"Creak!"
As Chen Fan pushed open the door, the old, dilapidated wooden door let out a groan.
"Who goes there? What do you want?"
Almost at the same time, an aged voice rang out from inside, carrying a hint of menace. The windows were tightly shut, and the room was so dim that he couldn't make out the speaker's appearance.
Chen Fan answered calmly, "I'm here to collect a Heavenly Court Token."
"Hmm? The disciples of this peak should have collected their tokens long ago. Each person is allowed to collect only one."
"I lost my original token. I need a replacement so I can take part in the Heavenly Court evaluation," Chen Fan said evenly.
"Hmph. Qi Refining Layer 2, and you want to take part in the Heavenly Court evaluation? Nonsense. Get out. Come back when you've reached Qi Refining Layer 4!" the old voice snorted.
Chen Fan frowned. After a brief silence, he cupped his hands and said, "Sorry for the trouble."
With that, he left the room and shut the wooden door behind him.
He slowly made his way downstairs and found a spot with few people around. Only then did he take a bronze token from his sleeve—the very one he had just taken from inside the room.
The person inside had a remarkably high Divine Sense cultivation, almost equivalent to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
But in his previous life, Chen Fan had already been a powerful cultivator of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Though he hadn't fully regained his peak strength, a few simple illusions cast with his Divine Sense had been enough to steal the Heavenly Court Token with ease.
At the same time, inside the little room, an old man sat in a rocking chair. His cloudy eyes narrowed as he stared at the pile of tokens on the table, which was clearly one short.
"Interesting. I misjudged him. He actually stole a token right under my nose! When did such an amusing little fellow appear in the sect?"
By the time Chen Fan was ready to head down the mountain, night had fallen.
He left alone without waiting for Chen Jingjing, planning to visit the nearby Marketplace after descending the mountain.
Since his rebirth, he hadn't taken the time to see this world for himself.
The Marketplace was just as lively as he remembered, packed with people and bustling like an ancient city's market.
The only difference was that the things people sold were pills, Talismans, and weapons.
After taking a quick look around, Chen Fan spotted plenty of rare medicinal herbs that had once been worth a fortune. Here, though, they were treated like common roadside goods, casually dumped on stalls for sale.
The sight filled Chen Fan with delight. If he could buy some spirit herbs and boil them into medicinal liquid, he could temper his body and improve his cultivation.
"Make way! Everyone, move aside!"
Suddenly, a shout rang out along the street.
Chen Fan turned to look and saw a group of cultivators pushing the pedestrians aside, clearing a path.
A man in blue brocade robes strode out. Beside him was a similarly lavishly dressed youth who bore a slight resemblance to him, speaking to him about something.
The youth's face looked familiar to Chen Fan, and his brow furrowed. This was Yang Mo, the man whose hand bones he had broken a few days earlier.
Yang Mo was talking with his elder brother, Yang Ning, when he suddenly spotted Chen Fan in white passing by. He shouted, "Chen Fan, stop! Heh, I've been looking everywhere for you these past few days. Well, look at that—you've finally delivered yourself right to my door!"
"What is it?" Chen Fan stopped and asked expressionlessly.
Yang Mo grew even angrier. He couldn't stand Chen Fan's corpse-like expression. Turning to Yang Ning, he said, "Brother, this is the useless wretch who ambushed me and broke my hand!"
At that, Yang Ning looked Chen Fan over with amusement. "So you're Chen Fan? I hear you're still pursuing our senior sister Nalan. You've got quite a lot of confidence."
"Rumors," Chen Fan replied calmly, shaking his head.
"Heh, rumors? Never mind. I don't care about that. You broke my younger brother's hand, and the medicine alone cost us several thousand taels. He still hasn't recovered. You'll have to settle that debt before you can leave!" Yang Ning said with a cold laugh.
"Enough talk. If you want to fight, come with me." Chen Fan shook his head, said lightly, then started walking out of the Marketplace.
The Yang brothers froze.
What was going on?
Had this guy actually challenged them first?
And he was heading out of the city?
"Haha! That guy must've been scared witless in Demon King Valley. He actually dares to leave the city! If he gets killed outside, no one can hold us responsible. We can just say a Monster Beast did it!" Yang Mo exclaimed, overjoyed.
Yang Ning's eyes narrowed as well. Though Chen Fan's attitude surprised him, he could see that Chen Fan had only reached Qi Refining Layer 2. He was no better than an ant.
"Come on, follow him! And make sure someone takes care of things. Don't let word of this get out!" Yang Ning said with a smile. After giving his followers an order, he set off with Yang Mo in pursuit.
Soon, taking advantage of the night, Chen Fan slipped out of the city through a secluded corner, avoiding the soldiers on patrol.
The Yang brothers followed close behind. To avoid drawing the guards' attention, they didn't even bother bringing their followers.
The three stood outside the city, six eyes meeting in silence.
