Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Buzz!

A few men in black robes lounged beside a transport array in the plaza, joking around. When the array hummed to life, one of them straightened up and grinned. “Hehe. We’ve got some work to do.”

The four approached with swords and knives drawn. Five youths emerged from the array—four men and one woman—striding forward with confidence. The men were strikingly handsome, and the woman’s beauty made the guards audibly gulp.

Meng Wanshu frowned. She reached for her veil, but it was too late.

The leader’s gaze turned lecherous. He stepped toward her, reaching out to touch her. “Girl, we need to confirm your identity. You can’t wear a veil here—”

A flash of light severed his hand mid-sentence. An invisible spatial force seized him by the throat and lifted him high.

Clang! Whoosh whoosh!

The other guards pointed at them and yelled, “Put him down!”

“On your knees! Don’t move!”

The suspended man glared at them, his gaze thick with killing intent. The remaining disciples crushed the jade slips in their hands, but Li Guanqi made no move to stop them.Soon, an elder in embroidered black robes rushed over. His wrinkled face had darkened lips, high cheekbones, drooping eyes, and a hooked nose. He looked like a violent man.

He narrowed his eyes at the youths, inwardly shocked. From their outfits and auras, they were clearly high-ranking cultivators, and the fierce looks on their faces told him they hadn’t arrived on friendly terms.

He couldn’t read any of their cultivation levels, which meant they were all stronger than him. Divine Transformation Realm, at minimum. Even his sect master was only at the mid Divine Transformation Realm.

He approached cautiously, planning to welcome them graciously while probing their true strength.

He chuckled and said, “I—”

Bam!

The disciple suspended in the air was compressed into a two-chi-wide space. He exploded. Blood and flesh flew everywhere. The elder stood frozen.

Li Guanqi smirked. “Is Lu Ke of the Heavenly Demon Sect still here?”

His divine consciousness surged like a tidal wave, rapidly engulfing the entirety of Zhongnan Heavens.

Buzz!

He cut a line through space with his finger and reached inside. Within a large pavilion, a man drunk on mortal luxuries was suddenly pinned by an overwhelming force. His clothes were a mess, exposing his chest.

An invisible hand yanked him into the void.

Boom!

Lu Ke slammed into the floor and stayed there, pinned on his knees by terrifying spatial pressure. He didn’t dare lift his head. In his peripheral vision, he could see a pair of feet. He used every scrap of vital force in his body, but the invisible force easily held him down.

Li Guanqi squatted down. He wanted to insult Lu Ke, but realized he had no interest in someone so weak he couldn’t even fight back. He raised his hand, and a bloody mist burst from Lu Ke’s body. His nascent soul, not yet developed into a primordial soul, tried to flee but was destroyed by a puff of flames.

Li Guanqi found the whole thing quite dull. He turned and said, “Let’s go. It’s time to head back.”

He turned and left without another word. The others followed. Everyone else in the plaza kneeled, trembling.

Pavilion Master Chu Menglan of the Profound Phoenix Pavilion rushed over with Saintess Su Xi, but a cool glance from the girl beside Li Guanqi stopped them cold. A strange feeling of apprehension settled over them, and they came no closer.

In the void, Meng Wanshu smiled coldly. “During all these years apart, you seem to have left behind quite a few lovers.”

“Huh? What? No…”

“Are you trying to deny it? That second girl gazed at you with such longing and love... and you’re trying to deny it?”

Meng Wanshu put her hands on her hips, clearly furious. Li Guanqi quickly changed the subject and pulled her into the room. Loud thuds followed. His explanations were clearly not effective.

Cao Yan couldn’t help but smile. “Boss has really good luck with girls.”

Annoyed, Ye Feng flicked his hair. “What, am I not handsome enough?”

After Li Guanqi took his revenge, no one ever dared to disrupt the tunnel’s transport again. The trans-territory transport array at Zhongnan Heavens fell under the Profound Phoenix Pavilion’s control.

Qi Rongxuan had previously dispatched Heavenly Intelligence Guards to destroy the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, but a directive from his superiors prevented them from proceeding. Lu Ke had fled his sect and remained in hiding for months. When he realized that Qi Rongxuan was gone and nothing was happening, he sneaked back and told everyone he’d gone into closed-door cultivation after gaining sudden insight.

He terrorized the other disciples only for a short time before Li Guanqi came knocking.

Creak…

Li Guanqi emerged from the room sporting two black eyes, acting as if nothing had happened. He sighed. “Time passes so quickly. He used to be a powerful enemy, but now I can kill him with a single finger.”

The others tried not to laugh at his bleeding nose and swollen face.

None of them had truly grasped what immortality meant. With impressive spirit roots, they were all prodigies whose cultivation had risen quickly, so the weight of eternal life hadn’t settled in yet. It was like when Li Guanqi saw Li Guilan. The woman hadn’t truly begun cultivating, and only twelve years had passed, so nothing much had changed.

Even the thought of hundred-year closed-door cultivation sessions hadn’t yet crossed his mind.

Over the next few days, the group drank and talked. Occasionally, someone would gain an insight and pester the others to spar.

Buzz!

A crack opened in the void. They appeared in a strange transport array. The spatial tear trembled violently.

Li Guanqi raised a hand and smoothed the ripples, reinforcing the tunnel with vital force.

He looked at the startled guards and nodded apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t notice how fragile this tunnel was.”

The disciples hurriedly returned his greeting, but when they looked up, Li Guanqi had vanished.

Meng Wanshu looked around at the bustling crowds and lush forests, then sighed. “Out of all the continents I’ve visited, the Azure Cloud Continent is the most comfortable.”

Li Guanqi and Ye Feng felt the same. They were finally back in their own territory.

Cao Yan looked around curiously, impressed by the sights. Immortal cranes flew past overhead, cawing loudly. Below, they could see meandering rivers and misty mountains.

Such scenery was rare on other continents. Xiao Chen asked, “Everything here is good, except that the spirit qi is a bit thin... Are you sure you two monsters came from this place?”

Li Guanqi ignored him and took out his jade slip. He said gently, “Master, I’m back.”

On the peak of a misty mountain, an elder in purple robes shot to his feet mid-lecture.

To his disciples’ surprise, he teleported away and shouted ecstatically, “Sect Master! Guanqi is back!”

Boom!

Several powerful auras erupted from the meeting hall on Heavenly Sword Peak. One after another, figures shot into the air.

Multicolored lights burst from the eight peaks.

Lu Kangnian’s eyes were bright. Flying through the air, he laughed heartily.

“Attention, all disciples! Come welcome Guanqi back to the sect!”