Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

As Li Guanqi stepped into the Scripture Pavilion, he couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled.

Why was such a powerful hidden expert sitting so blatantly at the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion? On the other hand, the cleaner, whom he had assumed to be an expert in disguise, turned out to be nothing more than an ordinary cripple.

The Scripture Pavilion had an incredibly high ceiling, and the air was bone-dry, likely due to some method used to protect the cultivation manuals and secret techniques from moisture damage.

The first floor was vast and open, with neatly arranged bookshelves packed densely together. Each shelf was labeled according to the type of cultivation techniques it held.

At the moment, there were only a dozen or so sect disciples scattered around, browsing through the selections.

When he ascended to the second floor, he immediately noticed that there were far fewer books there. Only a handful of bookshelves remained, and just two or three disciples were present. Among them was the senior brother who had spoken to him earlier.

Upon seeing Li Guanqi, the senior brother enthusiastically waved and smiled. “Junior Brother, there are some excellent lightning-element techniques over here! They are even Upper Yellow Tier techniques, which are very suitable for you.”

Li Guanqi smiled in embarrassment and pointed upstairs. “Thank you, Senior Brother, but I’m headed to the third floor.”

The senior brother’s hand froze in mid-air. He had spent over a year accumulating 1,500 contribution points just to gain access to the second floor. The third floor required a minimum of 3,000 points!

Noticing his disbelief, Li Guanqi quickly explained, “Senior Brother, you misunderstood. I don’t have that many points.”The youth’s expression eased, and he chuckled.

“I thought so. Junior Brother, you just joined the sect. There’s no way you’d have enough points to enter the third floor already. The good techniques on the first floor only cost 300 to 500 points, and they’re quite decent. The second floor requires at least 1,000. You should check the southeast corner downstairs for something suitable.”

Li Guanqi appreciated his kindness. Since he was being so enthusiastic, Li Guanqi didn’t want to brush him off. Shrugging helplessly, he said, “Sect Master Lu Kangnian made an exception and allowed me to go up and choose.”

Their conversation had already drawn the attention of the nearby disciples.

At Li Guanqi’s words, all eyes turned toward a certain disciple from Heavenly Wood Peak.

The Heavenly Wood Peak disciple was a full-grown man, but he now had teary eyes and was biting his lower lip. He followed Li Guanqi’s departing figure with a deeply resentful gaze.

As soon as Li Guanqi stepped onto the third floor, a shimmering light barrier blocked his path. Above, glowing stones cast a soft radiance, scanning the jade slip at his waist. Once verified, the barrier opened to let him in.

The sight that greeted him on the third floor utterly shocked him.

There were no bookshelves on this floor. Instead, the entire space was empty, with countless glowing motes of spirit light drifting freely in the air.

To his surprise, he was not alone on this floor. A tall and slender young man stood in the middle of the room, his features strikingly handsome. His golden hair was particularly eye-catching.

This was none other than another disciple who had joined the sect at the same time as him.

The young man had sharp, sword-like eyebrows and deep, captivating eyes. A small mole on the bridge of his nose made his appearance even more unique, giving him a somewhat bewitching charm.

A look of surprise flashed in the young man’s eyes. He hadn’t expected anyone else to be there.

He slowly approached Li Guanqi and smiled slightly. “Hello, I’m Ye Feng from the Heavenly Metal Peak.”

Li Guanqi glanced at the exceptionally good-looking young man and instinctively rubbed his nose. Wow, this guy looks so flashy. He’s probably super popular with the female disciples at Heavenly Water Peak.

Despite his thoughts, he returned the smile. “Heavenly Lightning Peak, Li Guanqi.”

Ye Feng chuckled. “I’ve heard of you. A Saint Spirit Root, huh? I’m truly envious. With my King Spirit Root, I barely caused a stir after you stole the spotlight.”

Li Guanqi smiled outwardly but rolled his eyes inwardly.

This guy clearly loved being the center of attention. But because he had tested his Spirit Root after Li Guanqi, no one had paid much attention to him.

Ye Feng pointed at the floating spirit lights and grinned. “How about a little bet? Let’s see who can grab the highest-tier technique.”

Li Guanqi wasn’t sure why Ye Feng suddenly felt the need to compete with him.

“Nothing better to do, huh? Sure, why not,” Li Guanqi replied.

Ye Feng’s eyes lit up with excitement. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out over a hundred low-tier spirit stones.

He grinned at Li Guanqi. “Compared to your talent, I’m still far behind. But I’ve already started sensing the surrounding spirit qi. I should be able to begin the Qi Absorption by tonight.”

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. Why does this guy insist on comparing himself with me? Does he not know I reached the first level of Qi Refinement at Heavenly Water Peak?

Since Ye Feng was so eager to compete, Li Guanqi decided to play along. He pulled out a similar number of spirit stones from his storage bag and placed them on the ground.

He feigned frustration and sighed. “Ugh, I’m not that talented. I still haven’t sensed any spirit qi. Let’s just bet these hundred spirit stones.”

A sly glint flashed in Ye Feng’s eyes. He pretended to hesitate before saying, “Ah, then wouldn’t I be taking advantage of you? Tell you what—I’ll only take half the spirit stones if I win. But if I lose, you can have all of mine.”

Li Guanqi acted embarrassed. “How could I possibly agree to that? A bet is a bet—”

“Alright! We’ll do it my way!” Ye Feng cut him off with a decisive wave.

Little did he know, his antics made him look like a complete fool to Li Guanqi.

The method for obtaining the spirit lights was simple—once someone stepped onto the platform, they had 30 minutes to catch as many as they could.

The techniques ranged from the Lower Black to Top Black Tiers.

Normally, it would take over a year of completing sect missions just to earn enough points to access this floor.

Ye Feng extended his hand gracefully. “Would you like to go first?”

Li Guanqi hesitated. “Why don’t you go first? I doubt I’ll be able to catch anything.”

To Ye Feng, this was a sign of Li Guanqi’s complete lack of confidence.

Feigning reluctance, Ye Feng said, “Alright, I’ll go first. This is mostly about speed.”

He leaped and landed firmly onto the platform.

Li Guanqi smacked his lips. Ye Feng’s body tempering was indeed solid, so it was no wonder he was so self-assured.

However, he was still curious. Had Ye Feng really not heard about what happened at the Heavenly Water Peak that day?

Wait... unless... All the disciples were there that day, except those who were late. Could it be that this guy was late on his first day and didn’t even bother entering?

Dozens of glowing spirit lights of various colors zipped through the air at high speed..

Ye Feng moved swiftly, his golden hair flowing behind him. He used the surrounding walls as footholds to chase after the spirit lights.

Yet every time he was about to catch one, the lights would suddenly dart away—it was far trickier than he had expected.

It turned out Li Guanqi’s guess was correct. Ye Feng had no idea Li Guanqi had broken through to the first level of the Qi Refinement Realm. He hadn’t just been late that day—he had completely overslept.

Another disciple had given Ye Feng his Qi Refinement Sutra after class.