Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi hesitated for only a moment before steadying his heart and mind. He straightened his back and strode with firm steps into the grand hall.

The doors were thick and imposing, heavy with solemn dignity. The high threshold nearly reached his knees. As he crossed it, a mysterious force swept over his entire body.

In an instant, the dimly lit hall blazed with light. Thousands of oil lamps flared to life, and luminous stones of all kinds bathed the chamber in brilliance. At last, Li Guanqi saw the old man seated atop the high platform.

The elder wore a plain white robe and cloth shoes. Though simple, the robe shimmered with drifting cloud patterns. His frame was thin and his eye sockets slightly sunken, yet his eyes gleamed with wisdom.

He had a high nose, thin lips, and a goatee. His half-white hair carried the weight of a long and storied life. His voice was gentle, and when his cloudy eyes met the youth approaching him, they held undisguised fondness.

He rose slowly from a golden throne and beckoned with one hand. “Come closer, young one. Let this old man have a better look at you.”

Li Guanqi did not move. He remained roughly seven zhang from the platform. The old man only smiled, saying nothing further.

Li Guanqi bowed respectfully, though he was puzzled inwardly. How could a mere Sword Dao inheritance manifest such a lifelike elder? It felt far too unnatural.

A trace of unease crept into Li Guanqi’s chest, but the old man showed no ulterior motives. Stroking the armrest of his throne, his gaze softened with nostalgia and drifted toward the doorway, unfocused and distant.

He murmured, “My name... is Li Qingcheng. The world once called me the Grand Sword Immortal, or Thunder Sword Li Qingcheng.“At the peak of the Righteous Thunder Sect, we had thirty thousand disciples, and twelve Divine Transformation Realm peak masters. Each morning, even ten li away, you could hear the voices of the disciples training in unison!”

Li Qingcheng slowly turned to look at Li Guanqi and smiled. “What do you think of that?”

Caught off guard, Li Guanqi quickly answered, “A truly great sect!”

He wasn’t lying. If the elder’s words were true, the Righteous Thunder Sect had indeed been extraordinary. But the elder’s expression soon dimmed. He stepped down from the platform, his gaze never leaving Li Guanqi.

The towering white jade pillars around them—so massive they would take several men to encircle—seemed to shrink beneath the weight of his presence. With each step the elder took, his slightly stooped frame seemed to grow taller and more imposing. Every step echoed in rhythm with Li Guanqi’s heartbeat.

Soon, the elder loomed like a mountain, the oppressive pressure choking the very breath from his lungs. Then came a familiar crackle of thunder.

A terrifying aura erupted from the old man. In an instant, the entire illusory sect collapsed, its dozens of li crumbling away.

A vast and overwhelming sword intent surged toward Li Guanqi like a raging sea, wave after wave, threatening to shatter his will.

It was so fierce that the elder’s hunched back straightened with pride. Li Guanqi trembled. He had never felt such a horrifying force of will.

It was a thunderous destruction. The lightning element’s essence lay in its wild, apocalyptic ferocity—unmatched in speed, and incredibly lethal.

At that moment, Li Guanqi finally understood what sword intent truly was: an ethereal, profound extension of a swordsman’s very will.

But… something felt off. For all its power, the sword intent felt incompatible with him.

The elder smiled kindly. “Little one, I don’t yet know your name.”

Li Guanqi tried to remain composed. He replied with feigned nervousness, “Junior... Li Daniu.”

The old man chuckled and let it pass. Perhaps names no longer mattered to him.

He looked at Li Guanqi intently and said, “Though we’re separated by millennia, we now stand face to face. We share the same elemental affinity. This is fate.

“Young man, are you willing to accept my inheritance?

“To one day spread the name of my thunder sword across the world?”

Li Guanqi immediately put on a show of humility and replied, “Senior, this junior would be honored to carry on your legacy.”

Li Qingcheng’s face lit up with satisfaction. He raised his arms, and his powerful sword intent engulfed Li Guanqi.

“Open your mind. Guard your divine gate! Use your entire being to feel my sword intent. Accept it wholeheartedly!”

His voice carried a strange persuasive force. Almost without resistance, Li Guanqi opened his mind fully.

Suddenly, a cunning glint flickered in Li Qingcheng’s eyes. Li Guanqi caught it, his sharp divine consciousness missing nothing.

Before he could react, Li Qingcheng’s immense sword intent bound him, and deep purple lightning flooded his body.

Crack!

Lightning raged through him. The sheer force split Li Guanqi’s skin open in an instant.

“Ugh—!”

Even with his mental fortitude, he couldn’t hold back a groan of agony. The pain was too real, as though his actual body had entered the mysterious space.

Li Qingcheng’s solemn voice rang in his ears. “Endure! You must grasp my sword intent within this power. Fail, and your soul will be lost forever!”

Li Guanqi gritted his teeth as the force tore his black robe to shreds. The blood-red mark on his back flickered faintly before dimming.

Countless bolts of lightning tore across his flesh, agony surging over him again and again. Amid that pain, he faintly sensed the sword intent hidden within the lightning.

Yet the more he tried to comprehend it, the more wrong it felt.

He realized it didn’t suit him. More importantly, the old man wasn’t just testing him. He truly wanted him to absorb it.

The lightning and sword intent looked brutal, but they were pure essence. They were so pure that even a half-decent cultivator could have absorbed them without effort.

And that, to Li Guanqi, was the most suspicious thing of all. It was just too generous.

Yes, it was overly selfless, almost to a fault.

A cultivator who had once shaken the world, leaving behind a conscious fragment of his soul? Already unnatural.

And that same cultivator was offering his life’s inheritance without reservation. There had to be something more.