Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Whatever Meng Wanshu had told Xiao Chen, Li Guanqi didn’t know, but when he caught her winking mischievously at him, he nodded and awkwardly went along with Xiao Chen.

It had been hard enough to calm Xiao Chen down, so Li Guanqi didn’t want to agitate him again. Even Li Changqing couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He sighed and left the room, patting Xiao Chen’s shoulder as he passed.

Pitiful...

Xiao Chen shot Li Guanqi a smug look from the corners of his eyes, chuckling to himself. Li Guanqi got the chills.

Xiao Chen remained in high spirits for the rest of the journey, seemingly unbothered by losing his chances with Meng Wanshu. Every day, he pestered Li Guanqi and Ye Feng for sparring sessions, and though they beat him until his nose was bruised and his eyes swollen, he still chuckled to himself like an idiot.

On the third day, Xiao Chen was about to knock on Li Guanqi’s door when it flew open. Without a word, Li Guanqi dragged him into a pocket realm, and they started fighting. Or more accurately, Li Guanqi vented.

He tossed Xiao Chen out moments later, leaving him bruised and swollen as usual.

Xiao Chen pointed at him and yelled, ”Is this how you treat your older brother? What the hell? You’re hitting too hard today!”

Li Guanqi huffed. ”You’ve been knocking on my door eight hundred times a night! You’re doing it on purpose!”

Xiao Chen chuckled. He would never admit he was indeed doing it on purpose. He lay on the ground, savoring the soreness. Somehow, it made him feel better.Li Guanqi sat down next to him and pulled two jars of wine from his storage ring. ”Why don’t you beat me up instead?”

Xiao Chen sat up immediately. ”Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“And you’re not going to fight back?”

”Nope. Are you going to do it or not? Why so many questions?”

Li Guanqi had expected Xiao Chen to jump at the opportunity, but to his surprise, Xiao Chen just studied him for a long moment before shaking his head with a smile.

“You’ve got a conscience. Not a big one, but at least it’s there. As for beating you up...” Xiao Chen shrugged. “Forget it. I appreciate the offer, though.”

Li Guanqi looked up at the pitch-black void. “Have you really let the matter go?”

Xiao Chen’s tone was nonchalant. ”What would change if I didn’t? I still don’t have Wanshu’s heart. Instead of making everyone miserable, might as well let everyone be happy.”

Li Guanqi was silent for a long time. “I… am not as generous as you are.”

Xiao Chen snorted and shook his head, offering no reply.

After a pause, Li Guanqi said, “I’ll return the Brilliant Sunset Flame to you.”

Xiao Chen froze, the wine jar halfway to his lips. “That’s possible?”

Li Guanqi shrugged. He raised his hand, and a wisp of light floated into Xiao Chen’s third eye. Xiao Chen didn’t refuse. He relaxed and let the spirit light enter his spirit platform.

After a moment, Xiao Chen leapt up and stared in disbelief.

“T-this technique! It’s at least Heaven-tier! You’re giving it to me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll give it to someone else?”

Li Guanqi had given Xiao Chen all the techniques in the Flame-Devouring Sutra.

Li Guanqi smiled. “You’re the young master of the Divine Treasure Territory’s Xiao family. Would you ever do something that lowly? To be honest, I’d be more than happy to give it to you.”

Xiao Chen fell silent. He had been willing to sacrifice the heavenly flame from the beginning. He hadn’t expected to get it back. Overjoyed, he started laughing.

“Hehe, you’re such a good person.”

His reaction was hardly surprising. Though the Brilliant Sunset Flame wasn’t ranked highly among heavenly flames, it was still a heavenly flame—a significant boost to any cultivator’s abilities. He hadn’t expected Li Guanqi to return it voluntarily.

Li Guanqi had no choice. Every time he thought of Xiao Chen, guilt gnawed at him, even when he was trying to sleep. He would have felt better if Xiao Chen had stayed furious and cussed everyone out. But instead, Xiao Chen pretended everything was fine just so everyone else could be happy.

Li Changqing stood behind them, teasingly saying, “Have you really thought this through? If you give it back to him, you won’t get it again.”

Li Guanqi shrugged and waved nonchalantly, “It was his in the first place.”

He called Ye Feng back, and the three of them performed the flame separation procedure under Li Changqing’s supervision. Afterward, Li Guanqi rushed to Meng Wanshu’s room. He had a Heavenly Flame Orb, which he no longer needed now that he only had one heavenly flame. It could help neutralize the ice poison her body produced during cultivation if she kept it with her.

They all grew closer with time, though Xiao Chen still felt a twinge of annoyance whenever Li Guanqi emerged from Wanshu’s room looking refreshed.

Over the next few days, as Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu spent more time together, they continued to strengthen. The consecutive breakthroughs in such a short timeframe were hard on Li Guanqi’s body, even with his stable foundation. He would likely need to suppress his cultivation for the foreseeable future just to stabilize further.

Buzz!

The cloud boat trembled slightly. Li Changqing appeared on the stern in a flash and took a deep breath, finally relaxing.

“We have finally arrived.”

Xiao Chen called out smugly, “We’ve arrived! Finally! We’re back in my territory. Just tell me if you guys need anything. Big Brother will protect you.”

Ye Feng swatted his hand away and huffed. “With a personality like yours, I’m sure people beat you up all the time.”

Xiao Chen pursed his lips. “Actually, no. No one in the Divine Treasure Territory would dare hit me as you guys do. Do you think the six Combined Body Realm ancestors in my family just sit around doing nothing?”

Ye Feng thought it over and found that Xiao Chen had a point. Perhaps no one dared to offend him. “Uh… Alright, that makes sense.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected his search for the Heavenly Intelligence Map—a journey to save his master—would take him from the Soaring Heavens Continent to the Taiqing Territory, and now to the Divine Treasure Territory. Although this last trip was unavoidable.

Buzz!

A hundred-zhang-wide crack tore open in the space before the cloud boat. Multicolored light spilled from the rift as dozens of figures shot out, each at least at the Illusory Refinement Realm. One of them even emanated pressure resembling an ancient demon.

When the cloud boat flew through the crack, Li Guanqi spotted a man in luxurious navy robes standing nearby, his expression stony.

Li Guanqi swallowed hard. He forced a smile and rushed forward. “Greetings, Father-in-law.”

Meng Jiangchu’s face darkened upon seeing Li Guanqi. He gritted his teeth at the greeting. “You... You...”

Li Guanqi quickly bowed. “I’m doing well, of course. It’s been a long time, Uncle Meng. You’re looking good as ever, and I’ve been thinking of you. I happened to bump into Wanshu the other day, so I rushed over to visit you, Father-in-law.”

“You little shit!”

Boom!

Li Guanqi sprinted to hide behind Meng Wanshu. Peeking out from behind her, he said hurriedly, “Father-in-law! Let’s talk this out! D-don’t beat me...”