Chapter 14: The First Stirrings of a Mighty Spiritual Sense

Yuan Shanhu’s mind went blank. He stared at the nonchalant Qin Haoxuan as if he were seeing a ghost, his eyes flashing with unconcealable terror.

Qin Haoxuan took a few steps forward. As the heat began to build in his body again, he said to Yuan Shanhu, “Come on, again. Just like that last punch. It felt pretty good!”

Yuan Shanhu’s face turned pale with fright. He stumbled backward, shouting, “Don’t… don’t come any closer… If you come any closer, I won’t be so polite…”

Qin Haoxuan’s ghostly performance had completely shattered his psychological defenses. In his 25 years in the Taichu Sect, he had never seen a mere mortal who had only been cultivating for two days withstand so many spiritual attacks from a Third-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm cultivator without injury. He hadn’t just never seen it; he’d never even heard of such a thing.

If this person wasn’t a peerless genius, then he had to be a demon! Yes, a demon! Even the exceptionally talented Unsurpassed Purple Seeds would have been reduced to pulp by now.

In the crowd, the lonely and arrogant bearded man watched Qin Haoxuan, his usually calm face now showing utter disbelief. A new disciple, barely stronger than a normal person, was actively asking to be beaten and had terrified a menial cultivator with over 20 years of experience. This… this defied all logic!

Yuan Shanhu had lost his nerve, and Qin Haoxuan was not pleased. The old coot had been hammering on him for so long, and just when he started to feel good, he quits! That wasn’t very considerate, was it? So, he began to walk forward, step by step, provoking them. All he wanted was a good beating to clear his head. If they wouldn’t hit him, then he would hit them. He would let this group of menial disciples, as well as Zhang Kuang and Li Jing, know that he was not someone to be trifled with.

“Don’t come any closer! We’ll let it go for today! Just scram…” Zhang San and Li Si, Yuan Shanhu’s allies, also began to feel afraid. They knew they were no match for Yuan Shanhu, and even he had crumbled before this monster.

If not for the public setting, where fleeing would mean they could never hold their heads high again, they would have already run for the hills.

Qin Haoxuan took a few more steps, closing the distance to only a few paces.

“Qin Haoxuan, you’re pushing it too far! I’ll fight you to the death!” Li Si finally snapped, raising his fist to charge.

The situation had reversed in an instant. Qin Haoxuan, the weaker party, was now dominating a group of three. This outcome was something no one had expected. Some onlookers felt it was a pity that he didn’t know when to quit. So what if he could take a punch? If he pushed them too far, it wouldn’t end well for him.

Seeing the three of them preparing for a desperate struggle, the onlookers once again broke into a cold sweat for Qin Haoxuan.

“Brothers, let’s get him! Qin Haoxuan, if I, your Grandpa Yuan, don’t beat you until you kowtow and beg for mercy today, then I’m your grandson!” Yuan Shanhu had also thrown caution to the wind. He roared, “Even if you’re made of steel, your Grandpa Yuan will tear you apart and grind you to dust!”

The enraged Yuan Shanhu, Zhang San, and Li Si all gathered their strongest attacks. Casting aside the shame of ganging up on him, they charged at Qin Haoxuan together.

Yuan Shanhu calling himself “Grandpa Yuan” struck Qin Haoxuan as somewhat amusing. He looked like a defeated village dog, barking while running away with its tail between its legs. Lacking any spiritual techniques, Qin Haoxuan could only rely on physical combat. The same calm he felt when facing fierce beasts now emerged. He needed to find a flaw in their attack. That was the only way he could possibly win. Otherwise, he would just be a punching bag. He didn’t know how long his strange resilience would last; it was best to end this quickly.

The three of them, completely disregarding the toll on their own Spirit Sprouts, just wanted to kill this unkillable monster as soon as possible. They unleashed a rain of every spiritual technique they knew upon Qin Haoxuan.

Every blow they landed was like helping him absorb the energy from the lotus, forcing it into his bone marrow. The previous Overlord Fist, in particular, had caused a spiritual explosion, like a flurry of random punches that had hammered his entire body, driving nearly a tenth of the massive amount of spiritual energy stored in his body into his bones.

Yuan Shanhu and his men grew more and more exhausted as they expended their spiritual energy, but for every punch he took, it was as if Qin Haoxuan had diligently cultivated for half a month. He was naturally full of vigor.

Just as he was carefully watching their movements, searching for an opening, Qin Haoxuan’s Sea of Consciousness suddenly pulsed, and a golden light exploded in his mind. In that instant, his spirit underwent a mysterious sublimation. Everything in the world became clearer than ever before. At the same time, an imperceptible glimmer flashed in his eyes. After the glimmer passed, Li Si, who was charging at the front, suddenly froze, a sharp pain shooting through his brain. He was stunned, rooted to the spot.

Spiritual Sense!

Although he didn’t know any spiritual techniques, the agile Qin Haoxuan would not let this opportunity slip by. He lunged forward, pinned Li Si to the ground, and landed two hard punches on his nose. Stars exploded in Li Si’s vision as blood gushed from his nose.

