Chapter 50 – Exiting The Secret Realm

Li Guanqi lay stiffly on the altar, his entire body numb and wracked with pain.

Sweat trickled down his forehead, a green vein pulsating. His fingers twisted and his face contorted in agony. He felt as if a knife were slicing through his insides.

Despite the agony, he forced himself to circulate the Nine Spinning Lightning Sutra, gradually drawing the tiny arcs of lightning in his body into his dantian.

The searing pain was so intense that he almost wished for death, but he clenched his jaw and roared, “This lightning is nothing! I will refine it!”

Boom!

The tiny arcs of electricity were refined into extra-intense wisps of vital qi.

Boom!

There was a light explosion, then Li Guanqi collapsed weakly. He muttered with a grin on his face, “Twelfth level!”

His dantian had expanded by thirty percent, now resembling a vast lake.

After a long moment, he finally rose to his feet and inspected his magical shield. It was riddled with holes, and the lightning had extinguished its spirit light, rendering it useless.

Only then did he remember to check the item he had placed in his storage ring.

What’s this?

A purple egg the size of a human head floated quietly in his storage ring. It was covered in purple scales, like a pinecone.

Li Guanqi frowned and asked,

“Sword Spirit, what’s this?”

Sword Spirit replied,

“It’s a Lightning Dragon egg! I don’t know why something like that would appear in the Human World...”

“A dragon egg?!”

Li Guanqi said, his hands trembling with excitement.

Breaking through to the twelfth level paled in comparison to the exhilaration of this discovery. He pictured himself standing on the head of a colossal dragon, looking down at the world.

Sword Spirit swiftly tempered his dreams.

“You should be thinking about how to hatch it first. Its life force is weak, so I think it’ll take a long time to incubate. But if you’re lucky enough to hatch it and form a master-servant agreement, it’ll be a tremendous asset.”

Ignoring his injuries, Li Guanqi immediately stored the entire altar in his ring. He set the dragon egg atop it, and the altar crackled with endless lightning once again.

Sword Spirit remarked,

“This thing is going to drain your resources. Upper-tier spirit stones can sustain it for about a year. If you’re using low-tier spirit stones, you’ll need to spend about three thousand spirit stones a month. Be mentally prepared.”

Li Guanqi groaned. “

Three thousand spirit stones per month?! Damn it... I don’t even use that many for my cultivation!”

Since there was nothing else in this secret room, Li Guanqi exited via the transport array. Before departing, he carefully collected the spirit stones from the array—every bit of wealth mattered.

“I don’t care! Even if this dragon eats spirit stones, I’m going to hatch it!

Tsk!

I’ll be a dragon swordsman! It’ll be so cool!”

Suddenly, the jade slip hanging on his waist flickered urgently. Li Guanqi turned slightly pale as he picked it up and injected vital qi into it.

—

Old Li, save us! We found two black-tier cultivation techniques, but the Myriad Immortal Sword Sect and the other teams are after us! Ke Qin’s been wounded, and they’re closing in!

“Run as far as you can! I’m coming!”

Aware of the message’s urgency, Li Guanqi immediately set off.

Boom!

The bricks beneath his feet exploded as he shot off in their direction.

***

On a vast, open platform, six figures stood surrounded by disciples from the Myriad Immortal Sword Sect, Purple Cloud Sect, and Azure Dragon Island Sect.

Blades clashed, cold lights flashing through the air.

“Are you really planning to kill us all?! Aren’t you afraid of retaliation from the Zhenyue Mountain Sect and Daxia Sword Sect?!”

Shen Qi had a broken right arm, leaving him to fight for his life with only his left arm and a sword. His body bore numerous cuts from blades, and his eyes were bloodshot.

They had discovered a secret room with an array earlier, only to be ambushed by the Purple Cloud and Azure Dragon Island Sects. The two severely wounded disciples from the Zhenyue Mountain Sect had died instantly. The remaining three had barely escaped with the Daxia Sword Sect’s help.

However, the Myriad Immortal Sword Sect’s team had expected this and blocked their path. Now, they were trapped.

Clad in blue robes, Luo Hu vigorously swung his sword while sneering. “If you all die here, who would ever know we were the ones who killed you? Just like the trash from the Seven Strings Sect!”

Ye Feng was fighting three people by himself, his body covered in blood and his expression ice-cold.

Luo Hu had killed Ke Qin, shooting an arrow through her heart. He hadn’t been able to save her in time.

Zhong Lin and Lin Dong stood back to back, silently maintaining a defensive formation.

