Tianyun Country, Seventh Xuanwu Mansion——

  It had been a month since Lin Ming left Tianyun City.

  On a winter afternoon, after a light snowfall, the clouds dispersed and the sun shone brightly, the accumulated snow was slowly melting, and a warm air filled the atmosphere.

  In the northwest corner of the Seventh Imperial Guard, Sun Liang, who was in charge of the registration office, was listlessly flipping through a biography.

  The work at the registration office of the Wu Fu is quite dull, mainly recording the time and place of the Wu Fu disciples' outings for training or missions. Otherwise, if a disciple goes missing for too long without reason, the Qi Xuan Wu Fu will start investigating, this is to ensure the safety of the Wu Fu disciples.

  Because the disciples of the Seventh Imperial Palace rarely go out to practice, it is already not a small number to register three or five disciples in one day. This kind of boring and unpromising work is not worth doing for any martial artist with some real ability.

  Sun Liang was a second-rate martial artist with exceptional innate talent. Although his family couldn't compare to those influential families, it was still considered decent. Relying on some connections, he managed to get into the Tianyun Martial Manor and trained for over a decade until he reached the Refining Organs stage, after which he became lazy and stopped practicing. He ended up working as an administrator at the Qiuxuan Martial Manor's registration office.

  Just as he was getting to the exciting part, Sun Liang's facial expression also became more vivid, sometimes grinning foolishly and sometimes tensing up with the rise and fall of the protagonist's fate. Just when his interest was piqued, he suddenly felt the light dimming down, a figure blocking out the sunlight.

  Sun Liang thought it was a Wu Fu disciple who wanted to register for external training, and his interest in reading the biography was interrupted. Sun Liang raised his head with some dissatisfaction, just about to ask the disciple about the time and place of his external training, but he suddenly froze.

  In front of him stood a middle-aged man wearing a flowing white robe, with a long zither on his back. He was slender in build, with thick eyebrows and bright eyes, and had an ethereal quality to him, as if he were floating above the dust.

  "Bang."

  Sun Liang's biography fell to the ground, he trembled and stood up, opened his mouth, and dryly said: "Master... Master..."

  Sun Liang was shocked to death. How could Qinzi Ya, the master of the Seventh Xuanwu Prefecture, run to his place?

  Qinzi smiled slightly and naturally didn't plan to pursue the matter of Sun Liang checking the attendance record. He opened his mouth and said, "A month ago, Lin Ming made a travel record here with you?"

  Sun Liang hastily nodded, originally there were not many people registering every day, Lin Ming's identity was extraordinary, he naturally remembered.

  "Bring it here and let me see."

  "Alright...alright."

  Sun Liang rummaged through his travel records, which were still somewhat organized. He didn't encounter any situations where he couldn't find them temporarily; otherwise, he would have really wanted to bang his head against the wall until he died.

  Qinzi saw Lin Ming's departure time and signature on the paper, and slightly frowned.

  Going out for training for two months, location undecided...

  "I understand."

  Qinzi gently closed the registration book and turned to leave.

  Lin Ming has been gone for a month. Although the registration book clearly states that he went out voluntarily to gain experience, Qinzijia feels that something is fishy.

  Lin Ming has offended many people, and it's absolutely unwise for him to go out and gain experience at this time.

  Once his whereabouts are exposed, he may even encounter a fatal disaster.

  Moreover, near the Tianyun country. There is no good place to practice, going out to practice is not as fast as cultivating in the Seventh Xuanwu Prefecture, and the Seven Kills Array is always open to Lin Ming, what better training conditions are there outside?

  The only thing that the Seven Xuanwu Mansion lacks is a real life-and-death struggle. If Lin Ming wants to experience this, he can go to the military, but Qian Ziyi has already asked the military and Lin Ming has not joined the army.

  This made Qinzhi's heart full of doubts, what was Lin Ming's situation after all?

  Qinzi returned this time to prepare for the upcoming assessment of the General Ancestor.

  Two months later, Qixuan Valley will send someone to inspect and receive the core disciples of several nearby countries' Wu Fu, and hold a Tea Martial Art Meet.

  The Cha Wu Hui is held every three years. At that time, the core disciples of various national martial arts schools gather to taste tea and compete in martial arts, comparing their strengths and weaknesses.

  This is an assessment of the core disciples of various countries. It is also a acceptance test for the work of the Wu Fu itself, and even Qinziya, who rarely worries about internal affairs of the Wu Fu, attaches great importance to this assessment.

  At that time, he borrowed the Seven Xuanling to issue a decree, and also gave Lin Ming so many benefits, hoping that Lin Ming could grow up in a short period of time and make a big splash at this Tea Martial Arts Conference.

  If the results are good, not only will the core disciples who achieved the results be rewarded, but the master of the Wu Fu will also receive a reward.

  The most precious reward is the Heavenly Elixir Pill.

  Tian Dan is used by post-heavenly masters to impact the pre-heavenly state, it is used to eliminate post-heavenly turbid Qi from the body, wash the tendons and bones, restore the pre-heavenly inner breath, return to simplicity and truth, and enter the pre-heavenly realm.

  No matter how amazing your innate talent is, if you want to transcend from acquired to innate, you must take the Heavenly Pill.

  The difference between innate and acquired lies in the innate inner breath. The innate inner breath can make the soul enter a state of clarity, tranquility, and emptiness, making it easier to communicate with the primordial energy of heaven and earth, allowing the soul to perceive the ultimate principle of heaven and earth, and driving the power of heaven and earth with true yuan.

  The fetus in the womb relies on the umbilical cord for breathing and blood circulation, which is innate inner breath.

  After birth, babies switch to mouth and nose breathing, inevitably coming into contact with postnatal turbid qi, and their innate inner breath is lost.

