Black Wind Stockade.

“Report,” Wen Sha demanded, turning to his left. “Have we locked onto Jin Jue’s signal?”

The Golden Core executive shook his head. “Negative. We’ve deployed all available assets. Triangulation is in progress. Expect coordinates shortly.”

Wen Sha nodded, satisfied. “Good. Once we have a lock, execute immediately. Third Elder, Fourth Elder, Fifth Elder—I’m deploying the three of you as a special task force. I expect a zero-failure rate.”

The three named Elders were all late-stage Golden Core powerhouses, the absolute peak of the Black Wind Stockade’s combat capabilities.

“Hehe,” a rasping voice chuckled. “Deploying a full team for a single Jin Jue? I could liquidate that old fossil by myself.”

The speaker was Daoist Ghost Wood, the Third Elder. He was a withered husk of a man, practically skin stretched over bone, yet his eyes burned with an unsettling, radioactive green light.

“If Jin Jue knew he warranted a triple-threat response team, he’d probably be honored,” the Fourth Elder mused. He was a burly, bald man with a hyper-realistic black centipede tattooed across his scalp.

The Fifth Elder, draped in black robes and adorned with a necklace of polished skulls, sighed. “It’s a pity our Grand Elder hasn’t completed his system upgrade yet. Otherwise, we could have launched a hostile takeover of the Qingyun Sect directly.”

“The Qingyun acquisition is inevitable,” Wen Sha said, his eyes cold. “But first, we liquidate their assets. The Qingyun Sect only has five Golden Core shareholders. Removing Jin Jue will crash their stock value significantly.”

In Wen Sha’s strategic forecast, a three-on-one gank by his top executives was a guaranteed win.

Unaware of the impending hostile takeover attempt, Sun Yi and Elder Jin Jue continued their grid search. They had already audited eleven Soul Gathering Places with zero return on investment. No Heavenly Soul Liquid.

However, the field data was invaluable. Sun Yi was rapidly building a comprehensive model of how these environments functioned.

“Next target: Soul Refining Valley,” Elder Jin Jue announced, adjusting their flight path. “Threat level is high. High density of Yin Soul mobs, elite-tier specs. Stay sharp.”

The sword light streaked across the sky, finally hovering over a bizarre geographical anomaly.

Sun Yi looked down. The Soul Gathering Place was a perfect ring, enclosed by six circular mountain ranges.

In the dead center of the ring lay a bottomless abyss. Above it, a massive vortex of condensed Yin energy swirled like a hurricane, generating a terrifying gravitational pull.

“Interesting architecture,” Sun Yi muttered, eyes lighting up. “This looks like a naturally occurring Formation.”

Although Sun Yi hadn’t unlocked the Formation Master skill tree yet, he had read the documentation in the Scripture Library. His theoretical knowledge rivaled a Rank 2 professional. He immediately recognized the artificial precision of the terrain.

After three days of aerial observation to map the energy flows, Sun Yi signaled the descent.

“Initiating landing sequence,” Sun Yi said.

However, as they breached the valley’s airspace, the black vortex exerted a massive, invisible drag.

Sun Yi felt his soul shudder, as if it were being forcibly extracted from his chassis. A wave of nausea hit him.

Elder Jin Jue, however, seemed unaffected.

“Elder Jin Jue… abort approach vector,” Sun Yi gasped, struggling to speak. “Too close to the singularity. Land on the perimeter.”

Realizing the issue, Jin Jue immediately adjusted course, steering them away from the central vortex to the valley’s edge. The gravitational pressure on Sun Yi’s soul vanished.

“Status?” Jin Jue asked, concerned.

Sun Yi exhaled, recalibrating his senses. “Stable. That vortex didn’t affect you?”

“Negative,” Jin Jue replied.

“It must have a filter for cultivation levels. Low-level users get filtered out,” Sun Yi analyzed. “Let’s proceed on foot.”

They descended into the valley. But they had barely touched the ground when the air filled with the frantic beating of wings.

A black cloud erupted from the fog, rushing toward them.

Sun Yi’s eyes narrowed. Red-Eyed Ghost Sparrows.

These were elite Yin Souls—fast, aggressive, and capable of draining Spiritual Qi directly from the target.

Scan complete. Count: 2,000+. Threat Level: Mixed. Elite Units detected: 20+ Late Foundation Establishment.

“Red-Eyed Ghost Sparrows. Nasty pests,” Jin Jue grunted. He pointed a finger, firing a thick beam of sword Qi that vaporized a dozen of the birds instantly.

But the swarm didn’t scatter. Instead, they converged on the residual energy, devouring the sword Qi like piranhas.

“Energy absorption capabilities confirmed,” Sun Yi noted, impressed. “That’s a dangerous feature.”

Having fed on the attack, the swarm surged forward with renewed aggression. Jin Jue snorted, unleashing a barrage of sword beams. He was slaughtering them by the score, but his MP consumption was spiking.

“Elder Jin Jue, tactical retreat to ground level,” Sun Yi advised. “Aerial combat favors the enemy.”

“Agreed.”

Jin Jue grabbed Sun Yi and dive-bombed to the valley floor.

The bottom of the Soul Refining Valley was a desolate wasteland of gravel and bone. Human and beast skeletons were scattered everywhere—the remnants of previous failed expeditions. The visibility was near zero, the gloom suppressing even Divine Sense.

The sparrow swarm dove after them.

“I will provide fire support,” Sun Yi announced.

With a thought, the Dragon Roar Sword launched from his Dantian. It split into five distinct sword lights, intercepting the diving birds.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

In seconds, five low-level sparrows were popped like balloons. Sun Yi cycled the sword lights, chaining kills. When the swarm tried to devour his energy, he recalled the sword before they could latch on.

In a short exchange, Sun Yi had tallied dozens of kills. It was efficient, but compared to Jin Jue’s mass destruction, it was minor.

Just as they established a defensive perimeter against the air units, a sinister hissing sound emerged from the surrounding darkness.

Shadows flickered in the black mist. Ground units were approaching.