Chapter 109: Source Primordial Form, Crimson Dragon Soars

The temperature around them rose instantly.

Hou Zhongyu tried to dodge, but it was already too late—the Qilin, which should have been firmly restrained, had somehow risen and stood behind him, mouth open, while Li Guanyi twisted his hand backward to grip Hou Zhongyu's palm.

Then he leaped backward, drew his knees in, and planted both feet squarely on Hou Zhongyu's chest.

He released his grip.

His legs snapped out violently.

Hou Zhongyu suddenly realized that even though his spells had temporarily boosted his strength and body to the level of a high-rank martial cultivator, he was still an old sorcerer who spent years seated—clumsy in controlling his own power, ignorant of how to deflect, redirect, or absorb force.

Like a three-year-old swinging a sledgehammer.

Li Guanyi's strike sent him reeling three steps back.

The blazing Qilin fire descended instantly, forming a pillar of flame that engulfed Hou Zhongyu; the heat crystallized the green stone floor beneath them in an instant, forcing Li Guanyi to cross his arms and retreat from the heatwave, his Golden Guard armor nearly turning into a furnace.

But Li Guanyi immediately realized.

Hou Zhongyu was not dead.

Flames spewed forth—Hou Zhongyu's skin carbonized, then rapidly regenerated; his face wrinkled densely as he forcibly withstood the Qilin fire, pinned flat by the flames, yet still rolled free; the Qilin remained bound, able to strike but unable to pursue.

Li Guanyi's head throbbed.

He watched as the sorcerer's flesh blackened and cracked, revealing skin beneath still radiating heat, his eye sockets hollow like skulls, visibly healing before his eyes.

A Third Layer Realm sorcerer is this hard to kill!?

No—this isn't an ordinary Third Layer Realm sorcerer. Li Guanyi recalled what Xue Lao had told him: some cultivators linger at every stage, pursuing the absolute limit of their current phase, bypassing conventional breakthroughs, not extending length but widening breadth.

This state must mean he had cultivated 【Immortality】 and 【Vitality】 to their utmost extreme.

Like a Buddhist Jin Gang who had forged a Jin Gang Prajna body.

Li Guanyi snapped to action, lunging forward, reaching out.

He seized the tripod beside him.

He swung it up, stomped forward.

As the floor shattered beneath his explosive step, his raised arm brought the massive tripod—large enough to cradle a person—crashing down with a boom; the stone tripod shattered, Hou Zhongyu staggered, his skull caved in, yet still healing.

Li Guanyi's Qi-seeing eyes glimpsed an unextinguished aura deep within the old sorcerer's chest.

He charged forward, flipped Hou Zhongyu over with the tripod.

This time, Hou Zhongyu could use his spells.

Though struck with brutal force, it was like hitting plated armor—the tripod shattered, yet the old sorcerer still rose.

Almost instinctively.

Li Guanyi drew his waist dagger, gripped the hilt with both hands, and thrust it straight into Hou Zhongyu's heart; the spell that had once deflected blades and swords suddenly failed—there was no resistance at all; the weapon pierced straight into Hou Zhongyu's chest.

The spell was severed, bones sliced open, smooth as rotting earth.

Hou Zhongyu's body froze.

He opened his mouth, slowly lowered his gaze to the dagger in Li Guanyi's hand; qi surged, the cloth wrapped around the blade shattered, revealing its ancient, simple inscriptions—

【Murong Qiushui】.

Hou Zhongyu's vocal cords were destroyed; he could only rasp:

"Murong Qiushui…?"

Li Guanyi withdrew the blade from his vital point; where the wound had been, only white flesh showed—not a drop of blood. Three breaths passed before blood finally seeped out; the blade's surface remained clear and calm, like a pool of autumn water, utterly free of bloodstains.

Li Guanyi kicked Hou Zhongyu in the chest.

He forcibly unleashed the Chen Duke's ultimate technique.

【Crush Mountain】!

A shockwave erupted.

Hou Zhongyu was thrown back, stumbling until he collapsed onto the ground; his newly healed meridians shattered once more. Even among the empire's greatest sorcerers, he now had no capacity to counterattack—and in this moment, he finally understood why martial cultivators obsessed over killing.

Without any means to protect oneself, even the strongest vitality is merely hard to kill.

This truly is a chaotic age…

Hou Zhongyu sighed, watching the young man recede into the distance.

Anger and hatred vanished; he closed his eyes, becoming again that child on the battlefield, trembling as snow fell, his father, mother, and sister dead—he didn't want to die, snow drifted down, someone came with an umbrella, reaching out a hand.

The great sorcerer, his blood nearly drained, whispered softly:

"Master, I'm cold…"

He reached out, touching that warm glow.

BOOM!!!!

The Qilin fire rained down.

This time, Hou Zhongyu had no resistance left; the Third Layer Realm sorcerer, who had pursued the extreme of 【Vital Immortality】, the orphan picked up from the snow-covered battlefield by his master, died in endless flames.

Li Guanyi staggered and sat down, gasping for breath.

