All along the way, he cautiously observed his surroundings.
Yet the ruins exerted an overwhelming suppression on divine sense. Releasing it yielded an even blurrier view than what his mind's eye could perceive, so Li Guanqi pushed his five senses to their absolute limit.
Before long, an enormous gate came into view.
High above the city gate hung a metal plaque bearing three bold, vigorous characters:
*Dikun City!*
The ancient bronze gate, towering ten zhang high, looked immensely heavy. He put his full strength into pushing it, but it did not budge in the slightest.
Suddenly, struck by an intuition, he took out the rhombus-shaped object he had found earlier.
The item began to shimmer with faint light, and an identical rhombus-shaped recess promptly appeared upon the gate.
Once he slotted it inside, a man-sized door abruptly swung open in the corner of the gate.
Sword in hand, Li Guanqi darted through.
The moment he entered the city, he realized its structures were remarkably well preserved compared to those outside.
After wandering through several pavilions at random, he even found several throwing darts. Entirely silver-white, they were grooved with blood gutters and perforations, though there were only three of them.
Pocketing the darts, Li Guanqi grew intensely curious about Dikun City. He had no idea what powered the core of these mechanical contrivances, for he could not sense the slightest ripple of spiritual energy.
Suddenly!
A faint noise caught Li Guanqi's ear as he stood inside a two-story pavilion.
Leaping over the railing, he rushed toward the sound without making a whisper of noise beneath his feet.
A hundred zhang away, two figures chased each other through the street. The one in front bore numerous sword wounds and retreated while fighting.
Moving like a prowling leopard, Li Guanqi soon caught sight of the figures—one dressed in black, the other in white.
The man in front was none other than Zhong Lin!
When Zhong Lin spotted Li Guanqi, a flash of pleasant surprise crossed his eyes, and he barked in a low voice, "Watch out! There are many of them!"
*Swish!*
Li Guanqi's heart sank slightly at those words. Circulating his cultivation technique, purple light flashed beneath his feet, and he shot toward the black-robed pursuer like an arrow!
In his perception, the opponent's aura was only at middle Foundation Establishment.
Yet the moment he crossed paths with Zhong Lin, the figure cloaked entirely in black violently retreated!
Li Guanqi whipped his head around and flung the three darts with his left hand!
*Clang, clang, clang!*
The darts struck toward the rooftop, and sparks burst into the air as three needle-like projectiles shattered on impact.
Several muffled grunts erupted from a rooftop over a dozen zhang away!
Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed. "Find a room and hide! There's more than one of them!" he warned at rapid speed.
With no time to overthink, Zhong Lin darted into an adjoining room, bellowing, "Careful! They're extremely strong!!"
*Thud!!*
The ground trembled faintly as Li Guanqi's figure blurred past the black-robed man!
Cold glints flashed across the air several times in rapid succession!
*Thump!*
The black-robed man clutched his neck with both hands, eyes wide with horror as blood gushed out. He collapsed powerlessly to his knees.
Even in death, he could not fathom why—when he had clearly parried the sword—those cold glints had still slashed across his vision!
Li Guanqi flicked his wrist, shaking off the blood running down the blade's edge.
The three figures on the rooftop had long since vanished.
Slowly walking up to the dead man, Li Guanqi crouched down and pulled away the cloth covering his face. Beneath it lay the countenance of a stranger he had never seen before, strikingly young.
He searched the man's garments thoroughly, but found no clues regarding his identity. Nor did he recognize the sect to which the man's sword style belonged.
Clutching his wounded arm, Zhong Lin slipped out from the building and looked at Li Guanqi with a conflicted expression.
An opponent so formidable had failed to survive three exchanges against him.
Perhaps sensing what Zhong Lin was thinking, Li Guanqi offered gentle reassurance: "Everyone walks a different path. You and I are different."
Yet beneath his breath, he added inwardly, *If you had died hundreds of times in the span of three days, your strength would have skyrocketed too.*
Zhong Lin drew a deep breath, casting aside his chaotic thoughts, and said in a heavy voice, "When we entered, all of us were randomly teleported to different locations. Aside from the black-robed pursuers, you're the only person I've encountered so far.
"Just fleeing along the way, I ran into no fewer than six or seven of them!"
Li Guanqi frowned deeply. "Who are these people?"
Zhong Lin shook his head.
"I don't know, but their intent is clear—they want me dead!
"Not only are they powerful, but they also carry many mechanism traps and hidden weapons. The wound on my shoulder came from a pouch of darts one of them threw!"
As he spoke, Zhong Lin produced a cyan jade bottle and poured out three medicinal pills—two pale blue, and one crimson.
Passing the pills to Li Guanqi, Zhong Lin said solemnly, "My... clan is a family of alchemists. Take these three pills.
"The blue ones are Evil-Warding Detoxification Pills, while the red one... is the Scarlet Firmament Pill!"
Li Guanqi accepted them and asked in a low voice, "Their weapons are coated in poison?"
Zhong Lin nodded. "Once consumed, the Scarlet Firmament Pill will instantly cause your yuan power to surge by twenty percent! But it only lasts for the span of an incense stick.
"After that, you will fall into a state of extreme weakness, leaving your entire body limp and powerless.
"This pill is meant purely as a life-saving measure. You must use it with utmost caution."
Glancing at the bandaged wound on Li Guanqi's arm, Zhong Lin urged, "Take a detoxification pill first."
Once Li Guanqi took the pill, Zhong Lin remained where he stood rather than following him.
Looking at Li Guanqi with resolute eyes, he said, "The current situation is too convoluted, and I will only be a burden at your side.
"To this moment, we don't know how many of them there are or what their purpose is.
"I will find a place to hide. It's best if you move alone!"
Li Guanqi parted his lips to speak, but Zhong Lin cut in firmly, "You should understand that this is the wisest choice!"
Li Guanqi stood rooted to the spot, his expression completely unfazed. He merely spoke in a calm voice.
"That may be the wisest decision, but it is not Li Guanqi's choice.
"I know you must have life-saving methods of your own, but given your current injuries, if I leave you here alone, you will surely die the moment three of them show up!"
Zhong Lin started to speak again, but Li Guanqi interrupted him directly. "Enough nonsense!
"Now that I've found you, I won't leave you here to await death. We move together!"
A flicker of complex emotion gleamed in Zhong Lin's eyes, gradually hardening into resolve. He frantically refined the medicinal efficacy within his body, steadily nursing his injuries back toward recovery.
The two leaped forward, speeding deeper into the city.
Zhong Lin said in a grave tone, "This place must be a branch of the ancient Mohist lineage!
"The Mohists were renowned across the realm for their mechanism arts. I've observed Dikun City, and its overall layout secretly incorporates the formations of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams.
"Yet this band of black-robed men struck with the sole purpose of killing me. They haven't shown the slightest intention of leaving anyone alive!"
Li Guanqi nodded slightly, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Then let's turn the tables between hunter and prey!
"We'll go hunt them down!"
Suddenly!!
Dikun City began to tremble. Both of them took to the air at once, but the stone slabs beneath their feet abruptly caved in!!
An irresistible pull surged from below, dragging them downward!
The surrounding buildings plunged beneath the earth in an instant, while all manner of towering structures rose from the depths!
Their figures shifted frantically midair amid the roaring wind of rising architecture echoing in their ears.
Chapter 90