Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi remained oblivious to the storm his message had stirred within the Meng family and the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion.

He turned to Lu Kangnian, his heart sinking. He needed to get to the Divine Treasure Territory and check on Xiao Chen. Of everyone involved, Xiao Chen was likely suffering the most. He was alone in the world, with enemies on all sides.

Li Guanqi turned to Lu Kangnian and said in a low voice, “Sect Master, is there anything else?”

Ye Feng thought it might be something he shouldn’t hear and stood up to leave.

Lu Kangnian stopped him. “What’s with that look? You think I don’t want you to hear?” You two talk like your mouths are on fire, rattling nonstop. When was I ever given a chance to speak?”

Ye Feng realized he’d overthought it. He scratched his head awkwardly and sat back down.

Lu Kangnian straightened, his expression growing solemn. He looked at his two finest disciples, gathered his thoughts, and said, “You two should have noticed by now. The foundation of our Daxia Sword Sect is far deeper than anyone imagines.”

Li Guanqi and Ye Feng shared a knowing look. Since breaking through to the Illusory Refinement Realm, they had faintly sensed that the sect’s three thousand peaks and eight hundred rivers were far from ordinary. The seemingly haphazard layout of mountains and rivers held a profound, hidden rhythm, subtly resonating with an immense formation. However, even they couldn’t perceive what lay beneath.

Lu Kangnian took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming. “I won’t tell you more for now. After all, neither of you intends to take over the sect.”

Both of them shifted awkwardly, as if they were being accused of ingratitude. Still, their ambitions lay elsewhere. Neither was suited to managing the sect. However, they had noticed that even when they weren’t around, the sect’s elders, peak masters, and disciples held them in almost fanatical reverence.Oblivious to their thoughts, Lu Kangnian took out a fragment of a jade pendant. “Our Daxia Sword Sect… also suppresses a Demon Abyss!”

“What?!” Li Guanqi and Ye Feng were both shocked. “There’s a Demon Abyss within our sect? How long has it been suppressed?”

Lu Kangnian said, “Fortunately, Elder Qin, Elder Ling, and I have already inspected it.”

“The sealing formation shows no abnormalities. There’s no need to worry.”

Li Guanqi frowned. “Can you take us to see it?”

“Let’s go,” Lu Kangnian said without hesitation.

In fact, after hearing about the Xiao family incident, he had already planned to have them reinforce the seal. He couldn’t shake his unease.

Soon, Qin Xian and Ling Daoyan arrived at Jade Teapot Peak.

With a surge of spatial force, Lu Kangnian enveloped everyone. They appeared atop a remote, secluded peak in the sect’s back mountains.

The place was isolated, even hidden. Li Guanqi and Ye Feng had seen this peak before, yet never paid it any attention. Who would have thought the seal was hidden here?

Ye Feng frowned, probing with his divine consciousness, but detected nothing unusual. Even the peak itself looked completely ordinary.

“Since they’re both here, let’s begin,” Ling Daoyan said.

The three elders each took out a pitch-black jade pendant fragment.

Li Guanqi’s heart trembled. The Demon Abyss was evidently of utmost importance to the sect. Otherwise, they would never have split the key among three people. Was it to prevent someone with ill intent from opening the seal?

Buzz!

A powerful spatial fluctuation spread outward. The mountain before them began to twist unnaturally, and a hazy gray spatial rift appeared.

Ling Daoyan and Qin Xian exchanged a glance, then handed the jade fragments to Li Guanqi and Ye Feng. They stared blankly in surprise as they accepted them.

Ling Daoyan patted Li Guanqi’s hand gently.

“From today onward, these jade tokens will be entrusted to you and Ye Feng. Never let them fall into the hands of those with ill intent. We old fellows… are no longer strong enough.

“We’ve also heard about what happened to Xiao Chen’s family. We dare not allow the slightest mishap. So… this responsibility is now yours.”

The weight of his words settled on both their shoulders.

Li Guanqi inhaled deeply and placed the jade fragment into a personal storage domain, one formed by tearing open a pocket of space. The domain was bound to his life. As long as he lived, no one could open it.

Ye Feng did the same, fully aware that the weight he felt wasn’t from the jade, but from the responsibility.

Lu Kangnian watched with deep satisfaction. A torch passed from one generation to the next.

This was the true inheritance of the Daxia Sword Sect. Their figures vanished into the rift, which sealed shut behind them as though it had never existed.

Buzz!

Space flickered, and the five of them arrived within a mountain chamber no more than thirty zhang wide.

Thump! Thump!

The moment they appeared, the braziers along the damp walls ignited. Li Guanqi finally saw what the sect’s Demon Abyss looked like.

A black altar, thirty zhang in diameter and just over a zhang high, stood before them. Four square stone pillars marked the cardinal directions, each glowing with flowing light.

Each pillar was about the height of a man, inscribed with golden runes. Atop each one floated a tier-seven demon core. It was the very prize Meng Wanshu had nearly died to obtain—and there were four of them.

How could the sect have ever afforded such wealth? Li Guanqi thought.

Lu Kangnian gazed at the glowing demon cores, his voice soft and his eyes filled with nostalgia. “This is the Four Symbols Demon-Suppressing Art passed down by the sect, combining formations, talismans, and the power of great demons into a joint seal. Don’t be fooled by how poor the sect looks now. In the past, our Daxia Sword Sect stood at the very peak of prosperity!”