A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

The group followed Gu Changsheng into the secluded realms of the Gu clan’s domain. There was not just one, but several.

Xiao Chen had been assigned a wind-fire domain only a few dozen li across. Turbulent, mutated gales tore through the realm as raging lava churned on the wind and flames climbed into the sky. The spirit qi was denser than in almost any place in the outside world.

Xiao Chen’s eyes lit up at the sight of the domain fragment, and he nearly charged straight in. Gu Changsheng stopped him with a smile. “Not so fast.”

With that, he produced a thumb-sized metal palace and tossed it out. The jade-green palace swelled in the wind, growing in the blink of an eye into a massive structure over thirty zhang tall. Its four faces were engraved with countless arrays and inlaid with over a thousand purple-gold crystals.

Gu Changsheng smiled. “Go ahead. The Combined Body Pill is inside the hall. If anything goes wrong, I’ll know immediately.”

Li Guanqi’s heart stirred. Gu Changsheng was offering to guard them while they cultivated.

Xiao Chen was just as moved. He knew he owed all of this to Li Guanqi. If he had never become Li Guanqi’s brother, he would probably still be stuck at the mid Illusory Refinement Realm.

Xiao Chen took a deep breath, stepped inside, and turned back to say softly, “I will break through.”

“No need to rush,” Li Guanqi said with a smile, his voice low. “Steady progress is what counts. And don’t worry about the Xiao family’s affairs. I’ll sort that out for you later.”

Xiao Chen nodded with a smile, then stepped into the domain.

Gu Changsheng flicked a finger, gently tearing open the entrance to another fragmented realm. The moment Ye Feng sensed the aura within, his hair stood on end.

Gu Changsheng flicked a finger and gently tore open another realm. Sharp metal power seeped out through the spatial crack.

The moment Ye Feng sensed the aura inside, his hair stood on end. He bowed respectfully and said solemnly, “Thank you for going to such trouble, Senior Gu.”

A hall of brilliant gold and jade appeared. Gu Changsheng nodded with a smile and said no more. Only when he turned to Cao Yan and Sun Miao did he hesitate.

After a moment’s hesitation, he coughed twice, glanced at Li Guanqi, and transmitted, “Well... young friend, why don’t I show these two around?”

Li Guanqi smiled and nodded. He had no objection to Gu Changsheng taking on a disciple if he wanted to.

Sun Miao naturally went along with the arrangement, following behind in anxious silence. Cao Yan, on the other hand, trailed after them with genuine interest, in no particular hurry to break through.

Gu Li turned to Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu with a smile. “Let them go off on their own. I’ll take you to my place for a bit.”

He knew Gu Changsheng would come find Li Guanqi once the tour was done, so he brought the two of them to his residence in the meantime.

They followed Gu Li across the mountains, and only after teleporting a hundred li did the heat begin to fade. Lush, rolling peaks gradually unfolded before them, and the distant cries of birds and beasts drifted through the clouds and mist.

Gu Li took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “This is much better. I was sweating all over back there.”

Meng Wanshu also breathed a sigh of relief. The scorching air had been steeped in the power of countless beast flames and even a few earthly flames. Their aura made her deeply uncomfortable.

The sound of rushing water reached their ears, and Gu Li smiled. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

The three descended into a hollow encircled by mountain peaks. Against the mountainside, next to a clear stream, a secluded courtyard awaited them.

Li Guanqi eyed the charming, old-fashioned courtyard with mild surprise. “Tsk, tsk. Quite the taste you have. I expected you’d be living in some gilded and jeweled palace.”

Gu Li shrugged. “Don’t make fun of me. I’m no country bumpkin. I just enjoy the peace and quiet of living alone.”

Then, as if remembering something, he added awkwardly, “Could you wait a moment? Let me tidy up a bit...”

Li Guanqi teleported to the front gate and pushed the door open.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

Paper rustled crisply as the door scraped inward. The ground was littered with low-grade talisman paper, packed so densely it nearly covered the entire courtyard.

Looking around, Li Guanqi couldn’t help but comment, “Talent isn’t that special. People simply don’t see the work behind it.”

Gu Li smiled and, with a wave of his hand, gathered up the scattered talisman paper.

He brewed a pot of tea, and the three of them sat and chatted. Gu Li was the one to bring up the earlier fight, and after sharing his thoughts, he apologized to Meng Wanshu. “I was in the wrong. I’m sorry.”

Meng Wanshu raised a hand to stop him. “It wasn’t your fault. We simply saw things differently. Neither of us was right or wrong.”

The three exchanged smiles, and the last trace of tension between them faded away. Li Guanqi had remained silent throughout. No matter what either of them had done, they had done for his sake.

The conversation flowed on. Before long, Gu Li also expressed his gratitude to Li Guanqi for helping him attain enlightenment, a debt of grace as vast as the sky. Provided he didn’t die, Gu Li now counted among the foremost talisman masters in the Human World.

With everything settled, he planned to enter closed-door cultivation. He had only just grasped the Immortal Talisman Dao, after all, and the paths open to him for creating new talismans were like countless fireflies lighting up the dark of night. A sky full of stars, his to pluck and shape as he pleased.

Gu Changsheng didn’t return until nightfall, looking quite satisfied. He looked at the people in the courtyard and nodded in approval, then turned to Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu with a smile. “Come. I’ve reached out to some old friends. Let’s go meet them together.”

Meng Wanshu rose and fell into step beside Li Guanqi, taking his hand without a word. Gu Changsheng made no comment. The two were Dao companions now, after all.

Gu Changsheng raised a hand. Spatial force enveloped all three of them, and they teleported to a mysterious hall wreathed in flames.

Dozens of clusters of multicolored flames blazed atop towering stone pillars, and the air rippled from the heat. Several figures sat around a dark-gold table several zhang long, their formidable auras permeating the air.

Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed. Everyone present was a Mahayana Realm cultivator. There were four of them, which meant four tier-eight alchemists.

Three were white-haired elders. The fourth was a young man with jade-like features, handsome without being effeminate. He wore a flame-patterned robe and reclined in his chair, studying Li Guanqi with a faint, enigmatic smile.

Gu Changsheng led the group to their seats and introduced the others with a light chuckle. “Guanqi, this is Elder Han, Han Yuan, a peak tier-eight alchemist. This is Elder Jiang, Jiang Qizhi, and this is Elder Guo, Guo Feng.”

Li Guanqi bowed to each of them in turn before stopping in front of the youthful-looking man. The sight of him seemed to make Gu Changsheng uneasy. Clearly, he had not expected the man to attend.

Before Gu Changsheng could introduce him, the young man rose from his seat. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he regarded Li Guanqi. Then he spoke in a deep, resonant voice. “My name is Xiang Huaizhi.”