Qi Cultivation Starting from the Repair Panel

The fierce wind of the fists was bone-chilling, the strong wind hitting his face hard, and he dared not take it head-on.

The long sword in his hand danced like the wind, forming clusters of cold and piercing sword flowers, displaying exquisite swordsmanship while trying to widen the distance.

Seeing Chu Zheng's young age, he did not hold back at all, the sword's light cunning and ruthless, specifically aiming at Chu Zheng's joints, throat, and other vulnerable spots.

For a moment, shadows of people intertwined in the narrow dark alley, with fist auras and sword qi crisscrossing.

Relying on his not yet fully grown muscles and bones, Chu Zheng pushed his movements to the extreme, maneuvering amidst the dense sword qi, facing mortal danger. He dared not take the sword blade infused with mana head-on, so he had to depend on his reflexes to avoid the blade, pressing his fists on the sword's back.

Inside the dark alley, the dust had not yet settled and was once again stirred up by the new bursts of force.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing exploded densely in the narrow alley like raindrops beating on iron plates. Chu Zheng's fist, wrapped in Yuan Qi, each time hitting the back of the sword, released a faint energy wave visible to the naked eye.

Each time it was hit, the sharpness flickering on the sword blade would momentarily stall, and the blood-red glow on the sword's body would gradually fade, revealing its blue-gray base color.

This moment of mana collapse and sword momentum slowdown was keenly captured by Chu Zheng. Following this tiny flaw, he stepped forward half a step with a sudden fierce determination.

The distance between the two was forcibly compressed by Chu Zheng inch by inch.

Xiao Yu's face showed a few glimmers of seriousness, feeling the slightly numb palm, his expression became more cautious, actively retreating, transitioning into a defensive stance.

Sensing Xiao Yu's retreating intention, Chu Zheng's heart sank a bit. The already insufficient Yuan Qi within him was now even weaker and could not afford dragging on.

Glancing at the sky turning pale, Chu Zheng's thoughts flashed like lightning. His actions slightly slowed down, exposing an opening in his chest.

Xiao Yu's eyes suddenly brightened, not missing this fleeting chance, thrusting his sword forward.

Shhh—

The sound of a sharp blade piercing the flesh was instantly heard. Xiao Yu raised his hand and stabbed straight, the sword blade brushed past Chu Zheng's arm at an extremely tricky angle, sharply piercing his left abdomen. The cold blade instantly tore through the tough muscles, biting open a large bloody wound.

Chu Zheng was momentarily halted by the intense pain, a flash of fierceness crossed Xiao Yu's eyes. The second sword followed closely, the long sword swung upward, bringing a burst of blood rain, carving a deeply sinister wound across Chu Zheng's chest, exposing the bone.

Scalding blood spurted out like a fountain, instantly dyeing the tattered frock red.

Despite the intense pain, Chu Zheng's expression remained unperturbed.

Seeing the success of his severe blow, Xiao Yu's killing intent surged, intending to withdraw the sword for a fatal strike.

In this moment when old force just left and new force had yet to come, Chu Zheng's eyes suddenly shot out terrifying ferocity, suppressing the instinctive muscle twitch brought by the agonizing pain.

"Die!"

A roar that didn't sound human exploded from the depths of Chu Zheng's throat. He took a step forward against the sword, dense popping sounds coming from his muscles and bones all over his body in that instant, and in a split second, all the Yuan Qi, all Qi strength, gathered in his right fist without holding back.

The not particularly large fist seemed to swell instantly as if a meteor, tearing the air, surpassing Xiao Yu's reaction, and slammed into his chest!

Crack—

A muffled sound of bone and flesh shattering exploded.

Xiao Yu's expression instantly froze, filled with incredulous astonishment in his eyes. As he looked down, one arm had completely embedded into his chest!

The violent force passed through his body, blasting a bowl-sized blood hole in his back.

Shattered bones, entrails turned into pulp mixed with scalding blood, splattered out from that horrifying wound like the pulp of a crushed watermelon.

Chu Zheng gave him no time to react, tightly grasped his right hand holding the sword, pulled himself back, and then pressed forward with his arm.

The long sword, under Chu Zheng's control, instantly turned its sharpest fang, pressing up against its owner's undefended throat.

