Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Buzz!

A startled Sword Spirit appeared before Li Guanqi, clutching a large dragon egg.

“My dear Sword Spirit… why, of all times, would you bring it out now?”

Sword Spirit shrugged. “It wanted to come out on its own.”

The one-zhang-tall egg shimmered with a strange purple light.

Crack! Crack-crack!

Countless visible cracks appeared in its scales.

Thump. Thump-thump.

A strong heartbeat rang in Li Guanqi’s ears. He swallowed hard. A powerful life force was stirring inside, swelling stronger by the second. The egg’s purple light rays began greedily drawing in the flames from the fiery sea around them.

As the dragon egg absorbed more fire, it grew larger, its shell pulsing like a beating heart and absorbing more flames with every thump.The purple glow wrapped around Li Guanqi, shielding him from the surrounding flames.

He stared at the layer of light on his skin, half shocked, half moved. Is it… protecting me?

While he was still in a daze, the dragon in the sky above howled in fury. It had sensed a presence that frightened it and was stealing its flames.

Roar!

The enraged dragon plunged down at once. Its terrifying presence bore down on everything. Even Li Guanqi felt suffocated, but he knew he couldn’t retreat.

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s tattered robes flapped in the wind from the aura blast. Drawing the Red Lotus Sword, Li Guanqi raised his head. His own aura surged to its peak, and he charged ahead.

He raised his hand, and a thousand high-grade spirit stones appeared around the egg, orbiting it. Array trays followed, forming a spirit qi tornado at the heart of the sea of fire.

“The dragon is a fire spirit born from the Lightning Dragon Flame!” Sword Spirit shouted. “Ordinary attacks won’t work! Merge your divine consciousness into your sword force!”

Li Guanqi understood at once. The platform in his sea of consciousness shuddered, and divine power surged outward like a tide. Spirit qi roared through his meridians, tracing the Flame-Devouring Sutra’s path as countless light dots gathered around the nascent soul in his dantian.

He activated his Sword Prison domain, and lightning crackled around him.

He slashed seven times, unleashing thunderous sword strikes charged with devastating lightning power.

The dragon roared. Its pair of highly intelligent but cold eyes bore into him. Then it opened its jaws, and a mouthful of flames shot out.

Where the torrent passed, even space itself burned.

Li Guanqi twisted midair after the Seven Killings Technique, turning downward for another strike.

“Red Lotus—Heavenly Destruction!”

Boom!

His sword spirit void suddenly erupted with strength, and intense sword intent shot out from him.

Within a hundred-zhang radius, the sea of fire sank inward, and a blinding ray of sword light cleaved through the blaze.

Boom!

The dragon’s fiery breath met the sword light head-on, snuffing it out.

Li Guanqi’s chest tightened. He hadn’t expected a mere fire spirit to possess such terrifying power.

He roared and swung again. The Heavenly Destruction Sword Technique tore through the dragon’s flames, slicing diagonally across its body.

Crack!

A claw split apart, and a long gash ran down its chest. Even after a while, it did not heal.

Boom!

Li Guanqi pushed his sprint technique to its maximum, narrowly avoiding the dragon’s breath. However, his back stung from the searing heat.

Sizzle‌!

He heard his own flesh sizzle, and he grimaced from the pain.

Bang! Bang-bang-bang!

Deep within the fiery sea, the dragon egg reacted to something. An urgent banging echoed from within. It trembled, and several ‌of its outer scales broke away.

A purple claw broke through the egg.

Then it withdrew, revealing a single golden eye peering out at Li Guanqi. The moment their gazes met, he felt an inexplicable sense of… dependence.

Before he could think further, his whole body shuddered. In the core of his dantian’s nascent soul, a tiny fire seed took form.

Suddenly, he could sense the flow of fire spirit qi all around him. The surrounding flames danced at his fingertips, eager to obey. Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes and looked around, then shouted, “Swallow it all!”

Boom!

Vital force erupted from him. The sea churned violently, whirling around him as he absorbed the flames at an astonishing rate, just like the dragon egg. As he swallowed more of them, the flames in his nascent soul blazed brighter, no longer on the verge of extinguishing.

Roar!

The fire spirit screamed, enraged that its power was being stolen once more.

Buzz!

The space crackled with lightning and fire, and the temperature soared even further.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. The dragon had not broken through yet. Its eggshell was too tough.

Inside, the young lightning dragon sensed Li Guanqi’s peril. It began ramming its hornless head against the shell, over and over. Soon, light-gold blood trickled down its head. Yet it kept going, thinking only of Li Guanqi.

Nervous as he was, Li Guanqi didn’t hesitate to attack the enraged dragon. Something was clearly amiss, and he knew he had to act fast to stop it.

Rumble!

The dragon lunged. This time, Li Guanqi couldn’t evade. He met it head-on.

After only one exchange, the scales were already tipping against Li Guanqi. The dragon’s form was growing more solid by the second, and though Li Guanqi prided himself on his physical strength, he was being forced back.

Sword light flashed again and again, carving a few cuts into the dragon’s body. Each time, he tore off a strip of its holographic flesh and swallowed it whole.

The dragon feinted with a claw, then whipped its tail at Li Guanqi.

A sharp whistle split the air—the tail, wreathed in the Lightning Dragon Flame’s power, tore through space toward him. It felt as if the tail were strong enough to destroy the world. Even before it hit, the sheer heat burned Li Guanqi’s clothes.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, twisted his waist, lifted one knee, and crossed his arms to brace himself.

Boom!

Then, a deafening explosion erupted behind him, followed by a mighty dragon’s cry.

Roar!