"A fourth-layer Qi Refiner who managed to obtain 500 Immortal Qi Points must have some ability. But for a mere fourth-layer Qi Refiner to be so eager to charge into the second level, he must be some reckless young hothead." The White-Robed Scholar narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, "Perhaps he really was killed by a Monster Beast, just as you said. Li Tang, the four of you, search again. If he's alive, bring him to me; if he's dead, bring me his Jade Token."
White-robed Scholar glanced at the four of them, his eyelids drooping lazily as he muttered to himself, "I thought I might find some cleverer prey. What a pity. If he's only at Qi Refining Layer 4, he's no fun at all."
He walked beneath a large tree, sat down on the ground in his spotless white robes, and closed his eyes to cultivate.
Red-robed Woman sat beside him, several Talismans pinched between her fingers. Her gaze remained fixed on Yellow-Robed Woman and the other two. If any of them so much as made a suspicious move, she would send the Talismans shooting at them.
But with White-robed Scholar keeping watch, she was certain these people wouldn't dare try anything.
Li Tang and the other three exchanged glances, then split into two teams as before and headed deeper into the forest.
On the ground beside Yellow-Robed Woman, the male cultivator had been studying White-robed Scholar for a long while. At last, he said in a low voice, "He's so young, yet already at Qi Refining Eighth Layer."
He showed no fear at the thought of his imminent death. He must have been a seasoned failure, having gone through several failed attempts and no longer fearing death in the Heavenly Court.
"That's not all. The folding fan in his hand must be a Spirit Tool. He defeated me in four moves with it." Yellow-Robed Woman shook her head slightly. When she recalled her battle with White-robed Scholar, wariness still filled her eyes.
Whether in the Cultivation World or the Heavenly Court, the strongest weapons in the Dao Cultivator's arsenal were the spells cultivated after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the powerful Dharma Treasures they relied on. But ordinary, low-level cultivators couldn't use Dharma Treasures. Ranked from weakest to strongest according to their materials, difficulty of manufacture, and power, they were: Spirit Tools, Magic Tools, Spirit Treasures, and Dharma Treasures.
Spirit Tools were mostly held by a small number of Qi Refining Realm and Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Even if a Qi Refining Realm cultivator was lucky enough to obtain one, they rarely used it, because Spirit Tools consumed far too much True Qi.
Yet White-robed Scholar, at Qi Refining Eighth Layer, could wield a Spirit Tool repeatedly without even changing his expression. That showed just how abundant his True Qi was.
At that moment, Chen Fan, sitting cross-legged behind the waterfall, suddenly opened his eyes. A surge of air burst from him and swept outward, kicking up dust from the ground.
The Demon Core in his hand had already crumbled to ash. Since this body had never been cleansed and its meridians remolded by a Marrow Cleansing Pill, it was somewhat weaker than his body on Earth at refining Demon Cores. Still, in this single night, he had absorbed all the immense energy within the core. His cultivation had climbed to the peak of Qi Refining Layer 5, and he was on the verge of breaking through to Layer 6.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Court was dense with spiritual energy. He glanced at the Immortal Qi count on his Jade Token, then closed his eyes and resumed cultivating...
Li Tang and Liu San had formed a team again. Following the river upstream, they headed toward the waterfall where Chen Fan was.
With their cultivation at Qi Refining Seventh Layer, traveling was no problem. In a short while, they were standing before the magnificent waterfall, staring at it in a daze.
"This is downright eerie. We searched all along the way and couldn't find that kid. Surely he isn't hiding inside the waterfall?" Liu San grinned. He'd said the last part jokingly, of course.
"Go on, try crawling in. Your hand would be scraped raw by the water before you even got close," Li Tang said, shaking his head.
"With a waterfall this violent, you think you'd be left with raw flesh? You'd be lucky to have any bones left." Liu San shuddered and turned to leave.
"Wait. What was that sound?" Li Tang suddenly furrowed his brow, suspicion crossing his face as he held Liu San back.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Li Tang's grave expression, Liu San immediately grew wary.
"I think I heard the faint ring of a sword..." Li Tang said. Liu San pricked up his ears too, but all he could hear was the deafening roar of the waterfall. There was no sword ring at all.
A moment later, Liu San gave Li Tang a helpless look and shook his head. "You imagined it. Come on, let's search somewhere else. We should finish him off before nightfall."
Li Tang listened carefully for a while longer, but the faint sword ring didn't come again. Thinking he might really have imagined it, he turned and left with Liu San.
BOOM!
Just as they had taken a few steps, a deafening crash came from behind them. Startled, they spun around and leaped backward!
The sight that met their eyes left them dumbfounded.
The massive waterfall had been torn open, leaving a gap. A small figure shot out from within, skimming across the surface of the water. He moved so fast it was as if he were walking on level ground.
SPLASH!!!
As the figure sped away, the water crashed down through the gap in the waterfall. The deafening roar snapped Li Tang and Liu San back to their senses. Chen Fan skimmed across the water, his sword vibrating rapidly in his hand. His expression was icy, his body wreathed in surging killing intent as he charged toward them.
"Qi Refining Layer 6?" Liu San said in surprise, staring at Chen Fan as he came at them with sword in hand.
