Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

That night, the entire Xuantian Dynasty was thrown into upheaval.

The Imperial Advisor, Tang Chongqing, was dead, and the charge of rebellion against the Li family had been lifted.

And the reigning emperor? A respected cultivator from the Daxia Sword Sect had temporarily stripped him of his throne.

Rain fell steadily as Li Guanqi disappeared into the storm, an umbrella shielding him from the downpour.

When he left the city, he found a cave to treat his injuries. Pale-faced, he removed his clothes and applied some golden herbal medicine.

After swallowing a healing pill, he felt the flow of vital qi within him gradually strengthen. He sighed in relief.

He sat with his back against the cave wall, finally able to catch his breath. I didn’t expect a Foundation Building Realm cultivator to be this troublesome. That vital force shield was a pain to break through.

Still, he was pretty confident that Tang Chongqing had been a rogue cultivator, unaffiliated with any sect. A disciple from an established faction would have known the unspoken taboos of the cultivation world. The man’s swordsmanship did not follow any specific style or lineage, and he relied purely on his sword skills.

Most tellingly, his vital force wasn’t too strong. He must’ve chosen to break through to the Foundation Building Realm when he reached the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm.

Li Guanqi sensed the emptiness in his dantian and sat down to cultivate.Unbeknownst to him, Sword Spirit had manifested behind him, nodding slightly in approval. Li Guanqi had shown extraordinary resilience and determination throughout his cultivation journey.

Li Guanqi had gained insights during the battle. He no longer desired dramatic sword techniques. Killing someone in one move was perhaps the best option, as it would significantly decrease his usage of vital qi.

The next morning, Li Guanqi hurried to the nearest port and boarded a cloud boat. It carried him into the skies, granting him a rare moment of peace.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, a streak of light flashed past. His eyes snapped open, and a figure slowly stepped through the boat’s barrier—Xu Zhengjie, the second elder of Heavenly Lightning Peak.

The captain quickly rose and bowed. “Greetings, Esteemed Cultivator!”

The other passengers followed suit.

Xu Zhengjie waved with a hand and helped them up. Then, he went to Li Guanqi’s side with a smile. “Hey, brat, I heard something happened. A Foundation Building cultivator making a mess with some royals?”

Li Guanqi nodded. “Did you really need to come personally?”

Xu Zhengjie laughed. “Yes. The Foundation Building Realm cultivator is minor, but choosing a new emperor is another matter. How are you? Did you get injured during the investigation? Did the cultivator notice you?”

Li Guanqi shrugged. “Uh... Second Elder, I... killed the Foundation Building cultivator.”

“What?!”

Xu Zhengjie’s voice rose an octave, then he scolded, “You brat, this is not a joke! You, a Qi Refinement cultivator, killed a Foundation Building cultivator?”

Li Guanqi replied truthfully, “He wasn’t very strong...”

“Even if he wasn’t, he was still a Foundation Building Realm cultivator!”

Before Xu Zhengjie could accept it, Li Guanqi leaned in and asked, “Will the sect give me a higher reward?

“Look, I’ve already killed the cultivator. All you need to do is head over and appoint the new emperor. You barely have to lift a finger. Surely that’s worth something?”

Xu Zhengjie laughed. “When you declined to join the inner sect, it must have been because of the points awarded for the outer sect examination! Old Li refused to believe it at the time, saying you only did it to win him over.

“Alright, you did well! Keep this to yourself for now. When you return, head straight to the Mission Pavilion to claim your points.”

Li Guanqi grinned. Huh, I just had to ask. It worked out just like that.

Xu Zhengjie tossed out a sword, ready to leave. Li Guanqi bowed. “Goodbye, Second Senior Uncle.”

Xu Zhengjie suddenly recalled something. He turned and asked, “Are you going to reach the Foundation Building Realm soon?”

Li Guanqi hesitated, then nodded. His bottleneck was already loosening.

Xu Zhengjie’s expression turned expectant. “Prepare well, then. As for your spirit void... it’ll depend on you.”

Then, Xu Zhengjie gently tore a gap in the boat’s barrier. He stepped on the sword and soared to the sky, heading toward the Xuantian Dynasty.

After his departure, the atmosphere aboard the cloud boat shifted. The passengers now regarded Li Guanqi with even more respect, though none dared approach when they saw him close his eyes to cultivate.

Li Guanqi disembarked at Port Serenity, the closest port to the Daxia Sword Sect.

The vendors on the street gently bowed as Li Guanqi walked past, carrying the sword box on his back. Li Guanqi merely smiled.

He did not linger, rushing back to the Daxia Sword Sect.

As expected, the points he received for investigating the Xuantian Dynasty had tripled. The administrator who transferred the points to Li Guanqi’s account looked at him wistfully, then whispered, “Junior Nephew Li, did you really kill a Foundation Building cultivator?”

Li Guanqi smiled enigmatically. He leaned in and whispered back, “Guess.”

When he returned to his courtyard, he saw Yu Sui’an standing on his roof. She was glancing around, as if searching for something. The moment she saw him, she leaped down.

“Li Guanqi! What took you so long?!”

Then, she stared at him and stretched both her hands out.

Li Guanqi laughed and said, “I brought you the buns! Come, let’s eat in the house.”

They both walked into the courtyard.

“Tsk tsk. Look at this gigantic meat bun from Moon Gazing City! And this one from Drunken—” Li Guanqi lightly coughed. “We’ve got some unique cakes too...”

Yu Sui’an took a massive bite of a bun, squinting her eyes in satisfaction. She mumbled, “This is delicious!”

“They’re all yours.”

She glanced up. “Where are you going?”

“To the spirit ascension platforms.”

***

Next to the multitude of cultivation rooms, Li Guanqi glanced at the points recorded in his jade slip. This time, he had earned six hundred points, bringing his total to one thousand eight hundred points. This allowed him to use a Black-tier spirit ascension platform for a month.

He gritted his teeth and spent seven hundred points on a Black-tier cultivation room.

The disciples of Daxia Sword Sect in this area didn’t have much time for socializing, as they were working hard on their cultivation. Their special examination system dictated that being ranked last twice in a row would result in expulsion from the inner sect.

It was why the outer sect disciples looked up to their inner sect with such reverence, which in turn motivated the inner sect members to push themselves even harder.

Everyone was rushing around, rarely stopping and even running when they needed to get somewhere. Li Guanqi also felt the pressure in this environment, especially when he saw inner sect disciples flying around on their swords.

He gritted his teeth. I must break through to the thirteenth level during this round of closed-door cultivation!

“Sword Spirit, are you there?”

“What do you want?” she replied.

“You don’t have to be so rude... I wanted to ask about the spirit void. What exactly is it?”