Chapter 20: The Realm of Qi and Martial Arts

  Outside the city of Luoxia, in the midst of a dense forest!

  That round red sun still lingered on the earth, reluctant to leave, burning peacefully and releasing its last energy, with the entire world surrounded by a golden hue.

  Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the gravel, his hands clasped together in front of him, forming a strange hand seal. His eyes were tightly closed and his breathing was steady and powerful.

  The faint wind around seemed to carry a gentle spirit that slowly surrounded Ye Chen and then slowly entered his body.

  Chest slightly undulating, wind attribute spiritual energy and blood constantly merging, forming a stock of wind attribute true energy surging into the dantian, dark red true crystal floating around and a cyan light slowly emerging, then the cyan true crystal suddenly appears in the dantian, wind attribute true energy wildly rushing into that cyan true crystal.

  Seemingly sensing the increasingly abundant wind-attributed True Qi within his body, Ye Chen's face revealed a faint, comforting smile.

  A gentle breeze swept across the long hair on his forehead, and he suddenly opened his eyes. A green light flashed in his dark pupils, followed by a red one, before finally returning to black.

  Suddenly leaping up from the gravel, he lazily stretched his waist, feeling the two different attributes of true energy in his meridians. Ye Chen muttered to himself: "Wind attribute is at the 8th layer of Initial Martial Arts, fire attribute is also at the 8th layer of Initial Martial Arts. At this rate, it's likely that I'll be able to break through to the 9th layer of Initial Martial Arts in a few weeks. However, I still lack a fire-attribute technique!"

  Yesterday, after Zǔ Gé came out, Yè Chén went to Yè Jiā Gé again and found that although there were many beginner-level techniques stored inside, they lacked fire-attribute ones.

  "Kid, if you don't find a fire-attribute cultivation method soon, it's going to be tough for you to break through the first nine levels of Fire Attribute Initial Martial Arts!" Huo Qilin's lazy voice slowly sounded in Ye Chen's ear.

  Helplessly rubbing his forehead, Ye Chen smiled bitterly. Perhaps three years ago, with his status in the Ye family, it wouldn't have been difficult to get a beginner-level fire-attribute technique. But now, the situation was reversed. Now, he found it as hard as ascending to heaven to go to the Ye family pavilion and learn an intermediate martial skill.

  With a vigorous shake of her arm, she gazed at the Qilin seal with a resentful expression and pouted: "Xiao Huo, can't you give birth to a fire-attribute technique for me?"

  Hu Qilin was also speechless, and immediately went crazy with a loud roar: "Old man, where did you go to give birth to this! Ah, little boy, there's a fierce battle between masters, hurry up and hide!"

  Expert, Ye Chen's face suddenly tensed up, vigilantly gazing around. The surrounding birds chirped incessantly, and the gentle breeze rustling through the leaves made a soft whooshing sound.

  A deafening explosion came from afar, birds in the dense forest flew up in a flurry, and Ye Chen's face also flashed with a hint of horror. One figure quickly got up and fled in the opposite direction of the explosion. The naturally gifted master, known as Huo Qilin, was not inferior to those at the Qi Wu boundary. To avoid harming innocent bystanders, Ye Chen decided to retreat hastily.

  But heaven seemed to have played a huge joke on Ye Chen, two sharp sword tips flew quickly towards the position where Ye Chen was, the sound of breaking air echoed through the dense forest, Ye Chen didn't turn over, looking at a tree hole beside him, directly turned over and jumped into the tree hole, the space inside the tree hole was very narrow, but it was enough to hold Ye Chen's body, using his sword to cut off some branches to block the entrance of the hole, two eyes vigilantly staring at the half-empty sky, the iron sword in his hand gripped tightly, ready to respond to any sudden changes.

  Two sword auras were just two small light spots, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived above the dense forest where Ye Chen was. A metallic impact sound came "Ding", the two sword auras kept flashing quickly in mid-air, endless sword energy filled the entire dense forest. The originally beautiful environment of the dense forest turned into a desolate scene in an instant, the sound of trees falling continuously echoed beside Ye Chen's ears. Ye Chen secretly said: "Damn it, such bad luck, even finding a place to cultivate encounters a high-level expert! This strength is too terrifying!"

