Achieving physical sainthood begins with the Iron Shirt technique!

The rift valley beneath the back mountain is thousands of feet deep. The deeper you go, the dimmer the surrounding light becomes. The rock walls on both sides have a metallic, rapidly cooled, black texture, and even your breath freezes into ice crystals in mid-air, exuding a bone-chilling cold that could freeze your bones.

Lu Chen strode onto the steep rock face, his large black iron boots clashing against the dark rock formations, sparks flying all the way.

Upon reaching the deepest part of the rift valley, what came into view was not some demon's lair at all. Instead, in the very center of the valley floor, stood nine white jade dragon-suppressing pillars, each requiring two people to encircle, driven firmly into the rock strata like nails. Each pillar was carved with intricate demon-subduing patterns, outlined in gold lacquer.

These nine large pillars work together to suppress a black oil spring below.

What gushed from the spring wasn't groundwater at all, but a black gas stream as thick as ink and heavy enough to crush the air. This was the primordial iron primordial energy sealed underground for hundreds of years. Even a tiny bit of it would instantly crush an ordinary person's internal organs into a pile of mud under its oppressive force.

Lu Chen had just stepped into the valley floor when the 100,000-jin Primordial Ferocious Bone Stele he carried on his shoulder, like a wild beast starved for eight hundred years smelling meat, emitted muffled roars of ancient ferocious beasts. The dark gold patterns on the stele's surface were terrifyingly hot, almost branding themselves onto Lu Chen's dark skin.

That was a pure, extreme craving for food.

"Alright, stop arguing. We'll make sure you have plenty to eat today." Lu Chen shook his right arm, and the veins on his arm bulged out like the roots of an old tree.

He swung the 100,000-jin (50,000 kg) heavy monument in one hand and pulled it in front of him, his eyes filled with the wildness of a bandit raiding a village.

"Those celestial beings in heaven have been hoarding this thing in this ditch like it's their own father; today, I'll gladly accept it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the massive black iron boots slammed into the ground, instantly shattering large sections of the dark rock at the bottom of the valley. Lu Chen exerted force from his waist and back, and the terrifying ancient monument unleashed a thunderous sonic boom, sweeping straight down towards the three white jade dragon-suppressing pillars at the front without any fancy moves.

No matter how many magic-avoiding runes are engraved on it, no matter how much high-level true essence was spent.

All fancy facades are just for show.

A deafening roar echoed through the thousand-foot-deep rift, causing the entire mine to tremble. The three priceless white jade dragon-suppressing pillars, faced with the sheer force of 100,000 jin of extreme power, had no chance to resist and were instantly blasted into a cloud of jade dust.

In truth, these stakes had been submerged underground for centuries, corroded daily by the primordial iron aura, their interiors long since reduced to a pile of outwardly strong but inwardly weak rotten wood. Lu Chen's domineering and unparalleled strike was like the final ten thousand tons of iron ingots that broke the camel's back. The seal was instantly torn open with a massive gap.

The ancient, primordial iron ore, which had been pent up in the spring for hundreds of years, seized the opportunity and went completely berserk, gushing out like a black, inverted waterfall.

The immense pressure surged forth like a tidal wave crashing down.

Centered on the spring, within a radius of ten zhang, the incredibly hard, black rocks simply couldn't withstand this terrifying weight. They didn't even need to crack; they turned directly into a large patch of fine stone powder.

The gravity in this area has increased several times over, making it so heavy that even breathing can tear your lungs.

Lu Chen grinned widely, braving the gravitational field that could crush a Golden Core cultivator into a meat patty. Instead of retreating, he strode forward against the wind pressure. With each step, his iron boots left deep craters in the dust.

With a loud shout, he grabbed the stele with both arms and forcefully plunged the 100,000-pound Zhentian Xiong Stele into the very center of the still-gushing spring!

"Eat as much as you want!"

The moment the black stele was inserted, it unleashed a violent devouring force, like a whale sucking in water. The surrounding heavy iron primordial energy didn't even have time to spread before it was forcibly pulled in by the thirteen desolate patterns on the stele and swallowed whole, initiating the most domineering refining process.

The color of the monument grew increasingly deep and somber, and the sense of heaviness emanating from it was visibly increasing. One hundred and one thousand jin… one hundred and five thousand jin… one hundred and ten thousand jin!

In just a few breaths, the normal weight of this ominous monument increased significantly, firmly settling at a terrifying 110,000 jin.

Just as the weight broke through the barrier, a crisp sound came from inside the monument.

The [Extreme Abyss] trait is suddenly unlocked!

A ring of dark red ripples, invisible to the naked eye, spread outwards from the base of the monument, firmly gripping the surrounding three zhang of space. The gravity in this area instantly increased tenfold! This tenfold dead gravity field would cause even a high-ranking cultivator to have their flying sword smash to the ground and their protective true essence to instantly disintegrate, turning them into a sitting duck for Lu Chen to manipulate.

