Chapter Fifty-Four: Has Xu Tianjiao Died?

Boom!

A surge of scorching fire erupted ceaselessly from the earth, bursting in midair and raining down onto the ground. The air itself was seared into an unbearable heat, evaporating and twisting, with layers of hot mist rising everywhere. Amidst the mist, a flash of white light appeared—a cultivator at the Core Formation stage was teleported into the haze, and the moment his feet touched the ground, he let out a heart-rending scream.

“Ah…”

He stumbled frantically out of the mist, his clothing utterly destroyed, his face unrecognizable. His skin was not only reddened by the steam, but large portions of his flesh had decayed, exposing bone in places.

“Damn it, what rotten luck! I was teleported right into the poisonous fire mist. Thankfully, there’s no one around—otherwise…”

He collapsed in a patch of open ground outside the mist. The heat of the earth still baked his body, but compared to the fire mist, this was nothing. Grumbling, he fumbled for a few healing pills, preparing to swallow them.

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, another beam of white light flashed within the fire mist, and a blurry figure appeared. “Another one?” The Core Formation cultivator’s eyes brightened. He hurried to take his pills, recovering his injuries as quickly as possible. As long as he could regain some strength, the moment the newcomer burst out of the fire mist, they would be at their weakest—a perfect time to strike. With no disciples of the Celestial Mechanism Sect nearby, there was no one to witness his actions.

In the wilds, killing for treasure was sweet business…

He healed swiftly, joy blossoming in his heart, when suddenly his whole body shuddered.

“Wait—something’s wrong!”

He realized: there was no scream. Although this area was only on the outskirts of the secret realm and the fire mist was not as terrifying as at its center, ordinary Core Formation cultivators could still not withstand it. The toxic mist would burrow into the skin like leeches, burning away flesh—no one could endure it silently.

Unless…the newcomer was Nascent Soul stage!

Cold sweat broke out on his face; he panicked, frantically accelerating his healing. Otherwise, when that Nascent Soul monster emerged, it would be his own life at risk.

“Hmm, fellow Daoist, how did you end up so badly injured just after arriving?” Suddenly, a voice came from within the fire mist.

The Core Formation cultivator was stunned—how could a man’s voice sound so pleasant?

“Bang!”

The fire mist roiled violently. With a small, muffled sound, it split open, and a handsome head poked out.

“Xu Tianjiao!!!”

The cultivator’s eyes widened in terror.

“Yes, it’s me. Do you need help?” Xu Zhe regarded him curiously, noting the severe damage to his body and asking kindly. As he stepped forward, the fire mist surged and expanded, following his movements.

The Core Formation cultivator was terrified, crying, “No, Xu Tianjiao, please don’t move, don’t come any closer, I beg you!”

He was almost in tears. After escaping from the fire mist, he had been exhausted, resting to recover. But now, Xu Zhe’s approach drove the mist ever closer, just a meter away. If Xu Zhe were merely Foundation Establishment, he would have slapped him away by now—but this one was untouchable.

“Oh, very well.” Xu Zhe stopped, sighing quietly. The world was truly cruel; the most basic trust between people no longer existed. He had meant well, but was met only with suspicion. Very well.

“Then heal yourself—I won’t disturb you. By the way, your physical body is far too frail. I don’t know how you ended up so injured, but this fire mist is actually quite good for tempering the body. Once you’ve recovered, you can come in and join me—I won’t mind.”

With that, Xu Zhe withdrew his head, audibly taking a deep breath, as if savoring the experience. He slowly moved away.

The Core Formation cultivator lay stunned, rigid on the ground, his mind blank.

What…what did he just say to me?

Fire mist for tempering the body? Inviting me to join him? Was that even human speech?

I was injured by this damned fire mist!

“Monster! He’s a monster!” The Core Formation cultivator trembled in fear. He knew well how terrifying the fire mist was—but he had seen Xu Zhe emerge unharmed, seemingly unaffected, even using it to temper his body.

The key was, most methods of tempering the body involved medicinal herbs and external force—first beating the body, then bathing in restorative herbs.

But this fellow had just inhaled a mouthful of fire mist—was he drawing it inside to temper himself? When did Foundation Establishment cultivators become so terrifying?

