Guan Gongxiao's Duxian Dao was originally an East Sea sect. He had read more demonic path methods than the entire Li family had ever laid eyes on. Li Zhouwei's Jiazi Soul Refining Halberd Technique was originally an art from the Liang dynasty, and if called a demonic art, it was scarcely distinguishable from one.
Yet that thought had barely crossed his mind when black flames rained down before him. The Dasheng Great Halberd thrust forward with sudden violence. Although the sky light upon the halberd was held off by his small mirror artifact, the surging dark shadows clearly boded ill. He hurriedly pinched an incantation seal, dispersing a swath of white light.
This white light was called "Xibai Sanyuan," specifically crafted to deal with cultivators adept in weapon arts. It could neutralize sharp qi and repel magical artifacts. Guan Gongxiao had wielded this technique in combat without ever failing, and earlier it was thanks to this art that he had resisted the halberd.
Who could have known that the moment he released the white light before the halberd, a cloud of dark flames flared up from the weapon? The white light withered away as if punctured, deflating instantly. Not only did the Dasheng Great Halberd burst straight before his face, but the sky light upon it broke free from the mirror artifact's restraint, blazing with brilliant radiance.
"Clang!"
Caught completely off guard, Guan Gongxiao could only yank his Daoist scripture closer. The pages rustled without wind, gushing clear qi with a loud flutter, barely managing to hold off the halberd. A cold sweat broke out across Guan Kan and Gongsun Baifan, and they rushed to reinforce him.
Having finally seized the initiative, Li Zhouwei had no intention of relinquishing it easily. He drove the Yangli Red Sparrow Banner with full force, bearing down with five varieties of Lihuo fire. Combined with the sky light streaming from the Heavenly Gate, it pinned down Guan Kan.
Meanwhile, Gongsun Baifan, whose expertise lay in saber arts, had taken only a single step forward when a halberd of shadowy black tore through the air, clashing directly against his blade. In an instant, the coir-cloaked bladesman parried more than ten strikes. Looking up, he saw the man surging with billowing dark shadows press Guan Gongxiao with a single thrust, turning Guan Gongxiao's face crimson and nearly knocking him out of midair.
Gongsun Baifan had practically reached the pinnacle attainable by a grassroots rogue cultivator; ordinary clan-trained Foundation Establishment cultivators were no match for him. Yet he still suffered from the common flaw of rogue cultivators—he lacked knowledge of sophisticated magical arts and possessed shallow cultivation attainment, relying purely on a single saber technique to climb his way up. Against anyone, he could hold his ground for a time, but he lacked the slightest means to break a deadlock.
Perhaps if he served as a guest elder in Duxian Dao for fifty or sixty years, he could shed his old bones and soar like a roc, but for now, he was nothing more than a rogue cultivator.
Witnessing the current state of affairs, Gongsun Baifan knew that when he returned, he would be berated if not outright punished. If anything happened to Guan Gongxiao, the fallout would be catastrophic! Guan Kan naturally did not need to fear, but what backing did Gongsun Baifan have?! At this moment, he had to risk his life!
Without hesitation, he slapped his storage bag. Three crimson medicinal pills flew into his mouth. Biting the tip of his tongue, he spat a mouthful of blood essence onto his saber, instantly igniting waves of glowing runes.
In that fleeting instant, Li Zhouwei narrowed his eyes and chuckled:
"So it's only an auxiliary magical artifact!"
Guan Gongxiao had always displayed this Daoist scripture to outsiders, so anyone fighting him would naturally be wary of it as a trump card. But Li Zhouwei had caught him unawares, driving him into a corner with a single thrust, only to discover that this scripture was merely an artifact used to aid incantations and manifest water domains!
'That black bell was his most proficient artifact all along! And it was already pinned beneath the gate!'
Li Zhouwei flicked and thrust his halberd, already breaching the Daoist scripture's protection and driving straight through. The sky light surging along the Dasheng Great Halberd scorched Guan Gongxiao so fiercely that flames flared and sizzled across his face.
'Not good!'
Guan Kan turned out to be the most shocked. The old man clearly had not expected their high-hoped young sect master to have his life truly endangered by a single thrust. Still observing while channeling an art, he was so alarmed that his gaze turned sharp, and he hurriedly gathered magical power in his mouth.
