Li Guanqi sat with his eyes closed in cultivation, his expression solemn.
Cross-legged in the center of the medicinal pool, the whirlpools and ripples swirling around him were larger than anyone else's.
The violently fluctuating aura caused Nangong Xuandu to frown.
Suddenly!
An exceedingly weak figure flickered into existence, collapsing along the edge of the medicinal pool.
Clad in red robes with hair as white as snow, a pale Li Congxin looked toward Li Guanqi.
He looked down at his own body, his gaze filled with disbelief.
He had never imagined that Li Guanqi would truly keep his promise, refusing to devour him to mend himself even in such a critical moment!
He looked at Li Guanqi in dazed confusion, his eyes brimming with bewilderment and conflicting emotions.
Combined with the massive fluctuations of energy raging within Li Guanqi's body, Nangong Xuandu instantly understood what had happened.
No wonder he had felt all along that Li Guanqi's realm after his breakthrough was rather strange.
His expression calm, Nangong Xuandu slowly spread his palm. Li Congxin's body was instantly bound and drawn into his hand, fingers closing tightly around his throat.
At present, Li Congxin was merely in the Foundation Establishment Realm. How could he possibly resist such power?
He could only stare at Nangong Xuandu, fear welling in his eyes.
Nangong Xuandu looked back at him impassively, raising a hand and directly drawing Li Congxin's divine soul straight out of his body!
Watching the struggling soul, Nangong Xuandu spoke in a cool, indifferent voice. "You were never meant to live."
Li Congxin stared back at him with fixed eyes, replying without the slightest fear, "Yet he chose to let me live!"
Nangong Xuandu shook his head and said softly, "That is because he is naive, oblivious to the consequences of such an act.
"Meng Jiangchu's daughter, Meng Wanshu, has still not broken through to the Body Integration Realm to this day because the soul of her avatar was damaged.
"How severe do you think the repercussions will be after he forcibly broke through?"
Li Congxin's pupils contracted sharply. As Li Guanqi's Void Spirit, he naturally knew how long Meng Wanshu had been in secluded cultivation trying to break through to the Body Integration Realm.
Yet neither he nor Li Guanqi had known the specific reason.
To think that the reason Meng Wanshu had failed to make a breakthrough all this time was actually this!
Li Congxin pursed his lips and lowered his head. Suddenly, the corners of his mouth curved up into a faint smile of relief.
He turned his head to look at Li Guanqi, who had his eyes shut as he suppressed the surging power within him, and found himself unable to wipe that smile from his face.
Turning back to Nangong Xuandu, he chuckled.
"Then let me die.
"From the moment I opened my eyes once more to gaze upon this world, I had no regrets left in my heart.
"I was wrong... He truly chose to let me live.
"Knowing that is already enough."
Nangong Xuandu let out a quiet sigh in his heart. He could sense that this Void Spirit before him had been formed by Li Guanqi completely sundering his own three ethereal and seven corporeal souls.
It was not at all like an ordinary avatar fashioned from casually severing a tiny sliver of divine soul.
Not only that, this Void Spirit's dantian was forged from a Heavenly Thunder Bead, and its spiritual root and primal energy were of the exceptionally rare lightning spirit attribute.
Yet he did not want Li Guanqi to stop here in the future!
The mere Body Integration Realm was far from the limit of what Li Guanqi could achieve.
Just as he prepared to strike, the splashing of water echoed out, and a large hand clamped tightly onto his arm.
His eyes bloodshot, Li Guanqi spoke with resolute conviction:
"Don't kill Li Congxin!
"No matter what I must face in the future, I don't want him dead!!"
Hearing this, Nangong Xuandu furrowed his brows slightly. Sensing the violent churn of primal energy around the youth, he stared into Li Guanqi's eyes and could not help but say,
"You've only just broken through. If you mend your divine soul now, there won't be any lingering consequences.
"Once you choose to let him live, do you have any idea what you will have to face?"
Li Guanqi took a deep look at Li Congxin, then looked back at Nangong Xuandu and said in a heavy voice,
"Whatever I must face, it is my own choice!"
Faint ripples of primal energy surged over Nangong Xuandu. The two stared at each other.
Standing at the edge of the medicinal pool, neither yielded an inch.
After a long pause, Nangong Xuandu finally relented.
He released Li Congxin's divine soul, lifted the muting seal he had placed earlier, and shoved the soul back into the body.
Lowering his head, blood trickled from the corner of Li Guanqi's mouth as he quickly returned to the center of the medicinal pool and sat down cross-legged.
Looking toward the man at the pool's edge, he said in a low voice, "Thank you."
Nangong Xuandu took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and couldn't help saying,
"You brat, let's see what you do in the future."
With that, he kicked the unconscious Li Congxin into the medicinal pool.
Watching Nangong Xuandu's retreating back, Li Guanqi flipped Li Congxin over so he wouldn't choke and drown in the water.
He then brought the heavily injured Pengluo and Jiuxiao out from the sword coffin, settling them at his feet, distress evident in his eyes.
After this battle, Pengluo and Jiuxiao's vitality had been severely depleted; it would likely take a long period of recuperation for them to recover.
The two of them had been on the verge of breaking through, but now they had missed that chance.
Guilt weighed on Li Guanqi's heart. He looked at his companions by his side, then closed his eyes and sank into cultivation.
He still had one major matter left to attend to.
Sinking his consciousness into the sword coffin space, he found the area even more concealed than before, layer upon layer of blood-red barriers erected throughout.
The sword spirit stood frozen where she was, staring blankly at the snapped Red Lotus in her hands.
A flash of heartache appeared in Li Guanqi's eyes, and his voice turned raspy without him even realizing it.
Suppressing the darkest forebodings in his heart, he asked, "Red Lotus... is there any chance it can be restored?"
At this moment, Li Guanqi could clearly sense that the aura of Red Lotus's spirit was gradually dissipating.
Taking the broken sword in both hands, he felt a wrenching pang in his heart.
His eyes slightly red, he looked up at the sword spirit, whose expression was deeply conflicted.
The sword spirit pondered in silence for a long time, then drew a deep breath as though a flash of insight had struck her.
Her voice rang out slowly: "Originally, I didn't want to give it to Red Lotus at this stage... but it seems our plans must be moved forward."
Li Guanqi furrowed his brows, having no idea what she meant by giving something to Red Lotus.
Raising her hand, the sword spirit summoned Lu Wuhen's corpse into midair.
Fixing her beautiful eyes on Li Guanqi, she said softly, "Originally, I didn't want to touch Lu Wuhen."
"Why?"
Li Guanqi frowned and asked in a low voice. In his mind, retrieving the projected fragment of her true body would certainly be beneficial.
That was also one of the reasons Li Guanqi had killed Lu Wuhen at all costs.
The sword spirit shook her head and whispered, "Lu Wuhen is likely the work of someone in the Upper Realm, though they didn't leave behind any overly obvious traces.
"Lu Wuhen remained Lu Wuhen; even he didn't realize he was merely a puppet's string in someone else's hands."
Li Guanqi grew increasingly confused the more he heard, and asked directly, "How can you be so sure he was someone else's puppet string?"
A solemn look crossed the sword spirit's beautiful eyes as she spoke.
"Because under no circumstances could the sword tip ever appear in the Human Spirit Realm in any form!!"
Chapter 821