A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Sword Spirit’s icy voice echoed in Li Guanqi’s mind, her fury barely contained. “I know what that spirit light was now... It’s a faith parasite! A species that had been eradicated even in the Immortal Realm!”

Li Guanqi asked quickly, “Faith parasite? What is that?”

Sword Spirit laughed coldly. “They were exterminated in the Immortal World tens of thousands of years ago. I never imagined this so-called Seven Treasures Pavilion would still have some! The spirit light may seem like a powerful tonic, but that’s only an illusion. Before long, the invisible parasites will begin devouring everything within their hosts. Eventually, they will multiply uncontrollably and gnaw away at their divine souls. Once the process begins, nothing can stop it. They will continue until they have completely replaced the host’s divine soul. At that point, anyone short of the Immortal Realm will end up a puppet of the parasites’ master.”

Sword Spirit’s voice dropped to an icy murmur. “If my guess is correct, very few people in Qixia City live past a hundred. This realm exists for one purpose: to conceal his aura and erase their memories. These ignorant townsfolk think they contract some new illness every ten years, but what they’re experiencing is the parasites reaching their limit. That is also why he descends once every ten years. He needs to harvest the power the parasites have accumulated.”

At last, Li Guanqi understood the full picture. The immortal’s blessing was a complete and utter fraud.

Li Guanqi lowered his head. His laughter grew stranger and harder to read.

Cizhi looked down from the heavens, gazing upon the masses below. Watching the tiny Li Guanqi laugh coldly, he asked with idle curiosity, “What are you laughing at?”

Li Guanqi smiled coldly and slowly drew the Red Lotus Sword. He didn’t notice the gravity settling into Cizhi’s stare. “A hypocrite draped in the vestments of divinity, whispering words that sound pure and holy. Manipulation in the guise of compassion, using so-called ‘blessings’ to win hearts and control mortals. Behind all those radiant clouds and blinding light lies nothing more than a hunger for power and dominion.”

He bestowed his blessings not out of genuine concern for the world, but because they offered a subtler and more effective means of harvesting the people’s praise and worship. Behind the man’s elegant rhetoric and saintly halo lurked hypocrisy and self-interest, reducing the “immortal’s blessing” to an empty name.

The greatest gifts immortals bestowed upon mortals were often nothing more than beautiful illusions, dreams woven from manipulation and deceit.

“Sword Spirit, can I slay an immortal?”

Sword Spirit burst into laughter. It was a strange laugh, carrying an emotion that was difficult to place. It sounded as if she had just heard the funniest thing imaginable.

Sword Spirit’s calm voice resonated through Li Guanqi’s mind. “The old you couldn’t. Now, the Red Lotus Sword carries the divinity I’ve bestowed upon it. A mere projected clone? What’s there to fear? Remember this. With me by your side... even immortals can be slain!”

Sword Spirit’s voice carried pent-up fury and confidence that seemed to defy all reason.

An aura both foreign and familiar suddenly surged from Li Guanqi’s body. It was Sword Spirit’s own power, only this time, she had lent it to him directly. She had even disguised its true nature, making it seem as though it emanated from the Red Lotus Sword, while leaving Li Guanqi in complete control.

Heaven and earth responded at once. A blood-red stain seemed to spread through the pitch-black clouds overhead.

High above, Cizhi looked down at the Red Lotus Sword in Li Guanqi’s hand, his brows furrowing slightly as a flicker of puzzlement he couldn’t name passed through his eyes.

Then a trace of amusement crossed his gaze, and he sneered. “You... don’t actually intend to raise your hand against me, do you?”

Every cultivator watching swallowed hard. If it had been anyone else standing beneath the immortal, not even a Mahayana Realm cultivator would have dreamed of attacking an immortal’s projection.

But this was Li Guanqi. With him, the question was not whether he would attack. He absolutely would.

Li Guanqi stood tall and proud in the center of the plaza, the Red Lotus Sword shifting from his right hand to his left. His white robes billowed as an invisible pressure spread outward.

Cizhi shook his head with a cold smile. “You truly overestimate yourself... You’re nothing more than a Combined Body Realm cultivator, an existence no greater than an ant. Do you really think a mayfly can topple a tree?”

As he spoke, Cizhi casually raised a hand. An irresistible force tore open the realm space where Li Guanqi had hidden Xuan Lin and dragged Xuan Lin into the air.

Li Guanqi’s face paled. He hadn’t expected the immortal to possess a mysterious power capable of bypassing his control entirely, forcing open his realm space, and seizing Xuan Lin outright.

Then Li Guanqi let out a cold snort. Lightning crackled beneath his feet, and he shot upward, snatching Xuan Lin from the air.

Cizhi watched without the slightest urgency, peering down at Li Guanqi with an amused expression. “Do you have any idea how laughable everything you’re doing looks to me? It’s no different from you, as you are now, looking down upon some insignificant Golden Core Realm cultivator who dreams of defying you.”

The moment he finished speaking, a boundless, world-crushing pressure came down from the heavens.

Li Guanqi’s face drained of color. As he stood in midair, his body buckled beneath an immense force, as though ten thousand mountains had been piled onto his shoulders.

He lost control and plummeted toward the ground. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Boom!

A crater a hundred zhang wide tore open in the plaza. At its bottom, Meng Wanshu wiped a trickle of blood from her lips, then pressed both hands against Li Guanqi’s back. “Are you okay?”

Li Guanqi barely paused. His vital force went berserk, roaring through his body. The Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra activated at full power. His blood and qi thundered through him, and a deafening blast erupted from the depths of the crater.

Boom!

The crater collapsed another several zhang. At the same time, Li Guanqi hurriedly spoke through voice transmission. “Leave this to me. Find a way out of here!”

Savage sword intent burst outward, and a crimson phantom appeared behind Li Guanqi. His icy killing intent grew so dense that it nearly solidified in midair. He threw back his head and roared, “Strike!”

Boom!

Roar!

A deep, resonant dragon’s cry split the air. Nine Heavens tore through the void in his massive form and appeared beneath Li Guanqi’s feet. The terrifying roar made the demon beneath Cizhi flinch and recoil.

Cizhi’s expression turned cold. He struck the demon’s skull with his heel, sending blood splattering through the air, then straightened and looked down. “Useless creature. There is an entire realm between you and that dragon. Why are you afraid?”