Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

When news of Li Guanqi’s exploits spread, countless experts across the entire Daxia Territory were left in shock, especially the Mo family, who had been keeping a close watch on him.

In a fit of rage, Mo Zhiyuan smashed his favorite teacup. Pointing at the elders standing below, he roared, “Imbeciles! Every one of you! It’s been so long, yet not a single member of the Mo family has managed to capture and kill him! What the hell have you been doing?!”

Boom!

A terrifying aura erupted from him, pressing down hard on the elders.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Boom boom!

The stone tiles beneath their knees shattered, but no one dared utter a single word.

At last, one elder mustered the courage to say, “Patriarch, it’s not that we refuse to capture him. He’s already near the Southern Territory, while we’re still far away. It’s only been three days, and he’s incredibly slippery. Even the major intelligence networks can’t locate him. Information about him has grown costly as well.”

Whoosh!

Mo Zhiyuan vanished from where he stood and reappeared before the elder, driving a kick into his chest. The elder shot backward like a cannonball.Bam!

He slammed into a white jade pillar so thick it would take three men to encircle it. He crumpled to the ground and coughed up blood.

Before his blood even stopped flowing, an invisible hand seized him by the throat and lifted him up, pinning him against the pillar.

Mo Zhiyuan clasped his hands behind his back and squinted at the elder, his eyes gleaming with murderous fury. “My Yun’er is dead! He was my son! I don’t care how much the information costs—just buy it all!”

Whoosh!

The invisible force flung the elder through the air. He crashed through the doors and landed outside the great pavilion.

Mo Zhiyuan turned around. Without even looking at the rest, he coldly said, “Three days. If I don’t see the Mo family move against that blind brat within three days, you’ll all die.”

Still with his back turned, he slowly turned his head, sweeping his gaze across the elders. Even without meeting his eyes, they trembled.

They knew Mo Zhiyuan wasn’t bluffing. The tyrant who once ruled the land with an iron fist had returned.

***

News of the Immortal Crane Alliance’s destruction spread like wildfire across the Daxia Territory. A black-robed figure, among the first to arrive at the scene, had secretly recorded everything with a projection stone. Since then, most of the alliance’s grounds had been looted and ransacked, making that recording the only surviving account of the original aftermath.

Before long, the footage leaked. Those who watched it saw a landscape of pure carnage—a vision of hell itself. Every viewer fell silent, lips pressed tight.

Including the final group of Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, Li Guanqi had slaughtered five hundred and twenty-one people in one night. Over five hundred lives.

From that day on, the world gave him a new nickname: the Bloody Butcher.

Soon, another rumor surfaced. Li Guanqi had attacked the Immortal Crane Alliance because one of his hunters had been their Third Elder, Lin Jian, and the kill order had come from the Alliance Master himself, Wei Xian.

Vengeful. Beyond being vicious and powerful, Li Guanqi became known as a vengeful person.

After that, many sects ordered their people to stand down.

Many rogue cultivators who had once dreamed of overnight riches gave up after seeing the recording and Li Guanqi’s boulder inscription.

Everyone agreed that Li Guanqi was terrifyingly strong and that staying alive was better than dying for wealth. People began to accept the truth. If Li Guanqi was powerful enough to kill Mo Congyun, who ranked sixth on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard, he was already far beyond their reach.

And he had even killed a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator in direct combat.

***

Buzz! Buzz!

In a void of endless darkness, Li Guanqi sat cross-legged in white robes, performing his breathing technique. Pure white mist streamed into his nostrils, and foul air escaped from his mouth.

Sparks of lightning flickered across his body, crackling faintly in the dark.

Boom!

A thunderous sound rang out as his aura surged higher. Vital energy roared through him like a mighty river. His qi and aura had grown vastly stronger.

Yet the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra was still too powerful. To take the next step, he still needed the blood of a demonic beast carrying dragon-elephant blood.

The nascent soul within his body shone, growing stronger as he did.

Li Guanqi slowly opened his eyes. Most of his wounds had healed. Savoring the power coursing through him, he murmured, “Once I’m fully recovered, I’ll finally be half a step into the Divine Transformation Realm.”

His cultivation was edging closer to the Divine Transformation Realm. Even his nascent soul was starting to change, as if merging with his own soul.

Is this the key to transforming my nascent soul into a divine soul?

By his rough estimate, more than two years had passed since he left the Daxia Sword Sect. In that time, countless events had unfolded. In the blink of an eye, he had risen from the Golden Core Realm to the brink of the Divine Transformation Realm.

Looking back, he realized that most advancements in his cultivation had come at the cost of facing death. He let out a wry smile and stretched. “What an interesting life it’s been…”

He smiled. Standing on Nine Heavens’ head, he pointed a finger outward and drew a line through the void. A mysterious ripple of energy radiated from his finger, and a thin tear in space appeared. He peered through the rift to confirm his location.

He wasn’t far from the North Sea Temple.

He ordered Nine Heavens to change direction, then they vanished.

***

The North Sea Temple had reacted swiftly to the destruction of the Immortal Crane Alliance, activating their massive protective array.

Soon, a ray of lightning sword light, tinged faintly red, landed on the barrier.

Ripples spread across the surface, followed by cracks.

Li Guanqi hovered in the air, unleashing rays of sword light again and again.

Boom!

He looked down at the crowd gathered midair, then tossed out a jade pendant.

“There’s no need for talking. Come… Let’s settle this debt!”

Boom!

Li Guanqi vanished, and the broken barrier transformed into a wall of heavenly fire.

At the time, no one knew about the carnage happening at the North Sea Temple, a distant island sect in the middle of the sea.

But the next morning, when fishermen ventured out and saw the water stained red with blood, they realized the truth.

The North Sea Temple had fallen too.