Lingxu, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Li Guanqi, panting, walked beside a man, having snatched a sheep from who-knows-where and carrying it on his shoulder.

The man held two chickens and a large goose in his hands, his somewhat thin body struggling under the weight.

Seeing this, Li Guanqi approached the man, subtly sizing him up. The man appeared to be in his forties and likely had experienced two Immortal Ascension Ceremonies.

Li Guanqi, noticing the man's struggle, said, "Brother, want me to lend a hand? You look like you're having a hard time."

The man looked up at Li Guanqi, a rough-looking fellow who, despite carrying a sheep, was only slightly out of breath. A hint of envy flashed in the man's eyes.

But he quickly declined, "No, no, no, thank you for your kindness, brother."

"I should carry these offerings myself; if you help me, wouldn't that make my, Li Erniu's, heart insincere?"

Li Guanqi nodded thoughtfully and decided to play along.

"There's a saying about this?"

Li Erniu looked at Li Guanqi and smiled, "Brother, are you from out of town? Is this your first time attending the Immortal Ascension?"

Li Guanqi nodded as a matter of course, a look of respect and longing on his face, and said shyly,

"It's because we had a child late in life, and I wanted to accumulate some blessings for him."

"I heard that immortals descend upon our Qixia City, so I rushed here for a month to make it in time."

Hearing this, Li Erniu revealed an understanding expression.

He said, beaming, "Brother, you've come to the right place in Qixia City!"

"Our Qixia City's Immortal Ascension Ceremony happens every ten years and is famous far and wide. Today, you might even see the immortals bestow blessings!"

"Remember to throw the offerings into the altar pit of the Qixian Pagoda and kowtow vigorously, your heart must be sincere!"

"I used to be a cripple, but look, now I'm as fit as a fiddle."

Li Guanqi looked at his thin frame and his intact leg, and frowned slightly.

His powerful divine sense immediately swept over the man's entire body, discovering that, apart from some pulmonary disease, he was healthy from the inside out.

There were indeed traces of bone repair.

Listening to the man continue to describe how miraculous the scene of the immortals descending and bestowing blessings had been in previous years, Li Guanqi frowned almost imperceptibly.

"Could it be that I'm really overthinking this?"

Li Guanqi interrupted the man's adoring words and, recalling what the old man from Qixia Academy had said, asked,

"Brother, can I ask you about something else?"

Li Erniu said with bright eyes, "Ask away."

Li Guanqi frowned and whispered to him, "Brother, why do I hear that the previous ceremonies weren't so good?"

Hearing this, the man's face changed instantly, and even the goose in his hand fell to the ground. He reached out to cover Li Guanqi's mouth.

Only then did Li Guanqi realize that many people around him, after hearing this, were glaring at him with unfriendly expressions.

As these people passed Li Guanqi, they stopped to roll their eyes at him.

Li Erniu pulled Li Guanqi, bowing slightly. The moment Li Guanqi bowed, a flash of light suddenly flashed in his eyes!

Something definitely happened in the previous two times!

Li Erniu picked up the goose, looked around, and then pulled Li Guanqi to the side of the street, frowning and scolding, "Are you courting death! These words are taboo in Qixia City!"

"Do you have relatives in the city?"

Li Guanqi nodded in fear and said in a low voice, "Brother Erniu, tell me what happened, why is everyone so wary of this?"

"Even my relatives didn't dare to tell me much."

Hearing this, Li Erniu looked embarrassed, obviously not wanting to say too much.

Li Guanqi was a little helpless and pretended to fumble in his arms, taking out some silver.

The amount of silver was neither too much nor too little, enough for an ordinary person to eat and drink well for two months.

A gleam of light suddenly flashed in Li Erniu's eyes, and he inconspicuously put away the broken silver.

Li Guanqi said anxiously, "Brother Erniu, I want to know because I'm afraid of breaking the taboo later!"

The man pretended to be in a difficult position, but after squeezing the broken silver in his hand and glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, he pulled Li Guanqi a few steps further inside before speaking.

"Brother, I'm telling you this because you sincerely face the Immortal."

"Twenty years ago, I was only a teenager... As a result, because the offerings were not prepared enough, the immortal left in anger!"

"Ten years ago, after everyone knew the reason, they began to prepare livestock offerings. The immortal improved slightly, but only blessed a small number of people, still dissatisfied with the offerings!"

"This leg of mine was healed by the blessing ten years ago."

Li Erniu lowered his voice and said, "So I'm telling you, this time you must prepare better offerings and dedicate them to the immortal!"

Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes.

"Heh, offerings?"

"What use are these livestock?"

"Immortal bestowing blessings... I want to see what's really going on!"

As soon as Li Erniu looked up, he found that the previous man was gone, leaving only a tied lamb on the ground.

Li Erniu shouted twice, but when no one responded, he squatted down and with great effort carried the lamb on his shoulder.

He quickly squeezed into the crowd, the smile on his lips unable to be suppressed.

Returning to Meng Wanshu's side, Li Guanqi briefly explained everything he had learned.

Meng Wanshu frowned and said in a cold voice, "This is definitely not a coincidence. What kind of immortal would not hesitate to descend a projection and damage their own strength?"

"And..."

The woman turned her head and looked at Li Guanqi solemnly, saying in a deep voice, "The descent of an immortal, how could we not know about such a thing!"

Meng Wanshu's expression was extremely serious, and she whispered, "Don't tell me you don't know that no one in the Human-Spirit Realm has ascended to the Immortal Realm for nearly ten thousand years."

"The truly top experts are saying that if you want to ascend, you can only go to the Seventh Domain."

Li Guanqi was slightly stunned, shrugged, and said, "I really don't know."

"I only know that no one has ascended in the last few thousand years, I didn't know it's been ten thousand years."

"Also... our Great Xia Sword Sect's old Sect Master... seems to have ascended."

Meng Wanshu was shocked and lowered her voice, "Someone from the Great Xia Sword Sect ascended???"

Li Guanqi recalled everything and suddenly felt as if he had guessed something.

The corners of his mouth raised slightly, and he murmured, "No wonder Grandpa asked me to join the Great Xia Sword Sect... Tsk tsk, paving the way for me all the way to the Immortal Realm??"

"The ceremony begins!!"

Woo!! Woo woo!!

The people in the walking ceremony stopped, their whole bodies seeming to fall into a state of sleep.

The ninety-nine disciples of Qixia Academy mustered their strength to blow the huge black horns, and a solemn atmosphere spread throughout the field.

Li Guanqi raised his eyes in the crowd and saw the appearance of Qixia Academy.