The green stone floor had melted and crystallized; Hou Zhongyu's remains held for over a dozen breaths before slowly vanishing. Li Guanyi grimaced—he realized those who reached this level on the sorcerer path were truly formidable.

"Truly… hard to kill."

If not inside the palace, if not for the array and the Qilin—

A common Third Layer martial cultivator, even a general of a kingdom's mounted scouts, might not kill this sorcerer.

He felt more strongly than ever that pure cultivation foundation or realm alone could not determine life or victory.

Li Guanyi did not pause to recover his Qi.

He retook control of the array, sensing no one approaching nearby; though puzzled, he fell temporarily silent—apparently, beyond the 【Four Symbols Sealing Spirit Array】, there was another 【Qi-Subduing Array】 hiding the Qilin's aura.

An array originally meant to conceal the noise of extracting the Qilin's blood.

Now, it also partially masked the brief slaughter in the Qilin Palace; Li Guanyi rose, watching the Qilin, which had just unleashed its attack, and began attempting to unseal another layer of the array—the Qilin itself had been suppressed for ten years, and previously had given half its accumulated power to Li Guanyi.

Now, after two attacks, you're already extremely weak.

She sat on the ground, watching Li Guanyi unravel the array, and said calmly:

"Leave."

"I cannot go out with you."

Li Guanyi did not stop his movements; he unraveled part of the array for the Fire Qilin before withdrawing his hands.

The Fire Qilin continued: "I have seen that Emperor, I have seen many Emperors—every single one is the same. If I escape, anyone who enters this palace within the next month will almost certainly die outright; some will be captured and interrogated."

"The Emperors differ in appearance, in features—but their actions are identical. It almost makes me believe they are one person, continually reborn in young descendants."

"Regarding the secret hidden within me."

"Their tyranny has always been: better to kill everyone than to let even one slip away."

"If I leave, no one can protect you."

Li Guanyi said: "I know. I only wanted to make you slightly more comfortable…"

He retracted his hand. Li Guanyi understood what the Fire Qilin said: if the Fire Qilin left today, the Emperor would kill him—even the Xue family could not save him. In fact, if the Xue family intervened to protect him, it would only deepen the Emperor's suspicions.

Since ancient times, the words "immortal" have stirred the Emperor's heart the most.

Li Guanyi said: "I've unraveled the array to Reach Third Layer. Though you'll still be sealed, you can now breathe and absorb Qi, slowly healing your wounds. As for taking you away—I've thought long and hard. There is only one scenario in which your escape won't implicate me."

"Nor will it harm those who helped me."

"Unless, at that time, I am not here at all—I am right under the Emperor's nose, and he can never blame me."

"At that moment, the eyes of the entire realm and Chen State are fixed elsewhere—even the top experts inside Chen's imperial palace will have no time to spare for this place. No one will be able to stop your steps."

Li Guanyi paused, then said: "The Grand Sacrifice."

The Fire Qilin's voice grew low: "The Grand Sacrifice… yes, it has been ten years."

"The Chen State's Grand Sacrifice, held once every ten years, is about to begin again."

"Your parents died during that Grand Sacrifice ten years ago. They added a rare treasure of the realm to the sacrificial wine—non-poisonous, but capable of disrupting our fortune. We fought with all our strength, yet could not break free. The Imperial House's top experts all came."

"Wanli, he—"

The Fire Qilin's voice faded.

Li Guanyi reached out, standing there just close enough to touch the Fire Qilin's horn, and gently patted it: "I'll figure out how to take you away, how to slip past surveillance—but until then, please endure a little longer."

"Only sixteen days remain. After sixteen days, I'll find a way to open the array."

"You must seize that chance and break out."

The Fire Qilin nodded slowly.

Li Guanyi thought again, then said: "As for this incident, I need you to slightly damage the Fire Qilin Palace—erase all traces of my duel with Hou Zhongyu, and pin Hou Zhongyu's death on your breaking the array."

"Don't worry—I'll leave several array nodes, just as Hou Zhongyu did."

"The Emperor's other sorcerers, when they come to repair the array, won't notice these seven nodes. This time, I'll place the seven nodes here—on the surface, sealed by the Four Symbols Spirit-Sealing Array, but in truth, protected."

The youth held the broken sword and sketched the modified array on the ground.

He explained it to the Fire Qilin.

The Fire Qilin, a celestial beast born of auspiciousness, possessed extraordinary insight and quickly understood Li Guanyi's plan.

Li Guanyi dropped the sword, exhaled, and said:

"Thus, it was the Fire Qilin who broke through the defenses. I am merely a Jin Yu Guard who heard the noise and rushed in—immediately driven back by a blast of Fire Qilin flame, my sword snapped, my armor melted, and Hou Zhongyu, the sorcerer, died for his country and his Emperor."

"Heroically, he died."

One sentence from Li Guanyi sealed the fate of the dead great sorcerer.

If the Fire Qilin stays, Hou Zhongyu dies—Li Guanyi gains great merit.

If the Fire Qilin escapes, everyone in this Fire Qilin Palace will die.

The Fire Qilin suddenly laughed, gazing at Li Guanyi; as it laughed, the flames across its body flickered: "Your temperament is unlike your father's, unlike your mother's—it resembles that little girl from the Murong family."

