"Are you trying to provoke me?"
Completely devoid of fear, Zhao Bin yanked his arm free from Zheng Qingyan's grasp and strode right up to Li Guanqi.
The two stood face-to-face, so close they could feel each other's breath.
Zhao Bin stared intently at Li Guanqi and sneered, "Provoke you? Are you even worthy of being provoked by me? Heh, you kill a mere direct son of the Lu clan, and you really think everyone's going to tremble before you?"
The moment the words left his mouth, a brutally oppressive aura erupted from Zhao Bin's body!
Li Guanqi did not yield an inch. An even more violent pressure burst forth with a thunderous roar!
In an instant, the room's atmosphere turned suffocatingly heavy, and the commotion naturally caught the attention of many nearby.
Suddenly, a man's deep, resonant voice drifted in from behind.
"Heh, are you trying to start a fight in Qin Imperial City?"
Li Guanqi shrugged. He had no idea where these people got their boundless arrogance.
Turning back toward the black-armored man beside Meng Jiangchu, he asked softly, "Senior, does this city have a death duel stage?"
A gleam flashed across the man's eyes, and crow's-feet crinkled at their corners as he tossed a contract scroll to Li Guanqi.
Without even glancing at it, Li Guanqi signed his name, sliced his fingertip, and pressed a bloody print onto the paper.
Looking up at the trio, he casually flicked the contract toward Zhao Bin, saying calmly, "Here's your chance to stomp me into the dirt. A death duel. All of you can come at me together."
Yet as the contract drifted through the air, not a single person reached out to catch it...
Fluttering down onto the floor, the contract seemed like a slap in the face.
Gu Li burst into unrestrained laughter, laughing so hard tears welled in his eyes as he doubled over.
Zhao Bin and Wu Yong exchanged a glance, their faces grim. Looking down at the contract on the floor, they found themselves trapped in a dilemma—they couldn't pick it up, nor could they ignore it.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi wore a teasing smirk. "Why so quiet? Were you born mute? Weren't you grandstanding just a moment ago about how worthless my life was? Come on, pick it up and sign. Then you can grind me under your heel in front of everyone. Kill me in the arena and prove you're stronger than me."
Zhao Bin gritted his teeth in silence, his eyes fixed on Li Guanqi with lethal fury.
Wu Yong's eyes flickered, shifting subtly as his thoughts raced.
At that moment, Zheng Qingyan, clad in a purple gown and looking icy and detached, frowned and spoke coldly, "Li Guanqi, there is no need to be so aggressive, is there?"
Li Guanqi's face suddenly chilled, his voice turning frosty. "Aren't you the ones playing the hypocrite—acting like whores while putting up monuments to your own virtue?"
Zheng Qingyan's brow furrowed even deeper at that. "Li Guanqi, don't take your words too far!"
Li Guanqi's figure vanished from where he stood, and the floor beneath him exploded with a deafening boom.
Zheng Qingyan's expression shifted drastically, and she raised a palm to strike forward!
Like a ghost, Li Guanqi's figure materialized before her. Dodging her palm strike with a sidestep, a vicious glint flashed across his eyes.
With a swift twist of his hands, he slammed them inward from above and below. With a sickening snap, he snapped the woman's arm clean in two!
Jagged white bone pierced through her flesh. With his left hand, he violently crushed her other hand as she tried to draw her sword, while his right hand clamped around her throat, hoisting her straight into the air.
Before Li Guanqi, Zheng Qingyan's combat experience made her look like a helpless child.
Choking her by the neck, Li Guanqi sneered, "Ever since I walked in, all of you have been acting so high and mighty. Aggressive? So what if I press you? You've all been in the Body Integration Realm for decades—are you telling me you're terrified now? Come on, don't back down. I preferred how arrogant and unruly you looked a moment ago. Go on, pick it up and sign your names."
Wu Yong's eyelids twitched. He had never imagined that despite both being in the Body Integration Realm, Zheng Qingyan wouldn't even have a shred of power to fight back against him!
Even though they rarely left their clan to engage in life-or-death battles in the outside world, they never expected the gap to be this vast!