"We've been fooled. There was no Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivator at all." Li Tang's expression darkened as he spoke in a low voice.
But neither of them retreated. Come on—if two Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators ran from someone at Qi Refining Layer 6, they'd be a laughingstock.
Even so, their expressions were complicated. Their opponent had first split open a waterfall of such tremendous force, and now, facing two Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators, he wasn't fleeing—he was charging at them with a sword. They had never encountered anything like it.
"Careful. Anyone who can break through a waterfall like that must have something up his sleeve," Liu San warned immediately, the quickest to react.
Li Tang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he nodded.
With a metallic ring, Liu San drew his sword and held it before him, watching the man on the river with a cold gaze.
Li Tang, meanwhile, had several Talismans in his hand, each one a precious treasure.
THUD!
Chen Fan drove his toes into the water, his whole body shooting toward the two cultivators on the bank like a meteor.
In the blink of an eye, a sharp hiss rang out. Several Talismans caught fire and turned into enormous whirlpools. The shrill wails of vengeful ghosts suddenly rang out, sealing off Chen Fan's path.
"Soul Hooking Talismans?" Chen Fan's gaze sharpened. He didn't dodge. Blazing Heaven Sword Qi surged through his body and into the long sword in his hand. Yellow sword light glimmered along its edge as he swiftly struck the centers of the enormous whirlpools.
"Ah..."
All the whirlpools let out bone-chilling wails at once. Black mist roiled like boiling water. These yin entities were completely suppressed by the utmost yang Blazing Heaven Sword Qi.
With a sharp puff, Chen Fan held his sword before him and swept it across the several masses of black mist with overwhelming force. In an instant, the mist vanished before his eyes.
In a single moment, he had broken several Soul Hooking Talismans. Li Tang and Liu San's expressions changed drastically. Liu San raised his sword and met Chen Fan head-on. Their blades clashed with a clang, but Chen Fan struck Liu San back five steps.
"Li Tang, set up the Three Talents Formation Talisman!" Liu San roared, then continued swinging his sword at Chen Fan.
Li Tang furrowed his brow. These were his most precious Talismans; he'd never imagined he would have to use them here.
When he saw Liu San driven back again by a single sweep of Chen Fan's sword, Li Tang stopped hesitating. He pulled three yellow Talismans from his robes, ignited them with True Qi, and flung them toward three positions around Chen Fan.
"Go!" Li Tang shouted. The three Talismans turned into golden rings, linked together in a triangle as they descended over Chen Fan. They seemed poised to suppress him.
Seeing this, Liu San gritted his teeth and charged at Chen Fan again. He knew the Three Talents Formation Talisman's weakness: it was too slow. He had to hold Chen Fan in place so he couldn't escape. But Chen Fan stood where he was, calm and composed. He murmured, "Heaven-Burning," then fixed his gaze and swung his sword at Liu San.
CLANG!
A resounding clash of metal rang out. Liu San's sword broke in two, and he flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, crashing into a tree trunk and spitting several mouthfuls of blood.
"Liu San!" Li Tang's expression changed. He used his True Qi to speed up the formation of the Three Talents Formation Talisman.
"No matter how exquisite your formation is, I'll break it with one sword." Chen Fan held one hand behind his back and pointed his sword diagonally at Li Tang. His voice rang cold and clear.
"The formation's complete! Let's see how you break it!" Li Tang had overdrawn his True Qi and blood welled in his mouth, but he was otherwise unharmed. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he stared at Chen Fan.
The Three Talents Formation was named after the three talents of heaven, earth, and man. Each corner of the triangle unleashed astonishing power. Now that the formation had taken shape, it bore the force of heaven itself as it pressed down on Chen Fan.
"VMMM!"
A sharp sword ring rang from the blade. Chen Fan lightly tapped the sand beneath his feet and shot forward, his sword pointed straight at the Earth Talent Position within the Three Talents Formation. Blazing Heaven Sword Qi surged as he brought his blade down with the murderous aura of primordial chaos.
CRACK!
One of the golden rings in the Three Talents Formation immediately filled with cracks, then burst apart, exploding into countless golden fragments that vanished in the air.
The Three Talents Formation—broken!
"How is that possible?" Li Tang's expression changed drastically. His pupils shrank as he stared, dumbfounded, at Chen Fan emerging from the shattered formation.
The next moment, Chen Fan's figure blurred, turning into a streak of black shadow. Blinding white light flashed as he passed before Li Tang, and his sword drew several beads of blood from Li Tang's neck.
Li Tang fell lifelessly to the ground. The bloody line across his throat split open completely, and blood soaked into the earth. Chen Fan held his sword and walked step by step toward Liu San.
"You..." Liu San leaned against the tree trunk, fear plain in his eyes as he looked at Chen Fan, but he couldn't get another word out.
With a hiss, sword light flashed across his throat. Liu San was finally free...
Chen Fan's expression remained cold. He glanced at the red number on the Jade Token in his hand. The 2000 had returned to 3000, while the green number below it now read 1500. That meant as long as he didn't die, he had passed the trial!
But would Chen Fan be content to stop at 1500 Immortal Qi points?
He flicked the beads of blood from his blade. A faint smile touched his lips as he continued walking toward the forest...
Before you continue