Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

"Damn it, what's going on?! Don't look! If you look again, I'll kill you all!"

Lin Yuan roared in exasperation.

He usually prided himself on being dashing and suave, but now he was completely naked in front of his beloved Xu Shuang and a few lowly hunters. This was worse than death for him.

Chu Chang turned his face away with some disgust, frowning as he said, "Alright, alright, nobody cares about you. You should put on some clothes first, lest you catch a cold."

Lin Yuan glared fiercely at Chu Chang, his eyes filled with a desire to tear Chu Chang to pieces.

He frantically grabbed his clothes from the ground and put them on, his face turning pale and then flushed.

After getting dressed, Lin Yuan's shame and anger did not subside; instead, it transformed into a raging killing intent.

With a "whoosh," he drew his sword, his face grim, and strode toward the three hunters huddled in the corner.

"What are you doing?" Chu Chang flashed forward and stood directly in front of the three hunters.

"Boy, for Xu Shuang's sake, I'll let what happened earlier slide." Lin Yuan's knuckles were white as he gripped his sword, staring menacingly at Chu Chang. "But these three lowly commoners witnessed my disgraceful behavior; they must die!"

The thought of his own wretchedness being seen by ordinary people was a great humiliation to Lin Yuan, who was always high and mighty. Only killing him to silence him could appease him.

Upon hearing this, Xu Shuang's pretty face darkened, feeling speechless and disgusted: "Lin Yuan, your actions of indiscriminately killing innocent people, how are you any different from those demonic cultivators?"

The three hunters were terrified and immediately knelt down, frantically kowtowing to Chu Chang and Xu Shuang, begging for mercy: "Immortal Master, spare our lives! We didn't see anything, we didn't see anything!"

Chu Chang ignored Lin Yuan's shouting and turned to the three hunters, saying gently, "You can all leave now. This is none of your business."

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

The three hunters, as if granted a pardon, scrambled and stumbled as they ran wildly out of the woods.

Seeing that Chu Chang and Xu Shuang were both holding him back, Lin Yuan knew that he couldn't kill them to silence them today.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the violence in his eyes, snorted coldly, and sheathed his longsword.

"I was too angry just now and acted foolishly, afraid that they would spread rumors and ruin the sect's reputation."

Lin Yuan's eyes darted around, forcibly pulling up a fig leaf of "protecting the sect" for himself. Then, his cold gaze suddenly locked onto Chu Chang, and his tone abruptly changed:

"However... Chu Chang, this illusion is incredibly bizarre; even Senior Sister Xu Shuang and I were affected. Why are you, a mere Body Tempering Realm cultivator, unharmed? And even managed to regain consciousness early and kill the demonic cultivator?"

Lin Yuan's words implied that there was something strange about Chu Chang, and he even tried to direct Xu Shuang's suspicions toward Chu Chang.

Chu Chang frowned, a cold smile creeping across his face.

He never expected that this guy, having already lost face, would try to drag him down with him. What malicious intent!

Lin Yuan's question was clearly an attempt to stir up trouble in front of Xu Shuang, implying that Chu Chang had some unspeakable secret, and might even be connected to the supernatural.

Well, he really hit the nail on the head.

However, he won't be easily manipulated.

"That forbidden zone was an illusion!" Chu Chang retorted calmly, his expression unchanged. "I went in too and encountered an illusion. However, I was clear-headed and saw through the flaws in the illusion, so I broke free and escaped. After I came out, the illusion lost its support and naturally disappeared."

"How is this possible?!" Lin Yuan raised his voice, questioning incredulously, "Even Senior Sister Xu Shuang and I couldn't resist, how can you, a mere handyman who hasn't even tempered your qi, do something we can't do?"

Chu Chang spread his hands, uttering four words with utter innocence: "Because I am kind."

"puff……"

Lin Yuan almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Good? What kind of explanation is that?!

Seeing that Lin Yuan was still trying to cause trouble, Chu Chang ignored him and turned to look at Xu Shuang, who also had a look of doubt on her face.

His expression turned serious, and he explained, avoiding the main point, "Senior Sister Xu, actually, that illusion wasn't entirely without clues. As soon as I entered, I found everything around me to be excessively perfect, and those scenes were all designed to target people's inner desires. I'm honest and upright, with neither greed nor lust, so I discovered the clues after a little probing. This illusion is merely using something against me; as long as I don't follow its desires, it can't harm me."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shuang lowered her eyes thoughtfully, and immediately understood.

Indeed, she saw her deceased senior brother in the illusion of lust.

In the second trial, Lin Yuan indulged his greed and lust.

If Chu Chang is a simple-minded person, he could indeed be the key to breaking the deadlock.

"Hmm, this forbidden area is different from other places; it's just a simple illusion." Xu Shuang nodded, definitively categorizing the situation, while giving Lin Yuan a somewhat disgusted look. "Alright, since everyone's alright anyway, let's take the demonic cultivator's corpse and head back..."

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Before he could finish speaking, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from above the distant woods.

Immediately afterwards, several powerful auras swept over the area like an overwhelming force.

The leader, dressed in a black robe and with a dignified face, was Elder Xu Wenzhong of the sect's Enforcement Hall.

Behind him followed several solemn-looking, fully armed elite disciples of the Enforcement Hall.

As soon as he landed, Elder Xu's lightning-fast gaze swept across the entire area, finally settling on the two demonic cultivators' corpses on the ground.

