Lingxu, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The burly and honest Gong Jun seemed more like a younger brother in front of Hao Xu.

Despite his broad palms, the man could handle embroidery needles with surprising dexterity.

He was meticulous yet firm in his beliefs.

Conversely, the slender Hao Xu cared for Gong Jun like an older brother.

Li Guanqi smiled, raising the wine jar.

"It's fate that we met today. I toast to your brotherhood!"

The three men smiled at each other, drinking freely and laughing heartily on the mountaintop.

Heaven was their roof, the earth their mat.

With fiery liquor burning their throats, they reveled in the unrestrained joy of a chance encounter in the martial world.

The next morning, the three woke up amidst a pile of empty wine jars.

As they gradually regained consciousness, Li Guanqi chuckled.

"Tsk, Da Jun's snoring is something else..."

Gong Jun scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"Hehe, sorry about that."

Hao Xu rubbed his temples and smiled.

"I'm used to it."

After waking up, Li Guanqi gave the remaining wine to the two of them.

He didn't offer anything else, as this was their usual way of life.

"By the way, Brother Li, you mentioned wanting to find a temple while we were drinking yesterday?"

Hao Xu looked at Li Guanqi and asked softly, seeking confirmation.

Li Guanqi nodded.

"Yes, I'm facing some cultivation difficulties and want to seek guidance from a high-ranking monk."

Hao Xu curled his lip, seemingly disliking the Buddhist clergy.

However, he didn't explain why, simply saying softly,

"I feel like your personality is more suited to exploring the Daoist school."

He waved his hand.

"But both Buddhism and Daoism are relatively prosperous in Qingming Land. If you're interested, you can explore both."

"As for Buddhist temples, I do know of one."

"I'll draw you a map, but I can't guarantee you'll find it..."

Li Guanqi was surprised by this.

"Oh? Why?"

Hao Xu thought for a moment and said with a wry smile,

"You'll understand when you get there. It's hard to explain."

He handed a jade slip to Li Guanqi, then stood up and took a deep breath.

His originally sinister aura had become much lighter.

The two figures stood shoulder to shoulder, cupping their fists and smiling at Li Guanqi.

"Brother Li, we bid you farewell!"

"The martial world is vast, may we meet again!"

"If you ever come to Fuyu Land, you must visit the Great Xia Sword Sect for a pot of wine."

Gong Jun actually bowed deeply to Li Guanqi.

"Thank you, Brother Li."

"Thank you for giving me respect."

Li Guanqi straightened his clothes and returned the bow to the two men.

"If you ever come to Beiji Prefecture and don't visit, I'll come looking for you two for an explanation."

"I owe you each a pot of good wine. I'll remember it."

The three men stood up, looked at each other, and laughed heartily.

After exchanging jade slips, the three men waved goodbye to each other.

They parted ways, one heading south and the other north.

The mountaintop was left with many empty wine jars.

Li Guanqi befriended the two men without any ulterior motives.

It was because of the goodness he saw in them.

Gong Jun could have simply walked away and pretended not to see, but he didn't.

Hao Xu could have lashed out at everyone who was angrily accusing Gong Jun, but he didn't.

Although these two men's professions sounded dishonorable, they were doing honorable things.

A puppeteer had no puppets because of his kindness, not wanting to create human puppets.

A rough and clumsy man had developed delicate, silken-thread-like embroidery skills for the sake of a lineage's inheritance.

Li Guanqi scanned the jade slip with his divine sense and murmured.

"The Glazed Temple?"

"This temple is actually in Northern Qingming?"

Li Guanqi hadn't expected that these two had traveled all the way from Northern Qingming.

He looked at the map and sped off towards Northern Qingming Land.

Entering the cloud shuttle, another month passed before Li Guanqi finally approached Northern Qingming.

Under the night sky, a majestic immortal spiritual energy gathered and lingered above the mountains.

The gathered immortal spiritual energy formed a vortex hundreds of feet wide.

A white-clad figure sat cross-legged on the mountaintop.

Boom!!!!

Thousands of dense, fine lightning bolts erupted.

Li Guanqi suddenly opened his eyes!!

