Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The longer the Daxia Sword Sect disciples fought, the fiercer they became. Adrenaline coursed through their veins, dulling their pain and making their eyes bloodshot with fury. All they could think about was how to kill more enemies.

On one side, morale soared. On the other, it crumbled.

No matter how much the Purple Sun Pavilion elders yelled, more and more of their disciples started to retreat behind the safety of the Purple Sun Pavilion’s barrier.

While the Purple Sun Pavilion’s disciples continued wearing down the vital forces of their enemies, the Purple Sun Pavilion deployed over a hundred spirit gathering arrays across the ground below. Dense clusters of spirit stones lay scattered around each array, allowing their disciples to continuously replenish their strength.

In contrast, the Daxia Sword Sect disciples had to rely on their spirit stones at hand to replenish their vital force.

Li Guanqi and the others were fully aware of how the battle was unfolding above.

“We need to move faster. If this drags on, we’ll lose!” Xu Zhengjie commanded, his voice low and tense.

The three of them shot off like shadows, racing toward the back mountains.

Suddenly, a rip opened in the fiery vital force domain above. A figure in purple Daoist robes—Han Tiange—burst through and scanned the surroundings with divine consciousness. His face darkened.

At first, he hadn’t understood why the Daxia Sword Sect’s disciples were positioned so far from the sect grounds. Then he noticed how some of them kept glancing down toward the mountain range.He extended his divine consciousness, and there it was: a cluster of Golden Core Realm cultivators hidden below.

“Search the mountain range! Kill them!”

Tens of Golden Core Realm cultivators shot out of the Purple Sun Pavilion’s barrier. Every one of them was powerful, and the weakest was at the mid Golden Core Realm.

Lu Kangnian’s eyes widened in shock. He had not expected the Purple Sun Pavilion to hold such reserves, and he had never seen those cultivators before. A wave of panic rushed through him as a bad feeling washed over him. Hurry!

The eight small teams were moving at full speed. After a moment, several voices came from his jade slip.

—The Heavenly Metal Peak team has arrived at the location! Hurry!

—The Heavenly Wood Peak team has arrived! But I think we’ve been discovered. Damn it! They’re here!

—The Heavenly Water Peak team will be arriving in thirty seconds! But they’ve found us!

—The Heavenly Earth Peak team has arrived! They haven’t found us so far!

As more updates poured in, Li Guanqi extended his divine consciousness across a radius of a hundred zhang.

Suddenly, he surged forward, overtaking Xu Zhengjie to take the lead. He transmitted, “Let me lead!”

Li Guanqi had recently come to realize that his divine consciousness far surpassed that of his peers. Xu Zhengjie could only extend his to fifty zhang, while most early Golden Core Realm cultivators managed thirty. Yet Li Guanqi had easily achieved that range in the Foundation Building Realm.

All Sword Spirit said in response was that he was extraordinarily talented, but she did not elaborate.

Li Guanqi leaped off the branches and changed directions several times. The three of them flew low through the jungle, constantly dodging the trees ahead. Although Li Guanqi could keep track of the Purple Sun Pavilion’s movements, avoiding them was still quite tricky—more and more cultivators were heading in their direction.

Their position had been exposed, perhaps because the other teams had been compromised.

Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed. This was the sixth time he’d changed direction. He clenched his jaw, preparing to pivot again when Xu Zhengjie called out, “We don’t have time!”

Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll only face two enemies if we continue in this direction, but one of them has a powerful aura!”

Xu Zhengjie said without hesitation, “Charge ahead! We’ll face them directly! I’ll cover for you!”

Then, he tossed the storage ring at Li Guanqi. There was no need for him to verbalize his intention.

The two streaks of light in the sky above suddenly stopped. They looked down at the pitch-black forest below.

“There!” one of them shouted.

Boom!

Three sharp sword lights sliced through the darkness.

Li Guanqi lunged, his Red Lotus Sword a blur. The blade nearly pierced through his opponent’s neck, but the man dodged just in time. The sword stabbed through his left shoulder instead.

