The disciples of the Six Gates Holy Sect were deeply moved. They wished they could help Zhou Shiyu, but they didn’t have the ability, so they could only watch from the sidelines and cheer him on.

Over the past month, the Six Gates Holy Sect had been occupied by the Sun clan. Zhou Shiyu, the prodigy in everyone’s eyes, had set the unprecedented record of breaking through five gates alone. But the Sun clan had fared better. Sun Zhen had also broken through five gates, while Sun Tianqi had broken through all six.

The Sun clan had crushed the sect’s pride. In just a month, the Six Gates Holy Sect had become little more than a subsidiary of the Sun clan. The Sun clan disciples ran rampant through the halls, treating no one as human.

Boom! Boom!

Sun Zhen stared at Li Guanqi. “Who are you? Why did you get in my way?”

Li Guanqi stood with his hands clasped behind his back, watching Sun Zhen in silence. His eyes held a mix of emotions. He knew what kind of person Sun Zhen was, which was precisely why he was conflicted. Sun Zhen had lost the sincerity and innocence he once had. Something had happened, and Li Guanqi didn’t know what. There was more ruthlessness in Sun Zhen’s eyes now, and his words and actions had come to mirror Sun Tianqi’s. The two had always been brothers, alike in appearance, but now, even their gazes were the same.

Li Guanqi felt disappointed. He didn’t turn to Sun Zhen, but instead watched the fight happening behind him.

“Who I am doesn’t matter,” Li Guanqi said expressionlessly. “This is a battle between the two of them. You shouldn’t interfere.”

His tone made it clear that Sun Zhen’s identity was beneath his notice. Sun Zhen couldn’t get a read on him.

Still, Sun Tianqi was winning the battle. Sun Zhen pushed his racing thoughts aside and carefully probed Li Guanqi’s aura.

Li Guanqi cast him a sidelong glance, and the probing divine consciousness shattered on the spot. In a low voice, he said, “I’ll only give you this one chance to probe.”

Sun Zhen's eyes widened in disbelief. He'd been employing a secret technique, one that Li Guanqi shouldn't have been able to detect, let alone break so effortlessly. What’s his cultivation level? Why does he seem so familiar? Have I met him before?

Behind them, the fight raged on. All Sun Tianqi wanted was to torture Zhou Shiyu to death in front of everyone. This was a man who had dared to challenge his authority; he had to be made an example of.

The clan had given Sun Zhen several years, yet he had failed. Then Sun Tianqi stepped in and finished it in less than a month. As a result, Sun Tianqi became a well-respected figure within the clan, and the elders were already discussing when to appoint him as the patriarch.

However, Zhou Shiyu was now causing him trouble. If not for Sun Tianqi’s various life-saving techniques, that earlier blow would have left him severely injured.

Bang!

Sun Tianqi swept his leg around in a vicious arc, whipping it into Zhou Shiyu’s head. The terrifying force blurred Zhou Shiyu’s vision and rocked his sea of consciousness.

As Zhou Shiyu shot backward, Sun Tianqi lowered his sword and drew a silver-white hammer and longbow from his storage ring. With a smooth motion, he nocked an arrow and drew back the string. The arrow shot toward Zhou Shiyu’s head, leaving a thin silver thread trailing behind it.

It passed clean through his head without drawing blood. But then, the silver thread snapped taut.

Sun Tianqi hefted a giant hammer, licked his lips, and roared with crazed eyes, “In that case, I’ll destroy your sea of consciousness and leave you an idiot for life!”

Bang!

The hammer struck the thread, causing it to shatter inch by inch from one end, moving all the way to Zhou Shiyu’s head. Dazed and unable to react, Zhou Shiyu could only watch as the arrow broke apart.

Already at the limit of his physical capabilities, Zhou Shiyu turned pale and spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood. He pounded his head frantically, screaming, his features contorting in agony.

Zhou Shiyu’s eyes went vacant, and Li Guanqi sighed lightly. The altar above Zhou Shiyu’s sea of consciousness had probably already cracked in countless places. His divine consciousness was draining away, and his mind was descending into chaos. Eventually, Zhou Shiyu fell from the air and crashed heavily to the ground.

His limbs contorted, his fingers twitching uncontrollably. Zhou Shiyu lay on the ground, having soiled himself. His mouth hung open with drool spilling from the corner. His bloodshot eyes turned vacant, no different from the fools down the mountain who lay drooling and laughing to themselves.

He was covered in gruesome sword wounds.

Everyone fell silent. Sun Tianqi, smiling coldly, descended in front of Zhou Shiyu. He looked up at the silent Six Gates Holy Sect master and his disciples and said coldly, “And you call that a prodigy? The Six Gates Holy Sect belongs to the Sun clan. From now on, all of it belongs to the Sun clan!”

Sun Tianqi raised his sword to sever Zhou Shiyu’s sword arm. A terrifying aura erupted from the Six Gates Holy Sect master. “Stop!”

The old man roared, swinging his sword. But Sun Tianqi didn’t care. He raised his head, the whites of his eyes showing, and said coldly, “Old man, if you dare make a move today... I’ll slaughter your entire sect!”

The old man froze mid-strike, frowning hard. He didn’t dare. He didn’t dare get his entire sect killed.

Sun Tianqi laughed coldly and swung his sword.

Clang! Bang!

The sword at Li Guanqi’s waist shot out and struck Sun Tianqi’s blade, making it shatter into countless fragments that scattered in every direction.

Sun Tianqi slowly raised his head to look at the devilishly handsome Li Guanqi, who was watching him calmly. "Are you trying to stop me?”

Zhou Shiyu's actions for the Six Gates Holy Sect were no different from what any disciple of the Daxia Sword Sect would have done for their own sect. Li Guanqi would have made the same choice without hesitation, even knowing that it would likely lead to his death.

Li Guanqi looked down at the youth at his feet, then said in a low voice, “Have you given up already?”

Zhou Shiyu, now an idiot, twitched subconsciously.

“Didn’t you draw your sword with the resolve to die before coming here? Are you willing to become a cripple and watch the Six Gates Holy Sect fall into another clan’s hands? You... you’re not dead yet!”

The world was silent. No one knew what Li Guanqi meant.

But when Zhou Shiyu heard his words, his pupils contracted, then dilated.

Slowly, Zhou Shiyu arched himself off the ground through sheer willpower, his twisted limbs trembling throughout. He inched forward on his knees like a maggot, the chains on his chest clanging with each movement. He was moving toward the heavy sword that lay on the ground.

Finally, he touched the hilt. But his twisted fingers wouldn’t open.

Zhou Shiyu’s trembling lips parted, but no sound came out. Yet everyone present seemed to hear a silent but deafening roar.

Then, under everyone’s shocked gaze, his twisted fingers unfurled and gripped the hilt.

Boom!

Li Guanqi smiled faintly and murmured, “Such admirable willpower...”

He raised his hand, and countless red threads shot toward the chains on Zhou Shiyu’s chest. Li Guanqi’s icy voice resounded through heaven and earth. “Spirit Pardon!”

Buzz!