The Hall of Benevolent Hearts, unlike many esteemed sects, did not rely on the grandeur of famous mountains or the seclusion of deep valleys. Its main hall was strategically placed near a bustling crossroads, a nexus of traffic from all four directions and eight reaches, solely to serve those from across the world who sought medicine.

Surrounding the Hall of Benevolent Hearts, a remarkably prosperous ecosystem had naturally blossomed. Truly, among all the great sects of the world, the Hall of Benevolent Hearts possessed the most accessible and easily located sect grounds.

At this moment, the sound heralded the arrival of a slender figure. Though his appearance was not striking, he possessed a tranquil temperament that put others at ease.

“Senior Brother.”

“Senior Brother.”

“Senior Brother Yi.”

The crowd bowed in salutation. This person was, of course, Yi Tang, the main hall physician of the Hall of Benevolent Hearts, whom Jiang Wang had specifically come to seek.

He regarded Jiang Wang with eyes that were remarkably clear and transparent. “Your Excellency recognizes me?”

“Senior Brother Yi is speaking to you! Still not removing your hat! Do you understand manners?” the one named Hao Zhen bellowed.

Jiang Wang directly ignored this faux Hao Zhen and simply cupped his hands towards Yi Tang. “I’ve presumptuously arrived; I apologize for the rudeness. Though I have not met Your Excellency before, I have long admired you… Might I beg a moment of your time to speak privately?”

“Beg what, beg!” Hao Zhen shouted again. “A person who hides his head and reveals his tail, you say ‘beg,’ and we should grant it?”

“It is alright,” Yi Tang said, patting Hao Zhen’s shoulder to quell his irritation. He extended a hand towards Jiang Wang in invitation. “Your Excellency, please follow me.”

There was no denying it; this was truly a person of remarkable grace. Jiang Wang, for his part, would not stoop to arguing with Hao Zhen. He simply followed Yi Tang with a composed gait.

They walked in silence for a while, eventually entering a certain courtyard. The courtyard was quiet and clean, every arrangement neat and orderly… yet there was no second person to be seen. Yi Tang turned back, standing in the center of the courtyard. The moment he turned, one could immediately sense that he was the focal point of this place.

“This is my personal dwelling, and rarely does anyone come to disturb it,” he said. “Your Excellency’s *qi* essence is deep and enduring, your cultivation not vulgar. You must be a person of standing. To come veiled, is there some hidden difficulty you face?”

Jiang Wang then removed his hat and bowed respectfully. “To come uninvited is indeed presumptuous.”

Yi Tang’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Jiang Wang.”

“Brother Yi recognizes me?” Jiang Wang was a little surprised.

Yi Tang smiled. “Last year, when you were possessed by a demon, I saw your portrait.”

Jiang Wang grinned. “That means the painter from the Mirror World Platform has some skill.”

Yi Tang appreciated this lighthearted attitude. However, he offered no judgment on the enmity between Jiang Wang and the Mirror World Platform. He simply said, “Your Excellency has traveled far to the Hall of Benevolent Hearts and must have sought many methods. But please rest assured, even if I cannot cure you, there are still my master, my master uncle, and my master ancestor. Once you come to the Hall of Benevolent Hearts, you only need to await your recovery! Uh… may I know what hidden ailment you suffer from? Feel free to tell me; medicine has its ethics and will absolutely not disclose your condition.”

The more Jiang Wang listened, the more he felt something was amiss. “Wait, wait, Brother Yi misunderstands! I have not come to seek treatment.”

Yi Tang looked at him with understanding eyes and offered advice. “Some diseases may be difficult to speak of. A heaven’s favored son like yourself may need to maintain appearances, and I understand all of this… But Brother Jiang, you must absolutely not avoid illness and fear the doctor. As long as the treatment is right, there is no problem that cannot be solved.”

Unable to explain himself clearly, Jiang Wang simply stated directly, “I have come to find you to spar!” He spoke with a solemn expression, cupping his hands in a formal bow. “I heard that Brother Yi is the foremost person below the God Arrival realm in the Hall of Benevolent Hearts. I, Jiang, admire you greatly and have specifically come to seek a sword challenge.”

