Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

One of the Purple Sun Pavilion disciples removed his outer robes and shoes. Wearing only his inner clothing, he stood at the edge of the pond and took a deep breath. He was a Purple Sun Pavilion disciple, but he was still nervous.

Slowly, the young man stepped into the pitch-black water. It rippled as though alive, curling around him.

Three breaths later, he leaped up on the altar with bright eyes and a clear mind.

The disciples from the Myriad Sword Sect and Purple Cloud Sect glanced at Li Guanqi, their gazes flickering with killing intent.

Li Guanqi turned to meet their gazes, but they all turned and looked away.

“Trash,” Li Guanqi muttered.

The leader of the Myriad Immortal Sword Sect’s team flew into a rage, glaring fiercely at Li Guanqi. “Hmmph! So what if you killed a Purple Sun Pavilion disciple? What makes you so arrogant? Let’s see how cocky you are when you find nothing in your spirit void.”

Li Guanqi suddenly took a step forward in the direction of the two sects, and they all took several steps back in fear. He smiled, keeping his eyes on the disciple who’d spoken.

“What is your spirit root?”

“Hmmph! Wood Heavenly Spirit Root!”Li Guanqi snickered, then pursed his lips and mused, “Hmm... That’s quite impressive.”

The other person suddenly grew more confident and asked sarcastically, “Why? Is your spirit root terrible, perhaps?”

Li Guanqi gave him a strange look and replied with utmost seriousness, “No way... No way! You guys don’t know I have a Lightning Saint Spirit Root? Tsk, tsk. The Myriad Immortal Sword Sect’s intelligence network is a joke.

“You’re not still using carrier pigeons, are you? Or do you just shout across the mountains when you need to send someone a message?”

They all looked like they had swallowed a mouthful of poop.

Li Guanqi ignored them and turned to Ye Feng. “Stay far away from the Myriad Immortal Sword Sect and Purple Cloud Sect in the future.”

Ye Feng replied with equal seriousness, “You’re right. They’re both incompetent and not very bright.”

The disciples of the Myriad Immortal Sword Sect began to breathe heavily upon hearing the indirect insults.

Their leader pointed at Li Guanqi with a trembling finger. “I’d like to see if you can even open your spirit void!”

Before long, the disciple on the altar underwent a chilling transformation. His breathing slowed, growing deep and steady as if deeply asleep. A black dot appeared between his brows, expanding at a visible pace until it became a gaping hole the size of a fist.

A shiver ran through the crowd. Yet, the young man’s breathing remained unchanged, seemingly unaware of what was happening to him.

The black hole at his forehead was hollow. Then, it gradually shrank until it vanished entirely. A while later, he opened his eyes.

His gaze was unfocused, as if unaware of what had happened. Without a word, he stepped down from the altar with a disappointed look.

The second and third disciples fared no better. One after another, more than a dozen people underwent the test, but not a single one found anything within their spirit voids.

Li Guanqi noted that the Purple Sun Pavilion disciples looked slightly younger than himself—talented, certainly, yet none possessed an artifact soul in their spirit voids.

Then he spotted Tang Ru, the plump youth who had organized the bets earlier. Tang Ru noticed him as well and gave a polite nod.

Li Guanqi returned a slight nod of his own. He didn’t particularly dislike Tang Ru—he had honored his bet and pooled money to settle his debts after the fight.

“There’s something! There’s something!”

All eyes snapped to the altar. A tall disciple’s spirit void revealed an object within. But when Song Ru saw what it was, he sighed in disappointment. The object was nothing but a battered rock—not even a weapon or a tool.

Tang Ru was the final disciple from the Purple Sun Pavilion. He removed his outer robes, but his innerwear barely covered his large belly. He covered himself awkwardly, his ears turning red with embarrassment.

The moment he stepped onto the altar, it looked cramped.

Ye Feng mused, “He’s... quite large.”

Tang Ru rolled his eyes. “Fuck off! This is called prosperity.”

The barrier closed. Tang Ru took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. His mind quieted quickly..

Li Guanqi realized that Tang Ru was a talented cultivator too.

Buzz!

Tang Ru’s spirit void started to open. While the other spirit voids were fist-sized, his was still expanding. The Purple Sun Pavilion elder clenched his fingers, staring intently at the scene.

Li Nanting explained in a low voice, “Only spirit voids with artifact souls expand. This guy should have something in his spirit void.”

Buzz!

The spirit void continued to widen, the nine stone pillars around him glowing. Soon after, the diameter stretched to the length of an arm.

A rectangular object emerged within. Holding their breath, everyone squinted at it through the hazy barrier.

Li Guanqi saw it through his heart’s eye. It was a golden abacus that even had glowing patterns, and each bead was bright and clear.

Clack clack!

The beads on the abacus clacked loudly and brightly as they moved. Six of the nine stone pillars flared with dazzling white light.

Then, the black spirit void disappeared, and the abacus shot into the space between Tang Ru’s eyebrows.

Everyone held their breaths, not daring to disturb him with any noise.

When Tang Ru opened his eyes, they shone with bright light. The visible blood vessels and muddiness were gone.

Song Ru laughed and cried happily, “Good, good! He has a level six artifact soul in his spirit void!”

Tang Ru, however, had other thoughts. As he slipped on his robes, he grumbled to himself.

He muttered, “I could’ve made more money from the recording crystals yesterday... If I’d made a few blurry ones to sell at a low price, I could’ve made even more money. Damn, why didn’t I think of that?”

Li Guanqi grinned. Tang Ru was going to be a great businessman.

Then, Song Ru said, “Let’s begin with the Daxia Sword Sect.”

The Daxia Sword Sect’s disciples all looked at Li Guanqi.

Li Nanting smiled. “Go ahead.”

Li Guanqi nodded. He took off his outer robes but did not put his sword box down.

The black water covered his entire body, but curiously, it never touched the sword box.

Moments later, Li Guanqi’s eyes snapped open, and he sprang onto the altar.