At last, Yang Mo spoke, sneering coldly. "Chen Fan, since you've chosen to come looking for death, don't blame us!"
"Both of you, come at me. I have things to do," Chen Fan replied calmly, his expression still perfectly composed.
The Yang brothers were furious.
Yang Ning especially had never imagined that an outer sect disciple at Qi Refining Layer 2 would dare act so arrogantly in front of him, a cultivator at Qi Refining Layer 4.
"You brought this death upon yourself!" Yang Ning roared.
He formed a hand seal, and a wave of heat suddenly swept through the air around him.
Then he flipped his hand and pulled three yellow Talismans from his robes.
With a flick of his wrist, the Talismans floated into the air, and the surrounding air grew scorching hot.
Boom!
In an instant, three white fireballs, each the size of a fist, appeared out of thin air!
"Chen Fan, it's your honor to die beneath my Sky Fire Talisman!" Yang Ning sneered, the corner of his mouth curling up.
The next moment, he brought two fingers together and pointed at Chen Fan.
"Go!"
With a soft shout, the three white fireballs shot toward Chen Fan.
Chen Fan gave a cold smile and stood motionless.
Within him, the Blazing Heaven Sword Qi in his dantian was already surging wildly, manifesting as a faint golden glow that enveloped his body!
"Haha, that kid's scared stiff. He can't even dodge!"
Seeing Chen Fan standing still, Yang Mo assumed he was too scared to move and burst into a mocking laugh. A trace of pity crept into his eyes.
"Heh, even if he wanted to dodge, he couldn't! Even cultivators at my level wouldn't dare underestimate my Sky Fire Talisman!" Yang Ning sneered contemptuously, looking at Chen Fan as if he were already dead.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
At last, all three white fireballs slammed squarely into Chen Fan, exploding with a series of booms before turning into wisps of green smoke.
"Heh. Qi Refining Layer 2, nothing more," Yang Ning said with a disdainful laugh. He clasped his hands behind his back and was about to turn away.
But the smile froze on his face the very next moment.
"H-How is this possible?"
Yang Mo was stunned too. His voice trembled, and his pupils shrank sharply.
As the smoke from the fireballs dispersed, they saw that Chen Fan was still completely unharmed. Even his clothes were untouched. The faint golden glow around him had grown even brighter.
"N-No way! How can someone at Qi Refining Layer 2 withstand my Sky Fire Talisman?" Yang Ning cried out in disbelief.
Then he reached into his robes and pulled out three more Sky Fire Talismans, ready to try again.
"You don't even know how to use Talismans. What a waste!" Chen Fan suddenly snorted.
With a whoosh, he blurred from the spot, leaving several afterimages. In an instant, he appeared before Yang Ning and snatched the three Talismans from his hand.
Then Chen Fan ran two fingers across the Talismans, stacked them together, and pointed at their center.
"Combine!"
The vermilion markings on the three Talismans instantly blazed with light.
The air around them warped, as though engulfed by intense heat.
Boom!
The next moment, the Talismans burst, transforming into a gigantic white fireball like a golden sun, radiating a dazzling, searing brilliance.
"Go!"
Chen Fan flicked two fingers and gave a low shout.
The white fireball shot toward the Yang brothers like lightning.
"I-It's impossible! How can the Sky Fire Talisman be this powerful?" Yang Ning cried out.
But as the words left his mouth, the enormous fireball had already reached them.
With a muffled boom, a terrifying wave of fire engulfed their bodies.
"No!"
"Arghhh!"
The two let out shrill, desperate screams. In an instant, they were reduced to ashes.
"Qi Refining Layer 4? Nothing more."
Chen Fan looked at the two piles of ashes on the ground, shook his head, and turned away.
By the time he returned home, the night had grown even darker.
Chen Fan went straight to his room, not giving what had just happened another thought.
Countless people had died by his sword in his previous life. He was long accustomed to killing.
What occupied his thoughts now was seeing what the Heavenly Court was really like.
A little while later, he sat on his bed, crossed his legs, and took out the blue-green Heavenly Court Token.
Looking at the ancient token in his hand, Chen Fan extended his Divine Sense and sent it into the token.
Whoosh!
In the next moment, his Divine Soul left his body, and his consciousness appeared in an unfamiliar world.
A gentle breeze brushed past him, and a vast sea of spiritual energy instantly surrounded his entire body.
"Boom..."
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. The dense spiritual energy around him surged toward him without pause, and Chen Fan realized that his consciousness was slowly taking shape, manifesting as a body.
"This doesn't seem to be spiritual energy. It's even denser." Chen Fan paused, then immediately understood. "It's Pseudo Immortal Qi."
A few moments later, a physical body identical to the one he had in the Cultivation World had formed, and Chen Fan descended to the ground.
Looking at the unfamiliar yet magnificent surroundings, he couldn't help but freeze.
"Is this... the Heavenly Court?"
Before you continue