“Trying to leave?”

Li Guanqi's aura grew stronger with every breath. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The Mei-tier assassin, by contrast, had taken Li Guanqi's Shattered Skies punch head-on. His entire chest had caved inward, and his ribs had pierced through his skin. The layered, surging waves of that fist force, fused with the power of lightning, had inflicted lethal damage on him.

The assassin’s eyes locked onto the sword in Li Guanqi’s hand. He could sense an enormous threat from that blade. He even felt a hint of... alarm.

The longsword was no ordinary three-chi blade. It was longer and more slender, four chi in length. The blade itself was black-red, while the hilt was pure white like jade, inscribed with golden patterns that made it look more like bone. The guard was unremarkable, save for an engraved crescent moon that glowed blood-red.

Li Guanqi looked down at the characters inscribed on the hilt. Lock Moon.

Clang!

A clear and resonant sword cry rang out. The blade was ice-cold to the touch, and the white jade of the hilt was actually the bone of a great demon. And this was no ordinary great demon: it was at least in the eighth tier, comparable to a Mahayana Stage cultivator.

In truth, using the bone had caused Meng Jiangchu quite a heartache. But after studying Li Guanqi’s sword spirit void, he had decided without hesitation. Anything below the eighth tier simply could not withstand the power of Li Guanqi’s sword spirit void. With a lesser bone, the moment Li Guanqi activated Soul Dissolution, the Lock Moon Sword would shatter, no matter how many rare materials had gone into its forging.

The instant Li Guanqi gripped the sword, his mind grew clear, and sword intent surged forth of its own accord. The golden patterns on the hilt slowly lit up, and the sword’s sharp edge sliced through the void.

“A truly magnificent spirit treasure longsword!” Li Guanqi exclaimed.

His sword spirit void hummed. Li Guanqi held the sword one-handed and said in a low voice, “Soul Dissolution, Lock Moon.”

Boom!

Terrifying pressure erupted. The Lock Moon Sword blazed with brilliant light, and a devastating aura spread outward.

Li Guanqi felt clearly how much the longsword amplified his strength. “Soul Dissolution alone adds another ten percent...”

Ten percent might not sound like much, but every sword swing now landed ten percent harder. “Then... What about the second stage?”

The assassin’s mind was in turmoil, but he had no time to ponder. He flung out a blood-red jade slip and moved to tear open the domain wall, hoping to escape.

But boundless lightning power enveloped heaven and earth, and the Sword Prison domain snapped open. Countless lightning-condensed longswords bore down on the assassin.

The man could only dodge in a panic as streaks of sword light closed in from his flank, sealing off his escape.

A cold gleam flickered in Li Guanqi's eyes. He murmured, “Heaven-Opening, Moon Slaughter!”

Boom!

A blood moon bloomed at the hilt of the Lock Moon Sword, amplifying his sword Dao power by thirty percent. The corner of Li Guanqi’s mouth curved up—his vital force had recovered to nearly half. He pushed his sprint technique to full power, flashing through the air like a flowing dragon.

The assassin’s mind was in complete disarray. Sensing that Li Guanqi’s aura had vanished, he grew frantic.

Then Li Guanqi’s low voice reached his ears. The voice was ice-cold, devoid of all emotion, as though announcing the man’s death.

Gripped by extreme terror, the man surged with demonic qi and poured everything he had into a single sword slash toward his flank. “Demon Descent Nine Abyss Sword!”

He struck nine times in rapid succession.

“Moon Slaughter, No Restraint.”

Pfft!

Li Guanqi appeared before him as though he had phased straight through all nine streaks of sword light. In an instant, the black-red blade flashed with a cold gleam and vanished before his face.

The nine streaks of sword light exploded in quick succession. The world spun wildly before the man, and his consciousness faded.

Where the sword light had passed, space was forcibly torn open into a pitch-black rift.

Peng Luo’s eyes lit up. He flickered over to the rift and seized it with both hands, yanking it open wider. “Master, quickly! Let’s get out of here!”

Tiny white dewdrops seeped from Peng Luo’s skin. Even he could not endure the suppression of the blood formation. After a moment with no response, he turned to find Li Guanqi already toppling stiffly downward.

Peng Luo darted forward and hauled Li Guanqi onto his back, his expression grave. “To think he sustained injuries this severe!”

Watching the rift on the verge of closing, Peng Luo teleported to the rift in an instant and pushed Li Guanqi out through it.

Gu Yong and Meng Jiangchu were shocked to see Li Guanqi severely injured and unconscious. They scrambled to pull him out.

But the rift, gradually closing, trapped Peng Luo inside. Watching the two fumble to tend to Li Guanqi’s injuries, Peng Luo, with only his head poking out, shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Hey! Someone pull me out too! Grandpa! Grandpa! Pull me out! I’m begging you! My crotch is stuck! Grandpa...”

The two elders ignored him completely.

Eventually, Gu Yong could stand it no longer. He raised his hand, and a powerful force split the barrier.

Rumble!

Startled, Peng Luo scrambled out. He glanced at the collapsing barrier behind him and gulped in fright, then turned and hurriedly said, “Thank you, Grandpa...”

Meng Jiangchu carried Li Guanqi on his back, his expression grave. “I’ll take him back to the Divine Treasure Territory to treat his injuries first.”

Gu Yong nodded. “I’ll head back too. This brat destroyed the four towers of the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion. I still need to oversee the cleanup.”

Meng Jiangchu nodded. He looked at Gu Yong and said coldly, “If the Sha organization infiltrated the core and lower ranks of the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion, then it’s time for a good purge.”

Gu Yong’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Meng Jiangchu to be so angry. He cupped his fists in salute and said apologetically, “It was my fault. I... Sigh, if you need anything to treat the kid, just let me know.”

Meng Jiangchu turned to leave, then snapped over his shoulder, “Hmph! Do you think I’m lacking mere healing ingredients?”

Peng Luo stood there, looking from Gu Yong to Meng Jiangchu. That old man’s so powerful. He’s at least at the Mahayana Stage, but he’s acting so submissively toward this guy... Could this be Master’s father-in-law? The lord of the Divine Treasure Territory?!

When he looked up, Meng Jiangchu was already far away, and Peng Luo hurried after him. Looking at Meng Jiangchu’s somber expression, Peng Luo was momentarily at a loss for words.

When Meng Jiangchu glanced at him, Peng Luo snapped off a finger joint with an ingratiating expression and raised it high above his head. He asked awkwardly, “Um... Senior Meng... would you like to eat some radish?”

Meng Jiangchu’s face darkened, thinking that Peng Luo was an idiot. Nonetheless, he took Peng Luo out of the Daochan Territory.

Before he arrived home, he had already arranged for a medicinal pool and medicinal pills to be prepared.

Peng Luo tutted to himself, impressed by the dense spirit qi in the Meng family’s domain. He gawked at the beautiful female disciples inside.