A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Both men now fought at their peak, holding nothing back. The Red Lotus Sword, now at the Heaven-Opening Tier, collided with the Ascension Sword, scattering sparks in every direction.

Violent sword qi raged through the void as their flickering figures shattered the space around them. The collapsing spatial force twisted and tore at their bodies, but both were spirit-martial dual cultivators, their physiques tempered to a terrifying degree. In the clash of raw power, neither yielded an inch.

Li Guanqi poured the full power of Sword Prison into himself, rampant lightning vital force sweeping through the arena.

Lu Wuhen was no less formidable. The grievous wound across his waist had done nothing to diminish his power. His violent metal sword qi was unbelievably sharp, and with the enhancement of the sword tip, every ray of sword qi shattered the lightning in its path and continued forward unabated, hurtling straight toward Li Guanqi.

Their figures flashed across the vast martial stage. In the blink of an eye, deep craters and trenches marred the platform. Had the martial stage been part of a sect, it would have become a holy land for disciples seeking to comprehend sword intent.

The surrounding cultivators held their breath as they watched the ferocious battle.

“This is terrifying... That killing power doesn’t resemble cultivators of the Illusory Refinement Realm at all. Every strike carries the force of someone who is half a step into the Combined Body Realm!”

“I feel like if I went up against either one of them, I wouldn’t last ten breaths. Ten breaths and I’d be dead!”

“I feel the same way. Both of them can release the Heaven-Opening form of their weapons. Just how high must the tier of those sword spirit voids be...”

“Lu Wuhen’s sword intent has probably already touched the threshold of the Sword Soul Realm. What monstrous talent.”

“Look. Even now, the Yanluo Sword Sovereign still holds the upper hand. His sword strikes are too fast!”

Onstage, the situation shifted again. Li Guanqi seized an opening and knocked Lu Wuhen back with a single sword blow, then raised his fist and threw a punch with full force. The moment the fist force rose, Lu Wuhen felt as though countless mountains were crashing down upon him.

“Shattered Skies, Ten Thousand Mountains!”

Boom!

A fist shadow condensed from lightning, fully a hundred zhang across, crashed down toward Lu Wuhen.

Lu Wuhen ignored the lightning serpents sweeping at him from all sides, raised his sword with grave focus, and slashed out with everything he had. “Frenzied Dragon Blade Dance!”

He spun at blinding speed, sword qi bursting forth and tearing apart the incoming lightning serpents. His golden qi surged skyward like leaves caught in a gale. Boundless golden sword qi gathered into a blade storm that towered a hundred zhang into the sky.

After that first punch, Li Guanqi gathered his strength and unleashed a second.

“Shattered Skies, Thousand-Layered Waves!!”

Using the recoil from that punch, he launched himself into the air. The Red Lotus Sword blazed with brilliant crimson light, its cry ringing out clear and sharp. His left hand blurred into afterimages as he unleashed three bursts of sword light in rapid succession.

The sword light erased the void as it rained down, fast as lightning.

“Heavenly Destruction Technique, Crouching Demon! Heavenly Destruction Technique, Immortal-Slaying Slash!”

Each of the three sword lights was more powerful than the last.

“Rise!”

Boom!

Before the word had faded, the sword prison domain enveloped every cun of space within a thousand zhang of Li Guanqi. Tens of thousands of swords conjured from lightning manifested and, guided by his divine consciousness, shot downward in a frenzy.

And still it was not over. Li Guanqi pressed his palms together, his hair billowing freely, his expression like that of a wrathful deity. Layer upon layer of terrifying lightning condensed into a barrier, enclosing the space where Lu Wuhen stood.

“Spirit spell one hundred and forty-six, Hundred-Layered Four Walls!”

The cascading barriers wrapped around Lu Wuhen like flower petals.

Even that was not the end. Li Guanqi’s eyes snapped open as he slammed both palms down onto the void beneath his feet.

“Spell one hundred and ninety-six, Lightning Burial!”[1]

A vast surge of lightning vital force burst forth, rushing toward the barrier like a torrent of blazing waves. The lightning spanning three thousand zhang transformed into a hellscape of lightning, raising hundred-zhang waves that crashed against the barrier.

The relentless barrage left the crowd dumbstruck. No one believed Lu Wuhen could survive such an onslaught. Even someone as cunning as Gu Yong felt he could not have chained so many interlocking moves in so short a span.

Li Guanqi stood in midair, breathing heavily and wheezing with every breath. Even for him, the successive eruptions had taken their toll. He had consumed at least twenty percent of his vital force.

Li Guanqi reached into his robes, produced an illusory vital pill, and swallowed it. Behind him, several thousand spirit stones shattered at once. Dense spirit qi gathered into a massive vortex, which he devoured like a whale swallowing everything in its path.

But the crowd’s attention remained fixed on the center of the martial stage, obscured by billowing smoke and raging lightning. Three enormous sword scars stretched across the platform for hundreds of zhang, a testament to the terrifying power of the techniques unleashed moments ago.

“Gulp... Is Lu Wuhen still alive? I can’t sense his aura at all.”

“He’s... he’s probably dead already. It’s hard to imagine anyone surviving that.”

“That chain of attacks was fearsome! Two Heaven-tier fist techniques, three Heaven-tier sword techniques, a sky full of vital force lightning swords, and that spell combination...”

Even Li Guanqi sensed no trace of Lu Wuhen’s aura. He furrowed his brow and extended his divine consciousness downward.

Then a faint, hoarse shout rang out.

“Divine Technique! Seal! Suppress!”

Boom!

Countless golden threads spread across the heavens, locking the Red Lotus Sword in place.

Li Guanqi’s heart lurched. With a thought, he tried to recall the Red Lotus Sword to the sword coffin, but the golden threads extended in all directions, anchored into the array barrier and into the platform beneath. The threads carried a powerful sealing force, one aimed solely at the Red Lotus Sword. In the blink of an eye, they wove a golden cocoon roughly a zhang across, suspended in midair.

Li Guanqi’s expression turned ugly. He had not expected his opponent to survive that ferocious onslaught and still execute such a powerful sealing technique.

As he flew backward in retreat, inspiration suddenly struck. In that instant, he saw exactly how to break the seal.

“Divine Technique, Spirit Pardon Void!”

But comprehending the divine technique would take time. Li Guanqi looked toward the pool of lightning.

Lu Wuhen stood in the pit, drenched in blood. A faint cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth, carrying a peculiar hint of mockery. No one knew what price Lu Wuhen had paid to withstand that wave of attacks. His back was flayed raw, blood streaming freely as though a layer of skin had been carved away. Furthermore, the spirit runes of the three great beasts had all dispersed.

Lu Wuhen spoke slowly. “Li Guanqi, let’s see how you fight me without your companion sword!”

“Who told you I only have one companion sword?” Li Guanqi replied, smirking.

He slowly opened his left hand, and his expression turned ferocious. “Yanluo, now!”

1. In Chapter 333, Spell 196 was previously identified as Flame Burial. We’ve kept it as Lightning Burial here because the subsequent descriptions are all based on lightning. ☜