Chapter 1 Brother and Sister

  "Gao Dao friend, it's been many days since we last met. I just returned from Hong Huang. How have you been lately?"

  "It's Lin Daoyou after all. Sigh, it's okay, can only wander around the Qi training seventh layer area to make a living..."

  "Brother Guo, oh no, how did you end up with so many injuries..."

  "Never mind, this time I ran into bad luck. A mid-level demon beast suddenly appeared in the 7th layer of the spiritual realm and I almost didn't make it back alive."

  "It seems I need to cultivate for a few more days..."

  ……

  The west gate of Xianmeng City, the people coming and going are all cultivators with swords on their backs. Compared to the mortal world, there is not much difference here, only that people do different things... The bustling crowd flows endlessly through the open west gate, while the guardian cultivators maintain an air of superiority, standing like sculptures with their noses pointing towards the sky. Only when someone returning from the Desolate Expanse wants to enter the city and passes through the gate will they be verified for their identity with great impatience... before turning back into stone statues once again.

  On the street, near the city gate, Lu Chen held a map of Hongyuan that he had bought with a piece of Ling stone, walking westward with his head down. It was already the fourth day since he arrived in Hongyuan, and for the past three days, Lu Chen did not go out, but stayed in the inn to prepare a large number of Golden Vajra symbols, and also carefully studied the Empty Origin Swordsmanship that Dust had given him.

  This is a desolate and barren land, Lu Chen dare not be careless, even though he knows he has the strength of Qi Refining Seventh Layer, he still needs to make sufficient preparations. And in this place where demonic beasts gather, the best thing to preserve one's life at present is the Vajra Talisman...

  The talisman is ready, next is the Void Sword.

  The Void Sword Technique is divided into ten layers, which correspond to the ten boundaries of the Qi Refining stage. Currently, Lu Chen can only cultivate up to the fifth layer. To unlock the next layer of sword techniques, he must wait until his strength reaches a certain level before he can open the heart method of the next layer.

  "Void Origin Ten Forms, Great Way Reaches Emptiness, Chaotic Origin One Sword..."

  The ten forms of swordsmanship were finally merged into one, and Lu Chen recalled the mantra of Kongyuan's ten forms in his mind, secretly praising: Lu Chen was indeed not deceiving himself, Kongyuan was indeed much stronger than Yuyang Swordsmanship.

  "This time, I'll go take a look at the desolate scene, and find a suitable place for my cultivation. And most importantly, I need to get some spirit stones." Lu Chen patted his waist bag and touched the lifesaving mechanism, Sleeve Cloud Arrow, thinking to himself.

  Unconsciously, they had already arrived at the city gate, handed over their own iron token, just like when they first arrived in Xianmeng City. After Lu Chen showed his identity iron token and passed through the verification of the guardian cultivators, Lu Chen once again received a lot of disdain... especially from those two guardians...

  "Practicing Qi in five layers? Single Earth Spirit Root? This little brat is getting impatient with living..."

  "Maybe so, whatever..."

  A slender and tall man with almost invisible eyebrows on the right side of the city gate frowned, returned the iron plate to Lu Chen, and said in a routine tone: "First time coming to Hongyuan?"

  Lu Chen nodded, he was already used to this kind of gaze and wouldn't take it to heart. But such a calm expression made the slender man slightly stunned, thinking for half a day, words that didn't need to be said were still spoken out.

  "En. Since you dare to come to Honghuang, you must have understood some things about this place. Remember, the city gate will be closed at Xu time and opened at Mao time. Fellow Taoist, take care of yourself."

  Perhaps for some reason, this slender and tall man's tone was relatively sincere, and the left leader was stunned by him and a certain male who guarded the city together.

  Lu Chen didn't say anything, just thanked him and took the iron plaque before leaving the city gate.

  He had just left, and the man guarding the city wall on the left came over and said to the slender and tall man: "Old Lin, what's wrong with you today? A little boy who has only practiced Qi for five layers actually made you feel a bit embarrassed?"

  The slender and tall man known as Old Lin was lost in thought, and only spoke after a moment: "It's not that I have any ulterior motives, it's just curiosity. In the lower realms of the Hongmeng continent, below the seventh layer of Qi Refining, it's basically a dead end. If I were to see some miraculous events occur, I wouldn't be so bored either. Alas, what a pity, with only a single Earth Spirit Root, there probably won't be any miracles happening."

  Mr. Lin shook his head and sighed, as if mocking himself for having a sudden strange idea, then glanced at the figure's back again before withdrawing his gaze and forgetting about it.

  The man on the left chuckled, made a gesture of sudden realization, then shook his head and retreated, continuing to scrutinize the crowd as usual.

  Both of them were from Xianmeng City and were also people from the city lord's mansion. They had been guarding the city gate for some time, and they had seen all sorts of people. In their eyes, Lu Chen was basically hopeless once he left.

  The two people talking didn't intentionally lower their voices, so Lu Chen naturally heard everything, but as a newcomer and having received similar cold shoulders and disdain before, he simply didn't take it to heart.

  "What the crowd says is just idle talk and has nothing to do with me."

  ……

  "Thirty miles west of Xianmeng City, enter the forest and walk another five miles. There are solitary fire wolves, low-level demon beasts ( Qi training 7th layer), living in groups, surrounding several miles, with ginseng, lingzhi... and other spiritual herbs that can be used for medicine and alchemy, of low value but abundant quantity..."

