Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Early the next morning, when Li Guanqi arrived at the training arena, he found Lin Qingyu already waiting for him. She was dressed in a snug, tight-fitting white martial arts outfit that accentuated her graceful figure.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and a faint mist lingered in the air.

As she turned to look back, Lin Qingyu smiled softly and asked, “Didn’t expect you to be this early. Where are the others?”

Li Guanqi shrugged. “They’re all getting ready for the selection matches.”

He didn’t waste words. “Senior Sister Lin, shall we spar a little to warm up?”

Lin Qingyu nodded, her smile fading as she grew serious.

Clang!

With a flash of blue light, she drew a water-blue longsword and said softly, “Spirit artifact. It’s called Clearwater.”

Li Guanqi smiled helplessly. “Senior Sister, no need to be so formal. We’re just sparring casually.”

But Lin Qingyu answered solemnly, “When crossing swords with someone, even in practice, it’s the minimum show of respect.”Left with no choice, Li Guanqi drew his own sword and said quietly, “Soul artifact. Name, Emerald Wolf.”

Lin Qingyu’s eyes widened in astonishment. “A soul weapon? Yours is a soul weapon? A true magical treasure?”

Li Guanqi simply nodded.

Lin Qingyu looked at him with admiration. “This spirit sword is already the best my master could find for me. I didn’t expect that not only did you awaken a sword spirit void, but you even obtained a soul-level magical treasure.”

Li Guanqi shrugged, offering no further explanation. “Come on, then.”

He shifted slightly and shot forward in the blink of an eye.

Blue light flickered under Lin Qingyu’s feet as she instantly leaped backward with her footwork technique. Her expression sharpened—she realized that Li Guanqi’s speed wasn’t using footwork techniques. It was pure speed, pure strength. The realization shook her.

Li Guanqi smiled faintly, impressed that Lin Qingyu’s footwork technique was actually quite advanced.

Boom!

The ground shattered beneath his foot as he burst forward, appearing behind Lin Qingyu in a flash. The hilt of his sword pressed lightly against her waist.

Lin Qingyu froze mid-motion, her counterattack unfinished.

She lowered her sword and spoke, her voice low and subdued. “I lost...”

Li Guanqi said nothing. In his view, Lin Qingyu, like most of the sect disciples, lacked real combat experience. She could react well but lacked the skills to follow through.

But then Lin Qingyu asked softly, “How did you manage that feint?

“That move of yours shouldn’t have allowed you to get behind me.

“And... why is your sword so fast?”

Just as Li Guanqi opened his mouth to answer, a scornful voice rang out from the edge of the Martial Arena.

“A simple trick. He just sold it by fully shifting his weight onto his right foot.”

Li Guanqi frowned and turned toward a scruffy man lying on the ground in the corner. What’s he doing here?

Gao Qiwen lifted the straw hat from his face and sneered, “But a trick like that only fools little girls. Any real expert would see right through it. At best, you’d run straight into their blade.”

Li Guanqi’s frown deepened. He couldn’t understand why Gao Qiwen was dismissing his moves so readily.

He shrugged and turned to Lin Qingyu. “I’ll be heading off first. If you have time, try challenging the Sword Tower. At your current level, it’ll be a good experience.”

Li Guanqi understood that sparring with Lin Qingyu wouldn’t help him improve; it was more like mentoring her, hence his suggestion for her..

Gao Qiwen snorted coldly from the side. “Sword Tower puppets are useless. Just lifeless things with no brains.”

With those words, Gao Qiwen limped out of the arena.

Li Guanqi frowned again as he watched him leave, feeling a strange unease in his chest. The man’s words echoed something Sword Spirit had once told him. However, Sword Spirit had praised him for reaching that level, so why did Gao Qiwen treat it like garbage?

Even his master and Elder Xu Zhengjie had praised his feints. That only made him more curious about the scruffy janitor from the Scripture Pavilion.

He turned to Lin Qingyu. “Senior Sister, do you know anything about Gao Qiwen’s background?”

Lin Qingyu shook her head gently. “No, I haven’t been in the sect for long either. I just know he’s always been like that.”

After they parted ways, Li Guanqi didn’t go watch the selection tournament. Gao Qiwen’s words lingered in his mind. Sword Spirit was still absorbing vital force and couldn’t respond to his calls.

Li Guanqi first planned to fly straight back to Jade Teapot Peak, but he changed course mid-flight for Heavenly Pillar Peak.

When he arrived at the Scripture Pavilion on the Heavenly Pillar Peak, he found only Old Ling there.

Li Guanqi bowed deeply. “Disciple Li Guanqi greets Elder Ling.”

The old man reclined in a rocking chair, sipping wine from a gourd. He smiled. “What’s this? Come to the Scripture Pavilion to trade sword techniques?”

Ling Daoyan thought Li Guanqi was there to use connections to get a new sword manual, but to his surprise, the young man shook his head and asked softly, “Elder Ling, may I ask where Senior Brother Gao is?”

Ling Daoyan was momentarily stunned, then asked, “Senior Brother Gao... you mean Qiwen?”

Li Guanqi nodded.

Ling Daoyan chuckled. “Let me guess, he called you trash again?”

Li Guanqi looked a bit embarrassed. While Gao Qiwen hadn’t said exactly that, the meaning was basically the same.

Ling Daoyan sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before saying, “He’s watching the Tournament of a Hundred Sects selection on the Heavenly Sword Peak.”

Li Guanqi nodded in understanding, then left and flew toward the Heavenly Sword Peak.

When he arrived, he saw a vast plaza crisscrossed with arrays. Inside each one, sect disciples fought fiercely, while elders from every peak took notes from the sidelines.

In a corner, he spotted the familiar figure of Gao Qiwen, looking forlorn and sipping wine from a nearly empty jug. The man shook the jug, coaxed a single drop out, and quickly caught it with his tongue.

Li Guanqi flicked a hand and tossed over a fresh flask of spirit wine. Gao Qiwen caught it without a word, blinking in surprise.

Even so, Li Guanqi caught a hint of disappointment in Gao Qiwen’s eyes.

He stepped closer and asked quietly, “Do you think I’m trash?”