218: Chapter 217 Entering the Third Heaven, Second Senior Brother Yang Qingxuan

"We've arrived."

The old man's reminder brought Xia Jin back to reality from his state of curiosity.

The golden path beneath his feet reached its end, and Xia Jin finally saw the scene before him.

Then, he froze.

There were no towering palaces, no lingering Immortal Qi, and certainly none of the magnificent scenes of powerful experts gathered like clouds that he had imagined.

There were only a dozen or so small courtyards scattered in front of him, well-arranged yet so simple they were almost crude.

If it weren't for the Spiritual Qi in the air, which was so dense it almost condensed into liquid, constantly reminding him, Xia Jin would have thought he had taken a wrong turn and wandered into some ordinary mountain village in the mortal world.

"This is... the Third Heaven of the Divine Temple?"

There was a hint of doubt in Xia Jin's tone.

The old man walked ahead with his hands behind his back. Hearing this, he only smiled slightly, as if he were long accustomed to such a reaction: "What, do you think it doesn't look like it?"

Xia Jin did not answer, but his silence was an answer in itself.

He truly felt it didn't look like it.

"Let's go."

The old man offered no further explanation and started walking forward.

Xia Jin composed himself and followed.

His gaze, however, was not idle for a moment, curiously taking in everything around him.

But soon, he noticed something unusual. Some Spiritual Plants and Spirit Medicines that were nearly extinct and rare in the Lower Realm were planted casually in the corners of these courtyards, like radishes or cabbages.

Xia Jin's heart tightened slightly.

As expected, the Third Heaven is the Third Heaven. On the surface, it looks like a village, but everywhere it reveals itself to be anything but simple.

"These courtyards... could they all belong to..."

"That's right, every courtyard here has a master," the old man said without turning his head, though a flash of helplessness crossed his eyes as he spoke. "Some are in seclusion, some have gone out, and some... haven't returned for a very long time."

Xia Jin heard the trace of melancholy in the old man's voice and did not press further.

Just then,

The gate of a small courtyard not far ahead was pushed open from the inside, and a middle-aged man carrying a hoe walked out.

The man looked to be about forty years old, tall with a rugged face and bronze-tanned skin. With his pant legs rolled up to his knees and fresh mud on his feet, he looked exactly like a farmer who had just returned from working in the fields.

The only difference from a farmer was his eyes, which were exceptionally bright, as if two stars were hidden within them.

When the middle-aged man looked up and saw the old man walking toward him, those bright eyes grew even brighter, and a warm smile appeared on his face.

"Fifth Hall Master! How do you have the time to visit?"

Fifth Hall Master.

Hearing this title, Xia Jin's heart stirred slightly, and he looked at the ordinary-looking old man beside him with some surprise.

His previous guess had indeed been correct.

This man was truly one of the five Hall Masters of the Divine Temple.

Hearing the greeting, the old man stopped, a smile appearing in his eyes as well: "Qingxuan, out weeding your spiritual fields again so early in the morning?"

"You bet," the middle-aged man said as he walked over, hoe on his shoulder. He casually wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and said with a chuckle, "That batch of Spiritual Rice I planted last time—I don't know what kind of pests it attracted, but half the leaves have been eaten. I figured if I didn't take care of it soon, this season's harvest would be ruined."

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon Xia Jin behind the Fifth Hall Master, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes.

"Fifth Hall Master, this person behind you is...?"

"Come, let me introduce you. This lad is named Xia Jin. From now on, he'll be your Junior Brother. In the future, you can teach him a thing or two!"

"Oh?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man's eyes immediately lit up. He strode over to Xia Jin and sized him up carefully from top to bottom.

After a moment, the middle-aged man withdrew his gaze, the smile on his face deepening.

"Yang Qingxuan," he introduced himself. "If you don't mind, you can call me Yang Qingxuan here!"

Yang Qingxuan?

Xia Jin also sized him up and then nodded, "Xia Jin!"

Yang Qingxuan grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, and a sharp light suddenly flashed in his eyes. "By the way, Junior Brother, though this might be a bit abrupt, you wouldn't mind letting Senior Brother see your strength, would you?"

The words were spoken casually,

But Xia Jin caught a scent of testing beneath that seemingly casual smile.

He frowned slightly.

