Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman - Chapter 7 Impressing the Great Xia Sword Sect

As Li Guanqi ascended the first step, he immediately captured the attention of many onlookers. They saw the young man, carrying a large box, confidently stepped onto the staircase without hesitation. The black cloth strip over the his eyes naturally drew everyone’s gaze.

The sect overseer, who had previously been lost in his thoughts, suddenly popped his eyes wide open, locking them onto the ascending figure. According to the his judgment, that stone box the young man was carrying must have weighed a solid two hundred pounds, at least!

Yet, the young man maintained a consistently steady breath from start to finish, displaying no signs of effort. A glint flashed in the overseer’s eyes as he muttered, “With a physique like that… he’s likely already reached the realm of body refinement.”

Whoosh!

A faint sound of something breaking the air reached the young man’s ears, prompting him to instantly exert force under his feet, shifting his position by a foot.

“Hmm?”

Standing on the steps, Li Guanqi turned to face the steward’s direction and respectfully inquired, “Uh… what was the senior trying to do just now?”

Observing the young man’s nimble movements, the overseer’s smile deepened.

“No need to worry, youngster. That was just the timing talisman activating.”

Li Guanqi scratched his head in embarrassment, now understanding that this was simply part of the test. The overseer’s finger traced a path, causing a yellow talisman to circle around Li Guanqi before finally sticking to his chest. With a smile, the he said, “Go ahead, make the most of your time. The earlier you ascend, the better.”

Li Guanqi’s lips curled into a slight smile, and he quickly clasped his fists in a respectful gesture, replying, “Thank you, senior. I’ll head up now.”

The overseer was about to say something more, but he watched as the young man took a deep breath, exerted force beneath his feet, and shot upward like a cheetah!

“Gasp… such an amazing physique! I was assuming he’d at least take off that box he’s carrying on his back.”

Along the way, numerous figures flashed past Li Guanqi, trailing behind him. Li Guanqi glanced down at the gradually dissipating talisman on his chest, estimating the time it would last.

“Two hours… These seemingly endless heavenly stairs must have at least a few thousand steps. This isn’t going to be as easy as I’d thought.”

He had already spent nearly three hours walking halfway up the mountainside from its base.

Looking down, Li Guanqi saw that the sect had attracted a colossal crowd. A rough estimate suggested there were at least thirty to forty thousand people at the foot of the Great Xia Sword Sect’s mountain. Of that number, there were nearly ten thousand boys and girls aged twelve to fourteen. The rest were family members and servants, and it turned out that reality wasn’t as simple as they had imagined.

“It seems joining the sect isn’t as straightforward as we thought…”

“I heard last year the Great Xia Sword Sect took in over eighteen thousand hopefuls, but by the end of the assessment, only around a hundred were chosen as disciples.”

“That spiritual root test must have left quite a few scratching their heads…”

“By the way… what kind of spiritual root do I have?”

However, just as Li Guanqi dashed upwards while his thoughts raced, he found himself flanked by a slender young man who matched his every stride. This person wore white clothing and a jade pendant hung from his waist, and he moved exceptionally quickly.

As they crossed paths, the other man couldn’t resist letting out a mocking chuckle. Li Guanqi’s brow furrowed. This guy didn’t seem like a body refinement expert, so what was the secret behind his speed?

But then, Li Guanqi spotted two wind talismans stuck under the young man’s feet! Wind talismans, with no need for any spiritual energy, just needed to be stuck on and the user would zoom around like a hurricane.

Of course, those things didn’t come cheap – in the mortal world, they’d cost a king’s ransom.

As for Li Guanqi, he didn’t even have a copper coin to his name, let alone enough to buy fancy stuff like that. He shook his head and started adjusting his breathing and stride. Who knew how many more steps were ahead; he needed to conserve his energy.

When he reached the thousandth step, he noticed that many people had already given in to fatigue and were sitting down to rest. The stairs, stretching over ten yards in width, were now crowded with people, leaving only a narrow path in the middle, about two feet wide for those who dared to keep climbing.

As one person in the lead slowed down, it naturally caused those behind to wait. Resting on the steps, the young boys and girls watched with playful looks as individuals passed by, and some didn’t bother concealing their amusement. It seemed these people had also fallen to peer pressure, leading to this dense crowd and leaving only a narrow path that restricted everyone’s speed.

Li Guanqi couldn’t help but curl a wry smile.

“Some folks just can’t resist tearing others’ umbrellas apart after they’ve been caught in the rain themselves!”

“Hmph!”

Li Guanqi used his mind’s eye to scan the surroundings like a hawk.

He spotted the white jade handrail running alongside the staircase, with a thousand-foot cliff on the other side! Li Guanqi suddenly pushed off with all his might, launching himself forward several yards into the air. When he reached a distance of nearly twenty feet, he leaped again, using a young man’s shoulder as a springboard this time!

“Wow! How can that guy jump so far?”

“Is he crazy? What’s he trying to do? There’s a cliff down there!”

This audacious act immediately provoked shocked exclamations from onlookers.

Thud, thud!

Li Guanqi landed on the handrail with a swift, crouching motion, racing upward like a hunting leopard. However, even though his actions had left the crowd stunned, none dared to follow suit. After all, none of them had a death wish!

If someone slipped, it would be a bone-shattering plunge, and there was no hope that sect’s disciples would swoop in to save the day. Yet, Li Guanqi wasn’t the only fearless soul in the group. The blocked staircase still had hundreds of steps to go, and others, equally daring, had reached the pinnacle of their patience.

Among this bunch were many privileged scions, who had rigorously honed their bodies since childhood and had also entered the body refinement stage. Some of them flexed their powerful arm muscles to hoist themselves up the side wall of the staircase, imitating apes and swiftly bypassing the crowd. Other individuals shamelessly stepped on others’ shoulders to bulldoze through the crowded crowd. With various maneuvers and strategies, everyone was in a frenzied race towards the summit.

“Phew… huff…”

Li Guanqi had tackled over two thousand steps by now, and his pace had visibly slowed down. Every step he took seemed to unleash beads of sweat the size of beans, creating a little waterfall on the white jade steps.

The cloth strip bearing the sword coffin on his shoulder had etched two long, gruesome bloodstains.

Yet, Li Guanqi clung stubbornly to the sword coffin, steadfastly following his grandfather’s instructions. Sweat raced young man’s face, and at this point, only a meager handful of folks could even attempt to keep up with him.

These select few had also crafted their own ways to maneuver through the crowd. The person who had relied on the wind talisman had already taken a break around the fifteen-hundredth step. As Li Guanqi, huffing and puffing, finally reached the last step, the spiritual talisman on his chest extinguished itself. Bent over, hands on his knees, Li Guanqi gasped for air.

At that moment, a burly young man approached him, patting his shoulder with a smile. “Impressive, buddy. Your physique is seriously impressive!”

Li Guanqi turned to the dark-skinned young man and chuckled. “You’re too kind, brother. You’re no slouch yourself.”

The young man guffawed heartily and scratched his head.

“I’ve been trying to keep up with you the whole way, and when you leapt through the crowd from that handrail, I was sweating buckets. You’ve got some real guts!”

“Oh, by the way, let’s get acquainted. I’m Lin Dong.”

As Li Guanqi looked at the hand extended by the young man, he hesitated for a moment before reaching out his hand and softly saying, “Nice to meet you, Lin Dong.”