Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The strange force coursing through Li Guanqi’s body pinned him in place.

Chen Zhi burst into laughter. “Hahahaha! This is hilarious! I admit you’re strong, but you said you wanted to avenge her. Who do you think you are? Trying to prosecute me for my sins? Hahahaha! You and what army?”

Li Guanqi hovered in midair, a mere hundred zhang from Chen Zhi—a distance Chen Zhi thought was safe.

Li Guanqi’s sullen expression turned violent and murderous. He growled, “Why… Why?!”

Boom! Boom!

The lightning sheath around his hand surged stronger with each word. As he glared at the remorseless Chen Zhi, the flames of fury rose higher in his chest.

The moment of Ning Xiu’s death flashed through his mind.

Li Guanqi doubled over, eyes squeezed shut against the pain in his heart. Two streaks of bloody tears ran down his face.

When he opened his eyes, red vessels had overtaken his eyes, giving him a feral look. He murmured, “I don’t know why, but ever since I stepped into the world of cultivation, it feels like everyone around me is rotten. Everyone hates the world for being dirty and evil, but they’re the ones making it that way.”

Chen Zhi watched with a cold smirk, overjoyed to see the flames in Li Guanqi’s body slowly dying down. He could even feel the fire seed of the Lightning Dragon Flame beginning to form within himself.He thought that Li Guanqi was completely under his Yin Hellfire’s control.

“Tsk tsk. I really don’t know how you reached your current level. This is the reality of cultivation—might makes right. Empathy, pity, familial love? All fake. Only immortality and supremacy matter.”

Chen Zhi bent down to meet Li Guanqi’s eyes. “Weaklings deserve to die. It’s as simple as that.”

The anger in Li Guanqi only grew. He knew Chen Zhi was talking about the dark side of the cultivation world, but he couldn’t bear the thought of innocent people suffering because of him.

He’d begun cultivating to seek the great Dao and ascend beyond the nine heavens. He desired to enter the immortal realm, sword in hand. He wanted to see the celestials above with his own eyes.

But he valued relationships too. He wanted to protect those around him through his own strength. He refused to reach the peak only to find no one left to share his joy. That was why he had Ye Feng and Cao Yan.

Li Guanqi let Chen Zhi continue devouring his heavenly flame’s root energy.

Faces flashed through his mind. Yu Sui’an, Li Nanting, Lu Kangnian, Qin Xian, Ling Daoyan, Ye Feng, Cao Yan…

One by one, they faded. Only a pale-faced woman remained.

Ning Xiu.

Li Guanqi roared, shaking the heavens. “Deserve to die? Hahahaha! We’ll see about that!”

A surge of force immediately extinguished the Yin Hellfire binding him.

He shifted his left hand, and the five dragons and five elephants of the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra roared. When he closed his fingers, space itself folded around them, as if he were ripping cloth.

To Chen Zhi’s horror, he couldn’t move at all. Li Guanqi’s aura and sword intent pressed down on him like mountains, sealing the surrounding space.

Then Li Guanqi’s voice rang in his ear, cold as death. “In that case… If there is no judge in this world, I shall unsheathe my sword and become King Yanluo.[1] myself.

“Sword-Unsheathing Technique!”

Chen Zhi couldn’t even see Li Guanqi’s hand move. He merely saw a flash of purple light.

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s powerful sword light blazed, and the dozen mountains around them split in half. The dense yin hell qi within a thousand zhang vanished instantly.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Multiple explosions rang out, one after another, rolling like thunder.

Chen Zhi stood frozen. A bloody line appeared between his eyebrows.

“That was… fast… Yan… Luo…”

Li Guanqi sheathed his sword and straightened up. Blood sprayed from his mouth, but he remained standing, back straight as a blade.

He took a single step, crossing a hundred zhang and appearing before Chen Zhi. He pressed a hand against Chen Zhi’s head, then pulled.

He ripped out an illusory spirit and then looked through its memories, searching for the Nine Heavens Flame-Devouring Technique.

He quickly found the technique. He didn’t know why, but it looked very simple. One glance was all it took. The vital force in his body began circulating along the technique’s required pathways.

He formed a hand seal and pressed down on Chen Zhi’s body, reclaiming every drop of Lightning Dragon Flame power that had been stolen. Then he glanced at the scattered Yin Hellfire in the surrounding area and absorbed that too.

Looking at Chen Zhi’s violently trembling spirit, he smirked. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you die that easily.”

He fashioned a cage from Yin Hellfire, reinforced it with the Lightning Dragon Flame on the outside, and tossed Chen Zhi’s spirit inside.

The spirit’s wailing shook the heavens. The agony of being burned by two heavenly fires was unimaginable, and Chen Zhi was probably the only one in the world who knew how it felt.

Li Guanqi surveyed his surroundings through narrowed eyes.

Three powerful ghost cultivators stepped out slowly from the void. They exchanged glances, then bowed toward Li Guanqi. None of them showed killing intent.

Li Guanqi gave them one long look, then turned to leave

From that day forward, Li Guanqi’s words spread across all six territories: “If there is no judge in this world, I shall unsheathe my sword and become King Yanluo myself.”

***

Far away, in a mysterious pavilion, Su Xuan listened to a report from his golden-armored subordinate. He slapped his thigh with delight and shot to his feet, eyes shining. “Hahaha! That is fantastic! ‘If there is no judge in this world, I shall unsheathe my sword and become King Yanluo!’ That’s my grandson! Damn it, no… Long Hou, have the four pavilion masters recovered yet?”

Long Hou nodded with some exasperation. “For the most part, yes. They’re from the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion. They heal quickly.”

Su Xuan took a drag from his pipe, then downed a mouthful of wine. “Those damn old bastards. Go beat them up again. Make them seventy percent dead this time.”

He paused. “And subtly let them know they’d better not touch Li Guanqi. Fuck them! If they try to take advantage of my grandson again, I’ll flatten the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion.”

Long Hou nodded silently. He was growing more curious about Li Guanqi, whom he had never met. Ever since Su Xuan returned, he’d spoken of having gained a precious grandson. But whenever Long Hou collected information about Li Guanqi, he found himself puzzled by what Su Xuan was thinking.

Having a territorial lord as a grandfather can’t be easy either. The boy should be able to do whatever he wants in the six territories. Instead, he’s enduring all this suffering.

1. King Yanluo, or Yanluo Wang, is the god of death and ruler of the hell realm in Chinese culture. ☜