North County.

Outside Tianhan Gate.

The snow had stopped, and the sky had brightened up.

The Lord of Xirong ripped off the face of human skin he was wearing, revealing a face like burned coal underneath. He stared into the distance, where three fire phoenixes looked like balls of flame, and a serious expression appeared on his face.

The world was transforming, and… these three chickens were also transforming!

Sparks shot out from the charcoal-like face of the Lord of Xirong.

However, his sparks were not like a fiery blaze but were an icy white flame that was permeated with a slight feeling of death.

If the flames of Lil Phoenix One, Two, and Three were described as red hot, then the Lord of Xirong’s flames were icy cold.

Although they both were fires, they were at the opposite ends of the spectrum, one hot and the other cold.

The former was like the blazing sun in the sky, while the latter was like a cold fire from the netherworld.

The three fire phoenixes versus the Lord of Xirong.

Ever since the Lord of Xirong had experienced the warning from that mysterious gaze once again, he had started to become more vigilant.

With these three fire phoenixes around, it would be difficult for him to break through the North County’s defense line and invade the Great Zhou Dynasty in a short span of time.

Furthermore, the transformation that occurred moments ago had increased the concentration of Spirit Qi in this world. The young girl who controlled the three fire phoenixes seemed to have gained some kind of insight during this transformative period.

The three fire phoenixes seemed to grow fiercer by the moment and seemed to be slowly but steadily growing strong enough to overpower his “Dead Spirit Fire”!

Boom!

The Lord of Xirong’s eyes narrowed into a squint.

In the next moment, his body moved back, as white flames leaped out from his head.

Then…

An invisible wave was released from his body.

The white flames flared up and leaped out, landing on the ground surrounding him.

Very soon, a chilling scene unfolded.

On North County’s battlefield, with the Lord of Xirong at the center, the corpses of the soldiers on the ground that were touched by the white flames crawled to life off the ground, regardless of whether they were Xirong soldiers or North County soldiers.

Dozens of corpses rose and came to life, like walking zombies, their eyes burning with a white-hot flame.

Their bodies swayed from side to side as they shuffled through, icy cold blood spilling from the corpses and snow being shaken off their dead bodies.

The Lord of Xirong’s head spouted white flame, as he stared into the distance at Bai Qingniao, who was controlling the three fire phoenixes.

He raised a hand, and a white flame danced on his fingertips.

It was as though the corpses were tethered to him by invisible strands.

He motioned with his hand ferociously.

The corpses lurched into a mad sprint toward Bai Qingniao, scattering the snow on the ground in front of them as they charged like crazed wild beasts.

The three fire phoenixes wanted to block them, but the Lord of Xirong stopped them before they could do so.

Dozens of corpses from both sides rushed headlong toward Bai Qingniao.

Bai Qingniao had never seen a battle like this before and was momentarily flustered.

Next to her…

Nie Shuang burst out in a roar, stepping forward in front of Bai Qingniao to protect her, as he assumed a steady half-squat position.

His fists were held at the ready at his waist.

He faced the bunch of crazed soldiers that rushed toward him.

With an explosive shout, he suddenly punched out.

Although it the basic punching posture, Nie Shuang had practiced it day and night until it was practically a conditioned reflex.

From the moment he entered Lake Island, he practiced his punches and posture every single day.

And this was like the moment of truth, where he would see the fruits of his efforts.

Boom!

A fist shot forward, and almost imperceptibly, an illusory fist seemed to appear.

It was a simple punch, but the power and force behind it were incomparable.

He threw punch after punch.

The corpses that were charging toward them were blown away one after the other by the force of the punches!

“Big head! Nicely done!”

Bai Qingniao had originally been slightly flustered, but when she saw the display of might from Nie Shuang, she could not help but raise her fists and cheer jubilantly.

The other people on the battlefield felt frightened at first.

This was because they had just seen the corpses of their dead comrades rise up from the ground with their own eyes. The shock from such a sight was too intense to bear.

Even Tantai Xuan, who was being held back by the others, opened his bloodshot eyes wide at the sight of corpses coming to life.

However, when Nie Shuang stood before Bai Qingniao—firm, tenacious, and unyielding—simply punching at the enemies, it shattered the effect the scene had on them.

Even Tantai Xuan could not resist cheering for him.

As expected from a kid who came out from White Jade City…

There was something special about him after all.

Boom!

The Lord of Xirong was slightly surprised by this outcome. Still, he seized this opportunity while Bai Qingniao had lost control of the three fire phoenixes in her panic. At great speed, he rushed toward Bai Qingniao, intending to bring a quick end to this battle.

