Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Beneath the conical hat, a pair of dark eyes took one long look at Tian Yuan. The man turned and left, as if nothing had happened. He took out a jade pendant and spoke into it.

“Meng Wanshu is going to the Heavenly Massacre Sea alone. Should we send someone to watch over her?”

The jade pendant lit up, and an elderly voice replied.

—Three guards have been dispatched. Keep an eye on the Gu family. They haven’t been behaving recently.

The man nodded, then frowned. “Three Heavenly Intelligence Guards dispatched to secretly protect her... It seems the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion is getting quite chummy with the Divine Treasure Territory.”

He smiled bitterly and shook his head, pushing the thought aside.

And just like that, Meng Wanshu left for the Heavenly Massacre Sea with Nine Heavens and Peng Luo.

Back in the cave room, Li Guanqi’s vital force and divine consciousness surged. He was pushing his cultivation technique to its limit. He retracted his vital force back into the Heavenly Lightning Orb and sighed in relief.

“Leave the things behind,” he said, his voice hoarse. “You may all leave. No one is allowed to enter except Wanshu.”

Ye Feng and the others placed the items beside him and left the room. Lu Kangnian issued a command designating the back mountains as a forbidden zone. Any disciple or elder who entered without permission would have their cultivation crippled and be expelled.The disciples all understood the seriousness of the situation and took the command to heart.

Li Guanqi exhaled. The space next to him warped, and a woman with a beautiful figure appeared. Sword Spirit looked at the prepared items and gave a small nod, particularly when she spotted the Annihilation Lightning Spirit.

She picked it up and inspected it. “This is a goodie. If you use it to form your illusory body, it’ll boost your strength significantly when you reach the Combined Body Realm.”

Then she asked solemnly, “Are you sure you want to merge the Lightning Dragon Flame into your illusory body?”

He nodded without hesitation. Sitting cross-legged on the ice lotus, he said, “I want to climb the mountain that is the sword Dao with my own strength. The Lightning Dragon Flame is useful to me, but I’d rather train my original body.”

Sword Spirit nodded. With a faraway look in her eyes, she said, “That girl treats you well. She knew exactly what you lacked…”

Li Guanqi did not reply. He knew that Meng Wanshu had left in search of blood from a powerful demon’s heart. If not, he would not have sent Peng Luo and Nine Heavens with her. Using Nine Heavens’ blood for his illusory body was out of the question, so this was their only option.

Sword Spirit leaned in, her beautiful face close to his. But he no longer felt the nervous flutter he once did.

She smirked and mused, “Is this the difference between a boy and a man? You’ve changed a lot…”

She tapped her finger on his third eye, and countless texts poured into his mind.

“Great Profound Illusory-Returning Technique!”[1]

Li Guanqi was stunned. The technique was incredibly complex, even more so than the Heavenly Destruction Sutra.

Sword Spirit said softly, “This Illusory-Returning technique is considered top-tier even in the Immortal World. I only have one request for you while you’re in the Illusory Refinement Realm: create an illusory body. You are forbidden from creating more clones for trivial reasons.”

Li Guanqi nodded with a frown. He didn’t know why Sword Spirit was warning him, but he chose to trust her.

She sat cross-legged in the air, facing him, and started explaining the contents of the Great Profound Illusory-Returning Technique.

Gradually, he entered an insightful state and began to quickly grasp the sutra’s contents. In the end, he gasped. “What? Split all three hun and seven po[2] in the divine soul? Isn’t… Isn’t that basically making another me?”

Sword Spirit smiled. “That’s right. I want you to create another you through this process—a sword spirit who didn’t have a tough childhood and has the freedom to do whatever he wants.”

Li Guanqi took a deep breath. He was beginning to understand why she wanted to do this. She wanted him to create an illusory body that could completely follow his own heart.

He frowned. “In that case, we won’t be able to predict what the illusory body will become.”

She snorted. “Would there be any meaning in creating another you who’s completely under your control?”

“Isn’t that what everyone else does?”

Sword Spirit glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and smirked. “And that is why they can never be truly powerful.”

Sword Spirit’s declaration was arrogant. Insane, even. But Li Guanqi thought it made sense.

“Haa… I understand now.”

He swallowed the Mind-Focusing Pill that Meng Wanshu had given him and entered a meditative state. He needed to clear his mind completely.

As for creating the illusory body itself, he’d have to wait for Meng Wanshu to come back.

The ice lotus glowed weakly in the pitch-black cave room. The surrounding space grew thick and heavy as concentrated spirit qi poured into the icy pool beneath the ice lotus.

After Meng Wanshu’s departure, the other youths followed Lu Kangnian to the main pavilion to discuss what to do next.

“Sigh, I wonder how long Boss’s closed-door cultivation session will last.”

“Second Brother, don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

Cao Yan and Ye Feng stiffened. Li Guanqi’s voice echoed in their ears, and two rays of spirit light shot from the back mountains into their third eyes.

Xiao Chen heard it too, but there were only two rays of light. He shrugged. Li Guanqi was giving them some technique, but since Xiao Chen had already created his illusory body, he couldn’t use it.

The other two opened their eyes and looked at each other in astonishment.

Lu Kangnian frowned. “Ye Feng, are you also going to create your illusory body?”

Ye Feng nodded. “Sect Master… I think I need to enter closed-door cultivation as well…”

Someone reported from outside the pavilion, “Sect Master, Grand Elder Tian Yuan of the Cloud Chamber Sect requests an audience.”

Lu Kangnian had an interesting mix of emotions on his face, especially now that he knew Tian Yuan was from the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion. When Tian Yuan arrived, he gave Ye Feng a special golden storage ring and Cao Yan a fire-red one. He gave Lu Kangnian a fist salute and turned to leave.

Xiao Chen was about to crack a joke when the color drained from his face.

Ye Feng noticed his stiffened expression. “Fourth Brother, what’s wrong?”

Xiao Chen said awkwardly, “Second Brother, Third Brother, something happened to my family. I need to head home right away.”

Ye Feng was concerned. He knew Xiao Chen had a strained relationship with his family. If he had to rush home, it had to be serious.

“Do you need help?”

Xiao Chen forced a smile and waved. “I’ll call you guys if I need help when I get back.”

He bowed to Lu Kangnian and explained the situation. Lu Kangnian nodded, and Xiao Chen left.

Ye Feng felt something was off and flew out of the pavilion after him. Then the moment he got outside, he saw Xiao Chen giving a girl a deep kiss.

Clang!

“Xiao Chen!! You bastard!”

“Big Brother!

The instant the two separated, Xiao Chen sprinted off. “Brother-in-Law… I really do have an emergency at home… I had to tell Qing’er I was leaving…”

“Fuck off! I’m going to cut you down for this!”

“Second Brother-in-Law… Listen to me… Listen to me!”

1. The author uses the term “返虚” or “Illusory-Returning” to describe the process of creating the illusory body. ☜

2. More info on the three hun and seven po: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hun_and_po ☜