Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

At dawn, Li Guanqi bid Ling Daoran farewell and set off for the Xuantian Dynasty. He had already completed his mission along the way, but he decided to gather more intelligence on the dynasty.

Yet in every village and town he passed through, one name surfaced without fail—General Li Ren and his son, Li Shenzhi. At just fourteen years of age, the boy had already displayed extraordinary military talent.

Recently, the Xuantian Dynasty had taken an aggressive stance, actively declaring war and disrupting the balance between itself and the Boulder and Lion Dynasties. For years, the three powers had been locked in a stalemate, yet in the past two years, the Xuantian Dynasty had repeatedly incited border conflicts.

Li Guanqi frowned as he quickened his pace toward the capital. Something felt off. Why would a dynasty that had always prioritized stability suddenly become so ambitious?

He recalled conversations with his grandfather about the dynasties below the mountain. His grandfather had once said that most rulers only sought to defend their land, not expand it—unless they were born with an insatiable ambition.

By nightfall, Li Guanqi finally saw the grand and imposing capital of the Xuantian Dynasty in the distance. As he approached, he noticed an unsettling silence. The city was shrouded in darkness, with barely any lights in sight. A suffocating tension clung to the air.

Li Guanqi stared at the towering, tightly shut gates and sensed danger. He retrieved a shadow-extending stone from his robe and concealed it within his garments. He made his way to another entrance and then scaled the walls.

Swift and silent, he crossed the ten-zhang-high city walls, only to find an unusual number of guards patrolling the city. Fortunately, he had taken precautions and remained hidden from afar.

He took cover behind a watchtower and quickly changed into his night clothing. He used his divine consciousness to evade several patrol squads, moving through the city like a shadow. Finally, he leaped down from the city wall and disappeared into the darkness.

Thick clouds blanketed the sky and helped to obscure the moonlight. As Li Guanqi moved toward the city’s center, distant murmurs gradually became battle cries.He silently climbed onto the roof of a tavern. From there, he spotted a grand, brightly lit estate along a wide alleyway. There were thousands of soldiers encircling it, their torches flickering in the darkness. Even from a distance, Li Guanqi could smell a thick stench of blood.

He activated his divine consciousness and scanned the scene. The plaque above the estate bore two grand words: Li Mansion.

Li Guanqi’s heart skipped a beat. Could this be the home of the youth from before? The General’s Manor?

He expanded his divine consciousness further and soon spotted a grand imperial chariot drawn by nine horses. Beside the carriage, a middle-aged man with an otherworldly aura sat on a tall steed. Another sickly young man with a pale complexion stood at his side.

The sight of the young man sent a jolt through Li Guanqi. He had sensed this very aura at Drunken Flower Brothel before.

He swiftly withdrew his divine consciousness to avoid detection. The middle-aged man radiated an ominous presence—he was clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Memories surfaced of the Drunken Flower Pavilion, where that knife-wielding youth, Li Shenzhi, had stormed up to the third floor in pursuit of him.

Atop the courtyard walls of the Li Mansion, archers stood with bows drawn, ready to loose their arrows at a moment’s notice. In the courtyard below, dozens of silver-armored warriors formed a protective ring around Li Shenzhi and a resolute middle-aged man—General Li Ren himself.

Li Ren’s voice thundered with restrained fury. “Your Majesty! What crime have I committed for you to order the extermination of my entire household?!”

The occupant of the imperial carriage remained silent.

Li Ren’s blood boiled as he roared again, “Answer me! What crime have I committed?!”

The middle-aged cultivator sneered. “Li Ren, you colluded with the Lion Dynasty and plotted rebellion!

“Tonight, by the Emperor’s decree, I am to strip you of your military authority and execute your entire household as a warning to others!”

Li Ren laughed bitterly, and he gripped his blade tightly. He glared at the man, his voice filled with grief and rage. “Tang Chongqing! You despicable villain! You fabricate crimes at will!

“Your Majesty! If you fear my growing power, I will surrender my military seal and retire into the mountains.

“But if you cannot see the true traitor standing beside you, you are making a grave mistake, Your Majesty!”

The imperial carriage remained silent for a long time. Then, at last, a weary sigh finally drifted from within.

“Execute them.”

Li Ren let out a final, anguished roar. “Your Majesty!”

The archers loosed and filled the sky with their arrows. The warriors inside the courtyard stood their ground, determined to protect their general and young master.

One soldier called out, “General! That wretched Imperial Advisor has marked you for death! We will protect you and the young master with our lives!”

Tang Chongqing sneered. “What are you waiting for?! Li Ren has betrayed the dynasty. Execute them all!”

Li Shenzhi’s face twisted in fury. Blood already stained the courtyard, with over a hundred of their men having fallen. Fortunately, his father had foreseen danger and smuggled the women and children out of the city beforehand.

Li Shenzhi’s voice was cold and resolute. “Father, there’s no point pleading with the Emperor any longer. I believe he has already fallen under that traitor’s influence!”

From the rooftop, Li Guanqi pieced everything together. Cultivators from the mountains were interfering in mortal dynasties. This was a grave taboo in the cultivation world.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Hundreds of arrows rained down on the Li Mansion.

Li Ren’s face turned icy cold. “Shield formation! Fall back to the courtyard!”

The soldiers raised their shields with practiced coordination and formed an impenetrable wall. Step by step, they retreated into the inner courtyard, blocking most of the incoming arrows. The arrows struck their shields, trembling upon impact but causing little harm.

Tang Chongqing’s expression darkened. “Kill them all!”

A tide of soldiers surged into the courtyard. Blood splattered, and severed limbs flew everywhere as the battle raged.

At that moment, thunder rumbled across the sky, and torrential rain began to pour.

A lone figure dressed in white approached from a distant street. Li Guanqi stepped forward, his voice soft yet piercing.

“One of the forbidden laws of the cultivation world is that cultivators must not interfere in mortal dynasties.

“Do you understand your crime?”

Tang Chongqing’s body pulsed with vital force, repelling the raindrops before they could touch him. His eyes flashed as he coldly replied, “Where did this ignorant brat come from? You think you have the right to lecture me?”

Raising his hand, he gestured toward the hundreds of soldiers behind him. “Kill him!”

Boom!