"Li Guanqi, do not come save me."
A mere seven words weighed upon Li Guanqi's chest like seven towering mountains.
Only now did he realize how important Tang Ru truly was to him.
Even if they rarely stayed in touch, there was no denying that back when he had been at his lowest and most vulnerable, Tang Ru had helped him immensely.
On the surface, it had seemed as though Li Guanqi was the one taking advantage, but in truth, Tang Ru had braved tremendous pressure back then to lend him aid.
Though that affair had nearly cost Tang Ru his life, Li Guanqi had never once placed the blame on him.
Back during the trouble with Ziyang Palace, had Tang Ru not cast his robe into the snow to signal to Li Guanqi what had happened...
*Hoo...*
Sitting atop the mountain peak, Li Guanqi took several deep breaths, only then managing to calm his turbulent emotions.
Gripping the jade slip, he discovered that Tang Ru had already shattered his own corresponding slip, severing all contact.
His shoulders slumped slightly. Taking a jar of strong liquor from his storage ring, he slapped off the clay seal.
He threw back his head. The scorching spirits rushed down his throat like a line of fire, burning into his belly.
Liquor spilled from the corners of his mouth in glinting drops. Li Guanqi downed the entire jar in a single breath, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Fine red veins laced his eyes. His face was dark to the extreme as he retrieved another jade slip, his voice terrifyingly calm.
"Tell me what you've been doing all this time."
Before long, a familiar male voice came from the slip.
"I'm sorry. I never imagined something like this would happen."
Suppressing the fury raging in his chest, Li Guanqi demanded in a chilling tone, "I asked you what you're doing right now! Why have you been unreachable?!"
Silence followed. Then Ji Yuchuan said softly, "I'm sorry. I cannot tell you right now."
Li Guanqi surged to his feet, gripping the jade slip as he roared, "I don't need your damn apologies! Ji Yuchuan, from this moment on, you are no longer the deputy master of Guanyun Pavilion! To hell with that hundred-year agreement! Get lost!"
Enraged, Li Guanqi hurled the jade slip away. Arcs of lightning struck out, blasting it to pieces.
This time, Li Guanqi was genuinely furious. He did not understand why Ji Yuchuan had fallen out of contact... and done so in a manner that was practically deliberate concealment!
***
Standing before the gates of Tianji Pavilion, Ji Yuchuan sighed. Ultimately, he turned and tore open the void to depart.
He had to rush back now. Pulling out a jade slip, he said in a heavy voice, "Senior Gu, I must return to the Great Xia Domain immediately. We shall speak of the Tianji Chart another time."
With that, Ji Yuchuan's eyes flickered, and a sudden flash of vigilance surfaced in his gaze as he glanced back.
His penetrating sight seemed to pierce through boundless distance, glimpsing an elder sitting before a writing desk, brush in hand, writing.
The corner of Ji Yuchuan's mouth curved slightly. He chuckled, putting aside the things that troubled him.
Yet the thought of Li Guanqi's rage gave him a terrible headache.
He had been inside a spatial transit tunnel—how could he possibly have received any transmissions?..
Turning back, he stepped into the spatial conduit and hurried back toward Guanyun Pavilion.
***
Deep within an unfathomable void, nestled among the dust of a chaotic storm, lay a hidden realm.
The iconic pitch-black architecture made everything plain. A man wearing a bizarre mask glanced toward Lu Hengtian, fiendish qi churning around him as he sneered coldly, "What utter trash. You went out and only brought back this handful of people?
"And what use is this fat bastard?"
At his words, the expressions of both Lu Hengtian and Zhu Ying soured.
The red-robed masked man held out a palm. Lu Hengtian hastily produced the array plate from before and offered it with both hands.
The man took the plate and snorted coldly. "Go inside and await word. Whether the leader will grant you the chance to be converted is not yet certain. Where is the fat one?"
Lu Hengtian and Zhu Ying both let out a breath of relief, raising a hand to toss out the blood-drenched Tang Ru.
Lying on the ground, the fat man glared venomously at the figures before him, his mouth overflowing with blood...
The red-robed man frowned. Lu Hengtian offered a placating smile and explained, "The fellow tried to kill himself, so I sealed his cultivation and ripped out his tongue."
The masked man's eyes flickered, the corners of his eyes crinkling with slight amusement.
He brought his foot down onto Tang Ru's wrist. Instantly, the sharp sound of snapping bone rang out!
*Crack! Crack-crack!!*
The crushed wrist turned into a mangled mess of flesh and gore, nearly severed whole!
"Mmph!! Nngh!!"
Tang Ru writhed violently in agony, his features twisted as cold sweat poured down his face.
The masked man sneered. "If you're going to do something, why not take it all the way? You were far too restrained. As long as he doesn't die, anything goes."
With a blur of vicious kicks, the man shattered every one of Tang Ru's limbs in an instant!
On his right arm, only shredded threads of pulverized flesh still held the hand to the wrist!
The tall, slender man bent down, seized Tang Ru by the hair, and dragged him toward the rear hall.
Only after the man had vanished did Zhu Ying begin panting heavily.
The oppressive pressure radiating from him had been so overwhelming that she could barely breathe.
The old crone drew close to Lu Hengtian and asked in a low voice via divine sense, "What... what rank does he hold in the organization?"
Lu Hengtian let out a long breath of his own and replied gravely, "He should be a Liang of the highest order!
"As for the ultimate authority, Sha... he must be at least a half-step Tribulation Transcendence expert!!"
The old man then sighed and said heavily, "Forget it. Such matters are beyond our concern! As long as we can undergo conversion, neither of us will ever have to hide from the samsara heavenly tribulation again! Hahahaha! How many people would give their lives for such a blessing?.."
Excitement flared across their faces. Walking side by side toward the main hall, their hearts pounded with nervous apprehension.
*Creak!!*
The eerie hall doors swung wide, and an ethereal, strikingly beautiful woman stepped out.
She wore a luxurious black gown that trailed across the floor. A black light flashed briefly between her brows.
Her beautiful eyes cast an indifferent glance over the two before she swept past and swiftly departed.
Lu Hengtian frowned as he watched her leave. He had not expected such a young woman to possess the aura of the middle Void Refining Realm.
The hall was gloomy and quiet, its vast emptiness illuminated only by eerie green flames.
Vaguely, the two could make out a man clad in blood-red robes seated upon a massive throne!
An inexplicable, suffocating pressure descended upon them, forcing their heads even lower.
Hunching their backs, they approached the center of the hall and dropped to their knees with a thud.
Beneath his mask, the man's eyes were completely impassive, revealing neither joy nor sorrow.
"Two useless fools. Armed with the array plate, and yet you couldn't even capture Ye Feng and the others."
Lu Hengtian's heart jolted in terror, and he hastened to explain, "A man intervened midway through to stop us. I... I feared ruining Your Eminence's grand design, which was why we withdrew in haste."
The man sneered. "Of course I know Youming stepped in. Had I not intervened at the end, every single one of you would have been left behind!
"It's a bit of a pity about Yu Chang'an's death...
"Though it would be stranger if he hadn't died. After all... Youming loathes nothing more than people who act like simpering sissies."
For some reason, as the old crone heard those words, she sensed a mocking playfulness in the man's tone.
It felt layered with an obscure, profound meaning that defied explanation.
Chapter 903