The Blood-Hand Butcher stared blankly at his own chest. Suddenly, his body lurched forward, and he collapsed straight onto the stage. Had anyone looked closely, they would have noticed a protrusion forming on his back.
With a single palm strike, the Blood-Hand Butcher was dead.
The scene left everyone present stunned. Yun Chen took a deep breath; his chest ached, but fortunately, it was nothing serious.
"How is that possible?" Qu Wan'er murmured subconsciously.
That was the Blood-Hand Butcher! A notorious figure in Qingyang Town. On this stage, he had been considered invincible, and countless cultivators had died by his hands. Yet now, he had been struck dead on the stage with a single palm by that sect exile.
"This is one spirit stone," the referee said, taking out a spirit stone and handing it to Yun Chen.
Yun Chen reached out and took it, making no move to touch the Butcher’s belongings. Although he had killed the man, the spoils belonged to the arena, not him. Despite this being his first kill, Yun Chen felt no discomfort, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As he jumped off the stage, the crowd subconsciously made way for him. Those who had mocked him earlier didn't even dare to look at him, fearing he might settle the score.
"Hahaha, good! I truly didn't expect your dantian to have recovered, and your strength is so formidable. The Blood-Hand Butcher was no ordinary Spirit-Guiding Realm cultivator, yet you slapped him to death!"
The young man who had cheered loudly earlier spoke up again. He wore a long blue robe, had a handsome face, and carried a long sword on his back, giving off an air of effortless grace.
"You are too kind, brother!"
"Kind? Not at all. How about it? You mentioned grabbing a drink earlier—do you have the time now?"
"Certainly!"
"Brother Hou, Brother Yun, may I join you for a drink?" Qu Wan'er walked over, accompanied by Cai'er.
"Of course, no problem. What could be more pleasant than the company of a beauty?" the blue-robed youth said with great magnanimity.
The trio headed to an inn. Yun Chen chose not to continue challenging others not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't want to expose too much of his strength in Qingyang Town. The fact that the Blood-Hand Butcher had targeted him created a sense of crisis. He had never offended the man, yet the Butcher had tried to kill him—and after he entered the arena, the man seemed to have been waiting specifically for him, or he wouldn't have gone out of his way to provoke him.
"Brother Yun, since I am a few years your senior, I shall call you Brother Yun. My name is Hou Yucheng, an inner disciple of Dayan Mountain. I don't need to introduce Junior Sister Qu; she is also an inner disciple of Dayan Mountain. I heard you say earlier that a man's hot blood should never run cold, and it resonated with me. That is why I wished to befriend you. I hope you don't mind."
Inside the inn, Hou Yucheng spoke with a serious expression.
"Haha, you're too modest, Brother Hou!" Yun Chen replied. "It is my honor to be noticed by you."
After all, a few pleasant words cost nothing. Why not?
"Junior Brother Yun, I can recommend you for the Dayan Mountain!" Qu Wan'er offered quickly.
Dayan Mountain was also one of the top powers in Daxia Nation, though slightly inferior to the Tianyang Sect. Previously, Qu Wan'er had wanted to suggest he go there just to help him out, but now, she genuinely wanted him to join. Yun Chen's cultivation talent was legendary.While few had cared when his cultivation was abolished and his dantian shattered, now that the top powers of Daxia Nation knew his dantian had recovered and he could cultivate again, they would likely spare no expense to win him over—or kill him to eliminate a future threat. No power wanted a genius who could threaten their status to grow.
Seeing Yun Chen remain silent, Hou Yucheng asked, "Brother Yun, are you still thinking of returning to the Tianyang Sect?"
"No."
"In that case, join Dayan Mountain!" Hou Yucheng said. "You know how difficult it is for a rogue cultivator to succeed. With your talent, if you join us, you will definitely receive priority training."
Yun Chen shook his head slightly. He did intend to join a major power; he understood the importance of having a team. However, he hadn't decided which one yet.
