The Unity of the Great Xia Domain

Li Guanqi returned the bow slightly with clasped hands and said softly, "Fellow Daoists, there is no need for such formality." Several Soul Formation Realm cultivators rose to their feet one after another, while some Nascent Soul realm cultivators did not even dare to draw near. Looking at the group, Li Guanqi spoke as he reached out, drawing both the mask and the blood banner into his grasp. "I haven't been in the Great Xia Domain lately. Has Sha grown so brazen in its actions now?" Hearing this, Cao Yi spoke with a grave expression. "Sword Venerable may not be aware, but over the past few months, incidents of Abyss Demons slaughtering villages and towns have occurred frequently. We only rushed back to our sects after receiving this news. Sigh... these damned evil cultivators!" Li Guanqi glanced at the engraving behind the mask: 'Yellow-Middle.' This was already among the lowest ranks within Sha. Glancing at the dead woman, Li Guanqi slowly extended his left hand and curled his fingers into an empty grasp. "Soul Gathering!" *Hum!* An enigmatic spatial fluctuation rippled out, dragging thumb-sized blue fragments from the void. Cao Yi and the others exchanged glances, seeing shock mirrored in each other's eyes. Such a technique... was utterly unheard of! Li Guanqi closed his eyes slightly, yet found no valuable information. The woman's entire memory had been sealed with special methods, making it completely impossible to peer into. The only memories left were of the brief period since she arrived at this town. Yet staring at the woman's corpse, Li Guanqi felt somewhat perplexed. Judging from her bone age, she was definitely under thirty years old. A Soul Formation Realm cultivator under thirty could easily be considered a prominent genius anywhere. Why would she join Sha? After pondering for a while, Li Guanqi raised his hand and stored her corpse away. Looking at the Abyss Demon still struggling in the crater in the distance, he let out a cold sneer. The creature's vitality was resilient indeed, but he had no interest in studying such a thing. Turning around, a thirty-foot lightning sword flickering with electricity condensed abruptly in midair. The moment the lightning sword took shape, dark clouds roiled across the sky. With a slight crook of Li Guanqi's finger, the lightning sword plunged instantly! *Boom!* Dense demonic qi scattered from the Abyss Demon's figure, dissipating into heaven and earth in an instant. Facing the cultivators who continued to arrive, Li Guanqi cupped his hands. "That the Great Xia Domain possesses righteous men like you all is truly Great Xia's fortune!" Li Guanqi spoke with deep sincerity. He had never expected that the slaughter of a mere mortal town would draw so many cultivators rushing to render aid. This place had nothing to do with any of them; they could have stayed completely uninvolved. After all, every assassin in Sha was exceptionally powerful, meaning they had all risked their lives to come. With a solemn expression, Lou Yu cupped his hands and said, "As cultivators of our generation, we naturally cannot turn a blind eye. Now that turmoil stirs across the Six Domains, if each of us sweeps only the snow before our own door today, who would help us when our own sects and clans face calamity tomorrow? Only when everyone treats such matters as their own and supports one another can we weather this crisis!" Stirred by the words, Li Guanqi cupped his hands. "Well said. Everyone, I have other matters to attend to, so I shall take this corpse with me. If you have free time in the future, please come to the Great Xia Sword Sect as guests. I, Li, will surely welcome you with fine wine!" Hearing this, the crowd felt humbled and awed. This was a Void Refining Realm grandmaster, the Yanluo Sword Venerable! Li Guanqi vanished via teleportation, taking the mask and the blood banner with him. Traveling through the void, Li Guanqi's expression darkened abruptly. There were at least several thousand souls inside the blood banner! Yet its construction was exceedingly exquisite. While it belonged to the category of soul banners, it was not a dharma artifact intended for direct offense. It resembled... a dharma artifact meant for storing souls. "I'm back. Are you at the auction house?" Soon, Qianqiusui's excited voice came from the jade slip. "I am! Are you coming over?" Li Guanqi calculated briefly and said in a low voice, "In one hour." *Whoosh!* Feiyun City. Under the cover of night, Feiyun City bustled with deafening noise, the crowds packed so tight that one might get wedged in midair upon leaping up. The sole reason Feiyun City had become so prosperous was none other than the recent auction items at Yunding Auction House. They were all top-grade tier-five medicinal pills, and every single one had been crafted by Sun Miao, the alchemy grandmaster of the Great Xia Sword Sect! Yunding Auction House was also the only auction house the Great Xia Sword Sect publicly acknowledged collaborating with. This made countless people burn with envy. Even Treasure Pavilion had approached the Great Xia Sword Sect many times regarding cooperation, but the Great Xia Sword Sect had never agreed. When Li Guanqi arrived at Feiyun City, even he was taken aback. After pondering for a moment, he decided not to disturb anyone, his figure gradually fading into the void. Standing before a mirror, Qianqiusui appraised her attire for the day. Thinking it over, she tugged at the fabric on her shoulder, baring a snow-white, fragrant shoulder. Just then, an amused young man's voice came from behind her. "Tug twice more and it's going to fall right off." Qianqiusui spun around abruptly, casting a resentful glance at Li Guanqi. But immediately afterward, her expression shifted, and her delicate brows furrowed slightly. "You're injured?" Quickly walking over to Li Guanqi, she asked with undisguised concern in her voice, "What happened? Who could have injured you? Do you need healing pills?" Li Guanqi hastily waved his hand and inquired softly, "Where are Ji Yuchuan and the others?" Hearing that, Qianqiusui immediately took out an unusual jade pendant. Bowing with a beaming smile, she offered it with both hands. "Pavilion Master, please accept your identity pendant. Of course, our Guanyun Pavilion recognizes the person, not the pendant." Li Guanqi could not help chuckling softly. Looking down at the pendant, he saw that it was carved entirely from lightning-strike stone. The round pendant bore the characters 'Guanyun' on the front, while the back depicted a tall tower perched atop a mountain range shrouded in mist, engraved with the characters 'Pavilion Master.' Li Guanqi reached out, took the pendant, and channeled a strand of primal energy into it. Instantly, he sensed the location of Guanyun Pavilion! It lay in the mountains a hundred li outside Feiyun City, within an independent domain opened by Ji Yuchuan through his grandmaster might. Li Guanqi slowly stood up. "I'm heading over." Noticing the woman still seemed eager to say something, Li Guanqi shrugged and said, "Wear your clothes properly. If Wanshu sees you like that... you'll be in for a rough time." Qianqiusui's smile stiffened slightly. She naturally knew who the Wanshu he spoke of was—a true favored daughter of heaven, someone standing high in the clouds looking down upon the world. And Li Guanqi's reminder to wear her clothes properly was also telling her to uphold her own dignity and not let others look down on her. With a carefree smile, Qianqiusui pulled her clothes up with both hands, offered a slight curtsy, and said softly, "Qiusui understands." Looking at the pride returning to the woman's eyes, Li Guanqi smiled faintly and teased, "Now that's the Qianqiusui I know. That's the proud look I remember."