Chapter 22: Reverse Birth: Three Layers, Fenghouqi Sect

Seeing Li Muxuan's demeanor, Li Ang immediately went on guard.

Just as the atmosphere began to grow strange, Lu Jin suddenly spoke: "Brother Li, you've only just joined the Sanyi Sect—how come you seem more familiar with Master than I do?"

His joke instantly dissolved the tension; Li Ang laughed as if he knew nothing and replied, "Maybe because I'm a genius, just like Master."

"?"

Lu Jin rolled his eyes and ignored Li Ang.

Wu Gensheng and Li Muxuan stood silently to the side, watching the scene, their thoughts unknown.

Soon, the four baskets were filled with herbs.

On the way back to Shanmen, Wu Gensheng deliberately lagged behind, pulling Li Muxuan with him.

He looked at Li Muxuan, who was visibly uneasy, and whispered in a voice barely audible: "Brother, if you keep acting like this, we might as well leave today."

Li Muxuan's behavior since joining the Sanyi Sect had convinced Wu Gensheng there was no point in hiding anything anymore.

After all, Zuo Ruotong's eyesight would surely notice something amiss.

And

Wu Gensheng glanced at Li Ang's back ahead, his gaze flickering slightly as he smirked inwardly.

He always felt this kid somehow knew his and Li Muxuan's true identities—Li Ang's acting was just too clumsy, nothing like his own effortless control.

'Interesting.'

Normally, Wu Gensheng would have tested Li Ang, but since this mission was meant to get back at Li Muxuan's behalf, he held back and refused to do anything extra.

Hearing his Zijiazhang's words, Li Muxuan pressed his lips together, his heart filled with complex emotions: "... Mm."

The group soon returned to Shanmen.

After handing the gathered herbs to the senior brother in charge of alchemy, Li Ang walked alone toward the back mountain.

After successfully learning 【Fenghouqi Sect】, he had not yet tried it.

Mainly because experimenting inside the sect might damage buildings—and that would be troublesome.

Arriving at the open ground behind the mountain, Li Ang did not immediately test 【Fenghouqi Sect】; instead, he activated Reverse Birth: Three Layers.

As his body glowed white, he felt his inner power surge violently.

"So this is the Dragon-Tiger Force, huh."

Clenching his fists, Li Ang murmured softly.

He could now roughly deduce that the Entry and Proficiency stages were part of Reverse Birth's First Layer, while Mastery and Expert were the Second Layer.

As for Master—

"Third Layer, huh."

Thinking of this, Li Ang exhaled a thick breath, and the air current stirred up dust all around him.

【Activating Reverse Birth: Three Layers, Skill Experience +1】

【Activating Reverse Birth: Three Layers, Skill Experience +1】

Li Ang quickly ended the Reverse Birth state—he still needed to conserve energy to test 【Fenghouqi Sect】.

After calming his mind slightly, he fixed his gaze on a nearby tree stump as his target.

Unlike Fenghouqi Sect, which lets you center yourself as the Middle Palace, ordinary 【Fenghouqi Sect】 can only Cast a spell through this Clumsy method.

Slightly shifting his steps, Li Ang stood at the Li position.

Then he slashed his hand forward—a flame shot toward the stump.

"Li Character: Fire Rope!"

The name was made up on the spot; since this was his first attempt at 【Fenghouqi Sect】, he was nowhere near as skilled as Zhuge Qing or Wang Ye from the original texts—especially since they studied Wuhouqi Sect and Fenghouqi Sect, unlike his generic version.

Hss—!

Seconds later, the smell of burnt wood drifted through the air.

Li Ang frowned and walked to the stump, touching the still-hot blackened mark with his fingers: "Tch."

"This power is weaker than if I punched it myself."

Recalling the slow, sluggish flame, he couldn't help but feel speechless.

Useful for lighting fires, maybe—but as a combat technique, it was barely adequate.

Of course, Li Ang wasn't discouraged—he could increase 【Fenghouqi Sect】's experience by grinding.

"But the main focus should still be on Reverse Birth: Three Layers."

Looking at his glowing white palm, he slammed it forward—the stump shattered into pieces under immense force.

In the following time, he continued testing spells from other positions.

Through trial, Li Ang discovered not all spells were as weak as the Li position's fire technique.

The earth spells of Kun and Gen positions, and the wind spell of Xun position, were all usable at a barely passable level.

"So environment matters too."

Standing amid the ruined clearing, Li Ang felt a flicker of insight.

But what surprised him most was actually the Dui position's metal spell.

Though he couldn't play Magneto, he could use it to reinforce his body—somewhat like Haki from One Piece.

Combined with the power boost from Reverse Birth state, his close-combat strength had risen dramatically.

Moreover, Li Ang found skill proficiency wasn't static—even though his panel level hadn't changed, his control over Reverse Birth: Three Layers and 【Fenghouqi Sect】 had improved significantly since the start.

"But aren't Qi cultivators supposed to be ethereal, otherworldly types?"

Li Ang scratched his cheek, feeling his own style was wildly off.

But remembering how his so-called Great Overflowing Immortal Master had fought Wu Gensheng with bare hands, he let it go—maybe the Sanyi Sect's style was just like this.

Looking at the significantly increased experience in Reverse Birth: Three Layers and 【Fenghouqi Sect】 after the afternoon's training, Li Ang exhaled softly: "Before heading back, I should train both skills to Proficiency."

But saying it is one thing; what now limits his leveling speed is actually his energy recovery rate.

Still, his ability to train through the entire afternoon is due to the special bonus of increased energy recovery granted by the 【Qi Refiner (Sanyi)】.

He slapped the dust off his body and turned away from the clearing.

Not long after he left, two youths appeared at the edge of the clearing.

It was Wu Wu Gensheng and Li Muxuan, disguised as Yunze and Yunsheng.

Wu Wu Gensheng stared at the ground, as if chewed by dogs, and murmured in amazement: "This kid really only began cultivation a few days ago?"

"Could he also be some fool sent by Master Liu in disguise to steal techniques?"

But his words received no reply.

Wu Wu Gensheng turned back and saw Li Muxuan staring at the clearing, lost in thought.

The leader of the 【Xingzhang Sect】 sighed, then leaned close to Li Muxuan, looking into his eyes and speaking slowly: "You don't actually think you're a Sanyi Sect disciple, do you?"

At these words, Li Muxuan snapped back to awareness.

Wu Wu Gensheng was right—he was not a disciple of the Sanyi Sect, never had been, never would be.

Without Li Ang's appearance, Li Muxuan might have been awakened.

But the problem is

Li Ang had appeared anyway.

In Li Muxuan's eyes, this new disciple of the Sanyi Sect clearly had greater talent than he did.

More crucially, the boy had been accepted into the Sanyi Sect after barely any trial period.

This was something he simply could not accept.

After all, if this was true,

how could he prove that the Great Ying Immortal's choice back then was wrong!?