Invincible Starts From Dao Fruit

East River Square.

Jixi Street.

Golden Spear Talisman Making Workshop.

Chen Jichuan sat cross-legged, channeling his energy, faintly surrounded by the aura of a white tiger poised for action, as if charging downhill, exuding an unapproachable majesty.

Mana flowed.

Sword Qi coursed through his meridians and Dantian, continuously tempering his mana, making it increasingly pure. The sharp edge of Sword Qi also pressed against his physical body, strands of mana seeping into his flesh and bones, strengthening his physique unceasingly.

Time slowly passed.

When True Yuan in his body began to stir restlessly, Chen Jichuan suppressed the technique, opened his eyes.

"Hah!"

"Innate Extreme, Qi Refinement is within reach!"

Chen Jichuan's eyes gleamed brightly, though his face showed no trace of elation.

For the once Ten Layer Heaven True Person, the invincible Second-order Chen Jichuan, let alone Qi Refinement—ascending to the Second-order Enlightenment Realm wouldn't be enough to unsettle his mental focus.

"Innate Extreme."

"Can break through to Qi Refinement at any time."

Chen Jichuan wasn't eager to ascend.

He had long planned to leave Golden Corner City, but leaving as an Innate versus leaving as a Qi Refining cultivator would draw vastly different levels of attention.

On the other hand,

to leave Golden Corner City and head to other cities would require relying on the Transmission Formation.

The lower one's cultivation, the weaker the formation's disturbances, minimizing chances of detection by Demon Beasts, thus making the transmission process much safer.

There's no urgency in breaking through.

He could wait until after departure to ascend.

Thinking of leaving, Chen Jichuan rose to his feet and wandered around the talisman making workshop.

Golden Spear Workshop was divided into two parts: inner and outer.

The inner area served as living quarters, where Xu Jishi and Xu Ning, father and son, would rest.

The outer area was the workspace.

The workspace was further divided into two sections, separated by a wall. The inner section was Xu Jishi's area for talisman making, while the outer section was where apprentices worked.

After Xu Jishi's death,

Chen Jichuan had been using the inner area for cultivation, talisman making, and array practice.

When Huang Quan brought his people here, they operated in the outer section only.

The inner and outer areas, separated by a wall, did not interfere with each other, allowing Chen Jichuan to go about his business in peace without fear of disruption.

"Five years."

Chen Jichuan glanced around every corner of the workshop with a faint sigh.

Five years passed like a flash.

He had holed up in the Golden Spear Workshop for five years. Even accounting for the time spent offline, he'd still spent a solid two-and-a-half years inside.

As his first foothold on Wuhe Star, Chen Jichuan felt a certain attachment toward this workshop.

But unlike mortals who struggle to control emotions,

he, having cultivated for many years, possessed strong emotion control.

Cultivators are not devoid of emotion and desire, but most are desensitized due to witnessing and experiencing too much, becoming indifferent over time.

Chen Jichuan felt only a brief pang of sentimentality before beginning to pack up and prepare to leave.

...

East River Square.

Huang Family.

Huang Xuan summoned the entire household, gathering them in the hall.

Five years had passed, and Huang Xuan hadn't changed much. Though it takes effort for an Innate Grandmaster to preserve their youthful appearance, Huang Xuan's age hadn't yet caused him to appear elderly.

"Father."

"Uncle."

Huang Xuan's gaze flicked around the hall, taking in his wife Feng Heng, his three children—Huang Quan, Huang Biao, and Huang Jiao—

as well as two nephews from his younger brother Huang Ming's side—Huang Dong and Huang Liang.

Everyone in the family was present.

In these past years,

following Chen Jichuan, Huang Xuan leveraged connections from the Demon Hunting Team to run a pill business, later branching into selling magic artifacts.

Chen Jichuan reaped the profits.

Huang Xuan, without greed, followed quietly behind, drinking the scraps of soup left over. Though his business operated without much publicity, over the years, Huang Xuan accumulated significant wealth.

The family's situation improved markedly.

They no longer needed to risk hunting Demon Beasts in the wilderness; managing the business while focusing on cultivation gave Huang Xuan the feeling of inching closer to Qi Refinement.

He believed he might achieve Qi Refinement in his lifetime.

Nor was it only Huang Xuan.

His eldest son, Huang Quan, also achieved remarkable progress in the past years.

A notable milestone was attaining Innate status at the age of 20 and enrolling in a high-class university. After studying for over four years, Huang Quan was now at Innate Fourth Layer.

His cultivation advanced rapidly.

Within the entire university, Huang Quan could be considered outstanding.

Not just in cultivation,

but Huang Quan also demonstrated extraordinary talent in talisman making, studying under a university talisman maker, and early last year earned the status of intermediate apprentice, enabling him to craft intermediate talismans.

In another year or two, he might even become a high-class apprentice.

His future was boundless.

Huang Biao, Huang Jiao, Huang Dong, and Huang Liang couldn't compare to their prodigious eldest brother but, thanks to their affluent family status, weren't lagging within the university either.

Neighbors praised the Huang Family, saying they had one dragon and three tigers, even calling the daughter a budding prodigy, predicting the family's bright future.

The Huang Family indeed thrived.

But today, Huang Xuan delivered shocking news—

"A few days ago, during a social engagement, I accidentally offended a person of influence."

"Golden Corner City is no longer safe for us."

At this,

the hall erupted in bewilderment.

"What—"

Feng Heng's brows furrowed upon hearing this news, which was shocking and entirely new to her. She recalled how her husband carried on as usual, eating and drinking without any signs of distress.

