Qin Imperial City!

Li Guanqi followed silently behind Meng Jiangchu. As they flew along, he unexpectedly felt an inexplicable, profound sensation. Meng Jiangchu chuckled. "Do you feel something strange?" Li Guanqi nodded and asked, "Why is that?" Meng Jiangchu raised a hand and tugged at space itself, causing a cluster of fiery-red spiritual light to manifest! Li Guanqi looked at the spiritual light in the man's hand with astonishment, reaching out to give it a light touch. In an instant, the sleeve of Li Guanqi's Floating Cloud Dharma Robe was reduced entirely to ash! Not only that, the surface of Li Guanqi's skin was burned into a grotesque, twisted mess. Li Guanqi hurriedly pulled his hand back and said in shock, "This is..." He did not know how to describe what he had felt in that moment. It was clearly a power residing within spiritual energy. Yet the force contained within this spiritual light was completely beyond anything ordinary spiritual energy could match. One had to know that he was now a genuine Body Integration Realm cultivator, yet a mere cluster of spiritual light had instantly incinerated his protective primal energy. Moreover, it had burned his arm. Such power was truly terrifying. With a flick of Meng Jiangchu's fingertips, the spiritual light dispersed, and his voice slowly rang out. "This is not ordinary primal energy. It is an ability born from comprehending heaven and earth's elemental spiritual energy and thoroughly grasping its essence." "Take you, for instance—you have yet to bring forth the true essence of your lightning-attributed primal energy." "Only when you attain a profound comprehension can you display its unique qualities." "We usually call this phase the Spirit Comprehension Stage. The disparity between Body Integration Realm cultivators is mostly tied to their level of spirit comprehension." Puzzled, Li Guanqi asked, "Why?" The man burst into laughter, then said softly, "Because if you want to break through to the Mahayana realm, you must first be capable of perfectly controlling your own power." "If you cannot even push your own attribute to its utmost limit, you won't be able to break through to Mahayana." "Though that doesn't mean you must reach full perfection before you can break through to Mahayana." Li Guanqi nodded thoughtfully. Then, the rhythmic sound of surging waves suddenly reached his ears. Li Guanqi was taken aback. Closing his eyes, he discovered a vast, boundless ocean a thousand li away! The rolling murmur of the tide echoed faintly, and rich water-attributed spiritual energy was extraordinarily vibrant. Meng Jiangchu reined in his thoughts and murmured, "We're almost there. Remember to keep your temper in check; there are far too many powerful clans and factions around here." Then, worried Li Guanqi might overthink things, he chuckled and added, "Still, even if trouble does find you, there's no need to fear. Your father-in-law has some connections here in the Ethereal Immortal Domain." Li Guanqi smiled at that. With his temperament, he wasn't one to stir up trouble easily anyway. However, if some blind fool insisted on provoking him, he wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson either. Buzz! The two flew with tremendous speed, arriving above a mist-shrouded mountain city in the blink of an eye. Flanked by mountains on three sides with the water at its back, Qin Imperial City was vaster than any city Li Guanqi had ever seen. Its towering walls exerted an overwhelming sense of pressure, and the Qin King Estate at its very center looked grand and majestic even from thousands of zhang away. The sprawling estate was extraordinarily solemn, and occasionally cultivators would emerge from the void around it. Every one of these cultivators possessed an aura deep as an abyss—Li Guanqi could not fathom their depths at all. When these people caught sight of Meng Jiangchu, they nodded slightly in greeting. One elderly man glanced toward Li Guanqi and chuckled. "Five Yang Ghost Emperor, well met after all this time. Brought him along to the Ethereal Domain?" Clad in a coarse gray hemp robe, the elder possessed an amiable face and appeared thoroughly polite. Meng Jiangchu, however, responded with icy coldness: "Rongyang, before I lose my temper, get the hell out of my sight." Li Guanqi stood silently behind Meng Jiangchu, keeping his peace. It was evident that Meng Jiangchu detested this old man. Hearing this, the old man merely gave a sly chuckle without taking offense, clasped his hands behind his back, and turned to leave. Only after the elder departed did Li Guanqi let out a long breath. The faint, elusive pressure emanating from the old man earlier had left him struggling to breathe—he was undoubtedly a Mahayana realm cultivator! Meng Jiangchu's expression turned somewhat grim, his eyes narrowing as a cold glint flashed deep within them. Yet the departing elder's face had also darkened to the extreme. He raised a hand and struck his own chest. Spurt! He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, but before the puddle of blood could hit anything, it was incinerated into nothingness midair. The elder reached into the void, plucking out a wisp of eerie green flame. Crushing it in his grip, he hissed coldly, "Heart-Burning Ghost... What a Five Yang Ghost Emperor! Impressive methods!" Meanwhile, Meng Jiangchu turned to Li Guanqi and pressed a hand against his shoulder. Suddenly! A fiendish ghost formed of flame erupted abruptly from within Li Guanqi's body! Clutched in the fiend's jaws was a blood-red insect, writhing and letting out piercing shrieks. Seeing this, Li Guanqi could not help but be shocked to his core! He had no idea whatsoever when such an insect had entered his body. The insect was only the size of a fingernail, entirely blood-red like a grub, yet it bore a human face! Meng Jiangchu snorted coldly. The flames consumed the insect as he said grimly, "The mongrel still loves pulling underhanded tricks." He turned back to Li Guanqi and said in a grave voice, "That old bastard is called Zhao Rongyang. He's an insect cultivator specializing in raising gu." "He loves collecting bizarre gu insects, and his methods are vicious and nearly impossible to guard against." "Don't be fooled by his gentle, amiable look. Behind the scenes he's sinister to the bone—plenty of mighty cultivators have died by his hand." Li Guanqi swallowed hard. He hadn't expected to run into something like this before even stepping inside the city. It seemed this Ethereal Immortal Domain... was certainly no place for the pure and gentle. The corners of Li Guanqi's lips curled slightly. He murmured under his breath, "Interesting." The two soon arrived at the perimeter of Qin Imperial City, where an inexplicable pressure bore down on them. Meng Jiangchu said softly, "Flight is forbidden inside the city out of respect for the powerhouses here. Furthermore, the guards of Qin Imperial City are extremely strong, so try to avoid conflicts." Li Guanqi nodded silently. He already felt as though a gateway to a brand-new world had been pushed open before him. Once, he had stood at the very pinnacle of the Six Domains, but now that he had seen a broader world, he had suddenly become the bottom rung here. Yet this realization stirred an inexplicable excitement within him; the thrill of climbing toward the peak step by step made his blood boil with vigor. Since he could stand above all in the Six Domains, he would become a man above men in this Ethereal Immortal Domain as well! As for the true Seventh Domain, he would go there one day. When Li Guanqi reached the city gates and looked up at the three words inscribed on the horizontal tablet in bold, unrestrained calligraphy—Qin Imperial City—his heart skipped a beat in astonishment. He could clearly sense that the person who wrote those words possessed immense power, so immense that... he simply could not comprehend it. The city guard was clad in black armor, revealing only a pair of eyes. "Heh heh, Domain Lord Meng hasn't visited in quite some time. Are you here for the auction this time as well?" Li Guanqi looked up, only to discover that this guard was even more powerful than himself! Late Body Integration Realm—at the very least, late stage!