Days passed one by one.
On the evening of the sixth day of his journey to Tiannan Prefecture.
The setting sun sank, vanishing completely beyond the horizon.
[Zhaoxi Value +1]
The prompt flashed before his eyes.
Without hesitation, Chen Xuan added the point to the Giant Whale Body Refining Technique.
He had yet to use the Zhaoxi Values gained on the fourth and fifth days. Together with this one, he had three points in total.
Three points of Zhaoxi Value meant three years of tireless, day-and-night cultivation.
A vast and majestic force poured into Chen Xuan's body. A faint yet perceptible aura, utterly unlike Mingjin or Anjin, emerged from his dantian.
This aura condensed without dispersing, clear and tangible.
As it was born within his dantian, it became like a wild horse breaking free of its reins, surging and roaring through his meridians, flowing through all four limbs and every bone, circulating without rest.
At the same time.
The mental formula for the ninth layer of the Giant Whale Body Refining Technique, the key points of exerting force, the essence of the technique... all were branded deeply into his mind.
"Huajin—this is Huajin!"
Chen Xuan felt the current flowing through his limbs and bones. His inner force had not only become more condensed, but had increased in abundance by more than tenfold.
Ninth Layer of Body Tempering.
Before it was further subdivided, it was actually divided into three levels.
They were Mingjin, Anjin, and Huajin.
Those new to martial arts had to strengthen their blood and qi, temper their physical strength, and unify the power of their entire body. Only then could they generate Mingjin, capable of splitting steles and shattering rocks.
Next, one used Mingjin to temper the skin and flesh, forge the tendons and bones, and precisely control every muscle and pore across the body. Opening and closing the pores at will, locking in all one's strength without letting it leak—that was Anjin.
Anjin was a step above Mingjin. It could leave the body, pierce armor and injure the organs, wounding a person's viscera without a trace.
Furthermore, after cultivating Anjin, one could nourish the five viscera and six bowels, temper and strengthen them, allowing the internal organs to brim with renewed vitality. The fleshly body would become resilient, possessing four or five times the strength of an ordinary person at their peak.
Above Anjin lay Huajin.
The mysteries of Huajin were far beyond what Mingjin and Anjin could compare to.
Martial artists who reached this realm were perfectly rounded and without leaks throughout their bodies, their inner force spread across every limb and bone. Even if they stood still and let ordinary people hack at them with swords, they would remain unhurt. Moreover, a Huajin martial artist's force was solid and substantial, capable of striking several meters beyond the body to kill enemies from afar.
Chen Xuan raised his right hand. Without gathering strength, without even any obvious swelling of his muscles, he casually threw a punch at a large tree not far away.
Bang!
A low but piercing boom rang out. The struck tree broke cleanly in the middle and crashed to the ground.
Chen Xuan withdrew his fist, a trace of satisfaction flashing through his eyes.
That had merely been a casual strike.
If he used a martial technique, its power would only be more terrifying.
In battles between martial artists, cultivation was not the only thing that mattered. Martial techniques were also immensely important. They could bring a martial artist's strength to its fullest potential, even unleashing power beyond their own limits.
Chen Xuan had cultivated two martial arts.
The Giant Whale Body Refining Technique was a cultivation method, used to raise his realm.
Mountain Crushing Fist, on the other hand, was a martial technique.
"Now that I've reached the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, the next step is to improve my martial techniques, increase my combat strength, and then seek out a Zhuqi Realm cultivation method."
Chen Xuan thought to himself.
He gathered his thoughts and urged his horse onward.
The seventh day.
Chen Xuan arrived in Tiannan Prefecture.
The Guiyuan Sect governed a total of seven prefectures.
Traveling south from the sect, Chen Xuan had already passed through two prefectures. Yet Tiannan Prefecture looked far more desolate than either of those he had seen.
Vast stretches of farmland alongside the official road lay abandoned. Now and then, he could see the ruins of burned villages, with weeds flourishing among their broken walls and crumbling remnants.
