Buzz!!!
High above a lush, verdant mountain range, violent spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted!
Roar!!!
The intense disturbances drew uneasy roars from numerous great demons dwelling within the mountains. As their cries echoed, low-tier demon beasts joined in, their frantic howls instantly filling the once-quiet peaks. Cultivators hunting beasts throughout the range fled in panic. Within moments, flocks of winged demon beasts took to the air, shrieking as they scattered across the sky.
The fierce disturbance caught the attention of every cultivator within a hundred-li radius. Across the clear sky, a vast golden halo materialized, followed by a spatial rift over thirty zhang long tearing open without warning!
Countless cultivators took to the skies, convinced that yet another ancient ruin had been unsealed. To their disappointment, however, three figures stepped slowly out from the rift.
Tu Yongsi stood behind Song Yunshu with his hands tucked into his sleeves. Watching the incoming swarms of cultivators, he let out a cold snort.
Boom!
A terrifying pressure detonated in an instant!
Cultivators flying in from across ten li plummeted from the sky like dumplings dropped into boiling water, crashing down across the earth with a chorus of dull thuds.
Li Guanqi took a deep breath, drawing strands of white vapor into his body through his nose. Rain had likely fallen over this mountain range not long ago, leaving a faint earthen musk lingering in the air.
Opening his eyes, a sharp glint flashed across his gaze.
"What dense heaven and earth spiritual energy!"
Song Yunshu came to his side and smiled. "The Daochan Domain boasts the highest concentration of spiritual energy among all the Six Domains."
Down below, the cultivators pinned to the ground were thoroughly shaken. Only one thought ran through their minds.
*Out-domain cultivators!*
Though remote, the Daochan Domain was a rare holy land for cultivation. Because of this, its inhabitants were fiercely isolationist and harbored deep hostility toward cultivators from other domains, believing these outsiders came only to hunt for sudden epiphanies or to covet their abundant spiritual energy. As such, even outsiders traveling through the Daochan Domain rarely admitted where they were from.
Song Yunshu smiled faintly. "Let's go. We shouldn't waste time here."
The three of them flickered and vanished.
Barely after their departure, word reached a secluded courtyard nestled amid scenic hills and waters.
On a reclining chair within the courtyard, an elder clad in a dark-gold robe had his eyes half-closed, his brow lightly furrowed. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing a head of silver hair groomed with immaculate precision. With a bulbous nose, triangular eyes, gaunt cheeks, and thin lips, his gaze gleamed with shrewd calculation.
"I knew something was wrong with that girl..." he murmured in a steady, low voice. "Yet... why did she bring him here? And Tu Yongsi, you've guarded Song Yunshu in secret all these years—are you finally done hiding?"
The elder idly turned a small purple clay teapot in his hands, sipped some spiritual tea, and narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze drifted, blank with contemplation.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
A middle-aged man with a chilling countenance stood bowed outside the door, speaking softly. "Father, Yuan Hao is here."
The elder's brow furrowed deeper, his voice turning icy. "Tell him to crawl back and tell Yuan Hongyi not to contact me during this period! Foolish idiot!"
Hearing the elder's furious rebuke, sweat beaded on Jiang Han's forehead. He bowed hastily and stepped backward. "Yes, I understand."
Leaving the courtyard, Jiang Han's face hardened as he flashed back to his own residence. The moment he stepped inside, a portly middle-aged man rose eagerly to his feet, wearing a welcoming smile.
"Brother Jiang, what did your venerable father say?"
Jiang Han did not answer. His face dark, he brushed past the man and sat down in the main seat. He picked up his teacup and remained utterly silent.
A twitch pulled at the portly man's face. Raising one's teacup without speaking was a blatant gesture to see a guest out!
"Haha, Jiang Han! Surely there's something to say, no matter what?"
Jiang Han set down his teacup, looked up, and spoke in a deep voice. "Go back and tell that master of yours not to contact us for the time being."
Pausing briefly, Jiang Han stared straight into Yuan Hao's eyes. "Those are our old master's exact words."
Yuan Hao's small eyes widened noticeably before returning to calm. "Very well, I understand."
With that, Yuan Hao turned and vanished on the spot.
Setting his teacup down once more, Jiang Han remained seated in silence, staring blankly toward the doorway, lost in thought.
***
Meanwhile, within a magnificent, otherworldly palace, a wild and decadent revelry was underway.
Over a dozen powerful youths were dead drunk, limbs tangled atop one another in a stupor. Melodious zither music echoed around the great hall while dancers performed without interruption, another taking the floor the instant a routine concluded.
None of them had any inkling of what had just transpired.
***
Deep within an uninhabited mountain range stretching thousands of li, three figures materialized.
Song Yunshu gazed at the empty valley before them and drew a deep breath. "Li Guanqi, wait a moment. I have something to give you."
Under Li Guanqi's astonished gaze, she wove hand seals until an intricate, bizarre pattern manifested across the center of her forehead! The moment the mark took shape, it shimmered with luminous light, and a streak of purple-gold radiance coalesced midair into a peculiar Tianji jade pendant that flew toward Li Guanqi.
Yet the instant the pendant formed, a chilling gleam surged straight toward Song Yunshu!
The incoming sword light was blindingly swift—and terrifyingly potent!
Li Guanqi snatched the purple-gold pendant out of the air. In the same breath, the sword coffin materialized behind him, and Red Lotus flew into his hand as he slashed furiously past Song Yunshu's flank!
As the blade swung, heaven and earth convulsed, and tens of thousands of lightning bolts crashed down! A colossal phantom of thunder, dozens of zhang tall, burst into existence.
Blood and vital energy thundered within Li Guanqi as he roared with glaring fury,
"Apocalypse: Thunder Wrath!!"
Beside him, Tu Yongsi was barely a fraction of a breath behind, unleashing a fierce, lethal strike from a silver-white longsword.
Boom!!!
Their combined attacks instantly drove the assailant back. Terrifying sword qi tore in all directions, shattering the surrounding void to pieces.
"Pfft!"
A severed arm disintegrated into the sea of lightning, while the elder's blade swept past the black-robed figure's waist, nearly cleaving him in two! Realizing the strike had failed, the assailant turned into an afterimage and fled, bursting into a mist of blood at blinding speed.
Li Guanqi slowly lowered his sword and narrowed his eyes as he swept the surroundings with his divine sense, yet detected nothing.
He turned to look at Song Yunshu, who stood shaken and pale, a faint line of blood marking her neck. The assassin's aura had pinned her in place moments ago, leaving her unable to move. She had truly thought she was going to die. Had Li Guanqi not struck to force the assailant back, she would already be a corpse.
Returning Red Lotus to the sword coffin, Li Guanqi looked at the pendant in his hand and said in a grave voice, "What is this thing? Why did someone jump out to snatch it the moment we arrived?"
Song Yunshu's face remained bloodless, her lips trembling without forming words. Beside them, Tu Yongsi answered in a heavy tone.
"That... is the jade pendant representing the Pavilion Master of the Tianji Pavilion!"
"The Tianji Pavilion... recognizes no master, only the pendant!"
Chapter 676