Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi stood before the massive transport array, nearly a hundred zhang across, stunned by its scale. Beside him, Chu Menglan looked at him with a complicated expression, a quiet sigh stirring in her heart.

“Thank you for lending a hand this time, Young Master Li,” she said softly. “I won’t say anything unnecessary. Just know you’re welcome at the Profound Phoenix Pavilion anytime. Treat it as your own home.”

Qi Rongxuan maintained a cheerful smile as he watched the two of them. What a well-played scheme…

He raised his hand, and over ten violet crystals shot out in a flash of light. Li Guanqi’s brows lifted. The spirit qi inside the violet stones felt several times richer than even high-grade spirit stones. They embedded themselves in the formation, and space warped slightly before a powerful spatial fluctuation erupted. A heartbeat later, a pitch-black passage ten zhang wide opened before him.

Li Guanqi cupped his fists. “Seniors, we will meet again.”

Then he stepped into the teleportation array without looking back.

Buzz!

The grand array continued running. It would not shut down until Li Guanqi safely reached the Taiqing Territory.

“Keep a close watch on the array,” Qi Rongxuan said gravely. “Nothing can be allowed to go wrong.”

Chu Menglan nodded, her expression unreadable. She knew the consequences all too well. If the transport array collapsed, Li Guanqi would not survive.“Don’t worry, Elder Qi. I’ll have Elder Zhao guard it personally.”

Qi Rongxuan nodded. “Good. I still have matters to handle. I just hope that girl can seize control of the formation this time.”

***

Buzz!

Li Guanqi sensed the stability of the spatial tunnel around him and finally relaxed. Just as he was about to sit down and cultivate, Sword Spirit appeared before him, sitting elegantly with her legs crossed.

“You currently lack ways to temper your physical body, so I’ve decided to increase the weight of the sword coffin.”

Li Guanqi frowned slightly. “Its weight can still be increased? The sword coffin weighs five hundred jin right now, but barely affects me.”

Sword Spirit smiled faintly and snapped her fingers.

The weight slammed into him like a physical blow, hurling him backward.

Boom! Boom!

He activated the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra instantly. His face flushed purple-red, veins bulging on his neck, and only then did he manage to stand upright with the coffin on his back again. His body trembled as he looked at Sword Spirit.

“Ten thousand jin?” he said with difficulty.

She smiled beautifully, her fox-like eyes curving without a single wrinkle at the corners. “From now on, you are to carry the sword coffin at all times. And when fighting, try using the coffin as your sword. Adapt to the weight as quickly as possible.”

A spark flashed in Li Guanqi’s mind, and he asked excitedly, “Could it be?”

Sword Spirit smiled and nodded. “That’s only part of it. Your physical strength still hasn’t been pushed to its limit. Also, I remembered a set of fist techniques I can teach you.”

Li Guanqi grinned despite his flushed face. He had never troubled himself over cultivation manuals. With Sword Spirit around, every technique he learned was top-tier.

Then his expression shifted, troubled. “The final move of the Heavenly Destruction Sword Sutra still feels like it’s missing something…”

Sword Spirit’s face suddenly brightened. She leaned in close with a smile, her flawless features only inches from his. Li Guanqi reflexively puckered his lips.

Her expression turned cold. She slapped him across the mouth, then jabbed a finger at his chest. “Focus.”

She rose abruptly and, before Li Guanqi could say anything, flung a thick ancient manual at his face. Then she vanished.

Li Guanqi lifted the book, a faint smile curling his lips. “The Five Lightning Fist.”

His eyes gleamed as he flipped through it. It was an extremely obscure first art. There were no diagrams, only dense descriptions of techniques.

He closed his eyes. Beneath his white robe, the blood-red patterns on his skin had already faded by half—the Mount Meru Immortal Runes, etched stroke by stroke over eight years by Su Xuan, their purpose still unknown.

But he could sense one thing. As his cultivation rose, the blood-red patterns no longer suppressed his Empty Spirit Physique. Instead, they seemed to enhance his comprehension.

After an unknown span of time, Li Guanqi’s eyes snapped open.

Crackle!

Two streaks of lightning shot from his eyes. He couldn’t help but gasp. Good heavens… Five levels to completion, and it requires drawing lightning into the meridians to trigger greater power. What kind of madman thought of using lightning to stimulate their body?

The first level alone required breaking open thirty-three meridians and guiding lightning along a prescribed path.

By his estimate, only half a day had passed. It would take at least half a month to reach the Taiqing Territory. It was the perfect time for cultivation.

Yet the moment he began opening new meridians, he realized it was far more complicated than he’d imagined. His freshly opened meridians were impossibly thin, like strands of hair. His vital force could barely pass through, let alone lightning.

A ruthless glint flashed in Li Guanqi’s eyes. He gritted his teeth and forced his vital force to crash through the next meridian.

His entire body convulsed as he screamed in agony, kneeling in the void, fists hammering wildly against the nothingness. His pale eyes were bloodshot, blood seeping from his gums. Yet he did not stop. His vital force continued to surge through the first meridian toward the second.

Ten hours later, Li Guanqi lay on the ground foaming at the mouth, eyes rolled back, limbs twitching uncontrollably. His body radiated intense heat. After regaining consciousness and resting, he replenished his energy with spirit stones and continued blasting through the remaining meridians.

During the process, he discovered a way to distract himself from the pain: swinging the sword coffin and practicing moves like a madman.

Peng Luo sat nearby, casually snapping off one of his own arms and placing it with some others. After arranging more than a dozen severed arms beside him, he finally stopped and watched Li Guanqi from afar.

“What a terrifying guy,” he muttered in awe. “Not only is his talent insane, but he’s also so damn ruthless to himself!”

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Soaked in sweat, Li Guanqi lowered the sword coffin before slinging it over his back again. This time, his body didn’t even sink.

As the exit ahead brightened, vital force surged through his body, pushing out filth. His eyes sharpened.

“Bastard… I’m coming for you.”