Chapter 57: Halftime Fast Food

"Rustle!"

Across the vast wilderness, Chen Xuan sprinted at full speed, recklessly pushing his physical stamina to the limit. Immortal Qi enveloped his entire body, and hot mist billowed from his skin as he bounded through the open fields like a furious, cyan-gold bolt of lightning.

Cultivators along the way who witnessed this spectacle widened their eyes in horror. Because his speed was so extreme, only a blurred afterimage remained in the air before he vanished entirely:

"Is this the kind of speed an Ascension-realm cultivator should possess?"

Far off in the distance behind him.

Cui Hao and more than ten middle-aged and elderly members of the Cui family had pursued him for only a few dozen breaths before Chen Xuan completely vanished from their field of vision.

"By frantically driving his Immortal Qi like that, he won't even last long enough to escape Peach Blossom Spring!" Cui Hao shouted, finding it completely incomprehensible.

The others were all stunned, viewing this as an utterly irrational course of action...

A brief, explosive burst would inevitably be followed by endless exhaustion and a drastic plummet in combat prowess. In an hour or two, when Chen Xuan was caught up with once more, he would be completely defenseless and left entirely at the mercy of others.

On the other side, the members of the Fanyang Lu family were similarly baffled.

Yet regardless, at this very moment, Chen Xuan had slipped out of the sight of all his pursuers.

...

Within the span of a single cup of tea, Chen Xuan sprinted over thirty miles, entering a small forest.

Not a single cultivator, ghost, or ancient inhabitant was anywhere to be seen. Every single flying bird he encountered along the way was mercilessly shot down with his bow and arrow.

"I'll choose this place."

Drenched in sweat, his chest heaving violently, Chen Xuan felt every muscle in his body trembling.

"Crack!"

First, using his ancient wooden saber, he hacked down a number of tree branches from around the area. Finding a low depression in the ground, he squeezed his body inside and covered himself with dense branches.

Though the setup was crude, from a distance no anomaly could be discerned. Unless someone walked over specifically to investigate, no one would ever guess that a person was hidden right here.

He regulated his breathing until even the sound of his heartbeat seemed to vanish, becoming faint and imperceptible.

If Chen Xuan had voluntarily handed over the ancient exiled immortals' relic, the others would have been too busy fighting over it to deal with him, giving him a very high chance of preserving his life... The great ghosts of the Southern Wilderness would also have had no reason to blame him for a failed mission, because no one else could have done any better in his position.

Clearly, however, Chen Xuan was not going to accept such an outcome. He was unwilling to drop his weapons and flee the Peach Blossom Spring in cowardly defeat... Thus, he made his decision.

"Come."

A brief yet definitive word.

Through the blue-purple communication talisman, it echoed far out into the distance.

...

In the battlefield dozens of miles away.

"..."

Yan Yushu suddenly frowned slightly. Then, swaying gracefully, she stepped away and said coldly, "I'm done fighting. I withdraw, and the ancient exiled immortals' relic is yours!"

Originally, throughout this battle, she had merely been skimming the surface with effortless detachment, barely exchanging any genuine blows with the other two.

Cui Laoqi and the elderly man surnamed Lu were locked in an earth-shattering battle, locked in a fierce and genuine clash of tempers. Now that someone had sensibly chosen to exit, they naturally agreed with pleasure.

Moreover, Yan Yushu was tactful enough not to head in the direction Chen Xuan had taken. Instead, she moved in the opposite direction, heading alone toward the ancient village on the distant mountain.

"He's coming."

Yan Yushu's face was frost-covered, resembling an inviolable fairy from the Palace of Broad Cold, though inwardly she was fervently praying that the room where she had rested last night had not been disturbed.

She urgently needed a quiet place where no one would disturb her.

...

"Rumble..."

Countless shrines and temples were hoisted up into the clouds. Four battered, towering figures covered in cracks stood amidst the waters, propping up the heavens and earth, surrounding the lotus platform at the center.

"Nn..."

A suppressed, restless female moan began to echo.

Before entering Peach Blossom Spring, Yan Yushu had secretly scavenged the bodies of fallen cultivators from the battle zone of the four supreme powerhouses of the Southern Wilderness outside Red Crow City, tossing them into the black lake of the Six Desires Heaven to be consumed.

"Yan Yushu, I will need a long time. Please keep your fingers, mm, move a bit slower..."

Chen Xuan's soul body, which had transformed until it was indistinguishable from his physical body in the mortal world, materialized. His tone was level, devoid of much emotion.

"Mn, I'll cooperate with you..."

Yan Yushu hummed an affirmative syllable in the back of her throat. At this moment, she agreed with nonchalant ease, being a person of exceptionally resolute willpower whose convictions were not easily shaken by 'worldly affairs.'

Furthermore, after undergoing treatment from Chen Xuan several times, she now possessed a relatively strong self-control. She could maintain her composure even without someone else actively suppressing her.

"Thank you."

Chen Xuan nodded slightly, and then the cultivation techniques etched in his memory surfaced in his mind one by one.

