A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Boom!

For the first time, fear showed in Cizhi’s eyes.

He thrashed desperately against the seal. Cracks spread across the Four Heavenly Pillars, and they began to crumble.

But all Li Guanqi needed was to hold him for one breath.

An eerie crimson light swirled around Li Guanqi, and his sword stance abruptly shifted.

Heaven and earth dimmed. Unlike the Shadow Demon Slash, this strike merely drained the world of color, as though its lone thread of sword light had split the darkness.

Li Guanqi’s left arm couldn’t withstand the force. His bones, resilient as they were, shattered inch by inch under the strain.

Shing!

The sword light flashed, cleaving all of Qixia City in two.

The ground shook violently as a fissure dozens of zhang wide ripped open. Even the Qixian Tower was cleaved open by the force of that single strike.

Cizhi’s body had been severed, and his spirit essence was rapidly fading. He watched in disbelief as his form slowly dissolved into motes of spirit light, then lifted his gaze to Li Guanqi.

A deeply unsettling smile crept across his face. His gaze passed over Li Guanqi and each of his companions. “Li Guanqi, is it? I’ll remember you. I’ll be waiting for you up there.”

Li Guanqi remained where he was, covered head to toe in wounds, his white robe stained red and dripping blood. Standing tall, he hauled Peng Luo over to him and met Cizhi’s gaze directly.

Li Guanqi’s voice was terrifyingly calm. “Don’t worry. One day, I’ll make my way up there. Seven Treasures Pavilion. Han Cizhi. Wait for me. When that day comes, I’ll repay Peng Luo’s suffering many times over.”

The golden motes composing Cizhi’s fading body began to dim. He turned away and murmured coldly, “I’ll be waiting.”

A moment later, the last remnants of his projection scattered and drifted into the sky.

The cultivators caught up in the battle had retreated to the outskirts of Qixia City, but the seal had left them with nowhere else to go. They could only huddle there and tremble.

Yet, Li Guanqi’s group had slain the immortal.

“He... he actually destroyed the immortal’s projection!”

“Incredible. Weren’t Lower World cultivators supposed to be incapable of harming immortals?”

“No... impossible... Legend says that only weapons possessing divinity can wound an immortal. Does that mean...”

“The Yanluo Sword Sovereign slew an immortal’s projection right here in Qixia City. Imagine the uproar when word of this gets out!”

Just as Li Guanqi breathed a sigh of relief, the Red Lotus Sword began to tremble violently.

In the blink of an eye, a terrifying devouring force erupted from the blade and consumed every last mote of spirit light left behind by Cizhi and his demonic beast.

Sword Spirit’s cold laughter echoed in Li Guanqi’s mind. “You came all the way down here and still thought you’d get to go back? A few scraps of an immortal’s soul are exactly what I need to recover my strength.”

Li Guanqi shrugged at the sound of her voice, then looked at Meng Wanshu beside him and said softly, “Relax, I’m fine...”

Meng Wanshu studied the fire mark on his forehead, nearly a third of it already consumed. She asked with concern, “Are you sure? How much longer can you hold on?”

Li Guanqi sighed. He should have known he couldn’t hide it from her. He closed his eyes and assessed his condition, then exhaled slowly. “About three months.”

Meng Wanshu shot him a reproachful look. “Always pushing yourself too hard!”

Li Guanqi winced, then circulated his vital force to start recovering.

When he turned, he found Nine Heavens lying beside Peng Luo, still radiating a fierce, threatening aura. Peng Luo’s injuries looked ugly, but none were life-threatening.

Peng Luo lay in the crater with a foolish grin on his face. The fear that had gripped him moments earlier was gone. The battle had finally dispelled the shadow hanging over his heart.

Li Guanqi flickered to the rim of the crater and crouched there, looking down at him with a smile. “Planning to lie there all day? Get up.”

Peng Luo glanced at Nine Heavens beside him, then looked up at Li Guanqi and let out a goofy laugh. “Heheh. I almost got him with that stream of piss, you know. Barely missed.”

Li Guanqi made an exaggerated face of disgust. “Enough with the filthy tricks.”

He rose to his feet and murmured solemnly, “Don’t be afraid. One day, we’ll set foot in the Immortal World. When that day comes, we won’t need to fight some mere clone of his. We’ll go straight to his doorstep. How does that sound?”

Peng Luo lay in the crater, tears streaming down his face as he listened. He nodded frantically, biting his lip, utterly unable to speak.

Li Guanqi didn’t know what Peng Luo had suffered in the past, but Cizhi’s tone made one thing clear: whatever it was, it must have been horrific, perhaps even inhuman.

That was why the moment Peng Luo saw Cizhi’s projection, he chose to hide in a void interlayer and refused to show himself.

Peng Luo could have stayed hidden in the dark void. Yet, when Li Guanqi needed him, he threw himself out without hesitation. And despite his fear, he never let go of Xuan Lin.

The instant Peng Luo saw Nine Heavens and Li Guanqi place themselves between him and Cizhi, something inside shifted. No one knew what Peng Luo felt, only that he had stopped trembling.

Now, the fear had vanished from Peng Luo’s eyes. Somewhere along the way, he had stopped being alone. It wasn’t only Nine Heavens and Li Guanqi. He also had Cao Yan, Ye Feng, and Xiao Chen. They were all his family.

And family meant that whenever one of them was in danger, the others would rush to help without hesitation.

Peng Luo slowly sat up and looked at Li Guanqi, tears brimming in his eyes. Then he turned toward Nine Heavens, who lay nearby licking his wounds.

Nine Heavens’ dragon eyes were full of haughty pride. He pretended not to care, all the while glancing over at Peng Luo, wondering when the gratitude would come.

Peng Luo’s voice was barely a whisper, yet loud enough for both of them to hear perfectly.

“Thank you.”

Only then did Nine Heavens look satisfied, turning his massive head to lick his wounds again.

Li Guanqi smiled faintly and drew Peng Luo to his side with a wave of his hand. Peng Luo shrank down to the size of a palm and perched on Li Guanqi’s shoulder.

“Want some radish slices?” Peng Luo said, holding out a finger.

Meng Wanshu couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

Li Guanqi nodded and took the finger.

“Kind of dry,” he muttered between bites.

Peng Luo scratched his head sheepishly. “Heheh, I used up a lot of energy just now. I’m not as juicy anymore.”

Li Guanqi turned to Meng Wanshu and spoke softly. “Wanshu, open your mind completely and don’t resist.”

He raised his hand and guided three blood-red threads to the foreheads of his companions, then drew out three golden motes of spirit light, each no bigger than a fingernail.

With a flick of Li Guanqi’s wrist, he swept the three motes of spirit light into the sword coffin, and only then did he let out a breath of relief.

Meng Wanshu’s aura dipped slightly. She frowned and asked warily, “What were those things?”

Peng Luo sneered from the side. “Faith parasites. A dirty trick from the Immortal World.”