  From post-heaven to pre-heaven, it is necessary to eliminate the mundane foundation and transform from external breathing in post-heaven to internal breathing in pre-heaven.

  This requires washing the marrow and re-presenting the innate inner breath of the Heavenly Elixir!

  In theory, a martial artist with extraordinary innate talent can eliminate the acquired impurities in their body through their own strength, without relying on elixirs, and directly enter the prenatal state. Of course, this is just theoretical, and no one has actually achieved it.

  This Tian Dan is a precious thing in the Seven Mysteries Valley, and it's not just the Seven Mysteries Valley, but also in other major sects, Tian Dan is extremely scarce.

  Because the materials for entering Tiandan are too hard to find, even if they are gathered, opening the furnace to refine the elixir also has a considerable risk of failure.

  Qī Xuán Gǔ almost every three years refines a furnace of Tiān Dān, the finished product only has about twenty to thirty pieces.

  These more than twenty pellets of Dan medicine, with so many disciples coming to divide them up, are clearly insufficient.

  According to the Seven Profound Valleys, the Heavenly Elixir is only rewarded to postnatal peak masters with exceptional innate talents. However, even if these masters consume the Heavenly Elixir, it's not guaranteed that they can enter the prenatal realm.

  Qinzi's innate talent was already against the heavens, starting to cultivate at twenty years old and reaching the peak of post-heaven by forty-five. He had also obtained a Heavenly Entrance Pill back then, and after consuming it, he broke through the pre-heaven bottleneck. However, there was a slight issue with his heart, missing by just one step!

  As a result, Qinzhi's teeth stopped at the half-step Innate, and he wandered in the deep mountains and valleys for many years, tempering his heart with the zither. Finally, his zither heart was fully formed, and now he urgently needed an entry Tian Dan to impact the Innate bottleneck!

  Every three years, the Tea Wu Conference is held, and only two Tian Dan are set up. One is awarded to the core disciple, and one is awarded to the master of the Wu Fu.

  Reward only the first!

  However, the reward for the core disciple can only be redeemed when he reaches the peak of the later stage.

  After all, if one's cultivation is insufficient, taking the Heavenly Entrance Pill would be a waste.

  For core disciples, the rewards are not only the promised entry into the Heavenly Dan, but also other rich rewards, including top-grade treasure equipment, extreme-grade elixirs, core skills and many more.

  Qinziya naturally wanted to get the Tiandan, but he didn't expect Linming to take first place. This first place was too far away. The strength of Tianyun Country's Seven Xuanwu Sect wasn't that strong, compared to Huoluo Country and Dongyang Country, it was much weaker.

  But this time I didn't get first place, there's always next time. Next time I don't get it, there's the time after that. After all, Lin Ming is only 15 years old and can participate in three Tea Martial Meetings.

  Even if he fails three times, Lin Ming should still be able to achieve a good result, and it would also count as adding another achievement for Qianzi Ya.

  But Jinzi didn't expect that when he came back, Lin Ming had already disappeared for a month, heading into the unknown.

  Southern Xinjiang, Heishui Marsh

  Lin Ming and Flame Boy had been chasing each other for an hour!

  In this brief period of pursuit, the two men clashed more than a dozen times, neither able to gain the upper hand over the other.

  Lin Ming's true yuan within his body had been depleted by another 30%, and such a long flight coupled with the intense battle, even with his abundant qi and blood, as well as the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Fist to supplement him, he wouldn't be able to hold on any longer.

  At this rate, in just one more hour, his true yuan will be completely depleted!

  On the other hand, the child behind him did not have a situation where his true yuan was exhausted. This is because Huo Yan Tong Zi was originally more profound than Lin Ming Xiu. Secondly, this child was not a physical body, but a fire spirit. Fire spirits are born to live forever and never perish.

  Lin Ming was anxious in his heart, this can't go on like this.

  Stop fighting, he can't win, and if he delays for a long time, he will be caught up by the true body of Huo Zhen.

  If he continues to flee, he can hold on for at most another hour. After that, his true yuan will be depleted and even if the Fire Scorpion Palm's master doesn't arrive, just this Flame Child alone can kill him!

  It seems to have fallen into an impasse...

  No, there will always be vitality, it's just that you haven't thought of it yourself!

  Calm down!

  Lin Ming's breathing slowed down, and his mind entered a state similar to that of the Void Spirit Sword Intent. He had to think of a way to break this deadlock.

  At this time, six hundred miles away from Lin Ming, a bald-headed middle-aged man in black robes sat cross-legged on the Wind God Sculpture, his face cold and indifferent. This person was precisely the Red Moon Sect Master, Huo Chi.

  Riding the Divine Wind Eagle, he chased after it for more than an hour, and there were also Flame Spirits splitting off to hold it back. Yet even so, he was still six hundred miles away from his destination.

  However, Chi Yue was not in a hurry, he was waiting for the labor to rest, and his prey was constantly consuming the true yuan, as long as he waited for another hour, he almost won without a fight.

  The strength of this prey is unexpectedly strong, with only the peak of tempered bones, but with a powerful combat power that rivals the post-heavenly martial artist. Not only that, he can also fly, and his endurance and prolonged combat ability are also astonishing!

  "No matter what secrets you have on your body, they will be mine!"

  A faint cold smile floated up at the corner of Chi Yue's mouth. His goal was to conquer Nanjiang, and no one could stop his footsteps.

  But just at this moment, the smile on Akatsuki's face suddenly froze, and immediately, his complexion changed drastically!

  "This... this is... Suzaku!!"

  Six hundred miles away, Lin Ming stared at the red bird flying in the sky with wide eyes, his eyes filled with incredulity. Was this really the Vermilion Bird?

  The legendary sacred beast has actually appeared right before one's own eyes?