“Oh, seek a sword challenge.” Yi Tang’s hands hung slightly at his sides. “The cultivation of the Hall of Benevolent Hearts is not for displaying valor or engaging in ruthless techniques. Please forgive me, but I cannot accompany you.”

“This trip is not for displaying valor, nor for fighting for fame, but only for a solitary spar. My heart is pure, absolutely nothing more. I know this request is very presumptuous. But searching my heart, among the Outer Tower cultivators of the world, there are very few who can show me a different landscape. Brother Yi is precisely among them. The urgency in my heart is truly difficult to suppress…”

“Then let this be the stake.” Jiang Wang held up the Cloud Twilight Zun. The colorful five-colored small fish still swam freely within it. He said with great sincerity, “If Your Excellency wins, this five-colored fish will be yours. I believe it will be of some use in the Hall of Benevolent Hearts. If Your Excellency loses, I will simply treat today as if nothing happened and will absolutely not mention a single word to outsiders.”

Only now did Yi Tang realize why Jiang Wang had visited with a veiled face. With his status, a simple name card would have granted him an audience, yet he had gone through so much trouble—clearly just not wanting to be mistaken for someone kicking down the door and fighting for fame. His sincerity, his earnestness, his urgency, all lay in the moment he had just now removed his hat.

“Your Excellency truly is obsessed with the martial path…” Yi Tang pondered slightly, feeling there was nothing to hesitate about. He then said, “I am also very curious about the strength of the Yellow River Chief. Then let us fulfill this agreement!”

Jiang Wang untied his raincloak and first said, “Excuse my intrusion.” Then, pressing his hand back, he closed the courtyard door. He then closed his five fingers, further isolating the sound of this place. After this, even if the courtyard within shook the heavens and moved the earth, the outside world would not hear a sound.

Jiang Wang then lifted his foot lightly and took a step, shaking up a grain of stone, which flew into the air. “The outside should not hear any sound,” he said. “When the stone falls, I will ask for Brother Yi’s guidance.”

Yi Tang watched all this calmly, simply spreading his hands and saying, “Please.”

A grain of stone, about the size of a grain of rice, fell. Its speed was very fast, and its sound was very subtle. But in the eyes of the strong, it was very slow, and in the ears of the strong, it was very loud. The subtle, sharp sound of it cutting through the air. Yet it could surge and roar in one’s auditory consciousness. Like a faint mosquito or ant, it could shake like a mountain flood!

Jiang Wang, in the Sound Hearing Immortal State, felt the vastness of the sound. The stone landed. The battle began simultaneously. Yi Tang pushed both hands forward, and the air between the two of them became a wall. A wall that became increasingly thick, increasingly heavy, increasingly solid, like being dragged by a high-speed galloping steed, crushing forward with unstoppable momentum.

A line was pulled open between heaven and earth, sharp and decisive. As if because of this one sword, heaven and earth were thus divided. The human world thus divided into upper and lower. There was that, and there was this. Of course, it more represented corpses separated, life and death both ending.

The sword was already horizontal, the sword *qi* had just passed. That solid, dense air wall was thus easily cut open, and then collapsed in an instant. In that instant, it was in a nearly translucent state, one could see it being cut in half like a block of tofu, the cut surface flipping… then exploding into a mass of scattered *qi*. No, that wasn’t right. What else wasn’t right…

Thump! The sound of the stone landing.

Whoosh! The sound of the long sword being drawn.

Bang! The sound of the air wall collapsing and exploding.

These sounds…

Thump… Whoosh… Bang!

All of this had already ended. Why did these sounds still continue, still echo?

In the instant he realized something was wrong, Jiang Wang’s ears immediately showed a jade color, and in the next instant, they retreated like defeated troops! What he cultivated was the Sound Hearing Immortal Canon; what he comprehended was the Sound Hearing Immortal State. In the world of sound, he was like a king or emperor, dominating everything, ordering ten thousand sounds to court. But what if the vassals who came to court were all stronger than the one receiving the court? Virtue not matching one’s position inevitably leads to disaster.

