Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Buzz!

The dragon egg trembled, and Li Guanqi sensed a small life inside it, its life force growing stronger. The egg recognized Li Guanqi’s presence, radiating joy and reaching toward him with a friendly, intimate warmth.

Li Guanqi thought for a while, then gritted his teeth and placed thirty high-grade spirit stones on the altar.

Boom!

A thick tide of spirit qi flooded the altar. The dragon egg shuddered and started to absorb it. The crack across its scales widened a little, but progress was slow. It would still need time before it could hatch.

Still, there was finally a clear sign of advancement. Li Guanqi turned to Sword Spirit and smiled. “Sister Sword Spirit, how long until it hatches?”

Sword Spirit pursed her lips and answered seriously, “You’ll probably need to give it one last boost. If it hatches, it should be a powerful peak tier-four demon.”

Li Guanqi froze. “Peak tier-four?! That’s on par with a cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm! It’s already that powerful as a newborn?”

Sword Spirit nodded. “Without the usual nurturing from the dragon race, tier four is actually quite weak. Some dragon lineages produce hatchlings at peak tier five or even tier six.”

Li Guanqi pursed his lips and muttered, “You say that as if I’m starving it.”“Yes, it’s suffering.” Sword Spirit smiled. “You can ease up on your training for a while. It’s not healthy to be so tense all the time.”

Li Guanqi nodded. He was feeling a little tired, but his physical training was sharpening his mind as well. His willpower was becoming rock solid.

He still had grand plans to roam the nine heavens, but the road was long. He needed to pace himself.

After strengthening his resolve, he left the realm of the sword coffin.

He had been focusing on his sword prison because he could do a lot with it. By manipulating lightning inside the sword prison, he could unleash destruction capable of killing a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. In his own sword prison, he was terrifyingly powerful. Yet he’d also noticed that his sword intent had stalled for a long time.

To that, Sword Spirit shrugged. “Insights often come in life-or-death moments.”

He sighed, exasperated. He couldn’t constantly risk his life.

He looked at the map again to get his bearings, then teleported several hundred zhang. He also discreetly fed spirit stones to the heavenly intelligence jade pendant, though only he knew his question. This time, the information cost him two high-grade spirit stones.

With his bright eyes fixed on the horizon, he took flight, lost in thought.

As he gazed into the distance, he saw the horizon shimmer and warp from the heat rising in the air. Inferno Valley sat among that cluster of mountains, the air warped by constant heat. The temperature[1] there reached several hundred degrees.

Li Guanqi couldn’t help but grin. “This place lives up to its name.”

The surroundings were abnormally barren. Not a single plant grew within a thousand li, and the ground was cracked and dry.

Mortals couldn’t survive in Inferno Valley. No crops could take root, and the heat would kill anyone without vital force. Yellow sand whipped into the air, blotting out the sun. Each gust of wind brought a blast of scorching air. Even breathing was difficult.

Yet a respectable town sat in the middle of it all, its tattered flag flapping in the wind.

Inferno Town. The town’s name fluttered in the air.

Even from thousands of zhang away, Li Guanqi sensed many powerful auras in the town. More than a dozen Nascent Soul Realm cultivators were gathered there.

He frowned, wondering why so many powerful cultivators were in Inferno Valley for no apparent reason.

Maybe I’m not the only person who has the jade pendant’s map.

Li Guanqi didn’t purchase any further intel from the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion. Instead, he tapped the air, and a massive map of spirit light appeared before him.

He searched the map for Inferno Valley, then spotted a small light dot labeled “Inferno Town.”

Inferno Valley is abnormally hot throughout the entire year. Fire spirits sometimes appear there, and when killed, they can drop a highly valuable fire essence with various applications.

Li Guanqi nodded at the description. I see now.

His divine consciousness trembled slightly. His facial features hardened into those of a fierce man, including a scratchy beard and knife scars across his face.

He hung his sword on his waist, then put on hemp clothes and a bamboo hat[2] to seem like a rogue cultivator.

His arrival drew a lot of attention.

There were only a few dozen cultivators in the town, which had only two guesthouses and some small shops. Though it was a small town, it had most of what a town should have.

A handful of cultivators had stalls by the road. Li Guanqi wiped the corner of his mouth, then spat and cursed, “So much damn sand in the air here.”

His voice was rough and loud, as if afraid people wouldn’t hear him. A few cultivators in the guesthouses glanced over. Li Guanqi glared and pointed at them. “What the fuck are you looking at? I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

He spat again, wrapped a cloth over his face, and walked toward a guesthouse.

The cultivators merely smiled. With people like that, there were two options: avoid trouble, or kill them on the spot. They didn’t try the second option because his aura was too powerful.

Li Guanqi arrived in front of the guesthouse in a flash. He looked up at the casually written plaque.

Yellow Sand Guesthouse.

He smiled as he read the name. He could sense many powerful auras inside.

Creak.

The door let out an ear-piercing sound as he pushed it open. With his face still covered, his eyes swept the room.

At that moment, every gaze turned to him.

1. The author did not specify whether it was Fahrenheit or Celsius. ☜

2. Bamboo hats are also known as Asian conical hats. Farmers typically use them to block out the sun, and they’re mostly used in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. ☜