Shock and disbelief flashed in both Wen Mei’s and the child’s eyes. The woman cried out in alarm, stunned by the scene before her. That blurred figure had unleashed a terrifying surge of vital force with just a wave of his hand.
Countless shards of the shattered broadsword hovered in the air, then shot toward the two like a storm of deadly hidden weapons.
In the same instant, Li Guanqi swept his sword backward, severing the vine whip completely. The weapon that had seemed impossibly tough just moments ago now fell away in pieces.
Wen Mei was sent flying back, but even in midair, she swung the remaining half of the whip and blocked the incoming fragments. She turned and shouted, “Yu Heng, be careful!”
The dwarf named Yu Heng deftly twirled a pair of daggers in his hands, smashing the incoming fragments one by one.
When Ye Feng saw the dark figure land before him, he felt a rush of joy, followed immediately by guilt. He fell from the air and opened his mouth to apologize, only to be abruptly kicked aside by Li Guanqi. The blow sent him hurtling a dozen zhang before crashing into a treetop. The impact nearly knocked him out cold.
Li Guanqi descended slowly from the sky, his face hidden behind a black veil. Wen Mei and Yu Heng moved to flank him, one on either side.
Yu Heng held one dagger upright and the other reversed, watching Li Guanqi with narrowed eyes. Vital force surged around him as he spoke in a childlike voice, slow and deliberate. “I knew I wasn’t wrong back then... there really were two of you. Your qi-restraining technique is impressive. You were so close, yet I never noticed you.”
Li Guanqi sneered coldly. “You stalled so long without killing him to lure me out, didn’t you?”
He continued, "You played your hand well. You sacrificed that early Golden Core Realm pal of yours without hesitation. He died just as planned. Maybe he never realized that you were the one who sent him to die by my hand.”
Yu Heng froze for a second. Even the woman behind him looked shaken, unwilling to believe what she was hearing. But when she caught the faint, twisted smile on Yu Heng’s face, she realized that everything Li Guanqi said was true.
Yu Heng, still in his childlike form, eyed Li Guanqi with curiosity. He twirled his daggers again and smiled as though amused. “Fellow cultivator, why don’t you consider joining us? With your strength, my brains, and Mei’er’s support, we could make a killing.”
Behind the veil, Li Guanqi’s lips curled in mockery. Even now, they were trying to recruit him.
He had no interest in wasting words. His sword glowed blood-red, and his pure white pupils brimmed with an icy killing intent.
“Our ideals differ. Cooperation isn’t possible.
“If you hadn’t forced my hand, I would’ve left you alone. But since you insist on dying, I’ll oblige.”
Li Guanqi became a streak of light and lunged straight at them.
Yu Heng’s face twisted with rage. Killing intent blazed in his eyes. “Arrogant fool! Mei’er, kill him!”
A crushing pressure erupted from Yu Heng. The full weight of his early Golden Core Realm cultivation slammed down on Li Guanqi.
Wen Mei’s body lit up with a faint emerald glow as she activated her vital force. The whip she’d just lost suddenly reformed in her hand, as good as new.
Yu Heng charged in instead of falling back, his dual daggers flashing as he closed in.
Li Guanqi had expected this. Anyone proficient with daggers would naturally excel at close combat.
The air shrieked as Yu Heng struck, but Li Guanqi smirked in return. He released a wave of overwhelming divine consciousness, blanketing a thirty-zhang radius.
He moved like a fish through water, gliding effortlessly through the sea of whip shadows. No matter how fast Wen Mei lashed out or how unpredictable her blows were, he narrowly avoided every strike.
Wen Mei’s heart pounded with panic, and Yu Heng felt a surge of wariness. He pulled out two talismans and slapped them onto his body.
His speed surged again, and his figure blurred as he lunged toward Li Guanqi once more. However, Li Guanqi simply smiled coldly and parried with his left-hand sword.
A flurry of sparks exploded between the two. Yu Heng’s flashing daggers were clearly enchanted weapons, able to withstand dozens of strikes from Li Guanqi’s Red Lotus Sword without breaking.
Li Guanqi was mildly surprised. He was using sixty percent of his strength, yet the dwarf still held his ground. He was no pushover.
“That’s all you’ve got?” Li Guanqi said.
Yu Heng’s face contorted. In just a few dozen exchanges, the skin between his thumbs and forefingers had already split open. This was the fastest, deadliest sword he’d ever encountered. A sliver of dread crept into his heart. Just the two of them weren’t enough to kill Li Guanqi.
The moment he tried to send a voice transmission to Wen Mei, Li Guanqi’s sword suddenly accelerated.
Yu Heng panicked. Gashes opened across his body, so deep that his bones showed beneath the skin.
From behind, Wen Mei ramped up the speed of her whip. Li Guanqi sensed the shift, and his bloodlust surged. Forming a hand seal, he turned and darted toward her.
The sky darkened as black clouds gathered, lightning crackling within.
Yu Heng looked up, his face turning ashen. He swallowed hard and muttered, “Spirit spell... Lightning Art!”
Two thunder spears, each a full zhang long, hurtled down from the clouds.
Yu Heng desperately threw himself sideways with a surge of vital force, but one of the lightning spears still found its mark, nailing him to the ground.
A terrifying explosion ripped through him, instantly obliterating half his body. Follow current novels on novel·fire·net
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi danced through the whip shadows. He slashed, and a blood-red gleam cut through the air.
His blade split the whip into countless shreds, then pierced straight through Wen Mei’s chest. Blood sprayed from her lips, and her eyes went wide with disbelief.
Li Guanqi slowly pulled down his black veil, revealing his face to her dimming eyes.
“Da Xia... Sword Sect... Li... Guanqi...”
She collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Meanwhile, dozens of zhang away, the settling dust revealed Yu Heng's half-destroyed corpse