Chapter 56: What Kind of Monster Is This

A moment later.

Outside Tianyue City, on a barren hillside.

The white-haired elder stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring coldly at Chen Ping.

The three Divine Ability Realm experts had positioned themselves in a triangular formation, trapping Chen Ping and his disciple in the center.

In the distance, the air was packed with onlookers.

Qi Refining cultivators, Foundation Establishment cultivators, Golden Core cultivators, and even a few old Nascent Soul monsters, all standing with their arms crossed, enjoying the show.

“Elder Xu himself is stepping in. Two Qi Refining kids. Talk about overkill.”

“That young man asked for it. A Qi Refining nobody, daring to touch someone from the Liuyun Sect?”

“He’s young, hot-blooded, desperate to protect his disciple. Pity. Now he’s thrown his own life away too.”

“That little girl though, what a waste. Once Elder Xu finishes off the young man, she’ll end up…”

Someone let out a knowing chuckle.

—

On the hillside.

The three Divine Ability Realm experts were sizing up Chen Ping.

“Qi Refining?”

One of them, a middle-aged man, frowned.

He could sense it clearly. The energy aura around Chen Ping was undeniably Qi Refining.

And a very ordinary Qi Refining at that.

No special physique, no traces of rare treasures, nothing worth noting.

Just a plain, average Qi Refining cultivator.

Yet this utterly ordinary appearance radiated an unfathomable pressure.

Another elder shook his head.

“Elder Xu, dealing with a Qi Refining cultivator… do we really need all three of us?”

“I can handle him alone.”

He stepped forward, his aura surging.

The crushing pressure of the third layer of Divine Ability swept toward Chen Ping like a storm.

He expected the young man to collapse to his knees in terror.

Except…

Chen Ping remained standing.

Didn’t move a muscle.

The elder froze.

The surrounding onlookers froze too.

The pressure of a third-layer Divine Ability expert should have been overwhelmingly dominant against a Qi Refining cultivator.

A single wisp of that presence should have sent any Qi Refining cultivator’s soul trembling, begging for mercy on their knees.

But this young man…

Why wasn’t he affected?

—

Chen Ping raised his head and looked at the elder.

In those eyes, there was no fear.

Only a trace of… faint mockery.

“Third layer of Divine Ability?”

He spoke softly, his voice barely above a whisper, yet it reached every ear with perfect clarity:

“That’s it?”

—

The elder’s face flushed crimson in an instant.

He had just been mocked by a Qi Refining ant?

“You’re courting death!”

With a furious roar, he lashed out with his palm!

He didn’t hold back this time.

A full-force strike from the third layer of Divine Ability could flatten a small mountain.

In his mind, that single blow would end the young man’s life.

Not even ashes would remain.

Palm wind howled. Spirit energy surged like a tide.

Among the distant onlookers, some closed their eyes, unwilling to witness the gruesome scene.

Behind Chen Ping, Lin Xiaoyu clutched her master’s sleeve tightly.

She didn’t close her eyes.

She watched her master’s back, her gaze filled with absolute trust.

In the next instant…

Chen Ping raised his hand.

Just a casual lift of his hand.

No blazing spiritual energy, no earth-shaking momentum.

Just an ordinary, simple raising of his hand.

Then, he closed his fist.

BOOM!!!

A muffled explosion. The palm strike from the third-layer Divine Ability elder shattered three feet away from Chen Ping.

Like a bursting bubble, it scattered into nothingness.

As for the elder himself, it was as if an invisible mountain had slammed into him.

He was sent flying backward, crashing through a hillside and burying himself in the rubble, his fate unknown.

—

Dead silence fell over the crowd.

Everyone froze.

The watching cultivators, the thrill-seekers, all those who had been waiting to see how Chen Ping would die…

They all stood petrified.

“H-how… how is this possible…”

Someone murmured, voice trembling.

A Qi Refining cultivator.

An ordinary-looking Qi Refining cultivator.

One casual punch, and he blasted away a third-layer Divine Ability expert?

What the hell kind of freak was this?

A deathly silence gripped the crowd.

