Time flew. It was the first day of the month.
Deep in the mountains and forests, winding paths led into secluded depths, ancient trees cast shade, and white wildflowers bloomed.
"How high does one's cultivation have to be before it can be called high?"
Chen Xuan muttered to himself, his hands clasped behind his back as he ambled along at an unhurried pace, utterly at ease.
"Giggle, giggle, giggle!"
On a distant cliff, a yellow-furred Yu monkey lay on its side atop a blue stone. When it saw Chen Xuan, it immediately revealed an eerie grin resembling a human face. It raised both hands, twisted its body, and ran off laughing.
It was one of the ghosts and monsters.
Chen Xuan did not pursue it. He continued strolling along the mountain path. The Southern Wilderness was originally the territory of the Twenty-Four Ghosts and Monsters, so encountering a demon on the road was nothing unusual.
Before long, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
A group of Qi Refiners from Red Crow City had gathered in the distance, numbering several dozen.
The three members of the Chu Family, everyone from the Li Family, and the Wu Family members he had seen competing for treasure fish at Small Stone Lake were all among them.
"Chu Huo Gun has undergone his Second Ascension and rebirthed through nirvana."
Chen Xuan noticed that Chu Huo Gun had already grown a brand-new body. His limbs were whole, his complexion rosy, and he even looked a few years younger than when they had first met.
"Brother Xiao Wang, we haven't been able to find you lately. I heard you caused a huge disturbance at Hanging Temple a few days ago and even snatched away their treasure medicine..."
The moment Chu Huo Gun saw Chen Xuan, his eyes lit up. He led two juniors from his family over to greet him.
He had once entered the Southern Wilderness with a group of Qi Refiners, trying to find Yan Yushu, but Yan Yushu had vanished without a trace long ago, leaving them to make the trip in vain. Later, after returning to the Hanging Temple camp, he learned that Chen Xuan had caused such a massive incident. It had been absolutely horrifying to hear about.
Afterward, because Chen Xuan had snatched away the Buddha Heart Treasure Tea, the Qi Refiners in the camp could no longer stay put. They had caused a great uproar before scattering to the winds.
"I was plotted against, and I still haven't taken my revenge."
Chen Xuan's mood was perfectly calm. When he brought up the past, there was no sign of dejection. He then asked, "What are you all gathering here for?"
Chu Huo Gun told Chen Xuan that he had recently been following one of the Qi Refining Aristocratic Clans of Red Crow City. A friend he had met in his youth had now become a Great Figure of considerable importance throughout Red Crow City's territory. Chu Huo Gun had been tagging along behind him these past few days and had gained many benefits.
"In Red Crow City, the two most elite Qi Refining Aristocratic Clans of the past century are the Wang and Xie Families, known together as the Wangs and Xies. We're waiting for the Wang Family's patriarch, Wang Zhenyang..."
Chu Huo Gun licked his lips. A trace of barely perceptible loneliness crossed his eyes as he sighed, "But times have changed. My old friend and I are no longer on the same level."
Chen Xuan nodded and was just about to speak when a sheet of scarlet radiance suddenly rose in the distant sky and spread toward them, dazzling and gorgeous as brocade.
"My old friend has arrived." Chu Huo Gun's expression suddenly turned solemn.
Chen Xuan narrowed his eyes and looked over. Beneath a resplendent blaze of fiery light, two scarlet steeds pulled a carriage. Seated atop it was an imposing old man dressed in a scarlet Daoist robe, his white hair falling over his shoulders.
The old man named Wang Zhenyang had flames dancing within his pupils, and his aura surged like a raging tide. Leaning against an iron seat, he extended six thick and powerful palms from six broad sleeves, resting them lightly on the armrests with an air of careless indifference.
"A great cultivator of the Dao Repository Realm has arrived," someone in the crowd murmured.
"Wang Zhenyang... Six arms. He comprehended the Dao Repository from the True Scripture." A Qi Refiner's body trembled, large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.
"No... I have to kneel first." A Red Qi cultivator's face flushed crimson. Unable to hold out any longer, his knees suddenly buckled, and he dropped to the ground with a thud, kneeling and prostrating himself flat.
The Dao Repository Realm.
It was the second realm on the Qi Refining Path.
