Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Lu Kangnian accepted their gifts, overwhelmed with emotion. “Don’t worry! I will lead the Daxia Sword Sect to glory, because…”

His voice began to tremble. He pointed at the bloodied disciples gathered below, his eyes blazing brighter than ever. “Because I have them! With disciples like these, I truly believe the Daxia Sword Sect will one day stand at the pinnacle of the cultivation world!”

Kong Yan and the others nodded firmly. He was right. In this group of disciples, they saw a unity and passion they had never witnessed before.

Kong Yan said, “You can handle the rest on your own. I have matters to attend to in the Taiqing Territory. Farewell.”

Tu Shan and Cui Quan also nodded and bade Lu Kangnian farewell.

Lu Kangnian clasped his hands and bowed. The three took their leave, and many disciples quickly followed suit, offering hurried farewells as they departed.

But not all. Many remained, wanting to revisit the sect grounds.

Lu Kangnian waved a hand and shouted, “Some of you may stay behind to clean up the battlefield. The rest of you, follow me back to the other three sects! When we get to those sects, any disciples who refuse to obey shall have their cultivation crippled!”

He had intended to personally lead the march, but Ling Daoyan stopped him. Lu Kangnian had been pushing himself past his limit, and collapsing now would be a disaster. Ling Daoyan gripped him by the shoulders and said, “It’s alright. Leave the rest to us. Just bring the disciples back so they can get treated.”

Lu Kangnian staggered, then nodded after a moment’s thought. He led the disciples back to the sect, their swords carrying them through the air. The vast procession filled the sky, making for a breathtaking sight.Li Guanqi left without taking anything.

The three-zhang-tall flag still stood atop the main hall of the Purple Sun Pavilion, announcing to all that the Daxia Sword Sect had claimed victory. All the elders and peak masters had already rushed off toward the other three sects.

The Daxia Sword Sect faced no obstruction on their journey back. Many factions watched them from afar with reverence in their eyes.

The disciples of the Daxia Sword Sect were covered in wounds. Their white robes were torn and bloodstained, but they stood proudly, their backs as straight as blades.

Victory had come after two brutal battles in a single night.

Everyone had assumed the fighting would stop once the Purple Sun Pavilion retreated. But to their astonishment, the initially weaker Daxia Sword Sect had launched a counterattack and taken the war to the enemy. The ferocity of the retaliation exceeded all expectations.

They watched, dumbfounded, as eight arrows shattered the Purple Sun Pavilion’s barrier—and were even more stunned by how the Daxia Sword Sect had rallied its old disciples.

Many sects had emergency callback protocols, including the Purple Sun Pavilion. However, they were little more than words on paper in most places. Those who’d left were often far away, emotionally detached from the sect and reluctant to return, especially when the summons came with the risk of death from fighting a vague threat.

That was what made the Daxia Sword Sect’s response so extraordinary.

In a single day and night, they had changed how the entire cultivation world saw them. Everyone could now see the momentum behind their rise. No obstructions would block their way.

People began treating Daxia Sword Sect disciples with newfound respect—and caution.

News spread like wildfire throughout the Daxia Territory: the Daxia Sword Sect had destroyed the Purple Sun Pavilion overnight. The old saying “Three Sects and Six Pavilions” was quietly replaced by “Four Sects and Five Pavilions.” The newcomer was, of course, the Daxia Sword Sect.

Though they still weren’t as powerful as the original three sects, everyone knew the Daxia Sword Sect was on the rise.

The other sects that had tried to exploit the chaos vanished from the Northern Territory that same night: the Seven Strings Sect, the Azure Dragon Island Sect, and the Purple Cloud Sword Sect.

The disciples of these three sects dispersed. They had been crippled, severing their paths to cultivation. Their territories were absorbed into the Daxia Sword Sect’s domain.

All the disciples and elders who had remained behind stood among the rubble on Heavenly Sword Peak. As Lu Kangnian and his sword-flying army gradually appeared on the horizon, they cried out, “Raise your swords! Welcome the sect heroes!”

Clang!

Everyone pressed their swords to their chests. “Welcome back, heroes of the Daxia Sword Sect!”

In that moment, they were heroes. All the disciples who were still at the Qi Refinement Stage gazed at them with shining eyes, their longing for strength burning brighter than ever.

Lu Kangnian was nearly unconscious by the time they arrived. He couldn’t speak. Ling Daoyan quickly arranged for someone to take him away, then started giving out instructions.

The elders dispensed healing pills as everyone tended to the wounded disciples.

Li Guanqi had relatively minor wounds, so he continued to help out until midnight. But grief gnawed at him. Elder Xu, the thin old man who had taken him on his first flight, was dead.

If only he were as strong as those three who had appeared at the end. If only he had the strength of that old man, Kong Yan, who had struck down Han Tiange in an instant…

Everything would have been different.

But the world had no “what ifs.”

***

That night, sorrowful cries of grief swept across the Daxia Sword Sect. The disciples mourned.

One hundred seventy-two Foundation Building Realm disciples. Forty-nine Golden Core Realm elders and disciples. Gone.

As the wind howled, Li Guanqi pulled the collar of his robes tighter and squatted in front of a tombstone.

Disciple of Heavenly Earth Peak, Lin Dong.

Died in battle against the Purple Sun Pavilion.

He leaned on the stone and poured a cup of good wine. Tilting his head up to the moonlit sky, he murmured, “Dongzi… It’s my fault. I can’t believe you left us so soon. If I had known, I would have brought you to ‘cultivate amongst mortal distractions’ first.”

Throughout the sect’s graveyard, countless others whispered to the dead. Here and there, a muffled sob echoed in the air.

Ye Feng stood in front of another gravestone, flowers in hand.

His face was covered in cuts, but he had changed into his favorite golden robes. Wordlessly, he placed the flowers down.

He opened his mouth to speak, but tears spilled from his eyes before any words could come. His shoulders shook, and then he broke down completely, his sobs growing louder and more desperate.

That night, no one in the sect could sleep. The lights stayed on till dawn.

At daybreak, Ye Feng approached Li Guanqi.

He placed an incense stick on Xu Zhengjie’s grave and said hoarsely, “Did Zhong Lin not come to see Dongzi?”

“He hasn’t woken up yet,” Li Guanqi replied softly. He turned to look at Ye Feng, whose swollen eyes mirrored his own, and added, “I’m getting ready to leave.”

“Oh… Huh? What?!”

Ye Feng looked up at him, and the pitch of his voice grew higher. “You’re leaving?”

Li Guanqi looked at the morning sun on the horizon and nodded. “Yeah. I want to go see the outside world.”

Ye Feng murmured, “Are you just going down the mountain? Or are you leaving the sect to train?”

Li Guanqi glanced at him but said nothing.

Ye Feng sat down beside him and gazed at the beam of sunlight breaking through the clouds. “Then I’m coming with you.”

Ignoring the surprise on Li Guanqi’s face, he continued, “I’ve seen you as our group’s boss for a long time. I don’t care. If you’re leaving, I’m coming with you.”

Li Guanqi broke into a grin and gave his shoulder a pat. “Alright.”