First Use of the Nine Palaces Sword Art

The Burning Heaven Sword Qi at this moment was scorching hot, carrying even more oppressive pressure than what Chen Fan had displayed before. With such a simple sweep of his sword, the several talismans were directly incinerated by the Burning Heaven Sword Qi during their ignition process, utterly useless.

But Lin Shang was not anxious either. His palm faced the ground as his true essence continuously poured out. The area where Chen Fan stood turned into a swamp-like terrain, with countless mud hands climbing up Chen Fan's legs, merging his legs into this quagmire and rendering him immobile.

A smug smile appeared on Lin Shang's face. This was the first spell he had learned after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage. As the saying goes, "Only with Foundation Establishment can one be considered a cultivator."

Only after a cultivator steps into the Foundation Establishment stage does the true qi within their body condense into liquid form, which is what people call true essence. A single drop of true essence is comparable to hundreds of strands of true qi. This qualitative difference between the Foundation Establishment stage and the Qi Refining stage is precisely why crossing into Foundation Establishment is so difficult—the time required for accumulation is far too long. Besides having good aptitude, resources are the key factor. This is also why Foundation Establishment stage experts are often countless times more powerful than Qi Refining stage cultivators.

As for so-called spells, they require true essence to be executed. People often refer to powerful spells as immortal arts. Gradually, Qi Refining stage cultivators are generally looked down upon as mere martial arts masters in the presence of Foundation Establishment stage experts, because releasing true qi externally is precisely the hallmark of a martial arts master's peak.

What locked Chen Fan's legs was precisely the manipulation of the natural laws of heaven and earth through true essence. A Foundation Establishment stage cultivator is enough to control a small patch of land using true essence. Though it is only a small patch, it represents the greatest difference between the mortal and the immortal.

"Elder Li, why aren't you making your move?" Lin Shang's Earth Sink Spell had not yet been practiced to the point of mastery, so at this moment, he could only stabilize the effect of the earth sinking by keeping his hand in contact with the ground.

"The Foundation Establishment stage is truly extraordinary." A trace of envy flashed in Elder Li's eyes. Then, with a yellow talisman attached to his palm, he fiercely struck toward Chen Fan's head, his arm cutting through the air with a whistling sound.

Chen Fan, however, remained completely unaffected. He stood calmly in place, eyes closed, brows slightly furrowed, as if brewing something.

"Sect Leader, it's time to make a move." As Elder Li attacked, Li Tieniu urged.

"Wait a little longer. How many rounds can he hold out?" Qin Xian'er, however, was full of anticipation. She had noticed the expression on Chen Fan's face.

"Hum—"

The piercing sound of the sword's hum finally rang out again. Burning Heaven Sword Qi once again covered Chen Fan's entire blade. The difference this time was that his starting motion was much slower than before, yet the raising of his hand carried an extra hint of profound mystery, as if stirring a ripple in heaven and earth.

Elder Li could not see it, and Li Tieniu could not see it either, but Lin Shang and Qin Xian'er's expressions changed drastically!

Influencing the natural laws of heaven and earth—this was something only possible at the Foundation Establishment stage. Yet this brat before them, at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, had actually done it.

"Immortal Sword Art! You actually know the Immortal Sword Art? How is that possible? You're only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining..." Lin Shang said in shock. The Immortal Sword Art among sword cultivators was as renowned as the spells of Dao cultivators, and both required Foundation Establishment to execute.

"Know when to advance and when to retreat, the secrets of creation must be remembered." Chen Fan softly recited a line from the Nine Palace Sword Technique's mantra. Then, the sword in his hand vibrated at high speed and suddenly left his grasp.

"Five resides in the center!" Chen Fan roared explosively. In an instant, nearly eighty percent of his true qi was drained. The sword, carrying Burning Heaven Sword Qi, revolved around him at high speed in the air, with him as the center.

With a "pfft" sound, Elder Li's hand was instantly sliced through by a sword shadow. His body continued its forward momentum, but his arm fell off in the process, and the talisman clutched in his palm failed to ignite.

