Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi sat cross-legged in the void as a powerful vital force surged through him. His injuries were healing fast.

There was a lingering emptiness in his heart. He’d killed Chen Zhi, but the feeling remained.

“When you’re dead, you’re dead…”

No one ever knew when they’d see someone for the last time. Loved ones had to be treasured.

Li Guanqi sighed. At least the frustration had dissipated significantly.

He replayed the battle against Chen Zhi in his mind. The best thing he’d gained was the subtle progression of his sword intent toward the next level.

He checked the direction, woke Nine Heavens, then rode the dragon toward the place where the ancient ruins were about to open.

“The Hell Rivers!”

The Hell Rivers were in the Southern Territory of the Soaring Heavens Continent. He was quite a distance away, and it would take three days to arrive, even riding Nine Heavens.

Three days should be enough to figure out the next stage. He closed his eyes. Sword Courage Realm…His breathing slowed, and his aura transformed. Chen Zhi had been powerful, but Li Guanqi had a feeling that even Chen Zhi wasn’t the number one in the Azure Cloud Continent. Its cultivators seemed stronger‌.

He shook his head. Their battle had been treacherous and fast-paced, with neither daring to let the other catch their breath. He’d only managed such a devastating final blow because he’d hidden his true abilities from the start.

“Sword-Unsheathing Technique…” he murmured.

He’d been mulling over something for a long time. What if I could end every battle in a single move?

At the moment, the Sword-Unsheathing Technique was his most powerful attack. It was a complicated technique, resembling Heavenly Destruction from the Heavenly Destruction Sword Sutra.

The Heavenly Destruction Sword Sutra was difficult to grasp. He hadn’t achieved even the slightest understanding of the third technique. If the second one was called Heavenly Destruction, what was the third?

He shook his head and paced along Nine Heavens’ back. Purple light enveloped him as he entered a strange state. Sword intent surged through him, and he recalled the feeling of power from his fight with Chen Zhi.

Gradually, his aura grew stronger, and his sword intent became denser. Driven by increasing determination and clarity, a terrifying sword intent shot out from him, piercing through space.

Li Guanqi’s eyes sprang open. He swung his sword.

Clang! Boom!

A ten-zhang-long ray of sword light shot out, tearing a trail through space before exploding in the void.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A smile tugged at his lips. He looked down at the sword in his hand.

The Red Lotus Sword glowed red, but he felt a disturbance. It was faint, almost imperceptible, and he strained to understand it.

The broken sword in his sword spirit void trembled, but something seemed to be lacking.

Does that mean the Red Lotus Sword can still become stronger?

He still wasn’t sure what his sword spirit void could do. However, activating Soul Dissolution had boosted the Red Lotus Sword’s destructive power by thirty percent.

He extended his divine consciousness and froze. He’d only closed his eyes for half an hour. How are we here already?

Nine Heavens rolled its eyes. It had been flying at full speed for three whole days!

Li Guanqi grinned awkwardly. When he saw the resentment in Nine Heavens’ eyes, he hurriedly tossed out two pills.

The reason he hadn’t let Nine Heavens take part in the previous battle was simple. First, Nine Heavens was a little stronger than he was. He didn’t want to become dependent on it.

His hands and sword were his greatest assets.

One pitch-black sword lay buried in his sword coffin. It was utterly black[1] and called the Black Tortoise Sword.

After all, it was a sword coffin.

Li Guanqi checked his map. They were only a thousand li away from the Hell Rivers.

After some thought, he said gently, “Nine Heavens, get some sleep.”

Nine Heavens happily transformed back into a bracelet, settling on his right wrist. Dragons loved to sleep, and he was delighted to get some rest after a large meal.

Li Guanqi retracted his aura, disguising himself as a mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. He took out the Face-Changing Bug and placed it on his cheek, then put on some navy blue robes and stepped out of the void.

The Hell Rivers comprised endless mountains and rivers. However, the water wasn’t normal—it was an eerie, inky black.

Rumor had it that the streams of the Hell Rivers connected to the actual river of reincarnation in the hell realm. In truth, the waters simply contained more yin hell force than usual. Nothing else was special about them.

The region was home to all sorts of factions. Despite the vast, empty landscape, the area was surprisingly busy, almost like a gigantic human city.

Li Guanqi stood mid-air and gazed at the lights dotting the region. With a flash beneath his feet, he shot toward the Hell Rivers.

Above the Hell Rivers, several spatial tears glowed weakly. Li Guanqi frowned and murmured, “Such strong vital force fluctuations… These ancient ruins must have attracted many people.”

It was just as he’d guessed. Since the ancient ruins above Hell River were about to open, more and more cultivators rushed over from different places.

Faint whooshes rang out as more spatial tears opened. Cultivators in strange attire appeared constantly.

Some of them looked at Li Guanqi with malice upon spotting him.

He realized that everyone present was at least at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. Most were even in the Divine Transformation Realm.

His disguise as a mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivator had made him stand out.

Having no choice, Li Guanqi glared at the cultivators who were eyeing him and cursed, “What the fuck are you looking at? Come at me if you dare.”

One such cultivator was a man with several white skulls hanging from his waist. His mouth twitched, then he reappeared in front of Li Guanqi.

Li Guanqi didn’t hesitate. He reached out to grab the man’s face, as if he’d predicted the man’s movements.

The man appeared, landing directly in Li Guanqi’s outstretched palm.

Boom!

Heavenly fire burst forth. Flames from the heavens erupted. For a split second, terror flashed in the man’s eyes.

Then he was reduced to nothing but ash.

Only his clothes and the pile of skulls remained.

Li Guanqi looked at the clothes with disgust but still put them on. His aura surged, reaching the early Divine Transformation Realm. His features contorted: his cheeks hollowed, his face paled, and his eye sockets deepened. By the end, he looked like a man on his deathbed.

“Alright then.”

Whoosh!

Li Guanqi vanished, heading toward the Hell Rivers.

1. This appears to be Chen Zhi’s sword, which was pitch-black and associated with his Black Tortoise Technique. Though not explicitly stated, Li Guanqi seems to have placed it in his sword coffin after Chen Zhi’s death. ☜