Feng Heng felt a pang of guilt, assuming Huang Xuan had maintained a facade to spare her worry.

Meanwhile,

Huang Xuan's second son, Huang Biao, appeared alarmed but quickly composed himself, asking, "Father, who did you offend? If they aren't too powerful, perhaps my elder brother's connections at the university could help smooth things over."

At the university, Huang Quan was regarded as a promising talent and had attracted interest from several trade associations and Demon Hunting Teams.

If the offender wasn't someone of great power, there might be a chance to settle matters.

"It won't be that easy!"

Huang Xuan shook his head, gesturing to the gathered individuals to keep their silence and wear a stern expression. "Don't bother speculating; start packing immediately. We're leaving Golden Corner City by dawn tomorrow. Any delay might lead to prison for the entire family—or worse, our deaths!"

"Ah—"

Upon hearing the gravity of the situation, Huang Biao and the others became frantic.

Without further questions, each went back to their rooms to pack, spending a sleepless, fearful night.

At dawn the next day, as the sky barely began to brighten, the family of seven departed from their home, heading straight for the intercity teleportation formation to leave Golden Corner City.

...

Half a day later.

At noon.

After passing through three consecutive transmission formations, Huang Xuan and his family arrived at the southern coastal region of Sea Continent, landing in one of Ning City's Guard Cities, called Shiwu.

This location was tens of thousands of miles away from Fat City, separated by three major cities: Han City, Chang City, and Sha City.

Without relying on transmission formations,

traveling between these cities would have been impossible.

Immediately upon exiting the formation, they saw a young man in a green robe waiting outside. As soon as he noticed them coming out, he stepped forward with a smile.

"Uncle Huang, Auntie."

"Quan."

Chen Jichuan approached and greeted Huang Xuan and Feng Heng warmly, as well as Huang Quan. He even smiled at the somewhat dazed Huang Jiao and affectionately called her 'Little Jiao'er.'

Xu Jishi and Huang Xuan had been lifelong family friends.

Although Chen Jichuan seldom interacted with Huang Xuan these years and mostly dealt with Huang Quan, Xu Ning's memories included plenty of encounters with Feng Heng, Huang Biao, and Huang Jiao.

He greeted each one.

"Brother Xu."

Huang Quan respectfully bowed toward Chen Jichuan.

Though Chen Jichuan addressed him affectionately as 'Quan,' Huang Quan maintained his decorum, treating him with utmost reverence despite being two years older.

"You are—"

Feng Heng studied the young man carefully, surprised by her eldest son's deferential attitude. She couldn't recognize Chen Jichuan immediately.

Her earlier encounters with Xu Ning were during his youth when his features hadn't fully matured. Later, during the Xu family's tragedy, she'd seen him again, but he had been disheveled and downtrodden.

Years of cultivation had transformed Chen Jichuan, making him fair-skinned and handsome, with an impressive aura and refined demeanor.

His appearance and presence had completely changed.

Feng Heng naturally couldn't identify him.

She never would have guessed the man standing before them was none other than Xu Ning, who had lived under their family's care for five years!

"Let's not linger outside."

"Come inside."

Huang Xuan interrupted Feng Heng, stepped forward, and pulled Chen Jichuan along, his familiar and friendly demeanor shocking Huang Biao, Huang Dong, and the others into silence. To them, Huang Xuan was usually stern and rigid, but now he was acting unusually close to this young man.

Reflecting on their elder brother Huang Quan's earlier reverence,

the younger family members, including Feng Heng, found themselves squirming with curiosity.

Huang Xuan didn't elaborate, instead leading Chen Jichuan directly to a three-courtyard residence within Lin Chuan Square of Shiwu City.

Two years prior, Huang Xuan had come here and acquired these courtyards along with two adjacent properties.

Ning City bordered the sea.

Aside from land-bound Demon Beasts, coastal regions often faced harassment from sea Demon Beasts, resulting in relatively low property values.

Driven by their lucrative pill and artifact business, Chen Jichuan and Huang Xuan made ever-larger profits by the year.

Purchasing three modestly priced courtyards was easy.

The greater cost,

was in using transmission formations instead.

After entering the residence,

Huang Xuan assigned Feng Heng, Huang Biao, and the others to explore and settle into the new home. He, Huang Quan, and Chen Jichuan then gathered in the study.

"How did it go?"

"Was everything smooth?"

Once inside the study, Huang Xuan immediately asked Chen Jichuan eagerly.

"It went smoothly."

"I took advantage of moments when the surroundings were quiet, sneaking out under stealth to evade the spies dispatched by Duan Zhengming. I then headed straight for the transmission formation, passing through Zheng City, via Qing City, ultimately arriving in Ning City."

Duan Zhengming had caused the destruction of 'Xu Ning's' family, and because of his own twisted sense of humor, spared Chen Jichuan's life. Still, as someone from a prominent family, he understood the concept of eliminating threats at the root. To prevent those he had tormented—such as 'Xu Ning'—from rising back against him, he assigned spies around likely targets.

Chen Jichuan, too, was under surveillance.

For five years, he kept a low profile, and coupled with the vigilance of Huang Xuan and Huang Quan, Duan Zhengming's agents had already been clearly identified.

Monitoring someone like the 'broken and defeated' Xu Ning didn't require formidable cultivators.

Even though Duan Zhengming's background was weighty, commanding Qi Refining cultivators to watch over a nonpracticing, self-destructive mortal was blatantly excessive.

For a young age like his, he lacked the influence for such extremes.

Against ordinary, mortal-level cultivators, even Innate Extreme status, Chen Jichuan's methods were sufficient to evade discovery.

...