Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

“Tsk... That’s not very ambitious.”

Ye Feng found Lin Dong’s words dull, but Li Guanqi chuckled. “You can’t say that. It is his dream. And now that he’s satisfied, who’s to say he won’t have new dreams in the future? Everyone’s different. You can’t say someone isn’t ambitious just because their dreams aren’t as grand as yours. People like you, who’ve never endured life’s hardships, wouldn’t understand how Lin Dong feels.”

Lin Dong raised his wine cup and clinked it against Li Guanqi’s. They drank together. Zhong Lin and Ye Feng both nodded, thoughtful.

Li Guanqi turned to look at Li Sheng’an, who was much quieter than before. Li Guanqi smiled. “What about you, Fatty? Any dreams?”

Li Sheng’an looked down, smiling faintly. “At first, I didn’t. I figured I’d muddle through life in ignorance, just getting by. I was lucky enough to join a sect. Back then, I didn’t dream of more.”

He slowly looked up and grinned at Li Guanqi. “Then I met you. I used to think it was enough to find someone powerful or influential to lean on... but you taught me to rely on myself. Now, I want to climb the mountain that is the Dao, to reach as high as I can. I want to see the view from above. No matter how far I get—even if I only make it halfway up—I won’t have any regrets.”

His eyes shone with determination, his conviction audible in his voice.

Then, they all looked at Li Guanqi, who smiled and lay on the ground with his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes to enjoy the mountain breeze, then opened his eyes and made a grasping motion toward the sky. “I want to go to the Immortal Realm with a group of brothers and sisters by my side.”

That single remark stunned them all. He hadn’t mentioned becoming a powerful cultivator, almost as if reaching that level was a given. He’d spoken calmly about ascending to the Immortal Realm, which required him to at least reach the Mahayana Stage.

Ye Feng pouted and muttered, “That’s Brother Li for you. When you’ve got talent like his, you get to talk about ascending to the Immortal Realm like it’s nothing.”But even as he spoke, Ye Feng’s eyes sparkled with excitement. That night, the young dreamers drank until they were drunk, leaving Yu Sui’an to wolf down the meat.

The following morning, they each selected a cultivation peak near Li Guanqi’s Jade Teapot Peak, all having reached the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Afterward, Ye Feng visited Li Guanqi. Sitting on the cliff’s edge, he said, “Brother Li, you’re still stabilizing your cultivation and not rushing for a breakthrough, right? How about becoming my sparring partner for a bit? I don’t want to fall too far behind.”.

Li Guanqi smiled. “Sure, but you’ve got to pay. And you need to be prepared to suffer.”

Ye Feng waved it off. “No problem! I’ll cover all the spirit stones we use!”

In the days that followed, the disciples of the Daxia Sword Sect often saw someone with a bruised and swollen face making his way toward Heavenly Water Peak.

Ye Feng was a talented cultivator, picking up sword techniques with remarkable speed. Li Guanqi did not slack either. He entered the realm in the sword box almost once every two days, requesting Sword Spirit to open the Hundred Prides Illusory Realm for him.

This time, the illusory hero he faced was a dagger-wielding lady.

According to Sword Spirit, mastering the sword wasn’t enough. He also had to learn to counter different weapons. Sword Spirit conjured a hero with a different weapon every three sessions.

As Li Guanqi’s strength soared, Ye Feng’s suffering deepened. Bruised and battered, he muttered endlessly, “What’s with Brother Li these days? He’s getting so violent, and his methods have become even more cunning!”

At dawn, Li Guanqi sat at the mountain peak as always, facing the east. Wisps of white mist flowed into his body through his nose, and he exhaled impurities through his mouth.

His cultivation techniques had further refined the vital energy in his dantian. The finger-thick streams of vital force were now one-third thinner, denser and more refined.

The Hundred Prides Illusory Realm exposed Li Guanqi to many weapons. Each illusory opponent was a master of their craft, and after every duel, Sword Spirit debriefed Li Guanqi on his weaknesses.

As his cultivation progressed, so did Ye Feng’s. Li Guanqi often saw him practicing sword techniques alone on his distant peak. Maybe it was the influence of Thousand Peaks Mountain, but Ye Feng had stopped sleeping altogether. And with his King Spirit Root, he progressed quickly.

When Li Guanqi was about to begin cultivating, he suddenly received a message from his master. “Guanqi, come to my courtyard.”

He got up and flew toward Heavenly Lightning Peak, passing many fellow disciples on their way back from cultivation. Each of them nodded at him in greeting.

Word of what he’d done in the secret realm had already spread through the entire sect.

Two weeks had passed since the secret realm’s closure, yet the Purple Sun Pavilion still hadn’t contacted the Daxia Sword Sect—an unusual silence.

The secret realm was supposed to be a mere temporal loan from the Purple Sun Pavilion. Since it had collapsed, they should have sent someone over to investigate by then.

Li Guanqi noticed a frequent pattern. Various peak elders began to leave the sect for several days before returning. Even Disciplinarian Qin Xian, officially in closed-door cultivation, was absent, which only Li Guanqi knew.

This is a bad sign. I wonder if it’ll trigger a major conflict between the sects.

Whatever, I should go meet Master.

When he arrived at the courtyard entrance, he saw Second Elder Xu Zhengjie and his Eldest Senior Sister Gu Ran already there.

They all looked at him. He stepped into the courtyard and bowed. “Greetings, Master, Second Elder, and Senior Sister.”

Gu Ran smiled and joked, “Your cultivation level is the same as mine now. It looks like I haven’t been working hard enough...”

Li Nanting smiled. He could tell that Li Guanqi’s cultivation level was more stable now, unlike before.

He nodded approvingly and said, “We’ve gathered you both here for an announcement. The Tournament of a Hundred Sects is held once every century in the Northern Territory. The date’s been set—it’ll take place one month from now. You two should begin preparing. The Daxia Sword Sect will send ten representatives, and you’re both among them.”

Li Guanqi was stunned. Tournament of a Hundred Sects? Damn... A hundred sects all in one place?