Zhao Xuanzhu of the Myriad Immortal Sword Sect waved and tossed out a magical ribbon. The silk ribbon extended until it wrapped around Shen Qi and Ye Feng. “Now! Kill them!”

Several swords lunged for the trapped duo.

Just then, a furious roar echoed across the battlefield.

“How dare you!”

The disciples of the three factions froze.

A lone figure stood atop a boulder, twenty zhang away.

“Attack now! He’s here!”

Li Guanqi had arrived. They still remembered how he had single-handedly fought off seven people. Moreover, everyone present could sense that his aura was much stronger than before.

Several swords shot at the ribbon.

The boulder beneath Li Guanqi’s feet exploded, and the faint rumbling of thunder echoed in the air.

The other disciples tried to cut the ribbon off, but it was futile. All they could do was try to stop the blades.

However, four blades still managed to pierce between the strips of ribbon.

Shen Qi twisted his body to shield Ye Feng, turning his back toward the swords.

Three swords pierced Shen Qi, one barely missing his heart and stabbing into his shoulder instead.

Whoosh!

Li Guanqi’s voice rang in Luo Hu’s ear, filled with killing intent.

“As promised, I will take my revenge.”

Luo Hu’s pupils dilated in fear. A shiver ran down his spine.

Swish!

A severed head soared into the air. Blood sprayed three chi away.

And then came a massacre.

Li Guanqi’s figure flickered through the battlefield, each swing of his sword claiming a life. His sword glinted again and again.

Ten breaths later, only one enemy remained.

Zhao Xuanzhu.

Pinned against the stone wall, Li Guanqi’s hand gripped his throat like an iron vice.

The color drained from Zhao Xuanzhu’s face as he struggled, his vital qi surging desperately.

But he couldn’t break free.

His face had turned purple from suffocation, his eyes wide with terror.

Zhao Xuanzhu looked down and met Li Guanqi’s gaze through his blurring vision—pure white eyes burning with boundless fury. He was supposed to be blind, but the rage in his eyes was unmistakable.

Li Guanqi twisted his blood-spattered face into a snarl. “Are you afraid?”

Little by little, he pressed his sword toward Zhao Xuanzhu’s chest, eventually piercing his skin.

Zhao Xuanzhu's eyes widened in terror and excruciating pain. His trembling pupils dilated.

Zhao Xuanzhu’s mouth opened in a silent plea. His tongue lolled, saliva dripping onto Li Guanqi’s hand. He begged for mercy with his eyes, unable to utter a single word.

Li Guanqi’s voice was a low, chilling murmur.

“You could’ve lived a good life. But no... you just

had

to provoke me. You had to kill a Daxia Sword Sect disciple.

“You... deserve to die.”

With a final thrust, his blade pierced through Zhao Xuanzhu’s heart. The friction against his ribs made an eerie screech.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Li Guanqi drove the sword through Zhao Xuanzhu’s body, pinning him to the stone wall like a grotesque ornament.

Zhao Xuanzhu’s eyes reflected his final moment of terror as the blade pierced his heart with excruciating slowness.

Li Guanqi stood panting, his chest heaving.

Finally, he rushed to the others to check on the severely injured Shen Qi.

Blood flowed from Shen Qi’s mouth as he stuttered in broken sentences.

“I blocked it... Consider this... repaying the debt... I owed you...”

“Don’t talk nonsense! You’re not dead yet!” Li Guanqi snapped, furrowing his brow. “Someone, give him a healing pill!”

Ye Feng immediately took out a golden vial from his storage pouch. He shook out a pill and stuffed it into Shen Qi’s mouth. Color quickly returned to Shen Qi’s face, and the bleeding stopped. His breath stabilized significantly.

Shen Qi lay on the ground with a pale face and said, “Damn! I owe you my life!”

Li Guanqi’s expression darkened. “Ke Qin...”

Zhong Lin murmured, his voice hollow. “She... she died saving me.”

Li Guanqi fell silent.

Buzz!

The heavens and earth trembled, and a crack appeared in the air.

“We need to leave,” Li Guanqi said gently. “Remember—we don’t know how they died. We never met the other teams, and we stayed by ourselves the entire time.”

The Zhenyue Mountain Sect disciples nodded solemnly, understanding the reason behind Li Guanqi’s words. The Daxia Sword Sect had saved them all, and Li Guanqi in particular saved their lives twice.

Other than their two teams, everyone else had died. No one could know what had happened.

“You guys take Shen Qi out first, as his injuries must be treated immediately. We’ll exit later.”