Upon seeing the elder arrive with disciples from the Enforcement Hall, Xu Shuang immediately stepped forward and solemnly recounted the general course of events.

She specifically emphasized that the two demonic cultivators died from the backlash after the illusion was broken, and that Chu Chang remained clear-headed at the critical moment and decisively killed the enemy with a single sword strike.

Upon hearing this, Elder Xu nodded slightly, his sharp eagle eyes sweeping over Chu Chang and Lin Yuan.

Especially after seeing Lin Yuan's slightly disheveled appearance and alternating red and white complexion, Elder Xu had a better idea of ​​what was going on.

"Take them away." Elder Xu waved his hand, and the disciples of the Enforcement Hall behind him immediately stepped forward and neatly collected the two demonic cultivators' corpses.

Chu Chang maintained his "exhausted and honest" demeanor throughout the journey, obediently following the others back.

By the time the group returned to the sect, night had already fallen. The dark night sky was dotted with stars, and a mountain breeze brought a chill.

Back in his cramped but clean servant's hut, Chu Chang locked the door and sat cross-legged on the bed.

He took a deep breath, and with a thought, the eerie mirror exuding a cold and ancient aura slowly emerged in his mind, its surface rippling with faint waves.

"Chu Chang, that kid named Lin Yuan is very unfriendly to you, and even has murderous intentions. You'd better be careful." The slightly ethereal and neutral voice of the artifact spirit came from the mirror.

Chu Chang teased, "Little Mirror, you've only just entered my sea of ​​consciousness, and you've already learned to care about my safety?"

"Hmph, of course! After all, our souls are now subtly intertwined, and besides... I need you to become stronger so you can save my master!" The spirit's voice carried a hint of arrogance, yet also an undisguised urgency.

Hearing this, Chu Chang's heart stirred, and he asked curiously, "You keep mentioning your master. Can you tell me about your master? What kind of person was she?"

"Her..."

Upon mentioning its master, the spirit's voice instantly became filled with utmost reverence, even tinged with fanaticism: "She was peerless in beauty and power, extremely powerful! With a single thought, she could shatter galaxies; with a single palm strike, she could overcome tribulations. But you are far too weak now, not even a frog in a well, far from reaching that level! Telling you would be useless; it would only corrupt your Dao heart."

"Tch, all mysterious." Chu Chang curled his lip.

"However, since you want to become stronger quickly, I can't just watch you get bullied." The spirit changed its tone, and suddenly more than a dozen complex and profound golden runes were projected onto the mirror, falling into Chu Chang's sea of ​​consciousness.

"You possess an extremely Yang constitution, but your meridians are blocked, like holding a mountain of gold with nowhere to spend it. I have a unique technique here called the 'Nine Revolutions of Blazing Sun Heaven-Seizing Hand.' As long as you follow the Qi circulation route I give you and tap the thirty-six major acupoints around your body, I can forcibly open some of your extremely Yang constitution's meridians! At that time, your cultivation speed will be ten times faster than it is now!"

"Oh? Such a good thing?"

Chu Chang's eyes lit up immediately.

Without hesitation, he immediately followed the route taught by the artifact spirit, took a deep breath, and began to guide the scorching yang energy within his body.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Chu Chang's hands moved like afterimages, striking thirty-six vital acupoints on his chest, arms, and lower abdomen in a mysterious rhythm.

Each strike was accompanied by a low, muffled thud.

Immediately afterwards, Chu Chang felt an indescribable surge of violent heat erupt from his lower abdomen, Dantian!

The heat flowed along the thirty-six acupoints he had just opened, like a flood bursting its banks, frantically washing over his withered and narrow meridians.

"Well……"

Chu Chang let out a muffled groan, his skin instantly turning bright red, with wisps of white smoke even seeping from his pores. That was a sign that his extremely Yang physique's meridians were being widened and reorganized!

Pain, a sharp, tearing pain, shot through him. But he gritted his teeth and persevered.

In this dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, without strength, even someone like Lin Yuan can ride roughshod over him. He must become stronger!

"Break it!"

Chu Chang roared inwardly.

Boom!

A thunderous roar echoed within his body as the last meridian barrier was forcibly broken open.

In an instant, a surge of pure and powerful Yang energy began to circulate wildly within his body.

His bones, muscles, and skin underwent a qualitative leap at that moment, and impurities were expelled from his body along with black sweat.

Body Tempering Realm, fifth level... sixth level... seventh level... ninth level!

As the burning sensation within his body gradually subsided, Chu Chang slowly opened his eyes, a golden light as intense as the blazing sun flashing in them.

Peak of Body Tempering Realm!

Feeling the immense Yang power within his body, several times stronger than that of an ordinary Body Tempering Realm cultivator, Chu Chang clenched his fist, and a piercing explosion resounded in the void.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he leaped across a path that takes countless people several years to complete, reaching the pinnacle of the Body Tempering Realm!

"Now, all you need are some spirit stones containing pure energy to compress and transform the extreme Yang true essence in your body. Then you can easily break through the bottleneck and step into the Qi Refining Realm!" the little mirror reminded you.

Chu Chang frowned: "Spirit stones? These things are hard to come by!"

At that moment, he sensed footsteps coming from the neighboring yard.

Lin Ruoxue is back.

He thought for a moment, then walked towards Lin Ruoxue.