Before the morning bell rang, the mountain mist came. Chu Xuan, treading on the frost, returned to the woodshed with a light step like a fox that had stolen a chicken. The silver dragon rolled in the dantian, its beard entwined with the newly acquired remnants of "Ice Soul Sword Intent", and with each breath, a wisp of cold star "click click" pushed along the meridians - the barrier of the middle stage of the sixth layer of qi refinement, so thin that it was just a layer of window paper.
"Take two more puffs and you'll be able to jump to the seventh level." He stretched, his knuckles crackling like roasted beans. Just as he was about to push the door open, a powerful force suddenly descended upon him, like a mountain pressing down, freezing his blood to the point of almost clotting.
The fog was torn apart and a group of people rushed in with a fierce look. The old man with white hair and a youthful face, his dark blue robe fluttered in the wind, and the jade plaque "jingle" at his waist - the powerful elder of the Outer gate, Li Peiyuan, in the later stage of foundation establishment, Zhao Tianlei's uncle.
"Chu Xuan, how bold you are!" "The forbidden area is a sacred place of the sect. You trespass to cultivate and desecrate the spiritual vein. According to the law, you should be disqualified from cultivation and expelled from the sect!"
Chu Xuan's heart gave a jolt, but his face turned white with a smile: "Elder Li, the disciple was punished to cut firewood and happened to enter by mistake. How dare he desecrate? You are well aware."
"Strayed in? Coincidentally?" Elder Li sneered, his eyes as sharp as a knife, "coincidentally to master the Cold Star Sword intent? Clever enough to have Elder Ling stand up for you? If you are not taken today, where are the rules!"
Before he could finish his words, the four law enforcement disciples behind him spread out in a fan shape, each at the seventh level of qi refinement, their spiritual power rumbling, their robes fluttering. Zhao Tianlei poked out half of his face from behind the man, his eyes brimming with malice, but his mouth was filled with a smug sneer.
Chu Xuan glanced and cursed inwardly: The old man has come to the forbidden area to protect his wife! On the face, he bowed his hands and spoke in a clear voice: "The elder wants to punish him without hesitation. Disciple is willing to be investigated, but please follow the rules of the sect - law enforcement requires video recording, interrogation requires three sessions of trial, you won't break the rules, will you?"
Elder Li's eyes twitched, clearly not expecting that this mortal kid could recite the rules backwards. He snorted and swept his sleeves: "Sharp-toothed! Since you are required to follow the rules, I'll take you down first and then judge you slowly!"
With that, he raised his hand, his five fingers loosely clenched, and his mighty spiritual power turned into a bluish hand, five fingers as high as a mountain, and grabbed Chu Xuan head-on - the power of foundation building, the energy refining stage could not contend!
Chu Xuan's pupils constricted, but he did not take a step back. Instead, his dantian trembled, the silver dragon roared, the dragon scales opened and closed, pushing the Cold Star Sword intent to the extreme, and a pale silver light curtain rose from the surface of his body to resist the green light hand!
"Bang!"
The force was as strong as a mountain. Chu Xuan's feet plunged into the ground about a foot in an instant, blood gushed in his chest, and his throat tasted sweet, but he managed to stand firm! Silver light and green light intermingled, making a shrill rubbing sound like ice skates scraping iron, sparks flying everywhere.
A glimmer of astonishment flashed in Elder Li's eyes: A mere sixth level of qi refinement, could he resist thirty percent of his strength? This child's constitution is indeed haunted!
He snorted coldly, exhaled his palm spirit power, and with a snap of his five fingers, he was about to lift Chu Xuan up
"Enough."
A faint female voice, suddenly from the depths of self-restraint, not loud but like a chorus of swords, instantly overpowering all the spiritual fluctuations. Qingguangda's hand was struck lightly by an invisible sword intent, and with a "puff", it burst into a sky full of light spots.
Elder Li's face changed greatly. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw the ice mist surging, and a graceful figure in white emerged slowly. With each step, an ice lotus formed on the ground. Every step was like a lotus, and the cold light spread everywhere.
"Ling... Elder Ling? Elder Li's voice tightened and his back bent uncontrollably. "Why are you here?"
Ling Qingxue stood with her hands behind her back, her eyes indifferent as if looking at a stone: "I am practicing here, Chu Xuan is my disciple, cutting firewood for me. How can I desecrate?"
Disciple? !
Elder Li's pupils trembled, and Zhao Tianlei's face turned deathly pale -- How many years had Ling Qingxue not taken a disciple, and now she made an exception for this mortal kid?
