Food and Medicine

"Die!"

At this moment, Chu Huo Gun unleashed the strike he had been holding in reserve. The torrent of flame coalesced into a Red Feathered Dark Bird, spreading its one-zhang-long fiery wings as it charged at the Four-Eyed Divine Being.

This was a trick driven by Immortal Qi, devastatingly lethal!

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

The Four-Eyed Divine Being erupted in thunderous rage, swinging its long halberd like a mad fiend, slashing out more than ten attacks in succession to break through the fire bird.

"Sizzle! Sizzle!"

This was Chu Huo Gun's strongest strike as a seasoned Qi Refiner. Though the trick was broken, the Red Qi flames clung to the Four-Eyed Divine Being's body like oil, burning persistently until they nearly melted through its armor.

"We've both ended up as Buried Together—what are you fighting for your life for?!"

Chen Xuan grabbed the Bronze Halberd the Four-Eyed Divine Being swung at him, glaring with both eyes wide.

"Roar! Roar!"

The Four-Eyed Divine Being tried to yank the halberd free, baring its teeth and cursing through gritted fangs, its entire face—like old tree bark—twisted with rage. Chen Xuan couldn't understand what it was saying, but he knew it had to be foul.

"Playing tricks and pretending to be spirits—I've had it with you old 'Glooms'!"

Chen Xuan immediately leaped off the horse's back, clenched his fist, and drove it toward the Four-Eyed Divine Being's face.

From the Bronze Halberd, he had already gauged the Four-Eyed Divine Being's strength—two to three thousand jin, far weaker than he had imagined.

"Bam!"

Chen Xuan's punch sent the Four-Eyed Divine Being stumbling. It shook its dizzy head, then opened its mouth full of sharp copper teeth and lunged to bite Chen Xuan.

"Get lost!"

Chen Xuan dodged that hideous maw, then yanked the Bronze Halberd away. With a thunderous kick, he sent the Four-Eyed Divine Being flying several meters, slamming it into the wall before it bounced to the ground, kicking up a ripple of dust.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The Four-Eyed Divine Being barely struggled to rise when Chen Xuan pounced like a tiger. A storm of fists and footprints rained down like cannonballs, smashing into it from every angle.

In the distance, a group of short figures wearing eerie masks stood dumbfounded. That thief stealing the treasure was actually cornering the mighty Four-Eyed Divine Being and beating it senseless—and the Four-Eyed Divine Being couldn't even fight back?

"Crack!"

The Four-Eyed Divine Being's calf and arm were snapped, its neck bent backward. Its entire bronze-forged body was twisted into grotesque angles, a pitiful sight. It wailed and tried to crawl away, only to be grabbed by the back and dragged back by a pair of large hands.

"Ee-yah-yah!"

The group of short figures in eerie masks shrieked, raised their banners, and charged to the rescue. Without even turning his head, Chen Xuan swung an arm and sent them all flying.

"You all get lost too!"

At the entrance, the Bronze Horse held Chu Huo Gun in its mouth, both of them wide-eyed. Chu Huo Gun stammered, "A Qi Refiner who trained in martial arts... really is different..."

The scene before him was a visceral shock—brutal, violent.

"Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!"

Just then, a steady, unified march of footsteps suddenly rang out from deep within the underground palace.

Chen Xuan looked up and saw a swarm of Ghost Glooms, born from the terracotta soldiers, awakening—dozens of them, charging in formation, wind howling, killing intent surging.

"Xiao Wang, hurry!" Chu Huo Gun shouted in alarm. Though Chen Xuan fought ferociously beyond belief, he was still just one man, unable to withstand such a horde of monsters.

Chen Xuan frowned, then grabbed one of the Four-Eyed Divine Being's arms and hurled its entire body like a projectile, smashing several Ghost Glooms to the ground.

"You all..."

Chen Xuan stood at the center of the exit, pointed at the enemy, then drew a line on the ground in front of him, raising his fist. "Don't chase."

His tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable weight.

On the other side, the swarm of Ghost Glooms halted in their tracks. They helped up the mangled Four-Eyed Divine Being, exchanged glances, and for a moment, truly dared not cross that line.

"Heh..."

Chen Xuan let out a cold snort, turned, and left. He mounted the Bronze Horse and rode off without looking back.

Chu Huo Gun stood frozen, only snapping out of it after a long while. He murmured, "Xiao Wang... they really didn't dare chase..."

A single sentence had made dozens of Ghost Glooms retreat—that irrepressible boldness seemed to soar to the heavens!

"Ghosts and monsters play tricks and scare people with fear. We have to be bold—scarier than them!"

Chen Xuan replied with a smile, as if it were only natural.

Chu Huo Gun fell into thought, finding the words reasonable. But after a moment, he heard the Young Man add, "Of course, if they had chased, pretend I never said that."

Chu Huo Gun: "..."

