Kill Li Shenzhi!

Lu Kangnian nodded and murmured, "Indeed." "Haha, but I wager they won't dare make any rash moves recently. After all, you're still here!" Li Guanqi smiled faintly without speaking, his eyes shifting slightly as a small frown touched his brow. His divine sense had just happened to catch what Song Zhi'ang had done earlier. A myriad of emotions welled within him; he couldn't comprehend how a person could become like this. His past goodwill toward Song Zhi'ang plummeted sharply. Moreover, he also sensed the presence of Li Shenzhi. "Sect Master, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave first." Lu Kangnian waved a hand with a chuckle. "Go ahead. I still have to head over to Guanyun Pavilion to divvy up the earnings, hahaha." Li Guanqi paused in slight surprise. "It's only been a few days, and the sect is already distributing earnings?" "Hahahaha, we have that little fatty to thank for that. If Tang Wei hadn't put up the funds, the Great Xia Sword Sect wouldn't have even been able to pay out the first wave of contribution point redemptions." Hearing the man's emotional sigh, Li Guanqi couldn't help a wry smile. "Well, looks like that favor wasn't wasted after all." And indeed it was so. Once Tang Wei learned of the Great Xia Sword Sect's predicament, he had immediately offered his full support. By bringing Xi Yunhuai along, Li Guanqi had helped resolve a massive headache for Tang Wei. Furthermore, the Great Xia Sword Sect's prestige was currently at its zenith. How could Tang Wei possibly pass up such an incredible opportunity? Leaving the study, Li Guanqi headed to the guest quarters halfway up the mountain on the Great Xia Sword Sect's old grounds. Sitting down in the courtyard, he poured spiritual tea and called out with a chuckle, "Brother Li, wake up." Inside the room, Li Shenzhi opened his eyes at once upon hearing this, stepping outside with a beaming smile. Seeing Li Guanqi's handsome features fully restored, he couldn't help a sigh of admiration, though his demeanor grew noticeably tense. After all, Li Guanqi's strength was monstrous, and their difference in status was like night and day. "Haha, why so tense? Come, have a seat." Li Shenzhi bowed in greeting, then retrieved a storage ring and presented it with both hands. Lowering his head, he said with a smile, "This is a congratulatory gift from Mirror Pavilion. I was delayed on the road for a few days." Li Guanqi did not refuse. Raising his hand, he drew the storage ring into his grasp and said softly, "Many thanks for Mirror Pavilion's kind intentions. I'll accept this on behalf of the sect." "Brother Li, surely you didn't come all this way just for something so minor?" Li Shenzhi rubbed his hands together somewhat awkwardly and said, "To be honest, I hardly know how to bring it up." Li Guanqi glanced at him, lifted his teacup, and murmured, "Does Mirror Pavilion also wish to cooperate with the Great Xia Sword Sect?" Li Shenzhi looked up at Li Guanqi in astonishment, then nodded. Li Guanqi smiled, extending a blank jade slip across the table. "Leave a wisp of your aura in this. I'll discuss it with the Sect Master later and see." Delight instantly rushed across Li Shenzhi's face as he stood nearby. Excitedly taking the jade slip, he said, "Really?! Hahahaha, thank you so much, Senior Li!" With that, the young man sent a thread of his aura into the jade slip. Yet at the very instant he was about to finish imprinting it, a large hand clamped down violently around his wrist! *Boom!* A horrifying pressure erupted in an instant! The hundred-zhang lightning sword atop the Heavenly Sword Peak streaked down at blinding speed, halting a hundred zhang above their heads! *Thud!* Li Shenzhi's body slammed viciously into the ground. His limbs snapped instantly, jagged white bone tearing through his flesh. Li Shenzhi's head smashed through the bluestone pavers, pinned firmly against the dirt. With great effort, he strained his eyes toward Li Guanqi, who stood looking down at him, and screamed: "Brother Li! What is the meaning of this?!" *Buzz!