Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Though Gu Li feared no one in the art of talismans, he genuinely respected Ji Yuchuan.

Gu Li’s expression turned solemn. He straightened his robes and bowed with clasped hands in a respectful salute. “Junior Gu Li of the Gu clan pays his respects to Senior Ji, the Judgment Brush.”

Ji Yuchuan’s eyes flickered. He quickly raised a hand and lifted him up before he could finish the bow. “We’re in the same cultivation realm. ‘Fellow Daoist’ will do. Everyone here calls me Brother Ji, haha. Feel free to do the same.”

Gu Li laughed and called him Brother Ji without hesitation.

The two sat down cross-legged across from each other and began trading views on the art of talismans. As the discussion went on, Ji Yuchuan’s expression grew more and more serious—Gu Li’s grasp of the Dao of talismans was deeper than he’d expected. Whenever the conversation reached a particularly heated point, the two of them talked so fast and fervently they were practically spitting, pausing only to wet their throats with wine before diving back in.

No one knew how much time had passed before Li Guanqi stepped out of the void. His radiant, refreshed complexion earned a round of knowing smirks from the group. Even his vital force had grown noticeably denser.

Li Guanqi spotted Ji Yuchuan and paused in mild surprise.

Ji Yuchuan had just started to rise when Gu Li scrambled up and seized his arm. “Wait, we haven’t finished talking about—hgck!“

Ji Yuchuan’s finger “accidentally” slipped into Gu Li’s mouth. He stood and smiled. “Pavilion Master.”

Their eyes met, and Li Guanqi said quietly, “Keep drinking, everyone. I’ll join you in a moment.”With that, he led Ji Yuchuan away from the Daxia Sword Sect.

Shortly after, Meng Wanshu, her cheeks still faintly flushed, arrived at Jade Teapot Peak. Ye Feng rose with a grin. “Sister-in-law.”

Meng Wanshu bashfully hummed in acknowledgment, then took the seat of honor.

Cao Yan smiled and called her sister-in-law as well.

Xiao Chen pressed his lips together, flatly refusing to follow suit. “Congratulations on your breakthrough.”

Meng Wanshu covered her lips with a soft laugh. “Is Brother Xiao still brooding over the past?”

Xiao Chen shrugged, then his expression shifted into a sly grin. “Hey, I’m not. I have Qing’er now. Right, Second Brother?”

Ye Feng’s mouth twitched. His eyes gradually turned bloodshot, and sword qi began to crisscross around him.

Frightened, Xiao Chen shot up and bolted without looking back, making a beeline for Ye Feng’s home.

Gu Li stayed where he was, listlessly sipping his wine. When his gaze fell on Meng Wanshu, it carried far more gravity and curiosity than before.

Meng Wanshu raised her cup and looked at Gu Li. Her gaze had gone placid again, regaining its air of looking down upon the world. But there was a touch more warmth in her eyes now.

“Guanqi told me what happened,” she said softly. “Thank you.”

Gu Li raised his wine jug with a grin. “Sister-in-law, you flatter me. It was nothing worth mentioning.”

***

Guanyun Pavilion.

Tang Ru, who had been in seclusion, emerged as soon as he heard Li Guanqi was coming. By then, Guanyun Pavilion’s commercial operations had spread far and wide.

Qian Qiusui was extremely busy, yet she was in her element. Guanyun Pavilion was wealthy now. Exceptionally wealthy. The rampage of the Six Territories Abyssal Demons some time ago had earned the Guanyun Pavilion a great deal of goodwill. On top of that, the Daxia Sword Sect’s battle against the Lu clan had rallied the morale of the Six Territories’ sects. Now, every major faction wanted to partner with the Guanyun Pavilion, each hoping to bring the Guanyun Pavilion’s ventures into their own territory.

Li Guanqi arrived at Ji Yuchuan’s study. Though they were in the Guanyun Pavilion, Tang Ru was not present.

Li Guanqi went straight to the point. “Has something happened?”

