Underestimate

"Chh!"

Chen Xuan swept out the hairpin in his right hand, carving a smooth arc of red through the air. It scorched metal and corroded iron as it slashed swiftly across the neck of an Ascetic Monk directly ahead. A head flew skyward.

This man's killing intent was intense. There was no way Chen Xuan would hold back!

"Courting death!"

"You still dare to commit evil!"

Two gleaming fists came roaring in from the side like iron hammers. Chen Xuan raised his left arm to block them. Both attackers were powerful Second Ascension experts, and their combined strike made him grunt in pain. The bones in his forearm nearly split apart.

"Chh!"

Chen Xuan's expression turned solemn. Clutching the fire hairpin in his right hand, he slashed toward the other side at the narrowest margin. An arc of Red Qi fire dragged a trail of bloodlight behind it. Three severed arms flew up, their cuts charred black. The instant blood welled out, it was completely evaporated by the lingering Fire Virtue Red Qi.

"Ahhh!"

Screams erupted. Three Ascetic Monks cried out in agony as they staggered backward. "He cultivates Red Qi! Everyone, fall back!"

Chen Xuan immediately gave chase. The fire hairpin fell like a torrential rain. Two of them were stabbed, and several bloodied holes instantly melted into their bodies, which were as hard as metal. They suffered grievous injuries.

The third man's eyes held unmistakable killing intent. Chen Xuan directly split open his chest, leaving his internal organs charred black. He was clearly beyond saving.

"Clang, clang!"

Almost simultaneously, several golden-white fists, booming like bolts of thunder, attacked from behind and sent Chen Xuan flying. Half his shoulder collapsed inward, and he spat out a great mouthful of blood as red as flame while still in midair.

"His body is actually this formidable? Its toughness is no less than ours!"

Several Ascetic Monks clutched their fists, burned by the blazing flames, and cried out in shock.

By all reason, White Qi cultivators had the strongest physiques, while Red Qi cultivators had extremely poor constitutions. After being struck by several close-range blows from them, half of the opponent's body should have been smashed apart.

Yet Chen Xuan's shoulder had merely collapsed and his bones had cracked. He had not suffered a fatal injury. This left them utterly bewildered, and they even began to suspect that he did not cultivate Red Qi at all, but the same Metal Virtue White Qi as them.

"Bang!"

Chen Xuan landed on the ground, rolled once, and rose steadily to his feet. His gaze was sharp as he glanced at his shoulder, where the bones jutted out menacingly.

"Whoosh!"

As he inhaled and exhaled, Red Qi surged throughout his body. In an instant, a deep green radiance, fresh and dripping with life, welled up. A vast aura of vitality spread through the air. Granulation Tissue wriggled on his shoulder, the broken bones automatically returning to alignment, joining together, and rapidly healing.

Green Qi!

It was as if the faint cry of a deer came from within Chen Xuan's body, clear, crisp, and resonant.

"Wood Attribute Green Qi—he's a Dual Qi Cultivator!"

An Ascetic Monk's face filled with horror. Fire and wood were incompatible. After cultivating one of them, cultivating the other would require several times the effort, yielding half the result.

"He's so young. He must have begun practicing magic tricks from childhood. Could he be from an Artifact Refining Aristocratic Clan in Red Crow City?" someone asked, his face full of suspicion.

"Fellow Daoist, there must be some misunderstanding here. Please stop! Our Hanging Temple acts according to reason—we act according to reason!"

A tall Ascetic Monk hurriedly shouted. Although he had participated in the battle just now, his intention had been to restrain Chen Xuan and stop him from committing evil. Later, when he realized that some of his fellow disciples seemed to have gone too far, he had voluntarily withdrawn from the battlefield. He had even ordered a group of Ascetic Monks who had just returned from outside the camp not to interfere.

Most of the Ascetic Monks in the Hanging Temple who truly observed the monastic precepts had entered the Southern Wilderness. Those who remained outside either had flaws in their character or were responsible for guarding various areas.

"Oh? Reason?"

