Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

With the sword coffin stowed away, Li Guanqi looked every bit like a refined young noble—though he was blind.

As he walked down the street, his striking features drew squeals from many passing girls. He wore a faint smile, and his fox-like eyes seemed to capture every gaze. Though his eyes were pure white, it still felt as if Li Guanqi were looking directly at each person. His hair was tied up loosely, his white robes glowed with a soft, milky light, and the aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator Realm made him all the more dazzling.

Even a casual stroll through town drew stares from every side. He looked up at the towering mountains, their peaks vanishing into the clouds. With a smile, he lifted a foot and vanished.

The girls leaning over the balconies above were instantly smitten. They had no idea how teleportation worked, but they could recognize the incredible power behind it.

In a world ruled by strength, power was worshipped. Yet Li Guanqi didn’t linger, heading straight into the sky. He didn’t use any sprint techniques; a single casual step carried him a hundred zhang forward.

The Phoenix Lightning Sect treated his arrival with utmost gravity. Word spread across every level of the sect that a great figure was coming, one important enough that even the sect master would greet him personally. Disciples whispered nervously as they prepared.

A girl was getting ready in a building atop one of the sect’s peaks. She had prominent features, with a narrow jaw and a mole at the corner of her lips. She was applying sophisticated makeup with careful precision.

Just then, another girl landed outside her door. Seeing Yun Mengxi with cosmetics in hand, she teased, “Sister Yun, are you going to greet the guest yourself? Hoping to seduce him?”

Yun Mengxi turned a cold gaze on her, then smiled faintly. “Tang Jing, if you’ve something to say, then say it. If not, get out. I don’t have time to bicker with you today.”

Tang Jing chuckled at her reply. She wore no makeup, but her natural beauty shone all the same. She looked cold and elegant, though not distant or arrogant.She snorted and said, “I’m just reminding you that someone from the Wu family is here. One of the elders asked me to tell you to go.”

A brief light flickered in Yun Mengxi’s eyes. “I see. Thank you.”

Once Tang Jing left, Yun Mengxi set down her cosmetics and stared off blankly. Gradually, her gaze hardened with resolve. She rose, changed into a splendid long dress, and made her way to the main pavilion.

Meanwhile, Li Guanqi had reached the base of the Phoenix Lightning Sect’s mountain. He considered flying straight up, but thought better of it. He was a guest, after all, and barging into the host’s territory from the air would be discourteous. Sometimes humility was required.

At the gates, he paused in surprise. “Tsk. The gates are cool… but they still fall short of the twin peaks guarding the Daxia Sword Sect’s entrance. And they can’t compare to those endless layers of mountains.”

A passing female disciple scowled at his muttering. It was Tang Jing, making her way down the mountain. She had already noticed him—a handsome blind youth staring curiously at their sect gates.

At first, she hadn’t thought much of it. Many young people dreamed of joining the sect and would often stare at the gates for inspiration. But as she walked past and caught his words clearly, she froze in shock at his shameless words.

“Hey! What did you say?!”

Li Guanqi stiffened. He hadn’t expected her hearing to be so sharp.

He shrugged with an awkward smile. “You’ve misunderstood me, fellow Daoist. I was only saying that the mountain gates look magnificent. Just look at those characters…”

He pointed upward at the plaque.

But as his gaze fell on the character for “Lightning,” his sea of consciousness trembled. His mind plunged into a profound state, and everything around him vanished.

To Tang Jing, he simply stopped mid-sentence, frozen in place.

She had no idea what to do. The young man who had just been speaking now stood motionless.

Waving a hand in front of his eyes, she frowned. “Hey! Are you alright? I didn’t even touch you! Even swindlers put on a better act than this. You’re terrible at it.”

But despite her words, worry crept into her face. If she had somehow frightened him to death, she would be severely punished by the sect.

Sensing no vital force in him, she concluded he must be an ordinary person, not a cultivator.

She panicked, and her eyes welled up with tears. She muttered furiously, “What do I do, what do I do… He can’t be dead, can he? That’s impossible! I didn’t do anything, and he…”

Suddenly, Li Guanqi’s world spun, then shifted entirely.

He saw an old man raise two fingers like a sword, carving the words “Phoenix Lightning” into the plaque above. With every stroke, the wind howled, and blades of green qi ripped violently through the air.

Each stroke came slowly, deliberately, as if he were pouring his own intent into the carving. Li Guanqi longed to grasp the man’s insights, but he could not comprehend them.

Boom!

As the old man carved the second character, endless lightning spirit qi surged through his surroundings.

A lightning pool a thousand zhang wide materialized in the sky, enveloping both Li Guanqi and the old man. Li Guanqi could feel everything that happened within the pool.

It was like a prison, seeking to punish every act of injustice and evil in the world.

Li Guanqi was stunned by the ferocious lightning power. It was nothing like the lightning spirit power he usually wielded; his own felt almost tame in comparison.

The lightning pool before him was the real deal, crackling with violent power and radiating pure destruction.

In that moment, Li Guanqi gained a deeper understanding of lightning’s essence. His own lightning lacked ferocity and destructive force.

If he could command lightning as the old man did, his power would soar to new heights.