A Blind Swordsman's Sword Coffin

Yu Qingkun’s pressure erupted, seemingly pinning the void itself in place. Li Guanqi felt as though he were mired in a quagmire, each step a tremendous struggle.

Against Yu Qingkun, Li Guanqi’s aura was like a mayfly trying to topple a towering tree, or a child brandishing a sword. He finally understood just how crushing the disparity between cultivation realms could be.

Looking back, he had never once faced a Mahayana Realm cultivator in a genuine, all-out battle. He had encountered many of them over the years, and that familiarity had gradually eroded his instinctive reverence and wariness toward those stronger than him.

There were Gu Changsheng, Han Yuan, and the other two tier-eight alchemists. Even Long Hou, Hong Zhi, Nangong Xuandu, and Xiang Huaizhi... They were all Mahayana Realm cultivators, yet he had never felt the full weight of their auras bearing down on him.

Having seen them so often, he had gradually come to believe Mahayana Realm cultivators were nothing to fear. Now, facing one directly, he realized how foolish that notion truly was.

And Yu Qingkun was only an early Mahayana Realm cultivator.

Even if Li Guanqi burned everything he had and forced his cultivation into the mid Combined Body Realm, he would barely be able to contend with a late Combined Body Realm cultivator.

Hah... I’ve had it too easy for too long. I let my guard down.

Boom!

Meng Wanshu’s aura erupted. A column of icy wind and frost over ten zhang wide soared into the sky. Her figure gradually emerged from within, ice petals drifting behind her as she gripped an ancient, deep-blue sword.

The sword carried a deep, ancient aura and was clearly no ordinary weapon. It must have belonged to a powerful cultivator of ages past.

After advancing to the mid Combined Body Realm, Meng Wanshu’s aura surged unchecked, climbing to the peak of the mid-stage before stabilizing.

Frost swept wildly through the sky, and even the void began to freeze.

Yu Qingkun clasped his hands behind his back and sneered. “Is that all?”

As he spoke, a light flashed in his hand, and a plain three-chi sword appeared in his grasp. Yu Qingkun held it casually in one hand and swept a contemptuous gaze over the battlefield.

A razor-sharp sword light erupted without warning.

Li Guanqi’s chest tightened. “Wanshu, look out!”

Light flared beneath Meng Wanshu’s feet the instant she sensed the attack. She moved hundreds of zhang away, and the sword light tore through the swirling ice and wind, detonating in the empty void behind her.

Li Guanqi’s blood and vital force surged like a roaring dragon. Relying on his physical strength, he forced his way through Yu Qingkun’s crushing aura and rushed to Meng Wanshu’s side. His jaw clenched at the flesh gouged from her shoulder.

Yu Qingkun’s sword light was several times faster than even Li Guanqi’s quickest draw. By the time he registered it, the terrifying strike was almost upon them.

The drifting snowflakes behind Meng Wanshu had been sliced apart, and her expression was grim. She had assumed that after advancing to the mid Combined Body Realm, the two of them could at least stall Yu Qingkun together.

It was now clear that they could not.

Nine Heavens let out a furious roar. His dragon’s might surged outward, countering a fifth of Yu Qingkun’s crushing aura.

Yu Qingkun’s eyes gleamed with interest, and his desire to claim Nine Heavens intensified.

Roar!

Nine Heavens reared upright. Lightning crackled around his horns as a strange pulse of energy rolled off him. He opened his jaws and unleashed a column of dragon breath over ten zhang wide.

The dragon breath approached the power of a late Combined Body Realm attack, while the lightning within it rivaled a tier-seven Heavenly Tribulation.

Yu Qingkun extended one hand. The bracelet around his wrist lit up, and countless earth-yellow spirit runes materialized before him, forming a circular shield of spirit light. Under the barrage of dragon breath, the shield thickened, its layers piling up until it could just barely withstand the assault.

Before the shield could even dissipate, a strange streak of white light appeared between Yu Qingkun’s legs. Wielding a hammer larger than a man’s head, Peng Luo swung directly at his groin.

Peng Luo’s eyes lit with excitement. “Here comes the smash!”

Thud!

The impact blew Peng Luo’s body apart, half his torso blasted away. He shot thousands of zhang away in a streak of white light and vanished into the void.

That single kick detonated Peng Luo’s body outright. Half his torso blew apart. He was launched thousands of zhang away in a blaze of white light and vanished into the void.

Then Yu Qingkun’s brow furrowed faintly as a chill crept up his spine.

Li Guanqi had appeared ten zhang behind him, the Red Lotus Sword in his hand pulsing with monstrous crimson light. The flame spirit seal between his brows shattered with a sharp crack.

Li Guanqi drew his sword and slashed in rapid succession. The hairpin atop his head shattered, and his black hair streamed loose in the wind. His white robes billowed and snapped against the open sky.

Veins bulged across his arms as he gripped his sword. He had pushed the Great Void Shadow Concealment Divine Technique to its limit, masking his aura until the moment he struck.

A strange crimson light glowed within the sword spirit void between his brows. All three of his sword spirit void abilities erupted at once.

The lightning phantom behind Li Guanqi had grown far more solid than before. His sword soul phantom now bore a faint yet unmistakable resemblance to Sword Spirit herself, and that resemblance made his sword intent even more terrifying.

“Heaven-Opening Technique, Wrathful Thunder!”

Rumble!

A colossal lightning deity phantom rose behind him, a full hundred zhang tall. It raised its lightning sword overhead and brought it crashing down.

“Red Lotus, World Annihilation! Red Lotus, Heavenly Massacre!”

The slash seemed capable of tearing the realm apart and silencing everything in its path.

A hundred-zhang sword light crackled with crimson lightning.

“Heavenly Destruction Technique, Immortal-Slaying Slash! Sword-Unsheathing Technique!”

Li Guanqi launched attack after attack, his vital force draining away with every blow. These were the most powerful strikes Li Guanqi could unleash.

The terrifying barrage sent the Yu clan elders scattering. They could not intervene; the slightest contact would mean death.

The void collapsed as wild sword qi raged in every direction, amplified further by the Sword Prison domain.

Yu Qingkun was taken aback. Deep within the barrage of sword lights lay a faint but unmistakable threat.

After a moment’s hesitation, he decided not to take any chances and raised a hand, forming a spatial barrier around himself.

The earth-yellow spatial force was dense and unyielding. Several sword lights shot toward it. Though Li Guanqi’s sword intent had only reached the Sword Heart Realm, it was formidable nonetheless.

Blade clashed against blade, and deafening explosions rang out one after another. To everyone’s surprise, the first sword light Yu Qingkun unleashed shattered instantly.

Yu Qingkun’s expression changed. Just as he had suspected. “Blade Breaker! Illusory Form! You possess two sword spirit void abilities?”

Li Guanqi remained silent. Several sword lights had already encircled Yu Qingkun.

A figure appeared beside Li Guanqi. Meng Wanshu pressed a palm against his back, and her ice-element power flowed into him, suppressing the vital force raging within him.

Her expression was grave, and her gaze was focused. “Heaven-Opening Technique, Snow Phantom!”