"Ah..." Amid Elder Li's screams, Chen Fan suddenly moved.

"Two and four are the shoulders, six and eight are the feet, left three and right seven, wear nine and tread one, five resides in the center!" He stepped through the Nine Palaces. Though he had only grasped the surface, it was enough to break free from this unfamiliar Earth Sink Spell.

Bang!

With a dull thud, Chen Fan used the ingenious force of the Nine Palaces to shatter all the mud hands, transforming into a mysterious and ethereal figure as he sped toward Lin Shang.

Advance and retreat, control the sword to strike the taboo!

This was one of the eighty-one swords of the Nine Palace Sword Technique—"Five Resides in the Center." Controlling the sword relied primarily on spiritual sense, and Chen Fan's spiritual sense foundation was already as strong as that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Coupled with his abundant true qi, even though he had not fully comprehended the Nine Palace Sword Technique, he could still execute this move. Moving with a barely mastered Nine Palace Step, his sword turned into a dazzling blur of golden sword shadows, sweeping toward Lin Shang.

In his panic, Lin Shang withdrew his true essence and simultaneously threw out several talismans, but they were all instantly annihilated by the golden sword shadows. Faced with such a formidable Chen Fan, he began to feel a sense of helplessness.

He himself had only recently been pushed into the Foundation Establishment stage using medicinal herbs and had no time to learn other spells or techniques. This was his greatest frustration—having a full body of true essence but no way to use it.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two sounds of air being cut passed by. The hair on Lin Shang's head was shaved off by the sword shadows, startling him into a cold sweat. If the sword shadows had been a few inches lower, or if he had dodged a few breaths slower, his head would have hit the ground by now.

Just as he thought this, amidst the dazzling golden sword shadows, a single, extremely solid sword separated out.

"This is a real sword!" Lin Shang's figure frantically retreated, but he could not shake off Chen Fan's Nine Palace Step.

The more Lin Shang retreated, the more alarmed he became. He realized he was gradually being drawn into some kind of formation by his opponent. As he retreated, he was influenced by the other's footwork, forced into a certain position. Yet he relied on his abundant true essence to hold his ground against Chen Fan, whose steps were mysterious.

"Such a bizarre footwork—completely unreadable." Li Tieniu gasped, muttering to himself.

"He has already touched the threshold of the Immortal Sword Art. This kid is already this monstrous at the Qi Refining stage. I dare say that within a hundred years, if this kid is still alive, the Immortal Ascension Sect will face a great enemy." Qin Xian'er said with a faint smile.

"This... isn't this too exaggerated? The Immortal Ascension Sect has Nascent Soul stage cultivators. This kid forming a golden core within fifty years would already make him a genius of his generation, but condensing a Nascent Soul within a hundred years—I think it's unlikely." Li Tieniu's eyes widened as he spoke.

"Can't you see? He's had many chances to kill Lin Shang, but he's held back every time." Qin Xian'er said with a knowing smile, looking at Chen Fan on the battlefield.

"What? How is that possible? Why would he do that? With his true qi, he can't afford this kind of fight." Li Tieniu was stunned again. He unconditionally believed Qin Xian'er's words, but what she said now was hard for him to accept. He had clearly seen Chen Fan and Lin Shang as evenly matched, yet it turned out Chen Fan was deliberately letting Lin Shang off.

"He's using Lin Shang to familiarize himself with his footwork. From the initial clumsiness to now having a glimpse of the path, his progress is astonishing! With talent like this, I'm taking this disciple." Qin Xian'er's bell-like laughter was no longer concealed as she let out a light chuckle. Then, her beautiful, crystalline bare feet lightly tapped the void, and her entire figure flew into the air, heading toward Chen Fan.

"Earth Ghost Sect?" Lin Shang, seeing Qin Xian'er stepping through the air, was momentarily distracted before snapping back to reality.