Chen Xuan twisted his neck and looked askance at the tall Ascetic Monk. "Will you kill him for me?"

The tall Ascetic Monk replied with an ugly expression, "If Senior Brother Kong Xuan has truly committed a crime, our Hanging Temple will deal with him according to our temple rules. Fellow Daoist, please do not create further bloodshed. Your killing nature is far too intense."

Kong Xuan was the dharma name of the old monk who had brewed the treasure tea and medicinal broth.

"So he won't die?"

Chen Xuan waved the arm whose injuries had already recovered by nearly half and sneered. "Heh, if he won't die, why are you talking reason to me? Those who harm me get to roam free, while I go through all this hardship to cultivate Qi for what?"

If he had only undergone a single Ascension, Chen Xuan might have assessed the situation, explained himself, reasoned with them, or even turned and fled, leaving this Hanging Temple camp filled with powerful experts.

But Chen Xuan had already undergone Second Ascension. If he still had to look ahead and behind himself, then wouldn't all his cultivation have been for nothing?

The Ascetic Monk's face darkened. He said coldly, "You have already killed and injured several people in succession, yet you still refuse to stop. Fellow Daoist, do you truly intend to become mortal enemies with the Hanging Temple?"

The Hanging Temple was a colossal hidden power. If they had not been in a foreign land, why would they lower themselves like this? Their opponent was refusing to yield even after gaining the upper hand, actually treating them like soft persimmons to squeeze. It was far too excessive.

In truth, after Chen Xuan repeatedly struck to kill, regardless of who was in the right, the two sides had already formed an unbreakable deadly knot.

The old monk who had brewed the tea fled behind the many disciples. He poked out his aged head and shouted, "He has the Qi Refining True Scripture! Who could withstand the greed in their heart? Now that you know about it, could you withstand it? The True Scripture! That is the True Scripture left behind by the ancient Arrayed Immortal sages!"

The True Scripture!

The entire camp immediately fell silent, in a silence terrifying to behold. Not only did the Ascetic Monks present hold their breath, even the Qi Refiners watching the spectacle from afar widened their eyes in shock.

The old monk shouted and clamored, seemingly wishing for everyone to hear the news.

"Is that really true? Did you see it with your own eyes?" someone immediately demanded.

"Many of the ancient seal characters he asked me about concerned the human body's meridians and the secrets of Immortal Qi. If they did not come from an ancient True Scripture, where else could they have come from?"

The old monk spoke with certainty, attempting to incite the others and muddy the waters.

This was merely speculation, and its credibility was clearly low.

Only by cultivating the Arrayed Immortal Scripture could one break through the Ascension Realm and enter a higher realm.

How could a mere Rogue Cultivator in the Ascension Realm possibly possess the Arrayed Immortal Scripture? It was simply a flight of fancy!

Throughout the territory of Red Crow City, only Green Deer Mountain and a few Aristocratic Clans of Qi Refiners in Red Crow City possessed such priceless treasures. Even then, the Arrayed Immortal Scriptures possessed by those powers were all incomplete, with none being a complete version.

But what if it was true?

In an instant, everyone present developed strange expressions. Some stared fixedly at Chen Xuan, their breathing growing hurried.

So this was where the problem lay!

Chen Xuan's expression darkened. He immediately reflected on his own mistake in his heart. He had been far too careless. Just like Wang Chan, he had underestimated the people of the world!

Fortunately, the old monk was merely guessing and had not truly discovered the Yellow Millet True Scripture in his mind.

Yet the other party had developed a trace of suspicion simply because Chen Xuan had asked him about several ancient seal characters, and had then risked everything that very night. It was far too unexpected.

The dangers and unforeseen calamities on the Qi Refining Path, the unfathomability of human hearts—there was simply no way to guard against them!

"Heh, since ancient times, Heaven's will has truly been high and difficult to question!"

Chen Xuan let out a cold laugh. With the injuries on his shoulder mostly healed, he summoned Fire Virtue Red Qi once more, leapt high, and crashed into the Ascetic Monks with an aura that surged into the Dipper Palace.

He had no intention of wasting his breath explaining himself to the others present.

