Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Lightning scattered everywhere. The heavenly flames merged into an eerie, deep purple flame, its terrifying power radiating across the land. The firestorm’s heat clashed with the icy storm outside. Li Guanqi gripped the Red Lotus Sword with two hands, and his sword spirit void buzzed.

Heaven-Opening Tier, Red Lotus Sword!

Boom!

More than half his body was a bloody mess, white bone exposed through the deepest wounds. The vital force barrier around him flickered, incredibly fragile.

Boom!

A scorching ray of sword light burst forth as Li Guanqi slashed with everything he had, draining his second dantian of all its vital force. The sword light shot into the storm, charging with unstoppable force and ripping a crack through the windstorm by sheer power. Li Guanqi followed after it, diving into the storm.

At the center of the storm, Meng Wanshu sat cross-legged, her face twisted in pain. Waves of ice power surged violently from her body. Li Guanqi paled at the sight. He reached toward her, and a gush of icy force rushed at him. He wrapped it in heavenly flames and forced it out of his body, though it took a while.

What a vicious ice poison!

Li Guanqi’s heart ached at the sight of her in pain. His expression turned solemn as he crushed hundreds of high-grade spirit stones. In a breath, the spirit qi inside them froze and drifted into the air as ice powder.

Poof!His heavenly flames blazed, the spirit qi coalescing into a mist that he rapidly absorbed and refined.

Boom!

Vital force coursed through him, strengthening his flames. The center of the storm became a heavenly firestorm. Li Guanqi’s plan was simple: use the heavenly fire to hold the icy windstorm at bay. But the energy pouring from Meng Wanshu’s body kept tearing the newly formed flames apart.

Li Guanqi started to panic. He didn’t know what to do.

Inside Meng Wanshu’s dantian, a dot of light radiated warmth—Peng Luo’s energy. Without it, she couldn’t have suppressed the ice poison. She would have died.

Seeing her deeply furrowed brows, Li Guanqi vowed to save her at all costs. When He Yuning was severely injured, and the entire world blamed him, not a single person stood by him. But Meng Wanshu had stepped forward the moment she recognized him, even declaring she’d known him before the rumors began. At that moment, she seemed to glow, lighting up his pitch-black world.

He was about to use the heavenly flames to neutralize the ice poison when Peng Luo’s broken voice reached him. “Yang! Yang qi… Yang… Yang… Fuck it… Your thing!”

Outside the storm, everyone saw a large radish with half-formed arms and legs standing atop a dragon’s head, poking through and screaming at full volume, trying to send a voice transmission.

Li Guanqi cocked his head to listen. He caught the gist. His face fell. He looked down at Little Li, patted it, then sighed.

Good, it’s not damaged from the cold. But… is Peng Luo’s idea reliable?

He paused.

Did Wanshu leave her home to suppress this ice poison? Perhaps her years of cultivation accumulated ice qi that pooled and turned into ice poison. Those assassins’ plan was to set it all off at once. Hmph. Damn it, that’s evil.

He knew he was stalling with his internal monologue. It seemed ridiculous, but Peng Luo meant that Meng Wanshu was experiencing an imbalance of yin and yang energies. And Li Guanqi, coincidentally, was a young man with far too much yang energy in his body.

But at the moment, Meng Wanshu was akin to an ice storm. He couldn’t even get close, let alone do… that.

Li Guanqi scratched his head, unsure how to proceed. Bending over, he used vital force to heal his damaged flesh so he wouldn’t look so terrifying. He asked gently, “Wanshu, can you hear me?”

She remained cross-legged, but her furrowed brow relaxed slightly.

Li Guanqi, in a rare moment, blushed a little. His mouth opened and closed. He hesitated, unsure what to say. Even he thought it was ridiculous. It would sound like he was taking advantage of her at a critical moment. While he struggled for words, Meng Wanshu parted her lips slightly, exhaling icy breath.

Her pale face flushed a bright red, and she nodded shyly. Li Guanqi froze. He drew a deep breath, a strange feeling settling in his chest. He raised both hands.

Boom!

The power of the three heavenly flames began to merge. A deep purple flame of immense power accumulated in his palms.

In a single breath, the flame’s power blasted the flesh from his hands, leaving ten skeletal fingers. Li Guanqi’s eyes widened, but he pressed them to her dantian without hesitation. The flesh on his arms began to freeze and shatter, but he didn’t move. He only had one chance.

With a furious roar, his physical strength surged to its peak, his vital force pouring from him like a waterfall cascading over a cliff.

“Seal!”

His arms, now mere bone, pressed against her belly, unleashing fire power that turned into seal-like runes. The poison was greatly suppressed, but the storm raged as fiercely as before.

Li Guanqi crashed to the ground. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and his face went pale. Meng Wanshu lost consciousness under the surge of energy.

Li Guanqi took his clothes off. There was no time.

As the heavenly flame in her belly heated, it became a totemic flame burned into her skin. A slight pink undertone appeared in her initially snow-white complexion.