A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Li Guanqi’s mind stirred as Sword Spirit’s confident, powerful voice echoed in his head. “Accept this power. It won’t harm you.”

Li Guanqi said nothing. He merely took Meng Wanshu’s hand and discreetly traced the word “absorb” across her palm with one finger. Without betraying any reaction, she allowed the golden spirit light to wash over them both.

Buzz!

“Remember my name from this day forward. Sing my praises each day, and I shall sense it and grant you my protection,” Cizhi said.

As the voice faded, the gravely ill commoners cried out in excitement. Some who had been crippled or bedridden found themselves completely healed. It was nothing short of a miracle.

As the overwhelming cascade of golden motes seeped into Li Guanqi’s body, his expression grew solemn. Even more motes gathered around him and Meng Wanshu than around anyone else.

The crowd erupted in gasps and exclamations, with many singing praises of Cizhi’s boundless benevolence. After all, Li Guanqi had been openly disrespectful earlier, yet Cizhi had set that aside and bestowed an even greater blessing upon him. In the eyes of the common folk, Li Guanqi came across as arrogant and domineering, refusing to kneel before an immortal and speaking with outrageous insolence. The crowd’s devotion grew even more fervent.

Li Guanqi couldn’t have cared less what any of them thought. He closed his eyes and focused on the power flowing into him.

The dense golden motes seeped through his skin and burrowed into his body. Nothing could stop them. The motes seemed to possess a will of their own. The instant they entered his body, they surged straight toward his sea of consciousness.

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s sea of consciousness felt as though it might burst apart. The boundless power flooding in gave him the fleeting illusion that his divine consciousness rivaled that of a Mahayana Realm cultivator. Once the illusion faded, he discovered that both his divine consciousness and vital force had visibly grown.

Li Guanqi’s expression shifted, his face darkening. Could I really have misjudged him?It really is just pure energy.

Meng Wanshu’s eyes widened in surprise, a look of astonishment crossing her face.

She gave Li Guanqi a questioning look. He narrowed his eyes, silently warning her not to act rashly. His gaze shifted to the cages Pan Yi’s group had brought with them, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

Boom boom boom!

One cultivator after another broke through under this surge of power. Some even triggered heavenly tribulations as they crossed into entirely new major realms. Wild laughter rang out as many stared at Cizhi’s projection in the sky with fanatical devotion. Worship of Cizhi reached its peak.

Pan Yi opened his eyes. His vital force fluctuated violently. He exhaled a breath of turbid qi, then rose and bowed deeply toward Cizhi’s projection.

Pan Yi, kneeling on the ground, said solemnly, “Please allow me to present my finest offerings to you!”

Cizhi smiled without a word, giving only a slight nod. His eyes shimmered.

Pan Yi quickly ordered his men to bring the cages forward and open them. Several demonic beast carcasses lay inside.

Li Guanqi frowned. They were merely ordinary tier-six demonic beasts, with nothing remarkable about their breeds or bloodlines. They were even inferior to the beasts he himself had offered.

Yet, he could clearly sense that Cizhi was far more interested in these particular demonic beasts. Pan Yi had his men lift the carcasses out and carry them toward the array, preparing to cast them in.

Li Guanqi’s eyes flew wide open. He hadn’t released his divine consciousness, yet he detected a trace of a familiar aura inside the carcass of a Crimson Blaze Pyre Spider.

“Don’t move!”

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s power erupted to its limit, then dipped slightly. For reasons unknown, Sword Spirit had drawn out all the power he and Meng Wanshu had just absorbed.

Apart from the immortal projection overhead, no one in the area could match Li Guanqi’s pressure. In a single instant, he suppressed the entire city. Every commoner fainted on the spot, their eyes rolling back.

Meng Wanshu’s terrifying frost power spread across the city as she transported the commoners into her domain. More than three hundred thousand people vanished, leaving the city utterly deserted.

Apart from several hundred cultivators, everyone else had disappeared. The scene left the onlookers stunned, unsure of what Li Guanqi intended.

Pan Yi’s face changed drastically. He coldly stared at Li Guanqi and said icily, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Li Guanqi stared back with a frigid expression and sneered. “What do I think I’m doing? Heh, you look rather frightened.”

Cizhi’s expression darkened. He slowly leaned down to peer at Li Guanqi, his pressure intensifying as he spoke coldly. “Boy, are you set on opposing me? I’ve given you plenty of face. Don’t push your luck.”

Li Guanqi scoffed. “Dropping the act already? Oh... is it because there are no commoners left to impress?”

Li Guanqi’s aura exploded outward. In an instant, an irresistible force slammed the people of the Pan clan to the ground, shattering the stone tiles beneath them and pinning them in place.

Liu Qin and the others turned pale with shock at the sight, finally realizing the true extent of Li Guanqi’s cultivation. Still, Liu Qin stepped forward and said coldly, “Fellow Daoist, please watch your words! Do not offend the immortal!”

Li Guanqi’s gaze turned icy, and he roared, “Get lost!”

Squelch!

Two arcs of lightning-infused sword qi tore through the void, leaving long black cracks in their wake as violent sword intent surged into the sky. The plaza split into three sections. Liu Qin’s arms, along with his shoulders, fell to the ground.

Blood sprayed in every direction as the old man’s body was flung backward. Li Guanqi’s powerful aura radiated outward, and he ignored everyone present, including the hostile pressure emanating from Cizhi’s projection above.

Li Guanqi advanced one step at a time against the immortal’s power, which rivaled that of a Mahayana Realm cultivator. When he reached the Crimson Blaze Pyre Spider’s carcass, he slowly extended a hand and formed a blade of sword qi, his expression grim.

Pfft!

The sound was like leather being sliced open. A wet splatter followed as a figure encased in a sticky white membrane tumbled from the demonic beast’s abdomen.

Li Guanqi stared at the membrane-wrapped figure. His throat bobbed, his chest heaved, and his breathing turned ragged.

“Xuan Lin...”

Li Guanqi could never have imagined that things would come to this.

Xuan Lin had been turned into a limbless torso.

Li Guanqi finally understood what Liu Qin had meant when he said the immortal would surely be satisfied. A descendant of a Qilin bloodline was a valuable sacrifice indeed.

A cold smile spread across Li Guanqi’s face as he looked up and met Cizhi’s eyes. “You sanctimonious hypocrite...”