The Sound Hearing Immortal State was directly shattered! This was an unprecedented event! All along, the opponents Jiang Wang had encountered had few outstanding attainments in the path of sound. Even if they did, none had ever surpassed his Sound Hearing Immortal State. After all, this “from this after nineteen breaths,” with the Ten Thousand Immortals Palace’s Sound Hearing Immortal Canon as its blueprint, and the mysterious dao sound captured in the Taixu Illusion Realm, was absolutely top-tier in level. Dou Zhao, for instance, also had the Great Freedom Bitter Sea Correct Sound, but it was completely useless against him.

But today, he met a true opponent. Medical cultivation primarily involves observation, listening, asking, and cutting—these are the fundamentals of cultivation. Yi Tang, as a true transmission of the Hall of Benevolent Hearts, had attainments in the five senses that were difficult to fathom. Yi Tang’s control over sound was the utmost limit below this level of existence.

From the moment Jiang Wang used his hand to ban sound, he had already seen through Jiang Wang’s degree of control over the path of sound. Pushing *qi* to form a wall was just the opening move. The sound of the stone falling, Jiang Wang’s own sound of drawing his sword, and the sound of the air wall collapsing were his main attack! He had precisely judged Jiang Wang’s ability to control sound, first urging the first two sounds to their limit, colliding with Jiang Wang’s instant control over sound, and then with the third sound, directly breaking the Sound Hearing Immortal State, and using this as an advance to immediately determine the outcome of this battle!

The Hall of Benevolent Hearts was a great sect of the world. He, Yi Tang, was the youngest main hall physician of the Hall of Benevolent Hearts. In the entire Hall of Benevolent Hearts, he was considered the most excellent below the God Arrival realm. How could he not possess a few sources of pride? Though he did not like fighting and killing, and did not wish to display valor, if Jiang Wang came to his door to spar, he naturally wanted victory in his grasp. And he wanted a great victory!

In the world of sound, a single strike was an integration of collisions numbering in the millions; a single syllable could be split into a grand song. Its sound entered the ears, occupying absolute auditory consciousness. With this, he would expand the five senses and scatter the body and mind!

Jiang Wang drew his sword and cut the air wall, sharp and unmatched, but in the world of sound, Yi Tang’s momentum was like a broken bamboo. Sound issued forth like three armies advancing; sound moved like a single drumbeat settling. Suddenly, the Five Prisons fell! Eye Prison, Ear Prison, Nose Prison, Tongue Prison, Body Prison. Jiang Wang summoned the five senses hells, attempting for the first time to seal Yi Tang’s five senses.

But… he fundamentally could not seal them!

Yi Tang’s eyes held a sharp light, his ears were clear, his nostrils flared, his lips were pursed but not speaking, yet his five senses were free. His five senses all seemed to possess spirit, with a miraculous similarity to the “Ten Thousand Immortals” of the Ten Thousand Immortals Palace, smashing the suddenly descended Five Prisons with the most unyielding posture.

Thus, he only saw—

At the soul level, Jiang Wang came alone. After the five senses hells, immediately following was a soul attack. A long scroll decisively unfolded. Jiang Wang’s sword clashed against the Heavenly Palace! Like a blazing sun falling upon a palace wall. Even standing inside the Heavenly Palace, even under the protection of the Heavenly Palace, Yi Tang still felt his soul tremble. He couldn’t help but be greatly shocked! Jiang Wang’s display of soul strength was too terrifying!

Of course, with the protection of the Heavenly Palace, this was only an extremely minute daze, probably less than one-thousandth of a breath. Probably… it wouldn’t affect the battle situation. Probably… right?

This fragmented thought swept past. In his Heavenly Sea, towering waves were already rising! This body was bound. Super-grade dao technique, Dragon Tiger! Inside were sea waves like a dragon, outside were eight winds becoming a tiger. Dragon and Tiger became a bind, to carry out this execution.

