Achieving physical sainthood begins with the Iron Shirt technique!

Deep in the Broken Immortal Mountain, the night wind carried a pungent, putrid stench as it swept through the forest.

Lu Chen wore a large black cloak that completely covered most of his muscular body.

His left arm was tightly wrapped around his chest, where a seemingly deflated empty cloth bag was tied.

With his feet treading on the thick layer of decaying leaves in the woods, Lu Chen made no attempt to conceal his presence, and walked step by step toward the entrance to the underground black market hidden deep within the miasma.

Ahead lies a giant, naturally collapsed pit.

The entrance to the black market was located at the bottom of the pit.

It was a tall gate frame forcibly pieced together from the bones of more than a dozen extremely large second-tier demonic beasts, which were roughly crisscrossed and forcibly assembled.

On either side of the bone wall, two evil cultivators at the early stage of Qi Refining were leaning against it listlessly.

The two men's Taoist robes were tattered and covered in grime that could not be washed off over the years.

They were tossing and turning several low-grade spirit stones of extremely poor quality and dull color in their hands, comparing their dismal gains from the night before.

"Damn it, what the hell are those bastards in the inner city of Xuanni City doing?"

The guard on the left spat on the ground, his face full of anxiety.

"In the middle of the night, they suddenly activated the city's protective array, so that not even a live rat could escape."

The guard on the right rubbed the broken spirit stones in his hands together and cursed aloud.

"Who says otherwise!"

"Prices in this grey market outside the city have more than tripled!"

"These few broken stones, which could have been exchanged for two low-grade Swiftness Talismans yesterday, aren't even worth half a bottle of the cheapest Rejuvenation Pills today!"

The two were arguing fiercely.

The gray miasma that had been slowly flowing around us all year round suddenly stopped flowing completely without warning.

The wind stopped.

A terrifyingly high temperature suddenly rose in the air, making it hard to breathe.

Lu Chen stopped ten steps away from the gate of white bones.

The pure yang energy overflowing from the twelve layers of "Iron Shirt" flowed uncontrollably down the bottom of the cloak.

The ground beneath his feet was originally a large, perpetually waterlogged mud pit.

In the short few breaths that Lu Chen stood still.

Extremely high temperatures suddenly descended.

The sewage in the muddy pit boiled instantly, emitting large plumes of pungent white smoke.

The moisture was evaporated instantly.

The soft, wet mud hardened rapidly, then cracked open in large areas, making a series of cracking sounds.

The guard on the left, sweating profusely, finally noticed the extremely unusual heat wave.

He straightened up abruptly, suppressing the panic in his heart, and casually drew a dented and poor-quality flying sword from his waist.

The sword tip pointed directly at the tall, dark figure shrouded in a black cloak ten paces away.

"stop!"

"Which gang are you from? Don't you know the rules?!"

"Let's take out your identity token and have a look!"

The guard shouted loudly, but his trembling legs and completely distorted voice completely shattered his confidence.

Lu Chen ignored this nonsense.

The right arm, hidden beneath the wide black cloak, had large, exaggeratedly taut muscles.

He didn't even bother to draw his weapon, nor did he utter a single word in response.

Lu Chen simply raised his right foot casually.

Then, he stepped onto the hard blue stone that protruded from the muddy ground.

There was no loud explosion.

The hard bluestone, which was enough to be used to forge a low-level flying sword embryo, silently turned into a large pool of extremely fine stone powder the moment Lu Chen landed.

The pure, heavy crushing of flesh did not stop as the bluestone was pulverized.

This utterly unreasonable and primal force traveled horizontally forward with remarkable precision along the underground rock strata.

The ground in front of the bone gate suddenly jolted upwards.

The two guards felt an irresistible, fierce shockwave coming from beneath their feet, shooting straight up to the top of their heads.

Their legs buckled, and with a thud, they both knelt down in front of the bone gate.

My knee slammed hard against the gravel, and I gasped in pain.

At the very moment Lu Chen lifted his foot to crush the bluestone.

