Chen Yan was holding a grudge.
To find Qiguan Jin, Chen Yan had spent three cycles of reincarnation, a total of ninety-six years.
And his resentment wasn't solely directed at Qiguan Jin either.
All the suffering and endurance Chen Yan had accumulated over nearly nine cycles of reincarnation erupted at this very moment.
*Smack!*
Another crisp sound rang out, and a red, five-fingered handprint rapidly appeared on Qiguan Jin's right cheek as well.
Qiguan Jin was not stupid, and he had seen his share of the world.
Back in the day, his ability to play both sides at the Kongshan Sect ferry market relied entirely on his wits.
A sixteen-year-old youth, who had just entered the Qi Circulation Realm, no matter how much of a genius he was or how astonishing the cultivation art he practiced, it was absolutely impossible for him to slap a Qi Sea Realm cultivator twice in succession without the cultivator even having time to react.
It could only be that the other party was not playing by the rules and had come prepared.
Very quickly, Qiguan Jin understood the truth: the other party's cultivation realm was definitely not below his own.
For a Qi Sea Realm cultivator of such stature to come to this insignificant Lü Family training ground, he certainly wasn't here to cause trouble for Lü Zhengbo—Lü Zhengbo wasn't even worthy of that.
Since he wasn't here for Lü Zhengbo, the answer became even simpler.
He was here to cause trouble for *him*!
Realizing this, Qiguan Jin didn't hesitate and immediately unleashed his true qi at full power.
The vast true qi of a Qi Sea Realm cultivator rapidly enveloped over half of the training ground.
The surrounding Lü Family disciples, including Lü Ziping, all instantly paled by several shades.
Some with weaker constitutions even had their lips turning purple, with cold sweat streaming down.
Then, he sent a palm strike towards Chen Yan's direction.
A palm imprint materialized in mid-air and crashed down towards Chen Yan with a thunderous force. This was the full-force strike of a Qi Sea Realm cultivator.
Formless Qi Transformation Art.
The second chapter of the Kongshan Record, the Kongshan Formless Chapter.
The Kongshan Record is divided into three parts in total: the Kongshan Art, the Kongshan Formless Chapter, and the Kongshan Annotation of True Understanding.
Possessing a complete system spanning from the first realm to the ninth realm is a necessary but insufficient condition for becoming a top-tier sect.
The Kongshan Formless Chapter is the mental cultivation method that disciples of the Kongshan Sect need to practice between the fourth and sixth realms.
Although Chen Yan had never practiced the Kongshan Sect's secret mental cultivation method, he recognized that the art Qiguan Jin was executing was the Formless Qi Transformation Art, derived from the Kongshan Formless Chapter.
The bluestone bricks in the training ground were successively ripped up by the immense force unleashed by this palm strike. To the surrounding Body Forging Realm or Qi Circulation Realm cultivators, the scene looked utterly terrifying—this was a contest on an entirely different level.
However, Chen Yan's figure merely flickered slightly in place, effortlessly dodging Qiguan Jin's palm strike.
The training hall behind Chen Yan collapsed with a crash, and a palm imprint over ten feet high appeared right in the middle of the wall.
Immediately after, Qiguan Jin slapped his palm towards the ground again. Countless broken bricks and dust erupted, obscuring Chen Yan's line of sight.
Then, Qiguan Jin fled towards the outside of the training ground. In just over the time it takes to breathe once, he had already darted over a hundred feet away.
"Didn't the Transmitter already realize earlier that he's not as fast as me?"
Chen Yan looked at Qiguan Jin's fleeing back and laughed as he said this.
Subsequently, a black rope sank from Chen Yan's shadow into the ground, then instantly emerged from Qiguan Jin's shadow, binding his legs together and tightening.
Shadow Binding Rope!
As his cultivation advanced, Chen Yan's mastery over this middle-grade magical instrument had also become increasingly effortless.
Qiguan Jin knelt on the ground, watching helplessly as the youth slowly approached him.
A Qi Sea Realm cultivator at this age was absolutely unprecedented in this world. Even Qin Qingyu of the Star Heaven Sect was still far from touching the threshold of the Qi Sea Realm at this age.
There was only one possibility: the youth before him was definitely not sixteen years old.
"May I ask who Your Excellency is, and why are you making things difficult for me?"
Qiguan Jin raised his head and asked in Chen Yan's direction.
"The Transmitter is joking. When have I ever made things difficult for you? Seven years ago, I even helped you dispose of stolen goods."
Chen Yan said with a laugh.
Upon hearing this, Qiguan Jin's expression changed drastically.
"Ch... Chief Disciple Chen? Why are you still..."
Clearly, Qiguan Jin's reaction indicated he definitely knew something.
From the time Chen Yan woke up in that small grove to the Kongshan Sect's destruction, there should have been an interval of at least thirty days or more. What Chen Yan most wanted to learn from Qiguan Jin's mouth was what had happened within the Kongshan Sect during that period.
Chen Yan simply reached out, grabbed Qiguan Jin by the collar, and dragged him towards the half-destroyed training hall, saying,
"Whatever you have to say, let's talk about it in a moment."
Nearby, Ding Qiu just stood with his arms crossed over his chest, a blade of grass he had picked up from who-knows-where at some point dangling from his mouth. He smiled as he watched Chen Yan drag Qiguan Jin towards the half-standing hall.
Then, his ears twitched slightly, hearing the footsteps of a Lü Family disciple trying to flee from behind him.
So, Ding Qiu took the blade of grass from his mouth and flicked it lightly towards his back.
"Ah!"
A scream rang out.
That blade of grass had precisely pierced through the left foot of the Lü Family disciple who had tried to run, just as he was stepping forward. Blood flowed down the sole of his shoe to the tip, soaking the bluestone bricks on the ground.
"Anyone who moves again, dies."
Ding Qiu said it lightly, as if life and death were trivial matters to him, as mundane as eating or drinking.
...
Inside the training hall.
After dragging his captive into the hall, Chen Yan glanced back at the shattered walls and ruins left by Qiguan Jin's earlier palm strike.
Then he casually tossed Qiguan Jin onto the ground, walked over to the master's chair by himself, sat down, picked up the teacup from the table, first sniffed it, then took a small sip. His brows furrowed slightly, and he spat it out.
"It's far worse than the tea Transmitter Qiguan treated me to back at Mingxiao Tower."
Bound by the Shadow Binding Rope and unable to move his legs, Qiguan Jin knelt on the ground, offering a fawning smile in Chen Yan's direction.
"Chief Disciple Chen, I don't think I did anything to offend you back then, did I?"
"Not at all. I just want to ask you a few things."
Chen Yan said,
"After you tell me everything I want to know, if Transmitter Qiguan wishes to continue being an instructor here, then continue being your instructor. I absolutely won't interfere."
Qiguan Jin just gave an awkward, embarrassed smile and said nothing.
After today's commotion, he definitely wouldn't be able to continue as the training ground instructor.
"Might I ask what Chief Disciple Chen wishes to ask me?"
Even today, long after the Kongshan Sect's destruction, Qiguan Jin still addressed Chen Yan as 'Chief Disciple.'
This feeling inexplicably made Chen Yan nostalgic for the Kongshan Sect.
He missed many people.
Among them, some might still be brought back to life.
And others were destined never to be seen again.
Chen Yan snapped back to the present, then looked directly into Qiguan Jin's eyes and slowly spoke,
"I want to know what exactly happened within the Kongshan Sect before its destruction seven years ago."