Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

In the quiet study, Tang Ru set down the jade slip, excitement flickering across his face. Li Guanqi’s contact meant he wasn’t too upset about what had happened between them.

After placing the jade slip down, Tang Ru took a deep breath, then issued consecutive instructions to his subordinates. He had only one goal: gather three thousand Demon-Slaying Flowers as fast as possible.

The Daxia Sword Sect had already begun its part. Cold pools were dug one after another while various elders moved boulders and carved deep basins into the earth.

The elders of Heavenly Water Peak were the busiest of all. Lu Kangnian had them haul out frost crystals from the treasury and scatter them across the bottom of the pools.

Sun Miao and Gu Yan dashed about as Sun Miao summoned all his disciples and even the ones still waiting for acceptance, pulling together every alchemist he could find. He also contacted herb merchants to bring over all the materials needed for pill refining.

He even laid three mid-grade spirit veins across Heavenly Pillar Peak.

The Daxia Sword Sect disciples stared, baffled, at the old man floating mid-air and barking out orders, wondering when their sect had gained a new elder.

He instructed them to haul over pill cauldrons, fixed a purple flame at the center of Heavenly Pillar Peak, then tossed out more than a dozen array trays to assemble a top-tier emergency firepit so all alchemists could share the companion flame for refining pills.

One after another, alchemists teleported in with pills and herbs in tow. Every one of them was at least Nascent Soul Realm, and each froze in disbelief upon recognizing Sun Miao.

The most relaxed person there was Li Guanqi.He sat atop Jade Teapot Peak, eyes half-closed, as if visualizing a chessboard with its pieces constantly moving.

His eyes gleamed. He huffed coldly, and his killing intent filled ‌the air.

Buzz!

The jade slip in his hand flickered weakly. He rose, stepped forward, and disappeared. A heartbeat later, a spatial tear opened above the back of the sect grounds, and he reappeared.

Space rippled again. Another spatial tear split open, and an old man in black robes stepped out.

Li Guanqi smiled. “Thank you, Old Qian.”

It was Qian Feng, Tang Ru’s bodyguard. He bowed, then handed over four storage rings and a jade slip with both hands. He looked up at Li Guanqi and smiled. “Your request has been fulfilled.”

Li Guanqi returned the gesture with a solemn fist salute and passed him a storage ring filled with spirit stones. Qian Feng immediately raised a hand to refuse, but Li Guanqi said, “You must have spent a fortune gathering this many Demon-Slaying Flowers so quickly. Take it.”

Qian Feng hesitated, then accepted. Li Guanqi was right.

After a moment’s thought, Li Guanqi took out a jade bottle. Inside was a single drop of Nine Heavens’ blood, though diluted a hundredfold. It was a remnant from his earlier cultivation.

He sealed the bottle. “Give this to Tang Ru. Tell him that he’s the only one who can open it and see what’s inside. Consider it a gift.”

Qian Feng accepted it solemnly and stored it away. He knew that Li Guanqi had placed a seal, and that any attempt to open it by someone other than Tang Ru would cause it to explode.

Looking at the jade slip Qian Feng had given him, Li Guanqi asked, “What’s on this jade slip?”

“It’s information about the Pure Immortal Mountain Sect and their location,” Qian Feng said.

“Tang Ru is as smart as ever,” Li Guanqi said with a smile. “I’ll get going—the lives of our sect disciples depend on these Demon-Slaying Flowers. Tell Tang Ru I’ll come by for a drink soon.”

Qian Feng nodded, returned the salute, and left.

Buzz!

Li Guanqi stepped forward and appeared atop Heavenly Pillar Peak. To his surprise, there were already a dozen alchemists seated cross-legged before the cauldron.

Despite the sect’s recent fame, not a single alchemist had volunteered to join them. Yet all it took was recruiting one Sun Miao, and suddenly they had a crowd.

Li Guanqi handed the four storage rings to Sun Miao. “All the Demon-Slaying Flowers are inside. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Many of the alchemists recognized Li Guanqi and murmured, “So that’s the Bloody Butcher… He’s so young.”

One of Sun Miao’s disciples, a withered old man, grumbled, “I really don’t know why Master wants to be a ceremonial elder in a mere sword sect.”

Then someone beside him screeched, “Look at that! Look at that! That’s a heavenly flame! A fucking companion flame!”

Sun Miao looked through the storage rings, and his eyes widened. “Three thousand six hundred flowers?! Ssss… That’s enough! Leave the rest to me!”

With a sweep of his hand, he barked, “Open the cauldron!”

Boom!

A dozen fiery pillars surged straight into the cauldron, tinting the black metal red.

Li Guanqi frowned and sensed the cauldron with his divine consciousness. He said suddenly, “They’re only… using the flame’s own energy?”

Li Guanqi frowned, probing the cauldron with his divine consciousness. “They’re only using the flame’s raw power?”

He had expected them to feed the cauldron with vital force flames from their own bodies. Instead, it was like trying to cook a delicate dish by throwing it in a bonfire rather than carefully controlling the heat.

Sun Miao explained, “Their flames either originate from themselves or are demonic flames from rare demonic beasts. They’re nowhere near as strong as a companion flame. This method speeds up the process.”

Li Guanqi shrugged. “In that case, why don’t you use my flame?”

Sun Miao froze, then smacked his forehead. “Right! Why didn’t I think of that?! Hahaha! Come on! I’ll let you all experience refining with heavenly fire today!”

Li Guanqi smiled and raised his hand. A zhang-wide pillar of flame shot out into the Heavenly Pillar Peak.

Boom!

Twelve fire pillars roared upward, engulfing the cauldron until nothing was visible.

The surrounding temperature on the sect grounds rose instantly. The eight hundred rivers of the sect dropped three inches from evaporation.

Sun Miao flailed his arms, sending out waves of red spirit light in a desperate attempt to suppress the flames. He realized he could not control the flames at all.

Out of options, he turned with a strained smile. “Hey, kid… could you rein it in a little…?”