"Hum!"
At this critical juncture, a white halo bounced off Guan Gongxiao's body. Runes on his chest flared to life, blasting away all the sky light and flames from his face, and with a resounding clang, held the Dasheng Great Halberd at bay.
Li Zhouwei was not in the least surprised. After all, how could someone of Guan Gongxiao's stature lack life-saving treasures? Guan Gongxiao aside, Li Zhouwei himself carried three life-saving items!
Yet Li Zhouwei would not let his strike go to waste. His halberd slid upward, catching the mirror artifact with thunderous speed. Though Guan Gongxiao had escaped injury thanks to the talisman, his qi and blood were in turmoil; how could he react in time?
The artifact struggled twice before being swept back by the Dasheng, flipped with a savage swipe, and hurled beneath the Heavenly Gate to be firmly pinned down. Li Zhouwei had no time to press his advantage; as he whirled his halberd around, Gongsun Baifan had already broken through the entangling dark shadows and charged with furious momentum!
With a deafening clash, Li Zhouwei stepped back, slightly surprised, knowing that the man before him was staking his life. Head-on, Dasheng locked against the saber while two dark shadows bloomed around them; Li Zhouwei drew back the halberd and pressed in from the flank. Emboldened by his pills, Gongsun Baifan showed no fear whatsoever. Three shadows of water flood dragons surged from his back to block the flanking dark shadows, and he shouted:
"Elder!"
Alerted by the cry, Guan Kan recognized this golden opportunity. The spell he had accumulated in his mouth burst forth, transforming midair into an essence of Kanshui that swam swiftly forward. Yet Li Zhouwei's brow suddenly surged with sky light. Gongsun Baifan's hair stood on end—instead of blocking the Kanshui essence, this man was directing his Shangyao Fuguang straight at Gongsun Baifan's face!
"He—!"
Gongsun Baifan risked his life to avoid being frozen to death by a glare from Ye Gui, not to throw his life away! He instantly retreated, raising his saber, while Li Zhouwei's Dasheng Great Halberd whipped out naturally—as if planned all along—straight toward the Kanshui essence...
"Why make such a superfluous move?"
When Shangyao Fuguang slammed into Gongsun Baifan's saber, a tremendous force crashed down. Had his saber art not been masterful and exceptionally suited for defense, he would have collapsed from that single blow. Now the entire spine of his saber grew scalding hot, nearly forcing blood from his throat, yet confusion welled up within him.
In the next moment, Gongsun Baifan and Guan Kan understood.
The instant the Kanshui essence struck the dark flames upon Li Zhouwei's halberd, billowing white steam roiled forth. It divided into several streams of water, dispersed, retreated a few paces, and fractured again, scattering blindly toward the south. The spell Guan Kan had spent so long gathering shattered and melted away like snow before a blazing sun!
"How can this be?!"
Gongsun Baifan stared dumbfounded. Guan Kan's expression changed drastically. Guan Gongxiao, having just caught his breath, shouted loudly:
"Those dark flames are a Great Liang Sui Qi art!"
Guan Kan caught on at once. Looking at Li Zhouwei, wrapped in roiling black flames, deep wariness arose in his heart.
'Sui Qi dissolves Kan and dispels Li; after Emperor Wu of Liang's reign, it gained the power to subdue, harmonize, and conquer the weak... This will be difficult to deal with!'
Li Zhouwei was likewise surprised by the power of that halberd strike. His Jiazi Soul Refining Halberd Technique contained an underlying spell-breaking property, which was how he had caught Guan Gongxiao unprepared and forced out his trump card earlier. Now enlightenment dawned upon him:
'I only meant to make use of this technique's spell-breaking power, but Sui Qi can actually break Kanshui as well! Excellent, excellent!'
Having gained such a tremendous advantage, he pulled his halberd back at once. Ignoring the red light Guan Gongxiao urgently spat out to relieve his ally, Li Zhouwei thrust toward Gongsun Baifan.
Everyone on the field understood, except for Gongsun Baifan, who remained thoroughly bewildered. He only knew that Guan Kan's art had been inexplicably smashed to bits. Before his astonishment could fade, seeing the Dasheng thrusting toward him turned it to sheer horror.
