Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi continued, “If I fail, then naturally my words won’t count. But if I succeed….”

He let out a low, sinister chuckle.

That concluded Li Guanqi’s first lecture at the Phoenix Lightning Sect.

When he returned to his courtyard, he found an old man waiting for him with a smile.

“Oh? Old Chu, is that you? Why’d you personally come looking for me?”

Chu Xingxian burst out laughing. “Hahahaha! Come, come. No wonder Old Lu praised you so highly. You really are impressive!”

Li Guanqi sat opposite him, picked up the cup of spirit tea, and drank it in one go. He smacked his lips, savoring the rush of pure vital force flooding his body like fiery dragons. He nodded in satisfaction.

Then he looked at Chu Xingxian and smiled bitterly. “Sigh. Old Chu, I had my work cut out for me. The Phoenix Lightning Sect really does have a serious problem!”

Chu Xingxian’s expression turned grave. He nodded. “Exactly! If it weren’t so serious, I wouldn’t have rushed over to meet you like this. At first, I only wanted you to take them down a peg. I didn’t expect you to hit right at the heart of the problem.”

Li Guanqi had an idea. He toyed with the teacup in his hand, then said lightly, “You must’ve noticed this long ago, right? Hmm… let me guess… You just couldn’t get rid of certain people?”A flicker of surprise crossed Chu Xingxian’s eyes. He hadn’t expected Li Guanqi to see beyond the surface.

Li Guanqi pursed his lips. “Looks like I guessed right. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have deliberately told me to do whatever I wanted.”

Chu Xingxian didn’t waste time. With a sweep of his hand, he said, “I won’t mince words either. Seven days. I’ll gather everything you asked for in seven days. Whatever I can’t get, I’ll find a suitable replacement for.”

Li Guanqi broke into a grin. “Ah… Thank you so much, Old Chu, for giving me this chance. I really like teaching the students. You don’t need to be in such a hurry. You can give them to me anytime.”

Then he pressed two of his fingers together and wiggled them in front of Chu Xingxian.

Chu Xingxian remained deep in thought until Li Guanqi’s gesture dragged on long enough to make him ask, “What are you doing? Out with it.”

Li Guanqi said shyly, “I’m just… a little short on money. Could I trouble you to pay me in advance?”

Chu Xingxian roared with laughter. “Hahaha! That’s all? No problem!”

With a flash of light in his hand, he placed a storage pouch made of golden thread in front of him.

Li Guanqi opened it and found ten bottles of pills meant for Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, with ten pills per bottle! The pouch also contained three thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

Chu Xingxian crossed his arms and smiled. “Is that enough? If not, I’ll give you more. While you’re in the Phoenix Lightning Sect, I’ll cover all your cultivation resources. Whatever you need, you’ll have it.”

Li Guanqi gulped. “This is… sufficient… for now…”

Chu Xingxian smiled and stood up. “Thank you for your efforts. The brats are all yours to torture. I’ll back you up.”

Li Guanqi smiled. All he needed was this affirmation.

That night, Li Guanqi placed more than a hundred mid-grade spirit stones in his soul-gathering array tray, and he swallowed three nascent soul pills.

By morning, he emerged from his cultivation and gently exhaled the impurities from his body. His eyes were bright and clear.

He felt refreshed, and his nascent soul had grown a little stronger.

Sword Spirit spoke up in surprise. “The Phoenix Lightning Sect has a place like that? When you’re ready for blood refining, you should use it.”

Li Guanqi asked curiously, “What place?”

Sword Spirit appeared and pointed toward the rear mountains. “That peak reaching into the clouds behind the sect has a natural lightning pool. It’s a very rare phenomenon, and perfect for you.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up. He knew it took rare fortune to find a lightning pool left behind from a cultivator’s heavenly tribulation.

Soon after, he arrived at the main pavilion, and what he saw took him by surprise. Row upon rows of disciples packed the hall, with some even sprawled on the roof. And even then, more continued to pour in.

Seeing the throng at the entrance, he swallowed hard. “Even the disciples who’d left the sect for training came back?!”

Suddenly, a voice rang out, “Make way! Elder Li is here! Quick, quick! Move!”

The crowd, packed as tight as it was, forcefully parted to open a path.

Li Guanqi teleported onto the platform and cleared his throat. “Cough, cough… Uh… If you can’t find a place to sit, you can stay at the entrance.”

The disciples obediently sat outside.

Li Guanqi thought for a moment. “Since there are so many today, I’ll just head outside.”

He teleported into the sky above the pavilion. The disciples poured out like a crashing tide, then settled in orderly rows across the open space. Looking down at them, he nodded with satisfaction. “I take it most of you didn’t sleep last night?”

“Hahahaha! After what you said yesterday, who would still dare sleep at night?”

“That’s right! I cultivated all night, and I feel so light today!”

“Yeah! Why didn’t I notice this before? I used to drag myself out of bed every morning.”

Li Guanqi smiled. “No need to sleep so much while you’re alive. When you’re dead, you can rest all you like.”

Many people nodded in agreement. It made sense.

“Alright, enough small talk. Yesterday, the new disciples were having a spell-casting class, weren’t they?”

Some youths below who still had childish features replied, “Yes, Elder Li. It was a spell-casting class, but… we didn’t really understand it.”

Many people voiced their agreement.

Li Guanqi pressed his palms down for them to quiet down, and the noise faded.

After a pause, the Thunder Whip materialized in his hand.

The disciples gasped. He hadn’t even chanted the spell’s number or name.

“Is that not a necessary step…”

Li Guanqi cracked the Thunder Whip, and thunder boomed across the sky.

Countless disciples stared at his whip, their eyes shining.

He circled overhead, letting the disciples feel the Thunder Whip’s aura up close. “Those of you with Lightning Spirit Roots, raise your hands. Everyone else, this doesn’t apply to you.”

A lot of the disciples gave a small sigh of relief.

He then explained the core principles of spirit spells and taught them the qi circulation path for the Thunder Whip.

At the same time, he released his lightning spirit power, letting the disciples sense its transformations directly.

By the end of the class, every new disciple with a Lightning Spirit Root had managed to release their own Thunder Whip.

Respect for Li Guanqi grew even deeper. More and more disciples tried to attend his classes, because Li Guanqi could teach anything.

No matter how obscure the weapon, once it was in his hands, it seemed to be sentient. Many began to wonder if he truly knew how to wield every weapon.

Liu Man asked, “Elder Li, do you really know how to use all of these weapons?”

Li Guanqi paused, then chuckled. “Of course. Otherwise, how could I teach you?”

Liu Man was stunned. How can he be so strong? Is there anything he doesn’t know?

She grinned mischievously. “I don’t suppose you know how to refine pills and make talismans, do you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t.”

Liu Man sighed in relief. But then Li Guanqi added, “Too inconvenient. I’d rather spend my time practicing swordsmanship.”

Even after he left, her jaw remained slack. “Did he mean… he actually can, but doesn’t bother because it’s a waste of time? Is that the difference between a normal genius and a monster prodigy?”