Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Ye Feng remained silent. After getting dressed, he followed Li Guanqi.

Li Guanqi stopped him and said softly, “Things haven’t been peaceful lately. Brother Ye, you should stay in the sect.

“In case anything happens, you’ll be here to respond. Also, Third Brother is on the verge of breaking through. With you guarding him, I’ll feel more at ease.”

Ye Feng did not insist. He trusted that with Li Guanqi going, even if trouble arose, things would be fine.

“Alright. I’ll stay. This will also give me time to familiarize myself with my current strength. Still, you have to be careful. What happened to the Xiao family won’t stay hidden for long.”

Li Guanqi nodded, took the Divine Treasure Territory transport array plate from Ye Feng, and stepped away from Daxia Sword Sect.

The sect’s protective formation lowered, yet no one dared approach within a hundred li. In the sky sat a golden-haired youth, cross-legged in the void, sword intent raging around him and suppressing the surroundings for hundreds of li.

However, Li Guanqi did not leave immediately. He walked through the void with one hand clasped behind his back, his expression calm despite the killing intent flickering in his eyes.

“Long Qu,” he muttered, his voice icy. “Hmph. Since you dared to extend your hand, there’s no need for it to remain.”

Ye Feng had already told Li Guanqi about Long Qu’s attempt to “borrow” their swords. And Li Guanqi had never felt much toward Long Qu either way. Back then, when Long Qu bestowed treasures, it was merely what the Daxia Sword Sect deserved.Yet now, after Li Guanqi’s strength had grown and the sect had gained abundant resources, that man dared covet the sect’s Seven Peaks Swords. Once, twice… Had Ye Feng not been present last time, Lu Kangnian might have been forced to hand them over.

People truly change. Greed is human nature. Li Guanqi thought.

With every step Li Guanqi took, he crossed dozens of li, his figure flickering through the void. He put away his heavenly intelligence jade pendant and soon arrived above a vast mountain range.

The land brimmed with spirit qi, yet there was not a single clan or sect within a hundred li. The reason was simple: Long Qu’s palace was there.

Li Guanqi emerged from the void, expression sharp as a blade, radiating palpable murderous intent. He didn’t even bother to summon the Red Lotus Sword.

He slowly raised his hand and touched the spatial barrier. Countless streams of azure light shimmered, forming a massive curtain that blanketed the heavens and earth.

His pale palm pressed against it. His devastating vital force surged forth, and violent ripples spread across the barrier like a boulder thrown into still water.

Boom!

Thunder erupted. His fingers clenched, and the spatial barrier shattered. Thick fragments of space collapsed like shattered porcelain, raining down from the sky.

An immense palace complex emerged in full view. Spanning thousands of zhang, its gilded halls and towers shimmered with dazzling brilliance, dense spirit qi swirling around like mist.

At the center of the main hall, Long Qu’s expression changed slightly. All those below him stiffened as well. The violent spatial disturbance was unmistakable—someone had forcibly breached the barrier from the outside.

Clang!

The sword beside the throne leaped into Long Qu’s grasp as he strode forward, face dark.

“Who dares trespass into my territory?!”

The crowd below frowned in displeasure.

“Which blind fool dares storm the Northern King Territory?! Guards, seize him at once!”

An elderly man snorted. “How dare anyone violate the ban on stepping within a hundred li of the Heavenly King’s Territory!”

“Hmph. Looks like the Northern King Guard has grown lax.”

“I’d like to see which fool is courting death!”

Li Guanqi sneered, eyes blazing with killing intent as he watched Long Qu fly out from the hall.

Boom!

A crimson sword hilt like a blooming red lotus burst from the sword coffin, flying into his grasp. Sword intent erupted as the scarlet blade slashed out amid thunderous roars.

“Heavenly Destruction, Immortal-Slaying Slash!”

Boom!

The cultivators who had just flown from the hall saw a beam of crimson lightning flash across the sky. The Northern King Territory rumbled violently.

That sword light cleaved straight through a region thirty li wide. Buildings, mountains, everything in its path was split apart, the lightning sword force nearly annihilating the heavens and earth. From afar, it looked as though a black lightning sword had ripped open the sky for dozens of li.

Long Qu finally saw his attacker, but then his vision spun violently. Blood sprayed from his severed neck.

Buzz!

A golden primordial soul burst from his body, fleeing frantically toward the horizon.

Li Guanqi merely curled a finger. His divine consciousness transformed into over a hundred crimson swords that shot forth.

“Lunar Flying Swords.”

Boom!

The cloud-veiled sky was instantly carved apart by invisible blades, countless pitch-black rifts chasing after the escaping soul. The primordial soul fled swiftly, but the divine swords were faster.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The divine sword shredded the primordial soul in the blink of an eye. Li Guanqi calmly extended his left hand toward the fractured void and clenched it.

A colossal lightning palm, a hundred zhang in size, condensed in an instant, sealing the void within a radius of a thousand li. All escaping energy was crushed and annihilated.

Long Qu, the Northern Heavenly King of the Daxia Territory, was dead. Not even the slightest chance of possession or rebirth remained.

Boom!

The Northern King Territory shook violently as space collapsed, mountains shattered, and buildings crumbled.

Li Guanqi flicked the blood from his blade and turned away. A cold, level voice echoed from the void:

“The killer is Li Guanqi.”

Every cultivator who rushed out froze in terror, cold sweat streaming down their backs. As heaven and earth collapsed around them, their limbs turned to ice, none daring to move. Those words alone rooted them in place, not daring to breathe.

Only after a long while did someone stiffly turn their neck. They looked at one another, each seeing the same terror and confusion in the other’s eyes.