When the earth-shattering roar exploded outside the Earth Sect, panic-stricken cries surged like a tide from various parts of the sect.

"The Locust Tree Demon is here, be on guard! Be on guard!"

"Steady the formation! Don't break ranks!"

"Quickly report to the Sect Leader!"

...

Mr. Peng's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and his severe coughing made his figure sway. Yet, he forced his heavily injured body to stagger outside the hall.

Qin An placed his right hand on the hilt of the Cold Star Saber. Seeing this, he squinted his eyes and followed Mr. Peng out of the hall.

Outside the hall, the world had already changed colors.

The ancient trees around seemed to be endowed with life, breaking through the earth under a mysterious power's control, growing wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye, enclosing the Earth Sect from all directions.

Towering trees surrounded the Earth Sect like a cage, with only sporadic rays of light penetrating through the gaps in the branches, casting a dappled shadow in the eerie environment.

At the treetop, a hideous face twisted from dead branches slowly emerged.

"Earth Sect, today shall be your doom..."

The Locust Tree Demon unabashedly released the oppressive aura of Great Success of Gui Cang Realm, its murderous intent covering the scene like tangible pressure.

Mr. Peng clenched his jaw, despair flooding his heart like a tidal wave.

Such a formation was clearly meant to wipe them all out, not letting a single soul escape.

"Master..."

Mr. Peng turned around, his face pale as paper, and deeply bowed to Qin An: "I implore you to take action!"

The innate nature of wood subduing earth left the disciples of the Earth Sect like lambs to the slaughter before the Locust Tree Demon.

In his prime, he might have fought desperately to carve a blood path for the disciples.

But now, with his exhausted body, he could only place his hopes on Qin An.

"Master, save whoever you can. I am willing to burn my remaining life force to clear a path and assist you."

Mr. Peng didn't know Qin An's full capabilities, but he was aware that based on the Locust Tree Demon's current display of strength, it was definitely at the level of Great Success of Gui Cang Realm.

He did not hope for Qin An to kill the Locust Tree Demon, only that Qin An could protect some disciples to escape, to take away a portion of the disciples would be a blessing.

The inheritance of the Earth Sect must not be extinguished in his hands.

Qin An glanced back at Mr. Peng, seeing his resolute expression, he frowned and said, "Run?"

Mr. Peng was stunned, thinking Qin An didn't understand his meaning, he hastily explained: "I will burn everything I can to open a path, you just need to take the disciples and leave."

"Sect Leader's noble spirit." Qin An's lips curled into a playful smile: "However, just stay alive."

Mr. Peng gave a bitter smile: "I also want to live, but compared to the foundation of the sect, everything else is but ephemeral."

Qin An nodded and said, "In that case, just stay alive, there's no need for you to worry about anything else."

Mr. Peng instinctively nodded, but then he noticed something amiss.

"No need to... worry?"

He detected a hint of something.

Could it be that this master can defeat the Locust Tree Demon?

Impossible!

This Locust Tree Demon is at the Great Success of Gui Cang Realm. Even though this master is wearing a human skin mask, from his voice, he can be determined to be young.

Perhaps it's a newly appointed Patrol Silver Guard.

If newly appointed, it would be impossible to resolve this crisis.

In the exchanges between the two, the treetop face also recognized Qin An's identity, letting out a piercing sneer.

"I thought it was someone noteworthy, but just a wet-behind-the-ears Patrol Guard."

"I, who have roamed across Lingzhou, even those of the same Gui Cang realm would give some respect. How can someone as young as you compete with me?"

"Not bad, not bad, today I can kill another Patrol Silver Guard to serve as some nutritious sustenance for myself."

As the Locust Tree Demon kept mocking, the Earth Sect disciples all gripped their weapons tightly, showing a trace of despair.

This Locust Tree Demon even feared not the Patrol Silver Guard, how could they fight?

Qin An raised an eyebrow slightly, slowly drawing the Cold Star Saber from his waist.

"You roamed across Lingzhou?"

A cold gleam appeared, illuminating the surroundings in a snowy white.

Ice Flame Water Breaker!

Three Blades Unite!

Qin An did not want to waste time, and so he used the Secret Technique of Ice Flame Water Breaker.

Blasts of icy, fiery, and golden True Qi intertwined, possessing the terrifying might of ice and fire along with the supreme attack of golden Qi.

