Upon regaining consciousness, Zhou Shiyu was exceedingly weak, with hardly a single uninjured spot on his body.
Although the wounds to his sea of consciousness had healed, he still needed to treat his injuries immediately.
Seeing this, Gu Huai promptly brought him into a secret chamber to recuperate.
Zhou Shiyu's final words before entering seclusion were to call for him the moment Li Guanqi emerged.
Gu Huai assumed Zhou Shiyu merely wished to thank Li Guanqi for intervening. After agreeing, he shut the chamber door.
News of what had occurred at the Six Ancient Sacred Sect quickly spread throughout the Northern Region of the Daochan Domain.
The initial reaction of many cultivators upon hearing the news was utter disbelief.
Immediately following that, however, they would ask who on earth had killed members of the Sun clan.
"Aiya, it was the Yanluo Sword Venerable from the Great Xia Domain! The one carrying that monstrously huge sword casket!"
"Oh! Li Guanqi! Never mind, then... That makes total sense..."
"Fellow Daoist, I take it you haven't heard about the Ancient Clan's Liu clan yet?"
"Huh? What about them?"
"Doesn't Li Guanqi wear a small purplish-black pagoda at his waist?"
"Hey, now that you mention it, he really does! I saw him with my own eyes that day, but he wasn't blind..."
"Are you dense? Walking out in public, he was obviously in disguise at first! Let me tell you, inside that pagoda..."
"What?! Really?! Exterminated the clan?! Bound their souls?!"
"Mother of mercy... I've seen plenty of living Bodhisattvas, but a living King of Hell is a first!"
Seven days.
Li Guanqi meditated upon the Dao Rhyme Stone for seven full days.
Throughout those seven days, panic gripped everyone within the Six Ancient Sacred Sect, each day spent in fear and trepidation.
They were terrified that the Ancient Clan's Sun clan would send experts to attack them.
Yet Gu Huai received only reports that the Sun clan was utterly furious; they had not made the slightest move.
This allowed Gu Huai to breathe a small sigh of relief as he urged the sect to hasten their preparations for seclusion from the world.
Zhou Shiyu had likewise not yet emerged. His injuries were rather severe this time, yet his aura grew increasingly solid and condensed.
This brought another sigh of relief from Gu Huai.
Just then, an aged voice spoke hesitantly. "Sect Master... it has already been seven days!"
"The resource consumption is simply too massive... If this continues, I'm afraid we won't last much longer."
Gu Huai waved his hand and said in a heavy voice, "It cannot be interrupted. Even if it empties our coffers, we cannot drop the ball at a moment like this. Go, keep filling the altar with spirit stones."
"We will only stop when he wakes up on his own!"
Hearing this, the several elders below could only nod and carry out the orders.
Tucking his hands into his sleeves, Gu Huai slowly rose to his feet, not taking such a trivial matter to heart.
Instead, he attached immense value to Li Guanqi stepping forward in the Six Ancient Sacred Sect's hour of peril.
"Our generation... must... strive to be strong!"
The old man's eyes flickered, and he abruptly turned his gaze toward the mountain hollow!
Immediately following that, an ear-splitting sword hum suddenly rang out!
Two beams of sword light—one purple, one crimson—soared fiercely into the sky!
The terrifying sword light shot straight into the clouds, accompanied by a deafening boom that shook the earth for a hundred li around.
The violent quaking left everyone bewildered, and in the secret chamber, Zhou Shiyu jolted awake!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Watching the young man surrounded by swirling sword intent, Gu Huai could not help but smile. "Congratulations, young friend!"
Li Guanqi slowly opened his eyes, steadily suppressing that surging realm of sword intent.
This time, he had come within a hair's breadth of touching an even higher realm of sword intent!
That realm... he felt it would be several times more formidable than his current sword heart!
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curled slightly. Two sword styles...
One style, Sword Wuji. One style, Blood Asura.
His movement techniques were now fully integrated, and from Zhou Shiyu, he had gained inspiration for his Firmament Shatterer fist technique, grasping the rudiments of the second fist: Ten Thousand Mountains!
It had to be said that this brief seclusion, immersing him in an epiphany for seven full days, had yielded tremendous gains!
Reining in his aura, Li Guanqi cupped his hands to Gu Huai and smiled. "Senior, thank you for continually replenishing the spirit stones over these past few days."
The old man smiled and waved it off. "A minor matter. I couldn't very well let your epiphany be cut short—that would make this old man a sinner."
