Looking at the despairing expressions on the faces of the cultivators from the Cangxuan Realm, Hu Qu found it utterly boring.

He waved his hand: "Zhang Laosi, take care of them. Then tell Li Ran to speed things up, clear this area, and move on to the next spiritual vein."

"Yes!" Zhang San responded, raising the gold hammer once more and aiming it at Qian Gan's head.

Qian Gan closed his eyes, with only one thought in his mind: I'm sorry, Cangxuan Realm...

Just as the golden hammer was about to fall—

A figure in a green robe appeared before Qian Gan like a ghost.

He held the rusty iron spear horizontally, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground, blocking the hammer blow that seemed destined to strike.

"clang!"

The clang of metal against metal was deafening. Zhang San felt an immense force coming from the hammer and was forced to take three steps back, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"who?!"

"Senior brother!"

Jiang Li's exclamation caught in her throat, Lin Zhou's voice still echoing in her ears—"Your senior brother is trying to break through his limits, don't disturb him, as long as he doesn't die."

But when she saw Xiao Chen being smashed away by Zhang San's purple-gold hammer like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the mountain wall and sliding to the ground, the blood he coughed up staining his green robe red, her fingertips still clenched uncontrollably.

Just as Xiao Chen pierced through three disciples at the Upper Realm's Dao Inquiry stage, he caught a glimpse of Qian Gan and the others in imminent danger out of the corner of his eye, and a strange impulse suddenly surged within him.

It wasn't recklessness, but an almost instinctive drive, as if a voice was shouting: Go try, break down that invisible barrier.

He practically teleported to Qian Gan's side with the power of his spear. The moment he gripped the rusty iron spear horizontally, his arm went numb from the immense force of the purple-gold hammer, his tiger's mouth split open, and blood slid down the shaft of the spear.

He could even feel the spiritual energy within his body trembling wildly, as if it were about to dissipate in the next second—was this the power of a Dao-proving expert from the Upper Realm? It was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

"Oh? That's interesting."

Hu Qu raised an eyebrow, his originally lazy eyes now showing a hint of interest. He gestured with his chin to Zhang San, "Kill him, don't waste time."

"yes."

Zhang San responded, and the Purple Gold Hammer was raised again, the hammer wind carrying a sharp whistling sound that tore through the air, and it smashed straight at Xiao Chen's face.

Xiao Chen parried with his spear, and with a crisp clang, he was jolted backward, the rocks beneath his feet being crushed into powder.

He gritted his teeth and steadied himself, the tip of his spear trembling slightly. The blow had felt as if his internal organs had shifted, and blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth.

But he didn't back down.

The rusty iron spear suddenly thrust forward, its light condensing like lightning, aimed directly at Zhang San's heart—this thrust was faster than any before, carrying a desperate, do-or-die resolve.

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhang San's eyes. He dodged the spear tip by turning to the side, and with his left hand in a palm shape, he struck Xiao Chen on the back.

"puff!"

Xiao Chen was struck as if by a heavy hammer, and was sent flying backward again, sliding several feet across the ground, leaving a long trail of blood.

He struggled to sit up, coughed up blood, and looked up at Zhang San. There was no fear in his eyes, only an almost insane stubbornness.

"Quite resilient."

Zhang San said calmly, but his heart was in turmoil. This young man's spiritual power was clearly far inferior to his own, and his physical body was not top-notch either, but that tenacity reminded him of those madmen in the sect who were willing to burn their lifespan in order to break through.

What's even stranger is that he can sense that every time this young man falls and gets up again, his aura becomes stronger, as if he is comprehending the Dao through battle.

"Again!" Xiao Chen shouted, dragging his gun as he charged forward once more.

What followed turned into a brutal and crushing defeat.

Zhang San's purple-gold hammer was like a raging storm, each strike carrying the power to shatter mountains and split rocks. Xiao Chen's spear techniques appeared fragmented in the face of absolute power.

He was repeatedly thrown into the air, crashing against the mountainside and grinding against the ground. His clothes were tattered and torn, his skin was cracked with countless bloody gashes, and even the hand holding the gun was trembling incessantly.

But he's like an unkillable cockroach; every time he falls, he gets back up with sheer grit.

"Snap!"

In another collision, Xiao Chen's left arm was struck by the hammer's force, and the sound of bones shattering was clearly audible. He groaned, but his right hand gripped the gun tightly. Using the momentum of his backward flight, he flicked the tip of the gun back, tearing Zhang San's sleeve.

Zhang San's eyes darkened.

This is the fifth time already. The young man is clearly on the verge of collapse, yet he always manages to find a chance to fight back in dire straits, and his marksmanship seems to be becoming more refined and increasingly sharp.

"We can't afford to waste any more time."

Zhang San thought to himself. This kid is like a rough diamond; if he keeps fighting, who knows what unexpected things might happen.

He abruptly took half a step back, raising the purple-gold hammer high. Purple-gold spiritual energy surged wildly into the hammer, causing the patterns on its surface to light up.

It actually condensed into a hammer shadow tens of feet long, carrying a world-destroying power, and smashed down fiercely towards Xiao Chen's location!

"Senior brother!" Jiang Li could no longer hold back. Lin Zhou's instructions were forgotten. She looked at the overwhelming hammer shadow and felt as if her heart was being squeezed by a hand, almost stopping.

Just as the hammer was about to fall, she suddenly crushed the jade pendant at her waist.

"Buzz—"

A gentle yet irresistible white light shot into the sky, slowly coalescing into a figure in the sky above the Cangxuan Realm.

A white robe, a bamboo hairpin, and a face shrouded in a hazy halo—it was Lin Zhou's illusory figure.

The moment he appeared, time seemed to slow down across the entire battlefield.

Zhang San's seemingly inevitable hammer strike froze in mid-air, its purplish-gold light gradually dimming under the white light.

The arrogance on the faces of Hu Qu and the other twelve powerful figures from the upper realms froze instantly, and fear appeared in their eyes for the first time; even the Cangxuan Realm cultivators struggling on the ground subconsciously held their breath.

Lin Zhou's gaze did not fall on Zhang San or Hu Qu, but instead landed on the dust cloud shrouded by the hammer's shadow.

There, a figure in a blue robe, covered in blood, slowly rose from the crater.

His left arm hung limply at his sides, and his skin was cracked like a spider web, but his right hand, gripping the rusty iron gun, was more steady than ever.

The stubbornness that had plagued him before was gone, replaced by a clarity and tranquility. The spiritual energy around him was no longer chaotic; instead, it condensed into a faint golden halo.

The barrier of the Mahayana peak was breached in that near-death moment.

Xiao Chen raised his head, looked at the white-robed phantom in the sky, then at Zhang San who was in shock, and a blood-stained smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

"If I had known that a fight would be enough to break through, I would have come much sooner."

His voice was hoarse, yet it carried a sense of relief, as if he had survived a disaster.

Zhang San looked at the faint golden halo around him, then at the white-robed phantom in the sky that made his soul tremble. For the first time, his grip on the purple-gold hammer loosened.

Who exactly is this kid?

Lin Zhou's illusory figure in the sky glanced at Xiao Chen, then at Zhang San, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.