Li Guanqi lowered his boxing stance. Suddenly, several dark silhouettes shot into the air from among the distant mountains.
Li Guanqi kept his aura outwardly displayed at the mid-to-late Core Formation realm, paying them little mind.
Yet he felt that two of the faint auras were strangely familiar.
He simply chose to act as though he had not noticed them, leisurely gliding forward as before.
He also wanted to see what was going on—did he really have this many acquaintances here in the Luoxia Domain?
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
"You dog! Halt right there!!"
"Hurry!! Catch them!! If we don't, we're all dead when we get back!"
Shouts, furious curses, and clamorous cries rang out incessantly.
A blood-drenched young man flew through the air, bursts of green light erupting beneath his feet as he fled at extreme speed.
In his arms, the grim-faced youth cradled a mortally wounded young woman on the brink of death.
Blood gushed from the corners of the woman's mouth, and several piercing wounds across her body appeared horrifying and ghastly.
Her aura was already extremely weak; without timely treatment, she would not survive for long.
The young man looked down at the woman in his arms, crying out with frantic urgency:
"Qin'er!! Wake up!! Don't fall asleep!!"
"Wake up, Qin'er!!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The ear-piercing shrieks of concealed weapons slicing through the air sounded as several cold glints flashed across the sky!
The young man turned his head to look at the pursuers bearing down on him, his teeth clenched tight.
Drawing the longsword from his back, he slashed out in rapid succession.
Clang! Clang! Clink!
Pfft!!
Several steel needles grazed past his sword blade, throwing off blinding sparks against the edge.
Yet the young man was already at the end of his strength; though he shifted and dodged, a steel needle still pierced through him!!
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. The youth could clearly have dodged the two steel needles, yet without the slightest hesitation, he had turned around to block them.
For no other reason than the woman in his arms.
"Argh!!! You bastards!!!"
The youth let out a low roar, but his speed did not flag in the least as the talisman runes upon his feet burned furiously.
Yet the pursuers behind him were no slouches either, snapping relentlessly at his heels!!
Watching a battle between Core Formation cultivators, Li Guanqi suddenly found it rather intriguing.
Back when he had been tied to Ye Feng's back, fleeing the encirclement of enemy cultivators, he had also only been in the Core Formation realm.
To think that years had slipped by in the blink of an eye, and witnessing such a scene once more still stirred a wave of nostalgia within him.
The young man glanced back and suddenly spotted Li Guanqi gliding on his sword in the distance. Looking back at the ferocious pack behind him,
he gritted his teeth and unexpectedly sacrificed his speed, veering off in another direction!
This took Li Guanqi slightly aback. Had it been him, he certainly would have dragged a passerby into the fray—after all, when outmatched, muddling the waters was often the only way to slip away.
Yet that man had steered away without a moment's hesitation!
Seeing this, the bearded man in pursuit felt a surge of delight and instantly closed the distance by dozens of zhang.
Catching sight of Li Guanqi, he bellowed, "The Golden Snake Sect is handling business!! Unrelated bystanders, clear out immediately!!"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly and sidestepped to yield the path.
Wearing cold sneers, the four men swept past Li Guanqi, their frenzied eyes gleaming as though they could already envision the pair being captured.
"Yan Chong! I advise you to surrender without a fight and return with us to the Golden Snake Sect!"
"Perhaps we might even spare your life!"
Yan Chong whipped his head around and roared, "Even if I, Yan Chong, must die, I will drag you down with me as cushions for my grave!!"
Before his words had even faded, several cold glints shot toward him from behind!!
All four Golden Snake Sect cultivators were in the late Core Formation realm; catching the severely wounded Yan Chong was merely a matter of time.
Moreover, Yan Chong's injuries were far from light, not to mention that he was carrying another person in his arms.
The youth spun around and swung his sword, but the sword light was too swift and fierce—one beam still slashed past his waist.
Had he not reacted quickly, that strike would have cut him in two!
"Pfft!!"
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Yan Chong's eyes flashed with mortal resolve.