The attacker grabbed the blade with one hand and slashed at Li Guanqi’s neck with the other, the strike fast enough to sharply whistle through the air.

Li Guanqi’s eyes glinted coldly. Vital force surged through him, and the Red Lotus Sword flared with a strange red light. He grabbed his sword with both hands and flicked it upward.

Pfft!

Blood sprayed everywhere. The Red Lotus Sword had cut through the attacker’s shoulder, slicing off his entire shoulder and arm.

But another sword came hurtling toward Li Guanqi’s back. He turned, too late to fully dodge.

Thud!

Xu Zhengjie slammed into him from the side, knocking him away. The sword meant for Li Guanqi struck Xu Zhengjie’s back instead.

The other Daxia Sword Sect disciple was now battling the one-armed attacker.

Xu Zhengjie unleashed a powerful aura and fought with the second assailant, an elderly man, without hesitation.

Both of them were late Golden Core Realm cultivators, so their attacks were equally terrifying.

Without even turning around, Xu Zhengjie shouted, “Go!”

Li Guanqi heard updates from other teams through his jade slip, reporting that they had arrived at their assigned locations, though all the transmissions were extremely chaotic. It seemed like the Purple Sun Pavilion was attacking every team now.

He stopped hiding and transformed into a streak of purple light, charging toward his assigned position, which was just a hundred zhang away.

The second attacker roared, “They’re here! Kill that blind kid!”

Nearby, disciples in the sky came down in streaks of light.

Li Guanqi’s white eyes were now bloodshot. He sprinted north like a madman.

Whoosh!

The ring on his left hand flashed. A massive purple Lightning Bow appeared, mounted atop a hill.

“Heavenly Lightning Peak in position!”

His jade slip flashed consecutively.

“Fire!”

Li Guanqi gripped the bow with both hands, pouring a tremendous amount of vital force into it.

Suddenly, his divine consciousness picked up on a youth at mid Golden Core Realm hurling a silver spear at him, full of rage.

Without thinking, Li Guanqi leaped and twisted in the air, still clutching onto the bow.

The spear burst into flames and struck the bow’s base, shattering it on impact.

Li Guanqi’s chest tightened. He gripped the bow tightly.

He heard the shouts from the other teams in his ear.

“Fire!”

Li Guanqi panted heavily and took a deep breath. A black orb appeared in his left hand. He infused it with vital force, and it transformed into a suit of black armor that covered his entire body.

Boom!

His aura surged, reaching its peak.

The youth picked up his spear with one hand and looked at Li Guanqi coldly. He snickered. “Let’s see how you’ll fire the bow without its base!”

Li Guanqi leaped into the air, drew the one-zhang-long arrow as thick as a man’s wrist, and crouched low. Planting both feet on the bow itself, he gripped the thumb-thick bowstring with both hands. Spirit qi surged through him, and arcs of lightning crackled from the bow.

“Ahhh! Haaaarggghh!”

He pulled the bowstring.

The black armor began to crack, unable to withstand the force. A faint golden glow emerged from the etched patterns on the armor.

The bowstring, made from an unknown material, started to slice through the armor.

Blood streamed from his nose and gums. But he held his ground, bracing his feet against the bow.

“Open! For! Me!”

Boom!

Seven colorful lights shot across the sky toward the Purple Sun Pavilion’s protective barrier.

Li Guanqi roared as he pulled with all his might. The armor shattered, and the bowstring dug into his flesh. But Li Guanqi pulled until his entire body was as straight as an arrow, the Lightning Bow pulled to its absolute maximum.

Looking back at the other youth, the bleeding Li Guanqi snickered. “Are you watching?”

Thud! Boom!

The purple arrow shot out of the bow with incomparable power.

Eight streaks of light flew toward the barrier, followed by an explosion that shook the heavens.

The Purple Sun Pavilion’s barrier shattered.