At this moment, the disciples of the Wanxian Sword Faction and the Purple Dawn Pavilion had already soared into the city.
Boom Boom!!!
Li Guanqi's eyebrows twitched, just as he expected!
The two massive city gates were slowly closing.
The people from Orient Loong Island and the Seven Strings Gate were gradually converging towards Li Guanqi.
Before the two figures from the Seven Strings Gate could get close, dozens of hidden weapons were hurled at Li Guanqi.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The sound of the air being torn apart rang out as Li Guanqi wildly swung his sword, each strike precisely deflecting the hidden weapons.
The distance of ten meters was closed in an instant.
Seven people surrounded Li Guanqi in a flash.
Li Guanqi, already at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, single-handedly held his ground against seven opponents without falling behind.
Relying on his strong physique and sharp swordsmanship, he managed to stall the advance of the crowd for a moment.
The leading disciple of Orient Loong Island, at the tenth level of Qi Refining, turned back to see that the gate was only left with a meter's gap.
He hurriedly shouted, "Retreat, retreat, retreat!! Go now!! The gate is closing!"
The seven people burst forth, pushing Li Guanqi back several meters, throwing countless hidden weapons and explosive pellets.
The exploding flames and hidden weapons within forced Li Guanqi to retreat.
Watching the closing gate, Li Guanqi roared, "Wanxian Sword Faction and Purple Dawn Pavilion! If you dare to close the gate, you'll bear the consequences!!"
Bang!!
The gate slammed shut right after the people from Orient Loong Island entered.
Li Guanqi clenched his fists and cursed under his breath.
The horde of beasts, now only hundreds of meters away, was hot on their heels.
Suddenly, the voice of the Sword Spirit echoed in his mind.
"Head east! A hundred and fifty meters away, there's a rock protrusion; there should be a secret passage there!"
Without a second thought, Li Guanqi led the crowd towards the east!
The disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect wouldn't question him at this time.
They trusted that Li Guanqi wouldn't lead them into a dead end.
Shen Qi from Zhenyue Mountain hesitated for a moment before following.
"I hope I can trust you!"
Li Guanqi ran without a word, his Divine Sense scanning the towering walls.
The roaring of the beasts on the left was getting closer, now only ten meters away!
"Found it!!"
Li Guanqi took off the Sword box from his back and threw it fiercely, striking the rock protrusion.
Crack crack!
The rock wall lifted, revealing a hole only three feet wide, just big enough for a person to crawl through.
Li Guanqi picked up the Sword box to use as a shield, brandishing his sword in his right hand and shouted, "Get in quickly!!"
Ke Qin and others crawled in first, while Ye Feng stood by Li Guanqi's side and yelled, "Go now! I'll cover the rear with Old Li!"
Ye Feng was the second strongest among them, so no one insisted on staying when he decided to stay behind. Shen Qi also stayed.
However, just as the two injured disciples from Zhenyue Mountain crawled in, the beast horde had already arrived!!
Two fierce beasts, like tigers, pounced towards Li Guanqi and the others in an instant.
Li Guanqi stood his ground, swinging the Sword box in his left hand to knock one beast away, while his right hand swiftly thrust the sword downward!
His sword sliced open the belly of the tiger, blood spraying everywhere.
Ye Feng, agile as ever, dodged a White Demon Bird, his sword covered in the sharp essence of metallic spiritual power and slashed out fiercely!
Shen Qi produced a large silver shield in his hand, protecting the two on his side.
"Come on!!!"
Shen Qi shouted, and a layer of earthy yellow spiritual power enveloped the silver shield.
A Mountain Rhino beast slammed into the shield!
The brute force cracked Shen Qi's right arm in an instant, his body nearly lifted off the ground.
Li Guanqi turned and strapped the Sword box on his back, shouldering Shen Qi into the hole.
With one hand on the shield, he plunged it into the ground, and as the Mountain Rhino beast's head missed, Li Guanqi flipped the shield.
Incredibly, he sent the beast, weighing thousands of pounds, flying.
"Go now!!"
"Ye Feng! You too!"
Li Guanqi, alone with a sword, held the shield three steps in front of the hole.
Without looking back, Ye Feng shouted, "You hurry up too!"
After speaking, he quickly crawled into the hole.
The corpses of several beasts in front blocked more from entering.
Li Guanqi, with his left hand against the shield, retreated into the secret passage.
With a thought, he stored the shield in his Storage Bag and then slapped the rocks beside him.
Bang!
The cliff wall fell, completely blocking all beasts outside.
Lying in the secret passage, Li Guanqi gasped for air, taking out two Spirit Stones and holding them in his hands.
After such a long chase and battle, nearly eighty percent of the vital energy in his Pubic region had been depleted!
Fortunately, his cultivation technique, modified by the Sword Spirit, allowed him to absorb the Spirit Stones at a terrifying speed.
In just a few breaths, he had already recovered ten percent.
However, Li Guanqi's brow furrowed slightly.
Because up to now, he had not heard anyone else's voice.
In the pitch-black secret passage, one couldn't see their own hand in front of their face.
"Ye Feng? Lin Dong!!"
After calling out twice with no response, Li Guanqi's heart sank. He quickly absorbed the remaining energy from the Spirit Stones in his hands, took out more, and continued to absorb.
After crawling for dozens of meters, he finally saw some light ahead.
But when he emerged, he found himself in an empty and vast hall, with no one else in sight.
"Sword Spirit, what's going on?"
The impatient voice of the Sword Spirit sounded again.
"It's quite normal; there's a random teleportation array at the exit."
"Many Sects set up their secret passages this way to prevent ambushes inside."
Li Guanqi nodded slightly, relieved. If he encountered those four Sects blocking the door now, a fight would be inevitable.
Now that he hadn't fully recovered his strength, it was wise to be cautious.
"Indeed, human nature is selfish!"
"Orient Loong Island, Wanxian Sword Faction…"
"Sword Spirit, I feel the bottleneck of the twelfth level loosening."
The Sword Spirit didn't offer any praise.
Touching his nose awkwardly, Li Guanqi then picked a direction and started walking.
The entire Sect was almost entirely made of stone, but the place was filled with an air of utter ruin.
This sense of decay wasn't from the passage of time, but rather as if the entire Sect had been ravaged.
Soon, Li Guanqi came across several stone doors of secret chambers, tightly shut.
It took a lot of effort to push one open.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew through, and the various weapons inside instantly turned to ash.
Li Guanqi showed a look of disappointment; he had hoped to find some magical artifacts.
After pushing open the next stone door, he found it empty except for a few broken collars.
This convinced him even more that this place used to be a Beast Taming Sect.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many beast-taming collars. However, when he opened the last stone door, Li Guanqi's heart leapt with joy!
He saw shelves neatly lined with various jade bottles, and at the very back, two well-preserved jade boxes.
At the same time, the disciples of Zhenyue Mountain and the Great Xia Sword Sect found themselves embroiled in a chase.
Proofreader & Editor: Lotas