As his words fell, Sun Tianqi’s humble plea reached Li Guanqi’s ears.

“Kill me... don’t kill him.”

Whoosh!

A flash of cold light shot past. Sun Zhen froze, then the tension in his eyes eased slightly. He rushed forward to check on his brother.

Li Guanqi sheathed his sword and slowly crouched beside Sun Tianqi, whose arm had been severed. Purple-black lightning bled from the wound, burrowing into his body like tiny serpents. The dissipating energy drilled down into Sun Tianqi’s dantian, where it twisted into pitch-black chains and branded itself onto his primordial soul.

“This time, I’ll spare your life,” Li Guanqi said, his eyes calm.

He turned to Sun Zhen, whose face was red and streaked with tears. “You bastard. I should never have drunk with you.”

Tears streamed down Sun Zhen’s face like a bursting dam as he rushed to Li Guanqi’s side, choking out, “Thank you!”

Then he looked up at Li Guanqi again, muttering quietly, "I even... gave you gifts..."

Li Guanqi’s expression darkened as he pointed at the sword, so chipped it looked like a saw. “You mean that?”

Without waiting for a response, he turned to the kneeling Sun Tianqi. “Don’t even think about it. That arm can’t be reattached, and neither can your right ear. The only reason you’re alive today is because of that ‘trash brother’ of yours.”

His eyes narrowed. “If it weren’t for Sun Zhen, you wouldn’t be alive.”

He turned back to Sun Zhen, his voice calm. “I’ve left something inside his body. Don’t bother trying to remove it. You can’t. If the Sun clan still targets the Daxia Sword Sect... then don’t blame me for what comes next.”

With that, Li Guanqi vanished from the spot. But before leaving, he’d taken a long look at Sun Tianqi, who only hung his head in silence.

He had seized Sun Tianqi’s sword void ability. He could feel the resentment churning inside the man, the wounded pride of someone used to being above others. But it didn’t matter. If Sun Tianqi so much as harbored ill intent, Li Guanqi could end his life from ten thousand li away with a single thought.

Sun Zhen watched Li Guanqi depart, knowing in his heart that their relationship had likely come to an end.

***

On the road back, Li Guanqi found himself growing irritated every time he pictured Sun Zhen’s naive appearance.

How the hell is he just like Xiao Chen?!

Killing Sun Tianqi right in front of Sun Zhen... It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it. It just felt wrong.

Still, if his contingency plan was only meant as a deterrent, it should be enough. If the Sun family knew about it and still chose to act, that meant they’d already written Sun Tianqi off.

Having reached the mountain peak, he removed the barrier. Li Guanqi’s breathing slowly returned to normal.

He drifted through the void, eyes half-closed, replaying his battle with Sun Tianqi. The conclusion was clear: without his sword, his strength dropped sharply. He hadn’t held back.

Worse, the Sun clan’s cultivation method could only be considered crude, but it was fast. He’d struck first, yet Sun Tianqi still counterattacked, disrupting his divine consciousness sword from fully forming. Sun Tianqi’s method of circulating vital force was at least thirty percent faster than his own.

Sword Spirit's voice suddenly rang in his mind. “Want to try it?”

Li Guanqi's eyes brightened. “Can I?”

She scoffed. “Looking down on me? A trashy cultivation method actually caught your eye. I’m starting to question my judgment.”

Li Guanqi smirked as spiritual light unfolded in his mind. He recognized it immediately. A simplified version of the Illusory Refinement Sutra... No, an ancient version of it!

Li Guanqi swallowed hard, his voice somewhat dry. “Sister Sword Spirit... circulating my vital force this way... won’t kill me, will it?”

Sword Spirit rolled her eyes. With his current physique, dying from a cultivation method’s circulation pattern would take genuine effort.

She appeared before him and asked, "Why didn't you kill him?"

Li Guanqi gazed into the distance, murmuring softly, "Sun Zhen is a very innocent guy. I didn't want to kill his brother in front of him."

Sword Spirit turned to face him, a faint smile playing at her lips. “After last year, I expected you’d come out bloodthirsty.”

Li Guanqi smiled softly. “Before, when I killed someone, I’d think about how others would see it. Now, whether I kill depends on whether I want to. If the Sun clan ever moves against the Daxia Sword Sect, be it Sun Tianqi or Sun Zhen, I won’t hesitate to kill.”

Sword Spirit gazed at Li Guanqi with some pride in her eyes. She had never once interfered with his decisions or offered so much as an opinion.

Noticing the look in her eyes, Li Guanqi found himself curious. “You’ve never weighed in on anything I do. Why is that?” 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Sword Spirit stretched in her red gown with a lazy laugh. “Because I’m a sword spirit. If you want to kill someone, I’ll help you kill them. If you want to save someone, I’ll help you save them.”

Her voice turned ethereal. "Grow stronger. Strong enough to wield me. When that time comes... whoever you want to reason with, I’ll put in a word or two.”

Something warm settled in Li Guanqi’s chest. He’d never thought about it that way. Sword Spirit had never steered him in any direction. Her philosophy was that of an actual weapon—if he chose to kill, she simply became the sharpest blade in his hand.

They walked shoulder to shoulder through the void. After a while, Li Guanqi spoke up. “By the way, Sword Spirit... how much of your strength have you recovered?”

She tilted her head, thinking. “Maybe one millionth? Something like that.”

Li Guanqi's expression turned strange, as if he’d swallowed a fly.

“You borrowed my body, wielded Red Lotus, drew three thousand years off my lifespan, and slew the Combined Body Realm ancestor of the Liu family in a single strike... and you’ve only recovered one millionth of your power?”

Sword Spirit grinned, hands clasped behind her back. “I told you. I’m very strong.”

Li Guanqi had nothing to say to that. When it came to Sword Spirit, maybe some things were better left unasked until after he ascended to the immortal realm.

He eyed her with sudden curiosity. “What exactly were those marks on Sun Tianqi’s arm?”

Sword Spirit maintained her breezy, carefree demeanor, her eyes indifferent. “Never seen it. Some trivial technique.”

“Teach me.”

“I don’t know it.”

“Then why’d you call it trivial?!”

“Just because I look down on it doesn’t mean I know it.”

Li Guanqi scowled as Sword Spirit returned to the sword coffin to rest her eyes.

He tore through the territory’s boundary, heading for the Divine Treasure Territory to check on Meng Wanshu. The Meng family’s domain had a trans-territory transport array leading straight to the Daxia Domain. He could send Elder Tu Shan back from there.

Meanwhile, in a bustling tavern elsewhere, a white-haired youth in black robes sat quietly beneath the stage, drinking wine. His name was Li Congxin.