"This is the end of the road," Li Chen whispered. He picked up a large rock from the ground and threw it over the edge. He waited and listened. One second. Two seconds. Ten seconds. He never heard the rock hit the bottom. He looked to his left. The cliff wall was smooth and slippery. There was no way to climb. He looked to his right. It was the same. The cliff stretched on for miles in both directions. He was totally trapped. The only way forward was straight down into the poisonous, monster-filled darkness. "Turn around, boy," Old Kui's voice whispered urgently in his mind. "The hunter is here."Li Chen slowly turned away from the edge of the cliff. The bushes at the edge of the forest exploded. With a terrifying roar, the giant Spirit Blood-Hound leaped out of the trees. It landed heavily in the mud, its large claws digging deeply into the ground. The giant dog snarled. Its red eyes locked onto Li Chen. Fire sparked from its nose. Sitting on top of the giant dog was Enforcer M

The wind roared like an angry dragon. It ripped past Li Chen’s ears with a deafening sound. He was falling. He was falling faster than he had ever moved in his entire life. The freezing rain from the storm above followed them down into the massive, dark hole. But soon, even the rain stopped. They were falling too deep. They were leaving the normal world behind and entering a terrifying abyss. "Ahhhhh! No! Help me!" Enforcer Mo was screaming at the top of his lungs. The tall, cruel man who had just wanted to cut off Li Chen’s arms was now crying like a frightened baby. He thrashed wildly in the air. He swung his heavy metal fists, trying to punch Li Chen, trying to push him away. But Li Chen held on with incredible strength. His dark, cold eyes stared right into Mo’s terrified face. Li Chen did not scream. He did not cry. He was completely focused on survival. The Beast Chasm was completely black, but there was a faint, sickly purple light coming from the bottom. It was the toxic

Li Chen thought of his murdered family. He thought of the arrogant faces of the Azure Sword Sect elders. He remembered the feeling of power when he killed Deacon Lin. He refused to die in this dirty hole. "If the heavens want me dead, I will eat the heavens!" Li Chen thought wildly. He moved his hands away from his mouth. He opened his mouth wide. He closed his eyes. And he activated the Heavenly Void Devouring Art. Li Chen took a massive, deep breath of the deadly purple miasma. At the exact same time, he used his mind to forcefully open all the millions of tiny pores on his melting, blistering skin. He turned his entire body into a giant, hungry vacuum. WHOOSH! The glowing purple fog around him suddenly swirled violently. It did not just float gently into his mouth. It rushed toward him like a wild river crashing into a deep hole. The thick, toxic clouds were sucked violently into his nose, his mouth, and directly through the open pores of his skin. Agony. Total, absolute, m

The roar of the giant monster hit Li Chen like a solid wall of heavy stones. The terrible sound blasted away the purple fog, creating a massive, empty circle in the air. Li Chen stood his ground. Just a few minutes ago, he had absorbed a huge amount of the deadly purple miasma. His body felt bloated and packed with dark Qi. He had felt the power of the Third Level of Qi Condensation rushing through his veins. He felt invincible. He held Enforcer Mo’s long blue sword tightly in his hand, ready to fight the giant beast. "I am not afraid of you!" Li Chen shouted. He pushed all his new, dark Qi into the blue sword. The blade glowed with a fierce, blinding light. The giant monster looked down at him. Its green eyes, the size of carriage wheels, showed no fear. They only showed annoyance. To the ancient beast, Li Chen was just a tiny, noisy insect. Suddenly, a massive shadow moved in the fog. It was the monster’s tail. The tail was covered in thick, dark grey scales. It was as wide as

BOOM! Li Chen leaped upward with incredible, explosive power. He shot out of the deep crevice like an arrow fired from a strong bow. He flew through the air and landed perfectly on the rocky floor of the Beast Chasm. Thud. He stood tall in the middle of the glowing purple fog. The chasm was exactly the same as before. It was vast, dark, and filled with the terrifying roars of hidden monsters. The deadly miasma floated everywhere, melting any normal living thing that dared to touch it. But for Li Chen, everything had changed. This was no longer a death trap. This was no longer a place of execution. By turning the deadliest place in the sect into his personal sanctuary, Li Chen had found his true training ground. Up on the mountain, he was a hunted rat. Here, in the deepest, most poisonous hole in the world, he was the apex predator in training. Li Chen began to walk. He did not hide. He moved confidently through the thick purple fog. The miasma swirled around his metallic ski