Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Boom!!!

Under that terrifying pressure, the six of them looked up into the void.

“This pressure… It’s at least at the late Illusory Refinement Realm. Maybe even… how is that possible?!”

“Didn’t that old bastard say he was alone?!”

“Who is it?! Who else in the entire Divine Treasure Territory would come to help the Xiao family at a time like this?!”

Xiao Chen, pale-faced, looked up toward the entrance of the hall. Despite the barrier set up by the six great experts, a fair, slender hand reached in from the outside. With the slightest effort, it shattered the barrier and tore open a long rift.

Cold killing intent spread through the void, and the very sky seemed cloaked in a blood-red haze.

With a savage expression, Li Guanqi stepped slowly out of the void, a sword coffin strapped to his back. Heaven and earth changed color, the wind wailing mournfully. Endless lightning descended, forming a vast prison that sealed the entire Xiao family within.

Li Guanqi’s frigid voice echoed across the heavens.“Form? What form?

“You want to play the whore and still build a shrine to your virtue[1]? You really are something. Today, none of you are leaving.”

Xiao Chen stared blankly at the figure walking out of the rift. His nose stung, and his eyes reddened. “Boss…”

The six finally saw the face of the man stepping through the crack, and their hearts trembled in shock.

“It’s the Yanluo Sword, Li Guanqi!”

“Impossible! Why would he come to the Xiao family?!”

“Wait… could it be that the rumors were true? That several experts went to the Black Sect Territory and killed the Southern Heavenly King?”

“Was it them?”

Ding Gengyang’s eyes flickered, darting toward Xiao Chen. His vicious look was like a signal. The six Illusory Refinement Realm experts forcefully circulated their vital force, shattering Li Guanqi’s oppressive pressure. Without a word, all six shot toward Xiao Chen and his mother at the same time.

Li Guanqi’s reputation was far too fearsome. Their best chance was to seize Xiao Chen or his mother as hostages to threaten him.

“Move!”

“Capture Cheng Yun!”

Xiao Chen’s heart jolted in alarm. Shielding his mother with one hand, he thrust his crimson spear with the other, leaving countless afterimages.

“Crimson Skyfall!”

Boom!!!

Before Xiao Chen’s strike could even land, the space within the sword domain trembled faintly, and Li Guanqi teleported in.

He lifted his hand and swept his sword in a single horizontal arc. The slash shook the eight directions.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of steel colliding rang out sharply. Amid the metallic clamor, all six figures were blasted backward at once, crashing through the walls.

Boom!

Inside the great hall, the elders of the Xiao family were shaken to the core. Their eyes burned as they stared at Li Guanqi, voices trembling with excitement.

“There’s hope… The Xiao family… there’s hope!”

Xiao Chen lowered his head, eyes red, his voice hoarse as he muttered, “Why did you come…?”

Turning around, Li Guanqi irritably punched him on the shoulder. “Why did I come? If I hadn’t shown up today, what would you have done? Fight them to the death? You couldn’t swallow your pride and tell me? If not me, you could’ve at least told Ye Feng!”

Cheng Yun, listening to their exchange, quickly understood. The man before her clearly had an extremely close relationship with Xiao Chen, close enough to call each other brothers. He even seemed to be the elder brother of that golden-haired young man, Ye Feng.

“Senior… I am Xiao Chen’s mother, Cheng Yun. Please help us. I beg you. Please help us.”

With that, she lifted the hem of her skirt, about to kneel.

Li Guanqi hurried forward to stop her, steadying her by the arms. Looking into the woman’s bloodshot, exhausted eyes, he said in a low, firm voice, “Aunt Cheng, don’t worry. If it concerns Xiao Chen, then it concerns all of us. There’s no way I’d just stand by.”

Outside, thunder roared wildly through the void. The six Illusory Refinement Realm experts joined forces and shattered the lightning filling the sky.

Violent waves of vital force surged around them. Ding Gengyang, who had just blasted apart several lightning spears, roared, “Be careful! These lightning bolts are all formed from spells!”

He was right. Once Li Guanqi unleashed his sword domain, he could summon lightning-attribute spells as effortlessly as picking a flower. That alone might not be enough to kill them outright, but holding them off for a while was no problem.

Still, there were six Illusory Refinement Realm experts. The spells wouldn’t stall them for long.

After calming Cheng Yun down, Li Guanqi turned to Xiao Chen with a grin. “So, what do you say?”

Xiao Chen bared his teeth in a faint smile and replied, “Whatever you say, that’s how we’ll do it.”

The corner of Li Guanqi’s lips lifted. Terrifying lightning power burst outward, transforming into a suit of purple-black lightning armor that enveloped his entire body.

Vital force roared within him, and his blood and qi surged like a raging tide. His oppressive aura climbed to its absolute peak.

Though he was only at the mid Illusory Refinement Realm, the aura he emitted now pressed close to late Illusory Refinement Realm, even comparable to half a step into the peak of the realm.

Clang!

“Heaven-Opening Tier, Red Lotus Blossom!”

Li Guanqi sneered. “In this world, when someone dares to extend their claws, we cut off those claws and crush their skulls. Even if the Xiao family leaves in the end, it will be because you, Xiao Chen, choose to walk away of your own accord. Not because the Xiao family has fallen and been forced out like stray dogs!”

Xiao Chen inhaled deeply. His eyes blazed with killing intent as he charged forward with his spear.

“Kill!”

Boom!

The bluestone tiles beneath his feet exploded as his body shot out like a blood-red shadow streak. Streams of light shimmered along the spear shaft, the crimson glow like weeping blood.

Li Guanqi’s lips curved slightly. With a wave of his hand, he enveloped all the Xiao family elders within the sword prison domain. Then he teleported away, vanishing in an instant. Heaven and earth trembled, and the void shattered.

Alone, Li Guanqi took on four Illusory Refinement Realm experts.

Among them, two were at the peak of the early Illusory Refinement Realm, while the other two men were at mid-stage. Yet in just a single exchange, it felt as though he had surrounded the four of them by himself.

The four were forcibly dragged onto the battlefield, restrained by Li Guanqi alone.

Clang clang clang! Bang! Boom!

In the span of a few breaths, they had already exchanged over a hundred moves. Blades and swords flashed relentlessly, while sword qi crisscrossed the sky, tearing open the void again and again.

Li Guanqi took on all four of them simultaneously. They fought defensively, and in the blink of an eye, were pushed back hundreds of zhang.

During that time, the four continuously teleported and shifted positions, trying to break free from the battlefield. But in just one clash, the web between each of their thumbs had split open with bloody gashes.

Li Guanqi’s beast-like strength filled them with dread. Every time their weapons collided, a terrifying force traveled along the blades and spread through their entire bodies.

One of the men realized that even when his strike broke through the lightning armor, it only left a shallow wound.

His expression changed as he roared, “This guy is a spirit-martial double cultivator! Retreat!”

1. “当婊子还要立牌坊” is a highly derogatory saying. It describes someone who has already done something shameful or immoral, yet still tries to present themselves as upright, virtuous, or chaste in front of others in order to gain a good reputation or further benefits.

The phrase mocks this kind of behavior as greedy and hypocritical, wanting both the advantages of wrongdoing and the moral high ground, essentially having it both ways and still playing innocent. ☜