Heh, Do You Know Who I Am?

After giving it some thought, Li Guanqi decided against killing the young man. After all, Hong Zhi had done him a favor, and this matter was not so serious that it was worth complicating things further. Feeling the withered branch pull away from his brow, Luo Siyang finally let out a breath of relief. Li Guanqi turned and walked away. Luo Siyang narrowed his eyes as he glared at Li Guanqi's retreating back. Gritting his teeth, he glanced at the corpses strewn across the ground. Suddenly erupting with fury, he began kicking the old slave who had been pulling the carriage, over and over again! *Bang!* *Bang! Bang!* "Filthy wretch! Worthless dog! Why haven't you died yet?! Why aren't you dead?!" *Bang! Bang!* Blood splattered everywhere. In just two brutal kicks, the iron hooks tore the old man's cheeks apart. Kneeling in midair, the elder could only let out whimpering moans of agony. Another kick sent him flying, but the chains embedded through his shoulder blades violently jerked his body back. The tremendous force shattered his shoulder bones with a sickening crack, drawing a feeble, guttural howl from his throat. Several hundred zhang away, Li Guanqi suddenly froze in his tracks. He slowly turned around and looked at the elderly man lying on the ground, groaning incessantly in torment. His voice trembled with disbelief as he murmured softly, "Senior Kong Yan?" The old man on the ground shuddered, staring blankly at the youth who had called his name. "Ah... ahhh!" Peering through the elder's disheveled gray hair, Li Guanqi finally realized what had happened—the old man's tongue had been severed. Only then did the elder remember to send a voice transmission: "I... I am Kong Yan... Little friend, you... you know me?" Luo Siyang was stunned. He had only meant to vent his fury on this miserable slave. Yet as things stood... This monster actually knew the old codger? Trembling, Luo Siyang took a step back, his expression turning uneasy. Li Guanqi clenched his teeth, his jaw muscles twitching as he walked toward the old man. Seeing this, Luo Siyang did not hesitate for a second. He turned on his heel and fled! Spiritual light flared beneath his boots. He slapped an inscribed talisman onto his body and crushed several teleportation scrolls in quick succession! By then, Li Guanqi had gotten a clear look at the elder's features. It truly was Kong Yan, the former Disciplinary Law Enforcer of the Great Xia Sword Sect! He had been one of the powerhouses who had rushed back to reinforce the sect during the battle of Ziyang Palace, returning alongside Tu Shan and the others. Back then, Kong Yan had mentioned that he needed to handle some business in the Taiqing Domain, but after leaving, he had never returned. When the sect issued its mobilization order back then, Li Guanqi had even taken note of his absence. He never would have imagined that their reunion would take place under such... wretched circumstances. *Buzz! Put!* Spatial fluctuations rippled out, and Luo Siyang finally let out a sigh of relief. Sensing the spatial energy coalescing around him, a ferocious glint flashed in Luo Siyang's eyes. He glared at Li Guanqi and snarled, "No matter who you are, I will make you pay dearly for this!" "Whether it's your kin, your clan, or your sect—just you wait!" Li Guanqi looked up at the youth enveloped in silver light and said chillingly, "Did you really think you could leave?" *Boom! Boom! Boom!* A terrifyingly immense pressure descended with crushing force! Luo Siyang's body stiffened, and his breath caught in his throat. Li Guanqi slashed the withered branch through the air, sending several sword strikes carving into the space enveloped by the teleportation scroll! In an instant, a ten-zhang radius of space around Luo Siyang was severed entirely, turned into an isolated pocket of reality. The power of the teleportation scrolls collapsed on the spot. Before Luo Siyang could even process what had happened, four lightning chains instantly pierced through his limbs! "Want to leave?" "Did I give you permission?" With a flick of his sleeve, Li Guanqi commanded coldly, "Spirit Incantation: Four-Direction Heaven-Reaching Pillars!" The moment the words left his mouth, four colossal pillars crackling with arcs of lightning slammed down in a cross formation, sealing Luo Siyang firmly within! Taking a deep breath, Li Guanqi walked over to the old man and crouched down. He reached out and severed the hooks binding the elder's back, destroying their sealing power, and retrieved a Mind-Nourishing Pill from his storage ring, gently slipping it into the elder's mouth. The old man's soul had suffered damage, and his vital essence and blood were severely depleted. Trembling, the old man grasped Li Guanqi's hand. "You... who are you?" Li Guanqi sighed softly. