Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The old man was so stunned and enraged by those words that he froze, unable to react.

Without a moment’s pause, Li Guanqi teleported onto the stage, seized the old man by the collar, and flung him out.

Whoosh!

The disciples only saw a black blur streak through the air as the old man flew through the air like a discarded sack.

The old man felt utterly humiliated. His aura erupted, surging with the full power of a Golden Core Realm cultivator as he prepared to demand an explanation.

Li Guanqi only gave him a fleeting look, and that alone was enough to chill him to the bone.

Only someone who had killed countless people could have eyes like that. The killing intent in them was blatant and undisguised.

The old man’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. In the end, he dared not speak. With a cold snort, he flicked his sleeve, intending to report this to someone higher in the sect.

Surely a nameless youth couldn’t strip him of his elder’s seat. But just as he was about to leave, a thought struck him. Wait, he threw me out. Why am I leaving?

Yet the memory of that terrifying pressure stopped him in his tracks.Remembering everything that had just happened, including the youth’s disdain for his lessons, he chose to remain outside the hall.

Li Guanqi didn’t care. If the old man wanted to listen from the doorway, he would let him. He had no intention of lingering in the Phoenix Lightning Sect anyway. Once he settled the matter of the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra, he’d leave.

By then, no one inside the hall felt the slightest trace of drowsiness anymore.

All the disciples stared wide-eyed at the youth on stage, too shocked to process what had just happened.

A bleary-eyed boy grabbed his companion’s arm and muttered, “Old Zhao, am I seeing things? That guy up there… just threw Elder Li out?! And the worst part is, Elder Li didn’t even dare fart in protest?! Is that really him?”

The chubby boy beside him swallowed audibly.

“If this isn’t a shared dream, then no—you’re not seeing things wrong.”

The hall burst into whispers. No one had any idea what was happening. Li Guanqi, calm as ever, lit an incense stick and wordlessly glanced at the doors. No one knew what the incense signified, but the faint pressure emanating from him stifled the hall into silence.

The crowd’s curiosity about the enigmatic newcomer intensified with each passing moment. It was an unbearable itch, a feeling like ants were crawling all over them.

Soon, more and more Phoenix Lightning Sect disciples poured into the hall. Someone exclaimed, ”Hold on, even the inner sect seniors are coming?!”

“Yeah! These are all people who joined years before us!”

“Hiss… Senior Brother Wang Yang is here too!”

Suddenly, several youths shouted excitedly at the doorway. “It’s Senior Sister Liu Man, Senior Sister Zheng Yao, and Senior Sister Tang Jing!”

And just as that died down, a group of girls squealed in delight. “Little Sword Marquis Ling Rui! And Gale Sword Xu Hao too!”

As more and more prominent inner sect disciples arrived, awe and confusion rippled through the room.

“What on earth is happening today? Practically every big name from the inner sect is here!”

The chubby disciple from before turned slowly toward the white-robed youth on stage, realization dawning. He swallowed hard and whispered, “Oh no… don’t tell me this is all because of him.”

Li Guanqi slowly raised his head, his heart’s eye sweeping over the arrivals without much interest.

When his gaze rested on Tang Jing, he gave her a small smile and nod. She had worked hard the previous day to prepare things for him. At once, Zheng Yao, ever teasing, grabbed Tang Jing’s arm and shook it excitedly. “Wow, he’s looking right at you! He’s so handsome… too bad he’s blind.”

Tang Jing flushed crimson, though she quickly composed herself. Liu Man’s words from the previous night echoed in her mind. They were not walking the same path, and it was better to cut off such thoughts before they grew.

By then, almost the entire Phoenix Lightning Sect had heard of Li Guanqi’s arrival. It was no wonder the inner sect disciples had rushed over.

And some of them were no weaklings. Zheng Yao, doll-faced as she looked, possessed a top-tier Wood Heavenly Spirit Root and remarkable talent. Liu Man, meanwhile, was the only Water King Spirit Root of her generation.

Even Yun Mengxi treated her with the utmost respect, calling her Sister Man.

Liu Man’s cultivation had already reached the mid Golden Core Realm, giving her enormous weight within the inner sect—not because she was a direct disciple, not because of her beauty or her cool temperament, but because of sheer, overwhelming strength.

This was Liu Man’s first time seeing Li Guanqi in person. Tang Jing’s descriptions had prepared her somewhat, but the real thing was still surprising.

What surprised her wasn’t his looks. It was his strange, indescribable aura.

From Tang Jing’s words, she had pictured an arrogant prodigy with monstrous talent. Instead, his eyes held nothing but calm.

When Liu Man’s gaze shifted toward Xu Hao and the others, her brows furrowed.

Back when the Northern Territory’s Daxia Sword Sect was in chaos, news of the blind swordsman Li Guanqi had spread everywhere.

Chu Xingxian had even prepared to intervene alone when the Purple Sun Pavilion clashed with the Daxia Sword Sect.

If the Eastern Territory sects had interfered in the Northern Territory’s affairs, the Four Heavenly Kings would have had to answer for it.

But everyone knew how that ended.

Later, Chu Xingxian told all his disciples of Li Guanqi’s deeds, which had stirred jealousy in some of the sect’s arrogant geniuses. At the time, Li Guanqi’s cultivation wasn’t even high. He ‌broke through to the Golden Core Realm during the Purple Sun Pavilion battle.

Meanwhile, people like Xu Hao and Ling Rui had long since reached the early Golden Core Realm. They couldn’t understand why Sect Master Chu Xingxian held him in such high regard.

Just then, Li Guanqi glanced at the last flicker of incense, then slammed the great hall doors shut with a resounding boom, ignoring the crowd still arriving outside.

Bang!

“Wait!”

Liu Man’s shoulders trembled as she whipped her head toward the doorway.