The Lesser Elephant Trick of the Golden Virtue Suspended Temple, the Lesser Rice Seedling Trick accompanying the Yellow Millet True Scripture, and the Lesser Stream Trick accompanying the Longevity True Scripture.

The first chapter of the Longevity True Scripture, cultivating "Longevity Qi."

...

Yet these seemed far from enough.

Chen Xuan stood upright, his back turned to Yan Yushu as she gradually entered the state, and said:

"I want to trade for two of your tricks—preferably one that refines the Yellow Qi of Earth Virtue, though it doesn't matter if you don't have it. I will trade items of equal value so you aren't shortchanged. Furthermore, today... I will capture those two old fellows of the Half-Step Dao-Storing realm and bring them to you as remuneration for our cooperation."

"Good."

Yan Yushu's voice began to break, laced with a faint, tearful sob: "The Lesser Carp Trick... mm... and a few others... ah, mn, the Ying Fish True Scripture, an uncommunicated inner-sect lineage inheritance. Will you trade? Will you trade for these..."

As the disciple of the supreme powerhouse Lu Zhuan, Yan Yushu was exceptionally knowledgeable and well-read, having dabbled in all the common tricks of the world—not necessarily to cultivate them all, but to ensure she understood them when facing magical combat in the future.

In the end, she bit her lip tightly and leaned closer, pressing her forehead against Chen Xuan's shoulder. One of her hands, with great effort, slowly traced out two Qi-circulation diagrams for the tricks along his back: "Like this..."

Black Qi of Water Virtue, the Lesser Carp Trick.

Yellow Qi of Earth Virtue, the Lesser Wildboar Trick.

"Mn."

At this moment, dividing his attention into two tasks, Chen Xuan had already successfully mastered the Lesser Rice Seedling Trick attached to the Yellow Millet True Scripture.

The crisp, dew-kissed phantom of a rice seedling fluttered and rustled, manifesting for a brief instant before dissipating, followed immediately by the gentle, melodious babbling sound of trickling stream water—

Black Qi of Water Virtue, the Lesser Stream Trick.

"Your hands are shaking terribly. Please draw it again."

The practice of circulating Qi allowed for not the slightest bit of carelessness; even the smallest error was unacceptable. One had to strive for absolute perfection... Thoughts marked by extreme sobriety and steadiness.

"Good..."

With hazy eyes and a dizzy head, Yan Yushu suddenly felt a faint premonition of foreboding. She thought to herself that this was the first time Chen Xuan had actively invited her to enter the Six Desires Heaven; a fire seemed to be burning within his heart, scorching and searing hot, as if it intended to melt her away entirely.

Today, might she actually burn herself to death here?

Surely not...

...

Within Peach Blossom Spring.

"This is bad!"

Cui Laoqi and the elderly man surnamed Lu halted their battle because a clansman had rushed back to report in a panic.

The young man carrying the ancient exiled immortals' relic had vanished!

This was an extremely grave and serious matter.

"Impossible. There hasn't been nearly enough time. He couldn't have escaped; he must be hiding somewhere."

Realizing something was amiss, Cui Laoqi immediately employed the Luan Bird Qi to ascend several hundred meters into the air, looking down to survey the entire Peach Blossom Spring.

But very quickly, his expression altered drastically.

The person was truly gone!

"Once the weather clears up outside and the blazing sun dries the rain over two or three days, no one will be able to leave Peach Blossom Spring. Does he intend to linger here for twenty years?"

Filled with endless doubt, the elderly man surnamed Lu likewise summoned his Coiling Serpent Qi anew. Standing atop the serpent's head, he ascended dozens of meters into the air, sweeping his gaze across the terrain ahead.

He, too, could find no trace of Chen Xuan.

"We're in trouble..."

Cui Laoqi exchanged a glance with the elderly man surnamed Lu, anxiety gripping their hearts.

Could Chen Xuan really be planning to hide out in Peach Blossom Spring and refuse to come out?

Yet the opponent was merely eighteen or nineteen years old and in the prime of his youth, whereas they were middle-aged and elderly. Especially in the case of the elderly man surnamed Lu, if they wasted twenty years of time here, he would grow thoroughly old!

"Find him!"

The two shouted harshly and simultaneously.

"Rumble..."

The Luan Bird spread its wings and flew forward, while the Coiling Serpent slithered sinuously. The two men began searching every blade of grass on the ground along the path Chen Xuan had taken.

An atmosphere of tense unease blanketed everyone's minds.

These people had no inkling yet that certain momentous events closely tied to them had already quietly transpired.

...

Six Desires Heaven.

Yan Yushu lay limp on the ground, her consciousness chaotic, her gaze hollow, her lips parted slightly as she wept and pleaded:

"I can't do it anymore, I truly can't endure this... I'm going to die... I beg you... take the relic and give it to them..."

Yan Yushu realized things were taking a ominous turn, and the cruel reality she was facing far exceeded her wildest imagination. Chen Xuan was demanding far too much!

Time had dissolved into a blurred concept.

An hour?

Far beyond that...

