Smash Them All to Pieces!

Han Chengxian wore a warm smile, playing the part of an attentive listener to perfection. The more he listened, the more he felt the young woman before him could be put to good use. A fixation burned in her heart! And wherever there was an obsession, human nature laid bare its weaknesses. As the old man listened, he offered well-timed praise of Song Zhi'ang's exceptional talents while subtly disparaging Meng Wanshu's worth. "She merely had the fortune of growing up alongside him, that is all. The hardships she has truly braved at his side might not even match your own." Song Zhi'ang felt as though the elder understood her better than anyone else ever had! Meanwhile, on the other side of the sect, Tantai Yiting took the initiative to seek out Li Guanqi! Li Guanqi had only just returned to Yuhu Peak, intending to rest a short while before heading to the Purple Spirit Grotto-Heaven. He had not expected Tantai Yiting, dressed in his purple-and-gold robes, to come looking for him uninvited. Still thoroughly rattled by the affair with Li Shenzhi, Li Guanqi was in a foul mood. Catching sight of the smiling old man hovering in midair, Li Guanqi's brow furrowed at once. "Something you need?" The smile on Tantai Yiting's face did not waver in the slightest at Li Guanqi's frigid tone. "Nothing major. I simply felt there were some misunderstandings between us and hoped we could have a word." Li Guanqi sneered, answering bluntly, "There is nothing for us to talk about." With that, a terrifying thunder domain rose into the sky right atop Yuhu Peak! This blatant display of slamming the door in his face made Tantai Yiting's cheek twitch uncontrollably. Many passing disciples caught sight of the confrontation and beat a hasty retreat. Tantai Yiting's chest heaved violently, his composure severely shaken. Even so, he kept his voice mild and conciliatory as he murmured, "It is understandable that you are in low spirits today, young friend. This old man will return another day." Inside the domain, Li Guanqi frowned slightly at the elder's words and muttered under his breath, "Hmph. Who knows what scheme he's cooking up now." Word of the encounter was soon spread by the disciples who had seen it. Old Sect Master Tantai Yiting had tried to curry favor with Li Guanqi, only to be given the cold shoulder. Li Guanqi hadn't even allowed him to step onto his cultivation peak... Li Guanqi remained alone on the mountain summit for a long time, quietly calming himself while mulling over how to deal with the person hiding in the dark. He murmured softly, "Sword spirit, I think the other party has begun confirming a few things." "Otherwise... he wouldn't test me again and again." The sword spirit's solemn voice echoed in Li Guanqi's mind. "Indeed. That is true." "Furthermore... if the mastermind behind this truly is the person I suspect... we may be in serious trouble." Li Guanqi's brow knitted tightly as he asked inwardly, "Why?" Within the sword coffin's space, the sword spirit's expression turned exceedingly grave. She answered in a low tone, "If it truly is 'him,' his future maneuvers and schemes will only become more concealed, and far harder to guard against!" "That man is a born chess master—suspicious by nature, brilliant at laying traps, and utterly cold-blooded!" Li Guanqi's heart leaped into his throat at her words. For someone to earn such a description from the sword spirit, there were likely few like him in the entire Immortal Realm! The sword spirit paused briefly before continuing, "If it truly is 'him,' I fear many others may have already begun noticing anomalies." "When that time comes, our foes will only multiply. The enemies lurking in the shadows will grow more numerous by the day!" Li Guanqi felt the pressure weighing upon him redouble... The sword spirit had once mentioned that an immortal from the upper realm had to pay an astronomical price to descend. Yet even so, a descending immortal could still retain an extraordinarily high level of cultivation. "It seems... I must do everything I can to grow stronger." He refused to let the Great Xia Sword Sect be plunged into misery and devastation. And he certainly refused to let the brothers and elders beside him lay down their lives for his sake when that day arrived! Meanwhile, after departing Yuhu Peak, Tantai Yiting did not return to his quarters. Instead, he went straight to Lu Kangnian. Having heard of Li Guanqi's reaction, Lu Kangnian left the old man waiting outside the door for five or six shichen. Yet Tantai Yiting seemed dead set on seeing Lu Kangnian; he remained rooted outside the entrance without taking a single step away. Only when night fell and Lu Kangnian stepped out of his study did the sect master feign surprise, as if he had only just noticed him. "Oh my, Old Sect Master! What brings you here?" "How long have you been waiting? Why didn't you say something?" Forcing down his annoyance, Tantai Yiting forced a smile and replied, "Not long. Just about six shichen." Lu Kangnian feigned astonishment. "Six shichen? Doesn't that mean you've been standing here the whole day?" "Really now, you should have called out once you arrived." Unable to hold back any longer, the elder snapped under his breath, "I did call! I called out! I even knocked on the door!!" With his hands tucked behind his back, Lu Kangnian smiled genially. "Oh dear, look at that... I must have been so engrossed in my duties that I didn't hear a thing." In the end, Lu Kangnian still invited the old man inside. Sitting across from Lu Kangnian, Tantai Yiting expressed with apparent sincerity his desire to contribute to the sect. He also declared that, seeing how flourishing the sect had become, he harbored no ambitions to vie for power or status. Hearing this, Lu Kangnian merely sneered in his heart. How could a person's mindset change so quickly? Still, since the old man insisted, Lu Kangnian certainly wouldn't mind gaining an extra Void Refining Realm laborer. Without hesitation, he assigned the old man a pile of thankless, grueling tasks that nevertheless had to be done. Yet to Lu Kangnian's surprise, Tantai Yiting accepted every single one of them without complaint. Once the elder left, Lu Kangnian sat in his chair, staring blankly ahead. His gaze focused on the spot where the old man had just been sitting, the corner of his mouth curving upward in an inscrutable smile. *** Meanwhile, inside the domain of an Ancient Clan concealed amid the cosmic void, demonic qi raged across the heavens! Pitch-black demonic miasma blanketed the world. Across the entire domain lay shattered, mangled corpses. Every body was shriveled and dry—their essence blood had clearly been drained dry by Abyss Demons. A young man in tattered white robes looked on with eyes as sharp as blades. With every sweep of the Purple Mystic Flowing Cloud Fan in his hand, a cluster of Abyss Demons burst into pieces! Chankongzi had long lost count of how many Abyss Demons he had slain. Staring at the few remaining demons, his handsome face turned thoroughly grim. Looking toward the hundred-zhang abyssal rift, a torrential, violent pressure erupted from him with a roar! The folding fan danced in his grasp before streaking forward as a beam of golden light, only to be caught by the combined might of three Abyss Demons. Yet what the three demons failed to notice was that at some point, the refined and scholarly Chankongzi had stripped off his upper garments, exposing a physique of chiseled muscle. And the folding fan in his hands had been replaced by a pair of purple-gold knuckledusters... *Bang!!* Vambraces etched with golden patterns seemed to wrap around Chankongzi's arms. Licking his lips, his eyes gleamed with fanatical zeal as he growled softly, "Come on, come on! Let's see if I don't smash every last one of you to pieces today!!" *Boom!!* The surrounding space shattered as Chankongzi tore forward like a primordial beast, pulverizing the physical bodies of the Abyss Demons with three brutal punches. And then, without a second thought, he plunged headfirst straight into the abyssal rift!