Those with clear minds would not believe such absurd claims. As for those willing to believe them, even if he explained ten thousand reasons, they would still stubbornly cling to their own opinions!

"He's going to silence me by killing me! Save me!"

The old monk who had brewed the medicine turned deathly pale with fright. In blind panic, he turned and fled again.

But the surrounding senior and junior brothers were still pondering this earth-shaking secret. Their thoughts were in disarray, and none had expected Chen Xuan to attack without warning. Their reactions were half a beat too slow.

"Ha! I'm precisely going to silence you by killing you!"

Chen Xuan charged into the formation like a fierce tiger. An arc of Red Qi fire slashed across the old monk's back. The old monk immediately wailed and staggered a step. Chen Xuan seized him by the head and yanked him back, then repeatedly drove the fire hairpin into his neck, melting several thumb-thick holes straight through.

He swiftly reached into the old monk's robes and pulled out a golden-bright cake of Buddha-Heart Tea Tree leaves wrapped in oiled paper.

"Put it down! How dare you!"

The group of Ascetic Monks instantly became red-eyed with fury. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they roared like apes and trumpeted like elephants as more than twenty figures closed in to kill Chen Xuan.

Land Treasure Medicine was worth a city. It concerned the survival of this camp. If Chen Xuan took it away, the consequences would be extraordinary!

"What wouldn't I dare?"

Chen Xuan threw back his head and laughed. With one punch, he sent out a fiery red bird that blasted a Second Ascension Ascetic Monk flying. Turning around, he violently hurled the old monk's corpse. Some of the monks hurriedly dodged, while Chen Xuan took the initiative to pursue them, sweeping through them like an autumn wind scattering fallen leaves. He charged straight into the densest part of the formation... He had already sensed that some of the Ascetic Monks harbored an inexplicably immense killing intent toward him. Those people had to be dealt with... Moreover, like the old monk, they had seen it earlier. Chen Xuan had seen them too!

In the distance, the Qi Refiners of Red Crow City were all horrified. As they watched Chen Xuan, whose undisguised savagery and bold spirit seemed to soar into the heavens, their hearts and guts trembled, and their legs shook uncontrollably.

The wicked thoughts that had arisen in some of their hearts instantly vanished without a trace.

Even if Chen Xuan truly possessed a True Scripture, how could people like them possibly covet or lay hands on it?

"Clang!"

Chen Xuan attacked with broad, sweeping motions. He seized the arm of a murderous Second Ascension Ascetic Monk and, with three rapid, fierce, and powerful punches, sent him flying into the air. Blood mist sprayed from his back.

Someone attacked from the side. Chen Xuan did not even bother to dodge, trading injury for life as the fire hairpin stabbed repeatedly toward the attacker's heart...

Qi Refining magic tricks were also killing techniques. This was what Chen Xuan was best at!

"Stop! We're stopping!"

The remaining monks were finally terrified by the slaughter. They scattered in all directions and retreated, no longer daring to fight.

The opponent was exceptionally skilled in combat. Fire Virtue Red Qi naturally countered Metal Virtue White Qi, while he relied on Wood Virtue Green Qi to heal himself. Chen Xuan had directly adopted a fighting style that disregarded his own life. Who would still clash with him head-on? Chen Xuan suffered injuries, but they would lose their lives!

In merely this short moment, no fewer than three Ascetic Monks had died by his hand. There were so many wounded that they could not count them on one hand.

Even if they exhausted all their strength to keep Chen Xuan here, at least half of them would have to die.

And they might not even be able to keep him here!

Chen Xuan was drenched in blood. His gaze swept around. The Ascetic Monks who had unleashed killing intent toward him had all been dealt with. He then turned, waved at the group of Qi Refiners from Red Crow City standing dumbstruck in the distance, and laughed as he left.

"A temple without a good temple, a monastery without a good monastery. Everyone, I'll be leaving first. Until we meet again!"

Some of the Ascetic Monks in this Hanging Temple were strange. It was not just the old monk and those two others. His instincts told him that he could not remain here any longer!