Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi rifled through the items on the shelf, only to find the jade bottles empty. On the other hand, the jade boxes held a Foundation Building Pill, emanating a rich, potent fragrance.

Li Guanqi excitedly stored the pills and empty jade bottles, then turned and left. I can’t let them go to waste.

Hmm... Where are those weasels? How dare they shut us out of the grounds, leaving us to die? I’ll make sure they pay for this...

After emerging from the first hall, he surveyed the ruined sect grounds. The once-grand buildings were large and tall, though they had fallen into disrepair. Crumbling walls stood everywhere, and deep trenches that seemed bottomless marred the floor. Unfamiliar with the layout, he wandered aimlessly.

Suddenly, he noticed the tattered hem of a robe peeking out from behind a wall. As he approached, he realized it was draped over a skeleton.

The skeleton’s ribs had been shattered, suggesting a violent death. The robe’s intricate design suggested it belonged to a high-ranking Daoist priest, likely someone with a high cultivation level.

However, the robe had long since lost its magical properties. When Li Guanqi gently pinched the fabric, it crumbled into dust.

His attention was drawn to a purple jade pendant lying nearby. It was remarkably well-preserved and engraved with the character “” (Sect).

Li Guanqi’s heart skipped a beat. Could this person have been the sect leader?

He pulled the robes covering the skeleton off and found a purple jade ring on one of the skeleton’s fingers.Li Guanqi quickly took it off and dusted it on his clothes.

Then, he placed his palms together in a prayer pose and bowed.

“Don’t blame me for this. You’re already dead—if I leave it here, it’ll just go to waste. Since I found it, it means karmic ties brought us together. As such, I’m not robbing you. I’m sure you’d agree.”

Thankfully, that person had been dead for countless years. Otherwise, he would’ve surely scolded Li Guanqi for his shamelessness.

Li Guanqi quickly used his divine consciousness to break the weak seal on the ring.

To his astonishment, the ring’s storage space was enormous. The space inside stretched a radius of a hundred zhang, making it ten times as big as his current storage pouch.

There were even many spirit stones inside. With a rough estimate, there were almost a hundred and ten mid-tier spirit stones.

Li Guanqi grinned. He had not expected this.

Then, he found a special jade slip inside, so he took it out and inspected it.

Peak Black-tier sprint technique, Lightning Flash!

Li Guanqi pursed his lips into a wistful smile, then used his divine consciousness to unlock the jade slip.

A flood of gray text filled his mind, detailing a complex sutra and the spirit qi induction method.

He attempted to follow one of the sutras inside, which was for a sprint technique. Though the flow of his vital qi felt clumsy, he managed to grasp the basic concept.

Looting the dead this early in my cultivation journey? No wonder they say the cultivation world has the most robbers.

He slipped the ring onto his finger and rose to his feet.

Suddenly, the jade pendant in his hand lit up with a soft glow, pointing toward a specific direction. Li Guanqi followed immediately.

With the jade pendant’s guidance, he went through the sect’s main hall to the back of the mountain.

Along the way, he encountered nothing of interest, save for two meditation cushions carved from white jade.

Very soon, he arrived at the back of the sect’s mountain. This area of the sect grounds was usually a restricted area.

The deeper he ventured, the more eerie the surroundings became, with remnants of a fierce battle everywhere. In the end, he came to a relatively well-preserved mansion. He looked up at the plaque above the door.

Sect Master’s Mansion.

A thin barrier made of light blocked Li Guanqi, but when he injected a sliver of vital qi into the jade pendant, a gap opened, allowing him to enter.

Inside, the light on the pendant guided him to a transport array in a bedroom. He looked at the indent on the array and then placed the pendant inside.

Buzz!

The array glowed, but nothing happened. His gaze flicked across the array, spotting several more indentations. He understood immediately.

He placed sixteen more spirit stones in the array. It lit up again, but nothing else happened.

Does this stupid array want mid-tier spirit stones instead?!

Crackle! Crackle!

In the blink of an eye, Li Guanqi vanished.

Crackle! Crackle!

Li Guanqi’s eyes sprang open. A stinging pain all over his body had woken him up. To his surprise, he was standing on an ancient altar.

Lightning crackled all around him, and some tendrils even landed on him. He trembled uncontrollably.

Looking up, he saw a vast pool of lightning suspended above the altar. At its center, there was an object seemingly absorbing the lightning’s power.

Then, Sword Spirit gradually appeared next to him. It took a lot of energy for her to manifest, so she never did so without good reason.

Li Guanqi looked at her and said, “What’s that?”

Her beautiful eyes were locked onto the object at the lightning pool’s center. Her voice was soft, almost disbelieving. “Why would this appear in the Human Realm?”

Li Guanqi frowned. “What is it?”

She turned to look at Li Guanqi, her eyes filled with various emotions. Once again, Sword Spirit began to question why Su Xuan had entrusted her to Li Guanqi.

“You’re incredibly lucky,” she murmured. “If you get that thing, it will be of great use to you in the future. However, you’ll have to rely on yourself to get it. I’d suggest taking the entire altar with you.”

She disappeared, leaving behind the confused Li Guanqi. He lamented, “Could you at least tell me what it is?! The lightning power here is too intense! If I walk any closer, it will burn me to a crisp!”

Despite his complaints, curiosity burned within him. Whatever that object was, it was valuable enough for Sword Spirit to show herself.

“Hoo... Let’s do it!”

Li Guanqi took a deep breath. His eyes were filled with solemn determination.

The Nine Spinning Lightning Sutra started to flow within his body.

Immediately, the lightning pool reacted, almost as if perceiving him as a threat. Bolts of lightning surged toward him.

Boom!

Explosions echoed across space.

Only ten zhang separated him from the pool, but after just three steps, his pace slowed.

At this point, the powerful lightning power had engulfed nearly his entire body.

He groaned with pain. “Ahh! Fuck!”

The bolts seared his skin, charring it black. This was even worse than his first medicinal bath.

Hmmph!

Then, an idea struck him.

He gripped his sword box in one hand and the shield from earlier in the other.

Bracing himself, he leaped.

He covered the remaining distance in just one leap. Thunder rumbled around him and several lightning bolts pierced through his magical shield.

Li Guanqi reached out and grabbed the human-head-sized item at the center of the lightning pool, then quickly stored it with his storage ring.

The moment the lightning disappeared, Li Guanqi collapsed on the altar. His entire body was charred, his hair singed, and his clothes reduced to tatters. Blood seeped from the wounds where the lightning had struck.

Countless lightning wisps were still weaving through his meridians.

Li Guanqi lay stiffly on the altar in agony, unable to move.