Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Nine consecutive rings of the bell echoed across the sect grounds. A white jade plaza hung in midair behind Heavenly Sword Peak, and the disciples of all eight peaks had gathered on it, forming a dense crowd. They stood in orderly rows, each peak occupying its own section.

The eight peak masters, the elders, ceremonial elders, and administrators all stood around a stage at the center of the plaza.

Sect Master Lu Kangnian stood at the very front, while everyone else, Qin Xian and Ling Daoyan included, stood behind him.

Lu Kangnian and the others had reached the late Divine Transformation Realm, nearing the peak. They were eager to learn anything they could about the Illusory Refinement Realm.

Boom!

Several streaks of light shot up into the clouds.

Li Guanqi wore the luxurious robes of a sect elder. One hand behind his back, he stood up and said, “Let’s go!”

“Whoosh!”

Five figures with powerful auras appeared on the stage. Li Guanqi surveyed the grounds calmly. He could sense the dense crowd of cultivators beyond the sect grounds. There were at least tens of thousands gathered outside.To everyone’s surprise, Li Guanqi retracted the heavenly fire barrier. Even the sect’s original barrier disappeared, leaving only a marker for the hundred-li boundary around the sect grounds. Even without the barriers, he likely couldn’t have stopped them all. Seeing this, Ye Feng and Xiao Chen retracted their heavenly flames as well.

A wave of excitement rippled through the outsiders, who were convinced the Daxia Sword Sect had caved to public pressure.

“Hahaha! I knew the Daxia Sword Sect wouldn’t dare anger the public!” a man in luxurious robes said mockingly.

The elder behind him snorted and shook his head. “Hmph. I knew the Daxia Sword Sect would never pass up a chance to earn a fortune. Let’s head over now. Have the spirit stones ready. Five Illusory Refinement Realm cultivators are gonna teach for seven days! This kind of opportunity only comes once in a lifetime.”

Although the heavenly fire barriers were gone, the thirty-li barrier around the main sect grounds remained.

When the crowd swarmed forward, they ran into the sect’s main barrier. It had been reinforced significantly, and despite the shimmering light, they could make out the people inside.

They saw the dense crowd of Daxia Sword Sect disciples standing on the plaza. Some Golden Core Realm cultivators couldn’t see clearly due to the thirty-li distance, but the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators had no trouble spotting the five figures on the stage. However, they couldn’t hear a word.

The defensive array wasn’t particularly strong, and many Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could have torn through space to force their way in. Still, they were confused. What exactly is the Daxia Sword Sect planning?

The pavilion masters of the Formless Pavilion, the Spirit Insight Pavilion, and the Six Illusions Pavilion stood shoulder to shoulder. One of them, a man with a goatee, frowned and asked in a low voice, “What is the Daxia Sword Sect doing? They removed the heavenly fire barrier but didn’t open their sect barrier… Lu Kangnian isn’t replying to any messages, either.”

He sucked in a breath. “Those youths are at the Illusory Refinement Realm?”

The Six Illusions Pavilion master, a plump middle-aged man, frowned. “What’s the point of letting us watch if we can’t hear a thing?”

Inside the barrier, the disciples and Lu Kangnian were caught off guard, unsure what Li Guanqi was doing.

Li Guanqi didn’t care what the people outside thought. He looked down at Lu Kangnian and the other elders below the stage. “Sect Master, why are you all down there?”

Lu Kangnian smiled. He straightened his sleeves and led the entire sect in a bow, their greeting thundering across the plaza. “Greetings, teachers!”

Wave after wave of voices rang out, shaking the heavens. The outsiders saw their mouths move but heard nothing.

Xiao Chen and the others felt a surge of emotion as the passionate atmosphere washed over them. He clenched his fist under his sleeve. Both he and Cao Yan, clad in the sect’s elder robes, felt touched and invigorated by the crowd’s energy, a sensation quite new to them.

Even Meng Wanshu, usually cold to outsiders, had a smile on her face.

Lu Kangnian led the crowd in a fist salute and a bow. Close to five thousand disciples had gathered.

Li Guanqi even spotted Grand Senior Brother Zhou Zhi from the outer sect and Grand Senior Sister Jiang Su. Judging by their tired looks, they had only just rushed back to the sect.

Lu Kangnian’s voice rang across the plaza. With a warm smile, he said, “Today, we are all students. There is no difference in age or rank. The most knowledgeable person is the teacher. I hope our teachers won’t hesitate to share all their wisdom.”

Lu Kangnian adjusted the hem of his robes and sat down cross-legged, his back straight. Qin Xian, Ling Daoyan, and the other elders all gazed at the five people onstage with proud smiles.

The disciples were surprised by the sect master’s words. They felt that only the Daxia Sword Sect could do such a thing. The sect masters and disciplinarians of other sects were all lofty, untouchable figures.

It was an important day for the Daxia Sword Sect to display its strength. Who wouldn’t want to flaunt their status? But the sect master had said only one thing. “The most knowledgeable person is the teacher.”

Every disciple was filled with emotion. Meanwhile, the dense crowd outside watched closely. They all realized that the Daxia Sword Sect had removed the heavenly fire barrier on purpose.

“How ridiculous! They went through all that effort just to show us this?”

“Whose idea was this? Shameless! There are so many of us out here, and they have the nerve to pull this?”

“Is no one going to do something? I refuse to believe this!”

“Hmph! The people of the Daxia Sword Sect are bullies! We rushed all the way from the Southern Territory! Can’t we listen in too?”

“Yeah! We’re already here, and we’re willing to pay! It’s just a lecture. Why can’t we listen?”

“Is this the behavior of a top-tier sect? How childish!”

“Tsk tsk. The Daxia Sword Sect only got where it is today because of Li Guanqi. How can they be so arrogant?”