Starting as a cowherd, he sought a way to cultivate immortality.

The difference between the early and middle stages of Qi Refining is significant, while the difference between the late and middle stages is even greater.

An ordinary cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining would be severely injured, if not killed, if struck by the green-robed man's spiritual energy strike.

But Chen Chi was not afraid at all. The spiritual energy in his dantian instantly transformed into pure yang fire and burst out of his body, scorching the green-robed man's outstretched hand.

The green-robed man's pupils contracted sharply, and he abruptly withdrew his hand, retreating rapidly.

However, Chen Chi's true fire followed closely, clinging to the green-robed man's hand and rapidly spreading to his arm.

Although the man in the green robe had bloodshot eyes, he had not lost his mind.

With a fierce determination, he used his black spiritual energy to sever his own arm.

Ignoring the bloodstains at the severed arm, the man in green robes immediately steered his spirit boat and soared into the sky.

A look of surprise flashed in Chen Chi's eyes.

He made a hand seal with one hand, mobilized the pure Yang fire within his body, and pointed a finger at the green-robed man in mid-air.

The "Burning Heaven Finger" technique, as recorded in the Pure Yang Burning Heaven Manual, shot swiftly toward the green-robed man, and true fire pierced through his body.

The green-robed man roared in agony as his entire body was engulfed in true fire and burned on the spirit boat.

Before long, the man in the green robe lost consciousness from the pain.

The spirit boat, unmanned, plummeted from mid-air.

Chen Chi approached and saw that the man in green robes had already lost his life.

Without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed a burst of spiritual energy, severing the green-robed man's head and ensuring that there was no possibility of him coming back to life.

Looking at the green-robed man lying on the ground, his head severed from his body, Chen Chi's face showed a solemn expression.

Although the two only fought for a dozen breaths, he discovered that the green-robed man's spiritual energy was extremely abundant.

Although he is only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, he can rival an ordinary person at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"This might be related to his cannibalism," Chen Chi thought to himself.

The man in the green robe must be practicing some kind of heretical martial art.

Fortunately, he has now been killed by Chen Chi.

Chen Chi raised his right hand, and the green-robed man's spirit boat shrank and landed in his palm.

With the spirit boat, the time he needs to travel to Qingxuan Market will be greatly reduced.

Then, Chen Chi took the green-robed man's storage ring.

With a thought, Chen Chi removed the divine sense restriction on it and probed into it with his own divine sense.

The storage space in the green-robed man's ring was several times larger than that of Chen Chi's.

The storage ring contained over four hundred spirit stones, more than a dozen second-grade talismans, and several healing pills.

A faint smile appeared on Chen Chi's face.

The man in green robes finally delivered some cultivation supplies to him, relieving his immediate crisis.

After inspecting the body and confirming that there was nothing else on the green-robed man's corpse, Chen Chi released a ball of pure Yang true fire, burning the green-robed man to ashes.

A moment later, Chen Chi returned to the town in his spirit boat and landed in front of Xiao Ling's house.

Chen Chi knocked on the door and called out into the room.

"I've taken care of that madman."

After a while, Xiaoling opened the door and her eyes scanned Chen Chi's surroundings warily.

"Come out, you don't need to worry about being eaten by that madman anymore," Chen Chi said softly.

"Are you telling the truth?" Xiaoling's tone was full of doubt.

Chen Chi nodded solemnly and pointed to one side of the street.

"The ten people from your town who were offered as tribute this month have returned. You can ask them if you don't believe me."

Xiao Ling peeked out and stood with Chen Chi on the empty street, looking in the direction Chen Chi was pointing.

A middle-aged man with a large beard, dressed in coarse cloth, was running towards the two of them.

"That's Uncle Zheng?!" Xiao Ling rubbed her eyes.

When the bearded man saw Chen Chi from afar, he was stunned for a moment, then his face showed excitement. He rushed to Chen Chi's side, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Thank you so much, Immortal Master, for saving my life! Thank you so much, Immortal Master!"

