Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

When Tang Ru heard Sun Miao’s voice, he grabbed Li Guanqi’s arm and excitedly shouted, “It’s him! It really is him! Hahaha! Master Sun’s pills will surely crush my brothers’ pills!”

Li Guanqi replied, “Tang Ru of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in Wuzi City.”

To his surprise, Sun Miao replied with a grave note in his voice. “Junior Li, is he really Tang Ru of Wuzi City?”

“Yes, it’s him.”

“Kid, do you know what’s going on in the Tang family right now?”

Tang Ru stiffened. Someone at Sun Miao’s level naturally knew certain secrets, including the test given to him and his brothers.

Tang Ru awkwardly muttered, “If Old Sun isn’t willing, forget it. Let’s not corner him.”

He didn’t want to put Li Guanqi in an awkward spot either. However, Li Guanqi confidently replied, “I know what’s happening, and I’m taking Tang Ru’s side. If it’s hard for you, Old Sun, that’s fine. I won’t force you.”

Li Guanqi tossed the jade slip onto the table and smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you some good stuff when I come back.”

Before he’d even finished, Tang Ru noticed the jade slip was flickering repeatedly, eventually glowing almost without pause.“It’s no trouble, no trouble at all… Hey, are you upset over this? Don’t be like that! I never said no! He’s only the third son of the Tang family! If he’s your good friend, he’s my good friend, so how could I not help him? I’ll head to Wuzi City now. Hey, kid? Elder Li? Brother Li? Say something… Come on, how could you get mad so easily?”

Tang Ru was completely taken aback. He’d always seen Sun Miao as a distant figure, practically a deity. Yet with Li Guanqi…

Li Guanqi paused for a moment, then said, “Head to the Daxia Sword Sect later and look for him. You’ll be fine.”

Tang Ru’s eyes went wide as it all dawned on him. He exhaled slowly. “Thank you.”

Li Guanqi nodded with a small smile. “Right. How do I get from here to the Soaring Heavens Continent?”

Tang Ru brightened and pulled out a jade slip. “Here’s a map of the route. All the continents are separated by invisible barriers, so you’ll need to take a special tunnel to reach the Soaring Heavens Continent. There’s also a map of the continent itself. It’s a bit rough, but it should be enough.”

Li Guanqi took the jade slip. “Smart of you. When did you think of this?”

Tang Ru smiled. “I knew the moment you asked for the Demon-Slaying Flowers.”

Then his face darkened. “If you’re going to the Soaring Heavens Continent, you need to be careful.”

“Why? Is the Pure Immortal Mountain Sect that strong?” Li Guanqi said.

Tang Ru shook his head. “The Soaring Heavens Continent is different from the Azure Cloud Continent. The culture is harsher. Humans, ghosts, and demons live together, and conflict gets more violent.”

Li Guanqi nodded. He hadn’t expected such a tangled place.

Tang Ru added, “As for the Mo Family… I’ve been keeping tabs on them, but someone seems to have warned them. They’ve gone silent.”

Li Guanqi hummed. “I asked the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion before. They don’t know either. I thought the Mo Family would never let things go. Unexpected… but not a problem. As long as their old ancestor doesn’t move, they’re no threat to the Daxia Sword Sect.”

“Yes, I hadn’t expected the Daxia Sword Sect to rise so quickly,” Tang Ru mused.

They talked for a while until Tang Ru suddenly mentioned a girl from Li Guanqi’s past.

“Brother Li, you seem to have great luck with women!”

Li Guanqi frowned in mock offense. “Women? Well, women have always loved me. Hahaha.”

Tang Ru glanced at his handsome face and sighed with jealousy. “Makes sense. With a face like that, of course women chase after you. I don’t blame Ning Xiu of Inferno Valley for falling for you. She didn’t expose you even after getting hurt.”

Li Guanqi knitted his brow. “The owner of that guesthouse? What happened?”

Tang Ru frowned. “You didn’t know? When the Dark Raven Order was hunting you, they questioned her about your whereabouts. She never gave them any answers, and a mysterious person saved her. I assumed you knew.”

Her face surfaced in his mind. They’d met only once.

Li Guanqi stood up. “I’ll check on her. You head straight to the Daxia Sword Sect and look for Sun Miao.”

He disappeared from the room.

Tang Ru sighed, slumping back in his chair. Change was the only constant. Just when he felt completely stuck, a single message from Li Guanqi turned things around.

High above Inferno Valley, Li Guanqi stepped out of the void in white brocade robes.

A thick stench of blood hit him. His face paled, and he extended his divine consciousness across a thousand-zhang radius. Lightning flashed beneath his feet.

Whoosh!

He reached the guesthouse and blew the doors inward. Severed limbs lay scattered among broken furniture. The floor was stained with dark, congealed blood.

Whoosh!

He appeared on the second floor outside a woman’s room. He pushed the door open.

Ning Xiu lay in a pool of blood in a green dress. Blood seeped from a wound in her chest. Her face was ghostly white, her eyes half-closed, her breath shallow. She was on the brink of death.

Li Guanqi sent a strong wisp of vital force into her heart meridian to seal it. He lifted her into his arms, but his eyes dimmed. Her heart had been shattered beyond repair.

Her three souls and seven spirits [1] had also been chopped up using some violent method, so she did not have much time left.

Her three souls and seven spirits had also been chopped apart by a brutal method, leaving her with almost no time.

Ning Xiu felt warmth along her arm. She forced her eyes open with the last of her strength. Tears slipped down her cheeks. She tried to speak, but blood spilled from her mouth.

Li Guanqi closed his eyes, unable to watch. Anger boiled within him.

His gut told him that she was suffering because of him. She was dying because of him.

His voice rasped. “Who did this… Tell me…”

Ning Xiu’s mouth twitched as she gave him a faint smile. Tears blurred her vision, so she couldn’t see his face.

She lifted a trembling hand to his cheek. Her mouth opened slightly as she attempted to speak, but he could only understand her by reading her lips.

“Don’t… go… I… like… you… I… don’t… regret this…”

Crash!

Ning Xiu’s palm gradually cooled, and it fell to the ground.

Her eyes closed. Two trails of tears slid down her cheeks, as though she left the world unwillingly, full of unspoken regrets.

Li Guanqi lowered his head, feeling her body turn cold in his arms. He sat frozen, letting her blood soak his white robes.

He threw his head back and roared in fury.

“Ahhhhh!”

A terrifying burst of strength erupted from him, flattening all the buildings in Inferno Valley and turning the place into flat land.

Li Guanqi carried her through the rubble toward a rock wall in the valley. Being liked by someone was supposed to be a joyful thing, but now, it felt heavy beyond words.

Buzz!

A mysterious figure appeared three zhang ahead.

Li Guanqi’s head snapped up. He glared at the visitor with bloodshot eyes. “Can’t the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion protect its own people?!”

1. In Daoism, every person possesses three souls (hun) and seven spirits (po). The three hun are what grant humans higher intelligence and sentience compared to animals (which have two hun) and plants (which have one). Each of the seven po governs a different bodily function, such as alertness during sleep, respiration, or reproduction. ☜