Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Agonized screams rose from the depths of an abyss.

Dozens of grotesque stone pillars ringed the area, each one carved from the bones of yin-aligned, sinister beasts. Strange, blood-red patterns flickered across them, as though fresh blood were coursing within.

In the depths of the abyss, eerie black shadows fed on Song Zhi’ang’s flesh while surging black demonic qi steadily warped her body.

“Ahhhh! That vile bitch! I want you dead! Dead! Hahahaha! Come! Eat me! Come!”

Frenzied howls echoed from the abyss as the illusory forms of several powerful Abyssal Demons slowly took shape.

A masked man walked along the edge of the abyss with his arms spread wide. His fingers lightly tapped the void, his eyes closed as though savoring something. “Hatred, envy… Who would have thought these could forge such formidable human willpower? How wonderful… Hahahaha. And to think a mere female cultivator could be such a perfect fit.”

His steps slowed. He glanced down into the abyss beneath his feet, and under the mask, his mouth curved into a mad grin. His gaze seemed to pierce through the black mist, locking straight onto the face of the woman below.

Song Zhi’ang’s hair hung loose and disheveled. Her bloodshot eyes were wide and brimming with hatred and venom, yet that gaze only made the man’s laughter grow wilder.

He tilted back slightly, his laughter reverberating through the empty altar chamber. “Hahaha! Song Zhi’ang! I’m giving you the chance to ascend in a single step! Whether you survive depends on how badly you crave revenge, how badly you want to trample Meng Wanshu beneath your feet! Whether you want… to stay with him, forever and always.”

Boom!His pale hands shot out from beneath his blood-red robe, and countless crimson rays tore through the void. Dozens of powerful Abyssal Demons emerged from the rifts.

The Abyssal Demons were enormous, but their consciousness had been stripped away, reducing them to nothing but killing machines. At the man’s command, they plunged into the abyss.

At the bottom, Song Zhi’ang watched the demons rain down, her expression bordering on madness. She knew they were her chance to turn everything around.

Explosions rang out in rapid succession, shaking the altar without pause.

The man embedded spirit stones into the altar and turned to leave. He cast one last, lingering glance back. You must succeed. Otherwise… all my efforts will have been for nothing.

Space twisted. Within the quiet realm, only a violent rumbling and Song Zhiang’s fierce battle cry remained.

Just as Meng Wanshu had predicted, the Sha organization had been lying in wait for her all along.

By the time Li Guanqi returned to the Daxia Sword Sect, Gu Li had already become Meng Wanshu’s devoted admirer. He stared at her, awestruck, nodding along to her every word like a chick pecking at grain.

Li Guanqi found the scene amusing. Meng Wanshu seemed to have a natural gift for making others feel accepted.

Gu Li spotted Li Guanqi and grabbed his hand, looking him up and down with tears in his eyes. “How are you worthy of her?! How could you possibly be worthy of her?! No one is good enough for Sister Meng! No one... Mmph!”

Li Guanqi shoved two fingers into Gu Li’s mouth, pulled his hand free, and shoved him aside with one arm. Then he wrapped an arm around Meng Wanshu’s waist and laughed. “I’m worthy of her. What are you going to do about it?”

Gu Li doubled over, dry-heaving for a good long while before straightening up in indignation. “What is wrong with you people?! Who the hell shuts someone up by shoving their fingers down their throat?!”

Meng Wanshu’s lips curved upward. Cao Yan and the others were already laughing so hard they were doubled over.

Zhou Shiyu rose with a smile. “Fellow Daoist Li, since there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading back to the Six Gates Holy Sect.”

Li Guanqi waved dismissively. “Go back for what? Your master’s out back drinking with Old Ling and the others. You gonna go guard the sect all by yourself?”

Zhou Shiyu stiffened. Li Guanqi was right.

After the martial stage battles, Gu Huai had completely let himself go and simply moved into the Daxia Sword Sect. Every day, he was either visiting Ling Daoyan or Gong Ze and the others, with Tu Zhongqiu and Nangong Qianyan tagging along, the whole group spending their days discussing the Dao, drinking, or fishing.

Gu Huai had never been so carefree. He even seemed to have found love again. He had gone to Sun Miao the other day to ask for some youth-preservation pills. Though from what Li Guanqi had heard from Lu Kangnian, Nangong Qianyan had no interest whatsoever in the old man.

Zhou Shiyu shrugged. “Then I suppose I’ll find somewhere to settle down as well.”

Li Guanqi smiled lightly. “Simple enough. I still have a residence on Heavenly Lightning Peak. Stay there for now. Later, I’ll have someone arrange a separate residence for you and the others.”

Gu Li leaned over, rubbing his hands together. “Uh… Brother Li. How is Nine Heavens doing? Has it recovered? I’d like to go see it.”

Li Guanqi’s mouth twitched. So this is why he hasn’t left yet.

Since Li Guanqi had been planning to check on Nine Heavens anyway, he brought Gu Li along.

Buzz!

Lu Kangnian was still inside the realm, sorting through the resources they’d seized from the Lu clan. When he saw Li Guanqi arrive, he laughed heartily. “All settled?”

Li Guanqi took out a storage ring and smiled. “Yes. I didn’t use any of it, so I’m returning the spirit veins to you.”

Lu Kangnian swept his hand, and the storage ring arced back to Li Guanqi in a streak of light. “Return? What do you mean, return? Once I give something away, I never take it back. Besides, you all worked hard in those martial stage battles. Think of it as your reward.”

Li Guanqi said nothing more and put everything away. “By the way, Sect Master, where are Nine Heavens and the others?”

Lu Kangnian reached out and handed him a blue jade slip. “I left one of the sect’s rivers to the Spiritfish Clan, as you know. Nine Heavens and the others are recovering there now. The Spiritfish Clan knows how to use the Dragon Scale Divine Wood better than I do, and Qin Xian is keeping watch, so nothing should go wrong.”

Li Guanqi breathed a sigh of relief. If Nine Heavens and Peng Luo had been left alone with the Spiritfish Clan, he would have been worried. Had anyone among them harbored ill intentions, the gravely injured, unconscious pair would have been completely defenseless. Fortunately, Lu Kangnian had been meticulous enough to leave nothing to chance.

He took the jade slip and set off with Gu Li toward the back mountains.

Before Li Guanqi could say another word, Meng Wanshu appeared in front of him and pressed a finger to his lips. “I don’t want us to be apart anymore.”

Li Guanqi’s heart softened, and the words he had been about to say dissolved at once. He took her soft hand and smiled lightly.

Watching from the side, Gu Li felt as though he’d been whipped. He clutched his chest and muttered, “Ah, it hurts. My heart hurts…”

Soon, the three of them arrived at the Spiritfish Clan’s river realm.

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