“Be careful!”

Nie Shuang’s youthful yet determined face did not show a trace of complacency.

It was because he saw the Lord of Xirong charging toward them.

An immense pressure was bursting out from the Lord of Xirong’s body. The pressure caused the hair on Nie Shuang’s big head to rustle in the breeze, and he felt like each of his pores was closing up tightly.

“So powerful… It’s even stronger than the pressure that Father brings!”

Nie Shuang grit his teeth.

Still, his legs were anchored to the ground, like two sturdy pine trees rooted in bluestone. He did not relax in the slightest, which made his body rock-steady, without wavering at all!

He did not retreat.

He also showed no fear!

He recalled Nie Changqing’s teachings and cultivation guidance he had received under the setting sun on shores of Beiluo Lake.

Nie Shuang had a heart that had grown strong, so he distinctly remembered the words Nie Changqing spoke to him.

“Shuang’er, one day, you will finally grow from a boy to a man.”

“Only by growing strong can you use your own fists to protect yourself and protect the people behind you.”

Boom!

There was an explosion of white snow!

Bai Qingniao’s face went pale.

“Big head! Run away, quickly!”

The Lord of Xirong was aggressively approaching them, after breaking away from Lil Phoenix One and the others. This was outside of Bai Qingniao’s predictions, and she felt annoyed at herself for her lack of real combat experience.

Luo Cheng rushed over, slinging a blade. Having consumed the Dragon’s Blood Elixir, the power of the dragon’s blood flowed through his body.

However, the pressure coming from the Lord of Xirong was too oppressive, causing blood to rush to his head.

The Lord of Xirong’s head was ablaze with white flames, as he dove toward them.

Even so, Nie Shuang continued to stare down the Lord of Xirong with determination!

He could not retreat!

If he fell back, Bai Qingniao, who was behind him, would be left open to attack.

Nie Shuang let out a low roar.

In his steady half-squat position, he retracted his fists back to his waist level.

In his eyes, he saw a scene he would never forget. It was a scene that had been deeply engraved into his young mind.

It was a stormy night.

In a small alleyway…

The scene was of Nie Changqing turning to yell at him, telling him to run as fast as he could without looking back.

In that moment… he thought he was about to lose his father.

The Lord of Xirong looked at Nie Shuang in surprise. This young child seemed to be showing a resolve that far exceeded that of a regular person.

He could see Nie Shuang’s fear, as his slightly quivering lips betrayed the terror in Nie Shuang’s heart. Yet he did not know what else he had inside of him that allowed Nie Shuang to conquer his fear.

“Ha!”

Nie Shuang shouted out explosively as he threw a punch.

He envisioned the Lord of Xirong as Beiluo Lake and imagined he was throwing punches at Beiluo Lake under the evening sun.

He pushed out his fist with much difficulty, as though Nie Changqing was standing opposite him, using his butcher knife to send turbulent waves from the lake crashing into him continuously.

The Lord of Xirong did not hold back because Nie Shuang was a child.

He also struck out with a fist.

Dong!

Nie Shuang’s fist collided with the Lord of Xirong’s fist!

A large fist collided with a small fist.

A Peak Foundation Building level and a Qi Core Realm.

The snow under the two fighter’s feet was instantly blown away in all directions by the surging force of the punches. Some of the corpses strewn about were also sent flying.

The Lord of Xirong was shaken to his core.

Because…

This punch from Nie Shuang was so solid that it left him shocked!

Landing on the ground, the Lord of Xirong took a small step backward.

Meanwhile, Nie Shuang was pushed back several steps, and each heavy step backward left an indentation on the ground.

Blood poured out from Nie Shuang’s mouth and nose, but his eyes gleamed with excitement.

He… had stopped it!

He had successfully stopped it.

Nie Shuang vaguely remembered how he had thrown punches at the enormous waves Nie Changqing sent toward him and how he had been sent flying each and every time.

In the very beginning, the pain was so bad he bawled his eyes out.

However, after crying for a long time, Nie Shuang did not cry any more. He only gritted his teeth, getting back up again to strike out with his fists.

Despite all this, he had never once succeeded.

However… this time, he was successful!

Jiang Li supported Nie Shuang from behind, and the residual force from the impact tore the webbing of Jiang Li’s hands.

Bai Qingniao’s eyes had long turned red with fury, as the Nine Phoenixes Transformation grew clearer and clearer in her mind.

“Lil Phoenix One, Two, and Three! Get him!”

