Beyond the Inner Qi Realm! Outer Core Realm! Divine Mansion Realm!

At his words, Lu Xuan frowned and gave the woman before him a long look.

Inside Lu Xuan's room, candlelight blazed brightly, illuminating the entire chamber as though it were daytime.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Xuan still allowed Li Yanran into his room.

She had come to find him over some matter, and as it happened, he too had questions that needed answering.

When Li Yanran came to the Lu Family, she had changed into casual clothes again.

She wore a sky-blue brocade dress, her three thousand strands of Green Silk Hair, black as clouds, resting against her shoulders. A faint, delicate fragrance also lingered in the room's air.

Lu Xuan calmly walked to the table and sat down directly in a chair.

Seeing this, Li Yanran sat across from Lu Xuan as well.

Looking entirely at ease, Lu Xuan stared at her without concealment. "Speak. What did you come to see me for?"

Being watched by Lu Xuan like this gave Li Yanran an odd feeling in her heart.

However, Li Yanran did not dwell on it for long and directly stated why she had come.

"May I ask, Senior, was that White Lotus Blood Infant yesterday killed by you?"

"Yes."

Lu Xuan answered without hesitation, with no intention of hiding it.

Ever since Lu Xuan had broken through to the Inner Qi Realm, he had no longer hidden his strength as timidly and cautiously as before.

That was also why, when he encountered the White Lotus Blood Infant at the mountain stronghold, he had acted without reservation.

As someone in the Inner Qi Realm, his strength was incomparably formidable. The world was vast, yet he could go anywhere within it!

Upon receiving Lu Xuan's answer, Li Yanran's beautiful eyes widened in an instant. Her exquisite face went blank, making her seem somewhat adorable.

At least, that was how Lu Xuan saw it.

Waves surged in Li Yanran's heart, and at last she looked at Lu Xuan's face in disbelief.

If the information Chen Shi had given her was correct, this man was only twenty years old.

He was merely five years younger than her, yet with his formidable strength, he had actually been able to kill an eerie creature like the White Lotus Blood Infant.

Li Yanran prided herself on carrying the bloodline of that great family. Since childhood, she had possessed exceptional talent in martial cultivation, while cultivation resources had been as countless as the hairs of an ox.

Even so, she had only reached the great completion of the Blood Refinement Realm at twenty-five.

For him to kill the White Lotus Blood Infant so easily, he had to be an existence beyond the Blood Refinement Realm to accomplish such a thing.

Twenty years old! An Inner Qi Realm expert!

A place surfaced in Li Yanran's mind. Apart from that place, where such peerless monsters existed, she had never heard of them anywhere else.

Much less in this tiny County Town where even birds did not shit.

"Senior, are you an Inner Qi Realm expert?"

Li Yanran could not help asking softly, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

This time, Lu Xuan did not answer Li Yanran's question. He simply sat there in silence, saying nothing, his expression as calm as still water.

Though Lu Xuan did not answer, Li Yanran already knew the answer in her heart.

He truly was an Inner Qi Realm expert. Like those peerless monsters from that place, his martial aptitude was unparalleled through the ages.

And that place was the heart of the Great Xia Dynasty, where the Son of Heaven resided—the Imperial Capital!

The great family Li Yanran came from was likewise located in the Great Xia Dynasty's Imperial Capital.

Just as Li Yanran was lost in thought, Lu Xuan finally spoke unhurriedly. "Since I have answered your question, then it is your turn to answer some of the doubts in my heart."

Without waiting for Li Yanran to speak, Lu Xuan stated his questions himself.

"I wonder if you know of the Martial Realms above the Inner Qi Realm."

"Senior, you are too polite. You saved my life, so you can just call me Yanran. May I ask Senior's name is...?"

Li Yanran harbored a small ulterior motive, wanting to become closer to Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan gave Li Yanran a strange look and said indifferently, "You were able to find out that I live here, yet you do not know my name?"

"Miss Yanran."

When she heard Lu Xuan call her by name, Li Yanran's smile became even more radiant.

