Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

For a fleeting moment, as Li Guanqi looked at Sword Spirit, it was as if she had become someone else entirely. Her body radiated seething resentment, and the frustration in her heart surged so fiercely it felt like a sprout forcing its way through the earth.

A faint hologram of a pill cauldron appeared behind her.

Then she raised her slender finger and tapped the air before her. Spirit light flickered, and she began to write.

After a while, she finished inscribing the missing sutras, then gently touched Li Guanqi’s third eye.

His body stiffened as their minds connected. Through her consciousness, he learned that the Flame-Devouring Sutra had been created by an alchemist without a fire spirit root. Deeply depressed, the man had forged this sutra, a method allowing cultivators to devour vast quantities of flame.

As their minds intertwined, Sword Spirit sent the cultivation method directly into his mind.

She looked slightly drained, so Li Guanqi quickly sent her a stream of pure vital force. She smiled faintly, waved him off, and vanished.

Li Guanqi exhaled. His thoughts were still steeped in the sutra creator’s emotions, and it was difficult to pull free from them.

Lightning flared beneath his feet, and he reappeared mid-air. He raised a hand, dispelling the lightning that had trapped the jade pendant. Then, he pressed the pendant into the indentation above the stone door.

Buzz!Boom!

A surge of mysterious energy rippled from the pendant, and it burst into flames. It turned into a blazing fireball radiating fierce heat, and its energy started to extend beyond the door.

The lava below began to churn violently, rising until it swallowed the suspension bridge within a few breaths. The hundred-zhang-tall stone door absorbed the climbing lava, which flowed through its carvings until every groove was filled.

Still gripping his sword, Li Guanqi noticed the two stone guards also drawing in the lava.

Buzz!

The rising lava soon covered their ankles. A chill ran down his spine as two cold flashes of light streaked toward him, accompanied by sharp whistles.

Suddenly, the guards wrenched their swords from the ground and slashed at him.

Li Guanqi leaped and twisted his waist, narrowly slipping between the two enormous blades. Before he could regain balance, a colossal fist came crashing toward him.

Dong!

With narrowed eyes, Li Guanqi unleashed a beam of sword light from the sword in his left hand.

“Shadow Demon Slash, Dark Night!”

Boom!

At the same moment, he clenched his right fist. Power surged through him as he stepped on the air and threw a punch, twisting his whole body with full force. Lightning crackled around his fist.

Boom! Boom!

His sword light forced one of the guards’ blades back one zhang, and his punch met the giant fist head-on.

Clang! Boom!

The impact sent Li Guanqi hurtling over a hundred zhang backward, plunging into the boiling lava, while the guard’s fist only cracked slightly.

He roared, “Spell ninety-nine—Lightning Armor!”

Boom!

A torrent of lightning erupted from the depths of the lava river. With a deafening blast, a massive crater formed in the lava river. Lightning shot out violently from the crater, and within it stood a figure clad in purple lightning armor.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t expected the guards to be so powerful. With his current physical strength, he could barely scratch them.

Hoo…

His breath misted in the air as his blood heated to abnormal temperatures. Vital force surged through him, and dragon and elephant cries reverberated through his veins.

Boom!

A tremendous burst of energy erupted from him, and he vanished, leaving behind an afterimage that lingered in the air for a long time. The lava beneath his feet sank dozens of zhang under the pressure.

The two guards charged forward at high speed, stepping onto the lava’s surface, their swords sweeping toward him at the same instant.

Li Guanqi’s expression darkened. The stone door was changing—the lava was part of its seal, the key to unlocking it. Once the lava completely submerged the door, it might never open again. And the jade pendant, still ablaze, was burning away. With each flicker, a piece of it vanished.

If he failed to defeat the guards within half an hour, he would lose his chance forever.

Li Guanqi licked his lips. His armor flared, releasing an oppressive surge of energy. Sword light shot through the air.

The guards fought like living beings, adapting to the situation and moving with flawless precision and coordination.

Li Guanqi found himself stuck, trapped right outside the door.

But the more dire the situation became, the calmer Li Guanqi grew. He kept searching for an opening to break through their defenses. But no matter what he tried, at least one guard always remained at the stone door.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Li Guanqi attacked with everything he had.

“Dragon Elephant Subduing Sutra!”

“Ancient Illusory Refinement Technique!”

“Soul Dissolution, Red Lotus!”

His aura climbed to its peak. For the first time, he drove the qi circulation method taught by Sword Spirit to its limit. Energy burst from his nascent soul, vital force coursing through his meridians like charging dragons. Countless afterimages of sword light filled the air.

Within moments, Li Guanqi reached the stone door. The guards’ bodies began to crack, splintering apart bit by bit. Lightning engulfed them, and they collapsed to the ground.

Two shadowy forms drifted out from their remains and vanished.

Li Guanqi stood panting, his chest heaving. That exchange had drained nearly seventy percent of his vital force.

He couldn’t wait any longer. The lava had risen until only a single zhang of the door remained above the surface. He activated a protective shield of vital force, then dove into the lava.

Holograms of dragons and elephants materialized around him as he pressed both hands against the door and forced it open with his monstrous strength.

Buzz!

A space-warping portal opened behind it, unleashing a tremendous suction that pulled him inside.

Then the stone door slammed shut with a resounding thud. The jade pendant above it burned away completely and disappeared.

Outside, the lava continued to rise until it filled the entire place. The submerged door warped and slowly faded out of existence.