The violent physical energy surged outwards.

The shockwave rippled out, violently lifting a corner of the heavy black cloak backward.

The guard on the right is kneeling on the ground, looking up.

By the faint light emitted from the dim spirit stones embedded in the walls of the passage.

The guard's gaze was fixed on Lu Chen's exposed right arm.

A thick, century-old chain of black iron was tightly wrapped around his right arm, which was thicker than a normal person's thigh.

This isn't the scariest part.

The most terrifying thing was that the surface of that century-old black iron chain was covered with a thick layer of completely dried dark red scabs.

These blood scabs were definitely not left by a low-level demon beast.

The guard on the right side had his Adam's apple bobbing wildly, and his eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

Within that inconspicuous layer of blood scab, an extremely terrifying residual spiritual pressure was emanating outwards.

That's a unique aura that only Foundation Establishment stage cultivators possess!

Moreover, this aura was filled with the extreme fear of dying.

A monster that just tore a Foundation Establishment cultivator apart with its bare hands!

The guard on the right scalp exploded instantly.

With a clang, he threw the broken flying sword in his hand far away.

He used both hands and feet, scrambling and crawling frantically to dodge into the mud beside him.

He wished he could embed himself entirely into the mud, forcibly clearing the central passageway.

Lu Chen didn't even glance at the two cowards.

He strode to the gate of white bones.

There was still no fluctuation of true energy around him.

There was absolutely no intention of using hand seals or activating internal energy.

Lu Chen raised his thick right arm, which was wrapped in black iron chains, and pressed it against the large white bone door that weighed several thousand pounds.

The massive muscles suddenly unleashed their power.

There were no magical effects or illusions, only the most primal brute force unleashed.

"squeak--"

A series of extremely harsh, strained scraping sounds immediately emanated from the white bone gate, indicating that it was under immense pressure.

There was no true qi enhancement.

Completely by his own efforts.

The door that sealed off the entrance to the entire underground black market was forcibly pushed open by Lu Chen, creating a huge gap that was at least two zhang wide.

The large rock at the bearing point collapsed on the spot, and the rubble crashed all over the ground.

The true nature of the black market was revealed.

This is a huge market built entirely inside a cave deep underground.

The space is intricate and complex, with massive rock pillars hanging upside down from the ceiling.

Hundreds of ragged, outcast cultivators, exuding the aura of desperados, were gathered in front of various makeshift stalls.

They were trading stolen magical artifacts stained with dried blood, as well as inferior pills that were black in color and emitted a pungent medicinal smell.

The noise of the door being forced open was really loud.

A dull, loud noise echoed back and forth in the sealed cave.

The once bustling market, filled with the sounds of bargaining, suddenly fell silent.

Hundreds of independent cultivators turned their heads in unison, staring intently at the entrance.

These rogue cultivators, who constantly live on the edge, are extremely vigilant.

Everyone's hands reached for the storage pouches at their waists at the same time.

More than a dozen different kinds of magical implements were tightly held in his hands.

Large quantities of defensive talismans were held between his fingertips.

Be ready to take action at any time.

Lu Chen strode into the cave.

The soles of the shoes made a dull, resonant "thump, thump" sound as they stepped onto the hard, flat rock.

Each dull thud of footsteps slammed into the eardrums of everyone present.

Lu Chen made no attempt to conceal his aura.

The savage, murderous aura belonging to the ultimate body cultivator, and that had just experienced a crushing massacre, burst forth from beneath the cloak without reservation.

The air inside the cave instantly became extremely viscous.

The vendors closest to the gate were the first to be directly hit by this violent surge of energy.

The men's faces turned pale, their chests felt tight, and they all let out a suppressed groan.

They didn't even bother to pack up their things at the stall; their hands and feet went weak, and they stumbled backward, knocking over several wooden shelves behind them.

Lu Chen stood in the center of the market, one arm protecting the cloth bag in front of his chest.

In the shadows, dozens of gazes, filled with greed and probing, were silently converging upon them.