The three fire phoenixes spread their wings and advanced, and then they collided into the Lord of Xirong, and he felt a jolt of shock.

Bai Qingniao’s rage seemed to have been transmitted to the three fire phoenixes, and there seemed to be barely noticeable signs that they were transforming.

The Lord of Xirong felt the pressure mounting against him, knowing that he had lost any chance of killing Bai Qingniao.

As such, he beat a hasty retreat.

The Lord of Xirong took a long look at Nie Shuang and then at Bai Qingniao.

He also glanced toward Jiang Li and the foul-mouthed Tantai Xuan in the distance.

The white flames on his head were extinguished. He raised his head to look up in the sky, thinking to himself that this was truly a beautiful world.

He covered his face once again with the skin of the Lord of Xirong that he had torn off.

Following this, his toes broke apart the snow on the ground.

He began to retreat rapidly and had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The great Xirong army also began to fall back. Since the Lord of Xirong was retreating, they would also retreat.

Bai Qingniao stopped her cultivation technique.

The three fire phoenixes then turned back into small chicks. Lil Phoenix Two and Lil Phoenix Three’s wings drooped weakly, as they lay motionless in the snow like little balls of fluff.

On the other hand, Lil Phoenix One was very excited. Grabbing Lil Phoenix Two and Three in its talons, it beat its small wings, flying toward Bai Qingniao like a hardworking little honeybee.

Bai Qingniao caught the three small chicks.

She then used the Nine Phoenixes Transformation to replenish their strength and placed them inside her backpack.

Following this, she hurried and ran toward Jiang Li and Nie Shuang.

Jiang Li was doing fairly all right. Although he had vomited blood after being struck by the Lord of Xirong’s finger, his injuries were nothing serious.

As for Nie Shuang, he was staring blankly at his hands. Blood was pouring from his mouth and nose, but he had an exuberant look of excitement in his eyes.

He saw Bai Qingniao sprinting over toward him.

His lips parted haltingly, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, as he mumbled, “I… I did it!”

Then…

Nie Shuang’s vision went black, and he fainted in Jiang Li’s embrace.

On the battlefield, people were crying out in surprise.

Up in the sky…

Thick snow started to fall once again, drifting down lightly like goose feathers.

******

Li Sansi came out from the Wentian Peak Secret Realm in the Tai Mountains.

Wielding a wooden sword and dressed in a drooping Daoist priest robe, he stood before the Dragon Gate.

Thick feather-like snow drifted down from the sky. With an open palm, he stretched out his hand and caught a snowflake. He watched it as it melted into cold water in his hand.

He had initially planned to come out from the Buzhou Peak Dragon Gate where the Torch Dragon was and hurry over to the Tianhan Gate battlefield… At the same time, he would conveniently be able to see Zhu Long.

But while Bai Qingniao, Nie Shuang, and the others could pass through the Buzhou Peak Dragon Gate… Only he, Li Sansi, was unable to pass through it.

Even…

When he walked out of the chains of the Central Palace and stepped onto the floating sky island…

A terrifying aura burst out from within the Buzhou Peak Dragon Gate.

There was a vague feeling like black and white eyes were about to open… watching him.

No matter what he said, the Torch Dragon would not give him a reply, and all he sensed was this set of eyes slowly opening.

In the end…

Li Sansi had to leave.

He felt both helpless and forlorn.

As such, he had no choice but to emerge from the Wentian Peak Dragon Gate.

And when he had appeared at the Wentian Peak Dragon Gate, the world’s transformation had begun. Majestic Spirit Qi had burst forth from within the Dragon Gate… and fanning out, it spread into the four winds.

Once again, he had been obstructed.

Finally, when the anomaly of the world disappeared, he emerged from the Dragon Gate.

Wentian Peak was very far away from Tianhan Gate.

Li Sansi set aside his complicated feelings, bringing out the Spirit Qi from his Qi Core and striding out in a sprint.

Since he was a cultivator in the Internal Organs Realm, he didn’t run out of breath when he sprinted toward Tianhan Gate. This gave him the opportunity to sprint at high speeds without stopping to rest, and his pace would not lose out to that of a galloping horse.

However…

Looking at the long road ahead of him, Li Sansi could not help but feel sorrowful.

Running alone under the heavily falling snow was the dismal state of his youth.

******

The entire Beiluo Lake was engulfed in a thick fog. Through the misty Spirit Qi, there was no way of getting a clear picture of what was happening.

On the island.

Gorgeous chrysanthemum flowers and peach blossoms were in bloom.

