Xu Guangzhen's face instantly changed dramatically, feeling a terrifying surge of power like a torrential flood rushing toward him, utterly impossible to resist. In an instant, as if struck by a cannonball, he was sent flying backward, crashing dozens of meters away. Unable to hold back any longer, he spat out a mouthful of blood. His aura weakened by several degrees, and another mouthful of blood followed. He was clearly heavily injured.
Looking back at Lin Xuan, Xu Guangzhen's eyes were filled with sheer horror, along with a trace of fear. At this moment, no matter how unwilling he was to believe it, he had no choice but to accept the truth. The one who had struck earlier, sending a sword beam through the air to blast him back, was none other than this person at the first layer of the Opening Spirit Realm! Though it sounded absurd, his personal experience—especially the injuries on his body—proved it. Instantly, he was deeply shaken by the other's talent. To defeat someone like him, at the seventh layer of the Opening Spirit Realm, with just a casual sword strike while at the first layer—wasn't that terrifying? Even Chen Feng, the top true disciple of the Wind Flame Valley who had broken through to the Spirit Yuan Realm, probably couldn't have done that at the first layer of the Opening Spirit Realm. And this person was clearly a martial artist from Cangyuan Country. Xu Guangzhen was even more horrified, unable to believe it.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Though the other's aura was only at the first layer of the Opening Spirit Realm, his strength was not far behind many at the peak of the Opening Spirit Realm. He was no match at all. If he lingered any longer, his life might be in danger. In an instant, Xu Guangzhen's thoughts raced, and he made a decision. Though fleeing before someone at the first layer of the Opening Spirit Realm was shameful, what was that compared to his life? Besides, once he entered the secret realm, he could find a senior brother from the Wind Flame Valley to take revenge. With that in mind, Xu Guangzhen no longer cared.
"Kid, you're ruthless this time! Next time, it won't be so easy!" After leaving a harsh threat, Xu Guangzhen activated his movement technique, turned, and fled toward the translucent light barrier behind him. "Let's go!" Reaching the barrier, he barked coldly at several other true disciples of the Wind Flame Valley and vanished into the light. These people were still stunned by Xu Guangzhen's defeat. Jolted awake by his cold shout, fear crept onto their faces. If even Xu Guangzhen, at the seventh layer of the Opening Spirit Realm, had been instantly defeated, then they, at the early to mid layers, stood no chance. Staying here was suicide. They quickly followed Xu Guangzhen into the light barrier.
The crowd on the scene stared at this, frozen in dead silence. Only after Xu Guangzhen and the other Wind Flame Valley true disciples had entered the secret realm did they snap out of it. Hissing sounds of sharp intakes of breath echoed everywhere. The scene erupted like boiling water. "Holy crap, am I dreaming? Xu Guangzhen got one-shotted by a sword!" "That's insane! Xu Guangzhen's at the seventh layer of the Opening Spirit Realm, a top genius of the Wind Flame Valley—even a peak Opening Spirit Realm might not one-shot him!" "And the one who one-shotted him seems to be at the first layer of the Opening Spirit Realm!" "That's too fake! First layer one-shotting seventh layer? Impossible! Even Sun Yuwen or Liu Qianyu couldn't do that!" "Yeah, yeah, this guy must be hiding his cultivation, deliberately putting out a first-layer aura!" The crowd buzzed with exclamations, all staring at Lin Xuan in disbelief, their hearts filled with shock. They never imagined that under that one sword strike, the handsome newcomer would be unharmed, while Xu Guangzhen, a renowned top genius of the Wind Flame Valley across the entire Red Sun Domain, would be defeated. It was the complete opposite of what they'd expected. And that wasn't all. What was even more shocking was that the handsome youth's aura was only at the first layer of the Opening Spirit Realm. In the entire Red Sun Domain, had anyone ever defeated a seventh-layer cultivator while at the first layer? Let alone one-shotting them. It left them utterly horrified, their minds reeling, barely able to compose themselves.
But they quickly came to their senses. This couldn't be real. The handsome youth must be hiding his cultivation, at least at the mid layer of the Opening Spirit Realm, not the first. That would be more acceptable. Still, to one-shot Xu Guangzhen at the mid layer meant his strength was close to the peak of the Opening Spirit Realm, if not there. The crowd remained deeply shaken, though not as intensely as before. Such a top-tier genius was among the strongest present. Their gazes shifted to admiration and reverence. Even in front of the translucent light barrier, no one dared to block anymore, all waiting for Lin Xuan's move.
Lin Xuan, however, was unaware of this. Watching Xu Guangzhen and his group flee into the secret realm like dogs, he was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected Xu Guangzhen to be so skilled at running despite his lack of strength. He hadn't even noticed. But it didn't matter. They posed no threat to him. If they met again, he'd deal with them easily. Then, Lin Xuan turned and looked at Xu Anlan, who was not far away, saying, "Senior Brother Xu, are you alright? The trouble's been resolved."
Xu Anlan was still lost in endless shock, unable to snap out of it. Only when Lin Xuan's voice reached him did he come to. Looking at Lin Xuan, the awe in his eyes hadn't diminished at all. He walked over with a few other companions. "Junior Brother Lin, no, Senior Brother Lin, your strength... I remember hearing you were still at the Condensing Rotation Realm?" Xu Anlan asked, his voice trembling uncontrollably, clearly still shaken from before. "Yeah, I broke through a few days ago," Lin Xuan replied calmly. "By the way, Senior Brother Xu, what happened here?" Lin Xuan asked again. He had just arrived and hadn't figured out the situation. "Just... just broke through..." Xu Anlan was even more stunned upon hearing this. The others beside him were also frozen in place. A few days ago, he'd broken through to the Opening Spirit Realm? And now he could one-shot Xu Guangzhen with such terrifying power? Wasn't that too freakishly strong? Was he even human?
Lin Xuan hadn't lowered his voice, so it spread out. The surrounding crowd, all focused on him, heard it clearly. Instantly, they were dumbfounded. Their pupils dilated as they stared at Lin Xuan in disbelief. Had they heard that right? He broke through just a few days ago? So this guy really was at the first layer of the Opening Spirit Realm, not hiding his cultivation? He truly one-shotted Xu Guangzhen, at the seventh layer, while at the first layer? Crossing six layers to one-shot? That was too terrifying! In an instant, the crowd was plunged into endless shock, their minds blank and nearly unable to think. This scene shattered decades of their worldview!