Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The meal before them gave both Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu a feeling they hadn’t experienced in a long time. Mortal food contained all kinds of impurities, so the less of it cultivators ate, the better.

Once cultivators reached the Golden Core Realm, they no longer needed ordinary food. The spirit qi of heaven and earth sustained them, and they ceased to feel hunger. Most gave up mortal food altogether. On the rare occasions they did eat, they usually chose medicinal dishes prepared from demonic beasts.

Cultivators who ate with as much gusto as Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu were a rare sight. Meng Wanshu was clearly enjoying herself, eating with an enthusiasm that was hardly ladylike. Fortunately, they were in a private room.

Li Guanqi’s expression shifted suddenly. Right in front of Meng Wanshu, he pulled out his Guanyun Pavilion jade pendant, and Ji Yuchuan’s voice came through it moments later.

—I found Xuan Lin.

“You found him? Then why didn’t he respond when I tried to contact him?”

“Sigh. The Xuan clan that Xuan Lin belongs to counts as one of the Divine Treasure Territory’s ancient clans. But for some reason, the entire clan was wiped out overnight.

Li Guanqi’s brow furrowed. “Wiped out overnight? Xuan Lin was already extremely powerful when I first met him. He was nearly as strong as I was. How could an ancient clan like that be wiped out in a single night?”

Ji Yuchuan’s voice carried a note of helplessness.

—I don’t know. I went to the territory where the Xuan clan was based, but I couldn’t find a single clue. Whoever did this was meticulous. They struck swiftly and with overwhelming force.Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. A heavy feeling settled in his chest. “Alright. I understand. Thank you, Brother Ji. By the way, are you coming back?”

Ji Yuchuan was silent for a long moment, then spoke softly.

—Probably not. Xi Yunhuai will stay behind, though, so don’t worry. He is his own person, separate from me. Of course, he isn’t like Coward Li. Xi Yunhuai was born from my cultivation technique, not through a method like yours that splits the three hun and seven po.

Li Guanqi nodded silently. He hadn’t anticipated that with everything else settled, he would part ways with Ji Yuchuan.

Ji Yuchuan chuckled. “I’ll take Tang Ru on as my disciple. I like that chubby kid. As for Gu Li, I’ll have to think about it. I can’t control what the others decide, either.”

Li Guanqi smiled. “Thank you for everything.”

He set down the jade pendant. Meng Wanshu asked softly, “What is it? Did the lead on Xuan Lin go nowhere?”

Li Guanqi nodded, a hint of helplessness in his voice. “There’s still no news about the Qilin soul. Xuan Lin was the only one I could think of who might know something. But now that the Xuan clan has been wiped out overnight, it’s hard not to suspect someone behind the scenes is trying to eliminate me...”

A sharp glint flashed in Meng Wanshu’s eyes. She spoke in a gentle, reassuring tone. “Don’t overthink it. It might not have anything to do with you. Wiping out an entire ancient clan just to cut off your search for the Qilin soul seems far-fetched. Besides, very few people even know that you need it.”

Li Guanqi paused, realizing she had a point. He put down his chopsticks. “Perhaps I’m overthinking things.”

Meng Wanshu reached out and gently brushed his brow, smoothing away the frown. Resting her chin on one hand, she smiled at him. “See? You look much more handsome like this.”

Li Guanqi smiled back. Hearing the bustle outside the window, he rose to his feet. “Let’s go take a look.”

Meng Wanshu put on her white veil and took Li Guanqi’s arm as they left the restaurant. With a casual flick, Li Guanqi tossed a spirit stone to the shopkeeper.

Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu strolled away. The streets bustled with people, all streaming toward Qixia Academy. Everyone carried livestock or some other offering, their faces bright with excitement.

From the surrounding chatter, Li Guanqi gathered that today’s immortal-welcoming ceremony in front of the Qixian Tower would include the bestowal of blessings. The better a person’s offering, the greater the blessing they would receive.

Li Guanqi’s gaze flickered. Something told him it wasn’t as simple as it seemed. After all, his enemy had come from the Immortal World, and that had made him instinctively wary of anything involving so-called immortals.

He couldn’t believe anyone from the Immortal World would go to such lengths for no apparent gain. Even sending down a mere projection would come at a cost beyond his imagination, let alone blessing mortals.

Meng Wanshu sensed something amiss as well. The crowd seemed… far too fervent. Nearly every person in Qixia City had come out, and the crowd even included a fair number of cultivators who had traveled through the night to attend.

“Brother Qi, something feels off. It would be one thing if there were only commoners, but why are there so many cultivators? I can even sense several at the Divine Transformation Realm and two at the Illusory Refinement Realm.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed, and he scanned the area with his divine consciousness. His expression turned grave. “Let’s see how things play out. Stay alert and be ready to act. I have a bad feeling about this.”

He said nothing more. Moving like a fish through water, he led Meng Wanshu quickly through the crowd until they reached the front. Together, they followed the grand ceremonial procession toward Qixia Academy.

Every disciple of Qixia Academy stood at attention in formal robes, their expressions solemn. The academy elders whispered among themselves, looking equally grave.

“We must treat the immortal’s projection with the utmost reverence this time. The offerings weren’t prepared properly the last few times. Thankfully, we have the Pan clan’s help now. This time, the immortal will surely be satisfied. For sure!”

The elder’s sallow, wrinkled cheeks were dotted with dense black spots the size of sesame seeds.

Li Guanqi’s gaze seemed to pierce the crowd and settle on the old man’s face. Li Guanqi frowned as he listened, wondering what had happened in the past.

Xue Gui was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that the spirit tea from the night before had pushed his cultivation all the way to the peak Divine Transformation Realm. He was likely still inside the city lord’s manor, refining the power within his body, which left Li Guanqi with no one to ask about the previous ceremonies.

Li Guanqi pulled out his Face-Changing Bug and transformed into a sickly middle-aged man. He found a set of tattered clothes from somewhere and put them on.

Meng Wanshu wasn’t sure what he was planning. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “What are you doing?”

Li Guanqi grinned. “Wanshu, go on ahead with the crowd. I’m going to ask around about what happened at the previous ceremonies.”

Before he’d even finished speaking, an angry man’s voice erupted from somewhere far behind in the crowd. “Who the hell stole my clothes?!”

At that, Meng Wanshu’s gaze lingered on Li Guanqi for a moment. Once she realized what had happened, she covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. “All right, I understand.”

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