Poof—

The next moment, a head with its expression frozen between astonishment and disbelief, under the impact of the blood column spewing like a spring, detached from the neck and flew into the air, spinning around.

The headless corpse stumbled forward in inertia for two steps, like mud with all bones removed, with a thud, heavily collapsed into the dust, slightly twitching.

The long sword splattered with its owner's blood fell beside the corpse, the blood-red glow on its blade completely dimmed.

The rolling dust was dyed with a bizarre pale red by the blood mist rising to the sky, the intense stench of blood instantly overshadowing the scent of dust, permeating the dead silent dark alley.

Chu Zheng breathed heavily, every breath pulling at the deadly wounds in his abdomen and chest, bringing excruciating pain.

He stared dead at Xiao Yu's wretched corpse, his eyes cold as iron, without the slightest joy of victory.

This cultivator named Xiao Yu was from a Cultivation Sect named 'Xuanshao Sect'. Chu Zheng didn't want to kill him, but now he ultimately got himself into trouble.

Chu Zheng didn't pick up the long sword nor did he touch Xiao Yu's corpse. In cultivation circles, there are too many ways to track someone's traces; he couldn't stay there long.

Chu Zheng gritted through the pain that almost made him faint, without hesitating to turn around, his figure staggered but immediately steadied, like a ghost merging into the night, rushing towards the direction of the moat.

He moved through streets and alleys, particularly picking dark corners, pushing his speed to the limit, only leaving behind the thick scent of blood wafting in the night wind.

Arriving at the moat, he did not hesitate for a moment and leapt into the icy river water.

Any negligence such as bloodstains or traces could lead to catastrophic disaster.

The cold water of the moat wrapped his body with its bone-chilling coldness instantly, making Chu Zheng shiver, but it also cleared his muddled head a bit.

He flowed downstream, letting the cold river water wash away the blood and dirt on his body as much as possible, carrying away the remaining traces.

Not sure how long he drifted, but at daybreak, until confirming he had left the vicinity of Iron Fate City, only then did Chu Zheng struggle ashore.

The soaking wet clothes clung to his wounds, bringing piercing cold and abrasive pain.

He leaned against a cold boulder, taking deep breaths, wasting no time to sit cross-legged with all his strength, operating Circuit of Qi, starting to absorb the Essence of the Great Sun, gathering the sparse Yuan Qi within his body to suppress the injuries.

Without the existence of the Repair Panel, any injury could pose a deadly threat to him.

Now his body not only felt cold and painful, but from deep within, an abnormal burning sensation arose, like lava flowing inside his body; it was a toxic fire, as if to boil his blood.

Soon, Chu Zheng figured out the reason, that long sword had blood poison on it.

Fortunately, it wasn't fatal and could reluctantly be suppressed, but days of rest would be needed to slowly expel it from his system.

With the circulation of Yuan Qi, all the blood in his body was locked by Yuan Qi, stopping the bleeding from the wounds.

After stabilizing his internal Qi, Chu Zheng wasted no time, glanced at the dense forest not far from the riverbank, and stepped into it.

Relying on the replenishing effect of Sun and Moon Essence was too slow, he needed more direct energy replenishment, such as flesh and spirit grass.

Upon entering the forest, a cold, humid, rotten leaf mixed with a pungent strange smell hit him, immediately overshadowing the coolness brought by the river.

The ancient towering trees intertwined with gnarled branches, twisted branches under the dim light looked like ghosts, baring claws and brandishing fangs, the dense canopy almost covered the sky, with only sporadic sunlight barely penetrating the leaf gaps, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

Under his feet were thick fallen leaves, accumulated over the years, soft as clouds when stepped on, seemingly exuding a suction force.

Shortly after entering the dense forest, Chu Zheng sensed something wrong.

In the forest, there were multiple sources of Yuan Qi fluctuations, originating from several armored soldiers. They were obviously laying out in the forest, weaving an invisible net.

Suddenly, Chu Zheng sensed something different and looked up.

Only then did he clearly see that almost all the branches were inhabited by black-feathered ravens, densely packed, as if covering this ghostly forest with a black blanket.

Recalling the news heard earlier in the government office, Chu Zheng quickly realized.

This place... is the Black Crow Forest.