For two whole months, Li Guanqi had finally broken through to the Second Level of True Immortal Realm by absorbing the power of the Sword Spirit.

Furthermore, the Sword Spirit still had about one-third of its power left for him.

During this time, Li Guanqi also tried to absorb the power that Su Xuan had left him.

He discovered that after reaching the True Immortal Realm, he could absorb this power more easily.

When he was in the Heavenly Immortal Realm, absorbing this power was even somewhat uncontrollable, simply because his cultivation realm was still too low.

This made Li Guanqi breathe a slight sigh of relief.

"It seems that the cultivation realm of the True Immortal will increase relatively quickly..."

"Breaking through to the Golden Immortal is only a matter of time."

Suddenly!!

The mountains shook, and a terrifying shockwave of power spread out from dozens of miles away!!

The violent air currents swept across dozens of miles in an extremely fast speed.

The towering ancient trees in the forest rustled violently.

Looking into the distance, golden light shone brightly!!

A beast's roar came from afar.

Roar!!!

The earth trembled. Li Guanqi frowned and flashed towards the center of the explosion!!

Flying through the air, Li Guanqi arrived at the center of the explosion after a few dozen breaths.

However, he then saw a scene that shocked him.

He saw a long-armed youth with an afro confronting a Third-Order Great Demon.

"Evil creature!!"

"You kill and eat organs, your sins are heavy. Watch me deliver you today!"

A strange black demon was hanging upside down in the air, its huge wings spanning nearly twenty feet!

Its head was triangular, and its scarlet eyes stared intently at the person in front of it, its mouth emitting piercing sound waves.

A strange black aura constantly overflowed, and everything withered where the black gas passed!

Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed.

"Nightmare Bloodbat!!"

Opposite the Nightmare Bloodbat stood a small monk wearing a kasaya.

He had a head full of thick hair that even Li Guanqi was ashamed of, yet he wore a monk's robe.

He had a slightly sturdy and burly figure, his arms hung down past his knees, and his ears were extremely long, full, and thick.

The youth had delicate features and sharp edges.

Especially those eyes, as clear as a newborn baby's, with distinct black and white.

Li Guanqi saw the Nightmare Bloodbat open its mouth slightly, and he was immediately shocked. He quickly shouted.

"Be careful!!!"

Screech!!!!

The Bloodbat opened its bloody mouth, and blood-colored sound waves spread out in all directions.

The little monk was caught off guard, spitting out blood and flying backwards, his internal organs instantly shattered!!

Boom!!

The void under Li Guanqi's feet instantly collapsed, and his body turned into a lightning bolt, instantly appearing in front of the youth.

The spirit seal flickered, Li Guanqi's chest rose and fell slightly, and the Vermillion Phoenix Bone became fiery hot.

"Phoenix Cry!!"

Screech!!!

A clear and melodious cry erupted from Li Guanqi's mouth.

Golden sound waves formed a barrier to fight against it.

However, the strength of this Nightmare Bloodbat was not weak, comparable to the Sixth Level of True Immortal Realm!!

"Pfft!!!"

Li Guanqi spat out a mouthful of blood, his face pale, his internal organs shaking wildly, and even faintly cracking.

Hui Yuan's eyes narrowed, and he pinched a magic seal and instantly rose into the air!!

Buddhist light enveloped his back, and golden lotuses bloomed under his feet.

Hui Yuan's eyes were like torches, his hands forming a hand seal, and he shouted angrily.

"Om mani padme hum"

"Immovable Wisdom King Seal!!"

With a guide of his hands, the earth cracked, and scarlet flames turned into a fire dragon, coiling around the youth.

A huge image of the Immovable Wisdom King appeared in the air, holding a sword and rope, his eyes like torches.

The rope shot out, shattering the void and instantly binding the Nightmare Bloodbat, no matter how much it struggled, it was useless.

Hui Yuan glared angrily, like a Vajra, and waved his left hand to slash.

The Buddhist image of the Immovable Wisdom King instantly struck down with his sword!!

Puchi!!!

With one sword, the huge Nightmare Bloodbat was split in two!!

Boom!!!!

A mountain hundreds of feet high was split open along with it, and even Li Guanqi was a little frightened by the terrifying aftermath...