When Li Guanqi emerged from the Treasure Pavilion, the handsome young man in white robes already possessed a pair of purple eyes.
Li Guanqi was thoroughly satisfied with his current disguise.
"Tsk, getting things for free really is great.
"Still... does that damn fatty have that much sway in the Treasure Pavilion now?
"Could he have already taken over from his old man?"
Even now, he could still recall the terrified look in the manager's eyes upon learning his status rank.
That purple-gold glow was simply too dazzling.
Now, Li Guanqi's eyes were lively and expressive, showing not the slightest hint of a disguise.
Deep and fathomless, a subtle shift of his gaze gave the impression that he harbored countless secrets in his heart.
Just standing at the entrance of the Treasure Pavilion drew waves of giggles from the surrounding women.
A few bolder ones even looked eager to step forward and get better acquainted with him.
Alarmed, Li Guanqi vanished in a flash of lightning beneath his feet.
Having departed Yanchangping, Li Guanqi soared gracefully through the air when a playful impulse suddenly seized him.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed out a longsword of the lowest possible dharma artifact rank—something even Core Formation cultivators would look down on.
Yet he happily stepped onto it, concealing his aura so that he appeared to be in the mid-to-late Core Formation realm.
After a moment's thought, he took out a jade slip and inquired respectfully, "Father-in-law, how is Wanshu doing?"
Before long, Meng Jiangchu's voice came drifting out of the jade slip.
"So you brat actually remember to care?!
"Do you still have Wanshu in your heart?! Do you still respect me as your father-in-law?!
"A year! A whole damned year, and you couldn't be reached at all!!"
Li Guanqi held the jade slip a little farther away; the man's shouting was simply too loud.
"Come on, didn't I have a bit of a mental block to work through...? I dropped off the map for a year just to get my head straight."
Hearing this, Meng Jiangchu refrained from scolding him further; he had seen everything that transpired in the Liu clan's domain with his own eyes.
"You stinking brat, don't worry. Wanshu is still in seclusion. But I suspect once she stabilizes her void avatar, she'll probably prepare to enter seclusion again to break through to the Body Integration Realm.
"She was still a bit reckless this time."
A flicker of concern crossed Li Guanqi's eyes at those words.
Still, since Meng Jiangchu said there was no issue, then there definitely wouldn't be one.
After all, this doting father would never let Meng Wanshu fall into danger.
Li Guanqi chuckled cheekily. "Um, Father-in-law... I'm facing a rather awkward problem right now."
"What problem?"
"I need a sword. A ruins artifact."
Meng Jiangchu ground his teeth in exasperation as he held the jade slip, snapping back peevishly,
"Understood! Once I've forged it, I'll have someone deliver it to you."
Putting away the jade slip, Li Guanqi felt considerably more at ease.
"Wanshu will probably be in seclusion for a long time... Breaking through to the Body Integration Realm requires preparation no matter what.
"Hiss... Isn't that talent a bit too monstrous?
"Could my yang energy really be that potent...?"
Meanwhile, back in the Shenbao Domain, Meng Jiangchu set down the jade slip with a wry smile. It had been several centuries since he last forged an artifact, yet here he was, about to fire up the furnace again for Li Guanqi.
However, more than anything, Meng Jiangchu felt excitement.
If there had been no reason to forge, that would have been fine, but forging a ruins artifact tailored specifically to Li Guanqi filled him with tremendous zeal.
While he already had Li Guanqi's aura, he had still asked Li Guanqi for a wisp of aura from his Sword Ruins.
Looking at the crimson vapor sealed within the jade slip, Meng Jiangchu reached out to touch it—
*Hiss!!*
Meng Jiangchu's brow furrowed tightly. Seeing the drop of blood on his fingertip, a chill ran through his heart!
It seemed... forging this sword would not be as straightforward as he had imagined.
Yet he turned away in high spirits and promptly declared a period of secluded artifact forging, strictly forbidding any disturbances.
