Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Sword Spirit pursed her lips. After so long with Li Guanqi, she knew how shameless he could be. Without bothering to reply, she waved and sent him out of the realm.

Li Guanqi opened his eyes to find Ye Feng watching him. Ye Feng knew some of his secrets, so he was waiting.

“Hoo… I found a way, but I need something that relieves pain. I’m afraid this guy won’t be able to endure it.”

Xiao Chen had been quietly helping Cao Yan rearrange his broken meridians. He could tell that Ye Feng and Li Guanqi were genuinely worried about him. They’d fearlessly fought a Heavenly King for him.

He admired the brotherhood they shared. He’d been wondering whether anyone would risk that much to save him if he were in Cao Yan’s position.

The answer only made him sadder. Although he’d experienced a lot with Ye Feng and Li Guanqi, he still felt an invisible barrier between them, as though he couldn’t form a genuine connection with them.

Ye Feng was fine. Xiao Chen had sensed the change in his attitude. But Li Guanqi… Li Guanqi noticed Xiao Chen’s gaze but said nothing. The incident with Cang Lu had made him cautious toward any newcomer. Still, his view of Xiao Chen was slowly shifting.

Xiao Chen didn’t seem to be pretending to be dumb. He didn’t doubt Xiao Chen’s identity either; he’d already sent people to conduct a background check. Otherwise, Long Hou wouldn’t have given Xiao Chen his gift, and Li Guanqi wouldn’t have agreed to let him follow them to the Black Sect Territory.

Meng Wanshu thought for a moment. “If you only need to numb pain, I can handle that. I’ll seal his five senses while keeping his primordial soul and spirit platform clear.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up. He nodded and extended his divine consciousness outward. Soon, he found a natural spirit spring nearby.Buzz!

The spacecraft tore through the void and appeared amidst a lush, mountainous forest. Lightning flashed beneath Li Guanqi’s feet. He wrapped everyone in spatial force and brought them to the shore of a cold pool. Frost crystals lined the bottom of the spring, infusing the water with spirit qi.

Meng Wanshu’s eyes lit up. She ran to the edge and tossed out a blue, palm-sized array tray. She emanated a powerful spatial force, and the surrounding temperature plummeted.

The ten-zhang-wide pool cast an ice-blue light halo, but did not freeze over.

Li Guanqi carefully placed Cao Yan in the pool, then climbed in himself. Ye Feng said worriedly, “Boss, do you want me to come help?”

Li Guanqi used the Lightning Dragon Flame to protect his meridians but still shivered. “No, I can do it alone.”

The rest watched gravely.

Cao Yan sat in the frigid water, his eyelids trembling. His flesh had healed fully, and he wore only thin innerwear. The fluttering of his eyelids meant he’d regained a sliver of consciousness.

Li Guanqi transmitted, “Third Brother! Guard your Tianling acupoint. You’re going to merge with your spirit root again. It will be very painful, but you must endure it!”

Cao Yan, barely awake, understood instantly. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he nodded firmly.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath and followed the secret technique’s instructions to help Cao Yan merge with his spirit root once more.

Within the frosty pool, Cao Yan clenched his teeth, fighting not to scream. He’d bitten through his lip, blood oozing between his teeth. He grimaced against the agony, but the physical pain was nothing compared to what he’d endured over the past years.

Xiao Chen couldn’t bear to watch. He was only observing, yet he already felt uncomfortable.

Ye Feng pursed his lips. If Big Head had gone to the Dungeon Abyss, he probably would’ve ventured deeper than I did…

Time passed. Cao Yan, having fainted from the pain, floated quietly in the pool as spirit qi flowed into his body.

Meng Wanshu poured more spirit liquid into the water. A single bottle would have been the main attraction at any auction in the outside world.

Cao Yan was illuminated by a blue halo. Seeing this, Li Guanqi sighed in relief. The merging process had succeeded.

Ye Feng also exhaled, slumping to the ground. “Finally, we can breathe. Boss, where are we going next?”

Meng Wanshu perked up to listen. Even Xiao Chen leaned in.

Li Guanqi looked at Cao Yan. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Once this is resolved, I’m bringing Third Brother back to the sect.”

He turned to Meng Wanshu. “Wanshu, come with me too. You’ll get to meet my master.”

Meng Wanshu smiled shyly and nodded.

Ye Feng grinned. It had been a long time since he’d last visited the sect. “Hehe. That’s good! It’s been years. I wonder how everyone’s doing.”

Li Guanqi smiled.

Xiao Chen subconsciously shifted his weight. This had nothing to do with him, after all. He stood and dusted off his clothes, then smiled and chuckled awkwardly. “Since there’s nothing left to do, I’ll head back too.”

Li Guanqi stood up and smiled at him. “What are you doing? Come with us.”

Xiao Chen beamed, unable to suppress a smile. He sheepishly scratched his head, “Really? I get to go with you all?”

Li Guanqi nodded. “I haven’t even thanked you properly. Without you, this would have been even more complicated.”

A thousand words would have meant less than the look they shared in that moment.

Xiao Chen nodded and grinned. “Great! You’re a great person, you know. I’ll skip going home. I’ll visit your sect instead!”

The three looked at each other and smiled. Despite Xiao Chen’s naivety, Ye Feng and Li Guanqi had accepted him.

They sat together at the pool’s edge, sharing wine and food as they waited for Cao Yan to heal.