Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

With the help of Nine Heavens and Peng Luo, Li Guanqi gradually regained consciousness. The first thing he saw was Nine Heavens, covered in blood with scales peeling from its body, and Peng Luo standing beside it, gaunt and withered. A rush of warmth filled Li Guanqi’s chest, and he raised his hand, pulling them both into the sword coffin’s space.

Boom!

A soundless roar echoed within Li Guanqi. His vital force blazed back to life, his blood and qi surging through him. His flesh regenerated with astonishing speed, and the charred black skin covering his body peeled away like a discarded husk.

Li Guanqi’s sheer physical strength made his eyes gleam, and he licked his lips. His flesh had transformed, stabilizing his divine soul considerably as well.

He glanced at the tribulation cloud still churning overhead, then at Lu Wuhen straining against his own tribulation, slashing out again and again. A cold light flashed through Li Guanqi’s eyes.

Nangong Xuandu’s heart lurched at the sight. “What is he planning?”

He wasn’t the only one who thought so. Zhou Yunqing spoke up as well. “This fellow... Don’t tell me he’s planning to make a move on that Lu kid right now?”

The corner of Meng Jiangchu’s mouth twitched. Knowing Li Guanqi, once he gained the upper hand, he would never let it slip away.

Ancestor Lu’s face contorted as if he had swallowed a fly, while the old lady of the Zhu clan watched with great interest.

Lu Wuhen’s physical strength was no match for Li Guanqi’s. Since Lu Wuhen didn’t dare temper his physique with the tribulation lightning, he had to break through first, entering the Combined Body Realm and building slowly from there. Now that Li Guanqi had caught this opening, no one could do anything about it. Lu Kangnian took up the battle drum once more, striking it with such ferocity that his arm became a blur.

Lu Wuhen had not missed the killing intent in Li Guanqi’s eyes. Raising his sword, Lu Wuhen cleaved apart the lightning crashing down from above, sending shattered arcs scattering in every direction. His chest heaved with every breath. Even he had to draw on everything he had to withstand such ferocious tribulation lightning.

Still, he clung to the hope that Li Guanqi would not dare strike. He refused to believe it. The combined power of two heavenly tribulations was no laughing matter; one wrong move meant death.

Boom! Crash!

The void tore open across hundreds of zhang, and Li Guanqi vanished. With a sword in each hand, Li Guanqi charged at Lu Wuhen like a god of slaughter.

The sight stunned everyone.

“Is he out of his mind?! Does he know what he’s doing? He’s looking for death!”

“He’s gone mad! Li Guanqi has gone mad!”

“Gulp... Am I seeing things? He actually charged straight into the range of Lu Wuhen’s tribulation! Isn’t he afraid of dying?”

Lu Wuhen was startled. He shot backward at full speed and shouted furiously, “Li Guanqi, have you lost your mind?!”

Li Guanqi swung both swords at once and shouted icily, “Shadow Demon Slash, Dark Night!”

Hum!

The sky and earth within a hundred-li radius darkened as two terrifying beams of sword light slashed across the heavens.

Lu Wuhen was utterly shocked. He had never imagined Li Guanqi would strike. He tightened his grip on the Ascension Sword, and the blade erupted with dazzling light. His gaze sharpened as he unleashed slash after slash, sword light bursting forth.

Boom boom boom!

Explosions thundered through the air. Li Guanqi endured the shockwaves head-on and was about to charge forward again. But then, the tribulation clouds overhead churned violently, and without warning, both cloud masses released over ten thick bolts of lightning at once.

Li Guanqi laughed coldly, completely unafraid. He raised his sword and shot straight up toward the clouds.

On the other side, Lu Wuhen was blasted backward, his arm twisted at a grotesque angle. White bone protruded through his skin, connected only by strips of flesh. He spat out a mouthful of blood and stared at Li Guanqi in horror. Li Guanqi’s physique was simply monstrous.

Both tribulation clouds had struck at the same moment. Li Guanqi unleashed dozens of sword beams, yet the lightning still drove Li Guanqi down toward the ground.

Boom!

He plummeted a thousand zhang and slammed into the earth. Mountains shook, and the ground trembled. The tribulation lightning scorched the land black for ten li around, and a crater more than three hundred zhang wide opened beneath him. Li Guanqi lay within it, blackened from head to toe, bolts of lightning as thick as a wrist crackling and leaping from his torn flesh.

However, Li Guanqi’s eyes were bright. He lay paralyzed in the crater, but a savage grin spread across his face as he looked up at Lu Wuhen hovering in the air above. Heavenly tribulation lightning truly is the finest material for tempering the body.

He had dared to strike, and Lu Wuhen had not. More than that, he meant to use Lu Wuhen’s own tribulation lightning to temper his body, fully consolidating his physical cultivation and forcibly fusing his divine soul through the power of heavenly lightning. The missing piece did not matter. He would fill it with ‌the power of the Heavenly Tribulation itself.

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s power surged again, his fearsome aura causing the void to tremble incessantly.

The battle had exceeded anyone’s expectations, and the churning tribulation clouds signaled that both men’s tribulations were drawing to an end. Thanks to his preparations, Lu Wuhen had escaped the worst of it. And as the crowd watched Li Guanqi slowly rise to his feet, they swallowed hard. Not one of them doubted that he would survive his tribulation.

Yet those two sword strikes had split open Lu Wuhen’s chest, the crisscrossing sword qi very nearly pulverizing his vital organs.

He’s a lunatic!

Lu Wuhen glared at Li Guanqi and cursed under his breath, then focused on the final stage of his tribulation once more.

A coppery sweetness filled Li Guanqi’s mouth. He looked up at the cloud overhead, then charged at Lu Wuhen again without the slightest hesitation.

Li Guanqi’s utter disregard for consequences and his own life infuriated Lu Wuhen, who could no longer find words to describe him. He was an absolute madman.

Lu Wuhen pushed all distracting thoughts aside. “Since you want to die, I’ll oblige!”

He gripped the Ascension Sword and teleported in front of Li Guanqi.

Boom!

Sword light flashed in every direction. Wielding both swords at blinding speed, Li Guanqi nearly overwhelmed him outright. But Lu Wuhen’s strength was nothing to dismiss either. Savage sword qi tore through the void as the two fought from the earth all the way into the sky.

Nangong Xuandu had to erect another defensive barrier in front of the crowd. At this point, neither the martial stage nor the barrier surrounding it could contain the battle. The tribulation lightning was simply too destructive.

Boom boom boom!

Clang! Clang clang clang!

The two tribulation clouds entwined, and terrifying lightning rained down indiscriminately. After being struck by just a few blood-colored lightning bolts, Lu Wuhen’s skin split open, and he trembled uncontrollably. Damn it! How can this lightning be so powerful? What kind of monster is he?

Meanwhile, Li Guanqi faced the lightning with sheer delight, even drawing in the scattered bolts and consuming them entirely.

Boom boom boom!

Without any prior agreement, Li Guanqi and Lu Wuhen withdrew several thousand zhang at the same instant. They raised their heads to the sky in unison. The final bolt of lightning was about to fall.