Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

Chen Xiang has been in the palace for five years and has had seventeen Daoist partners. He has never trusted any of them, yet he has a thorough understanding of each and every one of them.

His temperament contrasts sharply with his bold and decisive battle tactics, leaning towards caution and composure.

Although he made great progress with the help of "The Essence of the Secrets of the Bedroom Arts", he never relied entirely on dual cultivation to improve his cultivation, nor did he place all his hopes for advancement on his Daoist partners.

Compared to others, he understands better the difficulty of self-cultivation and self-discipline.

Therefore, although Yan Cheng humiliated him in front of everyone, he did not harbor much resentment. He simply watched to see what fate awaited this genius.

He knew very well that the greatest opportunities in the Hidden Moon Palace would undoubtedly come from the true disciples.

Chen Xiang was willing to only drink a sip of soup, but if Yan Cheng really wanted to compete with him, he was prepared to fight with all his might.

But we shouldn't create any further complications at this juncture.

The two Daoist partners seemed to be at odds, but their intentions were the same: to push him to compete with Yan Cheng.

The reason is simple: Chen Xiang doesn't mind the damage to his prestige, viewing it as something unhelpful to his path.

The Daoist companions, however, considered themselves to share his glory and shame, and regarded his power as their own. Therefore, they were more anxious than he was to save face.

Tan Qi is alright; apart from cultivating the "Heavenly Wisdom and Wide Hearing Secret Method," which allows her to eavesdrop on other people's thoughts and conversations, she's nothing special and can't cause any big trouble.

Lin Ting, however, was different.

This female cultivator is a true prodigy. If she receives approval from the hall, she may even switch to fire-based cultivation techniques to build her foundation with yin fire. Her potential future is even greater than Chen Xiang's.

Based on Chen Xiang's understanding of her, this girl must be quite dissatisfied with Yan Cheng's sudden emergence and had long been planning to take action to suppress the other party's arrogance.

Regardless of whether or not she was involved, Lin Ting would still have taken action against Yan Cheng, which might even have been with the tacit approval of her senior sister!

Should I step in and stop it?

Chen Xiang remained calm.

What does it have to do with him?

Whether Yan Cheng ultimately suppressed Lin Ting's arrogance or Lin Ting suppressed Yan Cheng's arrogance, it had no substantial impact on his path to cultivation.

Of course, if Yan Cheng accidentally killed Lin Ting, he would lose a useful Daoist partner.

However, Chen Xiang believes that the likelihood of things developing in this direction is not high.

Yan Cheng's spiritual power was indeed far more profound than he had imagined, but at most it was only at the level of opening up the eight meridians, which was not enough to create a substantial gap between him and someone with the same level of perfect cultivation.

Lin Ting, too, has reached the mid-stage of perfection, with all eight meridians open.

The fire-based techniques he learned from his senior sister were far superior to any techniques Yan Cheng could normally access.

This contest will at most end with Yan Cheng gaining a slight advantage due to his superior spiritual power, and it is definitely not going to develop to the point where one side is seriously injured.

Of course, this is on the premise that Lin Ting does not force Yan Cheng to use the sword box on his back.

Once cultivators of the same realm start using weapons, the casualties become unpredictable.

Based on Chen Xiang's years of experience in the palace, he judged that those skilled in weaponry usually made very slow progress in their cultivation.

Those who focus on improving their cultivation level are mostly unable to spare any attention for weapon crafting.

Yan Cheng's cultivation progressed rapidly, and almost no one in the hall could match him.

Therefore, he might not necessarily have a deep understanding of weaponry and techniques.

Time is fair, no matter how brilliant a genius may be.

With twelve hours in a day, if more time is spent cultivating cultivation techniques, less time is available for practicing magic.

Chen Xiang knew he wasn't a genius, and his imagination of geniuses was limited to his senior brother Tian Tong, who was always a step ahead of him.

In his view, even if Yan Cheng was exceptionally talented, he couldn't possibly be...

Just then, Lin Ting laughed loudly:

"Junior Brother Yan has really started living a good life lately!"

Upon hearing this, all the cultivators present seemed to have tacitly agreed to step back, leaving a large open space between Lin Ting and Yan Cheng.

Yan Cheng slowly raised his eyes and glanced at her:

"What advice do you have for me, Senior Sister Lin?"

The moment their eyes met, Lin Ting felt a sudden jolt in her heart, as if she were being watched by someone of a much higher status than herself, and felt uneasy.

Like a sparrow eyeing an eagle, or a lynx encountering a tiger.

"This kid...could he have practiced some kind of eye technique?!"

This inexplicable sense of oppression made her want to give up.

But then, a sudden surge of anxiety rose from the depths of her heart, prompting her to take another step forward:

"Junior brother, have you made any progress in your weapon training?"

"Back then, when you taught Brother Xiang a move, he narrowly lost. All the fellow disciples in the hall knew that your cultivation was at its peak and that your progress was as rapid as the rising sun."

"But this trip will not simply test one's level of cultivation."

Her lips, which appeared thinner compared to the other female cultivators in the hall, curled slightly:

"What we're really looking at is their ability to kill."

Everyone fell silent.

Yan Cheng stared at her, a hint of a smile suddenly appearing in his deep purple eyes:

"You think you're qualified to talk to me about murder?"

Have you ever killed anyone?

The silence that was spreading was colder than ever before.

Gazes sometimes fell on Yan Cheng, and sometimes on Lin Ting.

Suddenly, this mid-stage corpse cultivator, who was among the strongest, opened his palm, and a dark red flame carrying a chilling black aura lit up in his palm!

Among the cultivators present were many who had cultivated Corpse Fiend Yin Fire, and they could all see that the fire in her hand was quite different from the flames formed by the other cultivators through the condensation of Corpse Fiend.

It could only be the senior sister's personal disciple!

Lin Ting's eyes revealed an extremely smug look. Among all the corpse cultivators in the hall, who else could receive such favor from the senior sister and be taught the "Dark Path of the Netherfire" like her?

This item is based on her internal alchemical talisman, "Moxibustion Incense." As long as this talisman remains undamaged, the flame in her hand will continuously receive a supply of yin energy.

This greatly reduces the spiritual energy required to maintain the fireworks!

Thanks to this, she was able to do things that even the old woman Yu Caiying, who used to be by Senior Brother Tiantong's side, couldn't do...

She grinned, raised her palm, and a long line of dark red flames shot through the air, the tip of the flames pointing directly at Yan Cheng's chest!

At this moment, the two were dozens of steps apart. Apart from late-stage Qi Refining cultivators who could control their spiritual power with their divine sense, no one could maintain the stability of this long flame line with spiritual power alone.

The soaring, scattering flames scorched the floor tiles, and the cold, dry waves of fire caused the onlookers to retreat in horror.

Some discerning individuals have already discerned the essence of her technique:

"It bears a striking resemblance to the Saintess's [Black Serpent]... a remnant of the Heavenly Corpse Path!"

"This female cultivator... may possess the potential to reach the Foundation Establishment stage!"

However, it was as if this tiny creature was rapidly growing larger and larger as it attacked through the air, transforming into a long, serpentine flame.

Yan Cheng didn't even reach for the sword box behind his back; he simply intertwined his palms to form the Moon Wheel Seal.

Then, he simply thrust out both palms without any particular surprise.

The next instant, a sudden burst of bone-chilling light pushed back the flame trail that had streaked across the sky without reservation!