The mother's energy was completely drained by the black stele. In the core of the spring's silt, a pure, ethereal light shone. It was from a translucent stone, no bigger than an infant's fist.

Lu Chen reached out and scooped it up. This thing was extremely yin, yet it would generate yang; extremes lead to their opposites. This was the "Mysterious Netherworld Cold Crystal Marrow" born from the primordial energy!

"Good stuff, a perfect fit for the eye condition." Lu Chen's eyes lit up, and a rare look of meticulousness appeared on his rough face covered with stubble.

This thing is extremely yin and warm, which can just neutralize the burns left by the pure yang blood and qi. It is the perfect remedy for the eyes that were damaged when A-Nan forcibly saw through the great formation.

He plopped down on the clean stone slab beside him. His large, thick fingers carefully pinched the Frost Crystal Marrow. He controlled the force of 100,000 jin with exquisite precision, like embroidering, slowly rubbing off a thin layer of spiritual frost from the surface. There was a clean snow water pool nearby, and Lu Chen scooped out the pure snow water, mixed it with the spiritual frost, and stirred it evenly.

Anan stayed obediently inside the wolfskin pouch on her chest.

"Girl, lift your head up a bit, I'll apply some medicine." Lu Chen lowered his voice, afraid of startling her.

A'Nan obediently raised her little face. The skin beneath her blood-jade eye-covering garment was a purplish-black patch, covered in bruised blood vessels from the backlash. Lu Chen took a deep breath and rubbed his large hands repeatedly on his clothes more than a dozen times. He dipped his fingers in snow water mixed with spirit frost, his movements extremely gentle, barely daring to breathe, as he carefully applied the mixture to the skin around A'Nan's eye sockets.

When the rough calluses touched the little girl's fair skin, Lu Chen's hands trembled as if he were being electrocuted. He had never been this nervous in his entire life, not even when killing immortals.

The moment the medicine was applied, the warming power of the Cold Crystal Marrow took effect. The purplish veins around A-Nan's eyes quickly subsided like the receding tide, and even the swelling reduced by more than half.

Immediately afterwards, the thick, blood-jade eye-covering garment bound to her eyes slowly emitted a warm, milky-white glow. The life force of her Primordial True Vision Eyes was completely protected.

Anan, who had been shrouded in darkness and chaos, now saw through the milky white halo that revealed more than just blurry lines of cause and effect. For the first time, the Primordial Spirit Eye truly "saw" the scene before her.

The little girl didn't look at anything else; her gaze was fixed on Lu Chen's broad back as he turned to get the medicine.

There wasn't a single piece of unscathed flesh there. New wounds pressed on top of old ones; the dozens of deep, bone-revealing gashes left from enduring the Ten Thousand Souls Umbrella's vengeful blood arrows were a gruesome sight, with large chunks of flesh torn open. To protect her, this man had used this very body to withstand all the killing intent from the heavens.

A-Nan didn't cheer that she could see clearly anymore.

Suddenly, her chubby little hands emerged from the wolfskin pouch. She lunged forward and tightly embraced Lu Chen's frighteningly thick neck.

Large, hot tears streamed down his face without warning, landing heavily on Lu Chen's neck.

"Lu Chen..." The little girl buried her face in the shoulder that was full of the smell of blood and sweat, crying without making a sound, only her small shoulder trembling.

This is the most extreme emotional outburst.

Lu Chen's massive, bear-like frame froze instantly. His hands hung in mid-air, unsure where to put them, afraid that his hard muscles might hurt the little girl.

He didn't turn around, letting A-Nan cling to him tightly. That fleshy face, which could terrify cultivators, now grinned with an extremely clumsy smile, his mouth stretching all the way to his ears. His rough hands hesitated for a long time before finally gently patting A-Nan's back.

"Why are you crying? It's just a superficial wound. It'll scab over by tomorrow. It won't stop you from cooking for our girl," Lu Chen coaxed gently in his rough voice.

In this dark and sunless underground rift, deep within Lu Chen's chest, lies the Supreme Blood Furnace, which had only recently calmed down.

"Thump!"

Without warning, it exploded violently, unleashing an unprecedented surge of energy. My heart rate doubled instantly.

Lu Chen's smile vanished instantly, and his brows furrowed tightly.

This is not a stress response to encountering an enemy. This is a bloodline resonance that transcends millions of miles!

He turned his head, his gaze fixed on the distant western wilderness through the thousand-foot-deep underground chasm. There, a violent aura belonging to the same bloodline as ancient body cultivators was undergoing an extremely fierce and tragic upheaval. Fourth Brother and the others were risking their lives!