Achieving physical sainthood begins with the Iron Shirt technique!

Strange phenomena appeared in the sky outside the deep valley of Broken Immortal Mountain.

High above the clouds, the pale blue sky-locking array, which had originally sealed off the entire mountain range, was now cracking with a sickening sound. The complete collapse of the array's core within Xuanni City had triggered an irreversible chain of destruction.

Thick, twisted, jet-black cracks spread wildly downwards from the dome of the light curtain, instantly covering half the sky. Large chunks of the array runes lost their support, collapsing and peeling off, turning into countless specks of light that crashed to the ground.

The massive spiritual energy that had been maintaining the seal over this area was now flowing outwards hundreds or even thousands of times more through those enormous cracks. Without the protection of the array, the vegetation around the deep valley, which had previously shown some signs of life, withered and turned yellow at a visible speed, its bark peeling off and turning into dust.

The entire valley was plunged into absolute decay and depletion.

Song Que, carrying his top-grade flying sword, strode at the front. A blood-red longevity talisman was affixed to the center of his chest, its surface emitting eerie red smoke. With the surrounding spiritual energy depleted, Song Que could only rely on burning his own life force to forcibly extract vitality from his body to maintain the nearly dried-up true essence in his dantian.

With each step he took forward, a few more strands of white hair appeared at his temples, and the wrinkles on his face deepened.

"Keep up! Don't stop!"

Song Que shouted angrily at the team behind him. He suddenly swung his right arm, and the blade of his sword swirled up a broken cyan sword aura, forcefully cleaving through the sticky poisonous miasma blocking their way.

Behind them, the dozen or so elite disciples of the Azure Sky Sword Sect were all ashen-faced, their chests heaving violently as they scrambled forward through the mud. They passed through layers of poisonous gas and finally stepped into this extremely dangerous place, a place where even the lowest-ranking demonic beasts dared not approach.

At the entrance to the deep valley, mud flowed everywhere.

A massive, imposing stone tablet, weighing 30,000 jin (approximately 15,000 kg), stood upright in the very center of the valley entrance. The tablet was entirely black, unadorned, and its surface covered with rough rock textures. It pressed down firmly on the core earth vein below, its immense weight causing the surrounding rock strata to crack and spread like a spiderweb.

Centered on this black stone, a tyrannical, domineering, and all-repelling spiritual energy field is spreading outwards without restraint, crushing the surrounding air.

Song Que led his team across the invisible boundary without any warning.

They stepped into an area fifteen zhang away from the Dao stele.

Disaster struck.

The dozen or so elite disciples walking behind Song Que all let out a series of muffled thuds from their chests. The last remaining spiritual energy in this space was forcibly drained and crushed by the force field.

The flying swords that they had previously controlled with their minds, hovering at their waists or in their palms for vigilance, had their array patterns flicker twice before completely dimming. The azure true light on the swords dissipated on the spot.

Clang!

"Clang, clang!"

Without the infusion of true essence, the spiritual connection between the flying sword and the swordsman was brutally severed. One after another, the immortal magical weapons that were usually as sharp as cutting through iron fell into the stinking mud and became a pile of useless scrap metal.

That's not all. The immense pressure from the ancient times acted directly on the bodies of every single person.

Any heavy object made of metal will suddenly increase in weight more than tenfold within this force field.

On the right side of the group, a burly outer sect sword cultivator carried a broadsword made of black iron, weighing at least a hundred pounds, slung across his back. Normally, with his true energy supporting him, the hundred pounds felt as light as nothing on his back.

The moment he stepped into the fifteen-zhang range, his true energy completely dissipated. The hundred-jin broadsword on his back suddenly transformed into a thousand-jin hammer.

The immense weight slammed into his back without any cushioning. The swordsman's legs buckled violently, his knees slamming into the bluestone below, and he fell forward uncontrollably, crashing into the muddy pit.

"Snap!"

The heavy sword guard pressed down hard on his shoulder, the crisp sound of bones breaking clearly audible in the valley. His fragile collarbone snapped instantly, the white bone fragments piercing through his Taoist robe, revealing crimson flesh.

"Help me! I'm so heavy! Give me a hand!"

The swordsman was pinned to the muddy ground by the massive sword, his limbs convulsing violently, vomiting mouthfuls of black mud and blood, letting out extremely mournful howls. Several disciples nearby were terrified and tried to reach out to pull him away, but found that their own legs were also pressed down by the weight, making it impossible for them to bend over.

Song Que was horrified.

An immense pressure slammed down on his shoulders, bending his back. Without hesitation, he opened his mouth and bit down hard on his tongue.

The strong smell of rust filled his nostrils, and with the stimulation of this intense pain, Song Que gripped the hilt of the top-grade flying sword tightly with both hands, and used all his strength to plunge the tip of the sword into the crevice of the hard rock.

Gasping for breath, his Foundation Establishment stage foundation came in handy. Supported by his flying sword, he managed to straighten his back and avoid kneeling down. However, his legs trembled uncontrollably, feeling incredibly heavy, making it impossible for him to even lift his heels and move an inch.

