Chapter 497 - Public Shaming!

Li Guanqi tipped his head back and roared at the skies. Waves of fatigue crashed over him. He couldn’t maintain even heart’s eye, his most basic ability. His vision went dark, and he collapsed.

Nine Heavens raged at the sight, struggling against its bindings and ripping open countless tears in space above the sect.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

However, there were dozens of chains binding Nine Heavens. Pain seared through its mind, but the agony only drove it more insane. It knew Li Guanqi hadn’t killed Cang Lu.

Boom!

A terrifying aura erupted from the chains. They turned golden and constricted.

Nine Heavens let out one last roar and went limp.

The Great Profound Sword Sect was on edge that night.

With a flurry of activity, cultivators rushed toward the main pavilion, their auras surging. Li Guanqi became the target of icy murderous intent, but all of it was blocked.

There was a constant stream of powerful cultivators coming through the sect’s protective array. That night alone, more than a hundred arrived. Many were tier-six alchemists, and even two tier-seven alchemists who usually avoided public appearances had come.

Past midnight, the anxiety deepened.

Bad news circulated among the disciples. Some whispered to each other as they passed Li Guanqi.

“I heard the young sect master will not survive... He did that?”

“It was him! That traitorous pig! And the young sect master treated him so well, too!”

“

Ptui!

That traitor! Why did the sect master stop the other elders from killing him? A person like that should be killed instantly! No... killing him like that would be merciful.”

They glared at Li Guanqi, spat in his direction, and left.

Li Guanqi, half-conscious, heard every word. His heart sank.

If He Yuning dies... He Yuanting will kill me.

His hair was disheveled, and his face was pale as a sheet. Most of his blood was gone. His lips were cracked, his throat burning. His voice came out weak as a mosquito’s buzz. “Cang... Lu...”

A ray of silver light appeared before him.

A fat radish carrying a black sword coffin tore through space and materialized ten zhang away.

“Master! Catch! We need to run! That guy’s... gonna die soon!”

He tossed the sword coffin at Li Guanqi. A mysterious energy shot from the coffin toward him.

Li Guanqi’s eyes widened.

Even with all his resources, He Yuanting can’t save He Yuning?

Sensing Li Guanqi’s presence, the sword coffin turned into a streak of light and shot toward him.

Suddenly, a golden ray of sword light burst from the main pavilion and cleaved Peng Luo’s body in half. The sword light didn’t stop there—it struck the sword coffin and blasted it hundreds of zhang back until it crashed into a large mountain, leaving a large fissure.

Thud! Rumble!

A cloud of dust filled the air, and the sword coffin shot into Li Guanqi’s body.

He Yuanting appeared in the fissure where the sword coffin had been, snarling. “If my son dies, even if you have a million reasons, I want you to die with him! If it wasn’t for you, my son wouldn’t be like this! All of this was because of you!”

He didn’t care about the sword coffin merging with Li Guanqi’s body. Li Guanqi’s dantian and sea of consciousness were still sealed.

Li Guanqi listened and quietly hung his head. He Yuanting was right. Even if He Yuning survived, he had been pulled into the situation because of him. If they hadn’t been so close, it wouldn’t have happened.

It was always the same. He was still a harbinger of bad luck.

His elder sister... His mother... Lin Dong... Ning Xiu... He Yuning...

One after another, faces flashed through his mind.

There was no expression on his face. Even his usually bright eyes dimmed.

He Yuanting raised his hand. Several chains pierced through Peng Luo’s body, pinning him in the space above. With a sweep of his large sleeve, he shouted, “Save my son, no matter the cost!”

He turned and shouted, “Bring him to the top of Heavenly Cloud Plaza! If my son dies, he shall die!”

Then a golden barrier enveloped the entire Great Profound Pavilion.

Peng Luo wailed in agony. “It h-h-hurts... Master, looks like our journey together’s about to end. From what I saw, that guy won’t survive past tomorrow night. Master? Say something?”

Li Guanqi didn’t react, as if he hadn’t heard. He let the dozen Illusory Refinement Realm sect elders drag him out of the barrier by the chains.

The barrier opened. As they dragged him out like a criminal, the cultivators throughout the city fell silent, stunned. Many stood in the sky above, watching coldly. Many even spat on him.

“

Ptui!

Traitor! Scum of the earth!”

“You pig! Traitorous pig!”

“

Hmph!

And you call yourself Yanluo Sword? You’re just a sham!”

“The Great Profound Sword Sect has been around for three thousand years. They are a magnificent sect, and they have kept the peace in the Central Prefecture! How dare you ambush He Yuning!

Ptui!

You don’t even deserve death!”

Someone even hurled a rock at him.

The elders holding the chains saw it but didn’t intervene. At that strength, the throw would only wound him. As long as the attacks weren’t fatal, they didn’t care.

Thud!

Li Guanqi didn’t dodge. The stone struck his head, and blood flowed down his face. He looked up. Through his disheveled hair, his bloodshot white eyes fixed on a yellow-robed youth with a mole at the corner of his mouth.

The icy gaze sent a chill down the youth’s spine. He did his best not to back down, mustering his courage to shout, “What are you looking at?! Even if I killed you, it would be nothing, because you’re a traitor!”

He threw two more stones.

Li Guanqi let them hit. He didn’t speak. He simply burned that youth’s face into memory.

After the first stone, others joined in. Countless rocks flew at Li Guanqi, Nine Heavens, and Peng Luo.

Peng Luo screamed and cried. Spirit liquid flowed from his wounds, and his eyes were completely red. Yet he kept his gaze fixed on Li Guanqi’s back. He knew that if He Yuanting truly wanted to kill Li Guanqi, the latter wouldn’t just stand there idly.

Li Guanqi would never let himself die. Not with his ambitions.

Blood trickled from Li Guanqi’s mouth. His head hung low. But his eyes... his eyes were those of a wild beast barely containing its rage.