Upon his arrival, Sun Miao took out over a dozen jade bottles filled with pills. Although these pills were not of particularly high grade, they were all meant to replenish the vital qi and blood of demon beasts. Sun Miao said with some embarrassment, "I apologize. With my current abilities, this is the highest grade of pills I can refine."
Looking at the gray-haired elder, Li Guanqi felt touched.
Fifth-grade pills.
When Li Guanqi had first met Sun Miao, the old man was already a fifth-grade alchemist. Now, his cultivation had been stuck at the peak of the Soul Formation Realm for years without progress.
Li Guanqi gently patted the elder on the shoulder and said, "Later on, I'll obtain a Void Shattering Pill for you. Don't worry about giving lectures for now; get ready to enter secluded cultivation and make your breakthrough."
"Furthermore, I'll speak to the Sect Master to prepare the Breakthrough Platform for you. On the day of your breakthrough, I will personally protect your Dao."
Hearing this, Sun Miao's eyes reddened. He looked at Li Guanqi with deep emotion, raising his clasped fists to bow.
Yet as he bent at the waist, Li Guanqi caught him and supported him back up, saying softly, "Elder Sun, I have seen all the quiet sacrifices you have made over the years."
"Today, the disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect's Pill Peak flourish all because you held everything up on your own."
"I am the one who should be bowing. You have worked hard."
With that, Li Guanqi cupped his fists in a bow. When he straightened, he met the elder's gaze with complex emotion.
Sun Miao rubbed his eyes and forced a smile through his tears. "Ha, getting old and still bawling like an old nag. Alright then, I'll head back right away and prepare for seclusion!"
With that, the elder took his leave. Before departing, he cast an inscrutable glance at Gu Li, swallowed hard, and hurried away, not daring to disturb him in the least.
At this moment, Gu Li sat on the ground with his brow furrowed tightly. His hair was a disheveled mess from being jabbed with his talisman brush, and his left hand constantly pounded against his head.
Beneath him, zhang-wide sheets of talisman paper covered almost the entire street—several dozen in total.
Any one of these nascent inscribed talismans would be enough to shock the world if taken outside.
Li Guanqi left an avatar behind to look after Jiuxiao, then took Meng Wanshu with him to find Gu Li.
Seeing the scene before them, both were utterly astonished.
Suddenly!
The astonished voice of the sword spirit echoed in Li Guanqi's mind: "This fellow... what incredible talent in the Dao of Talismans!!"
"One step. He's just one step away from attaining celestial phenomena, gaining the spirit of heaven, and comprehending the Great Dao of Inscribed Talismans."
Li Guanqi frowned. "Sister Sword Spirit, what do you mean?"
The sword spirit said softly, "The Human Spirit Realm has boundaries that cannot be overstepped."
"In other words... the depth to which people of the lower realm can comprehend the Dao of Talismans has a limit."
"Yet right now, through sheer coincidence, he has taken a huge leap forward and arrived right in front of a severed cliff."
The sword spirit narrowed her eyes. Looking at the inscribed talismans scattered across the ground and the bloodshot eyes of the young man, she said in a low voice, "The path of a severed cliff—if he cannot cross it today, he will go mad."
"The despair of seeing no path ahead will completely destroy his Dao heart!!"
"And what he must do now is touch the talisman Dao of the Immortal Realm and shatter the invisible barrier before him."
"However..."
Li Guanqi frowned. "However what?"
The sword spirit sighed. "To forcibly comprehend the Immortal Realm's talisman Dao while in the Human Spirit Realm, to create an art of transformation and pioneer his own talisman Dao..."
"It is hard... harder than ascending to the heavens!!"
Li Guanqi's face instantly darkened. Right now, Gu Li had clearly entered the Dao.
His entire consciousness was submerged within it, oblivious to the outside world.
His bloodshot eyes proved that the sword spirit's words were true. If Gu Li could not take that final step today, then once his poised foot came down, it would plunge into an endless abyss!
