21: Black fox powder appears, ferocious beasts besiege the city.

The stream babbled as it flowed over the green stones, refracting the morning light like shattered gold. Su Qingyue pinched a dew-covered willow leaf with her fingertips, the hem of her white dress fluttering gently in the wind as she sat on a smooth stream-side rock beside Lin Yang, their conversation shifting from the point rules of the Qingmeng Mountain trial to the characteristics of various Sects' Cultivation Techniques.

"Although the Star Moon Sect's 'Cold Moon Heart Sutra' excels in the ice element, it requires the 'Moon Soul Grass' to assist in Cultivation," she turned her face to the side, dew dropping from her eyelashes, "Your Five Elements Simultaneous Cultivation, Young Master Lin, is truly Heaven-Defying."

Lin Yang was just about to speak when a faint, fishy sweetness, like aged fox musk mixed with rust, suddenly pierced his nostrils. The chaos star core in his Sea of Consciousness trembled violently, the gray-gold light patterns on its surface flashing wildly — this was a sign of impending danger!

"Watch out!"

He grabbed Su Qingyue's wrist and retreated sharply. Before his voice had even faded, the stream-side rock behind them suddenly shattered with a "crack." A black shadow, wrapped in a fishy stench, lunged from the bottom of the water. Its blue-gray fur glistened with oil in the sunlight; it was actually a Houtian Eighth Layer Blue-Scaled Crocodile, its bloody maw still clutching half a torn piece of clothing.

"Roar —!"

Even more alarming movements came from the depths of the dense forest. Dozens of eerie green beast eyes lit up among the shadows of the trees. Wolf howls, bear roars, and leopard shrieks wove into a net; dense crowds of Vicious Beasts were closing in on the stream from all directions. In the front row were over a dozen Houtian Seventh Layer Red-Eyed Wolves, interspersed with several Houtian Eighth Layer Iron-Armored Bears. Behind the beast herd, a Black Wind Leopard the size of a water buffalo walked out slowly, its body wreathed in faint blue-gray Protective Aura; it was shockingly a Xiantian Realm Eighth Layer Vicious Beast!

"It's mystic fox powder!" Su Qingyue's face changed slightly, her fingertips already condensing three inches of ice-blue True Essence, "This powder can lure Vicious Beasts within ten miles, and it makes them develop a crazy obsession with the target!"

Lin Yang's gaze instantly swept to the dense forest on the left. There were traces of deliberate trampling in the bushes, and several withered leaves stained with mystic fox powder were falling to the ground — besides Lin Dongliu, no one would try to kill him at a time like this.

"Awoo!"

The Red-Eyed Wolf pack launched the charge first; the crisp sound of sharp claws crushing the creek ice made one's eardrums ache. Lin Yang shielded Su Qingyue behind him, the five-element True Essence in his Dantian boiling simultaneously. As his right fist swept across, seven golden fist shadows suddenly took shape. The seventh form of the Tiger Shadow Fist, "Seven Shadows Mountain Splitting," carried a sharp whistle that tore through the air, forcefully blasting the three wolves in the front row into blood mist.

"Be careful, Young Master Lin!" Su Qingyue's voice carried the crisp sound of cracking ice. She waved her fair hand, and several ice shards shot out like arrows, accurately pinning the joints of two Iron-Armored Bears, "The Black Wind Leopard is extremely fast, and the Protective Aura it spits out also has a paralyzing effect!"

Lin Yang didn't look back, his peripheral vision already locked onto the Black Wind Leopard approaching slowly. This Vicious Beast was clearly the leader of the pack, its emerald beast eyes full of mockery, as if it were savoring the prey's struggle before death. It suddenly moved, its figure turning into a gray-blue lightning bolt, the Protective Aura it brought up plowing deep gullies into the ground as it lunged straight at Lin Yang's back.

"Well come!"

A resolute look flashed in Lin Yang's eyes. He knew well that his Houtian Eighth Layer cultivation could hardly contend with a Xiantian Vicious Beast; at this moment, he could only burn his bridges! The five-element True Essence in his Dantian operated wildly, and the chaos star core in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly accelerated its rotation. He actually crushed all seventeen beast cores hanging at his waist simultaneously — these were the Origin energy he had accumulated from slaughtering Vicious Beasts over the past half month, seven of which were inner cores of Houtian Eleventh Layer Vicious Beasts!

"Hum!"

A violent torrent of energy surged through his Meridians, and Lin Yang's skin instantly glowed with five-colored light. The barrier of the Houtian Eighth Layer shattered like paper, and his cultivation soared wildly under the impact of the energy: Ninth Layer! Tenth Layer! Eleventh Layer! When it rushed to the limit of the Houtian Realm, the Spiritual Qi in his body suddenly became viscous like paste; this was a sign of Spiritual Qi transforming into True Essence!

