Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Boom!

Hong Zhi and the others’ expressions hardened as the pressure around them suddenly multiplied.

Several spatial light screens appeared out of the void. A man in a black brocade robe, Qin Wushang, stepped out. His gaze was cold and piercing. He turned toward Li Guanqi and said softly, “I hope I’m not too late.”

Shortly after, the unruly Qin Xiao walked out and stood beside Ye Xuan.

“I won’t get involved over there,” he said calmly.

Next, an elderly man in a alchemist robes stepped out. The burly old cultivator was none other than Gu Lie, the Mahayana Realm body cultivator from earlier.

Buzz!

A young man carrying a broad, heavy sword stepped out of the void, and Li Guanqi grinned when he saw him.

Zhou Shiyu looked at the distant cultivators, his expression solemn. “You really do know how to cause trouble…”

Ye Feng and the others smiled faintly. Even so, there were still far fewer Combined Body Realm cultivators on their side than on the enemy’s.Buzz!

“The Cloud Shadow Guard commander, Gu Chuan, has arrived to assist!”

“Xi Yunhuai of the Guanyun Pavilion has arrived to assist!”

Tang Wei, who had left earlier, returned and appeared beside Li Guanqi.

“Thank you,” he said in a low voice, his eyes bright with excitement.

By now, more than ten Combined Body Realm cultivators stood beside Li Guanqi.

The dragon’s roar echoed. Nine Heavens revealed his true form, roaring in anger. Right after, eight ink-black jiao dragons tore through the void and flew to Nine Heavens’ side.

Gu Changsheng smiled slightly at Gu Lie and said softly, “Since we’re all here, everyone, show yourselves.”

Guo Feng, Jiang Qizhi, Han Yuan, and an unfamiliar purple-robed elder appeared in succession. The four of them took in the scene before them, and their expressions turned grave.

Guo Feng, Jiang Qizhi, and Han Yuan appeared one after another, along with a purple-robed elder Li Guanqi had never seen before. The four of them frowned at the array facing them, their eyes turning solemn.

When Meng Jiangchu saw the purple-robed elder, he frowned deeply. After a long moment, he said cautiously, “Dugu Lingxiao?”

The thin and white-haired elder in purple robes paused. His skin was quite wrinkled. With his hands clasped behind his back, he chuckled. “Oh? To think there’s still a youngster who recognizes me.”

He glanced back at Han Yuan and the others, clicked his tongue, and walked straight toward Hong Zhi’s group. When he saw the demonic shadow beside Sha, his brows furrowed, and he let out a cold snort. “So the Eight Generals really are getting worse with each generation!”

The slightly hunched old man straightened his back, his posture turning upright as he narrowed his eyes. When he looked at Sha, cold killing intent flickered in his clouded eyes. He opened his left hand, and a simple ancient sword with a brown blade appeared in his palm. Sword intent gathered around it, overwhelming, ready to erupt at any moment.

Nangong Xuandu’s pupils dilated. He swallowed unconsciously, as if he had just remembered something. “Dugu Lingxiao… he’s still alive…”

Chan Kongzi sent a quiet voice transmission. “Who is this old man?”

“If it really is him, then he is the sword leader of the first-generation Eight Generals,” Nangong Xuandu replied in a deep voice. “His surname is Dugu, and his given name is Lingxiao.”

Chan Kongzi’s mouth fell open in shock.

Sha curled her lips into a cold smile. The surrounding void began to solidify as layers of sealing power reinforced the space. An oppressive pressure settled over the battlefield.

The wind howled. A strange, bone-chilling, murderous aura spread throughout the area.

Faint lightning seemed to surge within Li Guanqi’s body. His gaze slowly grew unfocused, as though he had fallen into deep thought.

Ye Feng and Meng Wanshu exchanged glances and appeared beside him at once, guarding him with alert expressions.

Sha noticed Li Guanqi’s abnormal state at once. Under his mask, his eyes flickered as he frowned and waved his hand. “Attack! He’s in enlightenment. Interrupt him!”

Chaos erupted the instant his voice fell. A barrage of techniques and sword lights exploded across the sky as over twenty cultivators at the Mahayana Realm engaged in chaotic combat. The sheer force of their clashes repeatedly tore through the void.

***

At the same time, in a barren desert somewhere in the Taiqing Territory…

The void collapsed and was annihilated. Hundreds of li of land were swallowed whole in the next instant, and the remaining force swept outward, erasing the entire desolate plain.

