Li Guanqi raised his brows with a faint smile. He thought about his encounters with Yan Chong and Sun Zhen. Watching Tu Shan cultivate, he understood the sect master’s intent. He was sure a lot had happened in the Daxia Territory.

“Sect Master, do as you will. With me here, the Daxia Sword Sect won’t fall into disorder. I’ll escort Elder Tu safely back to the sect.”

On the other end of the jade slip, Lu Kangnian coughed, feigning dignity.

—Elder Li, you are very conscientious. Then I’ll leave Shan Shan to you.

“Calling her ‘Shan Shan’ now?” Li Guanqi teased. “Sect Master, you’re getting bold after your breakthrough.”

—Shut up! Return soon.

Li Guanqi put the jade slip away and glanced at Tu Shan. She would need two more days to heal.

He stepped away, conjured a lightning sword in his left hand, and ran through sword strikes in his mind. His vast divine consciousness allowed him to test hundreds of vital force circulation routes in a single breath. Though he used no vital force, each swing stirred the winds. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Suddenly, he sensed a terrifying aura rushing over.

He smiled coldly, raising a lightning barrier around the mountain and severing the space into an independent domain. He stood with his hands folded in his sleeves, expression aloof, his bearing effortlessly regal.

Whoosh!

A young man in azure robes and a white jade hair ornament appeared in the distance. He didn’t stop, striding right up to within three chi of Li Guanqi. His sharp gaze swept Li Guanqi up and down, openly appraising him.

Li Guanqi sized him up in turn. The man’s features bore some resemblance to Sun Zhen.

“Heh, the Yanluo Sword? I really don’t see what makes you so strong.”

Lightning flashed before Sun Tianqi’s eyes. Almost on instinct, he jerked back half a step.

His right ear hit the ground.

Li Guanqi stood in place, his gaze on Sun Tianqi, terrifyingly calm. The lightning sword in his left hand slowly dissipated. His voice was quiet. "What did you say?"

Sun Tianqi clenched his teeth, eyes locked on Li Guanqi. That was so fast...

Whatever contempt he’d harbored vanished. That single strike was enough to make him take Li Guanqi seriously.

He pressed his lips together and extended one hand to the side. The void tore open in a long rift, and he drew out a longsword gleaming in crimson and gold.

Crack!

Li Guanqi's eyes widened as he murmured in surprise. "A Double Metal-Lightning Spirit Root!"

Metal vital force was renowned for its sharpness, and combined with lightning, the most destructive element, it was devastating. He’d never seen a cultivator with this combination before, and the man’s talent was monstrous on top of it. He was at the late Illusory Refinement Realm, the same as Li Guanqi, yet his aura ran even deeper.

Golden lightning coiled around Sun Tianqi’s three-chi azure blade.

Boom!

Sun Tianqi’s aura erupted in full. The void shattered as his azure robes whipped in the wind. With a sharp glare, he pointed his sword at Li Guanqi and grinned.

“Sorry, my useless brother can’t do anything right. But if you’re hanging out with him, you probably don’t have much ambition either. Today, I’d like to ask you for something.”

Li Guanqi glanced at the sword. Its oppressive aura was formidable, and it was an ancient treasure sword at the very least. His eyes lit up with desire. The Red Lotus Sword was damaged, but feeding it high-tier swords would speed the repair, and refining Sun Tianqi’s sword could help significantly.

He grinned, condensing a vital force lightning sword in his left hand. “Oh? And what’s that?”

Sword intent erupted from Sun Tianqi. Light flashed beneath his feet, and he vanished.

"The entire Daxia Sword Sect!"

Thud!

Li Guanqi’s expression darkened. He swung his left-hand sword sideways. Sword intent surged skyward, piercing through the dark clouds above.

Boom!

A hundred-zhang sword light, compressed to the extreme, flew past Sun Tianqi’s face. The lightning’s destructive force seared his skin into a charred, mangled mess.

The void beneath Li Guanqi’s feet exploded. His sword arced into a returning slash as his right fist shot forward, unleashing thousands of crashing waves of lightning.

Sun Tianqi had nowhere to hide. Lightning flashed across the void, sealing it into an independent domain. With a cold snort, a layer of purple-gold light tore through the sword domain. Sun Tianqi’s blade bloomed with golden lightning, releasing three powerful sword lights in rapid succession.

"Illusory Form, Slaughter!"

Bang!

The sword light exploded. Li Guanqi’s heart lurched. Those three strikes had punched clean through his domain.

He studied the sword in Sun Tianqi’s hand, eyes narrowing as his mind raced.

The scattered sword light carved through heaven and earth. Li Guanqi’s blood roared in his veins. He forcibly endured the spatial distortions and charged forward.

"Sword spirit void, open!"

Buzz!

The hologram of the sword within the spirit void at his brow trembled. The lightning sword in his hand extended by one chi. Four chi long and slender, its blade stretched a full third longer than an ordinary sword.

But the moment Sun Tianqi sensed Li Guanqi closing in, he spread his divine consciousness outward, blanketing a full thousand-zhang radius.

Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed. His divine consciousness manifested into thousands of spirit swords and shot toward Sun Tianqi like a storm. If the man’s divine consciousness couldn’t hold, the attack would likely shatter his sea of consciousness outright.

Thud!

Sun Tianqi, charging rapidly toward Li Guanqi, suddenly jerked his head back as if he’d been struck a heavy blow.

Li Guanqi smirked. He closed in and raised his sword to strike Sun Tianqi’s waist. But the instant he swung his sword, a jolt of panic hit him.

Sun Tianqi, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, smirked back at him with cold eyes.

"Illusory Form, Bind!"

Boom!