Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Xiao Chen shrugged. “I think things are fine the way they are. Is there really a need to find a master?”

Tang Ru couldn’t help but say, “Xiao… Fourth Brother, you really don’t know who the Eight Generals are, do you? The leader of the Eight Generals wields a spear, and his cultivation is at least at the peak of the Mahayana Realm. He might even be half a step into the Tribulation Realm.”

Xiao Chen frowned in confusion. “But I haven’t seen any of them use a spear.”

Gu Li finally lost his patience. “Surely you know the entire Hell Rivers region was wiped out with a single spear strike?”

Xiao Chen’s jaw dropped. “That was him?”

Gu Li nodded. Tang Ru rubbed his chin and mused aloud. “Third Brother uses fist techniques, so his best match would be Chan Kongzi. As for Second Brother, he could study under Nangong Xuandu. But what about the two of us?”

Li Guanqi gave them a meaningful look. “Both of you will train under Yu Shan!”

Tang Ru swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly. “The most mysterious member of the Eight Generals?”

Li Guanqi smiled enigmatically, picturing Tang Ru’s reaction when Ji Yuchuan finally revealed his true identity as Yu Shan.

With that settled, Li Guanqi was in no rush to contact his grandfather. He continued drinking as his gaze slowly wandered into the distance. What exactly was the Seventh Territory? And why did his grandfather tolerate the Sha organization’s existence? With experts as powerful as the Eight Generals under his command, his grandfather had to be one of the strongest cultivators in the world. If he intervened personally, Sha would never escape.

Li Guanqi exhaled slowly. “Strength. In the end, it all comes down to not being strong enough.”

He looked around at the others. “I’m going to speak with Sect Master Lu and ask him to open the sect’s entire reserve of resources to us. We need to become stronger as quickly as possible. Otherwise, finding Second Brother won’t mean a thing. We still won’t have the strength to bring him back. So… Brothers, tomorrow, I’ll see each of you off. The next time we meet, I hope it’ll be to bring Second Brother Ye home!”

Clang!

Their wine bowls clashed together, and a weight settled over every heart.

“Absolutely!”

“We have to bring Second Brother back!”

“Brothers, let’s focus on getting stronger! Fifth Brother, right? Haha, you’re the weakest right now, so you’d better get moving!”

Gu Li scratched his head with a sheepish laugh. “Of course, of course.”

Li Guanqi himself did not plan on approaching any of the Eight Generals. He had Sword Spirit at his side, and he was certain her abilities surpassed even theirs.

Something about the Six Territories was making Li Guanqi feel increasingly uneasy. He couldn’t pinpoint where the feeling came from, but he was certain that something massive was about to happen. And when it did, no one would be able to remain on the sidelines.

The others were still riding high on the thrill of training under top-tier experts, especially Gu Li. He could hardly believe he was about to become Yu Shan’s disciple. It was the kind of chance he never would have dared to dream of before.

Then again, now that he thought about it, one good thing after another had come his way ever since he crossed paths with Li Guanqi. He had always prided himself on his talent for talismans, but the path to true mastery had always remained beyond his reach. Yet, a single journey to the Spiritfish Clan with Li Guanqi had led him to comprehend a talisman Dao all his own. Since then, he had faced more danger than in the first twenty or thirty years of his life combined. In his own words, it had been one heck of a ride.

They drank through the night until dawn. Meng Wanshu didn’t join them. She knew when to come by and when to stay away.

Many powerful cultivators had stayed behind at the Daxia Sword Sect, though only two truly caught Li Guanqi’s attention. One was Gu Lie, the man who had crushed and killed the Yu clan’s ancestor, Yu Chang’an. The other was the old man in the purple robe, Dugu Lingxiao.

As the sun rose, Li Guanqi looked at his brothers sprawled across the mountaintop, and the heaviness in his heart seemed to ease a little.

He rose, purged the alcohol from his body, and headed straight for Pill Peak without waking up the others.

When he arrived, Meng Jiangchu and Gu Lie were already there. Using Pill Peak’s unique environment and his Five Yang Ghost Flame, Meng Jiangchu had built an artifact-forging chamber.

Meng Jiangchu watched in astonishment as Gu Lie swung the massive hammer. As a tier-eight martial artist, Gu Lie possessed extraordinarily powerful mind power. His study of alchemy had also given him exquisite control over both his divine consciousness and his tremendous physical strength. Every muscle in his body obeyed his will.

Gu Lie’s powerful upper body was on full display, his arm muscles taut and brimming with savage strength. His broad hand gripped a massive dark-gold hammer while his left hand shifted the glowing sword blank with practiced speed.[1] With each strike, the red-hot metal changed shape.

His precision was staggering. Even Meng Jiangchu, who had spent his life forging artifacts, couldn’t match it. More impressive still, every change in the sword blank’s shape stayed within the old man’s control.

Meng Jiangchu had to admit that Gu Lie’s innate talent for artifact forging bordered on the absurd. Letting such talent go to waste on alchemy was almost criminal. Meng Jiangchu certainly never expected to have such thoughts about a man several thousand years old.

Li Guanqi stopped in the doorway, momentarily stunned. Gu Lie wore a look of satisfaction unlike anything Li Guanqi had ever seen from him. The old man’s eyes shone as he brought the hammer down again and again, shaping the sword blank into its rough form within a matter of breaths.

The forceful, rhythmic impacts and the sense of achievement that came from watching a blade take form under his hands were unlike anything alchemy had ever given him. In alchemy, he had always been the slowest learner, and even centuries of relentless effort had carried him only to the cusp of becoming a tier-eight alchemist.

Clang! Clang clang clang clang!

Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up. He quickly sent Meng Jiangchu a voice transmission. “Father-in-law, can we find a way to keep this man in our sect?”

Meng Jiangchu glared at him. “Get lost! I’m already trying to figure out how to take him back to the Meng family!”

Li Guanqi shot back, “We’re all one family now. Keeping him at the Daxia Sword Sect is the same as keeping him in the Meng family!”

Meng Jiangchu cleared his throat and gave the slightest nod. Li Guanqi then went to look for Dugu Lingxiao, only to find his guest quarters empty.

He sighed. Missing the chance to befriend such a formidable expert was regrettable enough, but he hadn’t even been able to offer his thanks.

Li Guanqi sensed the flickering fire mark between his brows and murmured, “If I remember correctly, when I was fighting for the Heavenly Intelligence Map all those years ago, there was someone with Qilin blood. His name was Xuan Lin, I think? I’ve never heard of any Xuan clan in the Divine Treasure Territory. Still, he might know something about the Qilin soul we need!”

1. A sword blank is an unfinished piece of metal being shaped into a sword blade. It generally has the blade’s basic form but still requires further forging, grinding, heat treatment, and finishing.

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