The terrifying aura swept through the cave like a raging tide, with flying sand and rocks, and the evil Qi dyed the entire space in a deathly silence.

Only the crazed laughter of the sect leader of Xuanxin Sect echoed within, evil Qi surging around him, as if the night solidified into substance.

In this terrifying evil Qi, the sect leader's aura rose step by step.

He was already at External Elixir Realm Perfection, but now he forcibly nourished his entire body with the power of Divine Soul, stepping out into a terrifying realm.

Though he was not at the Inner God Realm, he was half a step into the threshold, practically invincible in the External Elixir Realm.

Li Ru Yue's fingertips turned white, tightly gripping her long whip, a flicker of desperation passing through her eyes.

Xiang Ying Tian held his sword horizontally against his chest, biting his teeth, a deep sense of powerlessness apparent in his vigilance.

They originally thought the journey was a sure success, but did not anticipate the sect leader hiding a secret technique for forging divine souls.

Breaking through to half-step Inner God in battle—such a momentum was beyond the External Elixir Realm's resistance.

Just as the duo's minds were shaken, Xiang Ying Tian instinctively glanced at the figure ahead, his previously desperate eyes slightly pausing.

"Mr. Qin..." he murmured softly.

Before he finished speaking, Li Ru Yue realized it and looked toward the sound.

They saw a figure in dark robes holding a straight blade sideways, his posture as calm as a mountain.

For some reason, seeing this scene, a thought vaguely surged in their hearts.

Even though the crisis before them was like a furious sea, this man seemed like a needle that calms the sea, immune to wind and rain.

Qin An ignored the gazes behind him, squinting his eyes slightly, examining the sect leader emitting a terrifying aura, battle intent appearing like a blade's edge.

Since reaching level twelve in all three professions, whether in Heart Method or Power of Attack, Qin An possessed the might of External Elixir Realm Great Success.

Now was the time to hone his strength against a formidable opponent, providing Qin An a standard to measure his own power.

The sect leader before him hadn't entered the Inner God realm, but had a foot halfway in, more exciting for Qin An than ordinary External Elixir Realm Perfection experts.

"Come on," Qin An gently stroked the blade with his fingertips, the cold star reflecting a chilling glow, his tone indifferent as frost.

The sect leader's arrogant laughter suddenly froze, looking down at Qin An, madness flashing briefly: "Such courage! Truly deserving the name of twin masters of saber and fist... But alas, courage won't save your life! Today, I will grind your bones inch by inch, then offer your corpse to that lord!"

As his words fell, the sect leader's figure disappeared from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he was already near Qin An.

The terrifying evil Qi emitted an oppressive aura, like a small mountain crashing toward Qin An.

Qin An held the blade horizontally against his chest, speaking in a deep voice, "You two, cover me."

Li Ru Yue and Xiang Ying Tian exchanged a glance.

Though uncertain why Qin An gave them such an inexplicable sense of security, at this moment, since Qin An didn't want to compromise easily, they too would fight desperately.

Li Ru Yue swung her long whip, the terrifying sealing power of Phantasmal Moon whip technique coalescing, forming a bewildering phantom that attacked the sect leader.

Xiang Ying Tian's sword danced repeatedly, advanced swordsmanship revealing a fierce momentum, each move being his strongest secret technique killing blow.

The sect leader was slightly stunned, shouting angrily, "Little brats, didn't you say one-on-one combat?"

"One-on-one?" Qin An replied casually, "Of course, but first, a warm-up."

As his words fell, Li Ru Yue and Xiang Ying Tian's weapons had already reached close to the sect leader.

The sect leader roared, swinging both arms.

The terrifying evil Qi surged like tumultuous waves, rushing toward the duo's weapons.

"Just with these two weaklings, you still can't take me down!"

The clash of evil Qi and weapons echoed with a deafening noise.

Li Ru Yue and Xiang Ying Tian's faces turned pale, feeling as though that terrible evil Qi wanted to invade their internal organs.

The two were sent flying, blood spilling freely, crashing onto the ground, already heavily injured.

The sect leader raised his hand for a palm strike, "Heart Intention Method!"

Xuanxin Sect practiced the Heart Intention Method, forging the self with supreme heart intention.

The higher the heart intention, the stronger the cultivation technique when performed.

If during battle, this combat heart intention is pushed to the extreme, even more strength can be exerted compared to ordinary people.