To be honest, he didn't much like such offensive questions, but he didn't refuse either. It just so happened that he had just stepped into the ninth level of the Creation Realm, and he wanted to see how his strength compared to these Hun-class Disciples of the Third Heaven.

Moreover, Xia Jin possessed absolute confidence.

Within the same Realm, he feared no one.

"Alright."

He nodded, his eyes filled with confidence.

Seeing this, Yang Qingxuan's smile deepened. He casually thrust the hoe on his shoulder into the ground, then raised his right hand and struck toward Xia Jin with a light palm.

That palm appeared to have no power to speak of; it wasn't fast, the force wasn't heavy, and it even carried a bit of nonchalant carelessness.

However, the moment the other party struck, Xia Jin's expression instantly became solemn.

A kind of law seemed to be entwined around the other's right palm.

A law he had never encountered before.

If he had to describe it, it would be 'Senescence'!

Yes, Senescence!

The intent arrived before the palm.

The air was aging, becoming heavy and sluggish.

The yellow earth beneath his feet was aging, its color fading from dark to light, its surface developing fine cracks.

Even Xia Jin himself, before the palm had truly reached him, felt a subtle abnormality. The circulation of blood and Qi in his body seemed to slow down, and the spiritual power in his Meridians felt as if it were being eroded by something, becoming sluggish.

This palm was not to be underestimated.

But for Xia Jin, it only meant being a bit more serious; there was not a hint of fear in his eyes.

His current Realm was the ninth level of the Creation Realm.

In terms of Realm alone, he was not inferior to this seemingly unfathomable "Yang Qingxuan."

What's more, from the moment he stepped onto the path of cultivation, he, Xia Jin, had never met an opponent in the same Realm.

Not in the past, not now, and not in the future.

"Come then!!" He raised his right hand and met the strike with a palm of his own.

The wind from his palm whistled as it collided head-on with Yang Qingxuan's strike.

The moment the two palms met, Yang Qingxuan's sliver of Senescence power was like a maggot on a bone, spreading toward Xia Jin's arm along the point of impact. Wherever that power of law passed, the fabric of Xia Jin's sleeve turned gray and brittle at a visible rate, turning to dust at the slightest touch.

However, just as the power of Senescence was about to invade Xia Jin's body, an invisible force erupted from his Meridians.

It was the power belonging to his Fusion of the Nine Turns Creation Sutra and the Primordial Demon Emperor Art.

It had no specific form or attribute, but wherever it went, Yang Qingxuan's Senescence power was like thin ice meeting a raging fire, incinerated to nothingness in an instant.

Cleanly and completely, leaving nothing behind.

The smile on Yang Qingxuan's face froze.

A flash of undisguised shock crossed his eyes. Before he could even withdraw his palm force, he was forced back half a step by the vast power contained in Xia Jin's strike.

Half a step.

Only half a step, but for Yang Qingxuan, the meaning of this half-step was extraordinary.

He looked up and gazed at Xia Jin again, and the nonchalant carelessness from before was gone from his eyes.

"Junior Brother..."

Yang Qingxuan slowly withdrew his palm and was silent for a good while before speaking. His voice was no longer playful and casual, but had become much more serious.

"Not bad."

He nodded, staring fixedly at Xia Jin, the corners of his mouth slowly curling up to reveal his white teeth.

"Junior Brother, you are very good."

When these words came from his mouth, the tone was completely different from before. Before, it was politeness, the pleasantries of a first meeting; now, it was recognition, appreciation from the heart.

Xia Jin withdrew his palm, his expression remaining calm as he gave a slight nod: "Yang Qingxuan, thank you for the match."

Although his sleeve had become gray and tattered due to the influence of the Senescence power, his arm had not suffered the slightest damage. The Power of Creation flowed slowly through his body, dispersing all the remaining Senescence power.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Yang Qingxuan said the word "Good" three times, each louder than the last.

"Fifth Hall Master, you've really found us an extraordinary Junior Brother this time!"

"With him, our Divine Temple has gained another measure of victory against those Extraterrestrial Races!"

The Fifth Hall Master stood to the side with his hands behind his back, neither interfering nor speaking from beginning to end. Hearing Yang Qingxuan's words now, he only smiled slightly, a flash of subtle gratification appearing in his clouded eyes.