Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi stared at the vanishing Sword Spirit, deep in thought. Something must have happened while he was unconscious. He shook his head and pushed the thought aside.

He looked around the void, uncertain whether he had actually reached the Taiqing Territory. He raised his hand, tearing a rift in the void before stepping through.

Buzz!

He staggered out of the rift. His injuries were still severe, with blood covering his body. When he emerged, he saw vast mountains and winding rivers beneath him. Sunlight bathed the land, casting a golden glow on the flowing water.

He immediately noticed that the spirit qi in the Taiqing Territory was significantly denser than that of the Daxia Territory. His sea of consciousness trembled slightly, and his divine consciousness poured out, covering a radius of several zhang in the blink of an eye.

After a moment of concentration, he compared his position to the map of the Taiqing Territory. He was in the southern region, in an area called Luwu Road. The Floating Wood Valley, mentioned in the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion’s information, wasn’t far from where he was.

Li Guanqi found his bearings and shot forward, vanishing from sight in an instant.

After flying for half a day, he came to a sudden stop near a mountain range. He sensed two powerful demon beasts hidden in the mountains, both in the early sixth tier, which was equivalent to human cultivators at the Illusory Refinement Realm.

Li Guanqi licked his lips. By then, his injuries had mostly healed. He called to Nine Heavens, who was coiled around his wrist. “Wake up. Want to see who can kill their opponent first?”

Nine Heavens slowly stretched its enormous body, nearly twenty zhang long. Li Guanqi had been feeding it pills, so its cultivation had risen rapidly and now rivaled his own, at the peak of the fifth tier.Nine Heavens gave Li Guanqi a playful nudge with its massive head. Its golden eyes sparkled with excitement.

Li Guanqi closed his eyes. The two demon beasts were a tier-six Nine Heavens Deer and a Three-Tailed Kunwu Wolf.

He chose the Three-Tailed Kunwu Wolf as his target, prompting Nine Heavens to snort and unleash two bolts of lightning in displeasure. The Kunwu Wolf seemed the stronger of the two.

Li Guanqi laughed heartily and stepped forward, vanishing into the forest.

Nine Heavens let out a long dragon’s roar, its tail whipping across the air as it vanished into the sky. The pair headed toward different targets.

Li Guanqi moved deep into the forest. The thick canopy obscured the sky, casting everything in foreboding shadows. Ahead, a massive cave entrance loomed ten zhang away. Beyond it, only darkness was visible. A gentle breeze stirred the trees, their branches swaying with a faint rustle.

But the sound seemed oddly out of place. It was eerily quiet, as though the forest was holding its breath.

A foul stench of rotting flesh wafted from the cave, lingering in the air. Li Guanqi glanced around. His divine consciousness detected dozens of piles of bleached bones scattered across the ground.

Despite the eerie atmosphere, the area was rich in spirit qi. Many low-tier spirit herbs grew in the thick grass beneath his feet.

Li Guanqi grinned. He sensed powerful fluctuations from within the cave and took a step back, his breath settling. He sank his qi into his dantian, grounding himself, then clenched his right fist with all his might.

In an instant, his body expanded, and lightning energy coiled around his fist. He aimed at the cave entrance and struck with his full strength.

Boom! Rumble!

His punch obliterated the cave entrance. The ground trembled, and the forest erupted into chaos as countless beasts scattered in fear. Numerous birds burst from the trees and scattered.

For a moment, the forest echoed with the roars of beasts, the sound rising and falling in a constant surge. Before the cave dwellers could even react, a mighty dragon’s roar rang out from afar.

Boom!

The ground shook violently, and the mountains trembled. Giant rocks tumbled from the peaks. Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed, blood surging as he prepared for what was coming.

Boom!

The massive stone at the cave entrance exploded. A giant wolf, over thirty zhang long and completely black, charged toward him.

The Three-Tailed Kunwu Wolf moved impossibly fast. Li Guanqi barely glimpsed it before its murderous green pupils were mere chi from his face.

His heart raced. He instinctively raised the sword coffin to shield himself, pressing his left knee against its back.

Boom!

Li Guanqi felt like he’d been hit by a mountain. The immense rebound made him spit blood. His left side went numb, and his body felt like it was falling apart.

He flew backward out of control, crashing through towering ancient trees. Everything around him seemed to retreat at high speed as his back slammed into tree after tree.

Boom! Crash!

Li Guanqi’s body slammed into a pile of shattered stones. He gritted his teeth through the pain.

A few hundred zhang away, the giant wolf reared its head and howled at the sky. Its three pitch-black tails lashed through the air like giant whips, shattering trees and cracking the mountainside. The force of those tails tore space itself, with cracks spreading outward.

The wolf’s fur shimmered like steel needles, its body gleaming with a metallic sheen. Its green, snake-like eyes glared at Li Guanqi.

Its massive claws slashed the air, leaving deep rifts in space. A mysterious fluctuation rippled out, and a faint voice echoed in the air. “Human cultivator… You seek death!”

Li Guanqi’s eyes flashed. It can speak. That meant it had gained intelligence.

Li Guanqi slowly rose from the rubble and licked his lips. His fighting spirit soared.

This time, he would face the beast with his physical strength first, drawing his sword only if necessary.

The Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra ran wild within him. His blood surged.

Li Guanqi stepped forward with the Traceless Darkness Step, and raised his fists. His figure flickered in the air, creating afterimages as he lunged toward the giant wolf.

The Three-Tailed Kunwu Wolf’s eyes swept the clearing, pupils flashing with murderous intent. To the wolf, Li Guanqi was nothing more than a delicious meal waiting to be devoured.

Whoosh! Slash!

Li Guanqi narrowly dodged the incoming claws and struck the beast’s joint with a quick punch. The force of his blow sent the wolf staggering, nearly toppling it.

Before the wolf could recover, Li Guanqi darted aside, dodging the sweeping tail. He aimed for its belly and unleashed a brutal barrage of punches.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The wolf’s body flew skyward, soaring over a hundred zhang high.