Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Boom!

Earth-yellow sword light shot across the stage as Tang Chuan unleashed a heavy rain of sword attacks.

The crowd was impressed. Even outside the sect, Tang Chuan’s swordsmanship was top-tier.

But then they saw Li Guanqi. He walked leisurely through the storm of blades, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He seemed eager to measure the strength of the sect’s so-called strongest disciple.

He swung his sword with his right hand. Though his movements looked casual, every stroke cut straight at Tang Chuan’s weaknesses.

Although Tang Chuan appeared to be the aggressor on stage, only he knew how badly he was struggling. He wasn’t even following standard sword forms, yet Li Guanqi seemed to anticipate his every move. Li Guanqi consistently reacted a split second before Tang Chuan could strike.

That tiny edge made all of Tang Chuan’s strikes miss the mark, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

Tang Chuan felt miserable.

Boom!

A surge of energy burst from Tang Chuan. He raised his hand and slammed it down.“Ground spikes?”

Surprised, he leaped into the air just as razor-sharp spikes, each over one zhang long, burst from the ground in a half-zhang radius of where he had been standing.

Midair, Tang Chuan smirked. The spikes broke free from the ground, twisting into stone spears that whistled upward.

Li Guanqi was a little surprised, but that was it. He raised his hand, summoning his Lightning Whip. With a flick, the whip shattered the incoming spears.

Suddenly, Tang Chuan appeared behind Li Guanqi and slashed.

“Hahaha! You’ve lost!” Tang Chuan shouted, his blade cutting horizontally toward Li Guanqi.

The sword sliced through the air toward Li Guanqi’s neck, and the crowd gasped in shock.

Whoosh!

But Li Guanqi merely smirked.

“Ahh!”

Whoosh!

The sword sliced through the air, and the afterimage disappeared.

Li Guanqi reappeared behind him and drove his foot hard into Tang Chuan’s rear.

Crack!

The blow bent Tang Chuan’s back with an audible snap.

Crash!

Tang Chuan’s pelvis cracked from the blow, and he collapsed, screaming on the ground.

Li Guanqi sighed, his tone bored. “You call yourself the number one inner sect disciple? Tsk. Out in the real world, you wouldn’t last a day. Any random trio of late Golden Core thieves could take your life.”

Li Guanqi did not mince his words. The disciples below thought Li Guanqi was exaggerating. While defeating Tang Chuan was impressive, Li Guanqi’s words made them feel worthless.

Li Guanqi looked up at the elders above. “Don’t doubt me. Cultivators outside are tougher to deal with than you might think. They have no morals or humanity. If they want you dead, they’ll dream up a hundred ways to make it happen.”

Then, he looked at Tang Chuan and smiled. “You still don’t want to admit defeat, do you? Come, come. I’ll give you another chance. No need to glare at me like that.”

Then, Li Guanqi tossed Tang Jing’s sword back to her, then extended his hand to make a plain pig iron sword fly toward him.

He caught it, gave it a twirl, switched it to his left hand, and leveled the tip at Tang Chuan. “Come. Do your best to kill me.”

Boom!

Power erupted from Li Guanqi, though his cultivation remained at the late Golden Core Realm. The elders high above stiffened. Those who had dismissed him now watched with grave faces.

He was only at the late Golden Core Realm, but his aura was actually stronger than Tang Chuan’s.

Tang Chuan, burning with humiliation, wasn’t about to waste his chance. He swallowed several healing pills and stuck a few talismans on himself, increasing his speed by over thirty percent. He charged at Li Guanqi like a gust of wind.

Earth-yellow vital force surged through him, and his sword intent intensified. Holding his sword with both hands, he appeared next to Li Guanqi and swung down with crushing force.

An earth-yellow sword light flashed, startling the onlookers.

With that strength, if he failed to pull back, he could very well kill Li Guanqi.

“Mountain-Splitting Slash!” Tang Chuan shouted. It was the strongest attack he could muster.

Boom!

Li Guanqi could have evaded, but he didn’t. Lightning flashed beneath his feet, and he rushed straight at Tang Chuan, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Li Guanqi’s voice was calm, almost gentle. “Seven Killings.”

Boom!

Ice-cold killing intent spread across the whole place, and Tang Chuan’s master shot to his feet.

Boom!

Pfft!

Sword-light shattered in a crack of thunder. Blood sprayed in every direction. A pig iron sword had pierced straight through Tang Chuan’s shoulder.

Li Guanqi stood in front of him and looked at the pig iron sword, which was completely unscratched. He snorted. “All bark, no bite.”

Tang Chuan’s gaze was empty. He did not understand how he could be so defenseless against Li Guanqi. Li Guanqi had maintained his aura at the late Golden Core Realm, so how could his attacks be so destructive?

And Li Guanqi didn’t even try to avoid his strongest strike—he directly shattered it. If Li Guanqi hadn’t shifted his hand at the last moment, Tang Chuan would’ve died.

High in the air, the Grand Elder huffed coldly before helping Tang Chuan to his feet. He gave Li Guanqi a long, searching look as he departed, but remained silent. Before leaving, he even offered Li Guanqi a subtle nod.

Li Guanqi’s actions had made the point clear: compared to the rogue cultivators of the outside world, their strength was nothing.

“Whaaat?! He actually beat Tang Chuan!”

“That’s insane, bro! That’s awesome!”

“I… I didn’t see wrong, did I? That was a pig iron sword! And his cultivation was lower! How is that possible?!”

“He’s brutal!”

Tang Jing watched Li Guanqi, eyes shining.

Li Guanqi pursed his lips. “Anyone else want to test themselves against a rogue cultivator?”

The crowd shifted uncomfortably. They had come for a show, not to be crushed by reality. They hadn’t expected him to easily overwhelm their number one disciple.

No one dared challenge him to a duel.

Then Liu Man, eyes burning, shouted, “Me!”