Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Cang Lu huffed. He kicked the bottom of the guqin so that the standing instrument lay horizontal. He hunched over it and slowly closed his eyes.

He stroked the strings, pouring powerful vital force into them until they turned light gold. His aura surged, and the heavy pressure of an Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator pressed on Li Guanqi like a gigantic mountain. Li Guanqi slowed by twenty percent.

Meanwhile, Nine Heavens met the pressure head-on. It opened its jaws wide, with a ball of lightning gathering within. Killing intent filled its cold eyes, and a pillar of lightning shot at Cang Lu.

Rumble!

The terrifying lightning pillar tore through the skies, spreading an aura of destruction across the heavens.

Cang Lu’s eyes widened. He touched ‌an old jade ring on his index finger, and layer upon layer of beautiful golden shields appeared around him.

Boom!

Nine Heavens’ lightning breath slammed onto the shields.

Crack!

Cang Lu watched in despair as his jade ring cracked. He tore open the space beside him with his left hand, stepping through and appearing a hundred zhang away in an instant.The lightning breath missed its target and continued straight ahead. A loud boom rang out, blasting a large hole in the space two hundred zhang away.

Li Guanqi looked on as Nine Heavens chased after Cang Lu. His expression did not change despite the great pressure. Lightning flashed beneath his feet, and he vanished.

Cang Lu caught this out of the corner of his eye and smirked. “Think you can teleport right under my nose?!”

Boom!

A powerful spatial force squeezed the surrounding space, but Cang Lu could not find Li Guanqi within it.

The space behind him exploded.

Li Guanqi, whose robes were so tattered they revealed the gruesome scars underneath, slowly raised his Red Lotus Sword. The spot where he’d been collapsed, forming a ten-zhang-wide hole.

The sky was collapsing from Li Guanqi’s strength.

Finally, Cang Lu realized that Li Guanqi had not used spatial force to teleport through the void. He had achieved a velocity equivalent to teleportation through sheer physical strength and his sprint technique.

Cang Lu grabbed the side of his guqin with one hand and swung it backward. His jade ring shone with its last light, a thick golden shield appearing behind him.

Li Guanqi’s finger joints cracked as he tightened his grip on his sword. His arms swelled, veins popping from his muscles, and he struck downward.

“Shadow Demon Slash, Dark Night!”

Boom!

Killing intent erupted from Li Guanqi. His strength peaked, and the world dimmed.

Clang!

The Red Lotus Sword sliced a corner off the guqin. Li Guanqi kicked Cang Lu’s shoulder, and a loud crack echoed.

Cang Lu plummeted like a cannonball and crashed with a loud thud. The ground shook as he punched through the mountain, leaving a hundred-zhang-wide crater.

Dust filled the sky, but Li Guanqi gave Cang Lu no time to catch his breath. He shot toward the ground like a bullet, flames wrapping around the Red Lotus Sword as the Lightning Dragon Flame poured into it.

Hoo!

A gust of wind blew past, blowing away the cloud of dust to reveal Cang Lu standing blood-drenched in the deep crater.

The golden guqin strings had snapped.

Nine Heavens burst from the crater and swung its gigantic tail at Cang Lu. The tail whistled shrilly through the air, tearing through space itself.

Cang Lu grabbed the guqin strings with his six-fingered hand, pulled them, and tied them once more. He strummed with both hands.

A dozen sound blades, accompanied by deafening sound waves, hurtled toward the tail.

Explosions boomed fiercely, and Nine Heavens roared in agony. The sound blades had left deep gashes in its tail, shattering some scales and spattering blood and flesh everywhere.

A dark shadow shot out of the crater, and the furious Nine Heavens swiped at Cang Lu with its claws, closing in within the blink of an eye. The space around them warped, preventing Cang Lu from teleporting away.

Having no choice, Cang Lu shielded himself with the guqin and plucked the strings several times. Sound blades shot out, but Nine Heavens crushed them in its claws and charged ahead steadily.

Crack crack!

Sparks flew as its claws cut deep into the sturdy guqin. The powerful force knocked Cang Lu hundreds of zhang back, blood spraying from his mouth. His right shoulder had already been shattered by Li Guanqi’s kick, and the guqin slamming into his chest broke several ribs. His ribs pierced his lungs, leaving him gasping for breath in agonizing pain.

Then a chill ran down his back. Li Guanqi had appeared beside him.

Cang Lu’s eyes widened. He had severely underestimated Li Guanqi. This was far beyond what he’d expected.

A cold glint flashed in Li Guanqi’s eyes. While Cang Lu was coughing up blood, he swung his sword in a wide arc.

“Heavenly Destruction Sword Sutra, Immortal-Slaying Slash!”

Boom!

A hundred-zhang-long ray of sword light burst forth. Li Guanqi was only three chi away from Cang Lu. If his attack landed, Cang Lu would die. Bright lightning mixed with terrifying flames shot toward him.

Cang Lu forced a tear in space to teleport hundreds of zhang backward. But the sword light was too fast. Even after teleporting five times, he still could not escape its range.

His guqin shone with blinding light. He held it vertically and grabbed the strings hard with his right hand, pulling the five strings toward his chest as if drawing a bow.

His eyes brightened as violent vital force poured into the guqin.

“Melody of the Five Demons!”

The veins on his neck bulged. The guqin’s strings sliced one of his fingers clean off.

The five strings broke.

Boom boom boom!

Five consecutive sound blades, each a hundred zhang long, burst forth.

Simultaneously, a strange black array tray appeared in his hand. An eerie wave of energy turned into black threads, then blended into the sound blades shooting toward Li Guanqi.

Lightning flashed around Li Guanqi as he prepared to chase after Cang Lu.

But then, fierce explosions boomed as powerful sound waves spread in all directions, shattering his eardrums. Blood flowed from every orifice on his head, and he grew dizzy.

Countless black threads started wrapping around the Red Lotus Sword. An unstoppable force tugged on it, and the sword flew out of his hand.

Li Guanqi was shocked.

No!

Cang Lu’s voice rang in his ear. “Hahaha! Wait for me. I’ll be giving you a huge present soon! Li Guanqi!”