A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Boom!

A massive pillar of light violently crashed toward them.

Peng Luo flung the others away with a wave of his hand, then grabbed Yun Jie and shoved her into his spatial domain. He darted through the void and reappeared hundreds of zhang to the side.

The terrifying force directly destroyed Meng Wanshu’s cloud canoe. Li Guanqi’s expression turned extremely dark. The Red Lotus Sword flew into his hand as killing intent filled his eyes.

A crushing pressure descended as powerful auras surrounded them from every direction. Li Guanqi licked his lips and murmured, “They certainly think highly of me... nine Combined Body Realm cultivators, and one at the Mahayana Realm. They mean to wipe us out completely...”

Peng Luo sensed it too. Every black-robed figure around them carried an aura as deep and unfathomable as an abyss.

Their attackers had clearly come prepared. A mysterious ancient barrier sealed the void for a hundred li in every direction, making it nearly impossible for spatial fluctuations to leak out.

A deafening explosion rang out. In the distance, a streak of silver-white light tore through the void as a rune on Li Guanqi’s back flared to life.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes slightly. A flame palm imprint, a hundred zhang wide, formed out of thin air. The surging heat wave could be felt even from tens of thousands of zhang away, as the surrounding temperature rapidly rose.

“Profound Heavenly Divine Flame... Uncle Gu made his move?” Li Guanqi murmured.

As soon as he finished speaking, a mysterious figure in black robes raised a hand and unleashed several sword strikes, shattering the palm imprint. Terrifying sword qi raged in all directions, and Li Guanqi’s heart skipped a beat.

The man was at the Mahayana Realm at the very least. No ordinary Combined Body Realm cultivator could have withstood Gu Changsheng’s ruthless strike.

“The jade slip can’t get a message out,” Meng Wanshu said gravely, “but... they’ve underestimated us.”

Bang!

The pendant on her wrist shattered, releasing a spatial fluctuation that seemed to ignore the ancient barrier surrounding them. It turned into a streak of spirit light and vanished into the void.

In the distance, the man was still catching his breath when he froze. His eyes widened in shock, and he barked, “Move!”

Boom boom boom!

Nine potent auras surged forth simultaneously. Nine experts at the Combined Body Realm, all shrouded in black robes that concealed their figures, appeared in an instant.

Li Guanqi raised his sword and assumed a sword stance in a single motion. Even Sword Spirit cast her jealousy aside and warned him urgently, “You can’t contend with someone in the Mahayana Realm yet. Have Peng Luo take all of you away!”

His thunderous sword intent merged with a surging sword qi and swept across the battlefield.

Even the nine Combined Body Realm experts didn’t dare take it lightly. They raised their swords to block, yet the force still forced them back hundreds of zhang.

Meng Wanshu swallowed several pills and swept a hand over her storage ring, crushing tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones into powder. Dense, milky-white spirit qi gathered around her, so thick it was on the verge of liquefying.

She opened her mouth and absorbed the spirit qi like a whale swallowing the sea, rapidly circulating her cultivation technique. Her gaze sharpened as she locked onto the strongest figure in the distance.

Yu Qingkun’s aura was unstable and fluctuating noticeably, a clear sign that he had only recently broken through. His breakthrough was the reason the Yu clan’s prison had suffered such a serious lapse.

The Fire-Eyed Fox race had powerful experts of its own. Only their desperate combined effort had allowed them to send Yun Jie to safety.

“Attack!” Yu Qingkun ordered coldly. “That woman is about to break through!”

Li Guanqi’s expression shifted. Meng Wanshu had only recently entered the Combined Body Realm, yet she was already forcing her cultivation toward the middle stage.

“Until my father arrives, I’m probably the only one who can hold him back, even briefly,” Meng Wanshu said gravely. “I’m counting on you to protect me!”

Li Guanqi could only nod. “Nine Heavens!”

A low dragon roar shook the heavens. Nine Heavens stood back-to-back with Li Guanqi, unleashing lightning breath in every direction. The piercing pillar of lightning swept across the battlefield, lightly wounding several cultivators in a single pass.

Nine Heavens’ power had grown more refined. He[1] glared in every direction, killing intent surging from him. His massive body loomed like a mountain as he coiled around Meng Wanshu, shielding her within.

Peng Luo could barely contain his excitement. “A fight! A fight! I get to fight today!”

Peng Luo’s vital force surged, and he formed a long sword. He swung it once, decided it didn’t feel right, and reshaped it into a spear. That proved no better, so he tried a pair of armguards.

At last, his eyes lit up, and he formed a giant hammer even larger than himself, round at one end and pointed at the other. The weapon whistled through the air with every swing, bringing a satisfied smile to his face.

Seven or eight severed, arm-like segments hung from Peng Luo’s waist, each one taken while its energy was at its peak. He was generous with Li Guanqi as well, tossing him more than a dozen of them.

Wind howled as razor-sharp sword light raged across the battlefield, engulfing everything within a hundred zhang.

Li Guanqi’s blood surged as he drove the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra to its limit. Every muscle in his body tensed and swelled, and veins stood out along his sword arm. The void beneath his feet caved into a vast depression, yet even that failed to shatter the ancient barrier.

Li Guanqi shot forward. The Red Lotus Sword blossomed with an eerie crimson glow, and he realized it had grown several times stronger than before.

What exactly is divinity? And why does Sword Spirit possess the ability... No, the authority, to bestow it upon the Red Lotus Sword?

There was no time to ponder it further. His sword spirit void abilities fully activated, including Destruction, Blade Breaker, and Illusory Form.

Everything around Li Guanqi seemed to slow down, and he could read the weak point in every incoming attack. His figure flashed across a hundred-zhang radius, leaving afterimages that shattered amid the chaotic storm of sword light.

Rumble... Boom! Crack!

Li Guanqi gritted his teeth and went all out, holding most of his opponents at bay on his own.

Pfft! Pfft!

Swish swish swish!

Boom boom boom!

Li Guanqi fought his way through the battlefield, meeting the onslaught head-on with sheer force.

But their attacks were too relentless. Even Li Guanqi could not evade them all. He could only protect his vital points as best he could, yet within a few breaths, his body was already covered in wounds and blood.

He swallowed one of Peng Luo’s pieces to replenish his dwindling spirit qi. His chest rose and fell, his divine consciousness never leaving Peng Luo and Nine Heavens.

Nine Heavens was still holding his ground, firmly guarding Meng Wanshu without budging, even as his dragon scales were blasted loose.

Boom!

A terrifying sword strike raked across Nine Heavens’ face, sending scales flying and dark-gold blood splattering.

Snarling in pain, Nine Heavens lashed out with a claw. His lightning-wreathed claws tore open the void and slammed into the attacker.

The blow shredded both the man’s legs. His protective barrier shattered like porcelain, and his defensive magical artifact exploded with it.

Nine Heavens’s raw strength was something even Li Guanqi wouldn’t dare take lightly.

As for Peng Luo, his fighting style could only be described as... sneaky. He slipped into the spatial layer, popped out, and smashed someone with his giant hammer. He chose his targets with great care, always aiming below the waist. Anything higher might as well not have existed.

Now that his body had grown larger, more purple patterns flickered across it, granting him tremendous strength. Each swing of his hammer carried force on par with that of a tier-seven body cultivator.

He had only made two moves, yet he had nearly crippled two men.

Soon, the attackers no longer considered Li Guanqi the greatest threat. Every one of them was desperately trying to catch Peng Luo.

1. Since it’s now clear that Nine Heavens is a male dragon, we’ve decided to switch to male pronouns and will be using them going forward. ☜