Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi’s eyes widened at the fantastical architecture around him. The layered structures were inlaid with pearls and colorful shells of every kind, lending the underwater buildings a distinct, otherworldly beauty.

Rich, water-element spirit qi washed over everyone, easing their accumulated fatigue. Colorful coral formations glimmered with a soft light as dense schools of fish darted across the lakebed, circling the Spiritfish Clan members. Every so often, a large spirit fish would drift past, already showing the first hints of spiritual intelligence. Farther out, the clan’s buildings lay veiled beneath a curtain of deep blue water.

Yu Bo explained, “The dragon’s might exuded by the divine dragon is too overwhelming. Without something to contain it, the fish on the lake floor would perish instantly.”

Li Guanqi smiled and nodded, marveling at the Spiritfish Clan members’ puffing gills.

Many of the Spiritfish Clan’s children transformed into fish the moment they entered the water. Their scales shimmered with a soft blue sheen, their eyes sparkled with life, and their long whiskers swayed with the current.

As they approached the cluster of buildings, people lined both sides of the path to welcome them.

Gu Li and Meng Wanshu, encountering the Spiritfish Clan for the first time, found everything novel, especially the transformations. Gu Li simply pulled an elder aside and struck up a conversation, then, with the man’s consent, began examining his body.

An explosive burst of inspiration hit Gu Li. He fell to the ground as though possessed, took out a sheet of yellow talisman paper a full zhang across, grabbed his talisman brush, and sprawled on the ground, scribbling furiously.

Yet he stopped again and again, rejecting each attempt, until his brow furrowed deep.

Li Guanqi laughed at the sight. “Let’s go on ahead. Don’t mind him. Your elder will probably have to stay here with him for a while, but if Gu Li really gains something from this, the Spiritfish Clan will benefit greatly.”Yu Bo naturally had no objections. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Gu Li was an exceptionally skilled talisman master.

“Old Zhao, keep this young friend company.”

The white-bearded elder nodded with a smile, and Yu Bo led the group onward to the place where Nine Heavens rested.

After passing through layer after layer of array barriers, Li Guanqi finally saw Nine Heavens. There, the enormous dragon lay coiled atop a tall tower, breathing heavily. Its scales were disheveled, and its aura was incredibly weak. But the most striking sight was the wound in its chest.

Li Guanqi’s heart ached. He quickly moved to Nine Heavens’ side and softly stroked its forehead.

As if sensing Li Guanqi’s presence, Nine Heavens stirred. It mustered its strength and opened its eyes.

Even at rest, its enormous dragon eyes carried an innate majesty, and a faint pressure spread out uncontrolled. It frightened Yu Bo so badly that he tumbled from the air and reverted to his true form.

The old fish, now a full zhang in size, hit the ground with a thud and flopped about, its eyes rolling white.

Meng Wanshu wasn’t one to laugh easily, but the sight was simply too comical: Yu Bo’s true form flopped twice, then went stiff, mouth blowing bubbles, eyes rolled back.

Li Guanqi blinked at the scene, then raised a hand in resignation and sent the elder beyond the barrier. Turning around, he found the Dragon Scale Divine Wood and other natural treasures already laid out neatly nearby. Beside them sat a large white radish and two leaves radiating dense vitality.

Nine Heavens’ gaze fell on the radish and greens laid out on the plate, a sudden urgency flashing in its eyes.

Li Guanqi patted Nine Heavens’ head and said softly, “Relax. Peng Luo is fine. He’s drinking with Ye Feng and the others right now.”

Nine Heavens’ eyelids drooped in relief. It rubbed its head against Li Guanqi’s chest.

Li Guanqi cradled Nine Heavens’ snout and said, “All right, all right. Let’s treat your injuries now. Steel yourself.”

Nine Heavens tried to reply, but its eyelids grew heavier and heavier, trembling as it struggled to keep them open

There was no time to delay. Li Guanqi turned to Meng Wanshu. “Wanshu, help me.”

She nodded and waved her hand, gently lowering the enormous dragon from the tower.

Li Guanqi gathered all the materials, looked at the Dragon Scale Divine Wood in his hand, and then shattered it.

Its aura burst outward as the immense pressure squeezed every last drop of essence from the wood. The fist-sized pool of liquid essence radiated a mysterious, profound aura. Nine Heavens watched in bewilderment, yet instinctively knew it would help.

Roar…

A low growl came from Nine Heavens. Li Guanqi carefully pulled aside a broken scale and let half of the essence seep into the wound. He poured the remaining half into Nine Heavens’ mouth.

The wound began to glow green, and the injury visibly started to heal.

Li Guanqi glanced at the dried blood caked across Nine Heavens’ scales, then looked away with a sheepish cough. After that, he carefully gathered every bit of dried blood from Nine Heavens’ body into three large jade bottles.

Nine Heavens didn’t think much of it. It simply assumed Li Guanqi was giving it a bath.

Meanwhile, back on the Spiritfish Clan’s streets, Gu Li had already covered more than ten zhang of ground with a tangled maze of talisman patterns. The markings looked like a madman’s scribblings, impossible for anyone to decipher. Perhaps only the elder at his side could make out a few fragments.

Gu Li was trying to create an entirely new kind of talisman, the “Transformation Talisman”!

Some existing talismans could perfectly disguise a person’s appearance, but they offered only a superficial disguise. A sweep of divine consciousness would expose them instantly. If Gu Li truly unraveled the secret behind the Spiritfish Clan’s transformations, his Transformation Talisman would be extraordinarily valuable. Humans could transform into demonic beasts or spirit beings, and vice versa.

Once Li Guanqi had infused the last of the Dragon Scale Divine Wood’s essence into Nine Heavens’ body, Nine Heavens closed its eyes. It coiled tighter, and its aura climbed wildly.

Meng Wanshu’s eyes widened as she sensed the change. “Nine Heavens’ bloodline... is reverting to its ancestral form! The change is subtle, but it’s really happening. However... Nine Heavens has lost far too much blood and qi.”

Li Guanqi pried open Nine Heavens’ mouth and stuffed Peng Luo’s arm and the leaves inside. “Nine Heavens has given up far too much for me.”

Meng Wanshu could sense the dense, pure dragon qi within Li Guanqi’s body. A faint blush spread across her cheeks. “That’s true. Nine Heavens willingly gave up its blood essence to temper your body... Who else in this world could endure something like that?”

Li Guanqi glanced at Meng Wanshu with a wicked grin. “You could.”

Then he remembered something. He took out a jade slip and asked, “Old Sun, do you have any spirit pills for demonic beasts that can replenish blood and vital energy?”

On Pill Peak, Sun Miao, in the middle of teaching a class, scrambled to fish out a jade slip. “I do, absolutely! I’ll bring them to you right away!”

The old man hitched up the hem of his robes and dashed off at full speed, his retreating figure resembling a hen with its wings spread. Behind him, the disciples could only exchange bewildered looks.

“Uh… I think that was Elder Li’s voice.”

“That explains it. Master Sun has been boasting about Elder Li’s Companion Flame for years.”

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