Even with a physique tempered by three ascensions, the prolonged, repetitive motions left her arms excruciatingly sore, weak, and utterly exhausted... plunging her into despair.

"Please hold on just a bit longer, Yan Yushu. You are the finest heavenly-mandated immortal seed under heaven; there is nothing in this world that you cannot accomplish. The Mandate of Heaven rests upon you—buck up!"

Chen Xuan settled his mind and entered a state of self-forgetfulness, detached and ethereal, as if he were on the verge of attaining the Dao and ascending to become an immortal.

His cultivation speed was astonishingly fast—so fast that anyone in the world who witnessed it would shudder in terror.

When he first forged the second and third Qis, the combined time consumed was less than a quarter of an hour using Yan Yushu's time.

Forging the fourth Qi required doubling that duration.

Yet the fifth Qi did not merely double again; as if the will of heaven sought to prevent anyone from mastering it, the time consumed multiplied horrifyingly by over tenfold.

"Tenfold."

Black Qi of Water Virtue, the Lesser Stream Trick: a quarter of an hour.

Yellow Qi of Earth Virtue, the Lesser Wildboar Trick: an hour and a half!

"Boom!"

Chen Xuan seemed to hear a crisp cracking sound, like the voice of the Great Dao itself, bearing profound and wondrous principles as it pierced through time and space to echo within his heart.

White, cyan, red, black, and yellow—the five-colored Immortal Qi surged forth simultaneously, linking head to tail to form a Taiji circle that spun at extreme speed, radiating brilliant light and exuding a profound aura of returning to simplicity and natural accord with the Dao.

"Whoosh!"

Five brilliant streams of immortal light corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth diffused from within Chen Xuan's body, bathing him in radiance like a divine being, while wondrous visions and phantoms of ancient beasts swirled incessantly.

The Five Elements Immortal Qi was complete!

"Hoo!"

Chen Xuan drew in a deep breath. The Five Elements Immortal Qi—something that even the supreme geniuses of the Red Crow City region could never hope to forge in a lifetime—had been mastered by him at this very moment. If word of this spread, the entire world would be struck with terror and uproar.

He continued to cultivate the known tricks...

The Lesser Carp Trick was swiftly mastered within minutes.

An instant realization blossomed in Chen Xuan's heart: "From this moment onward, the Five Elements Qi generate and overcome one another, merging into a unified whole. The Five Elements tricks no longer possess distinctions of difficulty or superiority."

The Lesser White Ape, the Lesser Cyan Deer, the Lesser Fire Bird, the Lesser Carp, and the Lesser Wildboar.

The Lesser Rice Seedling, the Lesser Stream.

A total of seven tricks had all achieved great mastery.

"Perhaps... still not enough."

Chen Xuan knew his strength had increased exponentially, but whether it was sufficient to surpass the suppression of half a major boundary and resist a shred of Dao-Storing might against a Half-Step Dao-Storing powerhouse remained an unknown.

"The Longevity Qi can also be forged further."

"No, I don't want any more..."

Yan Yushu pleaded in terror, lying flat and motionless, her soul seemingly drained away until she resembled a lifeless, exquisite wooden puppet. Crystal tears rolled from the corners of her eyes down her snow-white cheeks, possessing a heart-rendingly exquisite beauty. Her eyes were filled with a lingering attachment to all things in the mortal world as she murmured:

"I-I don't want to become... a cauldron..."

Her fingers exerted force once more.

Yan Yushu felt as though she was destined to become the first Qi practitioner in history to be burned to death by her own actions... unprecedented through the ages and rare under heaven. In this regard, her predecessors would have to let her take the lead.

Ever since Chen Xuan made his initial decision to actively invite Yan Yushu to open the Six Desires Heaven, the roles of offense and defense had reversed.

"Rumble!"

High above in the heavens, the four Heavenly King statues began to crack, dust filling the air as the second ferocious and terrifying Vajra wrathful head plunged into the black lake, churning up heaven-shaking waves...

...

...

Peach Blossom Spring.

The air was oppressive, the atmosphere heavy.

Cui Laoqi piloted the black-flamed Luan Bird, patrolling the earth from the skies. Cultivators from the Cui and Lu families were driving countless low-level cultivators across the landscape to search mountains and scour seas, making a massive fuss as if they intended to strip away a layer of the earth itself.

A heavy stone seemed to weigh upon his heart, making him feel stifled as he muttered to himself:

"More than two hours have passed..."

He kept his gaze fixed firmly on the ground below, his crimson pupils burning like torches, determined not to let a single trace slip by. The opponent had vanished within that very small area down below.

"Eh?"

Suddenly, Cui Laoqi glanced toward a patch of woods in the wilderness, his gaze suddenly brightening as he sneered, "Heh, showing your tail at last, you annoying fool. You're dead!"

The distance was not far—merely a few miles, which could be traversed in an instant.

Cui Laoqi surged with murderous aura, the fiery wings of the Luan Bird streaking across the twilight sky as he immediately descended toward that region.

Something was waiting for him down there...