Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Buzz!!

Tension filled the study. The moment Li Guanqi stepped forward, a terrifying pressure burst from him, aimed straight at Qian Feng. Although none of it was directed at Tang Ru, he was aware of what was happening.

Li Guanqi had made his move.

Qian Feng narrowed his eyes as vital force surged through his body, and his aura flared. Compared with Li Guanqi, though, his aura felt weak. With each step Li Guanqi took, the surrounding air grew heavier.

Thud! Thud!

Each step landed like a weight on Qian Feng’s chest, heavy and suffocating. Li Guanqi was already tall, but in the old man’s eyes, he had become a giant. Cold sweat beaded on Qian Feng’s forehead, and his withered hands shot to the knives at his waist.

Li Guanqi walked on with perfect calm.

Boom!

A terrifying sword intent domain erupted, and Qian Feng’s knees wavered. He stared at Li Guanqi in disbelief.

Li Guanqi’s eyes had shown no emotion from the start, only a steady, frosty calm. While Qian Feng was still thinking to himself that he had some strength left to fight back, he felt a powerful burst of energy from Li Guanqi.The tiles under Li Guanqi’s feet cracked. He left deep imprints on the floor.

Qian Feng bowed his head under the pressure, a vein bulging in his neck as he forced himself to look up.

Whoosh!

Then the pressure vanished.

Li Guanqi turned to Qian Feng with an almost mild expression. “See? I told the truth. Sometimes… age isn’t everything.”

Tang Ru let out a bitter smile. He’d expected the outcome. In his eyes, Li Guanqi wasn’t one to boast. If he said he could kill Old Qian, then he could.

Tang Ru spoke to Qian Feng through voice transmission, whose eyes widened as he looked at Li Guanqi, like someone who’d finally understood something. He smiled bitterly, then offered a fist salute. “I was arrogant. Don’t take it to heart, kid.”

He glanced at Tang Ru, then said to Li Guanqi, “I’ll excuse myself. There are things Young Master should tell you himself.”

With that, the air distorted slightly, and Qian Feng vanished into the shadows.

After the old man left, Tang Ru drew a deep breath and bowed deeply. “Brother Li, I beg you. Please help me!”

Li Guanqi hurriedly stepped aside to dodge the gesture, frowning. “Give me more details. Why are you bowing like that?”

Tang Ru hummed. “I have… no choice.”

Li Guanqi gently pulled him up. “Let’s sit down and talk about it slowly.”

Tang Ru straightened. His eyes were red. No one knew the extent of the pressure he was under, as he had to shoulder everything by himself.

Sitting behind his desk, he continued, “You probably know who I am. My father is Tang Wei, the owner of the Hundred Treasure Pavilion in the Daxia Territory.”

Li Guanqi was inwardly shocked. He’d guessed Tang Ru’s family was powerful, but not that powerful.

Tang Wei was a powerful cultivator at the peak of the Illusory Refinement Realm. Everyone in the Daxia Territory had heard his name. He had not expected Tang Ru to be Tang Wei’s son.

Tang Ru looked at Li Guanqi and sighed. “I have two older brothers; I am the third son. Before I turned eighteen, my father started a very important examination for the three of us. All of us are running a branch of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion independently, and whoever makes the most profit after five years will be the winner. The starting capital was coincidentally ten thousand high-grade spirit stones!”

Li Guanqi nodded silently, connecting the dots. Internal clan competitions were fiercer than he’d imagined.

“So you think what happened just now was orchestrated by your brothers?” he asked.

Tang Ru nodded. “Yes. I don’t know whether it was my eldest brother, Tang Yong, or my second brother, Tang Yan. Judging by their personalities, it was probably Tang Yan.”

Li Guanqi hummed. What a cunning plan. If Tang Ru had panicked and killed the old man, his reputation would’ve tanked right as his business began. But if he had actually paid the old man, he would’ve lost all his starting capital.

Tang Ru’s eyes narrowed, though it was unclear what he was thinking about. He looked up at Li Guanqi and said, “Even if we question the old man, he probably won’t be able to tell us anything useful. He might not even know that he’s being manipulated.”

Li Guanqi looked at him. “Which means… no matter what, you have to release him in three days.”

Tang Ru nodded solemnly, then he said something that shocked Li Guanqi. “That’s right! And the scheme to work, the man needs to die.”

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, then nodded slowly. “He’s just a pawn. Whoever set this in motion will pin any wrongdoing on you.”

Tang Ru was impressed by Li Guanqi’s intelligence. “Correct. I want you to escort him safely out of Wuzi City. He can die, but not in the city. If he dies here, I’ll never clear my name.”

Tang Ru paused and added softly, “If you can get him out of the city alive, I’ll pay you a thousand high-grade spirit stones.”

Li Guanqi stopped breathing for a second. His heart raced. “A thousand?!”

The amount was unreasonable. He could hire a powerful late Divine Transformation cultivator with that sum.

Tang Ru went on, “I know. You must be wondering why I can’t just hire someone else. Simple—I don’t trust outsiders.”

Li Guanqi forced a smile. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. But if someone wanted to corner you, they could hire a Divine Transformation cultivator. I don’t want to risk my life for spirit stones.”

Tang Ru laughed. “Don’t worry, that won’t happen. My father is watching closely. My brothers would send a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator at best, as that’s still within my means to handle. If they sent a Divine Transformation cultivator, it would become lethal, not just a rivalry.

“My father won’t do anything about the old man, even if he was hired by my brother. In his words, business is a battlefield. But if a Divine Transformation cultivator came after me, my father would be furious.”

Li Guanqi pursed his lips and rose to his feet. “Then I accept. Also, could you prepare two maps for me? One for the Southern Territory, and one for the Western Territory.”

Tang Ru’s face brightened. “Hahaha! Thank you so much!”