Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Zheng Shaohua’s face darkened. He swung his hand across her cheek.

Slap!

The girl toppled to the ground, lying limp as her face swelled. Blood spilled from her mouth and she spat out two teeth. Pointing a trembling finger at Zheng Shaohua, she spat curses through her pain. “You bastard! How dare you hit me?!”

Zheng Shaohua ground his heel into her calf and broke her shin.

He applied a little pressure with his foot, and a sickening crack echoed from her pale calf.

The girl screamed as white bone pierced through her skin. Her makeup started to melt, flowing down her face along with her cold sweat.

Only then did she remember who he was—Young Master Zheng, Nanze City’s infamous number one prodigal son.

Lifting his foot with a calmness that chilled the room, Zheng Shaohua crouched before her, eyes cold. When the onlookers thought the matter had ended, he chuckled coldly. “Which fingers did you use to point at me again?”

He took out a shiny hammer from his storage ring and brought it down on her right index finger.

Bang!Her finger turned to pulp, and her screams shook the whole Treasure Pavilion. Not a single worker in the place dared to stop him.

“Young Master Zheng! I was wrong… I was wrong! I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn… Please, please spare me!”

She collapsed to her knees, kowtowing in panic, forehead thudding against the floor.

Zheng Shaohua simply pressed a finger to his lips. “Shh.”

The girl immediately shut her mouth, and everyone in the room fell silent out of terror.

“I almost forgot the other finger you pointed at me with,” he murmured.

Bang!

He brought the hammer down on her middle finger, and the bone splintered on impact.

The girl screamed in agony, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. Her lips quivered, but she dared not speak.

Zheng Shaohua smirked, as if delighted to have found the offending fingers. “It’s a pity I don’t have my dagger today, or I’d cut your tongue out as well. Cai Juan, you only clung to me for my status. Did you really think that would work? Not with the Cai family’s decline. Take a look at yourself first!”

Standing up, he swept his eyes across the room. “Let’s see which VIP my dear Manager Fu Gui is entertaining today!”

Word traveled quickly, and the news made Fu Gui turn pale. Rising hastily, he handed the spirit stones he had just counted to Li Guanqi and bowed. “Honored guest, you’d best leave at once, or you may face… unexpected troubles. Please, take the back door.”

With that, he left the room.

Li Guanqi frowned. A nearby guard explained what had happened.

Li Guanqi had never cared for prodigal sons like that, least of all one who went out of his way to pick fights. He chuckled and stored the spirit stones in his storage pouch. He looked down at his jade slip hesitantly.

After selling the beast carcasses to the manager, he also purchased the remaining materials he needed for the Longevity Pills. He just needed an alchemist who could make them.

Cao Yan was absent, so he had asked the manager for a recommendation. Longevity Pills were tier-three pills, among the hardest pills to refine. Most tier-three alchemists would not dare accept the job, and this frustrated Li Guanqi.

He put the jade slip away. He’d have to improvise and hope he could locate the alchemist Fu Gui suggested.

He had less than two years of lifespan remaining. Thankfully, his face had regained its youthful look with his rising cultivation. If not, he would be forced to walk around in the guise of an old man.

Regardless, losing lifespan was irreversible.

Whenever the subject came up, Sword Spirit played dead. Once, Li Guanqi had asked her whether she could have killed Fang Yishan while consuming less of his life force. To his surprise, she stuttered and avoided the question.

His face had darkened at her evasiveness. Her response meant that she could’ve spared more of his lifespan.

But the deed was already done, and Sword Spirit insisted she could not have killed Fang Yishan otherwise.

Li Guanqi had no answer for her. Shamelessly, she even said, “Well, without me, you wouldn’t have advanced so quickly, would you?”

He shook his head, trying to calm his racing thoughts. He was deeply conflicted, unsure if he should prioritize advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm while he still had time, or extend his lifespan.

Sword Spirit recommended he focus on extending his lifespan. A stronger life force would significantly aid his progression from the Golden Core Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Having pondered the guard’s warning, Li Guanqi chose to sneak out the back. By the time he left, Zheng Shaohua had already broken Fu Gui’s legs.

Fu Gui kept silent about Li Guanqi, even at the very end. When Zheng Shaohua tried to kill him, he narrowly escaped death by invoking the Treasure Pavilion’s name.

Such was the Zheng family’s dominance in Nanze City.

Zheng Shaohua left the Treasure Pavilion burning with humiliation. “Send this command to everyone. From now on, no one leaves or enters Nanze City. I want to see who dares make me lose face!”

Soon, the eight great city gates of Nanze City slammed shut.

Yet this did not cause alarm, as large cities often sealed their gates when they became overcrowded.

Back at the Fragrance Hotel, Li Guanqi chose a random seat on the third floor, near the central court.

Meanwhile, Zheng Shaohua used his family’s power to investigate everyone who had entered the city that day, as well as everyone who had checked into inns or brothels.

But no matter how hard he searched, he found nothing. Only a handful of guests had checked in and departed on the same day.