Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The moment Li Guanqi saw that memory in Kong Yunzhang’s mind, a chill swept through him. Someone had been using the Ghostly Spirit Sect to poison the herbs delivered to the Daxia Sword Sect. From the looks of it, this might have been going on for a long time, yet the Daxia Sword Sect never noticed.

He also saw another key figure in Kong Yunzhang’s memories: an elder of the Ghostly Spirit Sect. The mysterious mastermind had contacted that elder first, then found Kong Yunzhang through them.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes.

Even after putting himself in Kong Yunzhang’s shoes and recognizing that he had no way out, he still couldn’t excuse his actions.

His sea of consciousness shuddered. Terrifying divine consciousness surged out of him and swept across the sect grounds. He found a white-haired elder hiding in a secret room, terror written across his face.

Li Guanqi drew the Red Lotus Sword.

Buzz!

The blade trembled, then shot out with a piercing whistle. In a single breath, the blood-soaked sword returned.

Li Guanqi had no intention of killing the others; they knew nothing of Kong Yunzhang’s actions. But anyone involved… he left none of them alive. Man or woman, he cut them down.

He raised his hand and withdrew his sword domain. The lightning in the sky faded at last.The disciples let out shaky sighs of relief, unaware their sect master had already died by Li Guanqi’s hand.

Li Guanqi huffed and disappeared. He had no plans to return to his sect yet. He still needed to visit the Crimson Blade Sect.

An hour later, he resurfaced on the peak of the Crimson Blade Sect’s mountain. This time, he made no effort to hide his aura. His white robes fluttered in the wind as boundless lightning burst from him in every direction.

Half an hour later, a river of blood ran through the sect pavilion. A suffocating, bloody stench clung to the air. Sticky blood seeped under the doors while the disciples stared in horror. No one dared move. They were paralyzed with fear.

The pale-faced disciples watched Li Guanqi leave, their knees trembling. There were no words spoken and no explanation. He simply shattered their sect barrier, sealed off space, killed a handful of people, and left.

On his way back, Li Guanqi’s brow stayed tightly furrowed. He still did not know what the poison did, and no one in the Daxia Sword Sect had replied to his messages.

It felt like the silence before the storm. It put him on edge. Lightning flashed beneath his feet as he moved at full speed. His mind was a mess, and his heartbeat quickened.

The altar in his sea of consciousness trembled, pressing down his chaotic emotions as he tore through the void like a charging beast.

Buzz!

The sky split open, and he shot out of the pitch-black rift. A wave of unease washed over him. There was a protective barrier surrounding the Daxia Sword Sect.

The jade slip at his waist glowed, yet the barrier didn’t react. Li Guanqi frowned. “Someone’s controlling the array manually?”

At the same time, the elder controlling the array noticed the energy from Li Guanqi’s elder jade slip.

“Quick, open the barrier! Guanqi is back!”

Buzz!

A crack opened in the barrier, and Li Guanqi flew inside. As he looked down, he realized the sect grounds were almost empty. The few people he saw were all rushing somewhere. Anxiety hung over the entire sect like a heavy mist.

He sensed that all the high-level elders had gathered in the main pavilion.

The other disciples had assembled at the main pavilions of the seven peaks. They didn’t know what was going on, but the elders’ obvious tension made them uneasy.

An elder flew over and offered a hurried salute. “Elder Li, the Sect Master and the others are waiting for you at the main pavilion.”

Li Guanqi nodded. “Elder Zhou, I’ll head over now. Could you get someone to reassure the disciples?”

The elder nodded. Light flashed beneath Li Guanqi’s feet and he vanished.

Li Guanqi had no time to reassure anyone. He reappeared at the entrance of the main pavilion.

Creak!

The heavy, red wooden door swung open.

The pavilion was packed, with the seven peak masters, all the elders, and the ceremonial elders in attendance. Over a hundred people were there.

The moment the door opened, every gaze snapped toward him. When they saw it was Li Guanqi, relief washed through the room. Even Lu Kangnian, seated on the dais, looked visibly reassured.

Li Guanqi’s white robes were spattered with blood. He stepped forward and bowed. “I’ve killed the sect masters of both the Ghostly Spirit Sect and the Crimson Blade Sect. Everyone aware of the plot in either sect has been wiped out.”

A collective sharp breath filled the hall, yet no one objected. Anyone who dared target the Daxia Sword Sect had to be erased.

Lu Kangnian’s eyes narrowed. He nodded. To him, this was a trivial matter. “Guanqi, we’ve inspected many disciples and found nothing unusual. The sect’s alchemists haven’t detected anything either. Did you find anything on your end?”

Li Guanqi frowned. He hadn’t expected the sect to come up empty as well.

He turned toward an elder lost in thought and offered a quick salute. “Elder Yu, I have scenes from when they added the poison. Please take a look.”

The elder looked up, startled. “Yes, yes. Let me see. I’ve been pondering this for a long time, but I still haven’t figured out what poison it is.”

Li Guanqi lifted his hand and projected the scene from Kong Yunzhang’s memories.

The image was blurry, but they could make out black-robed figures scattering an ink-green powder. Elder Yu frowned for a long moment. In the end, he sighed and slapped the table in frustration. “I… still don’t recognize this poison…”

The hall grew tense.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. After some time, he took out a very special and luxurious-looking jade slip.