"My thanks to Brother Hou and Senior Sister Qu. I will consider it for a few days. If I need your help with a recommendation then, I hope you won't refuse," Yun Chen said as he stood up and cupped his hands. He had to leave Qingyang Town; it was the Tianyang Sect's territory, and he didn't like the place.
"I must also leave Qingyang Town. Junior Brother Yun, here is a letter of recommendation. If you decide to come to Dayan Mountain, take this letter and find Elder Hongying." Qu Wan'er also stood up, took out an envelope, and handed it to him. "I have been out for too long and am preparing to return to the sect."
"Same here. In that case, let us travel together. Brother Yun, take care!" Hou Yucheng added.
After tucking the letter away, Yun Chen thanked them again. The pair left with Cai'er, while Yun Chen exchanged his spirit stones for gold coins and headed back to the arena. He needed to earn a few more spirit stones before leaving Qingyang Town.
***
"Smash!"
A round white jade table was shattered by Lin Shan’s palm.
"What is going on? How could that little beast suddenly recover, and even kill the Blood-Hand Butcher?" Fire burned in Lin Shan's eyes.
He had sent people to eliminate Yun Feiyang, but never expected the result to be the death of the Blood-Hand Butcher. He knew the Butcher's strength; he was at the peak of the Spirit-Guiding Realm. Killing a cripple without cultivation should have been easy. Yet, he hadn't expected such a twist.
"Report to the Elder: my subordinates are investigating. Yun Feiyang’s recovery is very strange!" a figure in a black robe bowed.
"Send Qi Condensation Realm cultivators down the mountain. The moment he leaves Qingyang Town, intercept and kill him. This time, ensure there are no slip-ups!" Lin Shan said in a deep voice. Yun Feiyang's recovery made him uneasy.
"Yes!" The black-robed man departed. Sending Qi Condensation Realm cultivators after a mere Spirit-Guiding Realm cultivator was already giving him high regard.
...
In the arena, as Yun Chen arrived again, everyone’s eyes were drawn to him. After all, having defeated the Blood-Hand Butcher, he clearly had the strength to challenge Qi Cyclone Realm cultivators.
"He’s back in the arena. Will he challenge the Qi Cyclone Realm this time?"
"It’s possible."
"The Qi Cyclone Realm isn't so easy to challenge, and looking at the spiritual energy fluctuations on him, he still seems to be in the Spirit-Guiding Realm!"
"But if he wins, he can get ten low-grade spirit stones."
Cross-level challenges carried higher risks, but the rewards were greater. If Yun Chen could challenge and defeat a Qi Cyclone Realm cultivator, he would walk away with ten spirit stones.
He walked to the edge of a stage where a youth in a moon-white robe stood. The youth looked arrogant, his eyes flashing with coldness.
"You want to challenge me?" the man asked.
Yun Chen nodded slightly. This man was in the Mid Qi Cyclone Realm.
"Hahaha, good! Ambitious. In that case, come up and meet your death!" Seeing Yun Chen confirm, the youth became annoyed. A mere Spirit-Guiding Realm dared to challenge him? He was a Sixth Level of Qi Cyclone Realm cultivator.
Yun Chen didn't waste words; he leaped onto the stage.
The moment he landed, the youth moved. His long sword unleashed sharp, peerless sword light, cascading toward Yun Chen like flowing mercury. Clearly, he had no intention of giving Yun Chen any chance to counterattack.
"Phantom Clone!"
Yun Chen shifted his feet, spiritual energy surging beneath him, and he flashed away like lightning.
"Useless, boy! You have no idea how vast the gap is between the Spirit-Guiding Realm and the Qi Cyclone Realm!"
The youth's expression didn't change. He spun his body, his sword thrusting out with extreme speed. A faint glimmer of light hovered around the blade, and in the blink of an eye, it was at Yun Chen’s chest, poised to pierce through him.
Yun Chen used "Phantom Clone" again, narrowly evading the attack.
"Raging Dragon Fist!"
Seeing Yun Chen dodge again, the youth became even more incensed. Massive amounts of spiritual energy gathered on his fist, and he punched forward with the force to crush everything in its path.
