Fifth Layer of Qi Casting

The next day.

Lianshan City, Blood Wolf Gang headquarters in Beicheng.

Qin Sihai sat in a tiger-skin chair, idly rolling two iron walnuts in his hand, his expression incomparably grim.

A night had passed.

Ma Wen had not returned.

He was one of Shadow Hall's finest scouts.

Ma Wen had once hidden right before his eyes. Even when he came within three zhang, Qin Sihai had failed to detect his aura-concealing methods.

How could such a scout have failed?

Unless...

"Chen Xuan!" Qin Sihai murmured the name, and the iron walnuts in his hand stopped turning. "Just what realm have you reached?"

The ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

Lei Hu had at least reached the First Layer of Qi Casting by cultivating a superior martial art, yet when he went to Baishui Town, he had not even stirred up the slightest ripple.

Ma Wen, one of Shadow Hall's finest scouts, had helped the Blood Wolf Gang gather countless pieces of intelligence, yet he too had lost contact after entering Baishui Town.

Qin Sihai's carefully laid plans had utterly come to nothing.

Even now, he did not know Chen Xuan's true strength.

"I hope Liu Feng will not disappoint me."

Qin Sihai muttered to himself.

Lei Hu's death was no great loss. It had only been one of his tests; he had never expected Lei Hu to truly kill Chen Xuan.

The one truly capable of killing Chen Xuan was Liu Feng, an Inner Disciple whose cultivation had reached the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer. He cultivated the Superior Technique, Blood Origin Technique. Even if Chen Xuan had reached the First Layer of Qi Casting, Liu Feng could still handle him.

At the First Layer of Qi Casting, a Top-Tier Technique opened thirty-six qi meridians, while a Superior Technique at the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer could connect forty-eight qi meridians, holding the advantage in sheer number of opened meridians.

Once Liu Feng acted, Chen Xuan would undoubtedly die.

And all Qin Sihai needed to do was wait.

Baishui Town.

The sun set.

Chen Xuan opened the panel.

Host: Chen Xuan

Fate: Zhaoxi Bizheng

Aptitude: Above average

Realm: Qi Casting Realm Second Layer (mid Pimai)

Martial arts: Giant Whale Body Refining Technique / Ninth Layer, Mountain Crushing Fist / Mastery, Vajra Technique / Sixth Layer (qi meridians connected: 82/108), Nine Shadow Killing Sword / Second Layer (proficient), Huanri Technique / Not Initiated

Zhaoxi Value: 1

"Consume Zhaoxi Value to raise the Huanri Technique."

With a thought from Chen Xuan, the panel responded.

Buzz—

A familiar scene flooded into his mind.

Unlike the Vajra Technique, the cultivation of the Huanri Technique did not involve tempering the body. Instead, it focused on minute control over one's aura and flesh.

The Chen Xuan within the scene sat cross-legged. Following the Huanri Technique's mental method, he adjusted his breathing, heartbeat, and circulation of blood and qi over and over, gradually drawing in his aura bit by bit, like covering a bright lamp with black cloth until its light grew dimmer and fainter.

The process was unbearably tedious and endlessly long.

Yet the Chen Xuan in the scene knew no fatigue. Without sleep or rest, he cultivated day after day.

Who knew how much time passed before Chen Xuan condensed his aura to the utmost limit? At that moment, he was like a stone, without the slightest ripple of life.

A year of bitter cultivation.

It was not over yet.

Chen Xuan continued cultivating, advancing toward the Zhuqi Realm.

Normally, the qi meridians opened by different techniques varied. Only a small number overlapped. If they were techniques of the same attribute, perhaps more of their qi meridians would overlap.

The Huanri Technique was an Ultimate Art. To reach the First Layer of Qi Casting, it required opening seventy-two qi meridians.

However, the Huanri Technique differed from other techniques.

The Huanri Technique would not conflict with any other cultivation method. Due to its unique characteristics, it could mimic the true qi of other techniques, so the qi meridians opened by any technique could be used with the Huanri Technique.

Chen Xuan had cultivated the Vajra Technique and already opened eighty-two qi meridians. All eighty-two of those meridians were compatible with the Huanri Technique.

Therefore, this Ultimate Art's breakthrough into the First Layer of Qi Casting came as naturally as water flowing into a channel, without the slightest obstruction.

Upon reaching the Zhuqi Realm, the Huanri Technique possessed two great traits.

The first was mimicking true qi.

The second was disguise.

This disguise was not something as simple as a human-skin mask or cosmetic alterations. By circulating Huanri True Qi, one could control the subtle changes in the facial muscles and bones, thereby changing one's appearance.

"Let's test the effect."

