Having offered Qianqiusui a gentle word of counsel, Li Guanqi knew this mature woman understood his meaning. She would undoubtedly adjust her attitude on her own, prompting him to muse inwardly:
"Mature women really are different."
Gazing at the mountains a hundred li away, Li Guanqi vanished from Yunding Auction House with a teleportation.
What Li Guanqi did not know was that after his departure, Qianqiusui sat in her chair, smoking and sipping wine. A touch of self-mockery appeared between her brows, her lips curving slightly upward.
Rising to her feet, Qianqiusui murmured, "Since it's impossible, I might as well stand quietly behind him and get things done. It's better than having no one to rely on all by myself. Besides... following him at least means not having to worry about betrayal."
She understood very well that if she wished to secure a foothold in this dog-eat-dog cultivation world, following Li Guanqi was without question her wisest choice.
*Buzz!*
Li Guanqi's figure slowly emerged from the folds of the void. He did not tear through the outer space, wary of drawing unwanted attention.
Taking out his Pavilion Master jade pendant, he channeled a wisp of primal energy into it.
Instantly, an exceedingly mysterious ripple spread out, and a hexagram array gradually materialized in the void before him.
Light flowed across the array, and a spatial passage slowly opened at its center.
Such craftsmanship moved Li Guanqi to marvel inwardly, *Just who crafted these jade pendants?*
The revealed space gave Li Guanqi a slight pause.
The entire pocket realm spanned roughly eighty li across, filled with layered mountains and dense spiritual mist that obscured most of the view.
Yet atop the highest peak stood a massive, purplish pavilion complex!
The pavilions stretched on continuously, interconnected by suspended walkways.
The antique pavilions were brightly illuminated, with warm yellow lanterns hanging from the upturned eaves.
The central pavilion comprised nine stories, measuring roughly sixty-six zhang in length.
At the very top of the main pavilion hung a gold-bordered wooden plaque inscribed in bold, sweeping calligraphy: "Guanyun Pavilion"!
Ji Yuchuan led Su You, along with numerous experts and pavilion disciples—a full hundred people—lined up on either side.
Every one of them wore a white robe, embroidered on the chest with a pavilion perched atop a mountain peak!
Seeing Li Guanqi outside the pocket domain, Ji Yuchuan's lips curled into a slight smile. He stepped forward first, hitched the hem of his robe, and dropped to one knee!
*Rustle!*
Everyone dropped to one knee in unison, clasping their hands in salute.
A resounding, synchronized chorus seemed ready to overturn the heavens!
"Greetings, Pavilion Master!"
"Greetings, Pavilion Master!"
Stepping into the pocket domain, Li Guanqi immediately felt a surge of dense spiritual energy drilling into his body.
Looking at the hundred people kneeling before him, Li Guanqi felt a sudden surge of exhilaration.
Because...
This was an organization that belonged to him, Li Guanqi!
What surprised him even more was that even though Guanyun Pavilion had been built by Ji Yuchuan, the gaze everyone directed at him was brimming with fervent adoration. He would have to ask Ji Yuchuan about that later.
Li Guanqi's chest rose and fell slightly. He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Rise, all of you."
Once they had stood up, Li Guanqi noticed an unremarkable, short old man standing behind Ji Yuchuan.
The aura emanating from the old man was as deep and profound as an abyss. Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed slightly, and he murmured in surprise, *Body Integration Realm?*
Ji Yuchuan smiled as he walked over to Li Guanqi's side and said softly, "Pavilion Master, this is my dear elder friend, Xi Yunhuai. Uncle Xi is a grandmaster of arrays from the Luoxia Domain. Having no desire for fame or wealth, his name is little known, but his mastery of arrays is extraordinarily formidable!"
The old man sported a goatee and wore a benign expression, yet Li Guanqi could sense the scrutinizing look in his eyes.
Li Guanqi clasped his hands and smiled. "That Uncle Xi was willing to grace Guanyun Pavilion with his presence is this junior's honor."