Seeing the opponent abandon his sword for his fists, Yun Chen felt a flicker of joy. He stepped forward and punched out as well. The spiritual energy within his body surged frantically—even the Thunder Bead trembled—coating his fist in a layer of light and unleashing a piercing sonic boom as it collided violently with the youth's fist.
"Bang! Crack!"
The youth's fist shattered, and his expression changed dramatically.
Yun Chen didn't let up. He shifted his stance and slammed his body into the youth's chest.
Profound-grade mid-tier technique: Mountain-Crushing Lean!
With a loud "bang," the youth was sent flying, falling off the stage and failing to get back up for a long time.
Defeating him in just a few moves allowed Yun Chen to understand his own level of strength. Though he was only at the Spirit-Guiding Realm Layer 9, he was already equivalent to a late-stage Qi Cyclone Realm cultivator.
The surrounding crowd fell into dead silence. It had to be said, Yun Chen’s combat power was simply too ferocious.
"Here are ten spirit stones," the referee finally reacted, handing them over. The youth had been severely injured; if he went back on stage, he would surely die, so he had conceded.
Yun Chen challenged a few more matches. He defeated several opponents in the mid and late Qi Cyclone Realms. As for the Qi Condensation Realm, he didn't dare challenge them yet.
After harvesting over a hundred spirit stones, no one dared to accept his challenges. Helpless, Yun Chen had to leave the arena.
Returning to the inn, Yun Chen took out the spirit stones and began to cultivate. The moment he circulated his technique, the pure spiritual energy within two of the stones rushed into his body. He had thought he would immediately break through the Spirit-Guiding Realm and step into the Qi Cyclone Realm. To his surprise, when the energy entered his body, it didn't form a cyclone; instead, it continued to gather in his dantian, becoming increasingly dense.
"Crack!"
Only when the two stones in his hands turned to powder did Yun Chen wake up. Looking within, he discovered he was still in the Spirit-Guiding Realm. But according to his assessment, it wasn't the ninth layer anymore—it was likely the tenth.
"Spirit-Guiding Realm Layer 10!"
Even for a heaven-sent genius of the Tianyang Sect, Yun Chen found it hard to believe. As far as he knew, no one in the entire Daxia Nation had ever been heard of reaching beyond the tenth layer of the Spirit-Guiding Realm. It seemed his mutation was related to the Primordial Divine Thunder Bead.
"I refuse to believe I cannot break through the Spirit-Guiding Realm!"
Yun Chen gritted his teeth and took out more spirit stones.
One day, two days passed. The spiritual energy in his body grew more abundant. By his estimation, he was now at the eighteenth layer.
On that day, as he circulated his technique, the Divine Thunder Bead within him trembled once more. Blue electric arcs spread from the bead, rushing through his meridians. Intense pain followed, and Yun Chen let out a shrill, agonizing scream. Not only that, but the spiritual energy in his body was now cooperating with the blue electric light, frantically widening his meridians and tempering his body.
The pain lasted for two full hours. For those two hours, Yun Chen felt as though he were being devoured by ten thousand ants. He lay on the floor, soaked in sweat, his body covered in a black, foul-smelling substance.
"Extreme Spirit-Guiding Realm, Divine Thunder Body Tempering!"
Yun Chen recalled a phrase from his technique. It seemed he had reached the eighteenth layer—the extreme of the Spirit-Guiding Realm—which had accidentally triggered the divine thunder to temper his physique.
***
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the window, landing on the boy’s jade-white skin. Yun Chen had not expected that after washing off the grime, his skin would become as fair as a newborn baby’s.
"Spirit-Guiding Realm Layer 18! From ancient times to the present, in the entire Daxia Nation, probably no one has ever reached this level in the Spirit-Guiding Realm, right?"
"Is the Primordial Divine Thunder Bead truly a treasure born of chaos?" Yun Chen speculated.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Yun Chen checked out. He was leaving Qingyang Town. He felt uneasy staying there. With a dozen spirit stones and tens of thousands of gold coins left, he bought a black-brown horse and a domineering long saber. Then, riding with the sun on his face, he left Qingyang Town.
