Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Hum!

The moment the last sliver of the crack was filled by the pill’s power, the fire mark on Li Guanqi’s forehead finally dissolved into specks of spirit light and vanished completely. An immense force surged through his entire body, and a tremendous wave of lightning-element power erupted outward.

As the pill’s power filled the last sliver of the crack, the fire mark on Li Guanqi’s forehead dissolved into specks of spirit light and vanished. Immense power filled his body, and devastating lightning erupted from him.

Boom boom boom!

Like a bottomless pit, Li Guanqi devoured the dense spirit qi around him. His aura kept climbing, but he deliberately held it back, stopping at the peak of the mid Combined Body Realm, a hair’s breadth from the late Combined Body Realm. He didn’t want to advance too quickly; he wanted to raise his spirit comprehension level first.

Li Guanqi slowly opened his eyes, purple lightning flashing in them. His chest rose and fell as he exhaled a mouthful of grayish-white turbid qi. His body felt utterly clear and refreshed, lighter than ever. A smile touched his lips. “Finally, I don’t have to worry anymore.”

Before, whenever he fought at full strength, he had to stay wary of the power inside him running wild. The need to keep it in check had left him frustrated and constrained.

He changed into fresh white robes, stood up, and beckoned Peng Luo over.

Peng Luo scurried to his side. “Master, why didn’t you call me when you were getting tired earlier?”

Li Guanqi smiled at him. “I didn’t need your help yet. It wasn’t that bad.”Peng Luo let out a sheepish grin and said nothing more.

Li Guanqi glanced down at the ash left by the spent spirit stones at his feet and sighed. “Cultivation takes too many resources now… Even high-grade spirit stones contain impurities, and their spirit qi isn’t as concentrated as that of purple gold crystals.”

Li Guanqi considered trading all his spirit stones for purple gold crystals. Once outside the meditation room, he closed his eyes and extended his divine consciousness, only to find that Meng Jiangchu had left too.

There were only a few guests still in the Gu clan’s domain. Li Guanqi flashed over to Gu Changsheng’s study.

“Tsk tsk. At the peak of the mid Combined Body Realm already?”

Li Guanqi bowed. “Uncle Gu.”

Gu Changsheng nodded and gestured with a smile. “Sit down. Heading out already?”

Li Guanqi sat in a chair and took a sip of spirit tea before nodding. “Yes, I’m ready to leave.”

Gu Changsheng gave a slight nod. “Have you decided where you’re going?”

Li Guanqi smiled wryly. “Not really. I’ll see where my feet take me. I mostly came to say goodbye and reassure you about Gu Li. It’s a good thing he’s heading out.”

Gu Changsheng chuckled, though his voice carried a hint of reluctance. “I know, though it’s still hard to let him go. That brat of mine has never really gone out to gain experience on his own.”

They chatted for a while before Gu Changsheng handed him three jade slips from Guo Feng and his two fellow alchemists. “Before they left, those three old men insisted I give you their jade slips.”

Li Guanqi accepted the slips with a smile, then stood up and bowed. “You’ve done a lot for me, Uncle Gu. Thank you for everything.”

Gu Changsheng waved him away. “Enough with the pleasantries. Get going.”

A storage ring flew toward Li Guanqi. “I left some pills in there for you. Keep them on you when you’re on the road.”

Li Guanqi accepted the gift and took a step forward, vanishing with Nine Heavens and Peng Luo. Outside the domain, he flew above the clouds instead of traveling through the void, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes lightly closed.

Peng Luo sat cross-legged atop Li Guanqi’s head, his eyes narrowed in pleasure as the breeze brushed his face. “Master, where are we going?”

Li Guanqi considered the question. He’d visited the Falling Sunset Territory often but had explored little of it. Now that the ancient clans of the Six Territories had emerged, the balance of power among sects and clans had shifted across the entire continent. The changes reached well beyond the Falling Sunset Territory. The same was true for the other five territories.

Buzz!

Li Guanqi’s expression changed. He took out a jade slip, and Xi Yunhuai’s urgent voice rang out.

—Pavilion Master, we’ve detected demonic qi at a clan in the Falling Sunset Territory! Our intelligence operative is dead, but Song Zhi’ang seemed to appear briefly in the images they sent back!

Li Guanqi’s face went pale. He spoke rapidly, his voice cold as ice. “Send me the location immediately!”

Swish! Boom!

The void shattered as he shot forward. Before long, a message came through his Guanyun jade pendant with the location.

Duan family, Sili Mountain Range, western region of the Falling Sunset Territory.

When Li Guanqi checked the distance, he found he was still very far away. His eyes gleamed, and he pushed his sprint technique to its limit. With lightning vital force surging through his body, he accelerated to full speed.

Boom boom boom!

The cultivators traveling through the void nearby sometimes heard thunder roar past, but all they caught was a flash of lightning vanishing into the distance.

Li Guanqi’s killing intent had reached its peak. If not for Song Zhi’ang, Sha would have died in the trap he’d set.

If Song Zhi’ang is there, Ye Feng might be there too!

But when he took out Ye Feng’s jade slip, it remained dark, without a single message. He let out a breath. “Hoo… I have to make it in time!”

Inside a grand and imposing estate, blood dripped steadily from a blade.

Drip, drip.

Song Zhi’ang’s pale face was splattered with fresh blood. She turned to Ye Feng, who stood in the doorway gnawing on his own arm. “I know what you’re thinking, but I’d advise you against it. Do you really think the demonic spirit is the only safeguard he left?”

She pointed at the black flower between her eyebrows. With an unreadable gaze, she murmured, “I can also become him.”

Ye Feng’s eyes widened. He had never imagined she would reveal such a massive secret to him.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you right now?” he asked icily.

Song Zhi’ang smiled bitterly and tilted her face toward the sky. Heavy rain had begun to fall. She let the cold water wash over her body and scour the blood from the ground, as though the downpour could cleanse the hell on earth they were in.

Her voice came out flat, stripped of all emotion. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to die either way.”

Gripping her sword, Song Zhi’ang walked slowly toward the main hall. A man and a woman lay dead, shielding an infant with their bodies. She moved their arms aside, and the baby boy blinked at the sudden light. He looked up at her face and giggled.

Song Zhi’ang smiled faintly and lifted the infant from the dead couple’s embrace. The child seemed to have a strange, innate affinity for demonic qi. The moment his fingers brushed hers, the demonic qi on her body curled around his hand.

Ye Feng gazed at Song Zhi’ang from a short distance, frowning, torn by conflicting feelings. Then he looked at the mangled bodies piled throughout the courtyard and closed his eyes in anguish.

“All right, the mission is complete. We should go,” Song Zhi’ang said.

As she passed Ye Feng, she said softly, “I should be able to cover for you this time. But next time… he’ll likely be watching you.”

Her beautiful eyes lingered on his profile. “Some things you can’t escape. We should go. He’s probably on his way here.”