Even Lu Xuan was briefly stunned by that sight, though he quickly returned to normal.

"Senior Lu Xuan, it is perfectly normal that you are in a small place like Azure Cloud County and do not know information about realms above the Inner Qi Realm."

"The realms above the Inner Qi Realm are the Outer Core Realm and the Divine Mansion Realm!"

Lu Xuan murmured, "Outer Core Realm? Divine Mansion Realm?"

"That is correct, Senior Lu Xuan."

"Outer Core Realm Grandmaster!"

"Divine Mansion Realm True Person!"

Next, Li Yanran revealed everything she knew without holding anything back.

An Outer Core Realm Grandmaster cultivated the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi within the body—that was, Inner Qi.

Once Inner Qi had been refined to perfection, Qi would condense into core force, and core essence would emerge on its own.

At that point, the core essence within one's body could be released freely. It could protect the body and fend off enemies from a thousand miles away.

As for information about the Divine Mansion Realm—

Li Yanran did not know much about it. It seemed that existences of that realm rarely appeared before ordinary people.

She only knew that one would open a Divine Mansion within the body, storing Heaven and Earth Power inside it. Every move and stance would carry the grand momentum of heaven and earth, wielding unfathomable might.

The Divine Mansion Realm?

Lu Xuan's eyes filled with longing, while the complacency he had felt over his recent advancement to the Inner Qi Realm vanished as well.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Xuan spoke again. He still had several extremely important questions.

"Miss Yanran, do you know about the Pure World White Lotus Sect and the White Lotus Blood Infant?"

"Or perhaps naturally occurring extraordinary horrors, mutated demonic beasts, and such?"

The moment Lu Xuan finished speaking, Li Yanran did not answer as readily as before. Instead, her expression turned grave.

Li Yanran hesitated for a while before slowly saying, "Senior Lu Xuan, information concerning the Pure World White Lotus Sect is rather special. Even I do not understand much about it."

"I only know that whenever anything related to the Pure World White Lotus Sect appears in this world, the Blackbird Guard will destroy it at any cost."

"And those extraordinary horrors and mutated demonic beasts that exist between heaven and earth are also why our Blackbird Guard exists."

"They are all existences influenced by Heaven and Earth Power. Extraordinary horrors, in particular, are Undying and Unkillable."

"Undying and Unkillable?"

Li Yanran's words reminded Lu Xuan of the mysterious black Ghost Shadow in Willow Ditch Village.

It seemed his feeling had been right. That Filthy Thing really had not died!

After seeing the grave expression on Lu Xuan's face, Li Yanran continued.

"That does not mean they are truly Undying and Unkillable. It is said that Divine Palace True Persons can completely erase those extraordinary eerie things."

"I just do not know whether that legend is true."

Divine Palace True Persons could erase the existence of those Filthy Things?

Lu Xuan said nothing more, as though he were absorbing all the information Li Yanran had told him.

"Senior Lu Xuan, this is my identity token."

"If you wish to learn more, you can only go to the Blackbird Guard in the Prefecture. The Blackbird Guard Archive Warehouse records much information unknown to the world."

"When the time comes, take this token and come find me."

A blue token no larger than half a palm was held out before Lu Xuan. A small pale-pink sachet hung beneath it.

After looking at it deeply, Lu Xuan accepted the token under Li Yanran's expectant gaze.

The Blackbird Guard?

It seemed it was time for him to leave Azure Cloud County!

Lu Xuan silently watched Li Yanran's departing figure, a mysterious glint showing in his dark, unfathomable eyes.

Early the next morning!

Lu Xuan hurried toward the residence of his uncle by marriage, Liang Shanhai, because he did not have much time left in Azure Cloud County.

And just as Lu Xuan headed for the residence of his uncle by marriage, Liang Shanhai—

Several unwelcome visitors arrived outside the Lu Family Pharmacy as well.

"Have you all remembered? This is Master Jia's order. Whoever screws it up knows the consequences himself."