Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi gained a much clearer understanding thanks to everything that had occurred. He felt like he was finally starting to grasp the core idea behind domains.

Then the world before him shattered, and more than a dozen bell chimes rang in his ears.

The old man carving the plaque disappeared.

The word “Lightning,” which should have been nothing more than a word, now struck him as brimming with arrogance and violence.

Li Guanqi’s consciousness snapped back to the present. He hadn’t expected to gain so much insight by glancing at another sect’s mountain gate.

While he was still reeling from the experience, the elders of the Phoenix Lightning Sect erupted in shock.

The bell didn’t ring without reason.

“Who was it?! Which disciple gained such deep insight that they triggered eighteen chimes?!”

“Hurry, find out who it was!”

“This is amazing! Eighteen bell chimes… This hasn’t happened in three thousand years…”Gulp.

He heard the sound and turned to find a girl staring at him, her face inches from his. Startled, he staggered back and asked warily, “What are you doing?”

When Tang Jing saw that he was fine, she let out a long breath and patted her chest. “Thank goodness you’re alright. Thank goodness…”

Then she pointed at his nose and shouted, “What the hell is wrong with you? You can’t scare people like that! You weren’t even breathing! I thought I’d shocked you to death with what I said!”

Realizing what had happened, Li Guanqi couldn’t help but smile faintly at her relief.

What an interesting girl.

He studied her, then frowned. “Do you have a meridian that’s always blocked when you cultivate?”

Tang Jing eyed him suspiciously. “Who are you? Why did you come to the Phoenix Lightning Sect?”

Inquiring about one’s cultivation problems was taboo.

Li Guanqi pursed his lips, then raised his hand. A wisp of lightning, no thicker than a strand of hair, shot into her body. Her eyes went wide. She planned to stop him at first, but she realized the thread of lightning was flying through her meridians like a roaring dragon.

A startled moan slipped from her lips at the tingling sensation, and her face flushed red.

The wisp of lightning surged straight for her blocked meridian.

What had always seemed like an impenetrable wall gave way as the tiny wisp of lightning cleared it in an instant.

“Ahhh!”

A powerful burst of energy erupted from Tang Jing. Her cultivation rose from the early Golden Core Realm to the mid Golden Core Realm. When the lightning dissipated, she realized her blocked meridian, which should have taken her three years to clear, had been effortlessly opened by Li Guanqi.

She realized that he was no ordinary figure. That casual wisp of lightning was beyond her comprehension.

She suddenly recalled something and asked awkwardly, “You… you’re not here to meet the sect master, are you?”

Li Guanqi paused. He hadn’t expected a random disciple to know about it. He nodded with a smile. “I am. Senior Chu invited me.”

Tang Jing’s beautiful eyes brightened. She bowed. “Greetings, Senior. I am Tang Jing, disciple of the Phoenix Lightning Sect. Allow me to escort you to the main pavilion. Our sect master should already be there.”

Li Guanqi smiled and let her lead the way. As they ascended, many disciples greeted Tang Jing warmly. But when their eyes shifted to him, they shot her teasing looks.

Initially, she did not think much of it, but more and more people gave her the same teasing look, and she recalled the moan she’d let out. She felt her face burn.

She sneaked a glance at him. His eyes were pure white, yet when he looked at someone, his gaze carried an unfathomable depth.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Tang Jing pressed her lips together as her heart raced. He seemed fatally attractive to her. The more she tried to restrain her thoughts, the more she wanted to peek at him. Romantic scenes flickered through her mind.

Li Guanqi noticed her quickening heartbeat and rising body temperature.

Worried he might have harmed her, he asked, “Are you alright? Did I hurt you just now?”

Flustered, Tang Jing waved him off. “No, no… You didn’t. I’m fine. I’m just… a little nervous.”

By then, there were few people around. As they hurried along the quiet path, a strange tension lingered between them.

Suddenly, a childish cry rang out, followed by the rush of wind.

“Haaaiyaaa!”

With his divine intuition, Li Guanqi sensed a little girl in green robes flying toward him with a kick aimed at the back of his head. He smiled, tilted his body aside, and let her pass.

As she swept past, he grabbed her ankle and lifted her upside down.

When Tang Jing saw that the attacker was little Jiang Shan, she froze. But before she could intervene, the girl was already dangling helplessly from his grasp.

Li Guanqi looked at the furious child and chuckled. “Little one, what are you doing? Why kick me?”

Jiang Shan crossed her arms in midair, fuming. “Hmph! A pervert like you won’t have any good intentions toward Sister Tang Jing! I, the embodiment of justice, have come to rescue her from your wicked clutches!”

Li Guanqi glanced at Tang Jing and nodded gravely. “Indeed… she is rather hot.”

Tang Jing’s cheeks flamed red, as if the sunset itself had spilled across them.

Li Guanqi carried the girl to the main pavilion.

***

The air in the main pavilion was heavy.

Chu Xingxian sat on the dais, his face expressionless as he looked at the people below.

On one side, Wu Kun lounged casually at the far end, though his eyes glittered with amusement as he watched the two at the center.

Yun Mengxi stood beneath the dais, glaring at another youth in black robes. “I’ll never marry you. You’re not a child anymore, so I hope you understand. Don’t come to see me again.”

The black-robed youth was Cang Lu, whom Li Guanqi had already seen twice.

Cang Lu hung his head, looking down at his feet. He trembled uncontrollably, then looked at Yun Mengxi tearfully. He just couldn’t understand.

Yun Mengxi had been his close friend since childhood. How had she changed so much after only a few short years of cultivation?

Was she still the same little girl who used to follow him everywhere, calling him Brother Cang?