As Wang Zhenyang drew closer, nearly half of the Qi Refiners present began displaying abnormal reactions. Every one of them was a Red Qi cultivator.
Their faces turned pale, their knees trembled, and one after another they knelt on the ground, burying their faces against the earth. They could not look directly at him, nor could they even lift their heads.
"Ah, I can't hold out either."
Chu Huo Gun was drenched in sweat, flames even spraying from his mouth. As he knelt, he muttered, "Every time I see my old friend, I have to kneel once. I'm no longer what I used to be. I'll have to call him Old Master Wang now."
The Chu Qing Ling and sickly cousin-brother behind him had only just undergone Feather Transformation and had yet to cultivate Red Qi. Instead, they remained perfectly normal, unaffected in the slightest.
"So this is what a great cultivator is..."
Chen Xuan swept his gaze around. The members of the Li Family, Wu Family, and the others had all knelt as well. They had not done so willingly; rather, under the pull of superior Red Qi, they had no choice but to kneel.
"Fortunately, I cultivate three kinds of Immortal Qi, so I won't encounter such a situation."
Chen Xuan muttered inwardly. At that moment, Metal Virtue White Qi flowed through his body, so he sensed nothing unusual.
"Fellow Daoists, there is no need for such ceremony. Rise."
Wang Zhenyang's expression was imposing as he spoke calmly. He gently raised one hand, as though his words carried Heaven's mandate, and an invisible force immediately dispersed.
Chu Huo Gun and the others felt the Red Qi within their bodies settle down. Wiping the sweat from their foreheads, they pushed themselves up with their hands on their knees.
"Yes, sir."
The Qi Refining Path was a world of strict hierarchy.
Within the same realm, one might perhaps defeat the strong while being weak,
but if there was an entire major realm between them, it was wholly impossible. One could not even harbor the thought of resisting. The moment such a thought arose, it would be detected. The higher the realm, the more severe this superior suppression became.
If Wang Zhenyang wished it, he could kill all the Feather Transformation Realm Red Qi cultivators here in a short time. Their numbers meant nothing to him.
"Sister Qing Ling, sickly cousin-brother, I haven't seen you for a day, and I've missed you so much!"
A pretty Maiden in a red dress with a round face suddenly broke away from Wang Zhenyang's group and came rushing over to the Chu Family. She wrapped her arms around the peach-eyed Chu Qing Ling.
"Sister Wang Ling'er, oh, stop touching me everywhere." Chu Qing Ling looked helpless as she struggled to seize Wang Ling'er's fair hand.
"Huh? Who are you? Are you a member of the Chu Family too? Why have I never seen you before?"
Wang Ling'er's curious gaze landed on Chen Xuan.
She was deeply astonished, because she could clearly sense that Chen Xuan's blood and qi were vigorous, like a tiger or leopard, and were actually no weaker than hers.
The top geniuses within Red Crow City's territory were all familiar with one another. The sudden appearance of an unfamiliar person made her extremely curious.
"Wang Chan."
Chen Xuan answered calmly.
"Wang Chan?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ling'er abruptly leaned her head back. Staring at Chen Xuan with her lively, wide eyes, she fixed him with a strange look. After a long while, she murmured, "Wasn't Yellow Millet Dream dead...?"
Chen Xuan was slightly taken aback. It seemed that Yellow Millet Dream, Wang Chan, was no longer a secret among these Qi Refining Aristocratic Clans.
At that moment, Chu Huo Gun suddenly turned to glance at Chen Xuan and muttered under his breath, "Wang Zhenyang is drawing out my Red Qi. What are you peeking at? He's drawn it out so many times these past few days. I really don't understand..."
Chen Xuan turned his head at those words and looked toward the carriage in the distance.
On the carriage, Wang Zhenyang lightly tapped the armrest with one finger. His flame-like gaze shifted over, and he gave Chen Xuan a benevolent, kindly smile. Then he calmly looked away.
"Wang Zhenyang has noticed me... The sharp instincts and various methods of these high-level cultivators are truly impossible to guard against."
Chen Xuan grumbled inwardly.
