Red Qi

Before dawn, the cold rain stopped, and the world was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

In the simple hut, which didn't even have windows and only had a wooden door as an opening, it was pitch black.

"Rustle..."

Two monks from the Hanging Temple used the Immortal Qi in their hands as small lanterns emitting a golden-white glow. The light wasn't bright, and they were bent over, carefully searching for things in the small room.

A golden-green jade hairpin.

The young monk felt this hairpin among Chen Xuan's clothes. The moment his fingers touched it, he realized it must be a treasure, made of extremely extraordinary material... There were also two sharp small swords, half a foot long, made of ordinary iron, with no value.

This hairpin, good stuff!

The young monk was excited. He quickly held the hairpin in his palm and leaned his head against his fellow disciple beside him, staring with wide eyes to examine it.

The next moment.

A figure appeared silently, a hand faintly emitting white light reached out, took the hairpin from the young monk's palm, turned it over in his hand, and held it up, examining it closely by the light of the White Qi.

"Tsk! Great minds think alike."

As if in praise, Chen Xuan tilted his head and looked down at the two sneaking figures, continuing:

"But I don't understand, when you do such things, don't you consider the consequences?"

"You!"

The two monks were startled and froze in place. The young monk's heart pounded with fear, and the unhealed injuries in his chest immediately swelled with pain.

The other middle-aged monk, who had undergone a second Ascension, was even more terrified because he hadn't detected any movement from Chen Xuan at all. The other party's strength far exceeded his imagination!

"Whoosh..."

Chen Xuan picked up his clothes, putting them on his strong-boned, tall, and powerful body, and walked past the two as if no one was there, his gaze looking out through the crack in the door.

The night rain had stopped, and the dampness was mixed with the thick cold mist.

"Creak! Creak!"

In the camp, sparse firelight glowed. The old monk who brewed Treasure Tea Soup was cooking early porridge. Some monks sat like clay statues, chanting early scriptures. Outside the camp, some monks had already taken tools and were silently cutting wood...

Some monks' gazes were looking in Chen Xuan's direction...

"Heh..."

Chen Xuan closed the half-open door and turned around.

In the dim light, the two monks seemed to see an inexplicable smile curve on Chen Xuan's well-defined, handsome face, sending shivers down their spines, as if their hearts were being squeezed by a powerful hand, making it difficult to breathe.

"Senior Brother..." The young monk's eyes were terrified, and he struggled to speak.

When he met Chen Xuan yesterday, he only thought of him as a rather alert ordinary Qi Refiner, and in reality, he didn't take him seriously.

But the young monk was very cautious. To ensure everything was foolproof, he still called a Senior Brother who had long been dissatisfied with the Hanging Temple and had undergone a second Ascension to come with him. However, when he truly faced Chen Xuan at this moment, he suddenly realized what kind of person he was about to face.

The other party discovered them, then immediately moved, quickly checking outside for accomplices... Seemingly having found something, he turned around and tightly closed the wooden door, trapping them in the room...

"You desperate wretch, are you trying to escape!"

The middle-aged monk's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly roared. With their actions exposed, his mind raced, and he immediately and decisively turned the tables.

This was already within the plan's expectations. Qi Refiners have extremely strong perception. Once discovered, they could completely kill Chen Xuan with lightning speed and then slander him, claiming he had been seduced by Yan Yushu of the Six Desires Heaven. No one would doubt such an excuse!

However, if there was no paper version of the ancient scripture, this trip would be in vain...

"Boom!"

At the same time, the middle-aged monk raised his fist, and white light burst forth. He attacked Chen Xuan without hesitation.

Although Chen Xuan's sudden second Ascension was unexpected, wasn't he also a second Ascension expert?

Back then, he broke through the physical limit with an extremely high achievement of over five thousand jin of strength, stepping into the second Ascension realm. Now, this punch carries over ten thousand jin of immense force!

The other party had just broken through and hadn't had time to undergo the second Ascension process. How could he withstand it!

"Clang!"

A heavy collision sound like a bronze bell and a large chime rang out. The middle-aged monk's fist, filled with golden-white light, was instantly firmly grasped by a large hand, forced to stop in mid-air.

"Crack, snap!"

Chen Xuan's five fingers were like iron pliers, single-handedly gripping the other party's fist. A rough sound like metal rubbing against metal came from his palm.

"Moo!"

A giant elephant phantom nearly ten feet tall, almost filling half the room behind the middle-aged monk, pushed forward with all its might. Ten thousand jin of immense force erupted, and its four thick legs trampled foot-deep grooves in the ground.

But Chen Xuan was like an indestructible mountain. Not only did his body remain motionless, but even his suspended arm didn't tremble in the slightest.

"Where is your Immortal Qi!"

The middle-aged monk was so shocked he almost lost his soul, because Chen Xuan's palm was dim and lightless. He hadn't even used Immortal Qi at all. With just the strength of his physical body, he had blocked the powerful punch he had unleashed with the Little Mammoth Trick.

He was terrified and couldn't understand what was happening!

Chen Xuan broke through the realm with eight thousand jin of strength. The nearly four thousand jin of strength accumulated from the Green Deer and Fire Bird tricks had completely integrated into his body after his physical limit was broken.

Twelve thousand jin!

Now, in terms of pure strength, Chen Xuan has surpassed the vast majority of second Ascension Qi Refiners.

One must know that even the most outstanding genius in the Red Crow City region, who stepped into the breakthrough with a physique of six thousand jin, and reached the limit of their body for the second time, their strength would only double, ultimately reaching only twelve thousand jin!

"Immortal Qi?"

Chen Xuan's stern face after the punch and palm strike suddenly became clear, and instantly brightened to the extreme. Between his eyes, nostrils, and seven orifices, crimson flames of millions of degrees Celsius rapidly rolled and surged, like a volcanic eruption!

"Open your eyes wide, and look carefully!"

Chen Xuan was like an immortal walking out of flames. Orange-red flames danced on his flying hair, igniting from the tips and instantly turning into raging inferno.

The fire technique was flamboyant and dazzling. Chen Xuan raised his extremely fierce and powerful fist.

"Whoosh!"

The middle-aged monk's vision turned completely red. His eyes were almost melted by the blazing light from the fist print striking him. The fear that arose in his heart was instantly swallowed and annihilated by the Red Qi light and fire!

The firebird spread its wings and let out a long cry!

"Bang!"

The middle-aged monk flew backward. The giant elephant's phantom tusks broke, and its massive, bloated body was squeezed by immense force. Skin and muscles piled up layer by layer backward, and then it disintegrated into smoke with a bang...

One wall of the entire small house disappeared. The splashing wood chips were annihilated in the air, like countless fireflies dancing in the air...

"Hiss... hiss..."

The other young monk's eyes were dull. He turned his head blankly and helplessly. In the night vision twenty meters behind the house, the massive firebird seemed to be holding a charred insect in its mouth, crashing into the ground. The exploding sea of fire illuminated the entire sky.

"Sizzle!"

Blue smoke curled up. The middle-aged monk, who was split in two by a single punch, had a charred body. The Red Fire refined the White Gold, and even his bones, which had been strengthened by White Qi, were burned into charcoal that crumbled at a touch.

Everyone in the entire camp was awakened by this huge commotion and began to stir.

"You, I..."

The young monk subconsciously turned his head and cried out in panic, "This is the Hanging Temple, you can't kill people! I was wrong, I was really wrong!"

Amidst the flying sparks, Chen Xuan walked towards him, his voice flat but as cold and sharp as a sword.

"No need to beg me..."

The hand enveloped in fire descended.