Li Guanqi looked back at Zhou Shiyu, whose battered body barely retained human shape in the medicinal pool, and spoke softly with complex emotion in his eyes.
"As long as it wasn't Lu Wuhen, I never thought Zhou Shiyu would lose to anyone."
Nangong Xuandu tipped his head back, took a swig of wine, and fixed his deep eyes on him. "What do we do about the next match?" he murmured.
Li Guanqi raised a hand and tore open the spatial fabric of the domain boundary, speaking without the slightest hesitation.
"For the fourth match, Ye Feng."
The man frowned at those words and asked in a low voice, "Hasn't Ye Feng still not returned?"
With his back to Nangong Xuandu, the corners of Li Guanqi's lips curled up slightly, and his eyes burned with resolute certainty.
"He will definitely be back."
*Whoosh!*
The domain boundary sealed shut. In its current state, no one could enter Purple Spirit Grotto-Heaven except Li Guanqi.
He had to guarantee the lives of those three.
When Li Guanqi reappeared outside, his cold gaze swept toward the Lu clan's side.
By now, the Great Xia Sword Sect's war drums thundered with rising fervor, their unified, rhythmic beats bearing down on the Lu clan with suffocating momentum.
This invisible contest of wills stirred the blood even more deeply.
The disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect stood poised in midair; looking across the sea of densely gathered cultivators was an awe-inspiring sight.
What was more, not a single one among them possessed a weak aura!
Compared to the Lu clan, the Great Xia Sword Sect boasted far greater numbers, with an especially vast foundation of mid-tier Nascent Soul realm cultivators.
Time ticked away by degrees, and the eyes of the crowd gradually converged upon Li Guanqi!
The Great Xia Sword Sect had run out of available candidates to fight.
Everyone was speculating that, barring any surprises, the combatant for the fourth match would most likely be Li Guanqi.
Yet Li Guanqi stood in the void looking completely confident.
It seemed as though he had not an ounce of worry about the fourth duel.
For a moment, everyone wondered what on earth Li Guanqi was planning.
It was common knowledge that the eldest young master of the Lu clan, Lu Wuhen, was exceedingly powerful—among the absolute pinnacle even within their secluded clan.
If Li Guanqi stepped onto the stage for the fourth round, Lu Wuhen could easily send up a piece of cannon fodder!
That way, even if Li Guanqi won the fourth match, the Lu clan and the Great Xia Sword Sect would be tied two to two, and Lu Wuhen could effortlessly claim victory in the fifth...
*Phew...*
Li Guanqi's fingers twitched faintly, and a smirk crept onto his lips.
Lu Wuhen, nursing minor wounds, immediately sensed something amiss when he caught that subtle smile on Li Guanqi's face!
He quietly released a wisp of spiritual pulse, only for his complexion to change drastically...
No response returned—which meant those two... were dead!
Lu Wuhen's brow furrowed tightly. Clearly, he had never expected the other side to break free so quickly.
While Lu Wuhen's thoughts raced, the surrounding air abruptly turned scalding, and the ambient temperature skyrocketed.
*Buzz!*
Countless experts paled in shock and whipped their heads toward the western sky.
Amid warping space, a hundred-zhang horizontal rift was violently torn open by terrifying green flames!
Five massive, fiery specters surged forth. Treading upon the specters' heads, a somber-faced, middle-aged man walked slowly out of the void.
In his hands hung two charred corpses, and beside him stood a hunched elder.
The moment the pair appeared, the surrounding cultivators rose to their feet in unison!
"Greetings, Five Yang Ghost Emperor!"
"Greetings, Five Yang Ghost Emperor!"
Waves of cultivators bowed in salute, and even the cultivators of the Ancient Clan drew sharp intakes of breath.
The icy killing intent radiating from Meng Jiangchu swept unreservedly over all the Ancient Clan cultivators!
Great Xia Domain Lord Zhou Yunqing rose slowly and greeted with a smile, "Brother Meng, what brings you here? And this... must be Fellow Daoist Gu, Pavilion Master of the Tianji Pavilion?"