This is a very mysterious cultivation technique, and now combined with the sect leader's pseudo-god body, the strike was terrifying enough to annihilate any existence of External Elixir Realm Perfection.

Qin An gazed unwaveringly, his eyes briefly shining, slicing through with a horizontal strike of the straight blade.

Ice Flame Ruthless Blood Transformation Blade!

Three Blades Unite!

At this moment, Qin An no longer held back, the terrifying Five-Colored True Essence spread across the Cold Star saber.

The power of Three Blades Unite, like three massive waves converging, was akin to a celestial tornado, filled with unparalleled destructive power.

The blade collided with the palm.

"Boom!"

The sound of explosion suddenly erupted.

Qin An was sent flying back by the terrifying evil Qi, his feet landing on the edge of the stone cave, using it to stabilize himself.

Meanwhile, the sect leader's palm cracked open with a deep blood wound visible to the bone, the intense pain causing his pupils to constrict.

"Such ruthless blade skill, it possesses Ice Flame power, as well as the ability to absorb others' blood, along with the ruthless saber momentum, truly as that lord said: your talent is terrifying to the extreme!"

The sect leader laughed grotesquely: "However... though this secret technique can hurt me, it cannot be used for long, you're still far from killing me!"

Qin An slightly raised his brow, flicking the blood droplets off the blade's tip, the Cold Star suddenly returning to its sheath: "I see now, if my Three Blades Unite can harm half-step Inner God, it's still somewhat insufficient."

With these words, the sect leader frowned deeply, his expression turning solemn.

"You used me to test your moves?"

Li Ru Yue stared wide-eyed, her clear gaze filled with disbelief.

Xiang Ying Tian leaned on his sword, his elbow slightly trembling, his shocked gaze sweeping over Qin An.

Both were already severely injured, initially thinking the situation was hopeless, but Qin An's slash wounded this half-step Inner God realm sect leader.

Even more terrifying was Qin An using the sect leader to test his blade.

Such heart intention, under such crisis, was unmatched through history.

As the duo's minds reeled with shock, the sect leader began to move again.

The sect leader intertwined his palms, forming a series of airtight palm prints, enveloping Qin An.

Under the enhancement of Xuanxin Sect Heart Intention Method, the sect leader's attack power at this moment was unparalleled.

The terrifying aura surged like monstrous waves toward them.

"Young brat, if you can again trigger the blade skill, I'll acknowledge you!"

In the sect leader's view, Qin An using a secret technique to combat him would surely be less potent than him wielding half-step Inner God realm might.

Therefore, the sect leader believed he had Qin An in his grip.

Qin An's expression was calm as water.

He looked at the palm prints threateningly approaching, feeling the horrifying pseudo-god aura within, clenching his fists, and struck directly at the sect leader.

This time, unlike battling the Inner God realm fox girl, where he used strategy to win.

This was a head-on confrontation!

The shock in the eyes of Li Ruoyue and Xiang Yingtian grew increasingly intense.

They hadn't expected that Qin An would abandon his saber and switch to martial arts.

Both were puzzled, unable to understand Qin An's intentions.

But at this moment, an idea flashed in Xiang Yingtian's mind.

"Mr. Li, isn't Mr. Qin reputed to excel in both blade and fist techniques?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ruoyue immediately realized.

"Perhaps... Mr. Qin's martial arts surpass his blade skills!"

Their hearts speculated.

By this time, the distance between Qin An and the Sect Leader had already expanded to over three feet.

Blood-Forging Eight Strikes Chaos Seal!

Ever since Qin An advanced his blacksmithing to level twelve, he had evolved his martial arts to Outer Elixir Realm Great Success.

Blood-Forging Eight Strikes Chaos Seal not only retained its previous frightening power of attack but also gained meteor-like speed.

When Qin An performed it, Five-Colored True Essence spread across his arms, his fist like a meteor, sweeping past mid-air, leaving trails of shadows.

Its speed was no slower than the Sect Leader's.

Blood-Forging! Blood-Forging!

The Demon Pill within Qin An's body burned wildly, transforming into waves of Qi Blood Power, covering his arms.

"Boom!"

The sound of explosions echoed incessantly.

Qin An's fist and the Sect Leader's palm continuously clashed in this dark stone cave.

Qi Blood was consumed at a speed visible to the naked eye, but Qin An's expression became increasingly calm.

