Chapter 552

Zi Yun Mountains!

Three hundred zhang away, Qu Guan’s compound eyes narrowed sharply; he went on full alert and slowed his speed, finally stopping at a hundred zhang.

“Who are you?”

The man before him appeared to be only a Qi Refining fourth-rank warrior in his spiritual sense, but upon closer inspection, he realized he could not penetrate this man’s true cultivation.

Each realm of Qi Refining sixth rank has distinct markers.

A Qi Refining first-rank warrior emits aura around his body—uncontrolled, detectable at a glance by higher cultivators.

A Qi Refining second-rank warrior has shimmering light points around his body—these are condensed Qi crystals within his acupoints, visible to any spiritual sense sweep or higher-rank cultivator.

A Qi Refining third-rank warrior possesses Qi fluid within his body; his skin is nourished by this fluid, revealing a faint Qi glow—imperceptible to the eye, but crystal clear under spiritual sense.

A Qi Refining fourth-rank warrior radiates aura like tides, visibly surging outward, easily sensed by spiritual sense.

In Qu Guan’s spiritual perception, the man before him was clearly a fourth-rank Qi Refining cultivator, as his aura constantly fluctuated—but his caution arose from the fact that this man’s aura fluctuations differed from those of ordinary fourth-rank Qi Refining warriors.

Tides do not surge endlessly; after the flood comes the ebb.

A Qi Refining fourth-rank warrior’s aura naturally ebbs and flows—rising from weak to strong, wave after wave.

But this man’s aura surged violently, then dropped abruptly—highly unstable. It matched the pattern of Qi Refining fourth rank, yet somehow did not quite fit.

“Disciple greets Elder Qu.”

Lin Chen smiled and spoke—but his words left Qu Guan stunned. Disciple?

Is this man a disciple of Canglan Sect?

Though as an Elder, he could not possibly remember every disciple of Canglan Sect, that applied only to outer disciples and ordinary inner disciples; any disciple who reached Qi Refining fourth rank, he would surely know.

Qu Guan was certain he had never seen this man within the sect.

“If you refuse to reveal your identity, that is fine—but why pretend to be a disciple of Canglan Sect?”

Though unaware of this man’s true identity, Qu Guan was certain he was the mysterious warrior who had recently slaughtered warriors from Bahuang Domain—he had seen the corpses nearby, clad in Bahuang Sect robes.

“Elder Qu truly cannot recognize me? Perhaps you should look more closely.”

Lin Chen smiled. The Supreme Elder had once taught him a technique to conceal his form—though it could alter his appearance, it was based on his original features. As the saying goes: once you suspect something, the more you look, the more it resembles it; without that suspicion, you see nothing unusual.

Qu Guan frowned. This man would not dare deceive him after he had spoken thus—could he truly be a disciple of our sect?

He stared at the man’s face, rapidly recalling the sect’s Qi Refining fourth-rank disciples—especially those at late or peak fourth rank—but none matched.

Late Qi Refining fourth rank, mid Qi Refining fourth rank, early Qi Refining fourth rank… none of them.

Before that, it would be Qi Refining third rank.

Even if a Qi Refining third-rank disciple had broken through to fourth rank in such a short time, he still could not have…

Wait.

Thinking of Canglan Sect’s peak Qi Refining third-rank disciple, Qu Guan’s mind flashed a young figure—and his gaze locked onto Lin Chen, growing more certain with every glance.

Seeing Qu Elder’s widened eyes, Lin Chen knew he had been recognized; he bowed and said, “Disciple Lin Chen greets Elder Qu.”

As he spoke, Lin Chen’s face slowly returned to its true form.

“It really is you!”

Qu Guan stared at Lin Chen’s restored visage, his eyes gleaming brighter: “Were you the one who killed all those Bahuang Domain warriors outside Bibo City and these others in Zi Yun Mountains?”

“Yes, it was I,” Lin Chen nodded in confirmation.

“Good lad!”

Qu Guan drew a deep breath; even with Lin Chen’s own admission, his inner shock remained uncalmed.

When he left Canglan Sect, Lin Chen had not even reached Qi Refining second rank—but now, barely over three years later, he had entered Qi Refining fourth rank.

In the entire history of Yan Huang Dynasty, how many had ever crossed three realms in three years?

“Are you now at Qi Refining fourth-rank mid-stage?”

Facing Qu Elder’s question, Lin Chen hesitated before answering: “I believe I am at Qi Refining fourth-rank peak.”

His current state could no longer be measured by standard Qi Refining fourth-rank thresholds.

As long as the Qi fluid within one’s body overlapped one layer, one enters Qi Refining fourth rank; one to three layers is early stage, three to six is mid-stage, six to nine is late stage, ten layers is peak… beyond that is Qi Refining fifth rank.

But his own Qi fluid had already overlapped eighteen layers—far exceeding the limit of Qi Refining fourth rank.

Lin Chen had already deduced why his Qi fluid could overlap so many layers: his physical body’s upper limit far surpassed even that of many Qi Refining fifth-rank warriors.