Chen Xuan said, "I need to undergo Feather Transformation immediately."

Then he commanded the Bronze Horse in the sky to descend toward a distant hill.

A quarter of an hour later.

In the mountains, Chen Xuan took out the White Ganoderma Jade Herb and sat down in a sheltered corner out of the wind.

"Xiao Wang, I'll guard you."

Old Man Chu drew closer. He believed Chen Xuan's talent was extraordinary, and a faint sense of anticipation stirred within him—he wanted to see what level of feather transformation the consumption of a Land Treasure Medicine would bring.

Perhaps it might even be possible to nurture a strand of Immortal Qi ahead of time.

Chen Xuan paid him no mind. He took the White Ganoderma Jade Herb in hand and swallowed it in two or three bites.

"Hah!"

In an instant, his body seemed to transform into a bottomless pit, madly devouring the medicinal effects of the White Ganoderma Jade Herb.

A brilliant, pure white radiance shone through his chest and abdomen, mingled with a few faint strands of gold. Accompanied by a vast surge of vapor, it wrapped around him, shrouding him in clouds and mist.

"Quite the spectacle. This Land Treasure Medicine is truly extraordinary."

Old Man Chu couldn't make out the exact details within, but he could vaguely sense that Chen Xuan was rapidly shedding his mortal frame and forging a new one—a continuous crackling sound of bones colliding echoed without pause.

"Hah!"

Chen Xuan casually grabbed a piece of mountain rock, his five fingers clamping down, feeling the surging strength within him like a torrential rain pouring into a pond.

Two thousand jin... three thousand jin... four thousand two hundred jin!

"Bam!"

The tough mountain rock in Chen Xuan's hand was crushed outright, fragments scattering in all directions.

Even he was startled by this. This wasn't a kiln-fired brick from home, but a hard, wild mountain stone—yet now, he had crushed it into powder with sheer force alone.

If he were to encounter a being with a bronze body like that Four-Eyed Divine Being again, Chen Xuan wouldn't be left helpless, merely beating it senseless. Instead, he might be able to rely on brute strength alone to snap its head off and tear its limbs away...

"Eh? It's not over yet..."

Chen Xuan suddenly sensed that the remaining medicinal power of the White Ganoderma Jade Herb within him was gathering into something, abruptly erupting. He couldn't help but tilt his head back and let out a long roar, like a dragon's cry or a tiger's howl, echoing through the mountain forest.

"Roooar!"

A gleaming strand of pure white Immortal Qi was directly roared out by Chen Xuan!

"Boom!"

The Immortal Qi shot forth, punching straight through a tree as thick as a man's waist, leaving a hole the size of a bowl.

"Immortal Qi!"

Old Man Chu shouted abruptly: "I knew it, I knew it! With your foundation so solid, and having consumed the Soul Return Grass from the tomb, how could you not nurture Immortal Qi ahead of time!"

Ordinary Qi Refiners only cultivated a single strand of primal Immortal Qi after fully walking the Feather Transformation Path, when their strength had grown to the limits of their physique.

But now, by virtue of the Terrestrial Treasure Tree's effects, Chen Xuan had reached this step ahead of schedule!

"Hah!"

A strand of Immortal Qi hovered in midair, pure white as snow, exuding a sense of upright brightness, suffused with the most ancient and primordial aura of heaven and earth.

A flicker of envy passed through Chu Huo Gun's eyes as he evaluated: "Xiao Wang, I feel your future achievements won't be inferior to the top geniuses of Red Crow City."

After all, even those figures built up with heavenly treasures and earthly rarities hadn't managed, in their youth, to successfully nurture a strand of Immortal Qi right after feather transformation like Chen Xuan.

"We'll see when we meet them."

Chen Xuan smiled, then summoned the strand of Immortal Qi back from the air, circulating it through his entire body to feel its wonders.

Then, he began practicing his fists in the snow—starting with the basic fist techniques, the Yang Family Fist, then the Mountain Suppression Fist, and finally, even the Pei Family Fist, which he had only sparred with once, was fully executed after several rounds of deduction and simulation.

A strand of Immortal Qi flowed through his entire body with each breath, and a bright, upright radiance shimmered on his skin, making him almost like a divine being.

"Xiao Wang has already taken on the bearing of a Martial Arts Grandmaster." Old Man Chu watched, lost in thought, sighing inwardly.

The Bronze Horse buried its crooked, slant-mouthed head deep into the snow, trembling violently.

It was terrified. It felt that those fists radiating a pure white glow contained a Great Terror—it couldn't take even one punch now and would be beaten to death outright.

"Hah!"

Chen Xuan's heart grew calmer and calmer. He gazed down at the vast, boundless land below the mountain, where the last few human villages of Peach Town in the Ancient Chu Kingdom appeared at the edge of his sight.

Wang Chan, junior apprentice brother.

Time to meet...