Just then, Zhang San rushed forward, forming hand seals for his signature Wind Blade Art. But after another glimmer flashed in Qin Haoxuan’s eyes, Zhang San’s movements suddenly became incredibly slow. Qin Haoxuan swept his leg, knocking him to the ground, and gave him a sound thrashing.

In just an instant, Qin Haoxuan had turned the tables and taken down two of them. The two were at the late stage of the Immortal Seed Realm, almost at the Spirit Sprout Realm, and should have been far superior to Qin Haoxuan. Yet he had defeated them with ease, and no one knew how he had done it.

It defied logic! No one had ever heard of someone fighting against stronger opponents, three at once, and winning. Today, they had finally seen it.

The onlookers had grown accustomed to the surprises Qin Haoxuan brought. Today, he had shocked them into numbness.

Only Yuan Shanhu remained. He gathered all his spiritual energy, preparing to use the Overlord Fist again. The air around him swirled, kicking up dust, and a kingly, domineering aura emanated from him.

The crowd watched with bated breath, eager to see how this duel between the weak and the strong would end, and how Qin Haoxuan would face this final, all-out blow.

However, Yuan Shanhu’s punch never landed. Qin Haoxuan’s eyes flashed with a faint light once more. He felt as if he could see Yuan Shanhu’s soul—a very weak strand of golden light, nothing compared to the vast, river-like golden light in his own mind. The golden light from his own mind appeared in his opponent’s, instantly engulfing it. Yuan Shanhu looked as if he had been struck by a heavy blow. His face turned pale, and he stumbled back several steps, pointing at Qin Haoxuan, unable to utter a single word. The domineering aura he had gathered for the Overlord Fist vanished completely.

“What… what just happened?”

As Yuan Shanhu’s momentum faltered, Qin Haoxuan pounced like a hungry tiger. A flurry of punches landed on Yuan Shanhu’s chest. A series of crisp cracking sounds were heard from the man who had just called himself “Grandpa Yuan.” He had several broken ribs. Without elixirs, he wouldn’t be getting out of bed for two or three months.

The onlookers were incredibly curious about Qin Haoxuan’s final attack. It could control a person’s mind, causing them to freeze momentarily. Such a technique was invincible.

The scene fell silent, save for the sound of Qin Haoxuan’s fists and Yuan Shanhu’s breaking bones. After a long moment, a wave of gasps erupted.

“Qin Haoxuan defeated three of them by himself. Is this real?”

“If we’re not all having the same dream, then it must be…”

The onlookers exchanged glances. In cultivation, a higher realm meant absolute suppression. The gap between the Immortal Seed Realm and the Spirit Sprout Realm was enormous. How had this brat crossed it? And what was that technique that could cause a person to freeze? No one knew, not even Qin Haoxuan himself.

The fight was over. The female disciples let go of Xu Yu. A warm smile on her face, she gave Qin Haoxuan a look of admiration and respect.

During the crisis, Xu Yu had dared to declare that his business was her business, and that if Yuan Shanhu hurt him, she would not let him go. But now that the danger had passed, she returned to her usual quiet self.

Amid the crowd’s gasps, Qin Haoxuan’s mind was incredibly calm, rapidly processing what had just happened. He suddenly remembered Elder Chu’s lecture about the mysterious Spiritual Sense Assault.

Was that a Spiritual Sense Assault? No, that can’t be right. Doesn’t one have to reach the Dao Fruit Realm to cultivate that? I’m just a beginner, far from even the Spirit Sprout Realm. How could I use it? But if it wasn’t, how do I explain that strange feeling that shot out from my eyes several times, making my enemies’ movements slow down in my vision?

How could all this be explained?

Though curious, Qin Haoxuan didn’t dare to investigate further. If people knew he had this ability, it would attract unwanted attention. Wouldn’t that put his secret about the snake in danger? After weighing the pros and cons, he decided against it.

What he didn’t know was that ever since he had obtained the snake and placed his soul in its body, that in itself was a form of training. Over time, his Spiritual Sense had become incredibly powerful, to the point where he could now use it to attack. And just like the side effect of possessing the snake, it would leave him exhausted and sleepy the next day.

As Qin Haoxuan was lost in thought, an elder and several disciples in uniform white robes hurried over. They were members of the Discipline Squad’s Spirit Field Valley team. The elder was named Xu Yunzi, and the leading disciple was a beautiful woman named Huang Li. Despite her delicate name and appearance, her face was perpetually cold, as if everyone owed her money. In the valley, she had a fearsome nickname: the “Ice Rakshasa.”

“As a new disciple, haven’t you read the sect’s rules? If you have, why did you still engage in a private duel? Don’t you know that is a violation of the rules, and that severe cases can even lead to expulsion from the sect, never to be re-admitted?”

Huang Li’s reprimand was like a string of firecrackers, giving him no chance to argue. She turned her attention to Yuan Shanhu. “You have been in the sect for 25 years. Don’t you know that private duels are strictly forbidden? Not only did you engage in one, but you also bullied a new disciple?”

She paused, swallowing the last part of her sentence: “And you still lost. What a disgrace.”

Being scolded by a woman, Yuan Shanhu was not angry but instead lowered his head, looking very afraid of her.