Chapter Ten: The Second Heaven

  Blinking, ten days have passed.

  In the evening, Xia Chen was practicing Qī Yǐng Quán in the courtyard, his movements were agile and swift, his attacks were fierce and sharp, every move he made seemed to embody the style of a master.

  Half a sound, Xia Chen finished his cultivation and began to gather his strength.

  Qī yǐng quán I've almost mastered it already, I wonder when Wind Master will teach other techniques... Xia Chen thought.

  There is a strange feeling of internal foreign body transmission, and Xia Chen's practice of Qiuyingquan doesn't even require blowing dust.

  A foreign object in his body has rewritten his fate.

  Xia Chen is now full of confidence, even if Zhuo Bu Fan's talent far surpasses his own, and with Yue Zi Feng personally guiding him, he is not afraid at all, and even secretly looks forward to a great battle with Zhuo Bu Fan.

  It is said that after cultivating to the third level of refinement in the post-heavenly stage, one can see the elixir field internally and will know what the foreign object is at that time. Xia Chen thought about it again, his heart itching with impatience, wishing he could cultivate to the third level of refinement immediately.

  At this time, a warm air mass rose from Xia Chen's Dantian and quickly penetrated his skin. Xia Chen's entire body tightened, as if pulled by an invisible force, slightly swollen and painful, but the feeling was extremely comfortable.

  Is it going to break through? Xia Chen was taken aback and hastily walked into the house to sit down.

  For nearly half a month, his true energy cultivation has increased extremely quickly. Now he finally has signs of breaking through to the second level of the Acquired Realm.

  Xia Chen closed his eyes and sat upright, the true energy in his meridians circulating faster and stronger. When the true energy of the twelve meridians reached its peak, it continuously permeated towards the surface of his skin.

  In the quiet air, a hissing sound arose, which was the true energy shooting out from the pores of the skin, Xia Chen's clothes fluttered constantly, as if blown by a strong wind.

  A long and rhythmic exhalation, again and again, Xia Chen's mind was filled with brightness, as if a pair of invisible eyes "saw" the strong true energy inside his body, slowly seeping through the meridians, towards the surface of his skin.

  The process of penetration is also the process of strengthening, Xia Chen can clearly feel that under the effect of true energy, his whole body muscles become more compact and powerful, full of toughness, with great strength.

  If magnified countless times, it would be astonishing to discover that Xia Chen's skin was faintly glowing with a red light, and the true energy was circulating back and forth in the most subtle places of the skin, repeatedly tempering the strength of the skin.

  That feeling was like smelting steel, turning flesh into water, constantly removing impurities and purifying it, and then cooling and solidifying it. But this process brought Xia Chen not pain, but unparalleled beauty.

  A faint humming noise, like a gentle electric current brushing past, Summer Dust remained seated and motionless, but his hair automatically floated back, his scalp filled with true energy, causing his hair to stand on end.

  The true energy flowed slowly, and wherever it passed, Xia Chen could clearly feel the subtlest changes in his skin, not by sight, but clearer than sight, more transparent, and without any blind spots, just like the eyes of heaven.

  The day after tomorrow is Double Ninth Festival, look inward and examine one's own conduct!

  Suddenly, Xia Chen opened her eyes, stood up, and let her hair fall back down, while her billowing clothes slowly subsided.

  His entire body was radiating a faint, shimmering light, as if he had been dusted with fluorescent powder. However, this glow quickly seemed to be absorbed into his skin and gradually disappeared.

  He felt a strong surge of true energy in his dantian, like a fierce horse galloping wildly, much more powerful than the day before. There was an urge to release it, and Xia Chen's heart was filled with joy.

  The day after tomorrow, the second heavy skin boundary will be formed, and it will be cultivated from then on!

  Xia Chen walked into the courtyard and started practicing his Seven Shadows Fist, slowly feeling the power of the Second Heaven.

  Later, the foundation of the second heavenly true energy was used again with the Seven Shadow Fist, its power far surpassing that of the post-heavenly first level.

  Looking at the relaxed fist shadow, Xia Chen felt that as long as he refined it a bit more, he could strike out a second fist shadow.

  At this moment, a faint breeze swept towards Xia Chen, and his body paused, suddenly producing a strong sense of crisis!

  The sense of crisis was so strong that Xia Chen's blood seemed to have frozen throughout his body, and his spirit was instantly stimulated to its peak.

  "Roar!" Xia Chen instinctively let out a loud shout and, without thinking, suddenly pounced forward.

  Whoosh! Almost simultaneously, a cold light grazed his scalp and shot out, with a "hiss" sound, deeply embedding itself in the courtyard wall, its tail still quivering restlessly - it was a flying needle.

  Xia Chen's heart almost stopped beating, and he broke out in a cold sweat. Just now, if it had been delayed by even a fraction of a second, the flying needle would have pierced his back, not necessarily fatal but at least seriously injured, a moment between life and death.

  If it weren't for his sudden breakthrough to the Second Heaven just now, greatly advancing his cultivation, he wouldn't have been able to dodge this nearly perfect sneak attack.

  Xia Chen suddenly turned his head, only to see that at some point, a small figure was standing in the doorway. It was obviously a woman, dressed all in black with her face covered, making it impossible to discern who she was. Her eyes revealed an infinite look of shock.

  It's clear that Xia Chen was able to dodge the flying needles, which also made her feel unbelievable.

  The masked woman immediately reacted and retreated several meters with a swift movement of her toes, her speed was incredibly fast.

  One strike is not enough, immediately retreat.