"Uh... The Domain Lord is firing up the furnace to forge artifacts?! He hasn't lifted a finger in centuries!"
"No way?! The Domain Lord is forging? What's he making? Who is it for?"
Meng Jiangchu dove into the treasury, rummaging through everything and scouring almost all the finest treasures accumulated over millennia.
The domain sealed shut, and scorching waves of fire swept across heaven and earth!
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi soared mid-air, maneuvering with deliberate, shifting strides as he circulated his movement technique.
With each step, his feet landed squarely on his flying sword while his fists surged and rolled like crashing waves.
The gentlest water momentum transformed between his fists into ferocious, towering breakers, every punch carrying the colossal might of water.
It felt as if every strike was powerful enough to shatter coastal crags to dust.
Li Guanqi did not employ primal energy; he was merely familiarizing himself with and comprehending the Firmament Shatterer Fist Technique.
As he went through the routine again and again, his comprehension of the fist technique's first stance grew increasingly profound.
As for the second stance of the Firmament Shatterer Fist Technique, Ten Thousand Mountains, he had also begun to grasp some subtle enlightenments.
Slowly drawing his fists back and standing upright, Li Guanqi found himself drenched in sweat.
With a surge of primal energy, he dispelled all the grime from his body. Eyes half-closed, he ran through all the sword moves and forms he had mastered so far.
At present, the only thing that could surpass the Sword Draw Stance was likely that world-destroying strike unleashed when the sword spirit possessed him.
Even now, he could only say he had mastered sixty percent of the charm and spirit inherent in that single strike.
Aside from that, there was the Thunder Lotus sword stance Li Guanqi had created himself, known as the Red Lotus Heavenly Dance.
It was a strike that pushed the unique properties of the Red Lotus sword to the absolute limit.
Heart and sword as one, unleashing a world-astonishing strike of the red lotus.
In fact, he also possessed the vague outlines of two other sword moves in his mind.
One came from the feeling when his killing intent peaked during the slaughter of the Liu clan.
Once drawn, it would strike like a bloodthirsty Asura.
Yet he always felt something was missing. At that moment, the sword spirit's voice sounded slowly:
"What you lack is the circulation pathway of primal energy required when creating a sword move.
"Every sword technique truly worthy of being passed down must possess not only power and sword momentum, but also a corresponding method of circulating primal energy.
"Even more, it requires an incantation and mental mnemonic so later generations can grasp the state of mind you experienced when you created the strike."
Li Guanqi shrugged. He hadn't expected creating sword moves to be such a chore.
The Thunder Lotus strike of the Red Lotus Heavenly Dance relied on his extreme sword speed to unleash hundreds or thousands of slashes in an instant, causing the thunder lotus woven from sword light to blossom in a flash.
In a way, it shared the same fundamental principle as the Thousand-Fold Waves fist technique—both lay in the accumulation of momentum.
When that accumulation reached a certain threshold and erupted, its explosive power far exceeded the simple sum of individual punches or sword strikes.
As for the other sword move... it stemmed from his experiences and actions as 'Li Wuji' over the past couple of days.
That unfettered ease, following his own heart without restraint, had inspired a subtle insight within him.
Li Guanqi nodded silently, committing these words to memory and resolving to gradually refine these two sword moves later.
Looking at Li Guanqi lost in contemplation, the sword spirit couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
*The Ethereal Dao Body... such comprehension is simply terrifying...*
Her lips curled slightly into a teasing smile as she looked up at the firmament.
*I really wonder what those fellows will think when he ascends to the Immortal Realm in the future.*
Yet even as Li Guanqi lowered his head, pondering how to perfect his sword techniques, his physical movements never ceased.
Assuming his stance, he practiced the Firmament Shatterer Fist Technique over and over again.
After an unknown stretch of time, as dusk began to fall, bursts of alarmed cries suddenly reached Li Guanqi's ears!
Chapter 659