Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The crowd grew furious, hurling insults at the Daxia Sword Sect and calling them childish. They had traveled very far only to be turned away. In their minds, their arrival was an honor to the sect, and the sect’s refusal to welcome them was a slap in the face.

A muscular man at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm frowned and rolled up his sleeves. “Hmph! It’s just one barrier! What are they going to do if we break it? Is the Daxia Sword Sect really going to make enemies of all of us? We’ll just force our way in and listen! There’s no way they’d cancel the lecture over it!”

Many people perked up. There was strength in numbers. If they broke through the barrier together, the Daxia Sword Sect couldn’t possibly chase all of them out.

Buzz!

Chaotic vital force rippled through the crowd as many people transmitted messages back and forth, eyeing the barrier greedily.

Ye Feng smirked. If Li Guanqi dared to remove the heavenly fire barrier, it meant he wasn’t afraid of them causing a commotion. Ye Feng turned and caught the smirk on Li Guanqi’s face. They were playing right into his hands.

As expected, the sword coffin appeared behind Li Guanqi.

Clang!

Just as the crowd moved to attack the sect’s barrier, a piercing sword cry split the air. Boundless lightning spread across the sky, and terrifying sword intent spread in all directions. Black spatial tears ripped open above the sect, one after another.

A powerful aura erupted from Li Guanqi, equivalent to the late Illusory Refinement Realm.Boom!

His aura bore down on everything within a hundred li. Every cultivator weaker than him plummeted from the sky. Forget about attacking—these people didn’t even have the right to fly in Li Guanqi’s presence. The surrounding space, a full hundred li in every direction, was sealed by his overwhelming spatial force. No one could so much as hover.

Li Guanqi appeared to tower hundreds of zhang high, Red Lotus Sword in hand. He activated its Heaven-Opening Tier and swung, unleashing a ray of sword light.

The cultivators fell from the sky in a panic. Then they saw a terrifying arc of sword light blazing out from the sect. Their hair stood on end. The fear of death seized them all.

“Run! Run!”

“He’s a madman! He’s a full-blown Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator, and he’s actually attacking us!”

“Run! Abandon the cloud boats!”

The crowd scattered by every means available, as if they had all lost their minds. The sword light tore through, violent sword qi ripping outward a hundred li in every direction. Countless cloud boats exploded on contact.

Boom boom! Rumble!

The sword light covered thirty li. Deafening explosions followed one after another.

The Daxia Sword Sect disciples were stunned, listening to the earth-shaking rumbles. They had never seen an Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator unleash an attack before, let alone Senior Brother Li, the person they admired most.

As the rumbling faded, Li Guanqi stepped out of the barrier alone. Every cultivator who had been pointing fingers and hurling insults moments ago went silent. They retreated as fast as they could, terrified that Li Guanqi would strike again, cursing themselves for not being able to run faster.

Li Guanqi regarded them coolly. The outsiders felt his aura pressing down on them like a mountain crushing their chests, making it hard to breathe. They stiffened, and their limbs turned cold, as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

The clouds above froze. The wind fell silent. All that remained was his sword qi, lingering in the air. A wide spatial tear hung in the sky, stretching before them like a heavenly canyon.

Li Guanqi looked at them flatly. He did not care who they were or which faction they were from. He said calmly, “From now on, if you come one step closer, you will die. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

With that, he turned and left.

The outsiders sighed in relief. Many fled. All their previous bravado had evaporated.

“Strength in numbers? What nonsense! I almost died! And I lost my cloud boat…”

“Yeah! His killing intent was no joke! Look, everyone’s leaving!”

The thin man from the Formless Pavilion stared in terror, then smiled bitterly. “It looks like the power dynamics of the Azure Cloud Continent are about to change…”

The plump man beside him had gone pale. He swallowed hard and said quietly, “His strength is truly frightening.”

He sighed. “Now I regret not befriending the Daxia Sword Sect when I had the chance.”

“Yeah. Anyone can be a friend when times are good. It’s showing up when things are bad that really matters. But it’s too late.”

The thin man felt regretful. Years ago, during the battle against the Purple Sun Pavilion, they had chosen to sit back and watch. Back then, they had watched from on high, looking down on the battle between the two sects as though it were none of their concern.

Now, the Purple Sun Pavilion was the weakest faction among the Six Pavilions of the Azure Cloud Continent.

Li Guanqi returned to the plaza. Seeing the disciples’ bright eyes, he smiled. He adjusted the hem of his robes, sat down, and settled back-to-back with the other youths.

“Let’s begin! We’ll start with the Qi Refinement Realm, move on to Foundation Building techniques, and work our way up to the Illusory Refinement Realm. Feel free to ask questions at any time.”

As Li Guanqi taught, many disciples showed expressions of sudden realization. Even Lu Kangnian and the other elders nodded along, pride and approval shining in their eyes.

On the fourth day, Zhou Zhi, who had reached the late Golden Core Realm, rose slowly to his feet. The boyishness had vanished from his face, and his gaze was sterner than before.

He locked eyes with Li Guanqi, and both of them smiled. Zhou Zhi gave a fist salute. “Elder Li… why did you start cultivating?”

He didn’t mind Zhou Zhi calling him Elder Li. In private, Zhou Zhi could have called him Junior Brother Li, and he wouldn’t have batted an eye either.

“I used to be a beggar. My grandfather taught me how to cultivate, but I didn’t think much of it back then, thinking it would just help me live a little longer. But after joining the Daxia Sword Sect, breaking through to the Foundation Building Realm, and learning to fly, I finally understood why I needed to cultivate.”

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. The Red Lotus Sword and Yanluo Sword shot into the air, guided by his will. He flashed a dazzling smile. “Our heaven-given life is wasted if we lack sky-high ambitions! If we can’t freely roam the world with a sword by our side, how are we any different from the grass and trees below?”