Li Guanyi's eyes flickered as he dismantled the array: "Was my mother also from the Murong family?" The Fire Qilin thought, then replied: "In a sense. Your mother's mother was a disciple of the Murong family, so your mother's line is merely a relative branch."

"But your mother's maternal grandfather held an exalted position in the Murong family and doted on your mother."

"Your mother excelled in music and chess. The Murong family valued her greatly. At that time, that little Murong girl constantly begged your mother to teach her all kinds of arts—and she seemed even more gifted than your mother, advancing rapidly in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."

Li Guanyi said: "My aunt also taught me music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."

The Fire Qilin said: "Really?"

"That makes sense…"

Suddenly, it didn't know how to continue. It recalled many, many years ago—how that woman taught Murong Qiushui music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Later, Murong Qiushui grew up and taught Li Guanyi those same things.

The wind of Jiangnan still blew. The chess manuals remained unchanged. The sound of fingers brushing across the strings was still exactly as it had been.

But the one who had taught her hand by hand was gone forever.

That girl of that year looked at her sister's child.

She spoke the very words her teacher had once taught her.

Then she watched the boy's similar yet much younger brows furrow, just as she once had, wearing that same look of exasperation. Back then, she had breathed Jiangnan's wind, unaware of the emotions stirring within her heart.

The Fire Qilin, as a celestial omen, deeply understood human emotion—so it could only sigh. Li Guanyi rose and swiftly searched Hou Zhongyu's belongings, finding jade vials of pills, cultivation scriptures, and scrolls from the Juan Sect.

Li Guanyi wrapped these items in a waterproof cowhide cloth.

He tied them with rope, bound stones to them, and threw them straight into a well inside the Fire Qilin Palace.

He would retrieve them later, when it was safe.

Hou Zhongyu's alchemical methods had been difficult to overcome when he killed him—but now he was curious. Such a great sorcerer's written legacy must be hidden; and any part involving Fire Qilin blood, Li Guanyi could not allow to remain in the world.

Having finished all this, Li Guanyi gripped his sword and said: "I'm leaving. Afterward, breathe your flames freely—let loose as you wish."

"Alright."

The Fire Qilin rose and said slowly: "Come here."

The boy did not understand; he walked over to the Fire Qilin, who gazed at Li Guanyi, then stepped forward two paces—patterns on the bronze pillar flared to life, chains tightened taut, and the Fire Qilin lowered its head, gently touching its forehead to Li Guanyi's.

Without sound or motion, a divine aura flowed and settled upon Li Guanyi.

After a long while, the Fire Qilin lifted its head and spoke: "In the earliest age, humanity's ancestors learned cultivation from heaven, earth, and all things, and from the primordial hundred spirits, they found divine aura, gaining the breath and recognition of those divine beasts, fighting alongside them—that was the original Law Form."

Around Li Guanyi, qi took form.

A Fire Qilin stood quietly there, its aura thick and potent.

The Fire Qilin said: "What you must do is equally dangerous."

"I now fulfill the act of our primordial ancestors—I make a pact with you, transforming my divine aura into a blade, entrusting it to your use. This is the original Law Form…"

The Fire Qilin Law Form let out a low roar and vanished.

Li Guanyi clenched his hand against his chest and whispered: "Rest easy."

The Fire Qilin sank back into slumber; Li Guanyi turned and strode out. After he left, the Fire Qilin's flames began to flow, burning everything around it. Li Guanyi looked up—more than two hours had passed; the sky had turned dark.

Li Guanyi pressed his lips together, not telling the Fire Qilin that one problem still eluded him—he had been gone two full hours; the guards would suspect his movements, and if this suspicion reached the Emperor, he would surely be questioned.

Sometimes, suspicion needs no evidence—only interrogation.

He needed a plan.

He pressed his palm against the bronze tripod on his chest, thinking how to resolve this—his breakthrough into the Second Layer Realm had left the Fire Qilin's initial power still within him, hot and warm. At that moment, the bronze tripod suddenly hummed.

Jade fluid began to accumulate.

The Crimson Dragon Law Form also flared to life; Li Guanyi froze, eyes wide.

Upon breaking into the Second Layer Realm, the bronze tripod naturally accumulates jade fluid.

But the Crimson Dragon Law Form glowing—this did not mean…

Brother Yue?!

Why is he here?

Li Guanyi's mind suddenly flashed back to the words Hou Zhongyu had spoken to the Empress's lady-in-waiting—"These days are precisely when the Gold Guard rotates…"

Gold Guard rotation is ideal for secret talks—and equally ideal for certain special operations.

But this is the final rotation before the Great Sacrifice.

Is it coincidence—or is the Emperor luring someone into a trap?

The night was long; a streak of fire exploded across the black sky. The Crimson Dragon Law Form's master was discovered and had no choice but to act—its power surged wildly, asserting its presence, then slammed down Immediately Heavily.

Powerful qi surged, accompanied by screams; a deep, thunderous voice roared:

"Gold Guard?"

"GET OUT!!!"

It was General Yue Qianfeng!