Whoosh!
While the two were speaking, a limping figure swept over from the distance.
Seeing Zhou Shiyu, Gu Huai was startled and scolded with mild annoyance, "You brat, your injuries haven't even healed! Why are you running around?"
Zhou Shiyu grinned foolishly. "Don't worry, Master, I know my limits."
Turning toward Li Guanqi, he bowed solemnly with cupped hands. "Zhou Shiyu of the Six Ancient Sacred Sect offers his deepest thanks to Brother Li for your righteous intervention!"
"I shall engrave this gratitude in my heart. If Brother Li ever needs my help in the future, I will not hesitate for a moment!"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly and returned the bow. "Li Guanqi of the Great Xia Sword Sect."
Zhou Shiyu turned to the elders and said, "Master, please attend to your duties. I would like to share a few words with Brother Li."
Seeing this, Gu Huai said nothing more. It was a good thing for the younger generation to grow close, especially Zhou Shiyu and Li Guanqi.
Once the elders had departed one after another, Zhou Shiyu's expression turned cold in an instant.
Looking back at Li Guanqi, he asked with frigid eyes, "What do you want?"
Li Guanqi shrugged, somewhat puzzled. "What do you mean, what do I want?"
"I don't believe there is unprompted kindness in this world. So... what is it you want from me?"
"That day on the mountain peak, when I was on my knees with my spirit shattered, the person passing overhead... was you, wasn't it?"
"It's all too coincidental. Furthermore, I can sense that the spirit treasure's weapon spirit now answers to you."
Zhou Shiyu stared fixedly at Li Guanqi, speaking each word deliberately.
"Right now, just like Sun Tianqi, my life and death hang entirely upon a single thought of yours."
"So... what do you want?"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly. With a lift of his hand, a blood-red thread connected Zhou Shiyu's brow to his own finger.
Li Guanqi gently twirled his fingers, and the red thread shattered inch by inch!
Zhou Shiyu's pupils trembled violently; he could now exercise complete control over the weapon spirit of that spirit treasure chain!
Li Guanqi said with a smile, "It was all merely a coincidence. Plotting against you... there's no need."
"Among the brothers and experts at my side, not a single one is weaker than you."
"However... the heart you showed for your sect moved me. I have founded an organization called Guanyun Pavilion, and I would like your help."
Zhou Shiyu shrugged and stated bluntly, "I refuse."
Li Guanqi was not surprised in the slightest, merely asking out of curiosity, "Why?"
Zhou Shiyu spoke with utmost seriousness. "I don't want to serve beneath anyone. You saved me... I acknowledge that debt."
"But if you wish to rein me in with it... I apologize, but no."
Li Guanqi clasped his hands behind his back and laughed heartily, not taking such a trifle to heart at all.
Reaching out toward Zhou Shiyu, he smiled. "Then let us simply be friends. When you visit the Great Xia Domain in the future, I will treat you to fine wine and good meat."
Zhou Shiyu had not expected Li Guanqi to be so open-minded. Truth be told, he had already prepared himself—had Li Guanqi leveraged the debt of gratitude to compel him, he would have agreed...
Recovering his senses, Zhou Shiyu reached out with his rough, broad hand. The two clasped hands and shared a smile.
Li Guanqi understood that someone like Zhou Shiyu naturally possessed intense pride.
Nonetheless, he believed there would still be opportunities for them to meet and walk the same path in the future.
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly. Raising a hand, he unrolled his domain and said softly, "I have a fist technique here. I will demonstrate it once; see if you can glean any insights from it."
Zhou Shiyu frowned slightly. He knew Li Guanqi was a sword cultivator possessing a lightning spiritual root.
How could he also know fist techniques?
He himself was of the earth element... yet he did not refuse.
Li Guanqi smiled, and as the vitality and blood within his body thundered, Zhou Shiyu suddenly felt an incomparably immense pressure rush over him!
Setting his stance, Li Guanqi abruptly drove a fist forward!
As the fist struck out, the domain shattered, and the void for several hundred yards collapsed in an instant!
A majestic, heavy fist momentum rose like a mountain from the earth!
Standing to the side, Zhou Shiyu's chest caved slightly, compressed purely by that fist momentum.
His eyes widened as he watched the punch tear forward...
Thump! Boom!
Zhou Shiyu's eyes shone brightly, his mouth slightly agape as he murmured softly, "What a profound, heavy punch! What a magnificent display of breaking all dharmas with sheer might!"
Chapter 712