* Li Guanqi tapped empty air repeatedly with his left hand, instantly severing and isolating the surrounding hundred zhang of space. The power of the Sword Prison enveloped heaven and earth, and lightning crashed down from the sky, forming seal after seal! With a chilling expression, Li Guanqi pointed the Moonlock sword at Li Shenzhi. "Who are you?" Panic seized Li Shenzhi's heart. Trembling eyes flooded with terror, he howled, "It's me! Brother Li! I'm Li Shenzhi!" "My father is Li Ren, a general of the Xuantian Dynasty! I was fourteen when we first met!" "Ah, right... we first met in a brothel!" Listening to Li Shenzhi's words, Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes slightly and asked calmly: "Which brothel? Aside from us, who else was there?" Li Shenzhi's eyes flickered, and he blurted out without a second thought, "There was that woman named Song Zhi'ang!" Hearing that name, Li Guanqi's brow knitted tightly. Had he truly guessed wrong? *Boom!* Terrifying divine sense surged forth. Li Guanqi closed his eyes slightly, curling his fingers in the air. "Soul Extraction." *Buzz!* Li Shenzhi's eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness, and a condensed blue phantom was violently wrenched out from his body. Li Guanqi casually flipped through his memories, but found nothing amiss. Everything was identical to the memories of their past encounter. Within the soul, the three souls and seven spirits were intact; there wasn't the slightest anomaly. Yet Li Guanqi stared at the terrified spirit and sneered, "Cang Lu... you hid yourself quite deeply, didn't you?!" As he spoke, his fingers dug into Li Shenzhi's soul, eliciting a series of bloodcurdling shrieks! Outside, many people gathered near the courtyard, watching the lightning-shrouded residence with conflicted eyes. Han Chengxian, Tantai Yiting, and others arrived as well; the aura Li Guanqi unleashed had startled everyone. That aura... Tantai Yiting murmured with an exceedingly grim expression, "This aura... Could it be that he was still injured before?!" "Impossible... How can he be this strong?!" Han Chengxian stared at the lightning barrier with an inscrutable gaze, turning to look toward the outer sect. He kept feeling that woman could prove very useful. Lu Kangnian gazed somberly at the deployed Sword Prison barrier. Because the space had been completely severed and isolated, even he could not sense what was transpiring within. Inside the domain. Li Shenzhi was completely consumed by the dread of death. He had no idea what was happening. Li Guanqi's power was steadily mounting, and the bone-chilling killing intent was entirely genuine. The reason was simple... on Li Shenzhi's body, he had caught a thread of aura identical to Cang Lu's! Back then, when Li Guanqi had channeled Pengluo's power to unleash Spirit Absolution's blood threads, he had perceived an inexplicable aura. And Li Shenzhi... possessed that very same aura! That was why he had asked Li Shenzhi to leave a wisp of his aura. And that wisp of aura had proven his senses were not mistaken! "Ah! Li Guanqi! What are you doing?! Are you going to kill me?!" "We have no grudges or enmity between us, we're old friends! Why are you trying to murder me?!" Li Guanqi's eyes remained cold, his fingers clawing into the crown of the soul with relentless force. Li Shenzhi's eyes turned crazed. He didn't understand... he simply couldn't comprehend... "If... if you kill me... Mirror Pavilion... will never let you get away with this!" Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, his voice icy. "You really can endure, can't you?" "In that case, die." *Bang!* The blue soul suddenly shattered. Li Shenzhi's eyes dulled into empty voids; with his soul destroyed, all life vanished from his physical body. Suddenly! From the shattered soul, an inexplicable, eerie ripple flickered in midair for a fraction of an instant! This ripple pierced directly through the multiple layers of barriers he had erected and vanished without a trace! Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed as he murmured softly, "It really is you again!" "Just who on earth are you...?" "Last time it was Cang Lu, this time it was Li Shenzhi... Then next time... will it be my elders and my brothers?!"