A mysterious aura spread outward from Sword Spirit’s brow, and Li Guanqi’s three brothers shuddered from head to toe.

Ye Feng’s mind was working on two fronts. He was resisting the metal spirit while also sinking into a pitch-black expanse of chaos.

Just as during the first spirit void opening, weapons of every kind lay scattered throughout the chaos. But this time, Ye Feng sensed far more spirit void artifacts. They trembled faintly all around him, crying out in soft voices, as though competing to draw his attention and make him choose them.

Yet, Ye Feng kept his gaze fixed on the depths of the chaos, where an aura seemed to call to him. He walked toward it, step by step.

Xiao Chen and Cao Yan were going through the same thing. The pull of the surrounding artifacts was just as strong, and their auras were even more impressive.

The others were no different. When they first opened their spirit voids all those years ago, spirit void artifacts of every kind had surrounded them. This time, however, every artifact was tailored to them, and the quality was far higher. Not a single one fell below the seventh tier. Many even surpassed the ninth tier, reaching the King and Saint tiers.

Whether any of them could resonate with the artifacts was down to themselves.

A sharp surge of sword qi erupted from Qian Qiusui. The array showed her sword spirit void had reached the eighth tier, already far beyond most heaven-defying geniuses. If the artifact proved compatible, the Heaven-Opening Tier might one day be within reach.

Ye Feng’s sword spirit void, at the time of its first awakening, had only reached the seventh tier. That alone spoke volumes about how staggering Sword Spirit’s intervention was in helping them reopen their spirit voids.

Li Nanting and Qin Xian followed. Their spirit voids appeared one after the other, and though neither broke through to the King tier, both sat at the ninth tier. Both men opened their eyes, excitement plain on their faces. Li Nanting’s cultivation was inferior to Qin Xian’s, but the result was no surprise. Before his injury, he had been one of the Daxia Sword Sect’s genuine talents.

Watching everyone break through in succession, Li Guanqi let out a breath of relief as well.

Hum!

Powerful fluctuations rippled around Ji Yuchuan before fading away. He had actually given up the chance to obtain something even stronger.

He stepped out of the grand formation and expressed his sincere gratitude to Li Guanqi, bowing deeply in respect.

Li Guanqi frowned. "That aura just now... It was close to the Saint tier. Why did you let it go?"

Ji Yuchuan straightened. “Pavilion Master, I felt that although that spirit void artifact was very powerful, it wasn’t as compatible with me as the one I already have. Even so, I’m deeply grateful that you thought of me at a time like this.”

Li Guanqi nodded and said nothing more. It was Ji Yuchuan’s choice. What suited a person best was truly the best, and that was fair enough.

Ji Yuchuan stood quietly behind Li Guanqi, something shifting in his gaze, as though some resolve in him had hardened.

Suddenly, Lu Kangnian awakened a Saint-tier sword spirit void. Powerful waves of vital force surged around Lu Kangnian, and faint signs of an imminent breakthrough began to appear.

Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed in surprise. The artifact was extraordinarily compatible with him.

The moment Lu Kangnian came to, he silently left the Purple Spirit Paradise Realm and went straight into seclusion.

The others came around one by one, each having gained something of their own. Tang Ru had obtained a spirit void artifact in the form of an abacus, purple-gold from end to end, at the peak of the King tier—barely a step short of the Saint tier.

Li Guanqi swallowed. He didn’t dare imagine how many spirit void artifacts Sword Spirit had prepared for them.

Only three people remained: Ye Feng, Cao Yan, and Xiao Chen. The auras radiating from all three were fluctuating violently.

Sword Spirit stood beside Li Guanqi, her brow furrowed. “There’s not much time left for them. And the spirit void artifacts suited to those three are no simple items.”

Li Guanqi’s brow furrowed too. Sword Spirit was hinting that she wasn’t sure if the three of them could earn the artifacts’ recognition.

They can. They absolutely can.

Any spirit void artifact that Sword Spirit still remembered by name was no ordinary thing. Even in the Immortal World, they would likely have been existences of great renown, awe-inspiring in their own right.

Boom!

Wild blue flames surged around Cao Yan. He involuntarily rose into the air, flames coiling around his arms as beast-like roars seemed to echo from within. The flames condensed at his fists, taking the form of a pair of deep-blue gauntlets. Ice-cold, they covered his fists and ran up to the elbow, their angular, jagged shape both fierce and striking.

The corner of Sword Spirit’s mouth lifted faintly. She murmured, “Fist gauntlets. Solitary Flame. I can’t believe Cao Yan actually won it over.”

Hum!

A pitch-black spear materialized. Xiao Chen shot upward from within the grand array, gripped the spear, and swept it out in a fierce arc. Spear light and afterimages rained down, dense as a storm. The spear’s red tassel sliced through the air, tearing streaks through the void.

Light shimmered in Sword Spirit’s eyes, and the corner of her mouth lifted. “Divine Slaying Spear. As for the last one, Wrathful Slaughter... will it choose Ye Feng?”

The words had barely left her mouth when a vast, razor-sharp sword intent erupted from Ye Feng and shot into the sky.

Clang!

A resonant sword cry rang out across the heavens. Every eye turned to Ye Feng. A sword with a mottled, battle-worn blade materialized as a hologram before them. It circled Ye Feng once, then slowly tilted its blade downward in the direction of Li Guanqi.

The scene left everyone watching with a slightly puzzled expression.

Not just the sword—the longsword, the spear, and the fist gauntlets too. In Li Guanqi’s eyes, the three spirit void artifacts looked as if they were desperately swimming upstream through a long-forgotten river of time.

Though they seemed to be bowing to Li Guanqi, they were actually bowing to Sword Spirit, who stood behind him. Perhaps, if Sword Spirit hadn’t remembered them, they would never have returned to the world of men, vanishing into the flow of time with none the wiser.

Li Guanqi studied the mottled bloodstains on the blade of Ye Feng’s spirit void sword and frowned. He felt that there was something different about those bloodstains.

Whoosh!

The sword named Wrathful Slaughter swept into Ye Feng’s brow in an instant. Within the realm of his consciousness, Ye Feng looked down. The sword in his hand was gradually taking on the appearance of the Wrathful Slaughter Sword.

Ye Feng grinned widely and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then looked up at the Metal Spirit before him.

He raised his head, looked at the Metal Spirit before him, and roared, “Come. I’ll cut you down!”

Li Guanqi let out a breath. He could sense Ye Feng steadily growing stronger. At the very least, Ye Feng now had a real chance of succeeding.

Cao Yan and Xiao Chen were grinning ear to ear. All three of them now had Saint-tier spirit void artifacts.

Yet Li Guanqi noticed that even at the Saint tier, the array light around the three of them was only purple.

Back when he had opened his own spirit void, the array light had been red.

He didn’t dwell on it. His attention had already shifted to a woman watching him from a distance.

Once everyone had started stabilizing their spirit voids, Li Guanqi flickered over to stand before her.

“Junior Li Guanqi pays his respects to Senior.”

Hong Zhi’s face, rarely given to expression, showed a faint trace of a smile. But her gaze went straight past him to his side.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

Sword Spirit felt displeased by her presence, even though Hong Zhi could neither see nor sense her. Still, hearing that quiet thanks eased something in Sword Spirit, even if her face remained expressionless.

Sword Spirit turned her head away, expression cold, and looked at Li Guanqi. “Tell her not to squander the power I gave her. Otherwise, I won’t let her off easily.”