Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

A dense surge of demonic qi spewed from the rift.

Meng Jiangchu’s face darkened. He produced several magical treasures and pressed three golden seals into the void in quick succession. The seals suppressed the gap immediately.

Gu Yong flashed above the rift and crouched to inspect it. A glint passed through his cloudy eyes, and the problem became apparent at once.

“Fellow Daoist Meng, come take a look!”

Meng Jiangchu followed Gu Yong’s gesture and saw a fragment atop the seal. He inhaled sharply, picked it up, and closed his eyes to sense it. When he opened them, his gaze narrowed.

“Looks like someone deliberately used a seal-breaking magical artifact to pierce through the barrier!”

Gu Yong examined the fragment closely and frowned. “The craftsmanship… doesn’t match any of the renowned artifact blacksmiths in the Six Territories. I know all the top-level artifact blacksmiths in the Six Territories, and I’m familiar with their techniques. But this…”

Meng Jiangchu said nothing. He tossed the broken blood-red mask to Gu Yong.

Gu Yong inspected it and lifted his gaze to Meng Jiangchu. “This was made by a top-tier artifact blacksmith, but… I don’t recognize the craftsmanship either. It’s unlike anything I know, but whoever made this must belong to the Sha organization.”

Gu Yong rose slowly, a deep look in his eyes. “It seems the slaughter of half the Xiao family was no coincidence. Perhaps we need to look into what the Xiao family has been up to recently.”The two examined the seals on the lower layers through the rift, found no other breaches, and finally relaxed slightly. Before leaving, they placed a spirit light clone atop the seal so they would be informed immediately if anything changed.

As soon as they departed the Dungeon Abyss, however, a black shadow silently faded into the void behind them.

Buzz!

Meng Jiangchu had barely stepped out and was still speaking with Gu Yong when he stopped mid-sentence. He drew out a jade slip, and Li Guanqi’s voice came through.

Li Guanqi summarized the recent events, specifically the six families’ attempt to seize resources from the weakened Xiao family.

Meng Jiangchu’s face darkened. Gu Yong looked at Meng Jiangchu’s grim expression and silently prayed for those families.

Has the Divine Treasure Territory… forgotten how Meng Jiangchu rose to the position of territorial lord? Gu Yong thought. He kept the thought to himself.

Old and unyielding as a demon, Gu Yong could see at a glance that someone was directing the six families. Nothing that happened to the Xiao family could stay hidden; once word got out, many would assume they had come into some rare treasure. Only that could explain why those mysterious people had massacred the Xiao family.

Gu Yong’s eyes flickered. “I’ll get someone to look into the Xiao family’s recent affairs right away.”

He paused, then said softly, “Do you want me to find out who’s pulling the strings?”

Meng Jiangchu nodded, his face grim. The Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion would likely investigate faster than he could on his own.

He stepped forward, a teleportation array flaring to life beneath him. “I’ll leave it to you, Fellow Daoist Gu. No need to investigate causes or consequences.”

He turned to Gu Yong, his voice icy. “Just tell me which family it is.”

With that, he stepped into the array and vanished in a flicker of light.

Gu Yong clasped his hands behind his sleeves. A jade slip floated at his side, and he spoke into it softly. “Investigate who’s behind the attack on the Xiao family. Also, look into the Xiao family and see if they’ve acquired anything unusual.”

With that, he stepped into the void and vanished.

***

In the pitch-black void of the Divine Treasure Territory, two figures were rapidly moving through space.

Li Guanqi held a silver brush, a gift from Li Changqing. During one of the elder’s visits to one of the families, he gave Li Guanqi the Interspace Brush. As long as Li Guanqi knew the coordinates of the other families’ territories, he could trace the void and travel directly there.

Li Guanqi tucked the brush behind his back with one hand and raised an eyebrow. A faint smile curved his lips, and his brow relaxed.

Xiao Chen followed behind with his head lowered, noticing nothing unusual. His mind was still filled with images of Li Guanqi’s overwhelming dominance as he crushed his opponents.

He had even sensed a shift in how the Xiao family elders and disciples regarded him. Before, they had supported him simply because he bore the Xiao family bloodline. But now…

First, Ye Feng had slashed through the Xiao family’s main hall. Then, Li Guanqi had single-handedly subdued six late-stage Illusory Refinement Realm cultivators and beheaded them, all to back him up. In their own way, they were sending the same message: as long as Xiao Chen existed, the Xiao family would never fall.

Still wearing his bloodstained clothes, Xiao Chen felt a warmth spread through him, his emotions a tumultuous mix.

Li Guanqi didn’t turn his head, yet he caught every subtle shift in Xiao Chen’s expression.

A gentle voice reached Xiao Chen’s ear. “Brother Xiao.”

“Hm?”

“I know your nature. You wouldn’t choose to go kill with me.” Li Guanqi glanced back at Xiao Chen, his voice soft. “But… you need to understand. If you don’t act today, from now on, even a beggar could trample over the Xiao family, knowing you wouldn’t resist.”

Xiao Chen nodded, his gaze steady. “Don’t worry, Boss. I understand. You and Second Brother… I’m thankful to you both.”

Buzz!

A spatial rift opened atop a high mountain surrounded by jade waters and green peaks. Sunlight spilled across the land, and dense spirit qi rose off the water like drifting mist. Two figures stepped through the rift.

Li Guanqi’s lips curved into a cold smile. Behind him, the sword coffin opened, and the Red Lotus Sword shot into his hand.

Boom!

A terrifying sword light burst forth with a surge of vital force. The mountain shattered, and his single slash cleaved through even the warped space itself.

Li Guanqi licked his lips. His eyes narrowed at the cultivators pouring out from within.

“Kill!”

Thud!

Behind him, Xiao Chen swept his red spear in wide, relentless arcs. The cultivators hadn’t even reacted before blood rained from the sky. Limbs and torsos tumbled through the air; bodies plummeted one after another.

Li Guanqi raised the Red Lotus Sword and sealed off the entire Ding family territory using his sword prison. A cold flash of murderous intent flickered in his eyes. “Kill every cultivator involved in the attempt to seize the Xiao family’s resources. Leave none alive!”

Xiao Chen was caught up in the bloodshed and hadn’t yet grasped the full implication of “leave none alive.”

Only when he watched Li Guanqi conduct Soul Searches and take heads indiscriminately—young and old, men and women, anyone tied to the conspiracy—did the full weight of those words finally sink in.