Cao Yan and Xiao Chen watched worriedly as Ye Feng fought for his life.

Suddenly, Sword Spirit’s voice echoed inside Li Guanqi’s mind. “Has that old man finished inscribing the grand array yet? Have him bring it over here. Quickly!” 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Li Guanqi didn’t hesitate. He contacted Xi Yunhuai at once.

Xi Yunhuai rushed into the Purple Spirit Paradise Realm, carrying a blood-colored array. Drenched in sweat, he set it down at the foot of the mountain where Li Guanqi stood.

Then his eyes landed on the grand array surrounding Ye Feng, and he froze. “This... this is the lost ancient array, the Zen Clarity Glass Array!”

Li Guanqi had no patience for explanations. He shot Cao Yan and Xiao Chen a sharp look and said in a low voice, “You two, get ready. I’m reopening your spirit voids.”

Cao Yan and Xiao Chen stood in place, utterly dumbfounded.

“Boss,” Xiao Chen blurted out, “it’s been nearly twenty years since our last spirit void opening. What nonsense are you talking about? A person can only have their spirit void opened once in their lifetime!”

Cao Yan paid it no mind. If Li Guanqi said they could reopen it, then they could. He flickered into the blood-colored array and sat cross-legged.

Xiao Chen saw this, gritted his teeth, and stepped forward as well. His spirit void artifact was far from ordinary. Otherwise, there was no way he could have mastered the Heaven-Opening Tier.

Li Guanqi said solemnly, “Remember, when your spirit void opens, follow your hearts and seek out the strongest spirit void artifact you can. Push your obsession with artifacts to its absolute limit. This time, I want every one of you to be reborn.”

With those words, Li Guanqi took a long look in Ye Feng’s direction.

Sword Spirit had been frantic because she sensed Ye Feng was in real danger. Reopening his spirit void would strengthen his resistance against the Metal Spirit, which was why she had urged Li Guanqi to hurry and make preparations.

Once everything was in place, Lu Kangnian came running over, flustered.

The moment he saw Xi Yunhuai rush past carrying an entire grand array, he knew something serious was happening. Now, seeing Cao Yan and Xiao Chen sitting obediently inside the array, his head spun.

“What are you up to now?!”

Li Guanqi shrugged, looked at Lu Kangnian with an oddly blank expression, and said, “Well... Sect Master, would you like to join in too?”

Inwardly, careful as could be, he murmured, “Sword Spirit, can Old Lu join too?”

Li Guanqi clearly saw the corner of Sword Spirit’s mouth twitch. She thought it over and gave a nod.

A surge of delight ran through him, and he hurriedly nudged Lu Kangnian in as well.

Then, treading as carefully as he could, he asked again, “What about my master? And Ling Daoyan and the others?”

Sword Spirit said with exasperation, “Just hurry up. Who else do you want to send in?”

Half an hour later, Ling Daoyan, Qin Xian, Li Nanting, and Lu Kangnian sat in the array, staring at one another in bewilderment. Across from them sat Xi Yunhuai, Ji Yuchuan, Su You, Qian Qiusui, and Tang Ru. Over a dozen individuals were packed tightly into a single grand array.

With a somewhat displeased expression, Sword Spirit said, “I can only guarantee results for Cao Yan and Xiao Chen. As for everyone else, that’s up to fate.”

Lu Kangnian said in a low voice, “Guanqi, what exactly is the meaning of this?”

Even Ji Yuchuan and the others looked completely lost. Only Xi Yunhuai waited eagerly, rubbing his hands together while practically trembling with excitement. He had no spirit void artifact, after all.

And not just him. Su You and Qian Qiusui had no spirit void artifacts either. Ling Daoyan had one, but it was low quality and unable to even achieve Soul Dissolution.

Xi Yunhuai swallowed and murmured his guess. “This array... It’s a spirit-void-opening array, but there’s something different about it. I don’t know if I’m right, Pavilion Master, but... are you trying to let us reopen our spirit voids?”

Li Guanqi nodded, making no attempt to conceal it.

He spoke solemnly. “Seniors and brothers, this is my secret and something I can only do once in my life: reopening your spirit voids! Already having one is no obstacle. Find something of higher quality and greater compatibility, and you can choose again. Find nothing, and you won’t lose what you already have.”

Lu Kangnian’s eyes widened. He understood all too well the weight of what Li Guanqi was saying. The ability to reopen a spirit void alone would be enough to shake all of the Six Territories. No one had ever possessed such a heaven-defying ability.

Ji Yuchuan’s eyes shook with emotion. The look in Su You’s eyes as he gazed at Li Guanqi also shifted slightly.

Qian Qiusui’s face blazed with excitement. Tang Ru laughed cheerfully and slowly closed his eyes, sinking into cultivation.

Sword Spirit nodded and said calmly, “Let’s begin.”

Hum!

Li Guanqi raised a hand and flung out a hundred thousand spirit stones, shattering them in an instant. Spirit qi billowed outward in a flood.

As spirit qi poured into the grand array, a world-shaking pressure erupted from it. The instant it appeared, Hong Zhi, cultivating with her eyes closed in the distant stone pool, faintly furrowed her brow. Her eyelids trembled, nearly opening.

Long Hou, just outside the Daxia Sword Sect's domain, widened his eyes in surprise. Frowning, he raised his hand to create a barrier that concealed the aura of the arrays, then vanished into the void to keep a watchful eye on the area.

With great effort, the people in the array settled their surging emotions and sank into cultivation one by one.

Sword Spirit’s figure slowly materialized. She raised a hand and layered the Zen Clarity Glass Array over the spirit-void-opening array.

Ye Feng’s figure floated above everyone’s heads.

Sword Spirit looked at Ye Feng intently, her gaze long and deep. She had great faith in his character, believing that someone like him, given even the slightest opportunity, would grasp it with all his might. And once Li Guanqi ascended to the Immortal World, he would need someone like Ye Feng by his side.

She let out a deep breath.

Hum!

Both grand arrays simultaneously erupted with an incomparably formidable pressure.

A rare trace of gravity crossed Sword Spirit’s face. Giving so many people a spirit void opening at once placed no small burden on her.

Sword Spirit slowly extended her slender palm. As she closed it into a loose fist, Li Guanqi’s sword spirit void trembled violently.

An aura that made heaven and earth shudder suddenly erupted.

Sword Spirit lifted her gaze toward the sky, toward the direction where Long Hou was. Long Hou felt as though an invisible hand had seized its heart in a crushing grip.

Sword Spirit’s chest rose and fell once. Then her sword came crashing down.

Boom!

Almost instantly, a blood-red sword mark split open across everyone’s brow.

Boom!

The array flickered. In that single moment, the spirit voids of almost every person were pulled outward beyond their control.

Sword Spirit placed a stick of spirit incense at the edge of the array. “The rest is up to them. They have half an hour. Once the time is up, the outcome will be decided.”

The sword in Sword Spirit’s hand slowly dissolved. She then reached up and pressed a finger to her own brow, murmuring, “Wrathful Slaughter. Divine-Slaying Spear. Solitary Flame... Return. Return!”