Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The sky turned red from the blazing fire. The rivers dried up, and swaths of forest burned black. The ground cracked from the scorching heat.

Eerie ink-green flames erupted from the void. Amidst the firelight, five holograms of fearsome ghosts, each of a different shape, floated behind a man in white robes.

Li Guanqi looked at the man walking on fire and gulped.

But that was not the most shocking part.

Through his divine consciousness, Li Guanqi sensed countless auras winking out. His eyes widened, fixed on the depths of the flames. Beneath a powerful aura, countless people stood pinned in place, as if chained to the spot.

Cultivation level made no difference. All of them watched helplessly as the flames devoured them whole.

Li Changshan kneeled on the ground, watching bitterly. He wanted to say something, but swallowed his words in the end. He regretted being in closed-door cultivation for so many years, never keeping tabs on the clan’s affairs. They could have offended anyone else, just not Meng Jiangchu.

The firelight dimmed, and the Li family’s realm vanished from the world, as if it had never existed.

Li Guanqi watched Meng Jiangchu walk toward him and gulped again.

That was vicious! It was the kind of viciousness that could intimidate an entire territory. He thought himself a vicious person too, but he had his own weighing scale. When it came to destroying clans, he felt there were too many innocents.His sword intent was the Yanluo Sword Intent, carrying the will to punish the guilty and a contempt for the judgment of others. He acted without regret. Even if his target had powerful backers, he struck anyway.

Meng Jiangchu looked at him, sensing his thoughts. “You think I’m being too harsh?”

Li Guanqi didn’t hide his thoughts. He nodded.

Meng Jiangchu sighed. He didn’t expect Li Guanqi to understand at his current level. He patted Li Guanqi’s shoulder and explained patiently, “You handled the six families well, but the Li family is different.”

Li Guanqi frowned. He had his guesses about what had happened.

“The Li family should never have defied my commands, nor should they have had any dealings with that organization!” Meng Jiangchu said, his tone icy. Those two matters had enraged him.

They had ignored his commands and gone behind his back, instructing the six families to target the Xiao family. That was a direct challenge to his authority as territory lord. If he didn’t make a brutal example of them, other sects would look down on him, and his authority would crumble.

Li Guanqi thought about it and recalled that it was the same case with the Daxia Sword Sect. Minor transgressions by disciples, which other sects might overlook, were taken seriously and punished severely.

Meng Jiangchu took a deep breath and spoke in a cold, low voice. “Moreover, the Li family is very wealthy. It makes no sense for them to be after the Xiao family’s relatively small stash of resources. Something else is going on here.”

He didn’t elaborate, feeling that Li Guanqi wouldn’t know about such matters.

But Li Guanqi’s head snapped up at him. “Father-in-law, could you put up a barrier?”

Meng Jiangchu looked at him with a frown. He raised his hand, and the powerful flames appeared again, forming a fiery wall around them.

Li Guanqi pondered for a moment, then used his technique to split the void.

Meng Jiangchu couldn’t figure out how he’d done it, but it was clearly an impressive technique. He coughed lightly and said, “Teach me that when we get back.”

Li Guanqi shrugged and nodded.

Whoosh!

A strange-looking magical tool appeared in his hand. Meng Jiangchu’s eyes flew wide the instant he saw it. He seized it with both hands, and countless fiery threads coiled around it. His eyes shut and the color drained from his face.

“Hiss…. So this is why! Hmph! The Sha organization had its eyes on a huge prize indeed!”

He paused, his eyes growing distant. He chuckled bitterly. “Sigh… I don’t know how the Xiao family got their hands on this.”

Li Guanqi nodded. The Xiao family was likely being targeted because of this magical tool, and Meng Jiangchu clearly knew what it was for.

Meng Jiangchu paused, then turned to Li Guanqi, his expression grave. “Since Xiao Ye has been to the Dungeon Abyss before, I’m sure you both know what it’s like. Neither of you should even consider going back. The situation is complicated.”

Seeing how grave Meng Jiangchu looked, Li Guanqi realized the situation had to be serious. He nodded solemnly. “Alright. I’ll tell the others not to go there for now.”

Meng Jiangchu nodded. “Are you coming back with me, or heading to the Xiao family?”

Li Guanqi shrugged. “I’ll go with you. Xiao Chen can handle his family’s affairs on his own. As long as the elders aren’t as blind as I am, they won’t cause trouble for him.”

“As for the other sects…” Li Guanqi chuckled. “They’d better watch their backs if they intend to touch the Xiao family.”

Meng Jiangchu smiled. He held his hand up, and spatial force wrapped around Li Guanqi. With that, they vanished.

Along the way, Li Guanqi told him about how he and Xiao Chen were being watched. Meng Jiangchu’s expression grew increasingly solemn.

“I’ve never heard of this organization, but it clearly has powerful backing. You need to be more careful,” Meng Jiangchu said.

Li Guanqi nodded. He’d sensed it too. Even a random member stood at the half-step Illusory Refinement Realm. It was hard to imagine how powerful their leader might be.

The organization was an opponent that even his grandfather took seriously. They had to be extraordinarily powerful.

Meng Jiangchu glanced at him with concern. “Have you completed the clone creation process?”

Li Guanqi smiled and nodded. Neither pressed the point, though they exchanged a knowing look. He was heading back with Meng Jiangchu only because he was worried about Meng Wanshu’s condition.

Just like that, the matter was settled.

Meanwhile, a handsome man with a hint of demonic qi strolled through the void, hands clasped behind his back. He wore black robes embroidered with gold cloud patterns and walked barefoot. His long hair was tied up, and a lazy look lingered in his eyes.

His long, monolid eyes turned up slightly at the corners, and his thin lips held a constant faint smile. He was pale, his voice faintly ethereal. He murmured to himself, “Which sect should I start with?”