When that time came, no one would be able to save him; they could only watch helplessly as Gu Li went mad.
Buzz!!!
An overwhelming surge of violent divine sense flooded the entire lake in an instant!!
Moreover, this power continued to spread outward until it filled the entire domain!!
The berserk mental energy churned the lake until it boiled. The earth shook, and the mountains trembled.
Tumbling boulders fell into the lake, sending up violent ripples.
Fear showed on the faces of many Spirit Fish clansmen. Yu Bo, who had just awakened from unconsciousness, hurriedly rushed over to Li Guanqi's side.
He looked with terror at the young man whose robes billowed wildly.
At this moment, the lake water within several hundred zhang of the young man had been blasted away completely. Li Guanqi made a swift decision.
With a boom, he unleashed a powerful pressure and with a wave of his hand teleported all the Spirit Fish clansmen behind him.
Tearing open the domain's spatial fabric, he said in a heavy voice, "Leave quickly! Leave this to me."
Yu Bo began relocating his clansmen without another word.
Once all the clansmen were gone, Meng Wanshu nodded slightly and slowly raised her hand.
In an instant, a frigid power spread outward, nine azure ice blossoms drifting behind her.
Meng Wanshu's beautiful eyes gleamed sharply. Opening her jade hands to both sides, she said softly, "Ten-Thousand-Li Absolute Seal."
Boom!!!
The frigid power spread, freezing the entire lake solid in the blink of an eye!!!
Li Guanqi asked softly, "Sword Spirit, can you give him a hand?"
Inside the sword coffin, the corners of the sword spirit's lips curved upward slightly. After pondering for a moment, she whispered, "I can!"
"But we need to wait a little longer."
At those words, Li Guanqi's eyes lit up. As if understanding implicitly, he released his divine sense to copy the inscribed talismans Gu Li had drawn earlier.
Yet the moment his mental power touched the talisman paper, Gu Li's mental energy tore into it like a savage beast, brutally ripping it to shreds!!
"Ugh!"
Jolted by the psychic backlash, Li Guanqi could not help but let out a muffled groan.
Worry showed in Meng Wanshu's eyes, but just as she was about to speak, Li Guanqi raised a hand to stop her.
Li Guanqi took a deep breath. Facing Gu Li's berserk aura, he donned an armor of lightning around his body.
Since he could not copy them with divine sense, his only option was to walk over and examine them one by one.
Only in this way could the sword spirit see what problems and dead ends Gu Li was currently facing.
Meng Wanshu frowned slightly and said with concern, "Be careful."
Li Guanqi took a step forward, crossing precisely into the thirty-zhang perimeter around Gu Li.
This boundary acted like a critical threshold. Dozens of inscribed talismans suddenly appeared before Li Guanqi and burst into flames!!
Boom, boom, boom, boom!!!
Li Guanqi's figure darted out from the thick smoke at blinding speed.
Even his lightning armor had cracked in several places, and blood seeped out.
Yet just as Li Guanqi thought he would be able to see the talismans, dense walls of inscribed talismans appeared, having been concealed in the surrounding space without anyone noticing!!
These massive walls towered dozens of zhang high, trapping Li Guanqi inside like a caged beast!!!
There were tens of thousands of inscribed talismans in all, enough to make one's scalp tingle with dread!!
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion rang out. The entire street was blasted to dust, and the frozen expanse for a thousand li collapsed and burst apart in an instant.
A searing wave of fire blew Meng Wanshu back over a thousand zhang!!
"Brother Qi!!"
Whoosh!!
Charred black all over, Li Guanqi finally saw the contents of several sheets of talisman paper. But before he could react, chains composed of thousands upon thousands of inscribed talismans came hurtling straight toward him!!
At this moment, Gu Li's head felt as if it were splitting open. Throwing aside the talisman brush in his hand, he clutched his head with both hands and slammed it hard against the ground.
Bang!!
"Why... why..."
"Why?!!!"
Chapter 851