Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

When Sun Miao arrived, he pulled out more than a dozen jade bottles filled with pills. They were not of a particularly high grade, but each was formulated specifically to replenish blood and vital energy in demonic beasts. Sun Miao said with some embarrassment, “Apologies. My ability falls short for now. This is the best I can refine.”

Looking at the white-haired old man, Li Guanqi felt a pang of emotion. Sun Miao had taken out tier-five pills.

When Li Guanqi first met Sun Miao, the old man had already reached the fifth tier. Yet for years, his cultivation had remained stuck at the peak of the Divine Transformation Realm.

Li Guanqi gently patted the old man’s shoulder. “When the time comes, I’ll get you an Illusory Breakthrough Pill. For now, stop teaching and go into seclusion to prepare for your breakthrough. I’ll also speak with Sect Master Lu about setting up a breakthrough platform for you, and I’ll personally stand guard on the day you break through.”

Sun Miao’s eyes reddened. His face flushed with emotion as he looked at Li Guanqi, clasped his hands, and started to bow.

But Li Guanqi stopped the old man before he could bow fully. Steadying him upright, he said, “Elder Sun, I’ve seen the quiet effort you’ve put in over all these years. Pill Peak’s disciples are thriving today because of you. I’m the one who should be bowing to you. You’ve worked hard.”

With that, Li Guanqi clasped his hands and bowed. When he rose, he met the old man’s emotional gaze.

Sun Miao rubbed his eyes and forced a smile, barely holding back his tears. “Hah, I’m getting old. I’m tearing up over the smallest things now. I’ll head back and prepare for seclusion!”

The old man excused himself. On his way out, he shot Gu Li a strange look and swallowed nervously before hurrying off, not daring to disturb him in the slightest.

Gu Li was sitting on the ground with his brow deeply furrowed. His talisman brush had poked his hair into a complete mess, and he kept tapping his head with his left hand. The zhang-wide talisman papers spread out beneath him nearly covered the entire street. There were dozens of them.Even the rough opening sketch on each one would have been enough to astound the world.

Li Guanqi left a clone behind to look after Nine Heavens and went with Meng Wanshu to find Gu Li.

The scene before them stunned them both. Then Sword Spirit’s startled voice echoed in Li Guanqi’s mind. “This person has an extraordinary gift for the talisman Dao! He is one step away from touching the celestial, receiving the heavens’ inspiration, and comprehending the great talisman Dao.”

Li Guanqi frowned. “Sword Spirit, what do you mean?”

Sword Spirit spoke softly. “For those in the Human World, insight into the talisman Dao has limits, limits that cannot be crossed. Yet, he has stumbled onto those limits and arrived at the very edge of the cliff.”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Gu Li. His clothes whipped wildly in the wind, and his eyes were bloodshot. She lowered her voice. “If he can’t cross this chasm today, he’ll go mad. The despair of seeing no path forward will completely shatter his Dao heart. What he needs now is to touch the talisman Dao of the Immortal World and break through the invisible barrier standing before him. But...”

“But what?” Li Guanqi asked with a frown.

Sword Spirit sighed. “To reach for the Immortal World’s talisman Dao while still in the Human World and create his own talisman technique, carving out a path of his own... is as difficult as scaling the heavens.”

Li Guanqi’s expression darkened. Gu Li had clearly entered a deep state of Dao absorption. His entire consciousness had sunk into it, rendering him completely unaware of the outside world.

Gu Li’s bloodshot eyes only confirmed Sword Spirit’s words. If he couldn’t take that step today, the foot he had suspended over the edge would plunge into an endless abyss. When that happened, all anyone could do was watch him go mad.

Buzz!

A frenzied surge of divine consciousness swept across the entire lake, then continued outward until it engulfed the whole realm. The spiritual power made the lake churn as though it were boiling. The earth trembled, and the mountains shook. Debris tumbled into the lake, raising violent ripples.

Many members of the Spiritfish Clan looked around fearfully. Yu Bo, now fully conscious, hurried to Li Guanqi’s side and stared at Gu Li, whose robes whipped wildly in the raging storm.

The lakewater within hundreds of zhang around Gu Li suddenly emptied. Li Guanqi made up his mind without hesitation. He erupted with powerful pressure and, with a wave of his hand, moved the entire Spiritfish Clan behind him.

He reached out and tore open the realm’s spatial barrier. “Leave at once. I’ll handle things here.”

Yu Bo evacuated the clan at once. Once they were all gone, Meng Wanshu nodded slightly and slowly raised her hand.

An icy force spread outward, and nine enormous blue ice flowers bloomed behind her.

Meng Wanshu’s eyes gleamed. She spread her arms and said softly, “Ten-Thousand-Li Frost Seal.”

Boom!!!

The icy force surged outward, freezing the entire lake solid.

Li Guanqi murmured, “Sword Spirit, is there any way to help him?”

Inside the sword coffin, Sword Spirit’s lips curved upward. After pondering for a moment, she said, “Yes. But you need to wait a little longer.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up. He understood immediately and released his divine consciousness, trying to replicate the talisman patterns Gu Li had drawn.

But the moment his spiritual power neared the talisman paper, Gu Li’s mind power lashed out like a wild beast, instantly tearing the invading mind power apart.

Li Guanqi let out a muffled grunt.

Meng Wanshu’s face tightened with worry, but before she could say anything, Li Guanqi raised his hand to stop her.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath and, facing Gu Li, donned a layer of lightning armor.

Since his divine consciousness could not copy the patterns, he had no choice but to walk over and read them one sheet at a time. Only then could Sword Spirit see exactly what dead end Gu Li was facing.

Meng Wanshu’s brow creased slightly. “Be careful.”

Li Guanqi stepped forward, entering the thirty-zhang radius surrounding Gu Li.

The boundary was like a tripwire. The instant he crossed it, every talisman within dozens of zhang ignited.

Boom boom boom boom!

Li Guanqi burst through the smoke. Cracks spread across his lightning armor, and blood seeped from beneath it.

But just as Li Guanqi thought he might finally make out the patterns, he realized that space itself had already concealed dense, layered walls of talisman script.

Towering walls dozens of zhang high surrounded him on all sides, sealing him in like a beast in a cage. The talismans making up those walls numbered in the tens of thousands, packed so densely they’d make anyone’s scalp prickle.

Boom!

A violent explosion thundered through the air, reducing the entire street to rubble. The glaciers stretching a thousand li in every direction collapsed and shattered in an instant. The searing heat wave hurled Meng Wanshu back over a thousand zhang.

“Guanqi!”

Swish!

Charred black from head to toe, Li Guanqi finally caught a glimpse of what was written on several of the talisman papers. But before he could make sense of it, chains woven from tens of thousands of talisman patterns shot straight toward him.

Gu Li felt as if his head were splitting apart. He dropped his brush, clutched his head with both hands, and banged it against the ground.

Bang!

“Why… why… Why?!”