With Tie Zhu mediating, Chi Lianxue and Wang Qi ultimately decided to sit down and talk.
Chi Lianxue got straight to the point. "I'm only thirty-seven this year."
Wang Qi was startled. As Modern Dharma Cultivators delved ever deeper into spiritual energy theory and the human body, bottlenecks before the Primordial Spirit's Heavenly Gate—at the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation stages—had become fewer and fewer. Now, as long as one could break through the Heaven-Piercing Barrier, one would certainly be able to form a Golden Core. The greatest geniuses even advocated, "Three years for Qi Refining, six years for Foundation Establishment, nine years for Core Formation—this is perfection." For a lowly Modern Dharma Cultivator like Chi Lianxue, breaking through to Qi Refining at thirty-seven was not slow.
Yet his face clearly looked older than fifty. Cultivators aged slowly; a fifty-year-old cultivator often still wore the skin of a twenty-year-old. Chi Lianxue, on the other hand... clearly did not have much time left.
Chi Lianxue snorted. "I once served as a Border Guard in the West Border. A year and a half ago, the Demon Race of the Western Sea went mad. I went out with the other Border Guards to hunt demons, but accidentally entered a Demon Race secret realm. In the end, I had to use a secret art and burn away my lifespan to escape. The Immortal Alliance has records of this. It cannot be faked."
Wang Qi pretended to nod, but secretly tapped his ring lightly with his little finger, signaling Zhen Chanzi. Understanding Wang Qi's meaning, Zhen Chanzi quietly said in his mind, "The Chiyang Sect does possess such a secret art. It is called 'Thousand Years of Solitude, a Moment of Allure.' It trades lifespan for immense power and can be considered one