Achieving physical sainthood begins with the Iron Shirt technique!

Southeastern horizon.

The blood-red warship, thirty feet long, tore through the thick clouds. The enormous totem banner of the Azure Sky Sword Sect fluttered loudly in the wind.

The overwhelming pressure of the Core Formation stage formation poured down. The warship, with a deafening roar, came to a halt directly above the ruins of the Soul-Severing Valley of Broken Immortal Mountain.

At the bow of the deck, the Qingxiao Inner Sect Enforcement Envoy looked down. The valley below had long been reduced to charred remains by last night's lightning strikes. The envoy held a Bagua Soul-Searching Compass in his hand. The surface of the compass was engraved with eerie blood-red patterns, and the pointer was swinging wildly, trying to capture the energy below.

The Lord of Xuanni City stood hunched over, his hands clenched tightly together, beside the special envoy. His magnificent Taoist robe was soaked through with cold sweat.

"Your Excellency, your investigation is thorough." The Lord of Xuanni City wiped the sweat from his brow, his voice trembling. "Last night, it was definitely the work of a Core Formation old monster from the Western Wilderness Blood Demon Sect! That old devil is extremely cruel. Not only did he shatter our city's protective formation, but he also ran into these deep mountains and forests to attract the wrath of heaven! Deacon Song Que must have run into him and that's why he was poisoned!"

The envoy ignored the old dog. He casually gestured downwards with his hand.

Two elite inner disciples, clad in cyan sword robes, immediately leaped over the ship's railing and jumped straight into the large crater below, carved out by lightning. Upon landing, they simultaneously formed a spirit-detecting incantation with both hands. Several beams of cyan light struck the scorched earth, sweeping across the area.

In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the two elite soldiers, their faces ashen, flew back to the deck on their swords.

"Reporting to the Special Envoy!" The elite soldier on the left clasped his hands, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. "The spiritual energy of heaven and earth below is completely gone! There's absolutely no trace of true essence flowing through it. The remaining spiritual energy was pulverized into ashes by some extremely violent and domineering force! Our tracking techniques can't trace it back to its source at all!"

"Useless trash. If the immortal techniques can't find out, I'll personally determine his soul!" The special envoy waved his sleeve.

The Golden Core True Essence was frantically poured into the Soul Searching Compass.

The blood-red patterns on the compass instantly became dazzlingly bright. An extremely powerful pulling force emanated from the bottom of the compass, transforming into a tangible red light that pierced deep into the underground of the Spirit-Slaying Valley.

The soil churned violently. A small clump of dark red blood remnants was forcibly pulled up and landed steadily in the center of the compass.

The swaying pointer suddenly stopped. Then it bounced up and got stuck on the mark representing the southwest direction.

"Southwest. Blood Rock Market." The envoy's face twitched twice, and he snorted coldly, "That old monster escaped pretty quickly."

Hearing that the special envoy's attention had been completely diverted, the tense nerves of the Xuan Ni City Lord suddenly relaxed.

He had barely exhaled half a breath when a sharp pain suddenly exploded deep within his dantian. Thousands upon thousands of ants were burrowing into his meridians, viciously gnawing at his golden core.

The city lord's face contorted instantly. He clenched his teeth, large drops of cold sweat dripping from his forehead, forcibly swallowing back his screams.

While the special envoy was focused on the compass, he quickly put his hands behind his back. His fingers trembled as he pulled a Xuan-grade Heart-Protecting Pill from his sleeve, tilted his head back, and swallowed it swiftly.

The Heart-Protecting Pill melts instantly upon entering the mouth. Gentle and pure spiritual energy rushes directly to the dantian.

Before the city lord could catch his breath, his eyes widened in shock.

On the surface of that once perfectly round golden pill, a dark red blood streak had appeared. The moment the Heart-Protecting Pill's spiritual energy approached, this streak of desolate blood opened its maw and greedily swallowed the spiritual energy completely, leaving not even a trace of residue.

The tyrannical power of the ultimate path took root in the core of the golden core. The cultivator's immortal foundation had completely become a breeding ground for the parasitic desolate blood.

The city lord's legs trembled so badly that he almost collapsed onto the deck.

"Pass on my order!" The envoy didn't even turn to look at the Xuan Ni City Lord beside him, and roared at the top of his lungs, "Turn the warships around! Head to Blood Rock Market at full speed! Today, I'm going to extract the soul and refine the spirit of this Core Formation old monster from the Blood Demon Sect!"

Boom! The massive immortal warship abruptly changed direction in mid-air. A large plume of spiritual energy erupted from its stern, whipping up a fierce wind as it hurtled southwest.

Southwest, Blood Rock City.

This place is located on the edge of the desolate Broken Immortal Mountain. The dark miasma forest is shrouded in black mist all year round, and the stench of decay permeates the air.

From the thicket at the edge of the woods came a sudden, heavy footstep. The ground trembled rhythmically in response.

"Snap." A pair of large feet waded through and snapped the thick thorny vines.

Lu Chen strode out of the woods, shirtless. His thick thighs were covered with taut veins, and when he stomped his right foot down, the granite ground sank half a foot, leaving a deep crater.

