A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Saber and sword clashed relentlessly, shattering more and more of the void overhead. Almost simultaneously, both men unleashed their vital force domains.

“Metal Slaughter!”

“Sword Prison!”

Boom! Boom!

Before Luo Changqing could act, Li Guanqi pulled Luo Siyang into his domain. Razor-sharp metal-element power clashed with the destructive force of Li Guanqi’s Sword Prison as the two domains ground violently against each other.

Qin Wushang retreated another several hundred zhang with his wine jug and plate of melon seeds. He spread his vital force domain in a ten-zhang radius around himself. “My, my. Are they getting serious? I wonder if they’ll draw everyone else here. Now that would be interesting.”

A thunderous explosion erupted. Luo Changqing was blasted several hundred zhang backward. His sword arm trembled uncontrollably, while blood from the split webbing between his thumb and forefinger ran down his saber and dripped to the ground.

Li Guanqi had not emerged unscathed. A wound on his shoulder ran all the way to the bone, staining his robes red. Luo Changqing, however, had fared far worse. Several savage sword wounds marred his chest, and a palm-length gash ran across his neck. Had he dodged a fraction slower, the strike would have taken his head.

It was clear who had the upper hand.

Luo Changqing licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes turning cold. A metallic sweetness spread across his tongue as he stared at Li Guanqi, who stood calmly before him.

Luo Changqing’s expression had never been more solemn. “I underestimated you. I thought you were merely a spoiled young master sheltered by powerful elders. Seems I was shortsighted.”

Then he murmured with a hint of self-mockery, “Then again, someone who earned the title ‘Yanluo Sword’ through slaughter could hardly be so shallow.”

Li Guanqi didn’t respond. He had never cared what others thought of him.

Luo Changqing slowly removed his outer robes, revealing a lean, muscular torso covered in wounds. His muscles tensed as he gripped his saber. “Since this battle is unavoidable, let’s stop holding back.”

Qin Wushang’s expression changed. From his distant vantage point, he called out gravely, “Luo Changqing, think before you act! Once you go that far, neither of you will be able to stop! Apologize now, and you might still be able to settle this!”

A blood-soaked phantom manifested behind Luo Changqing, waves of terrifying saber intent rolling off it. He glanced at Qin Wushang with a sneer. “Cultivators clash all the time. So what if one of us dies?”

Qin Wushang shook his head helplessly. “What a fucking idiot. Does he actually think I’m worried he’ll kill Li Guanqi?”

He shrugged and transmitted his voice to Li Guanqi. “Be careful. Among all of us candidates, Luo Changqing is the only one who entered the Dao through slaughter.”

Li Guanqi gave a derisive laugh. “Entered the Dao through slaughter?”

Boom!

Terrifying saber intent shot skyward. As Luo Changqing’s pressure spread, the heavens themselves seemed to turn blood-red. The nauseating stench of fresh blood filled the air, and red light flashed in his eyes. Mountains of corpses and a sea of blood seemed to surround him.

Throughout a ten-li radius, every flower, blade of grass, and tree slowly withered as though the bloody aura were draining away their vitality. Every demonic beast within ten thousand zhang fled in terror, their stampede making the earth shake.

Even Qin Wushang frowned at that terrifying killing intent, though something else he sensed troubled him more. “Has he also reached the third level of the Spirit Comprehension Stage recently?”

He looked down at the fine saber cuts appearing on the back of his hand. His brow furrowed. That power had reached him through the barrier he had casually put up.

Seeing Li Guanqi lost in thought, Luo Changqing sneered. “There’s still time to surrender. I can spare your life.”

Li Guanqi turned toward Qin Wushang. With the dead branch in his left hand, he pointed sideways at Luo Changqing, looking puzzled. “This is what you call entering the Dao through slaughter?”

“Are you looking down on me?” Luo Changqing asked coldly.

Li Guanqi shrugged. “You’re not completely stupid, then. Yes, I am.”

Killing intent far stronger than Luo Changqing’s burst from Li Guanqi.

Boom!

His eyes became bloodshot, and dark crimson light burst from his body. He drew the power of the sword spirit void into himself and activated all three of its abilities at once. The abilities did not strengthen him directly. Instead, they allowed him to unleash a trace of the aura from the projection of Sword Spirit’s true form.

Boom!

Dark crimson light spread in waves like ripples across a lake. Luo Changqing’s body went rigid as though he had plunged into an endless ice abyss.

The next instant, the blood souls of countless powerful experts began to appear around Li Guanqi. Shrill screams of agony rang from the purple-black tower hanging at his waist as lightning crackled without end. Inside the tower, countless souls writhed and wailed beneath the relentless punishment of heavenly lightning.

A towering crimson phantom stood behind Li Guanqi. Though it remained perfectly still, unimaginably powerful Sword Soul Realm sword intent soared into the heavens, and a streak of blood-red light pierced the thick storm clouds above.

Lightning flickered around Li Guanqi’s left hand. With the dead branch as its frame and vital force as its edge, he formed a four-chi lightning sword. He stood proudly, his gaze cold and the sword angled toward Luo Changqing’s forehead.

“To me, you aren’t even worth mentioning,” Li Guanqi said.

Only then did Qin Wushang let out a long breath. He stared at Li Guanqi, his mouth slightly open. “Hah. That pressure is fucking intense! Luo Changqing’s so-called entering the Dao through slaughter is a joke. That large phantom behind Li Guanqi must be the immortal whose projection he slew, right?”

Luo Changqing had never felt so humiliated. Li Guanqi had dismissed the thing he took the greatest pride in.

Boom!

Killing intent flooded Luo Changqing’s eyes. He roared furiously, “Li Guanqi! You’re courting death!”

Lightning flashed beneath Li Guanqi’s feet, and he vanished. His lightning sword assailed Luo Changqing with a storm of slashes. Sword light and saber light crisscrossed the sky, their collisions tearing the clouds apart. Even the stray bursts of power that escaped their clash were terrifying, obliterating everything they touched.

Qin Wushang narrowed his eyes as he watched. “Still hard to say who’ll win. Senior Hong Zhi’s candidate for Saber Leader should have more to offer than this. But Li Guanqi has changed. Two years ago, I could still see through him. Now, even I can’t quite figure him out.”