Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The group had split into three teams, each with its own task. Meng Wanshu and Lu Kangnian brought Li Guanqi to a cave built specially for his closed-door cultivation.

Lu Kangnian had used his extensive network to find five tier-five array masters. They used seven peaks scattered in the back mountains as anchors, connecting them to form a gigantic array. Then, they moved an entire mountain to the center of the formation.

Lu Kangnian had not paid much attention to the lectures over the past two days, busy with this very matter. He hadn’t expected the cave to be needed so soon. He raised his hand, and a seal shot out.

A gap opened in the array, and Meng Wanshu flew inside. The cave room was vast, about thirty zhang wide. Spirit-Gathering Arrays covered the floor, layered over a dense bed of high-grade spirit stones. Lu Kangnian hadn’t held back when preparing for Li Guanqi’s closed-door cultivation, generously supplying him with the best materials.

Meng Wanshu placed Li Guanqi on the ground, settling him in a cross-legged cultivation position. She lifted the hem of her dress and sat down behind him, then slammed both palms into his back. The temperature in the cave room plummeted.

“Miss Meng, how is he doing?” Lu Kangnian asked, his voice tight. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Meng Wanshu’s brow furrowed. Li Guanqi’s primordial soul was trembling violently. Vital force leaked uncontrollably from the Heavenly Lightning Orb in his sea of consciousness, radiating outward in all directions and crackling with terrifying intensity. Even Lu Kangnian had been forced to the edge of the room, and the vital force shield he’d thrown up around himself looked fragile against the scattered lightning bolts.

He watched Li Guanqi, his face pale with worry.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Meng Wanshu said quickly. “Senior Lu, you may leave for now. I’ve already told Ye Feng and Cao Yan to handle the rest.”

Meanwhile, Ye Feng had brought the old man from the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion back to the sect. The old man bowed to them.Lu Kangnian froze when he saw him. “Grand Elder of the Cloud Chamber Sect, Tian Yuan?”

Ye Feng paused, glancing at Tian Yuan. “He’s from the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion. An informant, I suppose.”

Lu Kangnian studied him for a long moment. He gave a fist salute and nodded without a word. Some things were better left unsaid, and the man had come with good intentions.

Tian Yuan sighed in relief. The Cloud Chamber Sect, the sect where he had been staying, was right at the Daxia Sword Sect’s doorstep. Lu Kangnian could have accused him of spying on them.

He glanced toward the cave room. One look at Li Guanqi’s condition drained the color from his face, and he quickly pulled out a special jade pendant. “If you need anything, just tell me.”

Whoosh!

Xiao Chen and Cao Yan arrived in a rush, holding an ancient, dark golden box. There were intricate patterns carved all over the box, and although it emitted no glow, a strong ripple of energy pulsed from within.

Meng Wanshu sighed in relief at the sight of it. She sliced her fingertip open with a nail and squeezed a drop of blood onto the box. Light flowed across its surface. The carvings began to turn and shift, and the whole box blazed with radiance.

Click!

The box opened, and a burst of lightning power erupted from within. A ray of purple electric light shot out, almost escaping the cave the instant the lid came off. As it streaked past Ye Feng, it left a long burn wound across his cheek.

Cao Yan reacted instantly, throwing himself in front of the cave entrance with blue flames wreathing his fist. A tiger hologram materialized behind him, and he threw a punch, releasing a violent wave of fist aura.

Boom!

Cao Yan’s robes fluttered wildly, his eyes blazing with determination. The punch had been fierce, but he’d concentrated its force into a single cubic cun of space, warping only the air around the point of impact.

The purple light was knocked back into the cave. It collided with the wall, and the array flared, already crumbling from the briefest contact.

They were all shocked, and Lu Kangnian eyed the light gravely. He looked at Cao Yan’s bleeding fist and asked, “What the hell is that?”

Xiao Chen took out the Divine Blood Spear and squinted at the spirit light, which now hovered mid-air. Its power rivaled heavenly tribulation lightning.

“The Annihilation Lightning Spirit?!” Xiao Chen was astonished.

A hundred years ago, Meng Jiangchu had disappeared for a time. Rumors said he had left to capture the Annihilation Lightning Spirit, which had just appeared in the world. It was a naturally formed spirit body, born of Annihilation Lightning itself.

Sizzle sizzle!

Ear-piercing sizzling could be heard from the spirit body, and black lightning shot out from it. Everyone looked at it gravely. Even Ye Feng unsheathed his sword, eyes narrowed.

A hand made of ice formed mid-air, sealing the surrounding space and catching the Annihilation Lightning Spirit in its palm. Meng Wanshu’s conjured hand tightened its grip, squeezing harder and harder until the spirit body screeched in pain.

Meng Wanshu ignored it and turned to count the materials in the box. Her eyes widened. Everything they had requested was there, but given Li Guanqi’s current condition, they were still missing a few things. Critical things.

She swallowed, worry flickering across her face. Unfortunately, no one around her could solve this problem.

Ye Feng asked worriedly, “Sister-in-Law, what happened? What happened?”

They all watched her anxiously but didn’t dare press further.

She frowned and said, “I’m heading out!”

The words landed like a blow, especially for Li Guanqi’s group. They knew she would never leave at a time like this unless the situation was dire. And she hadn’t asked any of them to come with her.

Without waiting for a response, she turned to Tian Yuan. “Wait outside for me.”

Tian Yuan bowed and excused himself, leaving the rest behind.

Once he had left, she took a deep breath. “He will wake up in half an hour. When he does, the illusory body creation process will begin on its own because he’s no longer in control of his body. His primordial soul and divine consciousness are far too powerful…”

She didn’t say where she was going, only giving them instructions on what to watch for. She inscribed all the information about the illusory body creation process on a jade slip and placed it gently next to Li Guanqi.

Then, a huge ice lotus materialized beneath her feet, a spirit treasure with the ability to calm and focus the mind.