The bearded man, who had narrowly escaped death, was so grateful to Chen Chi for saving him that he almost fainted from crying.

Seeing her neighbor Uncle Zheng return safely, Xiaoling finally believed what Chen Chi had said.

She first gave a silly smile, then tears streamed down her face.

Xiao Ling wiped away her tears, her gaze towards Chen Chi filled with burning pain.

"Why...why didn't you come sooner...my parents wouldn't have died!"

Chen Chi was slightly taken aback.

The old woman came out of the house leaning on her cane, and Xiaoling immediately threw herself into the old woman's arms and burst into tears.

……

After leaving the town in the spirit boat, Chen Chi felt somewhat lost the whole way.

The image of Xiaoling questioning him kept flashing through his mind, deeply affecting him.

If a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining enslaves a mortal, the mortal has absolutely no chance of resisting.

Foundation Establishment cultivators enslave Qi Refining cultivators, and Qi Refining cultivators have no chance to resist.

The most fundamental principle of this world is still the survival of the fittest.

As for words and deeds, one can only rely on one's own conscience.

"I only ask that I have a clear conscience."

Chen Chi had a sudden realization.

The world is vast and the path to immortality requires one to move forward steadily step by step.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait." A call accompanied by spiritual energy came from the side.

Chen Chi stood on the spirit boat and turned his head to look. Two cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining were coming by boat, their robes fluttering in the wind.

"What business do you two have with me?" Chen Chi did not stop and continued to steer the spirit boat forward.

The two men were not angry, and their spirit boat followed Chen Chi.

One of them spoke up to explain:

"We come from the Sima family in the east. We heard that there are evil cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining who have been appearing in the vicinity, so our family sent us to search for suspicious people."

Chen Chi's gaze swept over the two of them.

The Sima family is a prominent cultivation family in the eastern border region.

He had just killed the man in green robes, so why did the Sima family send cultivators to deal with the evil cultivators?

"Does Fellow Daoist mean that I am a suspicious person?" Chen Chi said calmly.

The two men, who claimed to be from the Sima family, exchanged a glance. One of them, a thin-faced cultivator, laughed:

"Fellow Daoist's cultivation at the mid-stage of Qi Refining is naturally not the evil cultivator we are looking for."

However, we must advise you, fellow Daoist, that evil cultivator is extremely powerful. If you encounter him alone, you may be in danger of losing your life.

Why don't we stay with you at the Sima family's residence for now, and then continue our journey after the evil cultivators are defeated?

Upon hearing this, Chen Chi's brows furrowed in doubt.

Although the thin-faced cultivator was polite, he kept pestering him, wanting to take him back to the Sima family.

The other party's words and actions were indeed quite strange.

"Thank you for your kind offer, but I have urgent business to attend to and cannot be delayed, so I will not be visiting the Sima family."

I will definitely pay you a visit another day when I have the opportunity.

Hearing Chen Chi say this, the thin-faced cultivator said with considerable regret:

"In that case, we wish you a safe journey, fellow Daoist."

After Chen Chi thanked him, the two cultivators from the Sima family stopped following him, and the spirit boat beneath their feet came to a stop.

As he watched Chen Chi disappear into the distance, the thin-faced cultivator's expression gradually darkened.

"That was Sima Qing's spirit boat. Sima Qing must have been killed by him," the thin-faced cultivator said coldly.

Another cultivator with a pointed beak asked rather indignantly:

"Now that we know he killed Sima Qing, we should capture him and bring him back to the family for punishment."

The slim-faced cultivator sneered.

"Even Sima Qing, who has mastered that technique, can be killed by him. Are you really capable of keeping him alive?"

He appears to be only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, but I judge that his cultivation level is definitely stronger than ours.

Upon hearing this, the sharp-beaked cultivator remained silent.