Excruciating agony and psychological terror reached their absolute peak at this moment.
The world before Liu Yunxuan's eyes was pitch-black. All he could hear was Li Guanqi's tranquil voice recounting the life he was destined to endure from now on.
Having had his tongue torn out, Liu Yunxuan could only manage muffled, unintelligible whimpers.
Flayed all the way up to his scalp, the icy bite of the sword blade registered once again!
The entire process lasted for the time it took an incense stick to burn!
After that incense stick had burned down, Liu Yunxuan was drenched in blood; not a single patch of intact skin remained on his entire body.
He had also grown unimaginably weak. His dantian was shattered, his power entirely gone.
Only his soul had been sealed away by Li Guanqi's tremendous might, yet much of it had also been battered apart, leaving him scarcely different from a mortal.
His whole body convulsed in involuntary tremors.
*If only... I could... bleed... to death... that would be fine too...*
Yet how could Li Guanqi let this chief culprit off so easily?!
His palm slowly closed around the slick, sticky skin, catching hold of a strip of bloody muscle and slowly ripping it free.
*A demon! He's the real demon!*
Watching this scene unfold, Ye Feng and the others were struck with terror.
Back when Li Guanqi had pointed his sword at Ziyang Palace, deep within that secluded ancient forest, there had been two corpses.
Two disciples of Ziyang Palace had been buried in the ground, their faces covered in gashes smeared with honey.
In the end, they were licked beyond recognition by the tongue of a Bloodthirsty Violent Bear, every scrap of flesh and blood scraped clean from their faces.
Compared to this...
Once all the muscle had been stripped from Liu Yunxuan's body, Li Guanqi even took a small slice of arm from Pengluo and shoved it into Liu Yunxuan's mouth.
With this thing in him, Liu Yunxuan could not die even if he wanted to.
Li Guanqi leaned down to Liu Yunxuan's ear and whispered softly,
"Rest assured. The time we spend together... will be long... very long..."
*Crack!*
The spine-chilling crunch of fracturing bone rang out.
Li Guanqi's fingers were like sledgehammers, taking hold of the man's fingers and grinding them to pieces bit by bit.
After crushing every single bone in his entire body, Li Guanqi slowly extended his palm and began helping his bones and flesh regenerate.
Looking up at Liu Yunxuan, Li Guanqi sent two bolts of lightning piercing straight into the man's ears, deafening him on the spot.
Eyes unable to see, ears unable to hear, mouth unable to speak, nose unable to smell.
Only his sense of pain had been stimulated to excruciating sharpness. Blanketed in darkness, unable to hear a single sound, Liu Yunxuan could perceive nothing but boundless, never-ending agony.
That sensation of being enveloped by a dark mire filled him with limitless terror, his mind constantly teetering on the brink of collapse.
Sensing his flesh and skin slowly knitting back together, his dread practically reached its zenith.
He tried with all his might to roar, but not a single sound could escape.
Suddenly!
A searing, agonizing torment struck without warning!
The icy blade sliced deep into his body without carving away the flesh, scoring him like a fish prepped for the fryer.
Just as he was wondering what horrors awaited him next, a scorching heat wave slammed into him!
Li Guanqi drew the Yinming Profound Flame into his palm, and a raging blaze instantly engulfed Liu Yunxuan!
In an instant, the scored ribbons of flesh peeled and curled back from the heat!
Seeing this, Ye Feng suddenly remarked, "If you sprinkled a handful of pepper over that..."
Pengluo stared at him with wide, horrified eyes and muttered, "You're the real sick bastard here!"
***
Outside the domain.
Everything within had been observed by Meng Jiangchu...
Standing silently where he was, he sighed, his hands clasped behind his back as his formidable aura cast an intimidating mantle over the area.
Yet many furtive gazes still spied on the scene from the shadows.
These people were eyes and ears from the ancient clans; after all, a commotion this massive within the Liu clan's domain was impossible to conceal.
Meng Jiangchu narrowed his eyes, and his chilling voice, laced with primal energy, carried across hundreds of li.
"If anyone at the Body Integration Realm or above dares make a move on him, regardless of which clan you belong to, you had best prepare your neck for the blade."
Suddenly!
From the pitch-black void drifted an eerie, raspy voice of an old man.
