Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Liu Yunxuan’s hair stood on end. His pupils shook. He was terrified out of his mind.

He had killed before. He had tortured, too. But he had never seen anyone like Li Guanqi, someone who could slaughter without blinking.

The blood-soaked, ghastly figure of Li Guanqi finally drove Liu Yunxuan’s fear over the edge. Li Guanqi’s strength was inhuman to begin with. Now, consumed by rage, his reckless sword strikes hit harder than ever.

After forcing a breakthrough to the late Illusory Refinement Realm, the spatial sealing force of Li Guanqi’s Sword Prison alone was enough to leave most people helpless.

Ye Feng and the others were mostly unscathed. Li Guanqi had cut down nearly everyone on his own.

Ye Feng watched with a growing sense of unease. He had never seen Li Guanqi lose control so deeply. Ye Feng’s own body was covered in wounds deep enough to show bone, his face torn and bloody. He looked at Li Guanqi with concern, about to speak, but Li Guanqi took a slow step forward, and an earth-shattering aura erupted from him.

They all understood what it meant. That single step warned them not to interfere.

Liu Yunxuan, who had been in despair only moments ago, felt a flicker of hope. He’s so arrogant! Maybe… if I capture him, I can force the rest to flee!

He pulled out several priceless pills. A cyan gale materialized beneath his feet, and he shot back over a thousand zhang.

Cao Yan’s eyes widened. “No! He’s trying to break through!”Liu Yunxuan, also in the mid Illusory Refinement Realm, possessed a cultivation that couldn’t be underestimated. Even without a breakthrough, he could fight Ye Feng and Cao Yan to a standstill. His strength was terrifying, and few of his peers could match him.

But when Cao Yan shouted, he noticed that Li Guanqi’s figure was already gone from sight. Only a flash of purple-black lightning remained.

A blade flashed, and Liu Yunxuan’s hand was severed, spinning into the air. Several cold flashes of light followed, and a few precious pills exploded. The power stored within them detonated, and the shockwave sent Liu Yunxuan flying over a thousand zhang. He spat a mouthful of blood.

His eyes widened. He had never expected Li Guanqi to catch up to him, someone known for his speed. There had been no spatial fluctuations when Li Guanqi appeared, which meant he had achieved something akin to teleportation through raw speed alone.

Vital force surged, and his hand began to regenerate.

Suddenly, a pair of blood-red eyes appeared before him, their abyssal, deathly stillness seeming to pierce straight into his soul.

Boom!

He threw his sword up to block, but the force slammed it aside. One strike nearly split his chest open. His ribs cracked, and terrifying lightning force poured into the wound.

“Hisss!”

Sharp pain ripped through Liu Yunxuan. His right hand trembled uncontrollably, the skin between his thumb and forefinger splitting apart. Killing intent flared behind him. He crouched on instinct, spinning around to thrust his blade backward.

A cyan light burst forth. Space itself tore open into a long, pitch-black rift.

Li Guanqi didn’t even try to dodge. He simply let the sword pierce his shoulder.

Liu Yunxuan’s eyes widened. Li Guanqi’s face contorted into a snarl. He raised the Red Lotus Sword and brought it down hard, aiming for Liu Yunxuan’s head.

A wave of panic washed over Liu Yunxuan. The sword spirit void at his brow hummed, and his blade erupted with a devastating heavenly steel sword qi.

Pfft!

A blow landed on Liu Yunxuan’s back. His left shoulder blade shattered, and blood soaked his back. Liu Yunxuan’s sword blazed with a dazzling light as the fearsome heavenly sword qi ravaged the void.

Li Guanqi’s right shoulder was nearly blown apart, his arm hanging by a thin piece of skin.

Liu Yunxuan leaped back, flickering into dozens of afterimages in midair. Vital force surged through him. He chose to force a breakthrough without pills.

Break through, or die. At his current level, he was no match for Li Guanqi.

He roared, “Break through!”

Boom!

A powerful aura swept outward. The domain trembled. Heavenly sword qi tore through the air, and chaotic gales shredded the peaks. Ye Feng and the others rushed to block, but the wind currents still cut into them.

Only Nine Heavens stood unbothered, unfazed by the sweeping gales. Peng Luo gazed into the distance and murmured, “Master should be fine… right?”

He didn’t mean whether Li Guanqi could win. He meant that the current Li Guanqi felt like a stranger.

Liu Yunxuan had reached the late Illusory Refinement Realm, and his aura kept climbing. The feeling was intoxicating, and Li Guanqi no longer seemed so intimidating.

Devastating sword intent surged, masking the surrounding sword gales. A breeze drifted past, leaving several cuts on Ye Feng’s cheek.

“Boss, be careful! His Sword Spirit Void Ability is strange!” someone shouted, but Li Guanqi didn’t seem to hear. He walked step by step toward Liu Yunxuan, enduring the raging wind currents.

The Yanluo Sword Intent shot into the clouds and met Liu Yunxuan’s aura head-on. As the two forces ground against each other, Liu Yunxuan’s sword qi began to buckle. Worse, he felt his sword spirit void ability dissipating bit by bit.

After just a few breaths, Liu Yunxuan had lost the ability to keep his sword at the Heaven-Opening Tier. Liu Yunxuan stared at the crimson long sword in Li Guanqi’s hand and gritted his teeth.

No! I have to end this fast. If this drags on, I’m dead!

Little did he know the brutal slaughter that awaited him.

His mind churned. He undid a cyan seal deep within his primordial soul, and a cyan spirit pattern appeared between his brows.