With that strike, the terrifying tri-colored True Qi exploded from the Cold Star Saber.

The bitter cold of ice, the fiery explosive force, and the piercing sharpness of gold merged perfectly into an unrivaled slash.

A chill rose in the Locust Tree Demon's heart, a terrifying feeling of life and death fluctuation in its chest.

The surrounding branches gathered under its control, forming tree roots large enough for dozens to encircle, and whipped towards Qin An's Straight Blade.

But as soon as the tree roots made contact with the Straight Blade, they instantly shattered under the power of the tri-colored True Qi.

All of Qin An's main veins had been tempered by Earth Veins, and the power of the Three Blades Unite was overwhelming.

The Cold Star Saber, with an unstoppable force, seemed to condense moonlight into a sharp edge, its momentum undiminished, striking fiercely on the tree roots.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound echoed, like the desperate toll of a bell, causing all the Earth Sect disciples to look up.

The sky-covering tree roots snapped inch by inch, falling from the sky like a rain of locust trees.

From the sky, a demon essence fell, which Qin An grabbed in his hand.

With the falling demon essence, a piece of branch also landed in Qin An's hand.

This was the essence of the Locust Tree Demon.

The once-arrogant Locust Tree Demon, without even a chance to scream, dispersed into nothingness.

"You roamed across Lingzhou?" Qin An sheathed his saber, his voice calm as autumn water: "Then what am I?"

"Thud!"

A sound was heard.

Mr. Peng collapsed onto the ground, trembling as he pointed at the black-clad figure: "You you you..."

"The True Qi of ice and fire, and this terrifying saber technique."

"You are the fist and saber dual master... Qin An!"

If Mr. Peng still couldn't recognize Qin An's identity now, he wouldn't deserve to be the sect leader of the Earth Sect.

The new star of Lingzhou, the fastest to ascend to Patrol Silver Guard, the primary target of the Demon Hall, and the one who indirectly wiped out the Fire Crow Race and Ten Thousand Mouse Cave...

All kinds of honors were placed upon this young man in black.

And the Ice and Fire Qi was Qin An's most representative hallmark.

Qin An turned his head and said: "Prepare a room for me, along with stationery."

The corpse of the Locust Tree Demon was just a tree branch, with still un-dried demon blood inside.

The most important goal of Qin An's journey was to promote the scholar to level nine.

Now he didn't want to waste any time.

Mr. Peng realized this, and with the help of the disciples, he trembled to his feet, trying to bow but was stopped by a wave of Qin An's hand.

He didn't know why Qin An needed a room and pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, but since he asked, there must be a reason unknown to him.

Mr. Peng immediately had a disciple take Qin An away, while he still needed to wrap up this overwhelming battle.

It wasn't until Qin An left the open space in front of the main hall that cheers erupted in the previously dead silent environment.

"We won, we won!"

"Mr. Qin, the dual master of fists and sabers, it was actually Mr. Qin who took the mission!"

"Hahaha, if I had known it was Mr. Qin, I wouldn't have been so nervous!"

Mr. Peng listened to the cheers of the surrounding disciples and showed a "this was indeed the case" expression.

"If I had known earlier that it was Mr. Qin, I wouldn't have been so embarrassed."

Thinking of how he wanted the Evil Star to take people and run was simply a joke.

In the eyes of this new power in Lingzhou, what he said earlier was undoubtedly a joke.

"Alright, let's wrap it up quickly!"

Mr. Peng composed himself and sternly ordered the disciples to proceed with the wrap-up tasks.

...

Led by a disciple, Qin An stepped into the most luxurious room in the Earth Element Sect.

This room was used by the Earth Element Sect to entertain the most distinguished guests, and without a doubt, Qin An was the most distinguished person.

Once the disciple left, Qin An closed the door with a reverse hand.

Then, Qin An took out the branch he had just obtained.

Inside the branch, dark green blood was flowing, and with the death of the Locust Tree Demon, this blood showed signs of drying up.

Qin An skillfully laid out the paper and, using the demon blood from the Locust Tree Demon, wrote a heart method on the paper.

The promotion of the scholar required the writing of the Bodhi Vajra Water and Fire Scripture, which was not difficult for Qin An.

He had long memorized this cultivation technique backwards.