Ling Qingxue flicked her fingertip, and a wisp of ice-soul sword intent quietly sank into Chu Xuan's body, instantly soothing his surging qi and blood, but her voice was as pale as snow: "Elder Li, the junior sparring, you act yourself, have you crossed the boundary?"
The elder Li broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, but dared not wipe it, and could only grit his teeth: "This son trespaded into the forbidden area and was punished according to the law..."
"Law?" Ling Qingxue chuckled, but the smile was colder than ice. "This seat is the law of the forbidden land. Chu Xuan, I'll protect it. Elder Li, do you have any objections?"
Elder Li's face turned pale and blue. After a while, he forced a sentence through his teeth: "Disciple... "Dare not."
"Then get out." Ling Qingxue turned, her back like snow, her voice scattered in the wind, "Dare to take another half step, leave your feet behind."
Elder Li dared not speak any more. He could only give Chu Xuan a fierce glare and then, with Zhao Tianlei and the others, retreat in a sorry state. The fog curtain closed, resealing the forbidden area as an isolated island.
Chu Xuan stood there, bowing to Ling Qingxue's back, his voice so low that only he could hear: "Senior, I owe you again."
The fog curtain closed, and the forbidden area fell silent again. Chu Xuan remained in an arched position until Ling Qingxue's breath had completely dissipated, then straightened up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead - it was not a pleasant experience to confront the late stage of foundation establishment. Silver Dragon turned his belly in his dantian, his whiskers shaking as if mocking his "toughness" just now.
"Don't show off. Even if you practice for another ten years, you won't be able to catch a palm strike." Chu Xuan gave a self-mocking smile and turned towards the woodshed, but his steps were as light as if he had picked up money. Elder Li was humiliated, Zhao Tianlei was covered in dust, and he casually picked up a sword intent from Elder Ling - this deal was a good deal!
...
Outside the forbidden area, Elder Li sped along, his face gloomier than the mountain mist. Zhao Tianlei covered his face and followed behind, half of his cheek swollen and shiny - that was the result of Elder Li's backhand slap.
"Loser!" The elder Li stopped and turned back, and then gave him a stern rebuke. "You were told to keep an eye on someone, and you kept an eye right under Ling Qingxue's nose? The face of the Law enforcement Hall has been completely disgraced!"
Zhao Tianlei was too scared to speak, but in his heart he hated Chu Xuan so much that his teeth itched: A poor boy from the mortal world, why should he be favored by Elder Ling? Why did he master the Cold Star Sword Intent in three days? He doesn't agree!
"Uncle, we can't just let it go like this!" He covered his face, his voice muffled but venomous, "At the end of the month, the outside gate competition, I apply for 'life and death battle'! On the ring, General Ling can no longer interfere!"
Elder Li squinted his eyes, a flash of coldness: "A life-and-death fight? Good idea. It's a matter of winning or losing, it's a matter of life and death -- then even Ling Qingxue won't be able to save him!"
He raised his hand, slapped the ancient tree beside him with a palm, and the foundation spirit power came out through the palm, instantly covering the trunk with a layer of frost. A moment later, with a "crack", the whole tree froze into an ice sculpture, and when the wind blew, it shattered into ice chips all over the ground.
"At the end of the month in the arena, I can't even get that kid to kneel!"
...
It's late at night in the woodshed.
Chu Xuan sat cross-legged on the bed, with the sword mark spread out in his palm, the icy blue light flickering like a heartbeat. The silver dragon wrapped around his wrist, and the dragon's whiskers tapped the sword mark. With each touch, a wisp of extremely fine sword intent was drawn out, incorporated into the dragon's scales, and then fed back into the moist spiritual energy, pushing the six layers of the energy refining barrier "click click".
"The Grand finale at the end of the month..." "Zhao Tianlei, you'd better pray that the ring is strong enough and I don't dismantle it too quickly," he murmured, his fingertips circling the sword seal.
The moonlight outside the window was like water, and the silver light shone through the broken window and fell on his eyelashes, forming tiny ice crystals, but could not hide the eager sharpness in his eyes. The silver dragon seemed to sense the master's fighting spirit, growled low, swung its tail, and sent the last wisp of sword intent into the dantian --
"Puff"
The barrier is broken, the seven layers of qi refinement come naturally!
Chu Xuan opened his eyes, and the cold star flashed in his eyes, as if someone had lit a small fishing light in that icy lake. He stretched, his joints crackling, and bowed out of the window: "Senior, watch at the end of the month - I'll put on a big show for you."