Condemned by Thousands!

Li Guanqi roared toward the heavens. Immediately after, waves of weakness washed over him, until he could no longer sustain even his innate mind's eye. His vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness. Seeing this, Jiuxiao fell into an absolute fury, thrashing wildly. In an instant, the void above the Taixuan Sword Sect was torn with countless fractures! *Clatter, clang!* *Clang! Crash!* Yet Jiuxiao's body was bound by dozens of chains! Excruciating agony crashed relentlessly against Jiuxiao's mind, but the sharper the pain, the wilder the dragon grew! Because it knew Li Guanqi had not killed that man! *Boom!* An incomparable, terrifying pressure erupted from the chains, transforming into golden restraints that bound Jiuxiao tight! With the arrival of this overwhelming suppressive force, Jiuxiao, battered and exhausted, let out one final dragon roar before blacking out. Beneath the cloak of night, the Taixuan Sword Sect was taut with tension. Figures flew through the air one after another toward the grand hall, as several powerful auras flared in succession. Alongside the surging pressure came several chilling waves of killing intent directed at Li Guanqi, though all were intercepted. Experts kept arriving outside the Taixuan Sword Sect's protective barrier—over a hundred had gathered in a single night! Tier six alchemists were everywhere, and even two tier seven Grandmaster Alchemists, mythical figures who rarely showed their faces, had arrived. Yet even so, by the latter half of the night, an oppressive gloom settled over the entire sect. Dark rumors began circulating among the disciples. Passing by where Li Guanqi hung chained, several disciples murmured in low voices. "I heard the young sect master isn't going to make it... Was it really him who did it?" "Who else? A heartless, ungrateful wretch! And after how well the young sect master treated him!" "Ptui! Scum like him deserves to die ten thousand times over! Why did the sect master stop the First Elder and the others in the hall, anyway?" "A scoundrel like that should be put down with a single sword stroke! No... killing him just like that would be letting him off far too easy!" With that, the two disciples glared venomously at Li Guanqi, spat, and turned to leave. Drifting on the edge of consciousness, Li Guanqi dimly caught their conversation. His heart sank lower and lower. If He Yuning truly died... a furious He Yuanting would slaughter him without hesitation. With his hair disheveled, Li Guanqi's face was pale as paper. The blood in his body had nearly run dry. His lips were chapped and peeling, and his throat burned as though on fire. His voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum: "Cang... Lu..." Suddenly! A silver flash burst before his eyes! A plump, snowy-white radish tore through the void, dragging a pitch-black coffin, and materialized ten zhang before him! "Master! Catch the sword and run! That fellow... is dying!" With a fling of its arms, it hurled the sword coffin toward Li Guanqi. A mysterious power flared from the sword casket as it shot toward Li Guanqi. Li Guanqi's eyes widened. He had not expected that even with He Yuanting mobilizing all of his connections, He Yuning still could not be saved! Sensing Li Guanqi's presence, the sword coffin turned into a streak of light, darting toward him. Suddenly! A blaze of crimson-gold sword light erupted from the grand hall! Swift as lightning, the sword light split Pengluo's body in two in the blink of an eye! Unabated, the sword light struck the sword coffin, blasting it hundreds of zhang away. The immense force slammed the sword coffin into a towering mountain! *Boom! Rrrrrrumble!* Yet amid the billowing dust, the sword coffin vanished, sweeping straight into Li Guanqi's body! A massive breach had been cleaved open in Taixuan Hall, where a ferocious-looking He Yuanting roared, "If my son dies, even if you have ten thousand reasons, I will bury you with him!" "If not for you, would my son have come to this?!" "All of this karma began with you!" He paid no heed to the sword coffin sinking into Li Guanqi's body; after all, Li Guanqi's dantian and sea of consciousness were both firmly sealed. Listening to He Yuanting's roar, Li Guanqi quietly lowered his head. He knew He Yuanting was right. Even if he had not killed He Yuning, He Yuning had been dragged into this because of him. If He Yuning had not gotten so close to him, how could this have happened? He himself... Just as before, he was still a harbinger of doom, a jinx... Sister... Mother... Lin Dong... Ning Xiu... He Yuning... Face after face flashed through his mind. At this moment, Li Guanqi's face held no expression whatsoever, and the vibrant light in his eyes slowly dimmed to lifeless dullness. With a wave of his hand, He Yuanting sent several more chains piercing through Pengluo's body, pinning him equally firm in midair. Whirling around with a flick of his wide sleeves, he barked furiously, "Spare no expense! Save my son at all costs!" Turning back, He Yuanting growled in a low roar, "Hang him from the tower of Yuntian City!" "If my son dies, he dies with him!" With that, Taixuan Hall was instantly enveloped in a golden barrier. Pengluo wailed, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, hurts..." "Master... it looks like our days together as master and servant are coming to an end." "The way I see it, that guy won't last past tomorrow night." "Master?" "Say something, would you?" Li Guanqi gave no sign of hearing. He allowed more than a dozen Void Refining Realm elders of the Taixuan Sword Sect to drag the chains, leading him out through the sect's grand formation barrier. When the grand array parted and Li Guanqi was dragged out like a condemned criminal, the crowd of cultivators gathered outside Yuntian City was struck dumb with shock. Many stood suspended in the void, gazing coldly upon Li Guanqi. Many even spat at him. "Ptui! Ungrateful cur! Scum!" "Dog of a bastard, utterly devoid of conscience!" "Hmph, Yama Sword my ass! Nothing but a sanctimonious hypocrite!" "The Taixuan Sword Sect has stood for three thousand years, keeping peace across Zhongzhou—a sect of great righteousness!" "To dare ambush and kill He Yuning in public! Ptui! Deserves to die ten thousand times over!" Someone even took out a stone and hurled it at Li Guanqi! Though the elder holding the chains saw it, he made no move to stop it. After all, such force would at most give him a few scrapes and bruises; so long as his life wasn't threatened, it didn't matter. *Thwack!* The fist-sized stone came shooting in. Li Guanqi made no attempt to dodge, letting the stone strike him until blood streamed down his battered face. *Whoosh!* Li Guanqi suddenly jerked his head up. Through the tangled strands of hair, his bloodshot, pallid eyes locked onto the yellow-robed youth with a mole at the corner of his mouth. The icy glare sent a chill straight to the youth's heart, though he forced himself not to stagger back in fright. Feigning righteous indignation, he bellowed, "Looking?! You're still looking?!" "A scoundrel like you—beating you to death wouldn't even begin to pay for your crimes! You ungrateful wolf!" With that, he pulled out two more stones and threw them! Li Guanqi let the stones strike his body, remaining utterly silent, merely burning the youth's face into his memory! With someone leading the way, others naturally followed! Countless stones flew toward Li Guanqi, Jiuxiao, and Pengluo. Pengluo wailed as the rocks rained down, spiritual sap continuously oozing from its wounds, its eyes completely bloodshot. Yet it stared fixedly at Li Guanqi's back. Because it knew that even if He Yuanting truly intended to kill him, Li Guanqi would never simply sit by and wait for death! The man before it would never allow himself to die here! He still had grander ambitions and loftier dreams. With his head lowered, bloody saliva continuously seeped from Li Guanqi's mouth, yet within his eyes, like a beast pushed to furious frenzy, something was simmering in restraint.