Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Rumble!

Meng Wanshu held Li Guanqi’s hand and sent a gentle stream of energy into his body to examine his injuries. Once she confirmed he was fine, she relaxed a little. Frowning, she raised a hand and dispelled the ice wall hanging in the void.

By this point, Yun Jie’s fur had grown glossy and radiant, and her aura was noticeably stronger than before.

Sitting casually on Li Guanqi’s shoulder, Peng Luo broke off a segment of his finger and popped it into his own mouth. “You need to be more careful around the Yu clan. Their pupil techniques... seem rooted in some kind of heretical cultivation path.”

Li Guanqi frowned slightly but said nothing.

The heavenly radiance produced by Yun Jie’s breakthrough had been even more abundant than he expected. The Fire-Eyed Demon Foxes were hardly lacking in talent. He could not understand how such a race had ended up a slave lineage under the Yu clan.

Most of Yun Jie’s injuries had already healed, though traces of Peng Luo’s power lingered inside her. Only now did she grasp just how formidable Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu were.

After her breakthrough, Yun Jie dropped to her knees and kowtowed. “Sir, please take me with you. I don’t want them to take me back...”

Then she rose to her feet, hatred flashing in her eyes as she tore the slave mark from her face. “I’m only a minor demon. I can’t escape the Ethereal Immortal Territory. I survived today only through luck and your help, and I’m the last surviving member of the Yun lineage of Fire-Eyed Demon Foxes. If you don’t mind, I’m willing to serve the two of you as a servant and work like an ox or horse. I ask only that you take me in…”

Li Guanqi said no more. He helped the girl to her feet, then scanned the surroundings warily and lowered his voice. “Let’s get out of here first.”Meng Wanshu had sensed barely perceptible spatial fluctuations rapidly closing in.

Peng Luo led them into a layer within the void. It was Meng Wanshu’s first time entering such a place.

Peng Luo said proudly, “This is my specialty. Impressive, right?”

Then he noticed Li Guanqi moving freely through the interstitial space as well.

Back when Li Guanqi handled affairs for the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion, he had taught the Dark Pavilion Guards this special technique. It was called the Great Void Shadow Concealment Divine Technique.

Li Guanqi turned, intending to teach it to Meng Wanshu as well, only to find her already concentrating with her eyes closed. A strange spatial fluctuation rippled out from her, and she was enveloped in blue light. She released his hand and began walking freely through the interstitial space.

Peng Luo stared blankly at the two of them. He had just boasted that this was his specialty, yet both of them could do it. He huffed in irritation, but when he glanced at Yun Jie, who was still trembling with fear, he felt a little better.

After the group left, the place was engulfed in waves of terrifying pressure.

Yu Cang arrived with a group of powerful cultivators, only to find the riverbank completely deserted. His face twisted with fury.

A man whose expression was as cold as ice spoke up. “Elder Yu, are you certain they weren’t locals?”

Yu Cang’s eyes were bloodshot. “I’m certain. They’re definitely not from the Ethereal Immortal Territory. No cultivator from here would offend our family over a mere demon. Besides, they don’t seem to know anything about the Yu clan.”

The man gave a cold snort. “So cultivators from the Six Territories dare interfere in the Yu clan’s affairs? I’d like to see who has such nerve!”

With a wave of his hand, he tossed a green compass into the air. Light flooded the sky, and the compass projected images of Li Guanqi and the others as they left.

The man stared at Li Guanqi’s face and frowned slightly, murmuring under his breath, “Is he blind?”

The man in the embroidered robe frowned and turned his head. “Investigate this person’s background.”

“Let’s go. Bring Ge Li’s body back.”

Whoosh!

The fox tail at the man’s waist appeared incredibly bewitching. A faint crimson glow flickered in his deep-set eyes, and his pupils took on a strange shape.

Yu Cang nodded and followed him back to the Yu clan estate.

The Yu clan soon obtained a rough picture of Li Guanqi’s background, and a hush fell over everyone in their main hall.

Standing at the man’s side, Yu Cang said gravely, “The Fire-Eyed Demon Foxes are a secret of the Yu clan. It must not be revealed under any circumstances. If other people learn of it, they’ll all turn against us.”

The man tapped his fingers lightly against the table. The dull knocks echoed throughout the hall.

The atmosphere grew heavy and oppressive. The Yu clan experts seated on both sides each wore subtle expressions.

To outsiders, the Yu clan’s totem suggested they belonged to a lineage of fox worshipers, while the beast pelts they wore seemed no more than ordinary fire fox skins.

Only the Yu clan knew that everything they possessed came from a secret art passed down within the family. This secret art required Fire-Eyed Demon Foxes for its cultivation, and the foxes had long since vanished from the outside world.

The Yu clan was the only one with the methods to locate the foxes hidden within spatial fragments. The outside world contained very few records of the Fire-Eyed Demon Foxes.

Yu Qingkun, the patriarch of the Yu clan, was an early Mahayana Realm cultivator. He stood as one of the family’s foremost authorities, second only to the family ancestor.

Yu Qingkun’s eyes flickered. The fox pelt draped over his head glimmered with faint firelight as he murmured, “This matter has drawn in too many people… Li Guanqi’s backing cannot be underestimated. He has ties to too many powerful figures and is even on good terms with Crown Prince Qin Wushang.”

Everyone in the hall frowned. The Yu clan had guarded its secrets for years without a single outsider uncovering them. Yet this time, the Fire-Eyed Demon Foxes of the Yun lineage whom they had captured had joined forces to break through the barrier and send one of their own out.

A cold glint flashed in Yu Qingkun’s eyes. “We cannot let this matter end here. The deaths of one or two Yu clan cultivators mean little. The Fire-Eyed Demon Fox is far more important. Our clan established itself along the shores of the East Sea because of it. Find out where they went. Track them down, wait for the right opportunity, and kill them all in a single strike.”

His voice grew noticeably graver. After a brief pause, his sharp gaze swept across everyone in the hall. “They have a tier-seven supernatural being and two cultivators at the peak of the early Combined Body Realm. And that is not all. The woman beside Li Guanqi is the daughter of Meng Jiangchu, the Five Yang Ghost Emperor and Lord of the Divine Treasure Territory.”

He continued, “We need at least three times their number to ensure success. Our investigation shows that Li Guanqi has deep ties to the Seventh Territory and knows several of the Eight Generals. I’ve said enough. You know what to do, don’t you?”

Yu Cang sneered. “Understood. I’ll eliminate them!”

Killing intent thickened throughout the hall.

Meanwhile, Li Guanqi and the others traveled through the void, asking Yun Jie about her situation.

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