Deterrence!

Li Guanqi pinned the gatekeeping elder's head beneath his foot and leaned down, his voice chillingly cold. "See? I had no need for you to open the door at all." "Remember this: you serve Tianji Pavilion, not any single person." At this moment, lightning coursed through the elder's body, sealing and suppressing his dantian and origin spirit. Paralyzed from head to toe, he could not stir in the slightest. *Splat! Crack!!* Li Guanqi stomped down with sudden force! The elder's head burst like a smashed watermelon, scattering red and white matter across the ground. Scalding blood sprayed out, splattering Tu Yongsi from forehead to chin. Li Guanqi turned to look at Tu Yongsi, his eyes narrowing slightly as he peered down at the elder. In that split second, Tu Yongsi felt as though thorns were pricking his back, as if the sword in Li Guanqi's hand might strike his neck in the very next breath. Silence fell, heavy and suffocating. Li Guanqi stared at Tu Yongsi, his lips parting slightly. "Remember this: you, Tu Yongsi, are merely a dog of Tianji Pavilion as well." "A good dog may be kept. But one that barks out of turn... heh." *Drip...* A bead of sweat the size of a bean struck the floor. Tu Yongsi responded with an anxious, unsteady expression, "This subordinate understands..." Li Guanqi turned toward the chamber. "Scram!" Tu Yongsi waited until Li Guanqi's figure vanished beyond the boundary before he slowly rose. Only upon standing did he realize his back had been drenched in cold sweat at some point. For a fleeting moment just now, he had distinctly felt Li Guanqi's intent to kill him! So boundless was that killing intent that he felt as if he had been plunged into a mire of blood! A flurry of complex emotions flickered through Tu Yongsi's eyes. He glanced at the gatekeeper's corpse and let out a long sigh. This was the first time Li Guanqi had killed someone right in front of them. He knew Li Guanqi was warning everyone to dispense with their underhanded little tricks; the young man had no patience to spare. *** Meanwhile, Li Guanqi stood within an independent realm spanning a hundred zhang. Looking up at the sky filled with scroll paintings, he felt a wave of profound shock. The edges of this isolated space were lined with bookshelves so towering their summits were lost to sight. The open center resembled a small plaza, where the Tianji Chart floated in midair like a winding, serpentine dragon. The images across the Tianji Chart flickered in rapid succession. Across its vast length of several hundred zhang, every single inch displayed a different scene. The hundred-zhang plaza beneath his feet was inlaid bit by bit with millions of high-grade spirit stones, forming a self-contained formation that continuously supplied spiritual energy to the Tianji Chart. Standing beneath the chart, Li Guanqi felt the Tianji Chart inside him—which had already acknowledged him as master—faintly resonate with the scroll above. A gentle fluorescent glow erupted from the overhead scroll, enveloping Li Guanqi. Sensing this aura, understanding dawned in Li Guanqi's heart. He raised his hand and casually tapped a section of the scroll. Instantly, the image expanded considerably. Depicted within was a middle-aged man holding a treasure map as he traversed the void. He tapped several more images at random, and each revealed scenes that opened Li Guanqi's eyes. Among the more prominent scrolls within the Tianji Chart, what unfolded was a map of the Six Domains! The borders drawn on the map radiated a soft fluorescence that spread outward like flames. Li Guanqi murmured softly in understanding, "The Blue Tower's pawns are continuously exploring uncharted territories." "Lantern Lighters... they're somewhat similar to the ferrymen of Luoxia Domain..." "Mortal dynasties, common mortals, disciples and elders of the sects across the Six Domains..." The more Li Guanqi looked, the more astonished he became. He had never imagined the reach of Tianji Pavilion could be so vast! Almost every sect and clan worth mentioning across the Six Domains harbored pawns planted by Tianji Pavilion! Driven by curiosity, Li Guanqi pulled up the records on the Great Xia Sword Sect. A single glance took him aback: among the current disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect, quite a few belonged to Tianji Pavilion! Yet he also noticed... these disciples were not all from the Blue Tower; some belonged to the Purple Tower! The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly. Tianji Pavilion had infiltrated virtually every power in the Six Domains! And the greatest credit for achieving this scale belonged to the Blue Tower! The Blue Tower's Lantern Lighters were responsible for identifying suitable pawns. Some might live out their entire lives without ever knowing they were pawns, or that they were under the sway of Tianji Pavilion. Often, it was precisely in this manner that a pawn's utility could be maximized. The pawns within Tianji Pavilion were divided into overt and covert agents. Those embedded deep within various factions were almost exclusively covert pawns; once utilized and exposed, they could never be used again. It was just like the elder previously hidden inside the Great Xia Sword Sect—the moment he revealed himself, it meant he had lost all value. Li Guanqi swept his divine sense outward and discovered that countless streams of information lay concealed within the Tianji Chart. *Buzz!!* With merely a glance, Li Guanqi bent over and clutched his head, his face contorting in agony. The volume of information inside was simply too immense! So immense that even he could not process all of it at once. The massive influx of data threatened to exceed what his mind could bear. If pushed too far, that terrifying flood of information would be enough to rupture his sea of consciousness! Only after a long while did Li Guanqi, his face pale, slowly straighten up. His eyes flickered as he looked up at the Tianji Chart, finally understanding why Tianji Pavilion had gone to any length to obtain it in the past. With this relic, Tianji Pavilion's capacity for intelligence processing was like a tiger taking flight. "No wonder..." Suddenly! Li Guanqi's brow furrowed. He sensed a thread of power being inexplicably siphoned away from the Tianji Chart. His eyes narrowed. Pressing his left index and middle fingers together into a sword gesture, he drew upon the power of the Tianji Chart within his body and unleashed an invisible beam of sword qi! *Slash!* With that single strike, he severed that thread of power! *** Beyond the Tianji Domain, at the Jiang clan. Sitting cross-legged in a secret chamber, Jiang Han's face suddenly went deathly pale, and he sprayed out a mouthful of blood. Opening his eyes, his gaze brimmed with unease. He rose and vanished from the chamber. When he reached the study door, the heavy doors swung open on their own. Stepping inside, he saw a grim-faced elder seated in a chair. Jiang Han bowed. "Father... he seems to have discovered it!" The elder's brow locked into deep furrows, his voice grave. "I know. For now, cease all operations." Jiang Han frowned. "Father! Yuan Hongyi killed Huang Bin, which already dealt a massive blow to our family's revenue. Now Li Guanqi has severed our channel for selling intelligence. Isn't this driving our Jiang family to ruin?!" At this, the man drew a hand across his throat, killing intent flickering in his eyes. "Should we...?" The elder did not reject the idea. He remained silent with furrowed brows for a long time, then massaged his temples and said softly, "We'll see. Now is not the time..." "Li Guanqi has begun to make his moves... First he struck a hall under the Yellow Tower, then killed someone from the Red Tower, and now he has severed our connection to the Tianji Chart." "Will it be the Blue Tower's turn next?" Jiang Yi rose abruptly to his feet, his voice dropping to a harsh chill. "No, we cannot remain this passive. If this continues, it won't be long before our prestige drops to the freezing point!" "We must take action... Even if they won't, I will do it myself!"