Sitting on the horse with the saber on his back, a breeze caught his long hair. The scenery sped by. As the road ahead lay flat and open, a feeling of immense heroic pride welled up within him.
Who doesn't want to roam the world with a sword? Who doesn't want to dominate the land and rule the heavens?
"Laughing at the vast ocean, the tide rushes on both banks!" Yun Chen couldn't help but sing loudly, his voice infused with spiritual power, echoing between heaven and earth. "Floating and sinking with the waves, I remember today. The heavens laugh, the tides of the world rise and fall. Who wins and who loses, only heaven knows."
As he rode and sang, his heart swelled with pride, feeling as though the ocean was vast enough for fish to leap, and the sky high enough for birds to fly.
"Die!"
Just then, from the bushes, a cold glint appeared, striking directly at his head. Yun Chen sensed it and subconsciously flattened himself against the horse's back, narrowly dodging the attack.
"Bang!"
The black-brown horse underneath him seemed to be hit by something, capsizing violently and rolling across the ground. It let out a mournful cry, its limbs twitched twice, and then it was still.
The moment the horse fell, Yun Chen vaulted off its back and looked toward the figure ahead. When he recognized the face, he froze in surprise. "It's you!"
"Indeed, it is!" The man was a youth in the inner-disciple attire of the Tianyang Sect, holding a long sword and looking at Yun Chen with a calm expression.
Yun Chen recognized him—Lin Tao, an inner disciple of the Tianyang Sect and a member of the Lin family.
"Did Lin Yuchu send you?" Yun Chen felt a chill in his heart. How much had he sacrificed for that woman? Yet, now that she knew he had recovered, she had sent someone to kill him. It was clear his recovery was no longer a secret to the Tianyang Sect. He had stayed in Qingyang Town for at least half a month, and no one had bothered him. He hadn't expected that as soon as he left, he would be intercepted by a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.
"Too much talk!"
Lin Tao didn't waste time. He leaped into the air, his sword creating a flurry of light like falling petals. The light was sharp; to touch it meant certain injury.
"Slash!"
Yun Chen could not just sit and die. His murderous intent flared. He gripped his long saber with both hands, stamped his foot, and vaulted into the air, bringing the blade down with a fierce chop. He was filled with rage. He poured his spiritual energy into the saber, making it hum and vibrate. With a sickening *slush* sound, a blade-light several meters long, crackling with flickers of lightning, struck Lin Tao, cutting him in two.
*Clang!* Lin Tao’s sword fell to the ground, and his halved body sprayed blood. His sword energy, having lost its master, dissipated before it could even touch Yun Chen.
*Bang!* Yun Chen landed, the force cracking the ground and scattering stones. He stared blankly at Lin Tao’s corpse, unable to process what had happened. He had only intended to block Lin Tao and look for an escape. He hadn't expected his saber to manifest blade-qi due to the infused spiritual energy, nor that it would cleave him in two.
Of course, Yun Chen knew this wasn't because the saber was exceptional, but because his own cultivation was defying the laws of nature. The spiritual energy within him, perhaps due to the Divine Thunder Bead, contained lightning attributes. Lightning, the force of destruction and slaughter, was the most rigid and yang power in the world. Combined with his pure, thick spiritual energy, it had unleashed this fatal blow.
"Is this the Extreme Spirit-Guiding Realm?" Yun Chen was shocked. Lin Tao was in the Qi Condensation Realm—two full major realms higher than him. Yet, he couldn't even withstand a single strike. That showed just how terrifying the Extreme Spirit-Guiding Realm truly was.
He searched Lin Tao’s body. Besides the sword, which was worth something, he found a small storage bag. Storage bags were spatial treasures, capable of holding all sorts of items. Yun Chen didn't have one, so it came in handy.
Tucking the storage bag into his belt, Yun Chen turned around and looked back the way he came.
"Lin Yuchu, Lin family—Yun Chen will remember today’s events. One day, I will have my revenge!"