"Meng Jiangchu, since when have even you had the right to act so arrogant?"
"This brat slaughtered the ancient Liu clan from top to bottom. Does that mean he will strike against us in the future as well?"
Hearing this, Meng Jiangchu's pupils constricted abruptly!
*That voice...*
Meng Jiangchu turned his head and gave a cold sneer.
"Old bastard, want to test me?"
The moment his words fell, a cold huff echoed from the void.
A ray of scarlet-gold chill abruptly erupted from the emptiness!
Meng Jiangchu's expression did not waver in the slightest; he did not even bring his hands out from behind his back.
Directly before him, a colossal dark-green fiery gate tens of zhang tall abruptly manifested!
With a thunderous crash, a scarlet-gold spear slammed into the curtain of fire. Its sharp tip dragged and distorted the massive gate like a sheet of toughened rawhide.
As the spear plunged forward, terrifying force converged upon a single point. The dragged, razor-sharp spear blade drew ever closer to the spot between Meng Jiangchu's brows.
Yet the man continued to stand tall and proud, completely unmoved.
In the end, as the flames whirled, several ghastly silhouettes of ferocious ghosts materialized, instantly swallowing and obliterating that ancient treasure-grade spear!
From within the void came the old man's shocked cry.
"Heavenly flame... the Five Yang Ghost!"
"When did you obtain that?!"
Meng Jiangchu sneered. "Old man, times have changed."
As he spoke, the five fiery specters plunged violently into the void, followed immediately by a succession of bloodcurdling shrieks echoing from the shadows.
Meng Jiangchu slowly turned around and said in a voice dripping with chill, "Gentlemen, if any of you wish to make a move, weigh your own worth first and consider whether you can endure my vengeance."
"Rest assured, I possess far more methods than he does."
Silence fell. Within that void lurked no fewer than ten powerhouses of the Mahayana realm!
These were all leaders holding authority over top ancient clans. Never had they expected that Meng Jiangchu, who had once kept a low profile, would possess such terrifying strength!
With just the power of a heavenly flame, he had severely wounded a mid Mahayana realm expert.
After several breaths, the voice of a middle-aged man slowly sounded.
"The Abyss Demons have appeared, and evil cultivators run amok."
"None of that concerns us. But this young lad... ruthless and cruel, wiping out an entire clan—no matter how one frames it, this constitutes a provocation against the dignity of our ancient hidden clans."
Meng Jiangchu frowned and raised a hand, cutting him off forcefully with a frigid rebuke.
"Cut the crap. Speak plainly—what do you want?"
The figures hidden in the darkness exchanged glances, and the man said in a deep voice,
"The ancient clans... shall enter the mortal world!"
His tone was firm and low, representing the shared stance of the overwhelming majority of the ancient clans!
Without a second thought, Meng Jiangchu rejected them flatly: "Impossible! If you step into the world now, it will inevitably plunge the Six Domains into turmoil!"
Hearing that, the man said nothing more. One aura after another slowly faded into the void.
Meng Jiangchu curled his lip and cursed under his breath, "A pack of old foxes. You really think I'm out of options, don't you?"
"I'll find someone to talk some sense into you."
Drawing out a jade slip, Meng Jiangchu said softly, "Elder Su, um... some of the ancient clans want to enter the world, and they're looking at Guanqi with some displeasure."
As for anything else, he neither said nor asked.
Soon, an old man's voice drifted back from the jade slip.
"Mm, I am aware."
"Regarding Guanqi... try not to intervene. Let him temper his own disposition."
"Living in this world, who ever experiences smooth sailing throughout?"
"The cruelty of the cultivation world extends far beyond this..."
Meng Jiangchu lowered the jade slip and looked up toward the domain, an inevitable pang of heartache stirring within him.
With a soft sigh, his figure slowly dissolved into the void.
Meanwhile, the torture within the domain continued for three whole days and nights.
In the end, Li Guanqi tossed Liu Yunxuan—who no longer resembled anything human—into the lightning pagoda.
Just like the others, he would endure the perpetual agony of lightning punishment and heavenly flames scorching his soul at every passing moment.
Li Guanqi slumped atop the mountain peak, staring blankly into the distance, surrounded by fields of corpses and ground soaked in gore.
Chapter 643