There were few travelers on the road. Even when he occasionally encountered someone, they were sallow-faced and emaciated, hurrying along. Upon seeing Chen Xuan on horseback, they all kept far away.
Tiannan Prefecture was where the three great powers—the Guiyuan Sect, the Blood Fiend Devil Sect, and Ten Thousand Sword Villa—met. After negotiations, it had been jointly administered by the three sects.
But the higher-ups of all three sects knew this was merely a temporary expedient. Undercurrents surged between them, and every one of them wanted to claim this land for itself.
The disciples of the three sects also fought without end.
As a result, Tiannan Prefecture was far more chaotic than other places. Within its cities, all factions openly and covertly struggled against one another, with conflicts large and small playing out almost every day. Outside the cities, bandits ran rampant, with no one to restrain them.
Even disciples of the three sects could be robbed and killed by bandits.
Of course, they might not truly be bandits. Some disciples of the three sects disguised themselves as bandits to rob and kill disciples of the other two sects.
No one could say for certain whether they were real bandits or not.
After traveling for over half a day more.
Chen Xuan entered a hilly region.
On either side of the official road stretched vast wastelands and groves of scrubby trees, with scarcely any sign of human habitation.
"Another thirty li, and I'll reach Lianshan City."
Riding his horse, Chen Xuan held a map in his hand as he calculated the distance.
He understood that this road was far from peaceful, and he had to remain vigilant at all times.
Within the territory governed by the Guiyuan Sect, the skin of an Outer Disciple could still intimidate some petty scoundrels, keeping the bandits along the way from setting their sights on him.
But in Tiannan Prefecture, that might not work.
Suddenly, Chen Xuan frowned.
Having reached the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm, his senses had improved as well. He caught the faint scent of blood drifting on the wind from ahead, along with the sounds of shouting and killing.
Chen Xuan pulled on the reins and listened carefully.
The sounds of battle came from around a bend in the official road ahead, mixed with the sharp clang of weapons striking one another and several shrill screams.
"Bandits?"
A thoughtful look appeared on Chen Xuan's face.
A fight breaking out on an official road usually meant bandits were plundering a merchant caravan.
But the sounds of battle soon stopped.
"Is it over?"
Chen Xuan's brows drew together slightly. He did not know whether the caravan had driven off the bandits, or the bandits had wiped out the caravan.
"Should I take a detour?"
The thought flashed through Chen Xuan's mind.
Though he was now at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, in the Huajin Realm, and already considered a top expert among ordinary people, he was unfamiliar with the situation in Tiannan Prefecture. Rashly getting embroiled in a conflict would be extremely unwise.
"Big Brother, there's someone here."
Just as Chen Xuan hesitated, a rough voice came from ahead.
Chen Xuan looked up and saw more than a dozen men carrying weapons emerge from around the bend ahead. At their head was a burly man with a face full of flesh, holding a bloodstained machete. Blood still spattered his body; clearly, he had just finished killing and had not yet had time to clean himself up.
"He's a Guiyuan Sect Outer Disciple."
A skinny, monkey-like man beside the bald brute spoke in a low voice.
"What's there to fear? The Liu Family caravan we robbed has also attached itself to the Guiyuan Sect. If word gets out, the Guiyuan Sect won't spare us either. We might as well kill him too."
The fleshy-faced brute spoke without concern.
"Big Brother is right. Since we've made a move, we can't leave any survivors."
"With no survivors, so many people die in Tiannan Prefecture every day—who can possibly investigate them all? If we let this brat leave, our tracks will be exposed instead."
"He's only an Outer Disciple. Killing him is no great matter. In Tiannan Prefecture, the Guiyuan Sect can't cover the sky with one hand."
"Even if the Guiyuan Sect really finds out we did it, so what? At worst, we'll join Ten Thousand Sword Villa or the Blood Fiend Devil Sect."
Every one of these people was a desperate outlaw.
If they were within the seven prefectures governed by the Guiyuan Sect, they might have shown some restraint. But this was Tiannan Prefecture, where the Guiyuan Sect's name was not nearly so useful.
Before you continue