Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi solemnly recalled the man’s last words. He had said that something would appear at the bottom of the lake, though he never mentioned what.

After witnessing the shocking pillar of light, Li Guanqi hesitated only briefly before deciding to investigate. It was most likely a treasure, and he couldn’t pass it by.

It would certainly be dangerous, but if he avoided every conflict, how could he ever grow stronger?

Pulling on his black cloak and suppressing his aura, Li Guanqi moved stealthily through the night toward the source of the light.

Along the way, he relied on his powerful divine consciousness to evade the many demonic beasts in the area. Beneath his hood, his brow furrowed. So many demonic beasts… but why are they behaving as if nothing happened? Could it be that the light wasn’t a treasure after all?

It was strange. Normally, demonic beasts would have already rushed toward such a phenomenon. After all, they relied on mature natural treasures to advance their cultivation.

Nearly every spirit herb in the mountains had a guardian beast. They would begin guarding the plants while they were still immature, then consume them once they had fully ripened.

Compared to humans at the same cultivation level, demonic beasts lived far longer. And to break through quickly, they had little choice but to fight one another. Their battles were usually far more direct and brutal than human conflicts.

Yet Li Guanqi encountered beast after beast that seemed entirely uninterested in the pillar of light.

Puzzled, he pressed on.Ye Feng had only just awakened and was in no condition to help, so it was better to travel alone.

Before long, his sharp senses detected other cultivators heading in the same direction. He immediately concealed both himself and his aura.

Soon, he spotted a party of three cultivators hurrying forward with solemn expressions.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. Clearly, many others had seen the light. All around, more and more auras flared within the forest, all headed in the same direction.

He quickly reached the outer edge of the valley where the pillar had risen. He could sense more than a hundred subtle auras around him.

Suddenly, a thunderous boom shook the depths of the valley. The ground quaked violently as a colossal hand seal, a hundred zhang wide, materialized in the sky and came crashing down.

An aged voice roared, “Great Brahma Palm!”

Boom!

The pressure that followed was terrifying. Li Guanqi groaned under the weight, and all the cultivators hiding in the surroundings fell from the air.

It was a pressure exerted by a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator.

Above the valley, a thin old man with white hair glared down with killing intent, then struck his fly-whisk toward the ground.

Then, a woman’s voice rang out, “Blizzard Slash!”

From within the valley, gigantic blades of icy sword-light erupted across space. The temperature plummeted, and Li Guanqi felt as though he were standing in the heart of a raging snowstorm, each breath sharp with cold. And yet, the icy slashes shattered inch by inch beneath the falling palm seal.

Boom!

A middle-aged woman in a blue dress appeared in the sky above, clutching an ice-blue sword.

“Get lost, You Daozi!” the woman said, glaring at the old man resentfully, as though his arrival had taken her off guard.

Li Guanqi realized that many of the cultivators had begun to retreat. A clash between two Divine Transformation Realm experts was no trivial matter. Anyone caught up in it would die without even leaving a corpse.

They understood the difference between spectating for fun and suicide.

Still, many chose to stay.

Li Guanqi watched with narrowed eyes. The old man clearly held the upper hand.

The old man’s gaze swept over the hidden spectators. He frowned slightly.

Li Guanqi’s heart lurched. Without a second thought, he darted away, no longer caring if he exposed himself.

Boom!

He launched himself off a tree, which exploded into splinters. Li Guanqi shot forward like a fired cannonball, his sprint technique carrying him so fast that afterimages trailed in his wake.

The old man, You Daozi, looked down coldly and muttered, “Hmph. Far too many ants watching…”

He gently flicked his fly-whisk.

Whoosh!

The fly-whisk, originally no larger than a horse’s tail, suddenly erupted with millions of threads that burst outward in every direction. The threads stretched and thickened until they became deadly pillars capable of killing.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The wet sounds of threads punching through flesh filled the air, and still they kept growing, tearing violently through everything in their path.

In just the blink of an eye, the old man had killed dozens of Golden Core Realm cultivators.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Several of the deadly threads streaked toward Li Guanqi’s back. Lightning sparked beneath his feet as thunder crackled around him. Even at full speed, he could see the killing threads closing in from the corner of his eye.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Boom boom boom!

Sweat streamed down his forehead. He flickered through the forest, using his sprint technique to change positions again and again, but the threads refused to relent.

Thud!

One thread slammed into his sword box, and Li Guanqi rode the impact to launch himself a hundred zhang away.

The old man frowned but didn’t dwell on it.

He turned and looked at the woman a hundred zhang away, then burst into laughter. “The Blizzard Slash, Cheng Yun. Hand it over to me, or else… Hehe.”

Cheng Yun’s face turned pale. She did not know how he had discovered her secret, but there was no mistaking it.

She looked at the jade slip in her hand. No matter what, she would never surrender it. Inside was a priceless sword technique.

Her gaze hardened. Without a word, she turned to flee.

You Daozi looked utterly confident. He raised his hand and whispered, “Seal.”

Boom!

A vast barrier, a thousand zhang across, descended from the sky, trapping the two of them inside.

The last impact had knocked Li Guanqi out cold. He slowly regained consciousness.

When he saw the barrier right in front of him, he couldn’t help but curse. He was also trapped inside.

So that was why the old man had slaughtered everyone else nearby.