Small Underworld

Chen Xuan's skin broke out in goosebumps. The sight was too terrifying.

Even when he had made up his mind not long ago to face the Qi Refiners of Green Deer Mountain, he had never been this tense. After all, what his eyes could see was something even more terrifying than immortals.

For example, above the vault of the sky, there was that Great Sun Dragon Eye being dragged along by countless ancient existences with Bronze Chains.

Although the scene before him at this moment was no match for the "Immortal Binding Sun Diagram," it was still horrifying enough. Piles of ghastly pale fire, flying spirit money, and even rows of lonely tombstones, burial mounds, and gloomy, ancient, dilapidated temples began to emerge...

A pair of pure-gold, unsettling eyes wandered through the black mist.

"Those eyes... Could this place be the underworld?"

Chen Xuan instinctively tightened his grip on the double-edged cold blade. He casually turned his head away. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to take a risk now.

He had already obtained a Qi Refining breathing method. That was the safer path...

Besides, he still had to find Wang Chan.

The scene before him was simply too inconceivable. Those golden eyes were even more soul-shakingly terrifying. He absolutely could not let them fix on him, or a Great Terror would occur!

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, the being with those pure-gold eyes pressed toward Chen Xuan. The black mist surged, outlining the shape of a monster that resembled a fierce tiger.

"Swish!"

Chen Xuan's heart jolted. His body tensed in an instant, and his eyes locked tightly onto the golden-eyed monster's silhouette within the black mist.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened.

"Whoosh!"

Chen Xuan felt his eyes inexplicably grow scorching hot, as though they were about to burn. An unbearable searing pain filled his entire mind.

Heartfast!

In a daze,

Chen Xuan felt his left eye suddenly fly free of his body and drift toward the golden-eyed monster in the darkness.

"What happened?"

The upheaval nearly drove Chen Xuan out of his mind. Was one of his eyes about to be "eaten" by that monster? Or was this another one of his inexplicable abilities?

What exactly was the use of Heartfast?!

Chen Xuan felt his vision spin wildly. His perspective shifted at lightning speed, seemingly descending onto the body of that monster with the pure-gold eyes.

"These two Qi Refiners were finally killed..."

Suddenly, Chen Xuan heard "himself" speak excitedly within his mind. Then the creature swiftly moved its nimble, graceful limbs, and the golden-eyed monster's body burst through the black mist!

A towering figure as lofty as a mountain lay across his field of vision.

This was...

The black clothes of a martial hall disciple, a straight and upright bearing, a body brimming with Blood Qi, a pale face with sharply defined features, and a blade flashing with cold light between his fingers...

"You unlucky little thing, you got in Lady's way!"

'Chen Xuan' stared at the enormous giant, raised his head for a couple of glances, then extended a paw shaped like a plum blossom. After licking twice with his soft tongue, he courteously detoured around the giant's feet.

A black cat?

Lady?

Chen Xuan was stunned when he realized that what he had possessed was not some terrifying monster, but an ancient Mystic Cat only as tall as a person's knee, with a jade tablet hanging around her neck.

Her smooth fur was not purely black, either. A faint red glimmer hid within the black, which was why she was called "Mystic"!

She held her head high and puffed out her chest, walking with proud, elegant steps toward the other two giants who had already died.

The Fat Yellow Man, and a middle-aged man...

"The Small Underworld has called the roll. You Qi Refiners were fated to die at the third watch and would not live past the fifth..."

Like an emissary from the underworld come to claim souls, she lowered her head slightly and sniffed the two corpses several times, sucking something away... Chen Xuan guessed that it seemed to be their souls, or perhaps something even more mysterious.

"Burp!"

She let out a satisfied burp, then turned and walked into the depths of the black mist. Her breathing was strange, maintaining an unusual rhythm. It seemed to be an extremely formidable breathing method.

From the moment Chen Xuan possessed her, he had noticed that special breathing rhythm.

He committed it carefully to memory.

"Snap!"

She made a light leap and nimbly landed on the window lattice. Then she looked back, staring at the giant figure standing inside the room.

"Heh, you dared to practice the breathing method spat out by the Yellow Millet Dream... When the time comes, I'll come and claim your life..."

She let out a mocking laugh, leaped out the window, and left. A pitch-black crescent moon hung in the sky, while in the distant wilderness, more golden eyes wandered through the black mist...

Inside the side room.

The place was a complete mess. The stench of blood drifted through the air. Pots and bowls lay overturned on the floor, while the wine, dishes, and soup that had yet to cool still steamed.

"Just now, I saw the legendary Small Underworld descend... Is this the ability of Heartfast?"

Chen Xuan's vision returned to his own body. As he recalled the experience, his emotions churned and he found it difficult to calm down.

Heartfast.

It allowed him not only to glimpse the descent of bizarre scenes like the Small Underworld, but also to possess the things within them and gain benefits from them.

This ability was truly rather mystical.

"I'll call it the Mystic Cat Breathing Method..."

Chen Xuan quickly recalled the strange breathing method he had learned from the Mystic Cat, deepening his impression and engraving it firmly in his memory.

A short while later, he had completely committed the Qi Refining breathing method to heart.

"She left too quickly. If she had stayed a little longer, perhaps I could have discovered more valuable things..."