Suddenly!
As if remembering something, he fished a purple jade slip from his storage ring.
He stared hard at the jade slip in his hand, a look of bitterness crossing his face.
Opening his eyes wide, Yan Chong crushed the jade slip in his grip without hesitation!!
Crack!!
The jade slip shattered, sending profound ripples of spatial fluctuations spreading outward!
At this sight, the man roared with manic laughter. "Hahahahaha! You don't actually think someone is going to come save you at a time like this, do you?"
"Hahahaha, what a jok—*mph*!!!"
The young man who had just yielded the way had appeared before his eyes in an instant, a large hand clamping violently over his face!!
The five fingers dug deep into his skin and bone like eagle talons!!
Through the gaps between those fingers, he could only see a pair of purple eyes, fathomless as an abyss.
The gaze was calm, yet an utterly terrifying sensation of impending death enveloped the man's entire being.
In an instant, his limbs turned ice-cold, a chilling dread rushing straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his skull!!
"Who are you?! Let go!! Do you dare make an enemy of our Golden Snake Sect?!"
As if hearing a ridiculous joke, Li Guanqi let out a cold sneer. "An enemy?"
"What kind of shit is your Golden Snake Sect supposed to be?"
At these words, the others flew into a rage, gripping their swords and slashing toward Li Guanqi in an instant!!
Seeing this from over ten zhang away, Yan Chong felt an immediate jolt of panic.
"Careful, fellow Daoist!!!"
Yet in the very next instant, he saw the sword beneath Li Guanqi's feet snap into his hand. From that point on, Yan Chong couldn't follow any movement of the blade at all.
Heaven and earth fell silent. The remaining three men of the Golden Snake Sect stood rooted to the spot, stiff and vacant.
The sword in Li Guanqi's hand was not tainted by even a single drop of blood.
Squelch!!
As Li Guanqi slowly turned toward Yan Chong, the four men behind him disintegrated into countless fragments in an instant!!
Looking at the youth, Li Guanqi raised a hand and sent a ray of spiritual light into the woman in his arms; the life force draining from her immediately halted!
Furthermore, her aura began to climb rapidly.
Tears of joy streamed down Yan Chong's face at the sight. Looking down at the woman he loved, he said with a trembling voice,
"Qin'er..."
Looking up, Yan Chong moved to drop to his knees.
"I, Yan Chong of the Great Xia Domain, thank you for your lifesaving intervention, fellow Daoist! Please accept my bow!"
Yet a gentle, invisible force held him up.
Looking up, he stared in surprise at the handsome youth before him, whose bearing held a touch of sinister charm.
A warm smile played on the youth's lips as he cupped his fists in salute, chuckling.
"Great Xia Sword Sect, Tianlei Peak disciple Li Wuji."
Upon hearing the words 'Great Xia Sword Sect', Yan Chong's eyes went wide in utter disbelief!
He had never imagined that far away in the Luoxia Domain, in such a remote corner, he would actually run into a fellow sect brother!
Hot tears welled in Yan Chong's eyes, his throat feeling as though it were choked up as he stammered in a choked voice,
"Great! Xia! Sword! Sect! Tianmu Peak disciple, Yan Chong!"
The two exchanged a smile, both feeling a strange swell of emotion.
Li Guanqi handed him a blank jade slip of the Great Xia Sword Sect. Once Yan Chong inscribed his identity and aura into it,
he discovered a bright dot of light right beside him inside the jade slip. Furthermore, within the far-off borders, three scattered dots of light were still speeding toward his location with all haste!!
The tears welling in Yan Chong's eyes finally spilled over. Cradling the jade slip in both hands, he sent a trembling transmission with a weeping edge to his voice:
"Disciple Yan Chong here. The crisis has passed! Thank you, senior brothers and senior sisters, for coming to my aid!"
The dots of light in the jade slip faded away. No one spoke, yet their actions spoke volumes.
At this moment, Yan Chong clenched both fists, having never felt the strength of his sect so clearly!
Chapter 660