Xi Yunhuai did not put on airs with his hands; he clasped them and smiled. "This old man had nothing better to do, so consider it lending a hand to Brother Ji. Sword Venerable need not be so polite."
Li Guanqi sneered inwardly. While the old fellow said there was no need to be polite, his words kept him strictly at an arm's-length formality.
Standing nearby, Ji Yuchuan felt rather awkward, not knowing what to say.
Xi Yunhuai narrowed his eyes slightly. Li Guanqi gave off an extremely dangerous aura that set his heart pounding; otherwise, he would not have brought his hands out from behind his back so readily.
Li Guanqi smiled. "So you are a master of the array dao. Earlier, I was wondering who forged the pocket domain's array barrier and the array built into the jade pendant. Forgive my lack of respect."
Hearing this, Xi Yunhuai stroked his beard and smiled, the pride on his face unmistakable. "Pavilion Master Li is too kind. A minor craft, hardly fit for refined halls."
Though he said so, the pride on his face could not be concealed.
Ji Yuchuan sighed inwardly. He knew Li Guanqi's temperament all too well. To his eyes, the old man's current attitude guaranteed he would have a rough time ahead.
Li Guanqi curled his lip slightly and said bluntly, "By the way, Uncle Xi. On my way back, I happened to encounter an interesting array. Would you like to take a look?"
Xi Yunhuai waved a broad hand and chuckled. "Pavilion Master, feel free to show this old man the shadow-casting stone. I dare not boast about other things, but in the dao of arrays, very few practitioners can catch my eye."
A peculiarly eerie smile appeared at the corners of Li Guanqi's lips.
Ji Yuchuan felt a chill run down his spine. Immediately, Li Guanqi extended his fingers and began frantically inscribing array patterns in midair one after another.
At the same time, he said, "I don't have a shadow-casting stone, but I memorized what those runes looked like. Let me draw them for you."
Strange, blood-red runes burst from Li Guanqi's fingertips. In a single breath, hundreds—even thousands—of runes materialized.
Li Guanqi's fingers blurred through the air. In the end, finding the pace too slow, he simply manifested dozens of lightning carving brushes to inscribe simultaneously in midair.
The spectacle left everyone dumbfounded, and many members of Guanyun Pavilion began whispering among themselves.
"The Pavilion Master... is also a grand array master?!"
"I never heard of that! Isn't the Pavilion Master a sword cultivator?"
"He must be a grand array master! How else could his technique for inscribing array runes be so practiced?"
"Nonsense! Didn't you hear the Pavilion Master say he just memorized them?"
"Come off it! With so many densely packed runes—there must be over ten thousand—how could someone who knows nothing of arrays give runes spiritual vitality just by remembering what they looked like?"
The pavilion disciples buzzed with discussion, their admiration for Li Guanqi deepening all the more.
Yet Ji Yuchuan's expression shifted repeatedly.
Only he and Xi Yunhuai knew that Li Guanqi truly was imitating!
And yet, relying on his heaven-defying divine sense and monstrous comprehension, he was able to recreate these runes flawlessly!
In mere moments, a tenth of the Blood-Oath Spirit-Locking Array was inscribed.
The eerie, blood-red array radiated a terrifying aura. Xi Yunhuai turned deathly pale, his gaze turning exceedingly grave as he stared at it.
Li Guanqi smiled faintly; this display was more than enough to stun the old man.
Besides, he had never expected the old fellow to decipher anything. Even Meng Jiangchu couldn't determine whose hand this blood array came from; how could Xi Yunhuai possibly recognize it?
The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curved in a playful smirk as he turned to Ji Yuchuan and asked with a chuckle, "Have you discovered whether Sha has four other tiers of assassins besides Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow?"
Ji Yuchuan's expression changed drastically, and he asked in a low, heavy voice, "Could the Pavilion Master be referring to... the four tiers of assassins: Chi, Mei, Wang, and Liang?!"
Li Guanqi said nothing. Light flashed from his fingers, and he tossed three shattered masks and a corpse toward him.
Walking past Ji Yuchuan, he said coldly, "I'll give you three days. Uncover this woman's identity."
Chapter 725