"Right now!"

Lin Yang turned abruptly, his left palm condensing water-element True Essence into an ice shield, while his right fist deliberately exposed a flaw. The Black Wind Leopard took the bait as expected. The moment its sharp claws tore through the ice shield, Lin Yang's right fist, carrying crimson fire-element True Essence, had already slammed into its chest — this seemingly ordinary fire-element impact was actually leveraging the rebound force to compress all the violent energy in his body toward his Dantian!

"Chaos Swallowing Heaven, Five Elements Return to Origin!"

He whispered as he activated the final secret technique of the "Chaos Swallowing Heaven Art." The five-colored dantian cores in his Dantian suddenly trembled violently. The characteristics of metal sharpness, wood growth, water spirit, fire intensity, and earth thickness intertwined and collided in the Chaos Qi flow, actually beginning to fuse under the catalysis of the violent energy! The Black Wind Leopard roared in pain. Just as it was about to open its mouth to spit out paralyzing Protective Aura, it saw a gray-gold halo suddenly appear on Lin Yang's fist — that was the sign that the five-element energy was about to fuse!

"Awoo —!"

The Black Wind Leopard discovered in horror that the Xiantian Protective Aura in its body was being forcibly extracted by a terrifying suction force, pouring into the opponent's body along Lin Yang's fist. This pure Xiantian energy was like the final touch, instantly filling the last gap in Lin Yang's five-element Fusion.

"Crack!"

As if an invisible barrier of heaven and earth had been smashed, a tsunami-like energy tide erupted from Lin Yang's body. The five-element dantian cores completely fused into a gray-gold Chaos True Essence. The originally sluggish flow of Spiritual Qi became smooth and connected, and he could even trigger the resonance of energy between heaven and earth — this was the mark of the Xiantian Realm!

His aura surged tenfold in an instant, and the flowing gray-gold Chaos True Essence even caused ripples in the surrounding air. The Black Wind Leopard's corpse fell to the ground like a deflated leather bag, while Lin Yang landed steadily, a glimmer of Chaos flashing in his eyes as he opened and closed them.

"Xiantian Realm..." Su Qingyue whispered in surprise. She could clearly perceive that although Lin Yang's aura was just breaking through and was still unstable, its essence had already far surpassed that of an ordinary Early Stage Xiantian Cultivator — that was a higher-level energy born after the Fusion of the Five Elements Origin!

Just at this moment, a girl's exclamation came from the dense forest on the left. Liu Qingluan and Liu Hongluan were pushed out by two Lin family disciples. The sisters were pale with fright, yet they still clutched each other's hands tightly. The disciples who pushed them retreated with a grimace, clearly treating them as bait to attract Vicious Beasts.

"Courting death!"

Murderous intent surged in Lin Yang's eyes, and the newly broken-through Chaos True Essence condensed into a gray-gold fist shadow in his palm. He did not chase the two disciples, but turned and rushed toward the Iron-Armored Bear pouncing on the twins. Before the fist shadow arrived, the iron armor on the bear had already begun to shatter inch by inch — Xiantian True Essence against a Houtian Vicious Beast was naturally a dimensional reduction strike.

"Hurry and hide behind Miss Su!"

Liu Qingluan reacted very quickly, pulling her sister as they stumbled to Su Qingyue's side, while simultaneously pulling two medicine-quenched daggers from her bosom. Lin Yang finished off the last Iron-Armored Bear, turned to look into the depths of the dense forest, and a cold arc hooked at the corner of his mouth.

The killing trap carefully planned by Lin Dongliu had ultimately become a stepping stone for his Breakthrough.

He clapped his hands, the Chaos True Essence receding like a tide, and bowed to Su Qingyue: "Many thanks for your reminder just now, Miss Su."

Su Qingyue shook her head, her gaze falling on the gray light that had not yet dissipated on his fist: "Young Master Lin's Cultivation Technique, to be able to forcibly fuse five-element energy to break through to the Xiantian Realm, is truly unheard of." She handed over a jade bottle, "This is a 'Clear Spirit Pill', which can stabilize the Realm that has just broken through; the Early Stage of the Xiantian Realm is most afraid of True Essence instability."

When Lin Yang took the jade bottle, his fingertips inadvertently touched her palm, and both of them were stunned for a moment. Su Qingyue's cheeks flushed slightly, and she turned to walk toward the twins, softly comforting the frightened sisters.

The stream still flowed, but it was already stained with a faint scent of blood. Lin Yang looked in the direction of Qingmeng Mountain, clutching the Clear Spirit Pill in his hand — the Xiantian Realm was just the beginning. Lin Dongliu, Lin Hongfeng, are you ready to face my retaliation?