Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi placed Peng Luo beside Nine Heavens. He felt more at ease leaving him in Nine Heavens’ care.

Nine Heavens himself was also badly injured and felt somewhat dejected. He often felt he could not be of much help. Even the opponent they had just faced possessed physical strength comparable to his own.

As they descended into the depths of the lake, Meng Wanshu noticed faint specks of spirit light in the darkness. She turned to Li Guanqi in astonishment and saw that the light was seeping from his body, enveloping him in a hazy white aura. His presence held the surrounding water at bay, while the space around him warped slightly and gave off mysterious fluctuations.

Soon afterward, Meng Wanshu saw all kinds of natural spirit herbs drifting across the lakebed. Li Guanqi reached out and drew two of them into his hands.

“These can be used to heal Peng Luo and Nine Heavens,” he said softly.

When they had descended far enough, they saw a flower shimmering with seven-colored light. The glass-like flower gave off powerful waves of vital force, its flickering spirit light making it appear almost illusory.

However, the instant Li Guanqi touched the Seven-Colored Glass Flower, its previously illusory form became completely solid.

Li Guanqi took out a jade knife and carefully reached toward the flower. He held his breath, his excitement almost impossible to contain. He had never imagined that he would find a Seven-Colored Glass Flower here, much less one that had fully matured. He had to admit that his luck was extraordinary.

The jade knife gently sliced through the flower’s roots. With a flash of light, Li Guanqi placed it inside a purple crystal jade box.

Only after finishing did he finally breathe a sigh of relief. “Finally!”Meng Wanshu asked curiously, “Wasn’t the Seven-Colored Glass Flower supposed to be growing on the cliff behind the waterfall? Did you make it to the top?”

As he recalled the climb, Li Guanqi’s entire body seemed to ache all over again. He nodded and said softly, “I did, but there was nothing beyond the waterfall. I couldn’t see a thing. The moment I reached the top, however, a ray of spirit light entered my body. Then, once I fell into the lake, I finally understood. The Illusory Forest… illusion… truth and falsehood… That was how I realized the illusory spirit herbs were actually hidden at the bottom of the lake.”

Looking around at the pitch-black lakebed, Meng Wanshu sighed. “Without the power you obtained from reaching the top, even if we were standing right here, we probably wouldn’t be able to find anything, would we? In the end, this is still a trial.”

Li Guanqi nodded. He could not deny that. Had he failed to reach the top, he would never have earned the recognition of that mysterious power. Even if he had discovered that truth and illusion were reversed at the bottom of the lake, he still would not have been able to obtain any of the spirit herbs.

Buzz!

The reefs deep beneath the lake suddenly cracked and crumbled apart. A fiery-red array platform, only a little over twenty zhang across, abruptly appeared before them.

One look at the grooves in the array platform told Li Guanqi everything he needed to know. Those who passed the first trial could use the platform to immediately enter the next area, but anyone who left without passing the waterfall trial would leave behind its reward—the spirit herbs scattered across the lakebed.

Li Guanqi gave it some thought. Since the spirit herbs were part of the trial’s rewards, he might as well collect them all.

“Wanshu, wait here for a moment.”

He turned back and swept up the scattered treasures without restraint, combing through nearly the entire area before returning with a satisfied grin. “All done. Heheh.”

The two of them took out their jade slips and fitted them into the array platform.

Buzz!

Their figures vanished from where they stood. A moment later, Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu arrived in a vast, mysterious space. The path beneath their feet was nearly ten zhang wide and stretched far into the distance.

Both of them froze at the sight ahead. A vast abyss stretched before them, black as night, while fiery clouds churned above as if the heavens themselves were burning. However, even their blazing light could not dispel the darkness.

The heat was unbearable, distorting the surrounding space as though a lake of molten lava lay directly beneath them. Meng Wanshu instinctively furrowed her brow and gritted her teeth, but she followed ‌Li Guanqi silently.

Noticing her discomfort, Li Guanqi turned to her. “Wanshu, why don’t you wait here for me?”

Meng Wanshu clenched her teeth and replied gently, “I’m fine. If it becomes too much, I’ll leave.”

Li Guanqi did not press the matter. He paused, then took her hand and led her toward the edge of the abyss.

After walking for some time, they finally reached the edge of the precipice. Li Guanqi looked down into the abyss and finally saw what lay within.

Several Qilin holograms, each more than two hundred zhang long, drifted through the void while supporting a fiery-red stone pillar a full hundred zhang tall. Studying them closely, Li Guanqi counted six Qilin in total, with the two at the bottom being the largest.

The moment Nine Heavens sensed the holograms, he jolted awake. He morphed into a tiny dragon and coiled around Li Guanqi’s shoulder, his eyes alert and watchful.

Li Guanqi carefully observed the Qilin holograms. While their power and auras felt remarkably real, they were ultimately holograms formed from spirit light. Only the cores of their power remained intact.

Still weak, Peng Luo lay sprawled across Nine Heavens’ head. His gaze drifted over the stone pillar below before finally settling on the sphere of spirit light floating above it.

“Qiyin…” he murmured.

Li Guanqi frowned. “Qiyin? What is that?”

Even Nine Heavens seemed curious. He licked his lips as though tempted by the sight of it.

Peng Luo frowned and searched his memory for a moment before saying softly, “Back in the Immortal World, I heard that the Qilin race possessed several unusual abilities. The race is divided into different spiritual lineages, and Qiyin is formed from the essence left behind by a Qilin’s divine soul after death. It possesses all sorts of wondrous properties and could completely repair your damaged divine soul, Master. Furthermore…”

Peng Luo chuckled. “Once that happens, your sea of consciousness will become flawless, and your divine soul will grow even stronger.”

Peng Luo seemed exhausted. Having said his piece, his eyelids began to droop.

Li Guanqi simply handed him all the spirit herbs he had collected earlier and smiled gently. “You’ve worked hard.”

Peng Luo’s eyes lit up. He hugged the spirit herbs tightly in both arms, but then, surprisingly, he picked out several of the most precious ones and stuffed them into Nine Heavens’ mouth.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath and looked down into the abyss. Then he turned to Meng Wanshu and said softly, “I’m going down to take a look.”

Meng Wanshu nodded solemnly. “Be careful.”

Li Guanqi smiled. Lightning flashed beneath his feet, and he appeared above the abyss.

Roar!

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