Chen Xuan felt a faint sense of regret. He walked to the window and looked at the empty street already covered in a layer of snow. The Mystic Cat, whose black fur had a faint reddish hue, had long since vanished into the distant wilderness.

Mystic Cat Goddess...

It was as though everything that had happened here just now had been an illusion.

"The matter here is settled. It's time for me to make my choice..."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself. Then he climbed out the window as well and quickly left the tavern.

First, he returned home in Willow Town and gathered some clothes, money, and supplies for a long journey. He left the property deed untouched.

He slung his pack over his back and chewed bitter medicinal herbs for treating injuries.

Not long afterward, he returned to the already-boiling Pei Family Tavern.

The old martial artist Pei Qing was facing the tragedy that had occurred in the tavern with a mournful expression when he suddenly spotted Chen Xuan. He was so startled that his mouth fell open.

"You..."

After causing such a heaven-shaking disaster, you didn't hurry away to save your life, but came back to the scene? What were you thinking?

Young people these days were truly arrogant and lawless!

"Slap!"

With a smile on his face, Chen Xuan tossed over a piece of silver about the size of a thumb as compensation. He clasped his fists and said,

"Master Pei, I'm going to Southern Wilderness Peach Blossom Spring Village... We won't meet again in the martial world."

He turned and left just like that.

Master Pei watched the figure turn and walk away, clutching the silver in his hand. He stood stunned for quite a while.

"Young man, why are you telling me all this... Do I look like the sort who would sell out someone's whereabouts? Sigh, thanks..."

After all, he could not afford to offend Green Deer Mountain either.

Pei Qing understood the hidden meaning in the young man's words. Debts had their debtor and grievances had their griever; this place's people had nothing to do with it. If someone wanted revenge, they could go south and find him...

The young man's way of doing things was open and aboveboard, bold and heroic. Pei Qing could not help admiring him. How could he look like the sort of petty villain who would betray his teacher and ancestors?

Pei Qing turned around and sighed. "Old Yang, believing that kind of bizarre ghost story... He's truly grown old and senile..."

Yang Family Martial Hall.

Within the courtyard walls, the women's cries rose and fell one after another. Some senior brothers who could not bear to listen went over to explain matters, only to be harshly berated by Junior Sister Yang.

One could roughly imagine the scene inside the courtyard at that moment.

Chen Xuan listened outside for quite some time. Snow gathered on one shoulder, but in the end, he still did not enter.

"...Let it be."

Chen Xuan turned and left, walking through the snow that blanketed the ground toward the boundless wilderness.

He would never return to Willow Town.

Southward!

Junior Brother Wang Chan... I'm coming to kill my way to you.

You Yellow Millet Dream—

do you know that?!

The weather was cold, and snowflakes drifted down.

Chen Xuan began to run. His Blood Qi surged within him, and even a mass of heat steamed up from his skin.

He charged into the snowy plain and ran wildly, as if determined to vent all his strength. Like a shooting star flashing past, he sped away into the distance.

At the edge of Willow Town behind him,

a tall and slender woman stood still. She wore a snow-white dress, her chest full and rounded, with a long sword hanging at her waist. A veiled hat covered her head, faintly revealing her lovely facial outline and delicate chin, giving her a mysterious, frosty beauty.

Beside her stood a tall black horse, extraordinarily fine-boned and majestic. It spoke in a human voice:

"Oh? His Blood Qi billows like the blazing sun at dawn. For an ordinary person to temper martial arts to this level is truly rare."

"Although I arrived a step too late and the Yellow Millet Dream was taken, this young man isn't bad either."

The Black Horse's entire body seemed cast from dark gold, flowing with the luster of a precious metal. Watching Chen Xuan's back, it continued, "Let him be the candidate for Peach Blossom Garden. I think he'll do. He should be able to pass your sect's trial."

The White-Robed Woman lightly stroked the long sword at her waist. The cold wind swept past, causing her sleeves to flutter and cling to her body, outlining a breathtaking scene of slender branches bearing abundant fruit. She shook her head.

"Besides the Yellow Millet Dream, there is someone more suitable than him."

In the distance, Chen Xuan seemed to sense something. His gaze appeared to glance back, but his figure soon vanished into the woods and disappeared without a trace.

"As expected of someone whose martial path is utterly sincere."

The Black Horse could not help clicking its tongue. It appraised him, saying, "I know why you look down on him... You think that after he struck more than a dozen times, he ultimately only crippled that muddleheaded old man's meridians and martial arts, without seeing the matter through to the end."

"The Sword Officials of your lineage who cultivate Metal White Qi are too cold-blooded. But I admire his way of handling things. His Root Bone may not be top-grade, but it truly isn't bad. Are you really not choosing him?"

This person and horse actually knew everything that had happened in Willow Town as clearly as if they had witnessed it themselves!

"Choosing him would mean taking on the cause and effect of the Yellow Millet Dream. I'm not afraid of trouble, but there is indeed someone suitable already."

"Every choice brings consequences. He will never know what he missed because of this..."

The White-Robed Woman continued shaking her head, rejecting the Black Horse's suggestion. She took up the reins and turned to leave, her voice ethereal and distant.

"There are too many people favored by heaven in this era. Peerless geniuses are truly as numerous as carp crossing a river, beyond counting. The Yellow Millet Dream is not the only one... They will all become existences he spends his entire life unable to catch up to, able only to raise his head and look up at."