A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Drip! Drip!

Blood dripped from the Red Lotus Sword. Li Guanqi’s face was splattered with blood, his chest and back riddled with wounds. He stood facing two opponents, severed limbs and broken bodies scattered around him. His chest heaved, his vital force nearly spent.

Li Guanqi looked like a battle warrior standing atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. His pure white eyes sent an involuntary chill through anyone who saw them.

The powerful figures above gasped, losing their composure. Disregarding appearances, they rushed to check on their juniors. Their injuries were severe, but not fatal or crippling. The elders exhaled in relief.

Reluctantly, they nodded toward Li Guanqi and murmured quiet thanks. One by one, they gathered their unconscious juniors and left the arena, apologizing briefly to Meng Jiangchu before departing in haste.

Meng Jiangchu’s smile could not have been brighter. He drifted from one unconscious junior to another, showing concern and handing out pills.

“Oh dear, look at this. My son-in-law really doesn’t hold back. Your boy here will need at least three months to recover.”

“Territorial Lord Meng, you are too kind. Han is simply too weak.”

Meng Jiangchu chuckled and nodded, then turned to another young man who had fainted with both arms severed.

“Tsk tsk tsk... this one will probably be down for half a year. Look at him, he didn’t hold back at all during the fight.”

“Ahem... Territorial Lord Meng, we’re in a hurry to return, so we won’t keep you any longer.”

“Hahaha, sure, go ahead.”

Meng Jiangchu tended to everyone, grinning ear to ear.

Back in the martial arena, Li Guanqi looked at the white-robed youth. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Zhang Jin from the Nine Heavens Sect,” the youth said, his expression serious.

Li Guanqi nodded slightly and spoke quietly, “Good, I’ll remember you.”

He turned to Wei An, his gaze calm. “It’s just you two left. What are you waiting for?”

Boom!

Wei An stomped forward. The Sword Courage Realm sword intent he’d displayed before suddenly soared to the Sword Heart Realm.

Zhang Jin’s expression stiffened. He narrowed his eyes, and his powerful divine consciousness latched onto his long sword, shrouding its blade in a cold and twisted silver light.

Li Guanqi’s expression darkened. Zhang Jin was one of the rare opponents whose divine consciousness exceeded his own. Had Zhang Jin not possessed an Earth Spirit Root, he might have become an exceptionally powerful alchemist or array master.

Li Guanqi exhaled a low breath, his feet hitting the ground. It shattered instantly, and he shot forward.

Despite Wei An also possessing Sword Heart Realm sword intent, Li Guanqi showed no fear. His sword left multiple afterimages in the air, each slash raining down on them like a storm.

The two shifted positions, flanking Li Guanqi on either side. The surrounding space warped as Li Guanqi drew his sword and slashed horizontally in a single, fluid motion.

Clang!

Using the momentum, he swung downward with a backhanded strike, but Wei An reacted just as quickly. He twisted aside, his sword spinning into a thrust aimed at Li Guanqi’s neck.

Li Guanqi ducked under the blade and slammed his right fist into Zhang Jin’s whip kick.[1]

A chill ran down his spine. He tapped the void with one hand, pivoted, and swept his sword across his opponents’ necks to force them back.

Zhang Jin leaped forward with mystic steps and brought his sword down in a powerful overhead strike. From the side, Wei An crouched low, his sword force flickering elusively before launching a sudden upward slash.

Li Guanqi shot backward through the air but couldn’t completely evade the ferocious strikes. He summoned the Yanluo Sword and unleashed Yanluo’s Revelation.

A three-zhang-tall Yanluo shadow materialized at his right shoulder. Instead of retreating, he advanced. With his left hand, he swept Red Lotus to his side and back, blocking Zhang Jin’s downward slash. In his right hand, the Yanluo Sword—heavy as a mountain and brimming with devastating power—thrust down at the tip of Wei An’s blade.

Clang! Clang! Boom!

Li Guanqi leveraged the impact to rise, twisting his waist as the Red Lotus Sword slashed horizontally at Zhang Jin. Simultaneously, the Yanluo Sword slammed down with the force of a mountain.