At this moment, under the erosion of Qin An's terrifying Qi Blood, the Sect Leader's arms cracked inch by inch, blood spraying out like a fountain, splattering onto the damp stone wall.

"Ah!"

A scream echoed throughout the cave.

The Sect Leader's figure suddenly retreated explosively, attempting to create a safe distance.

But before he could retreat two steps, Qin An stepped forward.

Dragon Roar Shadow Step!

Leaving a shadow in place, and as soon as the shadow disappeared, Qin An landed silently, arriving in front of the Sect Leader.

The Sect Leader raised his head and glanced around, feeling a chilling killing intent locking him heavily.

He saw Qin An's eyes devoid of emotion, and for some reason, a sense of life-and-death crisis surged in his heart.

"Impossible, I am half a step into the Inner God Realm!" The Sect Leader exclaimed in disbelief, "How could I be killed by a brat of Outer Elixir Realm Great Success?"

"Heart Method! Activate for me!"

Under the pressure of the life-and-death crisis, the Sect Leader could no longer heed anything else, channeling all the True Essence throughout his body, frantically activating his Secret Technique.

But at this moment, he saw a fist growing larger before his eyes.

The fist was wrapped in a terrifying, suffocating amount of Five-Colored True Essence and Qi Blood Power.

Demon Pill, burn!

Without hesitation, Qin An burned ten more Demon Pills.

This fist was stronger than before in every aspect.

The Sect Leader roared in fury, bringing his palms together to strike at Qin An's fist.

"Boom!"

Another fierce explosion sound rang out.

This time, it was like the straw that broke the camel's back; the Sect Leader's arms turned into scattered blood under the intertwined terror of the Five-Colored True Essence and Qi Blood Power.

"Ah!"

The Sect Leader screamed once more, flying backwards, his back violently crashing against the stone wall.

When he rebounded off the stone wall, he saw a dazzling long saber flash before his eyes.

"Puff!"

The sound of flesh being penetrated echoed, and the Sect Leader lowered his head to see the straight blade piercing his chest, unleashing a desperate will to live.

"Spare me! Spare me!" The Sect Leader pleaded hoarsely, "Sir, spare this humble one, I failed to recognize your true identity, please show mercy!"

Qin An's gaze was calm as water, his tone icy: "Everyone says that, I'm tired of hearing it."

As his words fell, Five-Colored True Essence followed the Cold Star Saber into the Sect Leader's body, destroying all his internal organs.

A Pseudo Pill was picked up by Qin An, absorbed into his body.

The scene fell into silent stillness, no one spoke.

Li Ruoyue and Xiang Yingtian exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

Yet they remained silent.

No one dared to interrupt the tranquility, their eyes filled with reverence as they looked at the figure in the dark robe ahead.

Though there was no wind in the cave, the dark robe slightly fluttered, casting Qin An's icy cold face into half-visible relief.

Like a Shura gradually walking out of the dark mist.

"Have you two not yet recovered?" Qin An asked indifferently.

The sound broke the silence instantly.

Li Ruoyue and the others only then came to their senses.

Xiang Yingtian used his long sword to prop himself up, stumbling to his feet, saluting deeply: "If not for Mr. Qin's timely intervention today, we would have been doomed! This favor will never be forgotten in our lifetime!"

Li Ruoyue hung her long whip at her waist, similarly saluting: "Without Mr. Qin, this lady would already have turned into bones; like Lord Xiang, if Mr. Qin ever requires in the future, we'll be at your service!"

Qin An shook his head slightly, not speaking, his gaze turning to the end of the cave.

At the end was a wooden box adorned with intricate patterns and an iron lock.

The iron lock appeared very ordinary, yet in Qin An's eyes, it was mere facade.

Seen upon the iron lock, entwined were multiple layers of arrays.

If forced open, the item within would certainly be destroyed.

This cave was the secret domain of the Mystic Heart Sect, used by the Sect Leader to obscure his identity.

A wooden box appeared here, entangled with arrays, it was certainly not ordinary.

Having come this far, Qin An had no other thoughts, approaching the wooden box and pointing with his hand.

True Essence erupted at his fingertips, transferring into the iron lock.

With Qin An's level eleven Array Master profession, such intricate arrays were nonexistent to him.

In a mere moment, the iron lock was snapped by Qin An.

Qin An did not pause, opening the wooden box.

Upon seeing the contents of the box, Qin An frowned slightly.

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