The writing process was extremely smooth, except for the unbearable smell of the demon blood.

After a stick of incense time, the Bodhi Vajra Water and Fire Scripture, written with demon blood, appeared before Qin An's eyes.

When the last character fell, a snake-like smoke floated in mid-air.

[Promoted]

First came the three characters "Promoted," which quickly disappeared, followed by a reassembly into the progression of the scholar profession.

[Scholar lv.9 (0/3000): Your reading speed is greatly enhanced, with photographic memory and increased comprehension]

[Talent: Gui Cang Realm Heart Method Proficiency, Gui Cang Realm Heart Method Sudden Enlightenment Proficiency, Gui Cang Realm Heart Method Amplification Proficiency]

When the words appeared before his eyes, they rapidly transformed into a mass of information that was drilled into Qin An's mind.

Qin An took a moment to absorb all the information and mastered the level nine scholar profession.

After reaching level nine, in addition to reading speed and photographic memory, there was also increased comprehension.

This additional "increased comprehension" meant that Qin An would have a more unique understanding when reading books.

These were characteristics that brought many benefits to Qin An, most notably the talents.

All the talents reached the mastery level of the Gui Cang Realm.

Moreover, the Gui Cang Realm Heart Method Amplification Proficiency was added.

In Qin An's view, this talent was extremely terrifying.

As long as Qin An executed the Gui Cang Realm Heart Method, he could produce a threefold amplification.

When performing Pulse Condensation Realm Heart Methods, he could also obtain a onefold amplification.

If above Pulse Condensation Realm, there is no amplification.

After all, the level of the talent is displayed here.

However, the terrifying aspect of this amplification was that both the quality and purity of True Qi would be significantly improved.

"Truly terrifying talent, worthy of a level nine profession, but the proficiency requirement is also getting higher and higher." Qin An rubbed his chin, thinking in his heart.

Now, to advance the scholar profession to level ten requires 3000 points of proficiency, which translates to a little less than half a month.

It seems like a lot, but compared to the gain, it's simply negligible.

For ordinary people to reach the level Qin An is at now requires painstaking effort, yet Qin An has easily achieved it.

Looking at it like this, the increase in proficiency required is not something unacceptable.

"Next, I should progress into the Pulse Condensation Realm." Qin An's eyes sparkled with a gleam of determination.

He made this trip to break through to the Pulse Condensation Realm.

Now that the main vein has been fully condensed by the earth vein, it was time to leap into the top-tier combat strength in Lingzhou.

With that in mind, Qin An took out the Thousand Buddha Scripture he exchanged for earlier in the Confidential Library and began to read it attentively.

The Thousand Buddha Scripture is a Buddhist cultivation technique, serving as a complement to the Bodhi Vajra Water and Fire Scripture.

With the scholar profession having reached level nine, Qin An's reading speed was greatly increased.

After a brief moment, Qin An finished reading the entire heart method and began to circulate True Qi within him according to the operation mode of the Thousand Buddha Scripture.

Before him, words formed from smoke twisted like a snake.

[You cultivate the Thousand Buddha Scripture, triggering Gui Cang Realm Heart Method Sudden Enlightenment Proficiency]

[Thousand Buddha Scripture (Consummate)]

Qin An opened his eyes, a hint of joy in them.

This is the horror of a level nine scholar, being able to one hundred percent trigger the Gui Cang Realm Heart Method's sudden enlightenment, without consuming vital energy.

But what lay before his eyes was still not enough, Qin An needed to continue.

[You possess the Bodhi Vajra Water and Fire Scripture and wish to combine the two]

[Due to talent reasons, the first fusion failed]

[You desire to find an opportunity within it, but can only deduce using demon essence]

A cold gleam flickered in Qin An's eyes.

Along with the demon essence obtained earlier, he now had the equivalent of sixteen pieces.

He couldn't wait any longer.

Since the main vein had already been condensed, the sooner he condensed his veins, the safer he would be.

No matter how many demon essences he needed to use, it wouldn't be a loss.

After all, he wasn't confident in safely breaking through to a level ten scholar and then entering the Pulse Condensation Realm in the danger-filled Lingzhou.

"Demon essence, ignite for me!" Qin An silently shouted in his heart.

The vital energy in his body rapidly disappeared, snake-like text reappeared.

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