Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

As he spoke, the elder’s gaze casually flicked to Li Guanqi’s right hand. Though that hand rested easily on the sword hilt, Li Guanqi’s left hand was ready to draw the blade at any moment.

Li Guanqi merely smiled. Gong Ze’s cultivation was only at the mid Illusory Refinement Realm, so he could not sense Li Guanqi’s aura.

Gong Ze had heard a lot about Li Guanqi. After all, a group of four had boldly entered the Taiqing Territory and, in front of countless powerful cultivators, killed Southern Heavenly King Cao Zhennan. There wasn’t a soul in the cultivation world who hadn’t heard of it. As such, Gong Ze treated him with considerable courtesy. Li Guanqi was his junior, true, but if Gong Ze had tried to assert authority on seniority alone, Li Guanqi probably wouldn’t have spared him a glance.

Gong Ze cupped his hands in salute and stood behind Lu Kangnian, sleeves folded, a faint smile on his face. Even toward the current sect master, his gaze carried a measure of scrutiny.

But when his eyes flicked to Qin Xian, they hardened with disdain. He muttered under his breath, “This pace of cultivation is absurdly slow. How can someone like you serve as a disciplinarian?”

Qin Xian was already in the mid Divine Transformation Realm, so he felt like his cultivation had progressed quickly. However, facing someone in the mid Illusory Refinement Realm, he didn’t dare to argue.

“You can’t even keep up with the sect master, and you still think you can manage others? No… come see me tonight. I’ll give you a proper training session.”

Li Guanqi smirked at Qin Xian’s embarrassed nod and turned a warmer look on Gong Ze.

From the start, Gong Ze had positioned himself humbly, never trying to steal the spotlight. Even his scolding of Qin Xian was meant to maintain balance between the disciplinarian and the sect master. Li Guanqi’s estimation of the elder rose. Detachment from power was a good thing.

Lu Kangnian frowned slightly and sent a voice transmission to Li Guanqi. “How many are approaching?” Li Guanqi gazed into the distant void, his expression calm. “Five. All Illusory Refinement Realm cultivators.”

Buzz!

The void trembled, a faint but ominous pressure spreading outward. A dark rift hundreds of zhang wide opened in midair.

Li Guanqi flicked his finger. The hundred-zhang Lightning Sword hovering atop Heavenly Sword Peak pulsed with a faint light, its subtle aura barring the new arrivals from the territory.

An elder in a gray hemp robe looked up at the Lightning Sword, then at Li Guanqi’s back, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Five figures in fine robes emerged one after another.

The elder squinted and murmured, “Han Chengxian, Duantai Yiting, Nangong Qianyan, Ji Hong, Tu Zhongqiu! Good heavens… they’re all still alive.”

Qin Xian felt as if five towering mountains loomed before him, their combined presence impossible to meet head-on.

The leader, an elder in a dark-gold robe, spotted Li Guanqi standing with a sword at his waist. He had a graying goatee, kind facial features, and sharp, clear eyes free of murkiness.

Li Guanqi’s gaze rested on this elder and the purple-robed man beside him. The man in purple robes seemed to be in his forties or fifties, yet Li Guanqi sensed the aura of decay around him was stronger still, more pronounced than the elder’s.

Lu Kangnian’s heart leaped at the sight of these figures.

As for the two men Li Guanqi had fixed on…

The elder in the dark-gold robes was Han Chengxian, the thirty-sixth generation sect master. The seemingly middle-aged man beside him was the thirty-first generation sect master, Duantai Yiting. In other words… Duantai Yiting was at least a thousand years older than Han Chengxian.

Lu Kangnian led Li Guanqi and the others forward to face them. The array domain slowly opened a massive gap, and Lu Kangnian stopped three zhang from the elders, cupping his hands with a smile. “Thank you, venerable elders, for returning.”

The others remained silent.

Duantai Yiting’s expression was stern. In his youth, he had been extraordinarily handsome and charismatic. His sharp features, sword-like eyebrows, and piercing eyes suggested he had taken Foundation Building Pills[1] to preserve his youthful looks. Clad in dark-purple robes and a jade crown, he carried the oppressive presence of a high-ranking master.

“Take us to the main hall. Prepare for a full sect assembly,” Duantai Yiting said.

The elegant woman and two other elders behind him said nothing.

Han Chengxian’s expression was calm, and his eyes serene, as if everything were perfectly reasonable. Duantai Yiting’s tone didn’t strike the others as out of line.

But Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze toward the man growing colder.

The man, sensing Li Guanqi’s gaze, glanced down at him and let out a mocking snort.

Qin Xian’s brow twitched as he turned to look at Li Guanqi. He knew Li Guanqi’s temper well, and judging by his reaction…

Nearby, Ling Daoyan narrowed his eyes while drinking wine, a faint chill flickering within them.

Li Guanqi’s left hand blurred, but a strong hand caught it.

Lu Kangnian held Li Guanqi’s arm, his voice cold. “What’s this? Does the old sect master want to seize power?”

Duantai Yiting’s expression remained calm; he said nothing. The elder in green robes beside him, Ji Hong, folded his sleeves and said, “So what if he does? The capable always rise to—“

Swish!

Before Ji Hong could finish, a four-zhang-long black sword pierced through his jaw. Three more cun and the blade would have crushed his skull.

Li Guanqi pressed close to the elder, holding the sword one-handed, his voice icy as he whispered into the elder’s ear, “Go on. Finish what you were saying.”

Li Guanqi ignored the long sword Duantai Yiting had thrust at him, which was already pressing into the skin of his neck.

Li Guanqi leaned back slightly, his pure white eyes fixed on Duantai Yiting. “Let’s see whose sword is faster.”

Ji Hong’s face had gone pale, his body wracked with terrifying lightning-type power that left him paralyzed and unable to draw even a wisp of vital force.

Duantai Yiting’s expression changed. He hadn’t expected Li Guanqi to move so fast. The instant he sensed Li Guanqi making his move, Li Guanqi had already pierced through Ji Hong’s jaw.

Lu Kangnian folded his sleeves and stood by, with no intention of stopping Li Guanqi.

Han Chengxian snorted. “I hadn’t expected the Daxia Sword Sect to grow more unruly over the years.”

Li Guanqi tilted his head and said bluntly, “You old geezers… every single one of you, listen carefully.”

As he spoke, the sword in his hand moved slowly, the sound of Ji Hong’s jawbone splitting chillingly clear. Cun by cun, the blade carved through his jaw, with Li Guanqi ignoring the icy sword pressed against his own neck.

1. The author wrote 筑基丹 (Foundation Building Pills) and not 驻颜丹 (Youth Preservation Pills). We’re leaving it as is, but it might be a mistake. ☜