Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Xue Yan’s voice, carried far by his vital force, echoed endlessly through the valleys. Li Guanqi didn’t attack him right away. He hadn’t sensed a strong killing intent.

Indeed, a swordsman who maintained his etiquette even in such a situation was rare.

Li Guanqi took a long look at him, the Red Lotus Sword still in hand. Then he said, “Alright.”

Boom!

His mid Nascent Soul Realm aura erupted. Lightning split the sky, thunder roared, and fierce winds howled. The storm within dozens of li raged even harder. Countless purple lightning bolts flashed around Li Guanqi, and blood surged through him. The power radiating from him shattered every raindrop within a hundred zhang.

Barely parting his lips, he murmured, “Spirit void, open.”

Boom!

A bright red sword shot out from his spirit void and merged with the Red Lotus Sword in his hand.

Buzz!

The sword flared with blinding crimson light. The red lotus carved on its hilt blossomed.“Soul Dissolution, Red Lotus!”

Boom!

“Destruction, activate! Blade Breaker, activate!”

Invisible sword qi tore through the air, and lightning sword lights streaked from the blade.

The cultivators watching from the surrounding peaks felt their hearts pound. Out of the enormous crowd, barely a hundred had spirit void items. And even then, most of their void items couldn’t strengthen them in battle.

In contrast, Li Guanqi had an incredibly powerful sword spirit void.

“Gulp… Why haven’t I ever seen his name on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard? With this level of strength, once he reaches the late Nascent Soul Realm, he’ll surely rank among the top twenty!”

A white-haired elder said, “He might not even need a breakthrough to crack the top twenty. With power like that… I doubt I could last a hundred moves against him.”

The space around Li Guanqi and Xue Yan twisted and cracked, a testament to their exceptional strength.

Tang Ru waved his fists excitedly. “Hahaha! Sword Spirit Void!”

The old man behind him, Qian Feng, asked solemnly, “Young Master, how did you know he had a sword spirit void?”

Tang Ru laughed. “We took the spirit void test together! But I don’t know if his spirit void is high-grade.”

Qian Feng was surprised. Given that Tang Ru’s family owned the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, he should have been very knowledgeable about the spirit void quality. How could he possibly not know about it?

“What color was it?”

Tang Ru paused, then said, “Red.”

Qian Feng froze. His eyes went wide, and his whole body trembled. He grabbed Tang Ru’s hand and sent him a voice transmission. “Young Master, are you sure it was red?!”

Tang Ru nodded.

Qian Feng swallowed hard. His voice shook. “Then never, ever, ever speak of this to anyone. If you’ve decided to support him, I’ll back you up wholeheartedly.”

Tang Ru frowned, glancing at his whitening arm. “Is it really that powerful?”

Qian Feng took a deep breath, then pointed at the sky. “Powerful enough to ascend beyond the heavens.”

Meanwhile, Xue Yan licked his lips, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

Boom!

Vital force surged through him as he roared, “Hahahaha! Spirit void, open!!”

Buzz! Boom!

Metal vital force burst skyward, and his sword glowed brightly with a golden light. His aura grew sharper, more menacing.

The two locked eyes. A raindrop slid between them, and as it fell past their gazes, they vanished.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Blinding sword lights flashed across the sky as their figures blurred, their blades moving faster than sight. Even veteran Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could only make out blurry afterimages.

No one could imagine how deadly each clash was.

Li Guanqi, wielding his sword in his left hand, grew more and more shocked as the fight went on. Xue Yan wasn’t as physically strong as him, yet his metal vital force was incredibly powerful, sharp enough to slice through anything. And the longer he fought, the more aggressive his strikes became.

Li Guanqi’s peripheral vision was filled with shining sword lights. Sparks flew with every clash until they virtually merged into a single blinding mass of light.

All the crowd could see was a flickering ball of light.

Two shapeless air currents swept across space, one golden and one purple.

This was the first time Li Guanqi had met someone whose sword could match his in speed.

He narrowed his eyes, conceding inwardly that Xue Yan was formidable. Then he turned slightly and sent a voice transmission.

Far away, Tang Ru froze, then whispered something to Qian Feng. The old man looked startled but said nothing, vanishing on the spot.

The swords flashed and clashed, the sounds a constant boom. Wuzi City’s mountain peak exploded and shattered.

Neither of them held back, and Xue Yan felt incredibly threatened. Li Guanqi was like a demonic beast, his terrifying strength nearly dislodging the sword from Xue Yan’s grasp with each strike. The skin between Xue Yan’s thumb and forefinger had split during their first clash.

But instead of feeling afraid, a blazing will to fight surged within Xue Yan’s heart.

He raised his sword and blocked, pushed back through the air for a hundred zhang. His feet carved two long black tears in the fabric of space. Then he suddenly swung with his bloodstained hand.

His aura tore a hundred-zhang-long gash in the thick layer of gray clouds in the sky. It was as if Xue Yan himself had become a sharpened blade.

Sunlight broke through the clouds, pouring down on him. Covered in wounds and burns, he stood unflinching as if he couldn’t feel the pain. He raised his charred arm and roared, “This is my strongest strike! Do you dare face it?!”

Li Guanqi stood straight, sword in hand. He spat a mouthful of blood and grinned. “Come on, then!”

Xue Yan’s eyes lit up, then a strange ripple of energy spread from him.

The onlookers gaped.

“Sword intent!”

“He’s awakened his sword intent!”

“Gulp… If Xue Yan doesn’t die, he’ll enter the top twenty!”

“What’s the blind youth going to do? I think this final attack will be the decider! Can he withstand that final blow?”

Even from a distance, countless powerful cultivators observed the intense battle unfolding.

Tang Ru clenched his fists, his voice steady despite his anxiety. “He won’t lose.”

Li Guanqi froze for an instant. As someone who had also awakened sword intent, he could clearly sense Xue Yan’s will.

He felt a fierce desire for freedom burning within Xue Yan’s sword.

Li Guanqi took a long look at Xue Yan and murmured, “For him to awaken a sword intent like that… just how much does he crave freedom?”