Under the scolding of Scarface, several of his subordinates mustered their courage, wielding knives as they charged at Evan Parker, who was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. As seasoned mine robbers, they knew very well why someone like Evan Parker, who appeared to be a cultivator, would show up here.

After all, among the miners toiling in these veins, there was never a shortage of people aspiring to cultivate. Although they had never encountered such a person during a robbery, they had heard plenty of similar rumors.

The most sensational of these was the “Thousand-Man Slaughter” incident that happened in these mines eight years ago. At that time, the largest mine-robbing gang in the area clashed with a miner who was cultivating in hiding within a mine tunnel, resulting in a bloody conflict.

That incident directly led to a reshuffling of all the mine-robbing forces in the entire mining area, and that cultivator-miner, within three days, scoured a hundred-mile radius of the mines, killing thousands of mine robbers.

It wasn’t until a disciple of the Supreme Yuanyang Sect, who oversaw the mines, discovered the situation and entered the cave to arrest him, that the man finally stopped. After that, his whereabouts became unknown.

Events like this were by no means isolated, but this one caused the greatest sensation and was widely spread.

“Strike while he’s down, take his life…”

The mine robber charging in front was burly, swinging his blade with real force—at least two hundred pounds of strength. Even a large boulder would be split by his thick-backed heavy knife.

Even as the blade was about to strike, Evan Parker showed no sign of movement. The only change was that the fiery red glow surging around him became even more pronounced—a clear sign that he was about to break through from the acquired to the innate stage.

As the heavy blade slashed down, Evan Parker did not fulfill the mine robbers’ wish of being beheaded on the spot. Instead, a burst of flame suddenly shot up from around him without warning. The fire, hot enough to melt gold and iron, instantly vaporized the ordinary iron weapon as the blade neared his head.

The burly man holding the knife was also instantly engulfed by the spreading flames. If even metal was melted, how could his mortal flesh withstand it?

A shrill scream barely escaped his lips before he was burned to ashes, leaving behind only a pile of charred bones on the ground as proof that he had been alive moments before.

Run—run as far as you can…

There was no need for Scarface to give the order. The mine robbers who had charged forward fled in panic in an instant, and as for Scarface himself, the leader of the group, he had already run far away the moment the flames first appeared.

As for Evan Parker, he remained seated cross-legged with his eyes closed, unchanged from before. The only difference was that the two low-grade fire spirit crystals in his hands had lost their previous luster, becoming nothing more than two lifeless stones devoid of spiritual energy.

Chapter Four: The Innate Realm

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed. Evan Parker was still in the process of breaking through to the innate realm. Around him, there was now a pile of no fewer than two hundred fire spirit crystals, all drained of their energy. The two fire spirit crystals in his hands at this moment were his last remaining stock.

“One yuan is the beginning, two yuan unite, three yuan merge with the Dao…”

The vast spiritual energy accumulated within his body, under Evan Parker’s control, surged from his dantian to his limbs and meridians like a flood bursting through a dam. The meridians, strengthened over three years, bore this terrifying outpouring of spiritual energy with far greater resilience than ordinary people.

“Qugu… through… Guanyuan, Zhongji, Guanyuan, Shimen, Qihai, Yinjiao, Shenque, Shuifen… Chengjiang through, Ren Mai fully open… Mingmen, Yangguan, Xuanshu, Zhiyang, Lingtai, Shendao, Baihui, Shangxing, Shenting… through, Du Mai fully open…”

A series of crackling sounds like beans being stir-fried rang out. Evan Parker was drenched in sweat as if he had just been pulled from water, and a faint, foul stench emanated from him.

This was the benefit of breaking through from the acquired to the innate stage: cleansing the muscles and marrow, expelling toxins and purifying the body, restoring Evan Parker’s body—damaged by the acquired environment—to its original state, as it was at birth.

When the Ren and Du meridians are open, the eight extraordinary meridians are open; when the eight meridians are open, all the meridians are open. Reaching this state means crossing from the acquired to the innate, extending one’s lifespan by fifty years. On Xuanyuan Star, there are no fewer than a million who have reached this realm.

After three years of arduous cultivation, only now did Evan Parker finally count as having barely entered the ranks of cultivators.

“Whew…”

With a long exhale, Evan Parker slowly opened his eyes. Although he was still in the dark mine—a place he had stayed for nearly four years—everything before him still made him break into a joyful expression.

Sensing the faint spiritual energy of heaven and earth around his body, Evan Parker opened his palm and focused, silently operating the only offensive technique in the “Three Yuan Fiery Art,” a technique that could only be performed after reaching the innate realm—Blazing Flame Palm.

The moment the technique was activated, Evan Parker keenly felt the spiritual energy in the surrounding space being slowly absorbed and transformed by him. A flickering, fiery red flame suddenly appeared in his palm.

“I did it!”

“I did it, the innate realm—haha, I’m a cultivator now…”

The successful execution of the Blazing Flame Palm allowed Evan Parker to truly feel the power of the innate realm. The thrill of gaining strength after so much hardship made Evan Parker, who hadn’t smiled in years, make up for most of the laughter he’d missed.