Meng Jiangchu's eyes narrowed slightly as he locked his gaze onto Lu Hengtian, hurling the two corpses directly at the elder!
Without even glancing at them, Lu Hengtian raised a hand and crushed both corpses to dust.
Meng Jiangchu sneered. "Of course I had to come. If I hadn't, I wouldn't even know someone was trying to intercept and butcher my junior."
Bathed in blood, Ye Feng walked out of the void with a sneer, first flashing Li Guanqi a silly grin.
Then he turned toward the Lu clan, his expression turning chillingly sinister.
Fixing his gaze on Lu Wuhen, he mocked, "Surprised, you dog bastard? Your daddy's still kicking!"
As he spoke, Ye Feng wiped his forefinger aggressively across the corner of his mouth.
At this sight, Lu Wuhen's breath quickened slightly.
Especially after seeing Ye Feng's gesture, the murderous urge in his heart flared uncontrollably!
He had believed that in the entire Great Xia Sword Sect, perhaps only Li Guanqi was worthy of his notice.
Yet he had never expected that the first time he delivered a formal challenge letter, Ye Feng—freshly broken out of secluded cultivation—had torn his mouth apart.
Li Guanqi smiled faintly. He could tell Ye Feng wasn't heavily injured; most of his internal trauma had likely been healed on the way here.
Arriving beside Li Guanqi, Ye Feng knitted his brows and sent a grave voice transmission: "How's the situation?"
In the briefest terms, Li Guanqi recounted everything that had transpired.
Before Li Guanqi even finished recounting Xiao Chen's plight, an enraged Ye Feng could barely hold back his killing intent.
As murderous desire surged within him, demonic Qi drifted from his ghost hand.
The eerie sight shocked many spectators. Some were bewildered, while others knew a thing or two.
To help Ye Feng suppress the power of the Abyss Demon he had absorbed, Li Guanqi had gifted him his own Yinming Profound Flame.
Furthermore, through the power of Spirit Absolution, the might of the ghost hand had now been brought entirely under Ye Feng's control.
Even so, everyone present could feel a strange, sinister malice churning around Ye Feng.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly and said in an undertone, "Calm down."
Bloodshot eyes trembling, Ye Feng snapped to his senses the moment he heard Li Guanqi's words.
*Exhale...*
With a slight heave of his chest, he managed to suppress all of his killing intent in the blink of an eye!
The icy killing intent ebbed like a receding tide, as though it had never existed in the first place.
Ye Feng's gaze grew exceptionally tranquil, and the primal energy swirling around his body settled within a single breath.
Without turning back, Ye Feng strode calmly toward the arena stage and murmured, "This round, I will not lose!"
Li Guanqi did not respond to that. Turning toward the Lu clan with a sneer playing on his lips, he simply said, "Don't give the Lu clan a chance to yield."
With a dark expression, Lu Wuhen said chillingly, "Ancestor, let Brother Xiuzhong take the stage."
Lu Hengtian's expression was equally grim. Losing an outstanding disciple like Lu Xingyuan weighed heavily on him.
The elder gave a soft sigh and murmured, "Go summon Xiuzhong. Tell him... Xingyuan has been killed."
An elder behind him nodded upon hearing this and was just about to turn and leave.
The void trembled faintly, and a square-faced man clad in brocade robes stepped slowly from the distorted empty air.
The man radiated biting cold, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over the entire venue before locking onto the elder. He asked chillingly, "Ancestor... my brother is dead?"
Lu Wuhen parted his lips, looking at the man, and said softly, "Brother Yuan is dead. Slain by the people of the Great Xia Sword Sect."
Hearing this, Lu Xiuzhong shut his eyes in agony, a crystal tear slowly trickling from the corner of his eye...
He opened his broad hand, gripped his longsword tightly, and rasped, "This round, I fight."
Ji Yuchuan's pupils contracted to needlepoints as he sent an urgent voice transmission: "Ye Feng, be careful! That guy is the other one who shares the title of Dual Holy Sons alongside Lu Xingyuan! His strength is definitely not to be underestimated!"
Ye Feng took a step forward and spoke without a flicker of emotion in his voice:
"No matter who it is, I will take his head!"
Chapter 800