Next, the onlookers saw a white-robed figure slowly emerge from the sword scar.
Surging sword intent roiled about him, his presence magnificent as a rainbow!
Yet not a trace of joy showed on Li Guanqi's face; only icy killing intent swirled in the depths of his eyes.
At the sight, the crowd of disciples fell dead silent, trembling like cicadas in winter!
The aura pouring off Li Guanqi was simply too terrifying. He was clearly only at the peak of the Soul Formation Realm, yet the pressure he unleashed at this moment rivaled the Void Refining Realm!
The frigid murderous aura blanketed nearly the entire Sword Abyss.
Many disciples whose strength was only at the Nascent Soul realm felt an involuntary chill, as if the surrounding temperature had plunged drastically in that instant.
Just then, Wu Changfeng darted forward to step between the two.
Li Guanqi looked at the elder with an inscrutable gaze and asked softly, "What, Elder Wu, are you going to stop me?"
His voice was exceedingly calm, yet that very composure made it impossible for anyone to fathom what he was thinking.
The watching disciples furrowed their brows. After all, as the one who oversaw matters great and small in both the inner and outer sects, Wu Changfeng carried immense prestige within the Taixuan Sword Sect—even certain sect elders did not hold as much sway as he did.
Nearby, Lv Zhong looked at Li Guanqi with conflicted eyes, gazing upon this youth who had inherited his master's sword intent.
However... Li Guanqi's attitude could not help but stir a flicker of displeasure in his heart.
Narrowing his eyes, Lv Zhong asked in a cold voice, "You want to make a move?"
Li Guanqi respected certain people, but if he resolved to strike... no one could dissuade him.
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes at Lv Zhong and gave a slow, expressionless nod, speaking without the slightest hesitation.
"That's right. I want to make a move."
"Not only do I want to strike—I want to kill him."
His words landed like a boulder hurled into the center of a calm lake, stirring up stormy waves in the hearts of the watching disciples.
Lv Zhong's knuckles paled slightly as he gripped his sword hilt, his gaze turning somewhat hostile.
By now, Zhao Ling had already fallen unconscious from his grievous injuries. Wu Changfeng tapped his fingers repeatedly against empty air, sending rays of spiritual light into Zhao Ling's body to stem the bleeding.
Yet the severed flesh and limbs had long since been reduced to ashes by the flames.
Covered in mangled flesh and blood, Zhao Ling was a wretched sight, but his physical wounds paled beside the blow to his mind.
A sharp glint showed in the elder's eyes. With resolute determination that brooked no compromise, he looked at Li Guanqi and said in a heavy voice,
"Zhao Ling lacks martial virtue; he mounted a treacherous sneak attack against you, and the Taixuan Sword Sect will certainly give you an explanation."
"I know you harbor wrath, but... regardless, Zhao Ling is a disciple of the Taixuan Sword Sect."
"For committing such an act today, it is still up to the Taixuan Sword Sect to punish him!"
Li Guanqi simply stared straight at the elder before him.
The atmosphere within the Sword Abyss grew stiflingly tense; none of the onlookers dared even breathe too loudly.
Wu Changfeng's gaze remained steadfast, refusing to yield an inch as he stared back at Li Guanqi.
Whatever happened, as the elder governing both the inner and outer sects, he could never allow an outsider to execute a disciple of the Taixuan Sword Sect right in front of him.
Li Guanqi looked calmly at the elder. After a long silence, the sword in his hand slowly retracted into a three-foot blade.
The surging primal energy and oppressive aura all around him began to recede.
At this, the crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief, yet no one noticed the bead of cold sweat running along the elder's hairline.
For some reason, when Li Guanqi had stared straight at him just now, a chill had crept up his spine.
Li Guanqi glanced at the unconscious Zhao Ling, gave the elder a deep, lingering look, and murmured softly, "I hope the Taixuan Sword Sect will handle this impartially. As for the outcome, I do not care."
Only because this was the Taixuan Sword Sect. Had it been the Great Xia Sword Sect, if any disciple succumbed to jealousy and sneak-attacked a fellow sect member to inflict grievous injury, he would have slain them on the spot!
Yet this was the Taixuan Sword Sect.
After sheathing his sword, Li Guanqi did not turn to leave. Instead, he slowly turned toward the sword scar behind him, where all fluctuations had ceased.
A sorrowful look inexplicably crept into his eyes. That Severed Cliff sword intent was the clearest sword intent he had ever experienced.
In the void, the old man's will had laid bare his proudest sword intent without holding anything back—even after Li Guanqi declined to accept the direct inheritance of the sword intent, the elder's will had remained just as generous.
Suddenly!
A large contingent of formidable auras came hurtling in their direction!
Li Guanqi snapped his head around toward the sky, his grip tightening on his sword in an instant!
Among those approaching, there were over a dozen auras at the Void Refining Realm alone.
And three auras were countless times more powerful than the Void Refining Realm!
The sole Soul Formation Realm aura belonged to He Yuning.
Spanning a distance of ten thousand zhang, they arrived in the depths of the Sword Abyss in the blink of an eye.
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes at the figures that appeared a dozen or so zhang away—a full fifteen or sixteen individuals.
The middle-aged man leading them shared a seventy percent resemblance to He Yuning between his brows.
Yet his features lacked He Yuning's scholarly air, bearing instead an edge of grim authority.
He was visibly a ruler who wielded an iron fist, dressed in an understated yet opulent white brocade robe with a piece of jade hanging at his waist.
The long hair at his temples fluttered slightly, and his tiger-like eyes shone with piercing vitality.
His features were sharp and chiseled, his posture proud and erect.
Striding with the grandeur of dragons and tigers, he arrived before Wu Changfeng. At the sight, the elder bowed hurriedly and said in a deep voice,
"Wu Changfeng pays respects to the Sect Master!"
In an instant, the watching disciples dropped to one knee one after another, lowering their heads as they chorused loudly: "Greetings, Sect Master!"
Li Guanqi looked at the man before him and at He Yuning, who was winking and gesturing frantically at his side. Li Guanqi bowed as well.
"Junior Li Guanqi of the Great Xia Sword Sect greets Senior He," he said softly.
A sharp glint flashed in He Yuanting's tiger-like eyes. Looking upon Li Guanqi, the corners of his mouth curved into a smile.
"Haha, so you must be the good friend Yuning spoke of!"
"Truly a dragon among men. There is no need for formality—perhaps one day years from now, when next we meet, we shall address each other as Daoist friends."
Such praise from He Yuanting could not be higher!
After all, He Yuanting was the Sect Master of the Taixuan Sword Sect and a mighty figure of the Body Integration Realm.
To utter such words was certainly not merely out of favor for his son's friend—it was because he genuinely believed it!
As for Li Guanqi, He Yuanting had actually dispatched subordinates to investigate him the moment he arrived at the mountain.
Yet the findings had astonished him. Judging by the severed trails and intercepted intelligence, the force backing Li Guanqi was only stronger than the Taixuan Sword Sect, never weaker!
After all... the Taixuan Sword Sect possessed no power to make Mingchuan vanish without a trace overnight.
And now that he had seen Li Guanqi in person, it struck him that his son making friends with this youth was practically... a stroke of fortune!
As for the minor disturbance that had unfolded in the Sword Abyss, he paid it no heed whatsoever.
It was only Zhao Ling; the Taixuan Sword Sect could groom ten or a hundred more like him.
But Li Guanqi? In all the world, there was only this single one before him.
Chapter 488