Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Everyone stared at Li Guanqi as though he were a monster. Only then did they realize how many secrets he was hiding. He seemed to know absolutely everything under the heavens.

Reopening someone’s spirit void was something no one else in the world could accomplish, not even the ancient monsters of the Tribulation Realm. Then there were the heaven-tier techniques he had casually produced, the origins of which remained a mystery. Stranger still, he had guided Gu Li to enlightenment in the talisman Dao despite not being able to draw a single talisman himself. Li Guanqi, a man who couldn’t draw a talisman or read a single rune, had guided a grandmaster of the talisman arts to enlightenment.

Now, at a moment’s notice, he had pulled out a tier-eight pill recipe lost to the ages. And the recipe existed inside Li Guanqi’s sea of consciousness.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall turned strange.

“Ahem.” Li Guanqi cleared his throat. “I got it from a shattered secret realm some time ago. Do you guys... believe me?”

No one spoke.

Ye Feng and Cao Yan exchanged a glance. They knew about the independent space inside Li Guanqi’s sword coffin, which was probably connected to his other secrets, but neither of them said a word. Everyone had their secrets. There was no need to pry.

Meng Jiangchu stared intently at Li Guanqi. “You need to be more careful with matters like this in the future. Don’t let anyone with malicious intentions find out.”

Li Guanqi smiled. In truth, he had done it deliberately. He could easily have inscribed the recipe onto a jade slip instead, but his role in Gu Li’s enlightenment was bound to come to light sooner or later, so it was better to reveal a little on his own terms. Since everyone present was trustworthy, he would rather let them speculate than commit to anything definitive. As for Sword Spirit, he would never expose her. The most he could admit to was some kind of fortuitous encounter.

He caught the complicated look in Meng Jiangchu’s eyes. The man turned the green ring on his finger, and an imperceptible sealing force enveloped the space around Li Guanqi. Meng Jiangchu’s finger traced words in the air, inscribing words that only Li Guanqi could see. Is there a powerful cultivator’s remnant soul inside you? Are you in danger?

Li Guanqi’s breath hitched. He hadn’t expected Meng Jiangchu to be so perceptive. From just a few clues, the man had pieced it together.

He smiled and shook his head before writing his reply. It brings me no harm. It is not a soul.

Meng Jiangchu’s hand stilled, and he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. If Li Guanqi didn’t have a remnant soul attached to him, there was no danger. Most likely, he had received the legacy of some powerful figure from the past. Nothing else could explain how swiftly his power had grown, and a rare windfall like that was understandable.

Everyone relaxed a little.

Lu Kangnian had long known that Li Guanqi harbored many secrets, but he never felt the need to pry. Some things were better left unspoken.

Nearly two hours later, Gu Changsheng finally opened his eyes. Seated cross-legged on the floor, his eyes shone with excitement as he let out a sigh of admiration. “The methods of the ancient alchemists are truly astonishing… My friend, I’ll have to take this recipe back and study it with a few old colleagues of mine. Many of the rare spirit herbs and spirit plants listed are ones I’ve never even heard of. Then again, some herb names may simply have changed since the ancient era. Some of the refining techniques also differ from what we practice today.

“That said, I already have about eighty percent of the three thousand spirit herbs this recipe requires in my private collection. Still, I’ll need to track down the rest. Why don’t you come stay with my clan while I do? I need to keep a close eye on that seal of yours anyway. What do you think?”

Li Guanqi furrowed his brow in thought, then smiled and looked at Meng Wanshu. “Wanshu, what do you think?”

“What do I think?” Meng Wanshu said coldly. “There’s nothing to think about. Either we go, or we stay here and wait for you to die. What a pointless question.”

She rose and gave Gu Changsheng a respectful salute. “We’ll have to trouble you with the arrangements, Senior Gu. If any spirit herbs are needed, please compile a list for me. My father may be able to use his connections to track some down.”

Gu Changsheng laughed heartily. “Good, good. Rest assured, I’ll have everything arranged as quickly as I can. Besides… I can see these young friends of yours are all close to breaking through. Why don’t you all come spend some time at the Gu clan?”

Ye Feng, of course, was delighted. Across the Six Territories, a tier-eight alchemist was a figure one might not meet once in eight hundred years. The chance was obviously welcome, and he’d get to benefit from some free pills while he was at it. “Thank you, Senior Gu. I hope we won’t be any trouble.”

Gu Changsheng was in excellent spirits. The recipe had opened a door in the alchemy Dao entirely new to him, and the gain was considerable. With a wave of his hand, he said, “Good! We’ll set off at once.”

“Let’s call Fourth Brother back as well,” Li Guanqi said to his companions. “We’ll all go together.”

He turned to Gu Changsheng and bowed respectfully. “Senior, I have a friend of the older generation who is also an alchemist. Could I ask you to spare an Illusory Breakthrough Pill for him?”

Gu Changsheng was in high spirits. Never mind an Illusory Breakthrough Pill. He would gladly have handed over something far more precious as a favor to Li Guanqi. At the mention of another alchemist, his gaze drifted toward Cao Yan with mild interest.

“Bring him along, then, young friend,” Gu Changsheng said with a chuckle. “We can travel together, and I’ll offer him a bit of guidance along the way.”

Li Guanqi smiled and took out a jade slip to send word to Sun Miao.

Bang! Black smoke seeped out through the gaps around a pill-refining chamber’s door. A soot-covered old man came dashing out, his vital force surging to shake the grime from his robes. He hurriedly changed into a fresh Daoist robe, barely able to contain his glee, then took to the air while still tidying his appearance. “A tier-eight alchemist’s guidance! The Gu clan! Cultivating at the home of an alchemy family! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I knew I’d made the right decision all those years ago! Hahaha!”

Lu Kangnian exhaled in relief and smiled as he watched everyone prepare to leave. After this trip, Ye Feng and the others would most likely all break through to their next realms.

Li Guanqi shot him a wink and transmitted, “Sect Master, rest easy. I’m going to rob him blind and bring back as many recipes as I can.”

Lu Kangnian coughed twice, hiding a grin behind his wide sleeve, and he quietly gave a thumbs-up.

Xiao Chen returned in the middle of all this. The moment he heard what had happened, he shot to his feet and glared at Gu Li. “You little punk, you actually raised a hand against them?!”

Ye Feng grabbed him and hurriedly spoke to him through voice transmission. “Stop cursing, stop cursing! We’re going to the Gu clan to prepare for our breakthroughs. The Combined Body Pills are all ready.”

Gu Li clasped his hands behind his back and smiled pleasantly at Xiao Chen. “What was that? Hmm? Louder?”

Xiao Chen’s furious expression froze, then melted into an ingratiating grin as he rubbed his hands together.

“What I meant was…” He glanced back at Ye Feng and Cao Yan, gritted his teeth, and forced a smile. “Well played! Senior Gu, supreme skill and unrivaled brilliance!”

Cao Yan burst out laughing. He turned to find the corner of Ye Feng’s mouth twitching.

“He’ll only call me ‘Brother-in-law’ the day I let him marry my sister,” Ye Feng muttered.

When they set out, Li Guanqi brought Peng Luo and Nine Heavens along. They would be gone for quite some time, and he wouldn’t have rested easy leaving those two behind.

As the group sped through the great void, Li Guanqi seemed to sense something. He pulled out a flask of liquor, raised it toward a distant point, and took a deep swig.

On a mountaintop somewhere, Li Congxin gazed at the moon overhead. He smiled faintly, drained his liquor, and smashed the flask against the ground. Then he rose to his feet, stepped onto his sword, and departed.

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