Ji Yuchuan paused for a moment before speaking. “Pavilion Master, I don’t know if I’m overthinking this, but while you were away a few days ago, Old Gu came to see me. He wanted to borrow the Heavenly Intelligence Map, but I didn’t lend it to him.”

Li Guanqi frowned slightly at the news. While he didn’t immediately see anything wrong, he quickly understood why Ji Yuchuan had brought it up. Ji Yuchuan was afraid he had overstepped his bounds and displeased him.

Li Guanqi tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop, deliberating at length. A gleam flashed through his eyes. “Next time, just think of a reason to decline politely.”

Ji Yuchuan understood without further explanation and said no more.

Li Guanqi rubbed his brow and sent a voice transmission. “There are too many thorns in the way. Remove the ones that need to be dealt with, but leave the ones that can be managed. If you encounter a faction that is too difficult to handle, let me know.”

Ji Yuchuan laughed softly. “Pavilion Master, you don’t have enough faith in us. Since you’ve given the word, I’ll get everything ready.”

Li Guanqi smiled to himself. No matter what he entrusted to Ji Yuchuan, the man proved deeply reliable. He always thought one step ahead, saw three moves ahead, and prepared for six possible outcomes. A few words were enough to convey everything, and whenever something came up, he informed Li Guanqi without ever overreaching.

Li Guanqi extended a finger and traced something in the air above the table. A hint of surprise flashed across Ji Yuchuan’s eyes before they returned to their usual calm. The man remained perfectly composed, as if nothing had happened at all.

Li Guanqi rose and left. Ji Yuchuan sat in his chair for a long while without moving.

He crushed a jade slip between his fingers, and in an instant, black-robed assassins appeared throughout the Guanyun Pavilion.

A thick, coppery stench of blood spread in a flash.

Ji Yuchuan opened the door to the study and stood on the upper floor of the pavilion, gazing down at the courtyard below. He murmured, “Those who reach out deserve to lose their hand.”

Of everyone in the Guanyun Pavilion, only Ji Yuchuan and Xi Yunhuai seemed entirely unsurprised.

Qian Qiusui, standing beside Tang Ru, watched the scene with a face drained of color. One moment, she had been listening to a woman arranging details for an auction. The next, Tang Ru had slapped the woman dead with a single palm.

Scalding red and white matter splattered across Qian Qiusui’s face. Still reeling, she stared at Tang Ru, who stood there with his hands tucked into his sleeves, smiling pleasantly. The ground seemed to sway beneath her feet.

And Tang Ru was not alone. From high above, Xi Yunhuai and the cold-eyed Ji Yuchuan looked down. Only now did Qian Qiusui grasp how deep their schemes truly ran.

Among the black-robed assassins, one young man’s eyes shone especially brightly. Had Li Guanqi been present, he would have recognized him at once. Inside the young man’s storage ring rested a single wooden sword.

After leaving the Guanyun Pavilion, Li Guanqi turned many things over in his mind, and for a moment, his thoughts fell into disarray.

Rather than returning to the Daxia Sword Sect, he clasped his hands behind his back and wandered through the sky.

Along the way, Li Guanqi saw a boy herding cattle and a young man climbing a mountain in search of immortality. He saw spirited young cultivators flying side by side on their swords, and sect after sect setting up martial stages, their members swinging their swords with all their might.

The ancient clans had emerged. The Six Territories were in chaos.

This time, no one knew how many sects with thousand-year legacies would be supplanted.

The Lu clan… He had been wary of them all along. After withdrawing, the Lu clan had gone straight to the Zhu clan, but the Zhu clan had yet to make any move. Still, Li Guanqi didn’t believe for a second that the Lu clan would simply let things rest.

He sat cross-legged atop a mountain peak, drank a mouthful of wine, and turned a small purple-black pagoda over in his hand.

“Song Zhi’ang...” he murmured. “The human heart is truly unfathomable. She was such a good person. How did she end up like this?”

After an unknown amount of time, Li Guanqi rose with a sigh. “Then the next time we meet… I’ll kill her.”