The shockwave flung every cultivator below the Mahayana Realm tens of thousands of zhang away. Not even Mei-tier powerhouses could withstand it. They had been far too close, and with Li Guanqi’s allies deliberately steering the force their way, they ended up badly injured before the real fight had even begun.

Li Guanqi sat with his eyes tightly closed, his body trembling slightly. He had clearly entered a profound state of enlightenment.

At the Daxia Sword Sect, Gu Huai of the Six Gates Holy Sect hefted a massive Enlightenment Stone and hurled it into the lightning pool. Peng Luo’s clone caught it and dragged it beneath Li Guanqi.

“Activate the array!” Lu Kangnian said solemnly.

Buzz!

A milky-white mist-like energy surged upward.

Li Guanqi’s clone trembled. Guided by Sword Spirit’s voice, his consciousness felt as if it had been reduced to a single speck of dust suspended in lightning.

Sword Spirit murmured in his mind. “Let go of your mind completely. Feel what true lightning really is.”

Li Guanqi’s tightly wound consciousness relaxed. The moment the lightning touched his awareness, it nearly shattered his perception.

Destruction! Brutality!

That was his first impression. Almost at once, he realized the lightning was forcing out strands of demonic qi hidden deep within him.

His eyes brightened as he murmured, “Lightning embodies punishment. It cannot abide evil or corruption, and it seeks to erase them.”

With that realization, a faint smile touched Li Guanqi’s lips. Countless bolts of lightning pierced his consciousness.

On the surface of his clone, black blood and filth seeped out of his skin. At the same time, Li Guanqi’s main body beside Ye Feng and the others trembled slightly, uncontrollable arcs of lightning erupting from within him.

Meng Wanshu’s eyes flickered. “Guard him! He’s about to break through!”

Buzz!

A terrifying surge of pressure erupted from Li Guanqi’s body.

Gu Li said nothing. He pulled out a storage ring engraved with the character “Guard” and threw it out, then formed hand seals. The ring shattered, and dense clusters of earth-yellow talismans shot out.

Layer upon layer of protection stacked together, forming a barrier dozens of zhang thick in the blink of an eye.

Ye Feng stared at the densely packed talismans covering the barrier and swallowed hard. “Just how many talismans is that…”

Looking at the densely packed talismans covering the barrier, he couldn’t help but feel impressed.

Gu Li leaned back casually and smiled. “Not much. Just a humble hundred thousand.”

Ye Feng didn’t respond. His gaze turned sharp as he unleashed his Ghost Hand without hesitation.

With his right eye glowing blood-red, he truly did carry the air of a second brother. Even as enemies rushed in, he showed no panic at all.

He sent the others a calm voice transmission, his tone cold. “Killing isn’t the goal. Protect the boss! We’re not the strongest ones here, so we need to know our limits against these enemies. Third and Fourth Brother, release the heavenly fire barrier. We’ll work with the others to pull all those red-robed killers inside!”

Cao Yan said nothing as he put on his gauntlets, his eyes gleaming with cold light. Xiao Chen gripped his spear, his gaze equally sharp. None of the three had stabilized their cultivation yet, but none of them showed any fear.

Boom!

Yin Hellfire, Lightning Dragon Flame, and Brilliant Sunset Flame erupted together, three heavenly flames shooting into the sky.

Suddenly, a strand of green flame merged into their array.

Meng Jiangchu had actually split his attention and lent the power of his Five Yang Ghost Flame to the three of them!

“Be careful!” he called out.

“Leave control of the flames to that kid Ye. Otherwise, the three of you alone won’t be able to pull all of the Sha organization’s assassins in!”

Rumble!

A series of violent explosions rang out as Meng Wanshu stood guard without taking a single step away from Li Guanqi’s barrier. Zhou Shiyu did the same.

The rest of the battle erupted instantly. Qin Wushang fought alone with a single sword, like a lion hunting prey. His cultivation realm was not particularly high, yet his killing power was terrifying.

Gu Lie charged forward, his clothes bursting apart as he did. Gu Chuan and Xi Yunhuai also held firm beside Li Guanqi.

Gu Li licked his lips and rolled up his sleeves, revealing dozens of storage rings on both arms.

On his two hands alone, he was wearing at least twenty storage rings.

“Heh… heh heh…”