Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

With the crisis resolved, Ye Tianying was all smiles. Absent during the chaos, his first and second wives were relegated to the sidelines at the celebratory banquet.

Li Guanqi spotted Ye Feng’s two older brothers, who had reached the Qi Refinement Realm. Despite coming from a family that ran a spirit herb business, they’d only reached the fourth level. There was a huge gap in talent between them and Ye Feng.

As Li Guanqi observed them, he realized that while the two brothers maintained a friendly demeanor, they were unmistakably envious. Still, they knew better than to act on it. In a large family, knowing how to read the room was essential. And now, the atmosphere allowed no room for even a single stray thought.

Only Su Xi remained by Ye Tianying’s side throughout the feast. She wore a lavish outfit and elegant makeup, appearing far more sophisticated than the two official wives, whose heavy makeup did them no favors.

Ye Feng clung to Li Guanqi during the entire feast, dragging him around to drink. Flushed and slurring from the wine, he said, “Guanqi... if it weren’t for you... I wouldn’t have known what to do! I’ve decided! You’re marrying my little sister! From now on, you’re my brother-in-law!”.

As he spoke, he tugged Li Guanqi toward Ye Qing’er. His drunken declaration was so loud that Ye Qing’er heard it from another table. She blushed and began tugging nervously at her sleeves, but she didn’t run. She stood frozen, her cheeks burning.

Li Guanqi quickly dragged Ye Feng away.

***

That night, the Qiongtai Mountain Residence shone brightly under the lantern lights, and the air was thick with joy and celebration.

Li Guanqi and Ye Feng flew up a mountain on their swords, looking down at the land below. A gentle breeze at the summit sobered even Ye Feng. He lay down and tucked his wine bottle behind his head as a makeshift pillow.Gazing at the stars above, he murmured, “Li Guanqi, you know... all my life, I thought my father didn’t care about me—that he was going to cast us aside. But after today, I’m not sure I know him at all.”

Li Guanqi said nothing. Even if he wanted to comfort Ye Feng, he didn’t know what to say.

As they looked down at the bright lights, Li Guanqi replied, “Your father was willing to empty the family’s coffers to pay Zeng Shuheng one million spirit stones. That has to count for something.”

Ye Feng let out a soft sigh. “Yeah... I thought he would choose to sacrifice Qing’er for the family’s sake.”

Li Guanqi smiled and looked at him. “So you don’t hate him anymore?”

The corners of Ye Feng’s lips curved upward. “Not as much as before. We’ll have to see how he behaves going forward.”

After a long pause, Ye Feng murmured, “Thank you.”

***

By dawn, the guests were prepared to depart. Ye Tianying had prepared an azure-colored storage ring for Ye Feng.

Handing the storage ring to Ye Feng, Ye Tianying said, “With Elder Tu as your master, your cultivation journey will be smooth. You needn’t worry about family matters. Just focus on your cultivation.”

He continued, “There is a jade bottle inside. Give it to your friend later. He did us a huge favor, so we can’t send him away empty-handed.”

Ye Feng nodded and said, “Father... treat my mother well.”

With that, he bid his parents farewell. Together, the Daxia Sword Sect’s members returned to their sect.

Upon arrival, they found the inner sect abuzz with excitement. Li Nanting chuckled. “The sect received two secret realms, thanks to you both. We’re currently preparing a site for them. Once it’s ready, we’ll select a group of inner sect disciples to enter for training. The site should be ready in seven days.”

Li Guanqi grinned and nodded, thinking to himself, Since I’ve made such a huge contribution, they won’t charge me points to enter the secret realm, right? If they ask me to pay, I’ll feel cheated.

Ye Feng followed Li Guanqi back to Heavenly Lightning Peak. Annoyed, Li Guanqi snapped, “Why are you following me? We’re back already!”

Ye Feng latched onto his arm, resting his head on his shoulder and rubbing against it. He whined playfully, “Aww~ why so mean? We just got back and you’re ignoring me already~”

Disgusted, Li Guanqi shoved him away and gave him a kick that nearly knocked him off his sword. “Get away from me! That’s disgusting. If you’re into men, I’ll find you a few muscular ones later.”

Ye Feng glared at him with mock anger, pointing at him in a feminine manner. “Hmmph! Men are garbage! And to think I was going to give you the thousand-year jadeite essence my father gave me...”

They kept joking around all the way back to Heavenly Lightning Peak. As soon as Li Guanqi stepped into the courtyard, Yu Sui’an looked up and asked, “Why’d you punch him?”

“He was asking for it,” Li Guanqi replied, his expression dark.

The blond-haired Ye Feng now had a black eye. He made a face at Yu Sui’an, then tossed a jade bottle at Li Guanqi. “Drink that as soon as you can. It’s great for cultivation.”

Li Guanqi caught it and asked, “Don’t you want it?”

Ye Feng turned and waved him off dramatically. “My master gave me something better.”

Whoosh! Ye Feng flew off on his sword

Yu Sui’an scrambled up onto Li Guanqi’s back and tugged at him. “Fly! Fly! Take me flying! I’ve been so bored without you around.”

Suddenly, Li Guanqi asked, “You’ve reached the second level of the Qi Refinement Realm?!”

Yu Sui’an was nonchalant about it. She explained very confusingly, “I don’t know what happened either. Basically, I was running around on the street when I suddenly noticed green light dots around me, so I caught them and put them in my mouth... then I reached the Qi Refinement Realm.”

Li Guanqi was surprised to discover how talented she was. She was not even seven years old yet. What do you mean?! You ran around and suddenly reached the Qi Refinement Realm...?

Li Guanqi took her flying for a while, then put her to sleep before walking around his backyard. After that, he left Heavenly Lightning Peak on his sword.

Above Heavenly Sword Peak, several elders could be seen carrying large boulders toward the mountain. Seeing this, Li Guanqi decided to change his direction and headed towards the back of the sect, passing by Thousand Peak Mountain.

This place was called Thousand Peak Mountain because it was made of countless protruding stone pillars, which made it look like it had a thousand peaks. Disciples who reached the Foundation Building Realm often chose one of those peaks for closed-door cultivation.

After that, Li Guanqi spotted another mountain about five hundred zhang tall. Through the drifting clouds, he saw that the mountain peak was very flat, with a large, natural pond on top.

Whoosh!

He landed slowly on the peak and took out his jade slip, which told him it was a mountain called Jade Teapot Peak. No disciple had claimed it yet, so he marked it as his chosen location for cultivation.

The mountain’s flat top was a hundred zhang in radius, and the ten-zhang-wide pond was on its edge. Mist swirled around the peak, and he could hear the occasional bird.

Standing on top of the mountain, Li Guanqi felt very satisfied. He murmured to himself, “Tomorrow, I’ll get someone to carve a spirit-gathering array here, then I’ll build a small wooden house. In the future, I’ll be able to practice my martial arts and conduct closed-door cultivation here.”