His upper body was completely exposed. The skin and flesh, forged by heavenly lightning, had a pure black iron color, and the bulging muscles exuded an unreasonable ferocity.

On his broad back was an extremely large black lump.

The 30,000-jin (approximately 15,000 kg) town-guarding stele was repeatedly struck by two-colored heavenly lightning last night. Its prominent dark red, barren patterns were completely covered by charred black ash. Thick, centuries-old black iron chains were wrapped around the black stone in layers more than a dozen times.

At first glance, it looks like a rough, large meteorite ore that has just been dug out from the depths of the wilderness.

A thick wolf skin from the Ghost Wind was tied to Lu Chen's broad chest.

Ah Nan nestled inside the wolf skin. Her two little hands gripped tightly the sections of black iron chain across her chest. The little girl sniffed the air twice.

"Lu Chen, I'm hungry." A-Nan raised her face, which was covered by a white film, and pouted, "I want to eat sweet hot stones."

Lu Chen stopped and rubbed the little girl's head twice with his large, rough hands.

"I'll get it done for you right away. There are a lot of rogue cultivators here, and it's lucrative."

The person and the child continued walking forward.

Passing through the last layer of miasma, a massive market gatehouse, entirely constructed from the bones of demonic beasts, appeared directly ahead. Piles of ghastly white bones emanated a sinister aura.

Outside the gate of white bones, two rogue cultivators in gray Taoist robes stood on either side, each holding a low-grade magic weapon spear, leaning against the gateposts with a bored expression.

The moment Lu Chen emerged from the miasma forest, the pure, ferocious aura of the beast rushed towards him.

The sharp-faced guard on the left was forced back half a step by this imposing aura. The spear in his hand trembled uncontrollably. He mustered his courage and released a weak amount of true energy to investigate. There wasn't even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy on the burly man before him.

He was a utterly base mortal.

The guard with the pointed face lost all fear. He held his spear horizontally, blocking the way.

"Halt! Are you blind? Bloodrock Market isn't a place for a peasant like you to trespass!" The pointy-faced guard slammed his spear shaft against the bone on the ground. "Don't you know the rules? Entrance fee: ten low-grade spirit stones! One less, and I'll break both your legs today!"

Lu Chen stopped in his tracks. He looked down at the thin iron pole in front of him.

"Ten spirit stones?" Lu Chen uttered a muffled sound.

The fat-faced guard on the right stepped forward. He looked at the huge black lump covered in iron chains on Lu Chen's back with disdain.

"What are you pretending for? A mortal dares to trespass on our immortal territory, dealing in scrap metal. Can't even come up with ten spirit stones?" The fat-faced guard, his face full of impatience, stretched out his hand, adorned with the iron ring on the door, and shoved it straight at Lu Chen's chest. "You stinking beggar, why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror! This is where immortal masters trade spirit herbs and magical treasures. If your mortal stench offends the distinguished guests inside, I'll skin you alive! You poor wretch, get out of here! Don't block our way!"

His palm hadn't even touched Lu Chen's skin yet.

Lu Chen moved.

The thick, black iron hand reached forward with incredible speed. Its five large fingers instantly gripped the fat-faced guard's collar.

The upper arm muscles tensed up instantly.

"Uh—" The fat-faced guard squeezed out a strange, distorted sound from his throat. His 170-180 pound body was lifted into the air by Lu Chen with one hand.

His neck was gripped tightly by brute force. The fat-faced guard kicked wildly with his feet dangling in the air, his face turning a deep purplish-red, his vision blurred, and countless stars flashed before his eyes.

He desperately tried to rouse the meager amount of true energy in his dantian to resist, but it was instantly crushed by the terrifying force emanating from the other party. His true energy was forcibly suppressed as soon as it emerged.

The sharp-faced guard screamed in fright and thrust the spear he was holding directly at Lu Chen's heart.

Lu Chen completely ignored him. He reached into the storage bag at his waist with his left hand and casually pulled out a few low-level demon cores that he had taken from Song Que and his group.

The demon core was still stained with dried black blood.

Lu Chen swung his hand back. Several demon cores, carrying violent power, smashed directly towards the white bone gate.

boom! boom! boom!

The sturdy bone pillars were smashed, leaving several deep craters. Bone fragments flew everywhere. The demon core was deeply embedded in the bone crevices.

Lu Chen flicked his right hand sharply. The fat-faced guard was thrown out and crashed heavily into a mud puddle, clutching his neck and coughing violently, almost coughing up bile.

The sharp-faced guard was hit on the forehead by flying bone fragments, his spear slipped from his hand, and he collapsed to the ground, his legs buckling.

Lu Chen strode forward, stepping directly over the broken spear on the ground.

"Is that enough to buy the road?"

A rough, hoarse voice boomed from beneath the White Bone Gate. Carrying the heavy monument weighing thirty thousand catties on his back, he swaggered into the gates of Blood Rock Market.

On the main street of the market, the scattered cultivators who had set up stalls on both sides turned their heads in unison upon hearing the commotion. Hundreds of eyes were fixed on the burly man who showed no sign of true energy fluctuation. The scarred-faced body cultivators at the front stood up from behind their stalls, their hands tightly gripping bloodstained magical artifacts.