  But she was fast, Xia Chen was faster, one step ahead, as if ignoring the distance, instantly arrived in front of the masked woman, the unstoppable fist turned into a heavy wave, fiercely smashing down on her, the vast shadow of fists, the sharp gust of wind, made the masked woman's breathing pause.

  Seven Shadows Fist, One Shadow Path!

  The masked woman's eyes were shocked. Although she had heard that Xia Chen could punch out a shadow, she still didn't dare to believe it in her heart. Now that she saw it with her own eyes, the shock was almost indescribable.

  However, her reaction was also extremely quick, not colliding head-on with Xia Chen, but instead mobilizing her true energy, stretching out her palm to lightly touch the side of Xia Chen's fist shadow. A powerful force transmitted over, yet her slender body seemed unaffected, drifting backward as if retreating by borrowing strength. This move, "Four Two Redirects a Thousand Jins", was executed with extreme cleverness.

  Xia Chen's eyes blazed with furious flames, he chased after her in large strides, his fists casting a heavy shadow that reached its peak, surging towards the masked woman like a tidal wave.

  Just now when they exchanged blows, he had already sensed that the woman's cultivation was only at the peak of the acquired first layer, not comparable to his. However, her sneak attack methods were extremely vicious, and within the acquired first layer, perhaps no one could dodge them.

  That masked woman didn't dare to collide with him head-on, and she desperately fled. Her speed was not slow, but Xia Chen broke through the second layer of Tianyun, his true energy far surpassing hers, and his speed was even faster.

  Gradually, the Seven Shadows Fist was wielded by Xia Chen to its limits, with fist shadows and waves becoming increasingly dense and powerful, as if there were signs of a breakthrough.

  With a hum, another clear fist shadow suddenly appeared.

  What? The masked woman's eyes were incomparably shocked, and no matter what, she didn't dare believe this scene.

  A flurry of fists came pouring in, the masked woman was powerless to dissolve them, and she was instantly hit countless times, screaming as she crashed to the ground.

  Originally, Xia Chen had just broken through to the second heaven, and it would take at least a few more days to cultivate the second fist shadow. However, the life-and-death crisis earlier had accelerated this process by several times.

  "Unexpectedly, you've cultivated two fist shadows!" The masked woman struggled to sit up, looking at Xia Chen walking slowly towards her, saying in a hoarse voice.

  "Who are you? Why do you want to kill me?" Xia Chen said with a expressionless face.

  "I'm not here to kill you, I was just entrusted to take care of you. Let me go and I'll tell you who wants to deal with you." The masked woman said weakly, panting constantly as if she had suffered a serious injury.

  "Go tell the Law Enforcement Hall! Assassinating a fellow disciple is a serious crime, and at the very least, it would result in the loss of cultivation and lifelong imprisonment." Xia Chen said coldly. Although this woman was masked, she was obviously also a disciple of the Zhengxuan Sect.

  Just as he was about to grab the masked woman, suddenly, the masked woman raised her hand and several cold lights shot out at him.

  It turned out that her lack of energy earlier was all an act, just to numb Xiaochen.

  Xia Chen's eyes were icy cold, and with a wave of his hand, a strong gust of wind burst out, instantly sweeping away the silver needles.

  This woman is full of tricks, fortunately I didn't let my guard down just now.

  The masked woman's eyes suddenly showed a desperate look, the previous move was her last trump card, but it was still easily broken by Xia Chen, she did not expect that this time, she would fail so miserably.

  If I had known Xia Chen would break through to the second stage of Tian Er after summer, I wouldn't have come to launch a sneak attack even if you killed me.

  Xia Chen picked her up with one hand, just like grabbing a small chicken, and tore off the veil to reveal a clean and flawless pretty face.

  The woman's mouth was bleeding at the corner, her face full of resentment, unwillingly staring at Xia Chen.

  Xia Chen swept a glance over her, but he didn't recognize the masked woman. However, Xia Chen wasn't surprised either - he hadn't been in Zhengxuan Sect for long, and most of the disciples didn't know him yet.

  "Speak up, who sent you to ruin me?" Xia Chen asked.

  "Did I say you could let me go?" The masked woman's face was pale, but her tone was surprisingly calm.

  "You have no other choice, either speak now or enter the Law Enforcement Hall to talk." Xia Chen coldly smiled. The killing intent in his heart was hard to suppress, if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't randomly take revenge in the sect, he would have already killed this masked woman with one palm.

  "Since you're going to take me to the Enforcement Hall, why should I say anything?" The woman's eyes flickered. "How about we discuss terms? You let me go, and I'll tell you who wants to overthrow you, give you enough compensation, and even help you deal with those who want to overthrow you."

  Xia Chen shook his head and carried the woman towards the Law Enforcement Hall. This woman was too cunning, there was no need to play mind games with her anymore.

  "What do you want to do? Don't you want to know who sent me?" The woman finally panicked, originally thinking she could still negotiate with Xia Chen, but unexpectedly this young man was not impressed.

  "I've only been in the sect for two days, who my enemy is I'm naturally clear about, no need for you to say it. Since you're willing to waste your cultivation for Song Qing Shan, then so be it!" Xia Chen said coldly.

  The masked woman's body trembled: "You... you know." Her voice became unbearably bitter.

  Since Xia Chen was able to guess, she didn't even use her last resort of coercion.

  Xia Chen didn't say anything either and took big strides to leave.

  "Xia Chen, as long as you let me go, I'll do whatever you want." The masked woman knew she was at her last moment, gritted her teeth and said.