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Just then, several sharp sounds split the air nearby. Dozens of figures swept through the skies, descending rapidly, locking onto the area.

“What’s happening?” The Core Formation cultivator was alarmed, a strong sense of unease gripping him.

“Found him!”

In an instant, the figures landed. One shouted, and the others rushed over, surrounding him completely.

He finally saw their attire: all in black, masked, with gold trim on their sleeves.

Elite Core Formation assassins from the “Spiritshock” organization!

His heart sank—he realized they were here for Xu Zhe.

Fortunately, the Spiritshock assassins were said to be professional: they rarely cared for non-targets or killed for loot during missions.

“Such bad luck—looks like he crawled out of the fire mist, injured,” one assassin mocked, eyeing him.

The cultivator hesitated, about to reply, but another assassin cut him off: “The target is within this area, with a margin of error less than a hundred meters.”

“We’ve scouted—within a thousand meters, aside from this person, there’s no one else,” another said coldly.

“Then it’s settled—this must be Xu Zhe. Injured as he is, our task just got easier,” a killer laughed.

Murderous gazes locked onto the cultivator lying on the ground.

He nearly fainted, jumping up and shouting, “No, you’re mistaken! I’m not Xu Zhe—I am Song Ren Tou, a disciple of the Heavenly Martial Sect. I’m at Core Formation; you must check carefully!”

“Core Formation?” The assassins paused.

Numerous divine senses swept over him, scrutinizing every inch.

“He’s really only at Core Formation! The intelligence is outdated!”

“Damn it, what nonsense, are the intelligence agents eating shit?”

“He could kill Core Formation experts while at Foundation Establishment. Now, at Core Formation, he must be even stronger. If he weren’t already injured, we’d all be dead!”

The assassins cursed in fury.

Song Ren Tou was dumbfounded, nearly coughing up blood. “Brothers of Spiritshock, I truly am not Xu Zhe! Xu Zhe is still in the fire mist—he just appeared, saying he’s tempering his body inside!”

But his words were met with indifferent stares.

“Xu Tianjiao, do you take us for fools?”

“Fire mist for body tempering? Ha, such a ridiculous claim, and you dare say it out loud?”

“A renowned genius, yet so afraid of death—it’s normal, but to deny your identity with such a far-fetched excuse, it’s a first.”

“No need to struggle, it’s pointless.”

“But before you die, we must perform our routine—would you care to purchase Spiritshock’s latest package?”

One assassin produced a slip, displaying a few options.

Song Ren Tou was utterly speechless. These idiotic Spiritshock assassins insisted he was Xu Zhe?

If I had Xu Zhe’s physique, would I be in this state?

“Xu Tianjiao! Xu Tianjiao, come out! Someone’s looking for you!” Song Ren Tou gave up explaining, screaming wildly.

The assassins stared at him as if he were an imbecile, approaching slowly.

Meanwhile, deep within the fire mist, where the toxic fire was thickest, Xu Zhe sat cross-legged, his clothing removed and shielded by spiritual energy, his body frantically absorbing the fire poison into himself.

His meridians were seared by the fire poison, yet like steel forged in flames, the more they burned, the tougher they became. The fire poison penetrated his marrow, heating every bone until they glowed red.

“Crack! Crack!”

A series of popping sounds echoed from his body—he used his muscular membrane to pound his bones, and under the scorching poison, layers of charred fragments flaked off. As soon as the fragments detached, the fire poison melted them, infusing his flesh and meridians, guided by spiritual energy, and expelled from his body.

Six hours later…

The secret realm was shrouded in darkness, yet the blazing fires kept the area bright.

Where Xu Zhe sat, the fire mist had shrunk by more than half.

He slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of hot air, and stood.

“Bang!”

His body shook, and streams of gray-black powder flaked from his skin, dissolving into the fire mist. His skin grew more delicate and fair, yet taut and resilient.

His bronze skin had clearly advanced to a new level.

Beneath the flesh, his bones were cooling. The fiery red hue faded, leaving crystalline, silvery bones.

“Bronze skin and iron bones accomplished. With 720 apertures opened, I’ve surpassed the Silver Body stage and reached the Golden Body.”

A smile appeared on Xu Zhe’s face.

