Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Lu Kangnian’s furious shout crashed through the hall, and a crushing pressure fell over everyone inside. An icy fear stirred in every heart.

Yu Mu’s expression twitched. Stubborn resistance flickered in his eyes. He clenched his jaw and stayed silent.

Lu Kangnian’s anger deepened, his voice thick with disappointment. “Yu Mu! You’ve served the sect for hundreds of years. Why disgrace yourself by eavesdropping on Li Guanqi today? Are you going to answer me or not?”

He rose, eyes blazing as he glared at Yu Mu. Yu Mu had entered the sect not long after him. Once, they had been as close as Li Guanqi and Zhong Lin, brothers in all but blood. No matter how he tried, Lu Kangnian could not understand why Yu Mu had done what he did. The only certainty was that Yu Mu had held no intent to kill, although he couldn’t have killed Li Guanqi even if he’d wanted to.

Rage surged through Lu Kangnian. With a flick of his hand, an earth-yellow longsword of spirit power shot forth. It pierced straight through Yu Mu’s shoulder, sending blood spraying several feet.

Yu Mu let out a low groan, his features twisting with pain, yet he still refused to speak.

Qin Xian barked, “Are you not afraid we’ll kill you here and now? What secret is worth dying for?”

Yu Mu only bowed his head, lips sealed, resolute in playing the mute.

A cold glint passed through Li Guanqi’s eyes. He looked toward Lu Kangnian and said quietly, “Sect Master, shall I handle this?”

A sharp gleam lit Lu Kangnian’s gaze. He knew very well that once Li Guanqi took action, something would be forced out. However, Yu Mu might not survive it. Lu Kangnian closed his eyes, his face twisting with pain.His conflicted expression soon passed. On the day he resolved to lead the Daxia Sword Sect back to prominence, he had already prepared himself for scenes like this. However, in his mind, the traitor should have been some deluded mid-ranked elder, not a peak master of such standing.

He looked at Yu Mu for a long moment, then spoke to Li Guanqi through a silent voice transmission. “Spare his life if possible.”

Li Guanqi noticed the sudden weariness on Lu Kangnian’s face and gave a slight nod. He raised his hand, tore open a rift, and pulled Yu Mu inside.

Within the void, Li Guanqi shaped a stable pocket of space, then crouched before Yu Mu. His tone was calm, almost gentle. “What’s your purpose? Who sent you?”

Yu Mu simply met his gaze, steady and silent.

Li Guanqi wasted no more words. He kicked Yu Mu down, and with a casual gesture, an invisible force pried the nails from one of Yu Mu’s hands. Flesh tore, blood seeped, and Yu Mu trembled violently, lips quivering as a thin line of blood trickled from his mouth.

Li Guanqi spoke lightly, almost idly, saying, “I know this kind of pain means nothing to you.”

His tone turned colder. “But you should know that I’m no good person. When I dealt with the scum of the Purple Sun Pavilion, I took two of them alive. I buried them in the earth, left only their heads above ground, and smeared their faces with honey. Do you know why?”

Yu Mu glared at him through bloodshot eyes.

Indifferent, Li Guanqi continued, “Because I buried them at the entrance of a wild bear’s den. You know how a bear’s tongue is. Barbed all over. One lick strips flesh and skin. But don’t worry, I won’t do that to you.”

His gaze hardened. “My patience is thin. Sect Master Lu Kangnian asked me to keep you alive, but whether you die or not is up to me. Tell me, would you really rather stay alive as a cripple?”

Yu Mu began to shake uncontrollably. Terror spilled from his lowered eyes.

Li Guanqi pressed on, his voice cold as ice. “Think carefully. I could shatter your nascent soul before it fully fuses. Cut off your limbs. Leave you crawling on the ground. Toss you down the mountain to beg until the end of your days. Don’t worry, people pity beggars. You’d live.”

Yu Mu finally spoke. He lifted his head, veins streaking his eyes red. “You are ruthless.”

Li Guanqi ignored his words and replied casually, “Your cultivation in the Divine Transformation Realm must be tied to the one backing you, isn’t it?”

Yu Mu’s pupils shrank in horror.

Before he could react, Li Guanqi’s hand hardened into a blade and stabbed into his abdomen with a sickening sound. Yu Mu’s body jerked violently, his face twisting in agony. Wild lightning tore through his meridians, ravaging everything in its path. At the same time, an unseen hand seized his nascent soul and began crushing it slowly.

A heartbeat later, cracking sounds burst from within Yu Mu’s core. Staring at Li Guanqi’s calm face, he trembled with a dread he had never known. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Don’t cripple my cultivation!”

Li Guanqi slowly withdrew his hand, his voice soft. “Good. Then speak clearly. Slowly. Tell me everything. You only get one chance.”

Although the words were spoken calmly, they sent a chill down Yu Mu’s spine.

Li Guanqi backed away, and the next second, several bolts of lightning struck Yu Mu, holding him suspended in the air.

Hanging above, Yu Mu shuddered and hurriedly gasped out, “I don’t know who he is. A year ago, he came to me. He promised that if I helped him, he’d give me a chance to break through the bottleneck of the Divine Transformation Realm. My talent was lacking. Without some great fortune, I would’ve stayed stuck in the Nascent Soul Realm forever. My cultivation hadn’t moved an inch for two hundred years. You don’t know how badly I wanted that breakthrough.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes grew colder. More lightning spears pierced through Yu Mu’s body. His voice held no emotion. “Get to the point.”

Yu Mu gasped for a long moment before continuing, “Later, he gave me pills. With them, my strength surged at an impossible rate. But he never revealed his face. Even when we met, his figure stayed hidden. After giving me the pills, he vanished. For the entire year, aside from the pills that occasionally appeared in my quarters, he never asked me to do anything. Not until today.”

Li Guanqi’s brows knit ever tighter. His senses told him Yu Mu’s heart showed no deceit. Every word was true.