Yet Li Zhouwei clamped down relentlessly. The Shangyao Fuguang between his brows intensified, condensing into a solid beam of white light that locked Gongsun Baifan in place. If Gongsun Baifan withdrew his saber to flee, his head would surely be blown apart.
A muffled thud rang out. The Qi Refinement-grade, self-crafted coir cloak on Gongsun Baifan tore with a sharp rip. He coughed up a mouthful of blood that steamed and evaporated in midair. The three flood dragons were snapped in two by a single sweep of the halberd, then obliterated under the illumination of the sky light, sending Gongsun Baifan plummeting like a bird with broken wings.
Surging dark flames leaped from Gongsun Baifan's body. Guan Kan's eyelids twitched violently at the sight:
'This bladesman cultivates the Jing Dragon King, which is also of the Kanshui path. Taking this halberd blow... it will be more than enough to ruin him!'
Having forcefully brought this man down, Li Zhouwei could no longer evade Guan Gongxiao's art. The two arms beneath his ribs extended halberds to partially deflect the red light. Taking the brunt of the technique, he let out a muffled grunt, the scales across his body rippling. Pulling back the blood-stained halberd, he turned, his gaze sweeping over Guan Kan, sending a chill down the elder's spine:
"He's coming for me!"
Gongsun Baifan on the ground was scarcely different from a dead man. Now that Li Zhouwei knew his Jiazi Soul Refining Halberd Technique countered Kanshui, he naturally pressed his advantage to crush the weak. Swallowing down blood, he tread upon the sky light. Frightened, Guan Kan hurriedly abandoned the Yangli Red Sparrow Banner—which was flickering intermittently in midair from being battered—and flicked his sleeves, shaking out several shadows.
The shadows shifted before him, but Li Zhouwei did not even look at them closely. Activating his Dawen Golden Pupils, he saw through them in a single glance and took a stride through the void, closing the distance.
In this moment of peril, Guan Gongxiao rushed frantically and finally reached them. The grey water he had transformed into emerged from the current Guan Kan had gathered. He fished out a copper coin and lightly flicked it.
"Gengjin restrained, shield my form!"
Though Guan Gongxiao was no match for Li Zhouwei, his reflexes were by no means sluggish. From that single exchange just now, he had guessed that Li Zhouwei possessed a spell-breaking ability, so he did not even use a spell, tossing out a Gold Virtue artifact instead!
A massive golden shield instantly leaped into midair. Taking a blow from the halberd blazing with dark flames, it produced a colossal roar; its light dimmed considerably, but the two men managed to regain their footing.
Seeing him bring out a Gold Virtue magical artifact, Li Zhouwei immediately drove the Yangli Red Sparrow Banner. Lihuo fire descended to smelt gold with fire, while his halberd swept across, extinguishing spells. These two core members of Duxian Dao found themselves in an impossible dilemma.
And for good reason: both of their artifacts were pinned beneath the Mingguan Heavenly Gate, unable to budge, while Li Zhouwei's halberd light possessed the might to break spells. Guan Gongxiao had it slightly better, but Guan Kan was in dire straits, suffering intensely.
After trading little more than a dozen blows, unable to advance or retreat, the Gold Virtue artifact sizzled from the heat, turning bright red as it reached its limit. Guan Gongxiao finally gritted his teeth and said:
"This demon specifically prepared a Sui Qi art to counter our house! Gongsun Baifan is useless, leading us to this pass—what should we do now?"
Duxian Dao's power was far superior to that of the Li clan; even without an elder like Guan Kan on the field, they would still hold a considerable advantage. Guan Gongxiao only wanted to stall Li Zhouwei, confident that his side would have the last laugh... and he refused to divert more men!
Hearing his words, Guan Kan understood what the young sect master meant: risking one's life was the duty of an elder like him, never of Guan Gongxiao. Thus, he said in an aged, hoarse voice:
"Young Master, be at ease. This old man still has strength to spare."
The old man produced several talismans from his sleeve, pasting them to his ribs and cheeks, then bit the tip of his tongue and spat blood essence into his palms. By now, Li Zhouwei had melted the golden shield and was glaring over with golden eyes.