Chen Xuan came before the bronze mirror in his bedroom and circulated Huanri True Qi, adjusting the muscles and bones of his face.

First came the height of his brow ridge, then the prominence of his nose bridge, followed by the shape of his jaw and the degree to which his cheekbones protruded...

Every change was minute, yet accumulated together, they could turn him into an entirely different person.

The face in the bronze mirror slowly changed, transforming from that of a seventeen-year-old youth into a middle-aged man in his thirties.

Before long.

An utterly unfamiliar face appeared in the mirror.

A square face, thick brows, large eyes, and an age of over thirty. He looked like an ordinary man of the martial world.

"Wonderful!"

Chen Xuan could not help but praise it as he looked at the unfamiliar face in the mirror.

This was more ingenious than any human-skin mask, because it was not a disguise, but a genuine change.

No one could spot a flaw. Even if someone touched his bones with their own hands, it would be useless, because this truly was his face.

Chen Xuan had only cultivated the Huanri Technique to the First Layer of Qi Casting, so for now he could only change his aura and facial appearance. As his cultivation steadily advanced, even his height and weight could be altered at will.

By then, he would truly possess a thousand faces for a thousand people.

Once the Huanri Technique reached great mastery, no one would be able to track him.

Time flowed on.

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

Chen Xuan used the Zhaoxi Value he gained over those three days to accelerate his cultivation of the Vajra Technique. All one hundred and eight qi meridians were connected, his cultivation broke through to the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer, and he opened another four acupoints.

The Fourth through Sixth Layers of Qi Casting were Tongqiao.

Besides the human body's three hundred and sixty qi meridians, it also possessed three hundred and sixty acupoints. They were exceedingly hidden, places qi could not reach.

Only through martial cultivation methods could martial artists locate those acupoints and open them, filling them with true qi. Over the years, this would bring about a transformation of rebirth and renewal.

The Tongqiao realm was like the Pimai realm.

With an Ordinary Technique, the Fourth Layer of Qi Casting could only open twelve acupoints, the Fifth Layer of Qi Casting twenty-four, and the Sixth Layer of Qi Casting thirty-six.

But with a Top-Tier Technique, the Fourth Layer of Qi Casting could already open thirty-six acupoints.

Now that Chen Xuan had opened four acupoints, he only needed to open another thirty-two for his cultivation to break through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Casting.

The days passed one by one.

In the blink of an eye, it was the third day of May.

At dusk, the sun set.

Chen Xuan used the Zhaoxi Value he had gained to accelerate his cultivation of the Vajra Technique, opening another ten acupoints for a total of seventy-four.

His cultivation broke through from the Fourth Layer of Qi Casting to the Fifth Layer of Qi Casting.

At that moment.

Outside Baishui Town, on the official road.

A black steed galloped toward the town, its hooves kicking up dust that filled the sky.

Seated on the horse was a young man of twenty-five or twenty-six. He wore a blood-red robe, its cuffs embroidered with the insignia of a Blood Fiend Devil Sect Inner Disciple. A curved blade hung at his waist, its scabbard carved with savage blood-red patterns.

This man was none other than Blood Fiend Devil Sect Inner Disciple Liu Feng.

"Whoa—"

Liu Feng pulled the reins. The black steed reared high on its hind legs before stopping at the entrance to Baishui Town.

He leapt down from the horse, tied it to a crooked tree at the town entrance, swept his gaze over Baishui Town, and revealed a cold smile.

"Chen Xuan, today is the day you die."

Liu Feng spoke softly and strode into town.

He did not conceal his aura. On the contrary, he deliberately released the pressure of the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer.

Wherever he passed, pedestrians on the road hurriedly gave way. Their faces turned pale, and they did not even dare breathe loudly.

"Who is that? What a powerful presence."

"Why has an Inner Disciple of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect come to Baishui Town?"

"Judging by this, he is probably here to settle a score."

"Quick, go! Don't let trouble stick to us."

The pedestrians scattered like birds and beasts, and in an instant, more than half the street was empty.

Liu Feng strode toward the Red Sun Gang branch.

"Stop! Who goes there?"

Before the branch entrance, two guards stepped forward to block Liu Feng.

"Get lost!"

Liu Feng did not even glance at the two guards as he raised a hand and swept it outward.

A stream of blood-colored true qi surged from his palm, transforming into a blood-red hand that sent the two guards flying.

"Pfft—"

The two guards at the gate spat blood at the same time, flew backward, and crashed heavily onto the ground, dying on the spot.

Their chests had caved in, blood gushing from their seven apertures. Their deaths were miserable to behold.

Liu Feng stepped over the threshold and entered the branch's outer courtyard.