Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

While Li Guanqi faced the heavenly tribulation, He Yuanting received some shocking news. Ignoring the people in Heavenly Cloud City, he immediately tore a rift in space and returned to the Great Profound Sword Sect.

Rumble! Crash!

Li Guanqi allowed the thick bolt of lightning to hit him, his flesh tearing and blackening from the inside out. A manic glint shone in his eyes as he channeled his vital force, striving to absorb the lightning. The electricity that coursed through him was immediately converted into the purest vital force, a highly potent supplement.

Li Changqing stood behind Meng Wanshu, clutching his sleeves tightly, eyes glued to the youth in the sky.

“He’s… swallowing the heavenly tribulation lightning! What a mad lad!”

Li Changqing turned to Meng Wanshu with a strange look on his face. “Saintess, do you know this guy?”

Meng Wanshu watched the magnificent Li Guanqi in the sky above, a soft look in her eyes. “It’s more than that… We grew up together.”

When the elder heard this, he felt that something was off.

Meng Wanshu looked at him and smiled. “He was my best friend.”

The old man understood. No wonder Meng Wanshu wasn’t moved by all the handsome prodigies her father—the territory lord—had recommended to her. Her heart already belonged to someone.However, the elder did not notice Meng Wanshu rolling her eyes at Li Guanqi. Li Guanqi had bullied her a lot too.

“In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed. I can’t believe you singlehandedly made a name for yourself. It really is you…” she muttered.

She suddenly covered her mouth and snorted, a knowing glint in her eyes. Resting her hands on her back, she muttered a little shyly to herself, “Old Meng… you must have known all these things a long time ago already…”

Mid-air, Li Guanqi’s aura grew stronger as lightning kept striking him. The crowd watched in astonishment. He didn’t fear heavenly tribulation lightning at all—he was voluntarily catching bolts and stuffing them into his mouth.

Before facing their heavenly tribulations, everyone prepared extensively. They gathered numerous shields and array techniques, nearly depleting their clan’s reserves for defensive magical items. They had never seen such a brutal approach to undergoing a heavenly tribulation.

Cang Lu remained calm, ignoring the black-armored guards surrounding him. He sat cross-legged in the sky, looking at Li Guanqi’s sword coffin. In the end, he smiled bitterly and shook his head. He knew he was a dead man, but at least… some of his goals had been met.

Cang Lu looked down and began to play his guqin. Every murderous strum traveled through the skies, as if he were writing a battle song for himself. He murmured, “Those two swords… They weren’t that one. I was wrong again…”

Rumble!

The thick layer of lightning clouds rolled through the skies like a twisting dragon.

Li Guanqi knew the heavenly tribulation was gathering its strength to unleash a final, devastating attack.

All the buildings within three hundred zhang of him had been destroyed. The bystanders had retreated by a few thousand zhang, terrified of being dragged into his tribulation. It was an Illusory Refinement Realm heavenly tribulation, after all.

“Gulp… Why is that guy’s heavenly tribulation lightning so scary?”

A man’s eyes widened as he watched the sky, whispering frantically, “Yeah! Even the first bolt of lightning was thicker than the last bolt of some tribulations I’ve witnessed.”

“That guy’s so strong he can withstand those lightning bolts. And as if that wasn’t enough, he’s grabbing the dispersed lightning and stuffing it into his mouth. That’s terrifying.”

An elder in luxurious clothing with murky eyes looked at the tribulation with great interest. “His heavenly tribulation… doesn’t contain a heart demon tribulation!”

Shen Bing and Ju Shaolin exchanged looks, noticing that something was off about Li Guanqi’s heavenly tribulation.

Li Changqing’s eyes flickered, a look of approval in them. “Excellent!”

“This boy trained his mind and heart before the heavenly tribulation. It’s hard to even imagine what he must have gone through… Just how talented is he? What has he endured?”

Ye Feng wasn’t very surprised. Li Guanqi was a strange person, so it made sense that his heavenly tribulation would be strange as well. He turned to Meng Wanshu with a bright smile. “Sister-in-law, could you please release the chains binding me?”

“And you are?” she asked, blushing at the unexpected title.

Ye Feng gazed upward, his glossy hair swaying as he shook his head. “My name is Ye Feng, but you can call me Xiao Ye. Brother Guanqi and I are from the same sect, and we’ve saved each other’s lives before, so we’re pretty close.”

Stunned, Meng Wanshu nodded and turned to the elder. Li Changqing noticed the look she gave him and slashed off Ye Feng’s chains.

Li Changqing looked up at the rolling clouds gravely and turned to Meng Wanshu with a bow. “Saintess, we should retreat further. This heavenly tribulation is… quite strong.”

Meng Wanshu frowned slightly.

For him to make such a comment… She looked at Li Guanqi. “Will he be in danger?”

Ye Feng rolled his joints and warmed up his body, carrying the radish on his back. “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry, Sister-in-law.”

He continued confidently, “It’s a mere Illusory Refinement Realm heavenly tribulation. He has nothing to fear.”

Ye Feng had always admired and trusted Li Guanqi, maybe even more than Li Guanqi trusted himself.

Nine Heavens had just woken up, and its energy was incredibly faint. Meng Wanshu approached Nine Heavens, eyeing it in astonishment.

“You’re hurt.”

Nine Heavens opened its eyes to look at her, froze for a moment, and nudged her with its head before licking its wounds.

Meng Wanshu’s eyes flashed with pity. She took out some healing pills and three jade boxes from her storage ring. There were two tier-five and one tier-six demonic beast cores in the jade boxes.

Nine Heavens’ eyes lit up. It nudged her lovingly, opened its mouth, and swallowed everything. closed its eyes, and lightning flashed across its scales. Nine Heavens began to exude a powerful and ancient aura.

They all retreated further from the Heavenly Cloud Plaza, only stopping once they were a thousand zhang away.