  Out of Xianmeng City, all the way west, walked for more than half a time, under the blessing of Wuluo Liuyunbu, Lu Chen finally arrived at the edge of Hongyuan.

  The dense forest in front of the eyes and the vast wilderness behind formed a sharp contrast, with countless towering trees, the air filled with a humid smell, and before entering the forest, Lu Xuan had already heard the low roar of wild beasts, like the sound of lions and tigers snoring, echoing from afar, adding a hint of mystery and danger to the desolate wilderness.

  As soon as he entered the vast wilderness, Lu Chen had already made preparations. The demonic beasts here were divided into three levels: low, medium, and high, corresponding to the seven, eight, and nine layers of human cultivators' Qi refinement. Lu Chen's first choice was the gathering place of the single-horned fire wolf, which was the lowest in danger level...

  It's said to be the lowest level of danger, but Lu Chen still didn't have much confidence. From the map he bought, it could be seen that each and every single-horned fire wolf had a cultivation base of at least seven layers of Qi Refining, and they were even living in groups. This situation was quite difficult for Lu Chen, who only had five layers of Qi Refining. Lu Chen wasn't thinking about directly challenging the eight-layered Qi Refining demonic beast, but in the vast wilderness, the stronger the demonic beast, the more little brothers it would have by its side. In terms of difficulty, there were only demonic beasts like the single-horned fire wolf that had the lowest level...

  "It's okay, Li Can left a Skull Master for me, it's not that difficult..."

  Thinking of this, Lu Chen took big strides and headed into the vast expanse of the Hongyuan Forest...

  "Uggghhh..."

  He walked another five miles west, following the direction of the map. Lu Chen finally heard the howling of wolves and stopped his movement. He began to urge his magic power and first stuck a golden talisman on his body.

  He stopped in front of a tree that required five people to encircle it with their arms, and the Clear Mind Incantation began to flow quietly within his body, suppressing his breath. Lu Chen started looking towards the opposite side.

  A hundred meters away, a group of solitary horned wolves with four-inch-long fluffy hair all over their bodies and about half the height of humans were doing something unknown, with their right front paws digging at something on the ground.

  "Hmm? It seems this Daoist master's luck isn't bad after all, running into a lone..."

  Looking around again: yellow, blue, green, all sorts of medicinal herbs entered the field of vision.

  "We've arrived at the location. Alright, let's do it here." Lu Chen had just refined his Xian method, the Void Origin Sword, and was itching to try it out. After searching around and not seeing anyone, he began making preparations.

  Since you want to cultivate, you must work hard. When I came out of the Qianyu Gate, Xiaoyuanzi had already been sent into the secret realm of the Qianyu Gate for closed-door cultivation. It's probably also preparing for the big competition three years later. How can we fall behind?

  Lu Chen cautiously drew out his flying sword...

  The blade scraped against the scabbard, making a faint "hissing" sound. Lu Chen's movements were light, but he was still discovered by that lone, single-horned fire wolf.

  Those green eyes, like a firefly's glow, suddenly turned to look over, startling Lu Chen: "Geez, this guy is too alert, I haven't even made a move yet and he's already discovered me. Fine, let's just do it openly then."

  At this thought, Lu Chen jumped out from behind the tree, pointing at the lone horned fire wolf and shouted: "You wolf demon, die quickly..."

  The first move of Kongyuan Swordsmanship was launched, and several rays of light suddenly appeared in the forest. As the sword shadow danced, Lu Chen took a vigorous step and leaped out of a hundred meters distance, fiercely killing towards the single-horned fire wolf.

  This land was desolate and barren, the domain of the lone horned fire wolf. Suddenly seeing a human visitor, how could the lone horned fire wolf not be enraged? The massive wolf head raised up, the lone horned fire wolf let out a loud roar, spread open its four icy sharp claws, and then pounced towards Lu Chen...

  A lone wolf's battle has begun...

  "Earth Spike... Ah? Pretty fast, watch my Quicksand Technique..."

  "Haha, gotcha! Take this sword..."

  Lu Chen had just killed Li Can, and suddenly after reaching the fifth layer of Qi practice, his three-door Dao techniques also made a huge leap forward. Now he can simultaneously release four flowing sands, four high ground thorns over one meter high, and an earth wall. Although this Dao technique has little effect on cultivators who can wield swords, if it were to be used against flying beasts that cannot fly, its power would still be quite impressive.

  Several times, the combination of thrusting and flowing sand techniques put the lone wolf at a disadvantage, its angry howls echoing through the air. Of course, Lu Chen's first battle wasn't intended to end too quickly; he still needed to find an opportunity to practice his Empty Origin Sword...

  From this point on, a fierce battle between one man and a wolf began, with swords clashing and claws flashing back and forth...

  Ludian's swordsmanship was sharp, and with the infusion of law power, he could already hurt this lone fire wolf with weak defensive capabilities. However, holding onto the idea of practicing, he didn't immediately kill off this unfortunate stray fire wolf.

  The desolate land originally had many cultivators, but just because Lu Chen didn't notice it doesn't mean there's no one around. His battle with the single-horned fire wolf had only just begun when a group of three people entered the desolate land from the direction of Xianmeng City.

  "Huh? Brother Xue, there's someone over there fighting with a lone wolf."

  "Huh? Alone?"