Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Buzz!

A powerful spatial force gripped Li Guanqi, as if trying to tear him apart. Agonizing pain coursed through him, his face twisting in torment. Wisps of white smoke rose from his body as dragon and elephant cries echoed faintly. He did his best to resist the ripping force.

Despite his efforts, countless fine tears opened across his skin. The flowing lights around him blazed ever brighter until, after an unknown stretch of time, the spatial force hurled him out.

Boom! Hot flames erupted before him.

Before he could catch his breath, he realized he was above a sea of fire.

Li Guanqi steadied himself, taking deep breaths to manage the pain that ripped through his skin. If his body weren’t so tough, he would have been torn to shreds.

A few rumbling noises rang out, and then the space in front of Li Guanqi warped.

He finally saw his surroundings clearly. The blazing red sea of fire was laced with countless bolts of dark purple lightning. Sensing an abnormal aura within the burning expanse, he narrowed his eyes.

With the Red Lotus Sword in hand, he scanned the horizon. Sword Spirit appeared beside him.

He turned to speak, but the worry in her eyes stopped him cold.“Something’s not right… This aura is…”

Boom!

Before she could finish, a pillar of fire a dozen zhang wide shot upward.

Boom!

The impact engulfed Li Guanqi in flames and sent him hurtling back more than a hundred zhang. As he tumbled through the air, he frantically beat at the flames, but to his horror, they clung to his vital force shield like leeches.

A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. He dropped his shield altogether to avoid the flames.

Li Guanqi asked solemnly, “What was that?! Why couldn’t I extinguish those flames?!”

Sword Spirit’s face tightened. “I think… something’s beneath the sea of fire.”

Li Guanqi was about to press further when an earth-shaking dragon’s cry tore through the air. The sea of fire erupted violently.

Boom!

He flung out a seal, forming a sword prison domain beneath his feet. Lightning surged over his body, weaving into a suit of dark purple armor.

Boom! Boom boom!

From the heart of the sea rose a colossal dragon-shaped hologram, its body wreathed in twisting flames.

Sword Spirit’s eyes narrowed. “It really is it!”

Li Guanqi gripped his sword and straightened his back. “What the hell are you talking about?! Tell me what it is!”

“That’s the sixteenth of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Celestial Flames—the Lightning Dragon Flame!” she said quickly. “Legend has it that it was born from a drop of the Ancestral Dragon’s blood, destined to suppress evil and embody conquest and destruction. Its power is immense, but alchemists shun it.”

Cold sweat slid down Li Guanqi’s face even before she finished. The aura of the dragon hologram was overwhelming. It was on par with a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator.

He swallowed hard. “Big Sister… maybe we could skip the history lesson and talk about its weakness? Help me figure out how to get out of this!”

Roar!

The dragon hologram stretched over a dozen zhang long, its flaming red body crowned with horns of purple lightning. Its dragon beard[1] was made of two wisps of lightning.

The dragon locked its gaze on Li Guanqi, the intruder. A surge of fire power coursed through it, emanating terrifying pressure.

Li Guanqi licked his lips. Sweat slicked the hand gripping his sword. The dragon hologram was too powerful, far surpassing Miao Rongchang’s strength.

While Li Guanqi felt he was not weak, even he was helpless before a spirit of heavenly fire.

Roar!!!

A furious roar shook the sky. The dragon hologram dove into the sea of flames, then disappeared.

The moment it dove, Li Guanqi’s chest tightened. The fiery sea convulsed, bursting with eruptions that scattered burning torrents in every direction.

He narrowed his eyes. With a surge of vital force, he dashed through the air using his sprint technique, dodging each eruption.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A dozen afterimages flickered in the air.

Suddenly, Li Guanqi swung his sword.

“Shadow Demon Slash—Dark Night!”

Terrifying lightning power flared. The world seemed to go dark as a blinding ray of lightning sword light flashed through the sky.

The dragon behind him hadn’t expected such a swift counter. Still, it ignored the attack and swung its flaming claw.

The ancient seal in front of Li Guanqi could not even hold up for a second, shattering instantly upon contact.

Boom!

He struck again, slashing across the dragon’s body in a blaze of light. The creature seemed unbothered, driving its claw straight at him.

Boom!

The sea of fire exploded. Li Guanqi plunged into its depths.

He spat blood, which vaporized the instant it left his lips.

The flames pressed close, searing his skin. He knew he wouldn’t last long. His mind raced for a solution, and he extended his divine consciousness in desperation.

If nothing changed, he was finished.

Then suddenly, the vital force within him shifted course, flowing through a different route. Li Guanqi’s eyes brightened—the Flame-Devouring Sutra had activated on its own.

The inferno no longer felt so suffocating.

What he didn’t know was that none of it was real.

Above the fiery sea, the dragon opened its mouth wide, devouring the flames. Its translucent body grew denser, its aura stronger with each gulp.

Moments ago, its strength had matched a typical Divine Transformation Realm cultivator. But if it devoured the entire sea, it would command the full might of that cultivation realm.

To invoke the Flame-Devouring Sutra fully, Li Guanqi first had to condense a new fire seed within his nascent soul.

But he had only just begun, and the process took time.

1. Refer to the Translator Note for an explanation of what a dragon beard is. ☜

Doge & Char’s Thoughts

A typical Chinese dragon’s anatomy is shown below. It has two whiskers, commonly called a dragon beard, and two horns on its head.