Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The liquor flowed down Xuan Lin’s throat like liquid fire, burning through his chest as tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.

Xuan Lin had spent his entire life sheltered beneath the wings of his family’s elders. Though he had cultivated for over a thousand years, he had never thought of himself as a man in his twilight years. He had always preferred wandering the Six Territories alone, taking in the beauty of the mortal world and watching the clashes of heaven’s greatest geniuses.

Yet, in a single night, his entire life had been turned upside down.

Gulp... Gulp...

In just two or three breaths, Xuan Lin emptied the entire jar of liquor. Before he could even utter a word, Li Guanqi was already offering him a second.

Xuan Lin accepted the jar silently and continued to drink, tears streaming down his cheeks and blending with the liquor until he could no longer distinguish between the two. After a long while, he finally lowered the jar, his cheeks flushed red.

“My condolences,” Li Guanqi said softly.

Xuan Lin’s body went rigid.

“Yeah…” he murmured.

Li Guanqi spoke candidly. “Wanshu and I had planned to travel to the Divine Treasure Territory to find you. Who would have thought fate would bring us together again under such circumstances?”Suppressing the grief in his heart, Xuan Lin asked hoarsely, “You were looking for me? What could someone like you possibly want from me now?”

Li Guanqi did not hide anything. His own situation was hardly any better. Pointing to the fire mark between his brows, he said, “See this? My divine soul is in trouble. I can only suppress it for another three months at most, so I need to find a Qilin soul.”

Li Guanqi’s first two sentences left Xuan Lin confused, but the moment he mentioned the Qilin soul, Xuan Lin’s eyes widened.

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. So he really does know something about the Qilin soul.

Xuan Lin lowered his head. After a long while, he sighed softly. “I thought they were after my Qilin bloodline. It wasn’t until they stuffed me into that beast’s stomach that I realized… They never wanted my bloodline. They just wanted me dead.”

His voice was filled with indescribable sorrow. The scenes of his family’s extermination replayed uncontrollably within his mind. His eyes turned bloodshot, and blazing flames erupted around him. A hoarse, furious roar rose from his throat, though he tried to hold it back. No amount of screaming could change what had already happened.

Xuan Lin looked up at Li Guanqi and reached into the void, slowly withdrawing a palm-sized Qilin jade seal. He then produced a blank jade slip and imprinted a very unusual set of spatial coordinates into it.

He handed both items to Li Guanqi. “This jade slip contains the coordinates marking where I encountered the Void Temple. Whether you can find it... will depend on your luck.”

“Thank you,” Li Guanqi said.

Xuan Lin waved dismissively. “There’s no need. You saved my life. If anyone should be thanking anyone, it’s me.”

Looking at the forlorn Xuan Lin, Li Guanqi sighed. “If you have nowhere else to go, come to the Daxia Sword Sect. You can live there in peace as a recluse. No one will trouble you, and you can help me watch over the sect while you’re there. The rear mountains have plenty of secluded places where you can be alone.”

Xuan Lin’s eyes reddened as he looked at Li Guanqi. Xuan Lin’s lips trembled slightly, and he answered hoarsely, “Alright.”

With that, Li Guanqi took out a teleportation talisman and crushed it.

He watched Xuan Lin’s forlorn figure vanish into the light and sighed. “Fate truly makes fools of us all...”

Meng Wanshu shared the sentiment. Seeing someone who had once rivaled Li Guanqi reduced to such a state, she couldn’t help but lament the cruelty of fate.

She looked at the seal in Li Guanqi’s hand. “Let me see.”

The seal was warm to the touch and completely red, with a layer of scarlet spirit light lingering over its surface. After examining it for a moment, she murmured, “I don’t recognize the material, but it’s remarkably sturdy.”

When Nine Heavens saw the shape of the Qilin on it, he snorted in disdain.

Li Guanqi chuckled. According to legend, the Qilin descended from the ancient winged dragon Yinglong. However, Qilin were not true dragons, so it was no wonder Nine Heavens looked down on them.

Li Guanqi looked at the seal and sighed in relief. “How about we set out as well? No point in wasting any more time. We can leave the aftermath here to the Guanyun Pavilion and Xue Gui.”

Meng Wanshu nodded. Her injuries from the battle weren’t serious, and she had already mostly recovered.

Peng Luo leaped onto Li Guanqi’s shoulder, wrapped an arm around his neck, and pumped a fist excitedly. “Let’s go, let’s go! We’re going to patch up Master’s damaged soul!”

Nine Heavens glanced at the excited Peng Luo but said nothing. He simply closed his eyes and began cultivating once more.

Li Guanqi smiled and took Meng Wanshu’s hand. With that, the group vanished into the void.

***

Not long after they departed, Qian Qiusui arrived with Gu Chuan of the Cloud Shadow Guards. News of what had happened in Qixia City had spread throughout the Six Territories, attracting plenty of cultivators eager to uncover the truth behind the so-called immortal’s blessing. Yet, not a single resident of Qixia City was willing to speak of it—the truth had utterly shattered their faith in the immortal they once revered. Many of them fell ill or found their existing ailments worsening, primarily due to the anxiety and despair weighing on their hearts.

Qian Qiusui immediately sought out Xue Gui. Though she was stunningly beautiful, he kept his composure. Her cultivation might have been modest, but he knew she held an important position within the Guanyun Pavilion.

As for the solemn-faced man beside her, his aura was as deep and unfathomable as an abyss. One glance was enough to tell Xue Gui that the man was a mighty cultivator far beyond his own level.

***

Back in the Daxia Sword Sect, Lu Kangnian’s jade slip lit up, and Li Guanqi’s voice emerged.

—Sect Master, a fellow named Xuan Lin will be coming to the sect. His family went through a catastrophe. Find him an easy position, and if he doesn’t want one, let him pick any place he likes in the rear mountains and live there in seclusion.

Lu Kangnian listened with a somewhat dark expression. “Good grief... another one? I just finished settling the Fire-Eyed Demon Foxes. They’re supposed to stay hidden from the outside world, you know? Now, we’ve got the Ye family, the Xiao family, the Spiritfish Clan, the demon foxes, and now Xuan Lin too. You brat, you really do haul everything back with you!”

—Well… He carries the Qilin bloodline. If he and one of the sect’s female disciples hit it off, maybe the sect will get to keep that bloodline…

Lu Kangnian immediately cursed, “Get lost! Go take care of your own business. And… from now on, try to stop provoking people from the Immortal World. You haven’t even ascended yet, and you’ve already made enemies up there.”

—You’re right. I’ll be careful.

***

Li Guanqi put away his jade slip with a smile and took Meng Wanshu’s hand. Together, the group sped through the endless void, heading toward the spatial coordinates that Xuan Lin had given them.

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