Li Guanqi's name was something they had heard countless times.
Over the years, as his cultivation rose higher, news of his deeds had spread widely among the Ancient Clans.
At first, they merely thought he was an arrogant genius, but gradually, they realized something was different.
From the Soul Formation Realm, Li Guanqi had advanced to the Void Refining Realm at a terrifying speed, and he had spent merely three years in the Void Refining Realm!
Only three years!
The insignificant nobody they had once looked down upon now stood right here on equal footing with them, which naturally left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Yet whenever Li Guanqi struck, he almost never held back.
If they signed that contract, at least one of the three of them would end up dying on that stage!
Zheng Qingyan's face had turned the color of bruised liver. Paralyzed from head to toe by a potent surge of lightning energy, she couldn't move an inch, her eyes wide with terror as she looked at him.
In Li Guanqi's gaze, she saw genuine, bone-chilling killing intent.
As Li Guanqi's grip tightened, she felt as though her windpipe was about to be crushed.
The terror of impending death enveloped her. She opened her mouth to scream, only to find she couldn't make a sound.
Li Guanqi turned to look back at Zhao Bin and Wu Yong with a sneer. "Not signing?"
Zhao Bin and Wu Yong looked thoroughly mortified. With a mocking laugh, Li Guanqi flung the woman away, sending her hurtling several dozen paces back.
Stepping beside the two men, he bent down, picked up the contract from the floor, and shoved it roughly into Zhao Bin's chest. "If you don't have the guts, don't act tough."
With that, he turned with a faint smile toward Gu Li, who was still busy drawing talismans nearby, and said softly, "Great Xia Sword Sect, Li Guanqi."
Gu Li set down his talisman brush, wiped his hands on his robes, and chuckled. "Gu clan, Gu Li."
The armored man didn't spare the sprawled Zheng Qingyan a second glance. "Come with me. Let's register your identities."
Li Guanqi followed behind the man, and Gu Li quickly caught up, giving Li Guanqi a thumbs-up as he drew near.
"As expected of you. You're just as I imagined."
Curious, Li Guanqi asked, "Why did you help me? Or rather... why stand on my side?"
Gu Li sent a secretive voice transmission: "I have a sworn brother named... Li Congxin."
Li Guanqi froze slightly, looking at Gu Li with utter disbelief.
Gu Li draped an arm over Li Guanqi's shoulder and grinned. "I can sense it. You didn't kill him."
Gu Li's smile was bright and cheerful, yet to Li Guanqi, it felt laden with profound meaning.
He had a gut feeling that if he hadn't spared Li Congxin back then, the one stepping onto the death duel stage with him today would have been this smiling youth before him.
Li Guanqi smiled wryly, shook his head, and pursed his lips. "It seems that Void Spirit of mine really made quite a few friends and brothers out there."
Gu Li laughed boisterously as if it were only natural. "Of course! My brother's friends span across the entire Six Domains! Hahaha!"
Soon, they all completed their identity registrations. Li Guanqi took the unique storage ring handed to him and thought nothing of it.
Gu Li, Zhao Bin, and their peers had all accompanied their elders to the auction, so their elders had simply brought them along to register.
Li Guanqi couldn't resist asking, "Brother Gu, is your Gu clan significantly stronger than the clans of Zhao Bin and the others?"
Gu Li looked surprised. "Hm? How did you know? Our Gu clan keeps such a low profile."
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth twitched. After Gu Li had slapped them across the face and none of them dared to make a peep, anyone with eyes could see it.
A slight grin curled on Gu Li's lips as he whispered conspiratorially, "Actually, it's just because I'm stronger, so none of them dare fight back."
Meng Jiangchu watched Gu Li with an enigmatic smile, making no move to stop Li Guanqi from mingling with him.
Noticing Meng Jiangchu, Gu Li hurriedly bowed in greeting. "Uncle Meng, long time no see!"
With one hand resting behind his back, Meng Jiangchu chuckled. "Indeed, it's been quite a while. You rascal haven't changed one bit."
As he spoke, Meng Jiangchu's gaze drifted toward the hand that was still effortlessly inscribing talismans.
Chapter 828