly make him pay for his arrogance and conceit!"
Every word of their voice transmissions reached Li Guanqi's ears, but he didn't take them to heart in the slightest.
If the sword intents lingering in the Sword Abyss could be understood simply by visiting often enough...
Li Guanqi gazed deeply at the neatly arrayed sword scars upon the stone wall, murmuring softly, "Then... there would have been no need for those predecessors to leave behind the will they held in life!"
Boom!
Before the astonished eyes of the onlookers, the massive sword coffin snapped open with a resounding clang!
A longsword with a crimson blade flashed through the air straight into his hand.
Li Guanqi gripped the sword in one hand, his entire presence erupting!
His white robes billowed without any wind, snapping fiercely in the air!
Li Guanqi let out a sudden low roar: "Apocalypse: Red Lotus Sky Dance!"
Boom!
Sword qi swept through in disarray as wild winds surged. Petals bloomed across the original three-foot blade as it became cloaked in crimson light, lengthening to four feet.
Immediately after, lightning primal energy erupted all around Li Guanqi, and a terrifying sword intent tore straight from the earth toward the clouds above!
A massive hole was blasted through the thick mist hanging over the Sword Abyss!
Beside the cliff edge high above, the drunken man suddenly sprang to his feet!
His eyes flashed with brilliant light, his gaze cutting down toward the chasm floor sharp as a hawk's. Clutching his wine jug, he murmured in stunned surprise, "Sword Gall Realm sword intent? Is that the blind kid from before?"
Li Guanqi held the Red Lotus sword, his body surging with boundless sword intent, his mind emptied of all stray thoughts.
All that remained was the heart of a pure swordsman, pursuing the pinnacle of the sword path.
Among the thirty-odd sword intents here, the majority were in the Sword Gall Realm. Only a handful stood on the verge of breaking through it, and a mere two had surpassed the Sword Gall Realm to attain a higher level.
One of those two was the sword scar right beside him.
Looking at the sword-hewn fissure that reached several tens of zhang deep, Li Guanqi strode resolutely into its depths!
The onlookers below were struck dumb, pointing at Li Guanqi's receding figure without being able to utter a single word.
They were utterly stunned by the sheer strength of Li Guanqi's sword intent—it was not one bit inferior to the predecessors on the wall!
Of course, that held true strictly in terms of the potency of his sword intent, leaving cultivation realms aside.
And the majestic sword intent stirring the clouds and winds here naturally drew the attention of the Taixuan Sword Sect's disciples. In an instant, numerous powerful figures took to the air, speeding toward the Sword Abyss.
Chapter 485