Meanwhile.
A certain white-haired, red-robed cultivator who was fleeing suddenly had his eyes light up. He burst into uproarious laughter. "Hahahahahaha! As expected of yours truly! Damned if I didn't actually figure out a way!"
"Come on, you bastards! Every debt has its debtor, and I just can't stand seeing you slaughter the innocent!"
Boom!
Amid an icy intent to kill, a steady, mountain-like weight rippled outward from Li Congxin!
This jarring contrast took the three cultivators pursuing behind him aback.
"Brothers, be careful. Something's not right with this kid!"
"He's only late Core Formation. How does he have the aura of sword intent?"
"Why bother overthinking it? He's just a rogue cultivator. Kill him and be done with it!"
The trio appeared to be sworn brothers. Seeing such a bond only stoked the flames of Li Congxin's fury!
Li Congxin gently lowered the trembling young girl from under his arm and placed her behind him. With an icy glare, he sneered, "Birds of a feather really do flock together. Trash belongs with trash!"
All three men were at the peak of Core Formation. The muscular man leading them twitched an eyelid.
Reversing his grip, he drew the longsword at his waist, his hawk-sharp gaze locking onto Li Congxin. He could sense that the man's aura was unusual.
Yet greed still consumed him when he looked at the treasures on Li Congxin—that storage ring alone was clearly extraordinary!
It was a supreme-grade storage ring worthy of at least a Void Refining Realm cultivator!
"Brother, let me offer you some advice: sometimes it's best to mind your own business."
"Hand over that wretched girl behind you, and the three of us will leave right away."
Li Congxin glanced back at the girl, whose eyes were vacant and numb, then turned back and shook his head.
"Cultivators seeking vengeance—if you don't kill them, they kill you. I can understand that."
"Every debt has its debtor. But wiping out her entire family wasn't enough for you? You wouldn't even spare such a young girl, bent on committing beastly acts! Do you even count as human?"
Li Congxin's voice seethed with suppressed, unspeakable fury.
He had merely been passing by when he saw a young girl with eyes full of death, lying on flagstones soaked with the blood of her slaughtered family.
If it had merely been a vendetta between cultivators, and they had simply struck her down, he would have thought them ruthless at most.
However...
Some things he simply could not stomach.
Seeing that Li Congxin would not budge, the man signaled with his eyes to the other two to cut off his escape route.
"In that case, you'll pay the price for poking your nose where it doesn't belong..."
The man, clad in ordinary gray robes, turned to the two beside him and growled coldly, "Attack together! Cut him down quickly so we can leave!"
The moment the words fell, the two beside him shot forward!
Li Congxin paid no heed to their bluster. Turning to the girl, he gently brushed her hair aside and spoke softly:
"Close your eyes. It'll be over soon."
"Cover your ears, too."
Looking at the handsome, white-haired young man and hearing his gentle voice, the girl squeezed her eyes shut.
Covering her ears with both hands, she crouched on the ground.
Li Congxin slowly turned around, his voice chilling.
"Sorry, but the man you ran into today is named Li Congxin, not Li the Coward!"
Clouds churned across heaven and earth as howling winds rustled the ancient trees of the forest below.
The man's scarlet robe was as vivid as freshly spilled blood, snapping violently in the gale as an inexplicable pressure radiated from him!
It stemmed from the shared bond between his heart and Li Guanqi's—he could feel that Li Guanqi was currently mending his broken divine soul!
Li Congxin smiled. He had spent every waking moment worrying about Li Guanqi, but now he could finally lay that lingering dread to rest.
Before the three men could even grasp what Li Congxin meant, several glints of cold blade light enveloped him!
Boom!
A storm of lightning engulfed the trio as Li Congxin's frigid voice rang in their ears.
"Apocalypse: Ten Halls of Yanluo!"
Boom!
A pitch-black longsword suddenly manifested, and violet lightning flashed before their eyes!
Terrifying sword intent surged up from the ground—Sword Gall Realm!
Li Congxin's eyes blazed. With an ethereal, elusive movement technique, three afterimages flickered across the space.
"Sword Draw Stance!"
The clash of ringing steel echoed out, and immediately after, Li Congxin stood with his back to the trio, sheathing his sword.
Clang!
Slash! Slash, slash!
Cold gleams flickered through the air.
The trees stilled; the wind died down.
Three headless corpses plummeted from midair.
Three storage rings flew into his grasp.
A trickle of blood escaped the corner of Li Congxin's mouth.
With his current strength, forcibly activating Yanluo's Apocalypse state was still a heavy burden.
To say nothing of imitating Li Guanqi to execute the Sword Draw Stance and kill three opponents in an instant.
Coupled with Li Guanqi mending his divine soul, Li Congxin still felt some aftershocks.
Turning back to the girl, he noticed that she had opened her eyes at some point.
A faint smile appeared on his face. Wiping the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, he said softly, "Consider your vengeance avenged."
As he spoke, a wave of helplessness washed over him. At merely Core Formation, he lacked the power to erase her painful memories.
Li Congxin brought the girl to the edge of a town, gently patted her head, and said with a smile, "From now on, you'll have to rely on yourself."
With that, he rummaged through the three men's storage rings, retrieved some gold and silver, and stuffed it into a small cloth pouch.
"Remember, never flaunt your wealth. Don't let anyone see this money, understand?"
The girl stared intently at Li Congxin's face with bright eyes, as if carving his features into her memory.
She nodded gently. After thinking it over, Li Congxin packed the rest of the three men's belongings into a single storage ring.
"Remember, do not wear this ring on your finger. Hide it away."
Perhaps remembering something else, he handed her one of his own jade slips.
"This is my jade slip, but I hope you won't pursue cultivation anymore."
"Us so-called immortals... well, you've seen it..."
"You can never see into another person's heart. It's all blood and gore, steeped in malice. You truly live with your head tied to your belt."
The girl bowed her head, tears pattering down onto the ground.
Li Congxin bent down, patted her head gently, and smiled. "All right. You have a long life ahead of you. Walk slowly, and... stick to the side of the road."
Li Congxin took to the sky and departed with carefree grace, leaving the young girl standing there in hesitation for a long time. Eventually, she turned and walked toward the town.
Li Congxin chuckled to himself and pursed his lips. "I can't just keep relying on Big Brother Li's old tricks forever..."
"Hmm... that sword manual Sixth Brother left me earlier seemed pretty suitable for me. Maybe I should learn it?"
Inside the secluded cultivation room within the Gu clan domain.
Li Guanqi's aura grew steadily stronger and more imposing.
It was rapidly approaching the peak of the mid-Body Integration Realm!
Most crucially, under the potent power of the medicinal pill, the gap in his divine soul was gradually knitting closed.
Standing nearby, Pengluo's eyes shone with sharp light as he murmured softly under his breath, "That really wasn't easy..."
"Just to keep his Void Spirit, he endured the agony of a torn soul in silence day after day."
"I have no idea how Master pulled through each day without ever showing the slightest sign of it."
Chapter 990