Ni Yu was still sitting cross-legged on the ground with the black pot on her head. The black pot was still continuously sucking in Spirit Qi.

She was starting to feel bored and pulled out a sugar-coated Gathering Qi Elixir from her cloth pouch and stuffed it into her mouth.

She chewed on it like one would chew on a piece of candy.

Yi Yue had also finished her cultivation. With this explosion of Spirit Qi, Yi Yue’s cultivation had significantly increased, and she had actually shot into the peak of the Qi Core Realm at one go.

Of course, stabilizing this power would still take a significant amount of time.

“Sister Yi Yue, would you like to eat this?”

Ni Yu glanced at Yi Yue beside her, retrieving a sugar-coated Gathering Qi Elixir and passing it over.

But Yi Yue waved her away.

“No, I’ll pass.”

She had just reached the peak of the Qi Core Realm, and if she ate a Gathering Qi Elixir now, she was afraid that… something might happen.

“Sister Ning’s aura is growing stronger and stronger… She’s probably going to finish tempering the fourth internal organ!”

Ni Yu chewed on the elixir with the black pot on her head. She looked remarkably like a gossipy village aunt munching on melon seeds, and the only thing lacking was that she was not crossing her legs.

With regard to Ni Yu’s image, Yi Yue was speechless.

“What’s the Young Master doing out over the lake?”

While Ni Yu chewed on the elixir, her nosy heart was aroused.

Was the Young Master who had just come out from his seclusion isolating himself yet again in a different location?

“Don’t keep chewing on those elixirs…” Yi Yue warned.

“Don’t worry, Sister Yi Yue. I’ve chewed on way too many Gathering Qi Elixirs, and my cultivation has reached the peak Qi Core Realm long ago. Now I just eat them like snacks, since they don’t have any effect on me now anyway.”

Yi Yue was speechless.

Seeing Ni Yu with a black pot on her head, Yi Yue suddenly… had the urge to beat her up.

******

Within the dense Spirit Qi, the lake’s surface was calm.

Lu Fan sat in the Thousand Blades Chair.

The Buddhist monk’s spirit had been pierced through by a silver blade, and even though he was in burning pain, he dared not move a single finger at this moment.

It was because…

Lu Fan’s body was emitting a fearsome pressure while seated on the wheelchair.

Even though they detected that Lu Fan was still only in the ballpark of the Qi Condensation Realm…

The pressure he was applying on them was equivalent to that of a Golden Elixir Realm monster!

What was even more horrifying was…

This delicate-looking Golden Elixir Realm monster had sealed away another Golden Elixir Realm monster!

What kind of monstrous world was this!

They had originally thought that they were fortunate to come into a Low Level Martial World.

Yet in this current situation…

They felt like they must have gathered eight lifetimes of bad luck to have been chosen to enter this world!

Lu Fan looked impassively at the kneeling spirit of the blonde man and the spirit of the Buddhist monk that he had pinned in the air.

These two were wanderers, and detaining their souls would certainly be very useful for Lu Fan.

Just like with the Spiritual Sense duplicate of the Mid Level Martial World’s Lord of the Plane, Lu Fan could borrow their power to absorb the Earth’s Origin.

The souls of these wanderers were of a lower quality, but still…

They were still not completely worthless.

This was because behind every wanderer, there once existed a world and a culture.

Hm?

Suddenly…

Lu Fan slightly frowned as he sat in the Thousand Blades Chair.

Along with this frown, the entire Beiluo Lake seemed to ripple slightly, as the pressure he emitted grew stronger and stronger.

It was so strong that the spirit of the Buddhist monk pinned by the silver blade was at risk of being destroyed.

The blonde man was even more afraid now, freezing in place.

A Golden Elixir Realm monster… Having trained his Spiritual Sense, he could annihilate them with a single thought.

Which one among them would dare to move?

Lu Fan leaned on the Thousand Blades Chair, resting his chin on his hand, as lines jumped in his pupils.

“Well…”

“Lil Nie Shuang has done a pretty good job.”

Lu Fan gave a small nod.

“Just like what Nie Changqing would say, bullying the girls of my White Jade City is inexcusable. And the children of my White Jade City… are also not to be bullied.”

The Spirit Pressure Chessboard instantly floated up in the air before Lu Fan.

“Trying to escape after bullying a child of my White Jade City…”

“You might be… a little too optimistic.”

He rolled up his sleeve and then picked up a chess piece.

He held a black chess piece in his hand and placed it down on the chessboard.