From Ji Yuchuan’s account, Li Guanqi pieced together a rough picture of what had happened. No wonder he hadn’t been able to reach Xu Li on the way. From the look of it, their storage rings had all been confiscated.

By now, some of the Lu clan cultivators had noticed the two figures standing in the air some distance away.

In the center of the plaza, an old man lay face down, all four limbs broken, his aura faint. Blood had soaked through his white hair and blurred his vision. Xu Li was in despair, quietly waiting to die.

The Daxia Sword Sect had deployed a vast number of cultivators to every corner of the Six Territories, and they were only one of many such groups. The odds of anyone noticing his group’s predicament were slim. The moment the ancient clan cultivators appeared, they had overwhelmed everyone with crushing force.

The Lu clan’s array trays had raised a barrier, rendering their jade slips little more than ornaments. No messages could get through.

The Qianlin Sect’s sect master, Zhou Canghua, sat crumpled on the ground, tears streaming down his face. He stared at the Daxia Sword Sect cultivators behind him, wracked with guilt.

His gaze fell to the barely conscious Xu Li lying face down on the stones, and his voice trembled as he spoke. “Old Brother Xu... I’m sorry... the Qianlin Sect dragged you into this...”

Xu Li managed a bitter smile. He was about to speak when his blurred vision caught two familiar silhouettes in the distance. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He rubbed his face against his robed shoulder. At last, he could make out the approaching figures.

Beside him, Zhou Canghua was still cursing everything the Lu clan had done. But Xu Li drew a slow breath and turned to the disciples behind him.

“We’re going to be saved,” Xu Li murmured. “The sect... never forgot us! We mattered after all!”

Their heads hung in defeat, but a glint remained in their eyes as they steeled themselves to die fighting.

Xu Li shouted, “Get your heads up! We were never forgotten!”

Boom!

The old man’s roar reached Li Guanqi through the barrier, and a nameless fury ignited in Li Guanqi’s chest. A terrifying aura burst from him. The void for a hundred zhang in every direction shattered, and the collapsing space drew the attention of the ancient clan cultivators.

“Who’s there?!”

“Lu clan business! Move along!”

“Get lost unless you want trouble!”

Many of them sneered and called out, but the barrier concealed Li Guanqi’s aura, leaving them unable to sense him.

Boom!

Li Guanqi raised a hand and made ten thousand bolts of lightning converge. A hundred-zhang lightning sword took form, and Li Guanqi brought his palm down.

The lightning sword crashed into the array barrier looming over the Qianlin Sect.

“Hmph. You’re overestimating yourself. You think a single vital force spirit sword can break our Lu clan’s Constellation Black Tortoise Array?”

“Wait... Why does this person seem familiar?

“This guy’s courting death!”

But in the next breath, the thick earth-yellow barrier shattered with a tremendous crash. The sword light tore through it with overwhelming force; the barrier hadn’t lasted a single breath.

The Lu clan cultivators scattered in every direction, fleeing the sword light on flying swords or by stepping through the air. Fragments of the barrier rained down.

Li Guanqi walked in with Ji Yuchuan at his side, unhurried.

By now, the Lu clan’s stronger cultivators had realized the newcomer meant trouble. They drew their weapons and shouted, “Attack! Bring him down!” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Boom!

Swish swish swish swish!

Dozens of silhouettes surged into the air. Almost all of them were Divine Transformation Realm cultivators, with at least one Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator among them.

Ji Yuchuan stood quietly beside Li Guanqi, hands at his sides, making no move to intervene.

Li Guanqi cast an indifferent glance around. A vast, boundless force surged from him, a pressure that rivaled the weight of heaven and earth itself.

Boom!

The instant his terrifying aura radiated outward, the cultivators who had leaped into the air came crashing back down like dumplings dropped into a pot.

They slammed into the ground. The crushing force pinned them where they fell; none could rise. The stone tiles cracked and exploded outward for more than ten zhang around each one. It made no difference whether they were Divine Transformation Realm or Illusory Refinement Realm cultivators.

Every last one of them was forced to their knees, heads pressed down, unable to look up.

Tap. Tap.

Li Guanqi walked across the stone paving, cold light flickering in his eyes. He said quietly, “Send me someone who can stand.”

As he spoke, a gentle force reached out and lifted every Daxia Sword Sect cultivator to their feet.

He walked to Xu Li’s side and carefully helped the old man up, pressing a thin white tablet between the man’s lips. The injuries throughout Xu Li’s body knit back together visibly.

Xu Li looked up at Li Guanqi, overcome with emotion. Li Guanqi said softly, “You’ve had it hard, Elder Xu.”

“It’s Elder Li! He came for us!”

The pressure around them was dense, yet they felt none of it.

Behind Li Guanqi, Ji Yuchuan flicked out a gold talisman. As though answering some call, it tore a pitch-black crack straight through the void, and within moments, a silver spatial transport gate took shape.

Li Guanqi said quietly, “Elder Xu, take everyone back to the sect first.”

But Xu Li’s head snapped up. “No. We’re not leaving. How could we let you face the ancient clan alone?!”

Li Guanqi smiled slightly. The pressure around him thickened another notch. The nearby ancient clan cultivators’ knees were already crumbling to powder, and they were driven down at least another three cun.

Li Guanqi clasped his hands behind his back. “Then stay and watch.”

He turned toward the leading Lu clan elder, the group’s only Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator, and only an early-stage one at that. The elder stood no chance against Li Guanqi.

“Does the Lu clan have no one to look after you? In that case, I’ll start killing.”

The Lu clan elder let out a cold laugh. “Kill? Hahahahaha! Do you have the guts for it? From the moment you appeared until now, all you’ve done is suppress—”

The elder’s arm flew through the air.

Li Guanqi appeared before him, using the severed limb to slap the old man across the face.

Li Guanqi crouched in front of the old man and said mildly, “Do you know why I haven’t killed anyone yet? You think I’m afraid of you?”

As he spoke, he drew out a small violet-black pagoda. A single gentle shake, and blood-curdling screams came from within.

Li Guanqi set the pagoda atop the elder’s head. The cold resentment qi pouring from it made the man shudder involuntarily.

“I slaughtered the entire Liu clan. I killed Sun Tianqi and Sun Zhen of the Sun clan too. The only reason no one here is dead yet is that your people haven’t touched anyone from the Daxia Sword Sect. But... I do have a rebellious streak.”

Dozens of lightning swords materialized around Li Guanqi and shot toward the Lu clan cultivators. “Since you wouldn’t come to me yourself, there’s no point in waiting any longer.”

Boom!

A cold-faced young man stepped out from behind the old man. He raised a hand, unleashing dozens of sword qi blasts to meet the lightning swords head-on.

The cold-faced man looked down at Li Guanqi, who was still crouched before the elder with the severed arm in hand.

The man’s mouth curved slightly. “Lu clan. Lu Tao.”