“With the power of my flesh alone, the Golden Body is equal to a Core Formation cultivator. This means my theoretical strength has risen from one against two hundred Foundation Establishment, to one against two hundred Core Formation.”

He pondered silently, then shook his head. “No, though my physical realm matches Core Formation, my cultivation hasn’t entered that stage yet. To be safe, I should revise it to one against a hundred Core Formation.”

Speaking thus, Xu Zhe dressed himself in his spirit-shielded clothes, strode out of the fire mist unharmed beneath a righteous aura.

“Huh?”

Just outside the mist, Xu Zhe saw a headless corpse—the same injured cultivator he’d met before.

How quickly things changed. After only six hours, the man was dead.

“Sigh…”

Xu Zhe sighed softly. In this world of cultivation, the strong preyed on the weak, and death could come at any moment. He’d long understood this, but each experience still left him with a sense of solemnity and caution.

Zhu Chongli was right—he would need to be more restrained in the future. Otherwise, provoking a Tribulation or even Ascension stage cultivator could spell disaster.

Though he wasn’t sure if any still existed in the Azure Sky Domain. According to records from the Celestial Domain, the last time a small cultivator ascended from Azure Sky was tens of thousands of years ago.

Xu Zhe waved his hand, digging a hole and burying the headless corpse. A simple act of kindness for him, but perhaps a significant matter for the dead: at least someone buried him.

“How odd—so much time has passed and Qu Hongxiu still hasn’t come to meet me. Could she be in danger?”

He glanced at the round jade pendant in his hand, frowning. A small red dot marked her position, some distance away and moving further.

“Sigh, truly troublesome. Didn’t Chu Xiaotong warn her not to wander?”

Xu Zhe sighed, sending his divine sense into the jade, tracking Qu Hongxiu’s location. He put the pendant away, leapt, and sped off into the distance.

…

Meanwhile, Qu Hongxiu, brimming with murderous intent, was chasing several black-clad figures. Her eyes were red with fury, tears faintly streaking her cheeks as she muttered through sobs:

“Uncle Xu, I’m sorry!”

“Master, I’m sorry—I failed to protect Uncle Xu.”

“Spiritshock organization, just wait. I’ll kill everyone in the secret realm, then return and have Master lead the Vermilion Bird Army to exterminate you.”

“You beasts! How dare you strike Uncle Xu when he was wounded and kill him. You’re finished—all of you must die.”

“Heaven and earth will no longer harbor Spiritshock!”

With those words, Qu Hongxiu cried out in rage.

Hours earlier, she had followed the marker to find Xu Zhe, only to encounter dozens of Spiritshock assassins carrying a severed head from his direction, claiming their mission was complete.

Qu Hongxiu was terrified. When she reached the location, she found only a headless corpse left behind.

Within a thousand meters, aside from the fire mist, there was no one else.

Only then did she realize disaster had struck. Her master had warned her repeatedly about dangers in the secret realm, all to protect Xu Zhe.

But now, Xu Zhe was dead!

Wounded in the fire mist, targeted and killed by Spiritshock assassins.

So she began hunting down every Spiritshock killer in the secret realm.

Her actions soon spread the shocking news to nearly all cultivators within the realm.

Xu Tianjiao, slain by Spiritshock.

“Haha! How amusing—thought he might pull some trick, but he died so suddenly. No, wait, now it’s a bit less interesting,” Li Xunhuang laughed, seated in an open area as someone reported the news.

Beside him, flames erupted from the ground, heat surging against the sword suspended before him.

Nearby was the young man who had traveled with him; he frowned slightly.

“Xu Zhe is really dead?” he asked, incredulous.

“If so, why not kill Qu Hongxiu as well?” he turned to Li Xunhuang, smiling.

“Should we strike now? Didn’t the lord of Northern Continent say to wait for the right moment to kill Qu Hongxiu?” Li Xunhuang was surprised.

“Indeed, now is the perfect time.” The young man’s smile deepened. “Xu Zhe is dead. If Qu Hongxiu dies too, Chu Wushen will surely go mad, leading the Vermilion Bird Army in revenge. Chaos will erupt in Southern Continent.”

“I see. Then let’s summon the others.” Li Xunhuang nodded in realization, flicking his finger as dozens of streaks of light shot out toward the distance.

…