Only then did Li Guanqi realize that, somewhere along the way, he had quietly come to believe the others could no longer help him.

He smiled bitterly and said softly, “All right. Let’s all go take a look together.”

Nine Heavens carried the group on its back, swept its dragon tail, and shot forward. The terrifying speed forced everyone to raise a vital force barrier.

Xiao Chen then noticed the change in Ye Feng and pointed at him, unable to help himself. “Second Brother seems different! Third Brother, look at him! Something’s changed!”

Cao Yan shrugged. “I know. Looks like Second Brother fully refined that power. His comprehension has improved a lot too.”

Some time later, the group arrived at the border between the Azure Cloud Continent and the Soaring Heavens Continent.

The sight before them left everyone too stunned to speak.

As far as the eye could see, mountain peaks lay shattered and collapsed. The ground was a web of saber-cut gouges and trenches running in every direction. Those trenches were bottomless and pitch-black, dropping away into sheer darkness.

The sky of the outside world and the pitch-black void had nearly merged into one. The twisted space had blurred the boundary between them.

Even the residual saber qi on the ground was enough to drench everyone in cold sweat.

Li Guanqi’s throat bobbed. The blood and qi within him roared as he slowly reached out to touch the spatial rift beside him.

Szzzt!

The residual saber qi sliced his fingers clean off.

“Boss!”

“Watch out! Don’t touch the residual saber qi!”

Everyone stared at the scene in shock. They all knew just how formidable Li Guanqi’s physical body was, yet that residual saber qi alone had sliced his fingers off with ease.

Li Guanqi murmured gravely, “Saber Soul Realm!”

Suddenly, a clear, crisp bell chime rang out. His head snapped up toward the void.

All eyes followed the sound. A woman slowly walked out of the void, covered head to toe in blood, her body riddled with gruesome wounds.

Hong Zhi maintained her usual impassive expression, as if the extensive injuries all across her body were far from life-threatening.

Her dark-red robe hung in tatters. Her snow-white arms were streaked with blood, and her right hand gripped a crimson saber. The Soul-Burying Golden Bell swayed faintly.

Hong Zhi turned her head and looked at Li Guanqi for a long moment. Then her aura vanished entirely.

Her eyes slid closed, and she toppled forward, falling headfirst.

Just before losing consciousness, Hong Zhi murmured toward the void, “Long... He ran off... No need... to worry... Guanqi... is here...”

Li Guanqi raised his hand, releasing his spatial power to catch her. His divine consciousness spread out in every direction, blanketing the sky.

He scanned the area warily and then quickly exclaimed, “Let’s head back to the sect.”

Ye Feng’s companion sword flew from its sheath. Gaze sharp as a blade, he scanned the area and said in a low voice, “Nine Heavens.”

Nine Heavens gave a small nod of its massive head, then slammed straight through space and plunged into the void.

The group slipped away with Hong Zhi in complete silence. Along the way, Li Guanqi contacted Lu Kangnian so that no one in the entire Daxia Sword Sect would know when they had left or returned.

***

At the Purple Spirit Paradise Realm, the group lowered Hong Zhi into the jadeite essence stone pool, then set up a Spirit-Gathering Array around it and inlaid it with high-grade spirit stones. After that, they left a few healing pills beside the pool.

Once that was done, they finally departed with their minds at ease.

Sword Spirit leaned against Li Guanqi as he cultivated and said softly, “That woman... She’s very powerful.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes flickered. He said softly, “She should be one of Grandfather’s subordinates as well, just like Uncle Long, right? And that saber...”

The instant Sword Spirit heard that saber mentioned, her face soured. “That rotten old man. Suppressing me all those years was bad enough. Then he takes the power he siphoned off me and forges it into a saber! Disgusting!”

Li Guanqi’s eye twitched, and he didn’t dare say a word. He had only moved to save Hong Zhi because the aura around her companion saber had felt somewhat familiar.

Hong Zhi’s injuries were so severe that Li Guanqi found himself genuinely curious about how she had survived. He even suspected she had been drifting in and out of consciousness during the battle. She had lasted to the very end on sheer willpower alone.

Not even Li Guanqi could touch her saber. Even after she fell unconscious, her grip on the blade never loosened.

Xiao Chen sidled up to Li Guanqi and said in a low voice, “Boss, who is this woman? And why’d she give you that look right before she passed out?”

Cao Yan leaned in as well, muttering, “That saber... It’s incredibly powerful.”

Ye Feng squeezed in as well. “She’s at the Mahayana Stage at the very least, right? She’s a master who has condensed a saber soul! How have I never heard of her?”

“For someone this strong to be so badly injured... who on earth was she fighting?”

Li Guanqi deliberated for a moment and ultimately decided not to tell them. He only offered an analysis. “There’s refined demonic qi lingering in the void. Whoever she fought was very likely a member of the Sha organization. It may even have been their leader.”

Peng Luo came running back just then, bawling with tears and snot everywhere. “Master! I quit! I quit! I... I couldn’t get through. Look at this! Just look at what it did to me!”

Peng Luo was a mess of crisscrossing saber wounds, milky-white liquid seeping from the wounds.

Still wailing and complaining, Peng Luo ran his hands frantically over his body, then stuck out his tongue and licked the liquid off them.

He muttered to himself as he licked, “Oh, oh, oh, I can’t let this go to waste...”

Li Guanqi said helplessly, “Alright, stop crying. You don’t have to go anymore, okay?”

The moment he heard that, Peng Luo scurried off without a second thought.

Li Guanqi said quietly, “Don’t concern yourselves with that senior. Just think of it as a bit of good karma we happened to earn. When she wakes up, let her go wherever she pleases.”

Everyone gave a nod.

Li Guanqi looked at them solemnly. “Settle any personal matters you have over the next few days. Get ready to enter seclusion!”

Xiao Chen scratched his head and asked, “Boss, why are we all suddenly entering seclusion?”

A faint, mysterious smile played on Li Guanqi’s lips. “I’m working on a way to upgrade your spirit voids. You’re all my brothers. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you couldn’t even reach the Heaven-Opening Tier?”

Xiao Chen looked over at Ye Feng and Cao Yan before grinning smugly. “Don’t look at me. I can already activate the second stage.”

Cao Yan said nothing, only shooting Ye Feng a sideways glance.

Ye Feng wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. Instead, he grinned and wrapped himself around Li Guanqi’s arm. “Hehe, I knew Boss treats me best.”

Li Guanqi burst out laughing and smacked him away with one hand. “And when the time comes, I’ll find each of you three some Heaven-tier techniques. You’d better give it everything you’ve got and get stronger!”