"You charlatan cultivator! Show yourself!"

Cold sweat poured down Song Que's forehead, and a fierce but cowardly roar escaped his throat. Unwilling to be controlled by others, he forcibly squeezed out the last bit of spiritual power remaining in his sea of ​​consciousness, attempting to release his divine sense to probe for the enemy in the darkness.

The invisible spiritual force had just emerged from between his eyebrows, less than half a foot away.

boom!

The omnipresent, aura-suppressing force field swept back, crushing Song Que's divine sense into powder with overwhelming force.

A deafening explosion erupted in Song Que's head, his eardrums bulged, and two streams of blood flowed directly down his nostrils and the corners of his eyes. He had become completely blind, losing all awareness of any movement even a meter away.

Deep inside the cave, it was pitch black.

Anan huddled beside the wolf skin, her two small, delicate hands tightly clutching the tattered rag doll missing an ear. The little girl tilted her head; though her eyes, covered by a white film, couldn't see, her sense of smell was incredibly sharp.

She tilted her head slightly and twitched her little nose twice in the air.

"Lu Chen, something dirty has come in from outside."

The little girl approached the edge of the boulder, her voice soft and sweet, and with a furrowed brow, whispered a reminder, "Their blood smells terribly foul."

"Close your eyes and go to sleep, I'm going to clean up the mess."

In the darkness, Lu Chen straightened his massive frame. His voice was deep and hoarse, revealing no trace of emotion. He ruffled A'Nan's hair with his large hand, then turned to face the cave entrance.

Lu Chen, shirtless, unleashed the full power of his twelve layers of Iron Shirt Qi to its limit.

The thick, iron-gray membrane was now fully visible on his body, and large, bulging muscles bulged high. Beneath the muscles, dark golden patterns climbed and intertwined wildly. Hot, pure yang energy flowed ceaselessly through his veins, giving him an aura of savage ferocity, like that of an ancient, savage beast.

The blood and qi overflowed, scorching the surrounding air and sending up plumes of white smoke.

He took heavy steps and walked out of the cave.

Lu Chen was barefoot, his large feet stepping on the hard granite at the entrance of the cave.

"Bang!"

Without using a trace of true energy, he used sheer physical strength to crush the stones on the ground. Stone chips and dust flew outwards.

With each step he took forward, the ground of the entire deep valley would tremble. This wild destructive power, belonging only to mortal warriors, brought devastating psychological pressure to the immortal disciples who had lost their magical reliance in this desolate place where all laws were empty.

The heavy footsteps stopped ten paces away.

Song Que stared intently ahead. He finally saw the enemy clearly in front of him.

The other party had a cold expression, no true energy fluctuations on his body, and wore no magical artifacts that could ward off disaster. Apart from the black iron chain wrapped around his right arm, this body was nothing but a violent flesh that was pure to the extreme and was frantically spewing out waves of heat.

Song Que's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpoints.

His Foundation Establishment cultivation, which he was so proud of, brought him no sense of security at this moment. An extreme fear, the kind that only low-level prey feels when facing a top predator, pierced through his chest in an instant and gripped his heart tightly.

Song Que even stopped breathing.

Beside him, an inner disciple completely broke down.

"Kill him! He's just a mortal without any spiritual roots!"

The disciple let out a distorted roar and scrambled backward. His right hand frantically rummaged in his robes, pulling out a mud-covered, lethal talisman. He desperately squeezed out the last drop of true energy from his dantian, frantically channeling it into his fingertips, trying to forcefully activate the talisman to save his life.

A faint light had just begun to appear on the surface of the talisman paper.

Lu Chen gave him absolutely no chance.

The thick muscles on his thighs suddenly contracted and expanded, unleashing a terrifying burst of power that exploded beneath his feet. The ground was dented, leaving a crater half a foot deep.

Lu Chen's massive body traversed ten steps in an instant, shrinking the distance to an inch, and appeared directly in front of the disciple, bringing with it a wave of scorching heat.

There was no drawing of a sword, nor any hand seals.

Lu Chen stretched out his large hand, covered in calluses and dark gold patterns, and grabbed the disciple's right hand, which was casting a spell. His five fingers tightened sharply inward, exerting force.

"ah--!"

A heart-wrenching scream tore through the valley once more.

There was no dazzling light or shadow from any magic. The hand holding the talisman, along with the fingers and wrist inside, was crushed by Lu Chen's unreasonable brute force.

Broken bone pierced through flesh, and the talisman was soaked in blood. His entire right hand instantly turned into a pool of bloody, mangled mud, dripping black blood.

In this extremely forbidden and desolate place where all immortal techniques are forbidden, one is not even qualified to utter a spell.

Lu Chen casually flicked the blood from between his fingers and exerted force with his feet again. Using the terrifying momentum of his forward charge, and with an incomparably violent killing intent, he directly slammed his shoulder into the dimly lit, teetering Azure Sky Sword Formation in front of him.