He already understood that superior cultivators could easily draw out the Immortal Qi of inferior cultivators who cultivated the same kind of Qi, directly peering into their memories. Inferior cultivators had no privacy whatsoever... It was much the same as when the Mystic Cat Goddess was at work.
Wang Ling'er and Chu Qing Ling were very close and talked about everything. She lowered her voice and said, "These past two days, my grandfather said that a young man with astonishing Root Bone aptitude had appeared in the Southern Wilderness. His surname was Chen or something... My grandfather had to peer into the Qi of dozens of Qi Refiners before reaching that conclusion..." Cultivators of the Dao Repository Realm needed to come into close contact with inferior Qi Refiners before they could draw out their Immortal Qi. Only after Wang Zhenyang came to the Southern Wilderness did he gradually become aware of Chen Xuan's existence.
"Ah, that young man is incredible..." Chu Qing Ling widened her eyes and responded, her gaze unconsciously flicking toward Chen Xuan.
It was not only her. Chu Huo Gun and his sickly cousin-brother also glanced at Chen Xuan in unison, then hurriedly looked away as though nothing had happened.
"I can't use the name Wang Chan in the future. That person is dead, and it's unlucky."
Chen Xuan spoke inwardly. His senses were extremely sharp, and he immediately noticed the gazes of the three members of the Chu Family.
Qi Refiners were all old foxes. There was nothing more to say. Chen Xuan had long since grown used to it...
In fact, a few days earlier, Chu Qing Ling had once blurted out and called him, "Brother Xiao Chen..." Just now, Chu Huo Gun had also subtly reminded him that Wang Zhenyang knew his true identity.
Wang Ling'er's expression turned solemn as she said in a low voice, "Of course he's incredible. Back then, my grandfather studied one page of the Lei Bird True Scripture of the Ancient Chu Kingdom and spent twenty or thirty years advancing to the Dao Repository Realm. But my grandfather said that this man surnamed Chen might succeed in ten years..."
"In the future, you, I, Qing Ling, and my sickly cousin-brother—everyone of our generation will have to kneel to him first whenever we meet."
Upon hearing this, Chu Qing Ling's emotions surged. Her peach-shaped eyes widened, misty with tears, and she exclaimed, "Grandfather Zhenyang actually thinks so highly of Xiao Chen? Ah, this man surnamed Chen?"
Chu Huo Gun's reaction was even more dramatic. He immediately stared fixedly at Chen Xuan, thinking to himself... He had known Chen Xuan's talent was high, but he had never expected it to be this high.
If Chen Xuan succeeded in ten years, by then Chu Huo Gun's teeth would have fallen out from old age, yet he would still have to kneel to Chen Xuan alongside Qing Ling and the other grandchildren of his generation? Just imagining it made him feel that he would lose all face.
Wang Ling'er was also a somewhat renowned genius. She huffed, "I really want to meet that man surnamed Chen and see what he's capable of..."
As everyone talked, Wang Zhenyang's carriage set off once more in the distance, leading a host of Qi Refiners who had attached themselves to him toward their destination.
Peach Blossom Garden would descend at any moment today.
The top Great Figures of Red Crow City and the Southern Wilderness were about to conduct negotiations over the division of benefits.
Many matters hidden beneath the surface would now be brought to the table for discussion.
Chen Xuan advanced with the crowd. The route he had originally planned coincided with theirs.
"Through Heartfast, I saw that Six Desires Heaven Yan Yushu is nearby. There are some important matters we need to discuss."
Wang Ling'er had been right about one thing: he learned True Scriptures very quickly.
But it was not ten years, as Wang Zhenyang had guessed.
"It will take three years..."
Chen Xuan did not know whether the Lei Bird True Scripture of the Ancient Chu Kingdom or his Yellow Millet True Scripture was more difficult.
But these past few days, he had thoroughly grasped the Yellow Millet True Scripture. He was about to cultivate the first chapter's Yellow Millet Qi of the Ascension Realm, while the method for advancing to the Dao Repository Realm in the second chapter would take only three years to enter.
Three years was not a long time. To a Qi Refiner, it passed in the snap of a finger.
Chen Xuan had even once spent three years persistently practicing the martial arts of the secular world.
But now,
he hoped this period could be shortened. There were too many monsters on the Qi Refining Path, and he needed to press forward!
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