Zhang Jin failed to dodge in time. When the blade was only a cun away from his neck, he twisted his wrist, letting the tip graze past the Red Lotus Sword. The strike left only a shallow cut on his neck. He pushed forward, sliding his sword along the Red Lotus Sword toward the hilt. The strike was swift and heavy, and if it landed, it would slice Li Guanqi’s shoulder open.

At the same time, Wei An stomped on the void. Space fractured into black cracks as he unleashed his Flowing Dragon Sword Technique, its trajectory impossible to predict.

Golden sparks burst from Wei An’s blade as it weaved around Li Guanqi. Afterimages flickered into existence, six of them striking simultaneously.

Li Guanqi raised his hand and struck down. The Red Lotus Sword’s hilt caught Zhang Jin’s sword. With a spin, he deflected the strike and sliced upward. The slash struck Zhang Jin’s armpit, nearly severing his right arm.

Giving the two no time to recover, Li Guanqi followed up with a flurry of dual-sword strikes. The terrifying assault raged like a storm, unrelenting.

The two combined forces to defend as the battle reached its climax. Thunderous clashes echoed endlessly. Sparks and deadly sword lights flew in all directions.

The arena floor shattered as if something massive had plowed through from below. Ripples spread across the array barriers, like raindrops disturbing a calm lake.

As time wore on, the injuries on both sides became more numerous and severe, their vital force draining away at an alarming rate.

Li Guanqi’s sea of consciousness cracked. His spirit trembled. Zhang Jin’s strikes were too fierce. Even Li Guanqi couldn’t entirely withstand them.

Wei An, though plain-looking, was an extraordinarily gifted sword cultivator. Like Li Guanqi, he was both a spiritual and martial cultivator, and his Illusory Refinement Realm physical prowess gave Li Guanqi immense trouble. His Sword Heart Realm strikes were just as sharp, with even the dispersed sword energy inflicting multiple wounds on Li Guanqi.

The sword domain barrier had long since shattered.

“Heavenly Destruction Sword Sutra!”

Li Guanqi erupted with three consecutive sword strikes, the sheer power sending his opponents flying hundreds of zhang. The piercing sword lights swept over them, shredding their flesh as if they’d been caught in a blade storm. Li Guanqi took a deep breath, placing both swords at his waist and reversing his grip. Lightning flashed across his waist, instantly forming two purple-black lightning hilts.

With his twin swords sheathed, the void beneath his feet sank slightly. His body shot forward with explosive speed. Two blinding sword lights slashed through the air in perfect parallel.

“Heaven-Opening Tier, Sword-Unsheathing Technique!”

Boom!

The force drained Li Guanqi’s secondary dantian almost instantly.

“Ah!”

“Cough... cough...”

Everyone leaped to their feet in shock.

“Heaven-Tier Sword Sutra!!”

Wei Qing’s gaze hardened. His hand instinctively clenched inside his sleeve.

If struck by that sword light, even a late Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator would suffer grievous injuries, or possibly even death.

The explosive roar resounded as figures were hurled from midair. But the shadows thrown... numbered four.

Wei Qing and a white-haired elder went pale. Sensing the faint auras of two of the bodies, they flashed onto the arena. With their immense power, they rejoined Wei Qing and Zhang Jin’s severed bodies, urgently working to heal their wounds.

Clang!

Li Guanqi stood drenched in blood. Much of his flesh had been stripped away. His bloodshot eyes trembled as he planted the Yanluo Sword behind him and raised his head.

“Th-they’re... all... useless...” he murmured. “Not a single... one of them... can fight.”

Darkness clouded his vision. He collapsed into a man’s arms.

Meng Jiangchu looked down at Li Guanqi. With a wave of his sleeve, he transported everyone out of the domain space. It slammed shut with a roar. Wei Qing and the others didn’t dare say a word, hurrying away with Wei An and Zhang Jin in shame.

News of the day’s events spread like wildfire, leaving everyone stunned

“Meng Wanshu, daughter of the Divine Treasure’s Territorial Lord, has a Dao companion. Rumor has it he is a famous swordsman from the Daxia Territory—the Yanluo Sword, Li Guanqi.”

“Li Guanqi fought ten rival suitors from the holy kingdom simultaneously, every one of them an Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator.”

“By the end of the battle, not a single one could stand. Only Li Guanqi remained on his feet, then declared such audacious words!”

1. Core technique in Sanda, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. Also called the sweeping kick. ☜