Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi examined the beast core for a long while, only to find nothing remarkable about it. Though it contained great power, a cultivator could not directly absorb it. Even if one tried, the body had no way to refine it into usable power.

This was why many array masters and talisman masters used beast cores as mere auxiliary power sources. Their energy was fundamentally different from the vital force cultivators relied upon.

Suddenly, a vibration rippled through his mind. The Lightning Dragon egg within his sword box stirred, as if it had sensed something it desired.

Li Guanqi closed his eyes and sank his mind into the space within the sword box. Inside, the beast core appeared in his hand. He crouched before the dragon egg, now nearly waist-high.

He smiled. “What? You want this?”

The dragon egg trembled and its purple scales glowed, as if in response to his question.

With a chuckle, Li Guanqi tossed the core toward it.

A flash of purple lightning lanced through the beast core, drawing out all its stored energy and channeling it into the egg.

Before long, the tier-three beast core was completely drained.

The egg trembled again, as if unsatisfied. Li Guanqi slapped it lightly and scolded, “You little glutton! Still not enough? Do you have any idea how much that core was worth? A tier-three beast core doesn’t come cheap. You’re nothing but a prodigal brat! Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you know! When are you going to hatch?”The dragon egg floated in the air, then bumped against him, as if begging.

Resigned, Li Guanqi sighed with a wry smile. “Fine. Next time I hunt demonic beasts, I’ll save the beast cores for you.”

He exited the sword box, still smiling bitterly. A tier-three beast core was worth no less than ten thousand low-grade spirit stones, and this one was from a Shadow Panther. The allure of beast cores was one of the reasons cultivators risked their lives in the Hell Mountains.

One successful trip could provide enough resources for several months. And if someone killed a few fellow cultivators along the way, the spoils would be even greater.

As night fell, Li Guanqi and Ye Feng settled into cultivation. The chorus of insects and distant beastly roars filled their ears.

Two tier-two demonic beasts prowled nearby during the night.

When morning came and they awoke, both felt a faint increase in strength.

Ye Feng’s eyes were bright. “Boss, the spirit qi in the Hell Mountains is so much denser than outside.”

Li Guanqi nodded. He felt it too. “We’re here to temper ourselves, not to bathe in spirit qi. Let’s keep moving.”

Ye Feng agreed. They donned their black cloaks and erased all traces of their stay before leaving the cave.

If they were cautious, perhaps no one would find them.

Caution was second nature to Li Guanqi by now. Whenever he ventured outside, he took care never to expose himself through careless oversights.

The two wove quickly through the forest, heading deeper into the mountains. They passed countless tier-one beasts and a fair number of tier-twos, but they ignored them. Such creatures weren’t worth their time.

By the time the sun was high overhead, they had reached a region three hundred li deep into the Hell Mountains, where cultivators gathered in the greatest numbers. Tier-three demonic beasts and small hunting parties were common sights in the area. In the span of just a few dozen li, they had already run into three hunting parties.

They avoided the other cultivators. They didn’t have any interest in unnecessary encounters.

Now, hidden within the thick trunk of an ancient tree, they peered toward a mountain pass. Furious roars echoed from within, and many hunting parties rushed toward it.

Ye Feng’s eyes gleamed as he sent a voice transmission. “Boss, there must be something good in there!”

Li Guanqi didn’t bother stating the obvious. After a moment’s thought, he replied, “Let’s take a look.”

He had sensed a powerful fluctuation of vital force from the pass, likely from some rare natural treasure. To refine a batch of Longevity Pills, he still needed seven or eight such natural treasures. The rest of the ingredients were relatively easy to find.

They concealed themselves and their auras as they crept towards the mountain pass.

Along the way, Li Guanqi spread his divine consciousness outward, covering a radius of a hundred zhang. Within half an hour, he detected seven teams heading toward it. Most of the teams had three people, so there were over twenty cultivators in all.

When they arrived, the surrounding trees were already crowded. By Li Guanqi’s quick count, nearly forty cultivators had gathered, and they were all at the Golden Core Realm.

Nascent Soul Realm experts would be much farther in by now. Anything in the outer regions of the forest no longer caught their eye.

Li Guanqi and Ye Feng slightly differed from the others because they wore black cloaks and had non-prominent auras.

Many people seemed to be familiar with each other.

A one-eyed man swept his gaze around and laughed. “Well, well! So many familiar faces! Looks like a fight’s inevitable today.”

A young man with a folding fan sneered from tens of zhang away. “One-Eye, don’t tell me you think you can take the Purple Sun Immortal Fruit for yourself. I’m afraid you don’t have the skill for that.”

One-Eye would not stand for an insult like that. “Hehe, since when did a useless pretty boy get so bold? I was hunting these mountains when you were still playing in the mud!”

The crowd erupted in laughter.

Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up. The Purple Sun Immortal Fruit? I can’t believe there’s one here!

Ye Feng looked equally shocked. “Gulp… The Purple Sun Immortal Fruit! Eating one is worth ten years of cultivation! If I had one now, I’d break through instantly! Boss, what do we do?”

Li Guanqi smirked mysteriously beneath his black hood.

Looking at the tens of Golden Core Realm cultivators around, he licked his dry lips and sent Ye Feng a voice transmission. “What do I think? We’ll snatch it, of course! Since we’ve already embarked on this journey, we shouldn’t waste this opportunity! We’ll snatch it!”