Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The final bolt of lightning descended.

At the bottom of the deep crater, Peng Luo’s body twitched. He had been torn to pieces, and even the green leaves atop his head were gone. Yet, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. He had survived.

None of them had ever witnessed anything so bizarre. Peng Luo was actually devouring pieces of his own body to replenish his energy.

Gu Changsheng shook his head with a sigh. “Truly eye-opening. Now I’ve seen it all.”

Xiang Huaizhi’s lips curled, a playful glint in his eyes. “What an interesting little fellow.”

The purple-skinned ginseng spirit’s tribulation was also drawing to a close. Its ordeal had been exceptionally dangerous; it would never have survived those bolts of lightning without the pile of medicinal pills it had swallowed beforehand.

Buzz!

A sea of auspicious light filled the sky, and Peng Luo opened his mouth and devoured it in great, wild gulps. Meanwhile, the purple ginseng spirit lay on the ground, gasping for breath, its body mangled.

At last, the tribulation clouds dispersed, and auspicious light wrapped around the purple ginseng’s body.

Buzz!The purple ginseng spirit floated into the air as a vast aura erupted from within it.

Tier five. For a human cultivator, that was the equivalent of the Divine Transformation Realm. It hadn’t even been following Peng Luo for long, yet it had already advanced this far.

Purple light flickered, and everyone paused.

Gu Changsheng chuckled. “Well, well. It’s really going to take human form, huh?”

Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu exchanged an amused glance. It was the first time Li Guanqi had watched a spirit take human form.

The purple ginseng was enveloped in violet light. When it faded, a graceful young man in purple robes stood before everyone. His skin was fair, faint purple patterns glowing at his neck, his features refined and jade-like. But he looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, with a lingering trace of boyishness. His eyes were bright and clear, untainted by the world.

The moment he opened his eyes, they shimmered with tears, and he dropped to his knees before Li Guanqi. “Master, thank you for your grace and kindness.”

Li Guanqi smiled as he helped the young man to his feet. Looking at the spirited youth, he felt as though he were looking at his younger self, full of energy and eager to discover all the world had to offer.

Now in human form, the purple ginseng spirit stared down at his new body, a complicated mix of emotions crossing his face. Then his eyes widened. “Ah! Dad! My dad!”

Li Guanqi’s smile froze as the young man shot into the crater.

He threw his arms around Peng Luo’s mangled, charred body and wailed mournfully.

Peng Luo raised his only intact fist and slammed it into the young man’s face. Gasping for breath, he cursed, “I-I haven’t finished absorbing the heavenly gift yet! You... you’re blocking my mouth...”

Peng Luo’s aura climbed and climbed. In the space of a breath, he broke through to tier seven.

Boom!

A terrifying pressure swept out in all directions, and his shattered body healed in moments, and his charred flesh peeled away. The leaves on his head grew back, lush again within moments. His body now shone with a white glow, almost translucent, like polished jade.

If Li Guanqi was honest, only two words came to his mind: delicious and tempting.

Gulp.

Gu Changsheng also swallowed, then stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Mm... Huaizhi, do you still have Azure River Water and Violet Reed Bamboo?”

Xiang Huaizhi nodded calmly. “Use your pill furnace to make the broth. My Red Sun Furnace won’t do.”

Gu Changsheng clicked his tongue. “All right, but we should add some Dragon Gall Flower fruit for flavor. This pot of radish soup will make a fine tonic.”

He turned to the other three. “Anyone want some?”

Li Guanqi shrugged. “Why not add a few slices of purple ginseng too?”

Meng Wanshu regarded the trembling Peng Luo and the purple-robed young man with amusement. Then, with a perfectly serious expression, she said, “I tend to feel cold. Better add extra.”

Gu Li grinned. “I’ll go start the fire, then.”

The moment Peng Luo completed his breakthrough, a chill ran down his spine. A large hand seized the green leaves atop his head, and Li Guanqi’s voice sounded behind him.

“You two aren’t getting off that easily. You’re going to pay back at least some of what you owe. Do you have any idea how many pills you consumed?”

Peng Luo swallowed hard and put on a fawning smile. “Master, don’t worry... We’ll provide plenty.”

Li Guanqi turned to the smiling young man and sighed. “Now that you have a human body, you should have a name.”

At that, everyone fell silent. For a spirit plant, receiving a name was no small matter.

The young man knelt and clasped his hands before his forehead. “Benefactor, please bestow a name upon me.”

Even Peng Luo watched solemnly.

“Then I’ll name you after your original form,” Li Guanqi said softly. “Zixuan. And you shall take my surname. Li Zixuan.”

The moment the name left his lips, a streak of auspicious light descended from the sky and landed upon the young man, wrapping him in a warm radiance.

“Li Zixuan, receive the decree!”

Boom!

The aura around the young man gradually settled.

Nearby, a hint of envy flashed through Peng Luo’s eyes, but he waved a hand, feigning indifference. “Alright, alright, it’s just a name. Hurry up and take me to the alchemy furnace. I’m getting hungry.”

The others exchanged glances and burst out laughing at the big white radish.

Gu Li and Gu Changsheng traded a look, their eyes flickering. Somewhere in the Gu clan territory, a rift tore open without a sound, yet the two of them carried on as if nothing had happened and followed the others toward the main hall.

Back in the hall, Han Yuan and the others stared at Peng Luo and Li Zixuan. Peng Luo covered his chest with one hand and his lower half with the other. Something about the old men’s gazes felt off.

No one had dragged him away to make soup out of him yet, but Peng Luo knew it was inevitable. Li Guanqi had made that clear with a single sentence.

“I can’t afford to repay the pills you ate...”

Once everyone had taken their seats, Han Yuan said, “Long story short, we can gather most of the ingredients listed in the pill formula, but there are two key ingredients that have us stumped.”

Li Guanqi frowned. “Elder Han, which ones?”

Ji Qizhi and Xiang Huaizhi exchanged a look. Xiang Huaizhi nodded and said quietly, “A Qilin soul and the Seven-Colored Glass Flower.”

Li Guanqi’s frown deepened. He had never even heard of them.

Meng Wanshu spoke gravely. “A Qilin soul... Aren’t Qilins creatures of legend? There are no true Qilins left in the Human World, so where are we supposed to find one of their souls?”

Xiang Huaizhi nodded. “The Human World may no longer have any Qilin clans, but that doesn’t mean no Qilin souls remain. True dragons still exist, after all, so Qilin souls may well exist too. However, the Ethereal Immortal Territory is probably the only place where we’ll find any clues.”

Meng Wanshu’s eyes flickered, and she rose to her feet. “Then let’s leave at once!”