Chapter 1026: The Six Sects Besiege the Sect

The Daxia Sword Sect had fallen silent. Grief showed on every disciple’s face. Of all the peak masters, Li Nanting had devoted the most care to teaching them, and they loved and respected him for it. He was like a family elder, always smiling and rarely angry. Disciples often saw him strolling through Heavenly Lightning Peak, greeting everyone he met with a warm smile.

The sect had not suffered such a grievous blow since the battle at the Purple Sun Pavilion. Li Nanting had recovered from his fall in cultivation and broken through to the Divine Transformation Realm. With Li Guanqi as his closed-door disciple, he might soon have reached the Illusory Refinement Realm. Even if his talent alone wasn’t enough, Li Guanqi had the resources and connections to help him break through.

But now, Li Nanting was gone.

Guo Feng and the other alchemists had left. All three were in the Mahayana Realm, yet it had taken them four full days to mend Li Guanqi’s shattered meridians. He would need at least another day to recover his vital force.

He stumbled along the paths of Heavenly Lightning Peak like an ordinary mortal. The disciples bowed silently as he passed. They had lost a beloved elder, but Li Guanqi had lost his master. His eyes were vacant, his hair disheveled, and his white robes still stained with blood. Everyone stepped aside to let him through.

Before long, Li Guanqi arrived outside a small courtyard at the summit. Out of habit, he raised his hand to knock on the door.

But there was no one inside anymore.

A bitter, sorrowful smile crossed his face. He pushed the door open and stepped into the empty courtyard. When he saw the vacant rocking chair, tears spilled down his cheeks.

Despite the pain wracking his body, Li Guanqi made his way to the stone stool beside the chair and sat down. He uncorked his wine gourd, tipped his head back, and took several long gulps of strong spirit wine. It seared his throat like a line of fire on its way to his stomach.

“Why, Master…? It wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth it!”

His voice was heavy with grief, though he tried to hold it in. 

Then a woman spoke from beyond the door. “Your master thought it was worth it. That means it was!”

Shen Lan entered and stopped beside him. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She looked exhausted, yet her gaze remained steady.

Shen Lan stepped closer and gently pulled Li Guanqi into her arms. She wiped the bloody tears from the corners of his eyes. Her voice trembled slightly. “Don’t cry. If your master knew, he’d scold you for it.”

At last, Li Guanqi broke down. “Mistress… It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, they never would have targeted Master. I tried so hard… I tried so hard to guard against this…”

Hearing him sob, Shen Lan could no longer hold back her own tears. She held him tightly, crying so hard that she could barely speak. “Child, it wasn’t your fault. If it hadn’t been Nanting, they would have targeted someone else.”

Li Guanqi knew she was right. But he could not forget the sight of Li Nanting detonating his dantian right in front of him, refusing to let the enemy use him as leverage against his disciple.

He buried his face against Shen Lan and wept, remembering how Li Nanting had always cared for him like family. He had always been there to support him.

After a long while, Li Guanqi gathered himself. With unshakable determination, he said, “I’ll make Master wake up again! If the Human World can’t do it, I’ll take up my sword and ascend to the heavens. If this world can’t save him, I’ll go to the Immortal World!”

Shen Lan pressed her lips together and nodded, her eyes bright with hope. “You will. I know you will! I’ll cultivate as hard as I can too, so I can ascend to the Immortal World as soon as possible.”

After she left, Li Guanqi went alone to the ruined summit to drink. It felt as though a knot of pent-up anguish had lodged in his chest and refused to loosen. The winter wind cut across his cheeks as he sat, his hair in disarray. 

In his hand, the wine gourd seemed to sense his grief. A line of small characters on its surface glowed faintly in the dark. A cicada lives but eight days, yet it embraces life in the face of death.

Li Guanqi believed his master had made peace with his decision to self-destruct. But he must have had regrets too. How could he not?

“Master, wait for me,” he murmured. “It won’t be long before I take you to the Immortal World and find a way to restore your body!”

Suddenly, the wind and clouds within a hundred zhang of the Daxia Sword Sect churned violently. A chilling aura of slaughter seemed to shroud the winter sky.

Li Guanqi shot to his feet and looked around. Demonic qi surged into view, followed by dozens of enormous cloud boats. Black-robed figures poured from them and hovered in the air, so densely packed they blotted out the sky. There were nearly ten thousand of them.

Whoosh!

A streak of earthy-yellow sword light erupted into the sky. Wu Bing’s stern voice echoed across the entire sect, “We’re under attack! All disciples, draw your weapons and engage! Man the Divine Slaying Crossbows! Raise the protective array!”

Orders followed in rapid succession. Li Guanqi listened and murmured, “Senior Brother Wu really is suited to leading the sect.”

Light blazed from all seven peaks. Li Guanqi was surrounded by lightning, and he noticed the first subtle signs of his vital force returning.

Demonic qi spread overhead, forming a thick barrier around the sect. Alarmed, Li Guanqi summoned the sword light he had left atop Heavenly Sword Peak and sent it into the sky.

Several Heavenly Lightning Peak disciples flew up to the summit and asked solemnly, “Elder Li, should we take you there?”

Li Guanqi nodded. With two disciples supporting him, he flew toward Heavenly Sword Peak.

Rumble!

A hundred-zhang lightning sword pierced the sect’s array barrier and hurtled toward the demonic qi above.

Wu Bing understood what they were doing at once. “Elder Nangong! Elder Gong Ze! Unleash your vital force domains! Whatever happens, don’t let that barrier close! Old Ling, take Old Tu and Old Qin to operate the Divine Slaying Crossbows!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Seven Peaks Swords, the Daxia Sword Sect’s seven spirit treasures, flew into the air and hovered behind Wu Bing. He took the sword of Lightning Peak and handed it to Li Guanqi.

“Junior Brother Li, use this sword for now!”

Li Guanqi accepted the lightning sword with a complicated look in his eyes.

Boom!

The demonic qi overhead shattered as Nangong Qianyan and Gong Ze unleashed their domains’ spatial power. An instant later, however, both spat blood and fell from the sky.

The old man’s eyes sharpened. “That barrier is being held up by at least three cultivators at the peak of the Combined Body Realm!”

Everyone’s expression changed, including Duantai Yiting’s, though he appeared somewhat calmer than the rest.