Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Sheng’an looked around cautiously.

Li Guanqi studied him. If Li Sheng’an was on edge, something serious was brewing.

At that moment, on a spirit platform atop Heavenly Pillar Peak, someone’s eyes snapped open. He looked toward Jade Teapot Peak.

Why is that guy going to see him?

Meanwhile, atop Jade Teapot Peak, Li Guanqi’s sea of consciousness churned. His divine consciousness spread until it blanketed the entire summit. Only a cultivator at the late Divine Transformation Realm could forcefully listen through his invisible barrier.

Li Guanqi said softly, “Relax. No one will hear you.”

If anyone tried to eavesdrop, the barrier would alert him once.

Li Sheng’an eased a little, though a conflicted look remained. In the end, he gritted his teeth. “What I’m about to say might just be my imagination. I don’t have proof. Just listen and don’t take it as fact.”

Li Guanqi nodded. “Tell me. I’ll judge for myself.”

Li Sheng’an began his tale. Eyes fixed on Li Guanqi, he said, “That Cang Lu… something about him feels wrong.”Li Guanqi frowned. He had come up with many possibilities, but he hadn’t expected Li Sheng’an to bring up Cang Lu. He didn’t know Cang Lu well, and he couldn’t see what connection the two of them might have.

Seeing his surprise, Li Sheng’an waved his hands quickly. “There’s no conflict between us. I’m saying it because… sigh… how do I explain this…”

He lowered his head, thinking for a long while. Li Guanqi waited without pushing. When Sheng’an finally looked up, he said, “You might not know this, but I’ve got a nickname in the sect: Smiling Tiger. I’m good at hiding how I feel, and very little ever shows on my face.”

Li Guanqi nodded in understanding.

Li Sheng’an continued, “Cang Lu is very talented and strong, but I think he’s hiding something. He even entered the inner sect recently, but he’s got intentions he doesn’t want others to see.”

By then, even Li Sheng’an felt embarrassed. He looked down and said, “Of course, that’s just my view. I’ve got no evidence. But… I feel like he’s after something big.”

He didn’t want to elaborate further.

He trusted Li Guanqi very much. If it had been anyone else, Li Sheng’an would never have revealed his true thoughts about Cang Lu.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath. He understood why Li Sheng’an had approached him. Anyone else would think he was stirring up conflict out of jealousy. But Li Guanqi knew him better. Li Sheng’an’s old low self-esteem had trained him to read people. His sensitivity had kept him safe.

If he felt something was off, he must have sensed it more than once.

Li Guanqi asked, “You noticed something, didn’t you? And more than once.”

Li Sheng’an’s head jerked up. He nodded hard. “It’s his eyes. They’re the same as mine when I’m hiding something and trying not to draw attention.”

Li Guanqi furrowed his brow in thought, recalling every scene from when he first met Cang Lu. Their meeting at the teahouse had been a coincidence. They’d also encountered an annoying guy and his fiancée at the Fragrance Motel in Nanze City.

Back then, he hadn’t known Cang Lu at all.

Then there was the time he encountered Song Zhi’ang. Cang Lu had been sitting right in front of him that day. Every meeting had felt natural. He hadn’t sensed even a hint that Cang Lu was scheming to cross paths with him.

Most importantly…

What is he hiding? What could he want from the Daxia Sword Sect?

His thoughts were a mess. He could not figure it out.

There was a flash of light in his hand, and a blank jade slip made of a special material appeared. Great power gathered in the jade slip, and his white robes fluttered from the force.

He handed it to Li Sheng’an and spoke to him through voice transmission. “This jade slip contains a full-strength attack from me. If something happens, this will kill him.”

Li Sheng’an accepted the jade slip and examined it, deeply moved. He wasn’t touched simply because he’d received a valuable treasure. It was Li Guanqi’s trust in him that truly moved him.

Anyone else, even Lu Kangnian, would have chalked it up to jealousy.

Cang Lu had been warmly welcomed by everyone in the sect. He was known for his friendliness, talent, and willingness to help others. He even offered cultivation advice.

But the more perfect he seemed, the more wrong it felt to Li Sheng’an. No one was that perfect.

Li Guanqi thought of something and transmitted, “What weapon does he use?”

Li Sheng’an paused. “A sword. Why do you ask?”

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. From what he knew, Cang Lu wasn’t a sword cultivator. His weapon was a zither.

Suddenly, large ripples appeared in the calm and silent space around Jade Teapot Peak.

“Who is it?!”

Li Guanqi shot up. The sword box behind him opened, and the Red Lotus Sword shot into the night.

Boom!

The ripples vanished. The space went still again.

The Red Lotus Sword shot back from the nothingness. There was some blood on the blade.

Li Guanqi’s face darkened. This person was trying to break through the barrier he set up to eavesdrop on them, right under his nose.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath, then appeared in the sky in a flash.

Vital force roared through his body as he activated a sword prison, sealing the space within thirty li[1] of himself.

Any person who tried to flee would be caught by the ripples in space.

Boom!

Winds screamed as lightning tore across the sky, forming a cage.

1. 15 kilometers or 9.3 miles ☜