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled his disguise to reveal his true face and said gently: "To answer Senior: I am Li Guanqi, an elder of the Great Xia Sword Sect." "Back during the battle of Ziyang Palace, I was only a disciple of Tianlei Peak when I met you, Senior Kong Yan." After years of torture, the elder's cultivation had plummeted to the mid Soul Formation Realm. Li Guanqi recalled how ethereal and otherworldly the elder had once appeared, his late Soul Formation Realm cultivation exerting enough pressure that none of the surrounding clans and sects dared make a move against the Great Xia Sword Sect. A look of realization surfaced in the elder's eyes. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, his expression was filled with bitter sorrow. "Heh... good... very good." "I never thought that after all these years, you would see this old man in such a pathetic state." Li Guanqi said softly, "Let us not speak of that now. Tend to your injuries first." With that, Li Guanqi brought out several thousand high-grade spirit stones and crushed them into pure spiritual mist, tossing out a spirit-gathering array disc to envelop the surrounding ten-zhang area. Then he handed two more medicinal pills to the elder and said gently, "Rest and heal, Senior. Leave the rest to me." Without a moment's hesitation, Kong Yan urgently pleaded, "Just teach him a light lesson. Do not kill him..." Li Guanqi frowned. "Why?" Kong Yan sighed. Looking at Luo Siyang howling in agony in the distance, a flicker of deep-seated hatred surfaced in his eyes. Yet that hatred was ultimately suppressed by his reason. Having been imprisoned for so many years, he had no idea how powerful Li Guanqi had become, nor how strong the Great Xia Sword Sect was in the world outside. Shaking his head with deep worry, the elder said, "The Luo Clan is considered a formidable power even within the world known as the Ethereal Immortal Domain." "We... cannot afford to provoke them." Li Guanqi replied evenly, "A mere Luo Clan is nothing we cannot afford to provoke." Kong Yan opened his mouth, knowing that Li Guanqi possessed formidable strength, but still tried to dissuade him: "Child, the struggles between factions are not as simple as you think." "The Great Xia Sword Sect has a shallow foundation; it cannot survive such turmoil." "A behemoth like the Luo Clan is not something our sect can withstand. If we truly provoke them, it will bring nothing less than total annihilation!" "You must never draw the wrath of such a power upon our sect simply for the sake of my personal vengeance." In the distance, Luo Siyang, his face twisted in malice, overheard their conversation. Spitting blood, he rasped arrogantly: "Hahahaha! Lowly dog, so you do know better than to provoke our Luo Clan!" "Let me tell you—the Great Xia Sword Sect, was it? I'll make sure my father and brother exterminate every last one of you!" Hearing this, Kong Yan's expression changed drastically! Panic filled his eyes. But before he could speak, Li Guanqi appeared before the young master in a single stride. A fist slammed straight into Luo Siyang's jaw, tearing flesh and shattering white bone as teeth and splinters of jawbone exploded outward. A single punch had completely pulverized his lower face. "Mmph! Mmmph! Ahhh!" Li Guanqi seized Luo Siyang by the hair, looking down at his bloodshot eyes burning with hatred, and let out a cold smirk. He extended two fingers and pinched Luo Siyang's finger. *Snap!* *Crack!* "Mmph!" Luo Siyang's eyes bulged in agony, the veins on his neck throbbing furiously as his entire face turned a bruised purple. His previously immaculate hair hung down in tangled disarray, his icy, venomous glare fixed squarely on Li Guanqi's face. A cold sneer curled on Li Guanqi's lips as he leaned in close and murmured softly: "You keep boasting about who you are." "So... do you know who I am?"