Unlike others who encountered this dao technique for the first time, Yi Tang, as a main hall physician, had an insight into the human body that was rarely matched in the same realm. The first time, he knew why he was bound, was familiar with the “pathology,” and thus could “treat according to the symptoms”! Above his Five Mansions Sea, a green mansion rumbled into appearance. On the Heavenly Sea, a shadow of a medicine cauldron condensed synchronously. That roaring and unrestrained Heavenly Sea seemed like the empty fire boiling beneath the cauldron, even above the medicine cauldron, there was still green smoke coiling. Thus, the winds and waves within the Heavenly Sea calmed!

His body actually emitted a kind of medicinal fragrance. It cleared the ears and brightened the eyes, allowing people to perceive his power—a kind of vibrant power, harmless to the world. The muscles outside his body, every part of their texture, seemed to come alive. As if they had their own life force. One contraction, one expansion. Thus, the eight winds suddenly broke!

However, there was no time for a breath. In the moment his body stood free, Yi Tang only saw a changing hand seal coming towards his face. Jiang Wang was still that Jiang Wang, but Jiang Wang’s long sword was still in its sheath. At the start of the battle, the sword cutting horizontally, the vertical sword coming from the soul’s world… seemed only a daze, an illusion. Never started, never happened. But this seal was extremely real.

Between that person’s chest and abdomen, five fierce light groups shone. There was the shadow of a single-footed divine bird, flapping its wings behind that person and flying! Heavenly Mansion Body, Divine Bird Bi Fang.

Yi Tang had a premonition of immense danger and made a response for the first time. Within his Five Mansions Sea, two kinds of divine ability light successively shone. Green and white colors rose around his body, forming a hanging bead umbrella. The beads were particle by particle jade, their treasure colors tough. All evils could not invade; all wickedness retreated. This was the Yuan Bead Umbrella, his strongest defensive technique, one that had never been broken by attacks below the God Arrival realm.

But almost at the same time, the sea of flame flowers instantly covered the ground, flame sparrows flew wantonly across the sky, and fiery meteors cut through the sky… The world of fire descended! Yi Tang lifted his head and looked, seeing through the Yuan Bead Umbrella to the high sky. A burning, magnificent and huge flame city, appearing out of nothing, suddenly fell from the upper air of that fire realm—

The Yuan Bead Umbrella directly collapsed!

Yi Tang’s abilities in the five senses were, of course, stronger, but it was not simply that he easily shattered Jiang Wang’s Sound Hearing Immortal State. The reason the Sound Hearing Immortal State collapsed like a mountain was that Jiang Wang himself completely gave up on struggling in the path of sound. At the first instance of detecting a formidable opponent in this path, he chose to change the battlefield. Using the five senses hells to respond to the situation, he further strengthened the impression that he was certain to win the five senses battle, giving Yi Tang the most abundant confidence in his most skilled domain. Then he connected with a soul attack, shaking his heart. Then he connected with the Dragon Tiger technique, delaying his body. The last was the killing move.

Jiang Wang instantly opened the Heavenly Mansion Body, using the Bi Fang Seal to strengthen the Three Flavors True Fire, supporting the fire realm with the immense Three Flavors True Fire. Then, within the fire realm, he smashed down the Flame Flower Burning City! Blending seal methods, divine abilities, divine ability combined techniques, and super-grade dao techniques… all sorts of wondrous methods were fused into one furnace. When this composite technique fell, its power could no longer simply be described as terrifying. Even Jiang Wang himself could only complete it in the Heavenly Mansion Body state.

For the first time, Yi Tang truly felt a crisis between life and death. He was as if placed in a boundless world of fire, alone, with the entire world being overturned. Powerless, helpless, unable to resist!

It was such a light sound. Actually, it was just a slender palm, closing its five fingers. Thus, the flame city disappeared, the flame flowers withered, the flame sparrows became quiet, and the fiery meteors also stopped… The flame light across the sky scattered. The world of fire dissipated within Jiang Wang’s palm. That ultimate magnificence, that ultimate violence, everything, seemed as if it had never appeared. Like a field of illusory dreams.