A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Chapter 689 - Deterrence

Li Guanqi stepped on the old gatekeeper’s head and bent down, his voice cold. “You see, I don’t need you to open the door at all. Remember this. You serve the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion, not any one person.”

The old man’s body was riddled with lightning. His dantian and soul were sealed, his entire body paralyzed.

Crack! Boom!

Li Guanqi drove his foot down. The old man’s head burst like a smashed watermelon, red and white matter splattering across the ground. Hot blood sprayed everywhere, splashing across Tu Yongsi’s face.

Li Guanqi turned to look at him, eyes narrowed slightly, gazing down coldly.

Tu Yongsi felt a chill run down his spine, as if Li Guanqi’s sword could fall upon his neck at any moment.

Silence. Oppressive and suffocating.

Li Guanqi looked at him, lips parting slightly. “Remember this, Tu Yongsi. You’re just a dog of the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion. A good dog may live, but one that barks out of turn... heh.”

Drip! A bead of sweat hit the ground.

Tu Yongsi’s eyes flickered with unease. He hurriedly replied, “Understood...”

Li Guanqi turned and walked into the room. “Get lost.”

Only after Li Guanqi disappeared beyond the barrier did Tu Yongsi slowly stand up. His back was soaked in cold sweat. For a moment, he had felt Li Guanqi’s killing intent, and it had been so thick it was like drowning in a swamp of blood. His eyes flickered with complicated emotions as he glanced at the gatekeeper’s corpse, then let out a long sigh.

This was the first time Li Guanqi had killed someone in front of them. Tu Yongsi understood the warning: underhanded tricks were best left behind. Li Guanqi had no patience for them.

Li Guanqi stood within an independent space spanning hundreds of zhang. He looked up at the vast scroll above, shock stirring in his chest. Towering bookshelves lined the surrounding space, stretching endlessly upward.

At the center lay an open plaza, and floating in midair was the Heavenly Intelligence Map, winding like a living serpent. Images flickered rapidly across the scroll. The diagram stretched for hundreds of zhang, and every cun displayed a different scene.

Beneath his feet, the plaza was paved with millions of high-grade spirit stones, forming a massive array that continuously supplied spirit qi to the map.

Standing beneath it, Li Guanqi felt the diagram within his body resonate faintly with the one above. A soft glow descended, enveloping him. Enlightenment struck, and he raised his hand to casually tap a section of the scroll.

The image became larger. Within it, a middle-aged man held a treasure map as he traveled through the void.

He tapped several more images. Each one revealed things that widened his horizons. One of the more important sections displayed a map of the Six Territories. At its edges, glowing light spread outward like flames.

Li Guanqi murmured, “So the Blue Tower’s pieces are still exploring unknown regions... The Lantern Keeper was similar to the ferrymen of the Falling Sunset Territory.”

There were imperial dynasties, mortals, sect disciples, elders, and more. The map covered every corner of the Six Territories. The more he observed, the more stunned he became. He hadn’t expected the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion’s influence to reach this far. Almost every named faction across the Six Territories had informants within.

Driven by curiosity, he looked up the Daxia Sword Sect. What he saw startled him—plenty of agents were still hidden among its disciples, and not all of them belonged to the Blue Tower. Some were from the Purple Tower.

Li Guanqi’s lips curled. The Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion had infiltrated nearly every power across the Six Territories, and the greatest credit belonged to the Blue Tower. The Blue Tower’s Lantern Keeper was responsible for selecting suitable pawns. Some people might never realize they were pawns in their entire lives, and that was precisely what made them so effective.

These agents were divided into exposed and hidden pieces. Those embedded within other factions were almost always hidden pieces. Once used, they would be discarded, just like the elder who was once hidden in the Daxia Sword Sect. Once exposed, his value was gone.

Li Guanqi swept his divine consciousness over the diagram, sensing countless streams of information hidden within it.

Buzz!

After a single glance, he bent over, clutching his head in pain. There was too much information, and even he couldn’t process it all. If too much flooded in, it could exceed his limits and make his sea of consciousness explode.

A long while later, Li Guanqi slowly straightened up, his face pale. His eyes flickered as he looked up at the diagram. Only now did he truly understand why the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion had gone to such lengths to acquire the map.

“No wonder...”

Suddenly, Li Guanqi frowned. He sensed a strand of power within the diagram being siphoned away. His eyes narrowed.

He formed a sword with two fingers, channeling the diagram’s power to unleash an invisible wisp of sword qi.

Slash!

With a single strike, he severed the strand of power.

Jiang Han sat meditating in a secret chamber within the Jiang family estate, located outside the Heavenly Intelligence Domain. His face went pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

He opened his eyes, unease sharp in his gaze. He vanished from the chamber. When he arrived at the study, the door opened on its own. An elderly man sat within, his expression dark.

Jiang Han said, “Father... I think he discovered us!”

Jiang Yi’s brows were tightly furrowed. “I know. Stop everything for now.”

Jiang Han frowned. “Father! Yuan Hongyi killed Huang Bin. Our income has already taken a hit. And now Li Guanqi has cut off our link to the diagram... Isn’t this driving our Jiang family into a dead end?!”

As he spoke, he drew a finger across his neck, killing intent flashing in his eyes. “Should we...?”

Jiang Yi remained silent for a long moment, rubbing his temples. “Let’s wait and see. It’s not time yet. Li Guanqi has begun to act... first the Yellow Tower, then someone from the Red Tower, and now severing our link to the diagram. Next, will it be the Blue Tower?”

But then, Jiang Yi stood up, his voice cold. “No, we can’t stay passive any longer. If this continues, our prestige will collapse! We must act. Even if they don’t, I will!”