Chapter 423 - Keep Your Mouth Shut

A strange force poured from the sword coffin into Li Guanqi’s body, seemingly a gift in exchange for the Black Tortoise Sword. Only half of the sword remained inside, looking as if something had taken a massive bite out of it.

The energy was Chen Zhi’s sword intent, which had reached the Sword Courage Realm.

Li Guanqi finally understood why his grandfather had called it a sword coffin.

“A coffin where swords are buried... That’s insane.”

Sword Spirit would wake up soon. He’d formally entered the mid Divine Transformation Realm, and his sword intent had broken through to the Sword Courage Realm. When his sword spirit void had activated earlier, he’d sensed it wasn’t even the limit of the Red Lotus Sword’s potential.

He clenched his fists, feeling many times stronger than before.

He looked up at the Hell Rivers. Finishing the mission at the mysterious ancient ruins was crucial. After that, he needed to find Ye Feng. He still couldn’t contact him and had no idea how he was faring.

Cao Yan’s situation was worse. Even the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion didn’t know his whereabouts. Whether he’d been captured remained a mystery.

Li Guanqi let out a long sigh, forcing his racing thoughts aside.

Buzz!

He stopped mid-step. No one was around, so he pulled out his jade slip. Shen Lan’s voice came through.

—Guanqi, your master has recovered. His golden core has rebuilt itself!

A weight lifted from his chest. “Mistress, has Master woken up yet?”

Then came Lu Kangnian’s overjoyed reply.

—

Hahahaha!

Don’t worry, kid. Now that your master has a sturdy golden core, he has nothing to worry about. He’s accumulated power for the past few centuries, and he’s currently working on breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Lu Kangnian paused before speaking once more.

—That pill... must have cost you a fortune, right? I heard a bit about what happened. Be careful.

Li Guanqi nodded. He put down the jade slip and sighed.

He knew the task would be dangerous. If it weren’t, he doubted the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion, with its immense influence, would have needed to recruit an outsider. After fighting the Dark Raven Order, he’d come to understand something: truly powerful cultivators didn’t appear on leaderboards. The people above those rankings didn’t show their names, yet they were more powerful than those who did.

Chen Zhi had been difficult to deal with. Without the surprise use of the Sword-Unsheathing Technique combined with the Lightning Dragon Flame, Li Guanqi could have lost.

With Li Nanting no longer weighing on his mind, Li Guanqi disappeared with a flash of lightning beneath his feet.

He was forced to slow down when a barrier appeared ahead. It was massive, formed by a super array. Like everyone else, Li Guanqi stood outside and entered the queue through the city gates.

Before him rose city walls more than thirty zhang tall, built from black stone. The gigantic bricks fit together seamlessly, giving the fortification an imposing look.

The main gates spanned a hundred zhang wide, gleaming with metallic light. Above them, a stone plaque bore dramatic calligraphy.

Hell River City.

All the cultivators had to enter through the tiny side gates. The central gate[1] remained tightly shut.

Two rows of guards in black armor flanked the entrance. Their leader alone wore no helmet. He had high cheekbones, a hooked nose, and slanted eyes. His hair was slicked back against his head, gleaming with oil.

He had an air of violence, and his aura marked him as a mid Divine Transformation Realm cultivator.

The queue wasn’t long. Most people wore black cloaks. Those who didn’t were powerful cultivators scanning their surroundings with sharp, wary eyes.

Li Guanqi had wrapped his sword coffin in hemp cloth, so it resembled an actual coffin. It drew attention, but no one commented. No one wanted trouble at the gates.

Feeling several malicious stares, he smirked. He did not mind killing a few more people. He was running low on spirit stones.

When Li Guanqi reached the front, the guard captain narrowed his eyes. His nostrils wriggled slightly. Then his expression hardened, and his blade pressed against Li Guanqi’s throat.

The black-armored guards immediately surrounded Li Guanqi.

“Who are you?” the captain said.

“Ye Feng.”

The man ignored the answer, studying him. “That attire... Are you a heretical cultivator?”

Li Guanqi glanced down at his blood-stained robes, then at the skulls dangling from his waist. The sword coffin looked like a real coffin, and the face he was imitating belonged to someone who looked half-dead.

Li Guanqi shrugged. “And?”

The captain sneered. “'And? There’s not even a hint of bloody scent on you. I don’t believe your identity for a second.”

He looked at the other guards. “Take him away.”

Many bystanders watched with great amusement.

“

Hehe.

Must be a newbie. He could’ve solved it with money. If he was going to wear a disguise, he should’ve thought about whether it was convincing. What an idiot.”

Li Guanqi ignored the mockery. Catching the amusement in the guard’s eyes, he sighed.

So he thinks I’m weak and wants to bully me.

He looked up, killing intent flooding his gaze. He curled his fingers, and a bright red light flared.

The guards froze. The captain didn’t move either. Yet the only difference was an extra footprint in the ground before him.

The man’s eyes widened. His Adam’s apple trembled—and a bloody line opened across his throat.

Crash! Crash!

Eight heads hit the ground. Blood gushed out of the guards’ severed necks.

Horror rippled through the crowd.

Committing murder the moment someone provoked him... That was the style of a heretical cultivator indeed.

Li Guanqi smirked coldly, radiating boundless killing intent. The surrounding space warped. The air grew frigid, and the spectators shuddered.

Everyone within a hundred zhang saw visions of corpse mountains and seas of blood. The stench of blood flooded their nostrils.

This cultivator... he’s powerful.

The captain collapsed, paralyzed with terror. He’d suffered the brunt of Li Guanqi’s killing intent. His face went white as paper. He trembled uncontrollably, drenched in sweat. He seemed as if he’d been pulled from a river.

Li Guanqi crouched. “Now... do I look like a heretical cultivator to you?”

The man nodded frantically, pulling out several jade slips with shaking hands and thrusting them forward. Some clattered to the floor.

Li Guanqi rose, collected the jade slips, and kicked the man into the air. “Another coward who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”

1. In ancient China, palace gates comprised a main gate and smaller side gates. Barring special occasions, only the emperor could walk through the main gate, while everyone else used the side gates. This is an excerpt from the Wikipedia page of the Meridian Gate (the southern and largest gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China):

The center arch was formerly reserved for the Emperor alone; the exceptions were the Empress, who could enter it once on the day of her wedding, and the top three scholars of the triennial civil service examinations, who left the exams through the central arch. All other officials and servants had to use the four side arches.

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