"The new Sect Leader of the Earth Ghost Sect. Since we are both from the demonic path, why not help This Humble One eliminate this hypocrite from Heavy Sword Peak?" Lin Shang said as he retreated, a glimmer of hope rising in his heart.

"This new Sect Leader, lend us a hand, and the Heaven Ghost Sect will repay you handsomely." Elder Li, who had already stopped the bleeding on his hand, spoke from the sidelines.

"Haha..." But all that responded to them was Qin Xian'er's seductive, ear-tickling laughter, which made Chen Fan's brows furrow slightly.

"Good disciple, let me take care of one problem for you first." After saying this, Qin Xian'er formed several talismans in her hand and threw them toward Elder Li.

Good disciple? Lin Shang and Elder Li's expressions changed drastically. Was Chen Fan also connected to the demonic path?

"How dare you?" Chen Fan snorted coldly. He still needed to extract information about the inheritance from Elder Li's mouth. There was no way he would let this demoness ruin everything.

He turned and headed toward Elder Li, intercepting the several talismans. Then, with a thought, the golden sword shadows surrounding him grew denser as their rotation speed increased. He unleashed the Nine Palace Step without reservation and charged at Qin Xian'er.

"Haha, good disciple, isn't he your enemy? What use is keeping him?"

"This has nothing to do with you." Chen Fan drew a Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talisman from his bosom, ignited it with a hiss, and it transformed into three red energy spheres that hovered above his head. In an instant, his True Qi, blood vitality, and Divine Soul were pushed to their limits and restored to their peak.

Qin Xian'er recognized the Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talisman and hastily withdrew her smile. She had only come out to toy with him when she saw his True Qi was nearly depleted, but if she truly fought Chen Fan, it would undoubtedly be a fierce battle. Though she was unafraid, it was simply unnecessary—her goal was merely to control him.

"Chen Fan, stop. I don't want to fight you," Qin Xian'er snapped. She caught the icy chill in his eyes and felt a hint of foreboding.

"You've been lying in ambush here for some time—do you think I didn't know?" Chen Fan shot her a cold glance, never ceasing his blade's assault as endless golden sword projections slashed toward her.

"Don't go too far. You're no match for me," Qin Xian'er frowned and said in a low voice. She disliked this feeling—it seemed this pawn was slipping from her control.

"Then by all means, try me." Chen Fan's battle intent blazed, the golden sword projections gleaming with lethal edge, each strike brimming with boundless killing intent, suddenly pressing a weight onto Qin Xian'er.

Qi Refining Eighth Layer—was this truly Qi Refining Eighth Layer?

Everyone present gasped in silent awe!

Li Tieniu could no longer stand by. He stepped forward and shouted at Chen Fan, "Chen Fan, don't overstep! The Sect Master has saved your life time and again—are you repaying kindness with enmity?"

"More likely, she wants to use me, doesn't she?" Chen Fan gave a cold laugh, but he ceased his assault on Qin Xian'er. He had no intention of fighting to the death with her; he was simply telling her that he was no pawn for her to covet.

Just then, Lin Shang took advantage of the chaos to melt into a shadow, merging with the darkness as he stealthily tried to flee. Chen Fan instantly activated his movement, stepping into the initial stages of the Nine Palaces Footwork, holding nothing back. With a single sword strike, the golden sword projections pierced through Lin Shang's body. Grievously wronged, Lin Shang, still brimming with True Essence Power, collapsed unwillingly into a pool of blood.

Chen Fan paid no further heed to Qin Xian'er or Li Tieniu. He grabbed Elder Li directly and continued dashing toward the outskirts.

"Sect Master?" Watching Chen Fan and Elder Li vanish into the distance, Li Tieniu turned to look at Qin Xian'er.

"How amusing. The Immortal Sect is in for a world of trouble." A flicker of brilliance danced in Qin Xian'er's beautiful eyes, followed by a light laugh. "Since he has secrets he doesn't want outsiders to know, we'll just wait for him here!"