Only the mournful whistle of wind across the hillside and the occasional faint groan from the distant rubble pile broke the quiet.

The watching cultivators all stood there, mouths agape, eyes bulging like they’d seen a ghost.

A Qi Refining cultivator.

One casual punch, knocking out a third-layer Divine Ability expert.

What did that even mean?

“Who… who the hell is he?!”

Someone finally snapped out of it, their voice shaking.

“How can a Qi Refining cultivator have that kind of power? He must be concealing his true realm!”

“Yes! Definitely hiding his cultivation! He could be at the peak of Divine Ability, or even a Grotto-Heaven Realm old monster!”

“But his aura… it’s clearly just Qi Refining…”

“What do you know? A truly powerful expert can make you see whatever realm they want you to see!”

Speculation erupted everywhere, wild guesses flying in all directions.

But no one dared to look down on the young man standing on that hillside anymore.

—

On the hillside.

The white-haired elder, Elder Xu, had a face like iron.

He stared fixedly at Chen Ping, his eyes filled with shock and wariness.

He was not like those ignorant onlookers.

He’d lived for centuries, witnessed countless geniuses and countless disguises.

But this young man before him…

He couldn’t see through him.

Completely impenetrable.

The aura was unmistakably Qi Refining. Yet the nature of that power, the force of that casual strike… it was absolutely beyond anything Qi Refining could produce.

“Brat…”

He spoke in a heavy voice, his tone hoarse.

“Who exactly are you?”

Chen Ping looked at him and said nothing.

He simply watched in silence.

His gaze was as calm as still water, yet it sent a chill down Elder Xu’s spine.

—

“Elder Xu!”

The two remaining Divine Ability Realm experts had already retreated behind Elder Xu, their faces full of caution.

“There’s something wrong with this kid! Let’s attack together!”

“Right! All three of us at once! There’s no way we can’t kill him!”

Elder Xu did not move.

He merely stared at Chen Ping, a glimmer flickering in his eyes.

All at once?

The one at the third layer of Divine Ability had just been blasted away by a casual punch, fate unknown.

Even if they all attacked together, could they fare any better?

And what’s more, behind this young man still stood that little girl. Though she was also at the Qi Refining stage, the feeling she gave him was just as strange.

That bearing…

That was not the bearing an ordinary cultivator should have.

That was… the aura of the Heavenly Dao?

He wasn’t sure.

*

“Elder Xu.”

Chen Ping suddenly spoke.

His voice was light.

“Are we still fighting?”

Elder Xu’s expression stiffened.

Fight?

How could he fight?

But if he didn’t…

He glanced down at Xu Hao beside him, whose face was ashen and whose severed wrist was still dripping blood.

If he backed down, where would the Liuyun Sect’s face go? Where would his own face, Xu the Butcher’s face, go?

“Young whelp, do you truly think this old man fears you?”

He gritted his teeth, and the aura around him surged.

The pressure of the Half-step Grotto-Heaven Realm was released without reservation!

The surrounding air seemed to solidify, and the gravel on the ground began to tremble faintly.

Chen Ping still stood in place.

He raised his hand and gently shielded Lin Xiaoyu behind him.

Then…

He moved.

One step forward, his figure like lightning!

Elder Xu’s pupils shrank sharply, and he hurriedly raised a hand to block!

BOOM!!!

Their palms met.

The shockwave rippled out, blasting every piece of gravel within thirty meters into the air!

Elder Xu stumbled back three steps, his face flushed crimson.

Chen Ping drifted back, landing on his original spot, his robes flowing gently.

*

Evenly matched.

The entire area plunged back into dead silence.

Half-step Grotto-Heaven against a “Qi Refining stage” kid.

Evenly matched?

What the hell kind of monster was this?

*

“You…”

Elder Xu’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

That last palm strike; he had not held back.

Yet this young man had taken it head-on?

And from the looks of it, he wasn’t even injured!

Chen Ping looked at him, his expression still calm.

“Elder Xu, are we still fighting?”

Elder Xu’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Fight?

He could sense that this young man had not even used his full power.

If they continued, who would win and who would lose was truly uncertain.

But admit defeat?

He could not afford that humiliation.

*