Just like that, Li Guanqi was suppressed beneath He Yuanting's might and dragged along in the black stone cage, hauled straight back to the Taixuan Sword Sect!
The moment they returned, the towering mountains of the sect erupted with blinding golden rays, and a massive, thick barrier grand formation rose in an instant!
From that second forth, the territory of the Taixuan Sword Sect was thoroughly sealed off, with no one permitted to enter or leave.
When the watching onlookers saw the Taixuan Sword Sect's sect-protecting grand formation rise, startled cries broke out.
"Looks like... He Yuanting is truly enraged this time."
"Nonsense! His son was cut down right before everyone's eyes! I heard He Yuning personally brought the culprit back, too."
"Indeed. You can know a man's face, but you can never know his heart."
"I heard that fellow is quite renowned in the Great Xia Sword Sect."
"What fart of a use is being famous? That's He Yuanting he crossed!"
In no time, the news that He Yuning had his heart pierced by a sword and was teetering on the brink of death swept across all of Zhongzhou.
Everyone who learned of this was shaken to the core.
Yet throughout the entire journey, Li Guanqi had remained silent. Anything said to He Yuanting right now would be completely futile.
Only if He Yuning's life was truly preserved would He Yuanting possibly calm down enough to think through the entire affair in detail.
At this moment, Li Guanqi's face was deathly pale. He could not mobilize a shred of primal energy or divine sense within his body.
His four limbs and shoulder blades had all been pierced through, leaving him completely unable to stop the bleeding. Every slight movement brought bone-drilling agony.
Looking at Jiuxiao, who was similarly imprisoned, a deeply conflicted expression surfaced in Li Guanqi's eyes.
Inside, the sword spirit was also burning with anxiety. In the face of He Yuanting, a Body Integration Realm expert, she dared not expose herself in the slightest.
Moreover, the sword coffin was currently held in He Yuanting's hand; she could not even contact Li Guanqi.
The moment she made a move, He Yuanting would inevitably detect her presence!
He Yuanting moved as swift as lightning, thunderous booms rumbling in his wake.
All the disciples along the path who saw his utterly grim face dropped to their knees one after another, heads bowed, not daring to utter a single word.
With a flick of his sleeve, He Yuanting flung Li Guanqi's cage a hundred zhang into the sky, suspending it high above the center of the square.
"Without my order, no one may approach within a hundred zhang of him!"
Meanwhile, Jiuxiao was likewise bound by chains midair. The chains on Li Guanqi instantly shot downward, violently plunging into the earth below.
The chains coiled tightly around the surrounding stone pillars!
Li Guanqi's limbs were wrenched taut in an instant, stretched into the shape of a cross as the weight of the stone cage bore down heavily onto his back.
The chains pierced through his flesh, pulling and tearing at his body.
Excruciating pain surged through him, yet Li Guanqi did not utter a sound.
It was the same for Jiuxiao. The dragon's body was pulled rigid by the chains, held taut in midair.
When the surrounding crowd saw the massive dragon stretching nearly thirty zhang long, gasps of astonishment escaped their lips.
Jiuxiao was a true dragon, incomparable to those great beasts that merely possessed a trace of dragon bloodline.
Staring at the pool of pale gold blood on the square's stones, the eyes of the disciples went wide.
Their gazes turned toward Jiuxiao, thick with greed.
Yet not a single person dared draw near, for He Yuanting's orders were no joke.
Li Guanqi could only watch helplessly as He Yuanting took He Yuning and vanished from midair.
Throughout the Taixuan Sword Sect, powerful figures took to the sky in rapid succession, hurrying urgently toward the main hall.
Li Guanqi had no way of knowing whether He Yuning could survive this ordeal. If He Yuning died...
Even if he had ten thousand excuses, He Yuanting would execute him without hesitation!
Just then, he suddenly remembered the saber intent his grandfather had left in his body. Yet with his dantian and sea of consciousness both thoroughly sealed, he could not even locate it.
Besides, he knew all too well that the saber intent existed only to restrain the sword spirit!
Without a sword to inhabit, the sword spirit was powerless.
Right now, his only hope was Pengluo!
Pengluo possessed the ability to slip through barriers; hopefully, the little spirit could sneak out of the sword coffin.
When that time came, Pengluo could send a message either to his grandfather or to Gu Yong.
To think he had allowed Cang Lu, through such a crude, blatant scheme, to force him into an absolute dead end!
Just like before!
He had failed to notice anything amiss through it all, despite having exercised the utmost caution!
The old man from Qingyang Palace who had looked at him back then had definitely been Cang Lu in disguise!
By comprehending Li Guanqi's sword intent, Cang Lu had stolen his aura, which allowed him to bind Red Lotus with those black threads!
Every single step had been within Cang Lu's calculations.
Yet he had not detected the slightest anomaly!
He could not understand...
Why, when his divine sense was so powerful, had he still been unable to see through Cang Lu's altered form?!
Waves of sharp pain tore through him, battering relentlessly at his mind.
His consciousness began to blur. In his current state, he was barely different from a somewhat sturdy mortal.
Moreover, the stone locks piercing his body were not only suppressing his power—they were also ceaselessly devouring the strength within him.
This kept him in an intensely weakened state, making it hard to maintain a clear mind.
Even Jiuxiao's dragon eyes were growing unfocused and glazed.
Clatter, rattle!
Jiuxiao twisted in agony, and the chains clanged violently against one another.
Roar!
A pained dragon roar tore through the heavens, prompting the surrounding disciples to stumble back several zhang in fright.
As Jiuxiao writhed, a mist of blood erupted from the dragon's wounds!
Mysterious golden runes flashed across the chains, instantly sapping much of Jiuxiao's aura.
"Jiuxiao!"
"Stop... stop moving..."
Seeing Jiuxiao suffer, Li Guanqi's killing intent toward Cang Lu soared to an absolute peak!
He violently reached up, grabbing hold of the stone spikes piercing through his shoulder blades!
Yet that simple movement forced the chains to grind harshly against the bones in his arms.
Instantly, fresh blood stained a large length of the chains crimson.
Li Guanqi let out a furious bellow.
"Ah!"
Relying on raw physical force alone, he began pulling the barbed stone spikes out of his flesh bit by bit!
Flesh tore open and peeled back as blood gushed out in spurts.
Clank, clatter! Clank, clatter!
All six chains rattled furiously.
The Taixuan Sword Sect disciples watching this shocking scene all stood with mouths agape, many of them sucking in sharp breaths of cold air.
One had to remember that the current Li Guanqi was by no means some almighty half-step Void Refinement cultivator.
At this moment, even his physical body's raw strength was suppressed to the absolute limit.
Li Guanqi's eyes were bloodshot, his expression twisted into a ferocious scowl.
As his hands slowly exerted force, the two chains piercing his shoulder blades were dragged out inch by agonizing inch.
Suddenly, glaring golden runes erupted across all six chains!
The golden runes raced to the tips of the stone spikes, and in the next heartbeat, the chains that had nearly been pulled free violently impaled his body once again.
This time, the triangular barbed tips instantly expanded to a terrifying size. Where they had once been only as thick as three fingers, the tips now swelled until they were as massive as water barrels!
The enormous barbs bit deep into his flesh like meat hooks in a butcher's stall, locking him down without mercy!
Chapter 496