These aged elders possessed their own desperate measures. Like Yu Yuwei and Jiang Huzi, having little lifespan remaining, they did not care about what they burned or whether they might ever attain the Purple Mansion, and could never be underestimated. Li Zhouwei moved his halberd at once, thrusting toward the spell in the elder's hands.
Guan Gongxiao flipped the pages of his Daoist scripture, channeling Nanchou Water and unleashing several spells with all his might, hoping only to delay the dark flames a little longer. As magical power roiled wildly, Guan Kan spat out Kanshui essence and roared:
"Kanjin Four-Direction Water Ropes, bind!"
From both his sleeves erupted several pale grey water ropes, supple and winding. At astonishing speed, they slithered up along the halberd's shaft, coiling toward Li Zhouwei's arms. Li Zhouwei spun the halberd, scattering the water ropes, yet they immediately reconvened. Though their luster dimmed slightly, under the support of Guan Kan's full magical power, they swiftly restored themselves.
"It's not purely a Kanshui art..."
In just a single breath, Guan Kan's face turned grim. Under his reckless infusion of magical power, the water ropes proved both nimble and stubborn, tightly binding the Dasheng Great Halberd. Seeing this, Guan Gongxiao was overjoyed; his spells finally had an opening. Channeling power for a moment, he struck toward Li Zhouwei's back!
"Clang!"
Li Zhouwei struggled fiercely, turning Guan Kan's face stark white. Yet the blow struck Li Zhouwei square in the back, halting him for a brief pause. The water ropes instantly surged up along the halberd, binding the two arms beneath his ribs first.
For a time, the scene was magnificent: an old man exhausting his essence to bind this ferocious, dark flame-wreathed youth with everything he had, while a Daoist-robed young master gathered spells at his side, hammering down the brutal blaze.
Duxian Dao's spells were not only immensely powerful, but agonizing when striking the flesh. In merely a few exchanges, Li Zhouwei's momentum waned, while Guan Kan was drained so severely that his very flesh shriveled.
Feeling that the armor on Li Zhouwei's body was terrifyingly tough, Guan Gongxiao switched his attacks to his face. Although Li Zhouwei's magical robe protected his whole body, it covered less of his face. The strikes split Li Zhouwei's temple open, exposing white bone. The old man cried out:
"Just force his immortal foundation to return to his aid!"
If this dragged on any longer, Guan Kan would die first! Their objective was never to kill Li Zhouwei, but to hold him down. As long as the two magical artifacts—the Kanjin Interlinked Rings and the Dudao Bell—were freed, blocking Li Zhouwei would pose no problem!
Yet as the old man opened his mouth, his breath slackened slightly. The perpetually silent Li Zhouwei suddenly erupted! Exerting force in both arms simultaneously, the water ropes pulled taut in an instant. Guan Kan instinctively yanked back, but Li Zhouwei gave a pull and then abruptly relaxed his tension, lunging forward with explosive violence!
'Not good!'
With this pounce, Li Zhouwei not only dodged Guan Gongxiao's red light, but bridged the gap to stand right before Guan Kan in a single stride! Seeing that blood-soaked face with gleaming white bone expand before his eyes in an instant, the old man reacted with extraordinary speed, thrusting out two water shields to block Li Zhouwei's hands.
In that split second, all movement seemed to slow. He watched helplessly as dense, glistening white scales emerged along Li Zhouwei's neck. Bloodshot streaks surfaced in those golden pupils from extreme pain, and his two hands braced against the shields, producing a grinding crunch.
A lingering thought surfaced from Guan Kan's mind:
'Could Li Zhouwei truly be the reincarnation of the White Qilin?!'
In the next instant, Li Zhouwei bared his stark white teeth, unleashing a savage, roaring shout:
"Ao—!"
Before Guan Kan could even shut his eyes, the skin of his face flew apart in shreds as if ripped away, vanishing in an instant. Meridians, blood, and cartilage tore free from his face one by one. In a flash, all the flesh of the old man's skull stripped away from his visage, flying off in all directions.
Upon his neck remained only a solitary white skull.
Only at this moment did a white barrier of light snap into existence over his body. At his side, Guan Gongxiao had blood spurting from both ears from the roar. Catching sight of the skull beneath the shimmering protective barrier, he finally cast away all pride and shrieked:
"Reinforcements! Quickly!"
Chapter 728