Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi was taken aback to see priceless materials laid out carelessly on the ground for sale. Everyone carried a palpable aura of bloodshed, the sort of people who killed without hesitation. In such a place, killing over a minor quarrel was commonplace. Unlike the earlier ports teeming with petty criminals, this was no place for thieves.

Li Guanqi and Ye Feng, both cloaked in black hoods, had no intention of lingering. Just as they were about to leave, Li Guanqi noticed a shop dealing in information. He stepped inside and asked the man, “Do you have any jade slips about the Hell Mountains?”

The man laughed and pointed at the cheapest jade slip on the shelf. “You must have only just arrived. It’s yours for three low-grade spirit stones.”

Li Guanqi nodded slightly, handed over the stones, and quickly left the port with Ye Feng.

“Boss, we’ve got a tail,” Ye Feng whispered.

Li Guanqi smirked. “Just shake him off. We don’t know this place well, so we should avoid trouble.”

With a sudden burst of speed, they shook off their pursuer within moments.

The tan-skinned man who had been following them only grinned. “Impressive. Both of them are strong. Good thing they’ve got decent tempers, or I’d be dead already.”

With that, he left without a backward glance.

Li Guanqi relaxed a little as he watched him leave. He’d thought he might be the man who was pursuing Cao Yan, but it seemed he was merely an opportunist trying to take advantage of newcomers. Li Guanqi didn’t plan to retaliate.

Scanning the horizon, he spotted smoke rising dozens of li away. From the silhouette, it seemed like a medium-sized city.

They took to the skies and soon arrived above it. The density of cultivators was unusually high, with few ordinary folk in sight.

Ping’an City.

Li Guanqi looked up at the huge plaque above the gates, surprised that a settlement perched on the edge of such perilous mountains bore a name meaning “peace and safety.”

The entry toll was two spirit stones. With jade tokens tied to their waists, they entered the city. The city was filled with criminals and mysterious people, so it didn’t record names or identities. At most, visitors received a jade token that allowed them to move freely within the city.

Even though Ye Feng and Li Guanqi had been traveling for over a month, they didn’t plan to rest in the city. Instead, they found a teahouse, ordered a pot of the cheapest tea, and took a short break.

During the past month, they had grown stronger and stabilized their cultivation. Ye Feng had sparred against Li Guanqi many times, gradually refining his sword technique.

Once, he even let Li Guanqi test his own sword technique on him, but a single strike had nearly crippled him, even though Li Guanqi had suppressed his cultivation to the early Golden Core Realm. Ye Feng spent most of their journey nursing the injury.

Meanwhile, Li Guanqi had grasped new insights. He had merged every move of the Seven Killings Sword Sutra into one devastating attack.

His cultivation was also edging toward the peak of the Golden Core Realm, on the verge of its tenth level—the perfect Golden Core Realm.

Finally seated in the teahouse, Ye Feng leaned back with his cup. “Boss, when do we head into the mountains?”

“As soon as we can. We have no time to waste,” Li Guanqi replied.

Li Guanqi took out the jade slip he had bought and infused it with his divine consciousness. A flood of information surged into his mind. The detailed map alone was worth far more than three spirit stones. Just the hundred-li radius outside the Hell Mountains justified the price.

The first warning inside read: In the Hell Mountains, demonic beasts are not the greatest danger—humans are.

Li Guanqi could not help but smile. It seemed the person behind the jade slip had learned through bitter experience.

The Hell Mountains consist of three thousand gigantic peaks spanning over a thousand li. Tier-three and tier-four demonic beasts make up the majority. The exact number of tier-four and tier-five demonic beasts remains unknown.

The remaining information provided was just nonsense to Li Guanqi. At the end, there was a list of the most common natural treasures found in the area.

Li Guanqi was surprised. The list was the most valuable part of the jade slip aside from the map.

After memorizing both the map and the list of treasures, he said, “Let’s go. We’ll buy some insect repellent powder and head straight in.”

The teahouse was silent; everyone inside was using voice transmission to keep their conversations private. Li Guanqi had no interest in eavesdropping, so he was eager to leave.

Since they were cultivators in the Golden Core Realm, they no longer needed to eat and thus didn’t have to waste resources on food.

They left the city quietly and shot off toward the Hell Mountains.

The sky was darkening. Along the way, they passed many cultivators looking to hunt demonic beasts, though each party wordlessly veered off in different directions to avoid conflict.

The mountains echoed with the cries of insects and birds. They were not accustomed to the air. It was humid and had a rotting stench, clinging to their skin until they used vital force to drive off the moisture.

Li Guanqi observed his surroundings cautiously.

Roar!

A pitch-black panther suddenly burst from the bushes below, its monstrous jaws wide. Two sharp fangs jutted from its lower jaw as it leaped at Ye Feng.

Two black rays of light shot out of its mouth.

Ye Feng reacted instantly, leaping through the branches to evade the attacks, then slashing down with his sword. The blade struck the panther’s skull with a dull crack, leaving a deep gash but not cutting through.

“Cut its belly!” Li Guanqi shouted.

Ye Feng’s lips curled in a grin. Now that he knew its weakness, he darted in close and killed the beast in just two moves. It was only a tier-three demonic beast, but its speed had been formidable. Unfortunately for the panther, it had encountered Li Guanqi and Ye Feng.

They hacked at the carcass clumsily for valuables, then hurried off.

Not long after, another man arrived. Seeing the shredded remains, he muttered, “Such a waste!”

He squatted beside it and clicked his tongue. “Two sword strikes… Whoever did this is strong. If I meet them, I’ll see if I can recruit them.”

Meanwhile, Li Guanqi and Ye Feng had found a remote cave to clean their spoils.

Ye Feng held up the panther’s fur and laughed with delight. “Boss, this fur will fetch a hundred spirit stones! We’re gonna be rich!”

Li Guanqi smiled without a word, examining the beast core in his hand.