A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Li Guanqi, engrossed in etching his sword intent into the cliff, felt a peculiar gaze on him. It belonged to an old man, someone he’d never seen. This old man had a completely foreign aura. There was no enmity in his gaze, just curiosity, like the other disciples.

He let out a long exhale. Maybe he was overthinking.

Despite appearing fine after Ju Shaolin’s attack, he had actually sustained minor injuries, though nothing that would hinder him in a fight. He had tried to plant Yin Hellfire in Ju Shaolin’s body, but Ju Shaolin had blocked it easily.

Li Guanqi felt utterly helpless. Not just toward Ju Shaolin—if what Sword Spirit said was true, his enemies were the immortals beyond the nine heavens. Even if he reached the Illusory Refinement Realm with a myriad of techniques at his disposal, he could still die.

Li Guanqi sighed inwardly. I need to get stronger. I must!

He Yuanting and He Yuning stood behind him. Sensing the powerful sword intent emanating from Li Guanqi, He Yuning’s eyes filled with pride. He looked at his father as if to say, “Look! I managed to make a friend like that! Am I not amazing?”

He Yuanting looked at him with paternal love and patted his shoulder. He spoke to his son through voice transmission. “Yuning, there are many prodigies in this world. There is no need to be jealous. Find your own path and forge ahead with unwavering determination. It’s alright even if you’re slower.”

His voice grew tired. “Your father doesn’t have much talent, but... it’s enough to protect you.”

He Yuning looked a little sad. His father always acted like he owed him something. When He Yuning was three, his mother had been killed by one of his father’s enemies, and his father had never forgiven himself. He believed his son had lacked a mother’s love because he had made too many enemies in his youth.

He Yuning didn’t reply, and He Yuanting sighed.

Li Guanqi’s aura reached its peak. He had not used any sword techniques. He merely raised his sword slowly and made a slash.

The whole Sword Abyss trembled. A loud boom rang out, and pebbles flew in all directions. A deep sword cut remained on the dark rock wall, a dozen zhang long and several zhang deep. It was not as deep as the cut he had made with Crouching Demon, but it sparkled with lightning and radiated powerful sword intent. A fierce determination lay contained within, and even early Divine Transformation Realm cultivators could feel its sharpness. The sword intent radiated in all directions before gradually calming down.

After the sword cut, Li Guanqi’s face paled, and he panted heavily. The memory of Ning Xiu’s death had resurfaced, unleashing a torrent of emotion.

He Yuning looked at Li Guanqi from behind. For a moment, he felt as though he shared Li Guanqi’s emotions, and his eyes reddened.

He felt like Li Guanqi had endured unimaginable suffering. The emotion he displayed was too complex for grief alone to describe.

After that powerful wave of emotion, he was now infinitely closer to the Sword Heart Realm.

To He Yuanting, Li Guanqi had not completely firmed up his determination in the sword Dao. He could see that Li Guanqi’s sword intent had undergone a metamorphosis, triggered by the death of the girl Wu Changfeng had mentioned. There was just a hint of determination lacking.

The man next to him said, “What an impressive youth! Old He, is that your son’s friend? Does he belong to a sect? Wanna discuss letting him join my Green Sun Palace?”

He Yuanting laughed. “Go away. He’s from the Daxia Territory! And if he didn’t have a sect, do you think the Green Sun Palace would recruit him? I’d get him first.”

He privately cursed. Tsk. First Ju Shaolin, now Shen Bing. All trash.

Shen Bing chuckled. “Could I take a look at the sword intent? I’d love to learn more. It’s fascinating.”

He Yuanting thought for a moment, then asked for Li Guanqi’s opinion. Li Guanqi thought it over and did not decline.

The Green Sun Palace was probably as strong as the Great Profound Sword Sect, and the sword intent he left behind was meant for people to inspect and learn from anyway. He also had another reason—this would help him confirm something.

“Please go ahead.”

Shen Bing led his entourage up to the stone wall. He closed his eyes, feeling the sword intent. After a while, he reopened his eyes, amazement filling his gaze. The sword intent was too complex and arrogant for him to fully inspect it, so he said nothing. The others went to stand behind Shen Bing after they finished their own inspections, wearing similar expressions.

A subtle questioning look appeared in Li Guanqi’s eyes. After sensing that gaze earlier, he had wondered if someone bore malicious intent toward him.

Other than fighting someone directly, his own sword intent was also a good way to gauge people’s intentions. Yet after everyone from the Green Sun Palace went up to inspect the sword intent, he still found nothing out of the ordinary.

They all merely inspected it out of curiosity for a moment before stopping. His sword intent did not weaken at all.

Was I too sensitive?

Shen Bing chatted briefly with He Yuanting, then he left with his entourage.

Li Guanqi watched him go, his brow faintly furrowed. He Yuanting noticed his odd reaction and transmitted, “Let’s talk when we get back.”

He laid a terrifying boundary around the Sword Abyss and declared, “The Great Profound Sword Sect has received Li Guanqi’s sword intent. No one is to come within a thousand zhang of the Sword Abyss until the sword intent stabilizes!”

A gust of powerful spatial force wrapped around Li Guanqi, and in the blink of an eye, the three of them reappeared in a large study.