Meng Jiangchu stared at the blood-colored barrier before him with a sunken expression. Now he was certain: the artifact blacksmith with extraordinary craftsmanship was someone from the Sha organization. This blood-draining, spirit-binding barrier formation... the array patterns were identical to those inscribed on the artifacts that person had forged.

Gu Yong wasn’t the only one who had noticed something peculiar about the formation; Meng Jiangchu had spotted it too. Once the formation had taken shape, anyone trying to break it from outside would see everything within utterly annihilated.

Meng Jiangchu took a deep breath. He could not even sense what was happening inside the barrier. “Brother Gu, guard the perimeter for me. I’m going to dismantle this barrier’s blood array.”

Gu Yong’s brow furrowed. “Brother Meng, this formation is terrifyingly complex. The rune constructs within must number in the hundreds of thousands. Dismantling it quickly is impossible. Should we try breaking the formation with a magical artifact instead?”

Meng Jiangchu refused outright. He sat cross-legged in the void and said coldly, “No. There’s no time. This is the only path we can take.”

Gu Yong fell silent and stood guard behind Meng Jiangchu, then glanced at the formation with an inscrutable expression.

After moving a considerable distance from Meng Jiangchu, Gu Yong looked back at the barrier and murmured to himself, “Perhaps... there is still one other thing that could break through it.”

A sharp gleam flashed through Meng Jiangchu’s eyes. His divine consciousness erupted outward like an avalanche crashing down a mountainside, and within moments, it had enveloped the entire barrier. Eerie flames surged upward and condensed into five illusory vengeful ghosts, each taking position. Meng Jiangchu formed hand seals and unleashed two blasts of spirit light.

“Show yourself!”

Buzz!

The void trembled, and a horrifyingly complex blood formation came into view. The moment Meng Jiangchu saw those densely packed blood-colored runes, his expression shifted slightly. But he steeled himself and set to dismantling them, rune by rune.

At the same time, in the cold pool atop the Heavenly Water Peak of the Daxia Sword Sect, a large white radish let out a piercing shriek.

“Ahh! Something’s wrong!”

Peng Luo, who had grown considerably chubbier, looked frantic. Without another word, he raised a hand, tore open the space before him, and shot off through the void at full speed.

***

Thud!

Li Guanqi crashed down from the air and slammed into the blood array beneath his feet.

Sizzle! Crackle!

Searing pain ripped through him. The flesh on his back was instantly torn into a mangled, bloody mess.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two powerful streaks of sword light bore down on him an instant later. Li Guanqi flipped over and slashed back twice, sword light surging outward.

His expression changed sharply. The petals around the hilt of the Red Lotus Sword folded inward, and he could feel deep exhaustion emanating from the blade, heavier than anything he had ever sensed. In the next instant, the Red Lotus Sword regressed to a state where it could only sustain Soul Dissolution.

The two enemies felt Li Guanqi’s aura plummet. Their eyes flicked to the Red Lotus Sword, and they understood.

“Go all out! He can no longer maintain the Heaven-Opening state!”

Even as the words left the man’s mouth, the image of Li Guanqi’s stunning World Annihilation strike kept replaying in their minds. Both kept some strength in reserve, nerves wound tight. They knew that with Li Guanqi’s strength, if he launched a desperate counterattack on the brink of death, he was certain to take one of them down with him.

Li Guanqi shot backward, his speed alone putting a hundred zhang between him and the enemies. If not for the edge his sprint technique gave him in raw speed, this entire battle would have been countless times harder than it already was.

The Red Lotus Sword’s petals had only just begun to recover, and now they were cracking again. Li Guanqi felt a deep ache in his chest. Even so, he could feel the sword’s unyielding will to fight alongside him. The sword’s low, mournful cry rang on without pause, but Li Guanqi slowly loosened his grip.

The sword coffin appeared on his back, and Li Guanqi murmured softly, “Go back. As for the battle ahead, I alone am enough.”

The Red Lotus Sword kept circling and darting around Li Guanqi. For the first time, it was defying him. The sword coffin opened, but the sword refused to return.

Li Guanqi’s face turned icy as he spoke in a frigid tone, “Go back! If you continue fighting like this, you’ll shatter completely! I’d rather face the danger myself than watch you crumble in my hand! Go back!”

The Red Lotus Sword let out a weak sword cry, as though lamenting its own powerlessness. Then an irresistible force surged out from within the sword coffin and dragged it back inside.

Seeing Li Guanqi put away his companion sword, one of the men sneered. “So the Yanluo Sword Sovereign turns out to be a soft-hearted man after all. Won’t even let a mere companion sword take damage. Hahaha.”

Li Guanqi said nothing. People like them could never understand how he felt. The Red Lotus Sword had fought alongside him since the day he leveled it toward the Purple Sun Pavilion. Short of being forced, he could not bear to see it destroyed. Even though the Yanluo Sword within the sword coffin was far more powerful, he still loved the Red Lotus Sword.

Whoosh!!

He condensed a vital force sword in his left hand, spatial force compressing and solidifying it, until a lightning spirit sword identical in form to the Red Lotus Sword took shape. But a longsword formed from vital force could not sustain Li Guanqi’s sword spirit void. Soul Dissolution was out of the question. Without his sword spirit void empowering him, Li Guanqi’s strength dropped by at least thirty percent.

Clang! Clang!

Their sword lights clashed and rang out. The three figures weaved through the air at breakneck speed, their afterimages still lingering as the streaking sword qi ripped them apart. They moved so quickly that they appeared as blurs, with only the occasional cold glimmer becoming visible. Wherever lightning erupted, billowing clouds of demonic qi were torn into drifting plumes of gray mist.

Pfft!

A bone-chilling longsword pierced clean through Li Guanqi’s abdomen. Beneath the mask, the man’s eyes blazed fiercely. Terrifying demonic qi erupted inside Li Guanqi.

But an instant later, the man realized something was wrong. His sword... would not come out.

His head snapped up, and his gaze met Li Guanqi’s ferocious white eyes. Li Guanqi’s right hand was clenched around the blade in an iron grip. Though the sword was slicing into his palm, he didn’t waver.

He slowly raised the lightning sword with his left hand, and behind him, a ten-zhang lightning phantom of himself gradually condensed. A terrifying streak of lightning sword light gathered above it, cold light flickering.

Whoosh!

A low growl forced its way out of Li Guanqi’s throat.

“Wrathful Thunder!”

Boom!

The phantom gripped the sword and slashed it down.