  "Kid, take a good look! This is what it means to be a strong Qi Wu Jing master!" Huo Qilin teased, noticing the shock on Ye Chen's face.

  The two sword auras parted again, standing opposite each other in mid-air. The sword aura gradually dissipated, revealing the true faces of the two individuals. Closer to Ye Chen was a young man wearing a purple long robe, with a refined face and an aura of swords surrounding his body that seemed both present and absent at the same time. He was like an unsheathed precious sword - silent but ready to strike, exuding an air of powerful momentum. Ye Chen secretly exclaimed: "So strong! Xiao Huo, is this the ability of a strong practitioner in the Qi Wu realm, Ling Kong?"

  And standing opposite the young man was an old man with a gloomy face, his robes fluttering without wind, his entire being radiating sharpness, the astonishing sword aura emanating from him dispersing the clouds above his head. The fading sunlight cast on the old man's body also twisted in a strange way. The old man sneered coldly: "You little rabbit of the Sword God Sect, quickly take out the Vermilion Bird Diagram!"

  The young man's face remained unchanged, his right hand waved, the sword tip coldly pointing at the old man, and he said in a cold voice: "You old thing, this Vermilion Bird Diagram has fallen into my hands, it is the property of the Sword God Sect. Are you not afraid that this move will lead to conflict between the two sects? The Lingyun Sect will not offend the Sword God Sect for your sake!"

  "You're just a novice who has just entered the realm of martial arts, do you think I'll give you a chance to escape and report back?!" The old man sneered, waving his hand casually, as a meter-long sword aura burst out from his sword, slicing through the originally chaotic ground, leaving behind several meters wide sword marks. He then coldly laughed and said: "You little rabbit, today I will decide the fate of the Vermilion Bird Diagram, and your life is also mine to decide!"

  The words were not yet finished, and a sword had already been thrust out. The air around was compressed in an instant, and the explosive sounds continued. A shocking pressure rushed towards the young man.

  The young man's face flashed with a hint of emotion, but his body didn't flinch. With one sword stroke, the sharp and fierce momentum swept across the sky, no weaker than the old man's aura. The tip of the sword shone with white light, like flames dancing on the blade. As soon as the sword was unsheathed, the wind and clouds changed color, meeting the old man's sword in a "clang". However, just as they made contact, the old man's figure vanished, only to reappear above the young man.

  The old man clapped his hands together in mid-air, and his body suddenly stopped moving. His two hands grasped the hilt of the sword with incredible speed, and a purple electric arc extended from the blade, transforming into a flowing light that shot towards the young man. The terrifying pressure directly shattered the surrounding air.

  "Air Martial Middle Rank, you've actually broken through!" The young man's face rarely showed a hint of astonishment, and with a sudden echo, his figure flashed and leapt towards the distance.

  The difference between primary and intermediate air combat is just one level, but the gap in between is irreparable.

  The initial nine-layer breakthrough reached the realm of martial arts, but after that, the breakthrough in the realm of martial arts was difficult to ascend to heaven, so the realm of martial arts is called the boundary of entering the martial way.

  As the young man's figure gradually disappeared from view, the old man didn't rush. With his right hand holding a sword, he suddenly stabbed forward, and the long sword flew out of his hand. Electric sparks surrounded him, instantly transforming into a long rainbow that shot straight at the young man's figure. The old man's figure also followed closely behind like a ghost.

  He slowly exhaled, and Ye Chen's face was filled with shock, but soon returned to calmness. Rubbing his forehead, he muttered to himself: "Flying in the air, swordsmanship that can kill people, is this what you call a divine ability? The divine ability that only strong Qi Wu practitioners possess?"

  "Soaring through the air, wielding a sword to kill people, it's just an elementary divine ability!" Huo Qilin said calmly, and then reminded, "Youngster, that little rabbit kid is back again!"

  His heart skipped a beat, Ye Chen's eyes vigilantly swept around him. With the help of Huo Qilin, Ye Chen was not worried about the danger of his breath being detected by the opponent.

  A figure slowly emerged from afar and fell down unsteadily amidst the scattered trees.

  At a glance, the figure was unmistakably the young man from earlier.