Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

“Cang Lu, how dare you!” Li Guanqi roared.

Cang Lu tossed out a projection stone and thrust the Red Lotus Sword—still trapped in the black threads—toward He Yuning’s heart.

“No!”

Sensing the energy ripples from Cang Lu’s body, He Yuning finally realized that the Li Guanqi rushing toward them was the real one.

Li Guanqi hoped He Yuning had something to defend himself with. He Yuanting had surely given him many defense-type magical treasures.

Sure enough, the bamboo flute and jade pendant hanging on He Yuning’s waist were magical items crafted by his father’s expert hands. But the tiny cubic seal had obscured He Yuning’s aura, imitating it so perfectly that He Yuanting noticed nothing, even though he wasn’t far away.

The sword coffin on Li Guanqi’s back opened, and a sword that had been buried inside shot into his hand.

The Shadowless Sword.

The blood-red sword in his sword spirit void exploded with energy, and lightning shot out from the Shadowless Sword in all directions.

“Soul Dissolution, Shadowless Sword!”Boom!

The sword let out a bright cry and cracked audibly, as if unable to withstand the force. The initially invisible blade was now wreathed in flames and lightning.

Li Guanqi was less than a hundred zhang away from Cang Lu, but he was still too far. He stomped hard on the space beneath his feet, tearing it open.

He drew the Shadowless Sword from its sheath of lightning.

“Sword-Unsheathing Technique!”

Boom!

The cultivators who had rushed over to watch saw a powerful flash of sword light streak across the sky, leaving a spatial tear in its wake. The weather shifted as lightning flashed overhead and tens of thousands of bolts descended.

The sword light carved a deep trench in the ground where it landed. This strike matched the most powerful attack of an early Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator.

Cang Lu’s eyes widened. The hair on his arms stood on end. He didn’t dare slow his movements at all. Not a single ripple of vital force ran through his body—he was using pure physical strength to control the Red Lotus Sword.

The cultivators thousands of zhang away could only faintly sense Li Guanqi and He Yuning.

Pfft!

A splatter of blood shone beneath the sunset.

Cang Lu was well-prepared. He pulled He Yuning in front of himself, directly into the path of Li Guanqi’s sword light, then flashed with bright silver light and disappeared.

Cang Lu’s laughter lingered, driving Li Guanqi to madness. He tried to strike his own sword light to make it dissipate. The exertion forced blood up his throat, which he swallowed back down. Despite his efforts, the fading sword qi struck He Yuning, resulting in a gruesome spray of blood and shredded flesh.

Simultaneously, a projection stone shattered in the sky. The scene it displayed showed a sword light moving towards He Yuning, followed by the Red Lotus Sword piercing his heart.

Li Guanqi teleported to He Yuning’s side and infused vital force into him to help stop the bleeding.

Peng Luo appeared and plucked a leaf from his head without hesitation, stuffing it into the wound on He Yuning’s chest. The leaf glowed, and He Yuning was engulfed in a powerful life force.

The cultivators who had already arrived were shocked. Sensing He Yuning’s weak aura, they murmured among themselves.

“Li Guanqi… He killed He Yuning!”

“He Yuning is dead!! Heavens… That’s crazy…”

“He Yuning was killed! He Yuanting’s going to go mad over this!”

They hadn’t seen Cang Lu. They hadn’t sensed a third person’s aura either. They had only seen Li Guanqi and He Yuning.

The projection still lingered in the sky, and many took out their own projection stones to record it.

The lingering aura on He Yuning’s chest belonged to Li Guanqi’s sword—the Red Lotus Sword.

Li Guanqi took out all his healing pills and stuffed them into He Yuning’s mouth.

The pale-faced He Yuning opened his mouth to speak, but thick blood gushed out. He wanted to raise his hand but had no strength. His bright eyes slowly dimmed…

He Yuanting, far away in the Great Profound Sword Sect, sensed He Yuning’s life force draining rapidly. His face went pale, and his head snapped sideways. “Ning’er!”

His aura extended across a hundred li. With a single thought, he teleported to the spot behind Li Guanqi.

Li Guanqi looked up at him and held He Yuning up. “Save him! Save him!”

He Yuanting’s face darkened. He pulled out a purple crystal bottle and poured a jade-green liquid into He Yuning’s mouth, sealing the wound on his heart and using vital force to help circulate his blood.

The speed at which He Yuning’s life force drained slowed significantly. But they were only treating the symptoms. They still needed to find a magical treasure capable of repairing his heart.

Li Guanqi sighed in relief, but the space around him was suddenly sealed.

The raging He Yuanting gripped the space with one hand, and six black locks with sharp spikes shot into Li Guanqi’s body.

“Dragon-Imprisoning Lock!”

Pfft pfft pfft!

Four of his limbs and both of his shoulders were pierced through. A black cage closed in around him.

The vital force in his dantian was completely locked. He became like a mortal. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break free.

He didn’t know what material the stone locks were made of. They looked exactly like stone but were abnormally cold and shone with metallic light. They sealed both his vital force and physical strength. Waves of fatigue overwhelmed his body, and his consciousness dimmed.

Roar!!!

Nine Heavens jumped up and pounced on He Yuanting, jaws wide.

He Yuanting opened his palm, and dozens of chains shot out, trapping the gigantic dragon mid-air.

Li Guanqi’s eyes turned bloodshot. “No! Don’t kill it! I didn’t attack He Yuning!”

He Yuanting’s tiger-like eyes flashed. “Shut your mouth!”

The furious He Yuanting raised his hand and confiscated Li Guanqi’s sword coffin and storage rings. He tapped his finger on the sword coffin, sealing it with golden patterns.

The connection between Li Guanqi and Peng Luo was severed instantly.

The surrounding cultivators fell silent, not daring to speak. They all quickly turned and flew away.

He Yuning was on the brink of death. And the person behind it was… Li Guanqi. The news quickly circulated throughout the entire Central Prefecture.

Li Guanqi was brought back to the Great Profound Sword Sect, caged like an animal.