On the molten rock platform, three forces were locked in a tense, triangular standoff.

Scorching heat waves warped the air, turning the landscape into a shimmering, distorted haze.

The most conspicuous formation was the Vermilion Bird Burning Heaven Array.

Twelve Golden Core disciples of the Li Fire Sect held their positions, waving crimson command banners. They traced fiery patterns in the air, weaving them into a massive, impenetrable flame barrier.

At the center stood Su Mei.

Her crimson robes fluttered wildly in the searing updrafts. Nine fire dragons coiled around her body, roaring as they continuously bombarded the shimmering restriction shield at the platform’s heart.

Directly opposite her sat the Blood Fiend Sect.

Nine demonic cultivators maintained the Blood River Grand Array, emitting a pungent, nauseating stench of fresh blood.

The leading elder wielded a pitch-black Soul-Devouring Banner. The surface of the banner writhed with bloody patterns, and every wave summoned the shrieks of thousands of vengeful spirits.

On the flank, the formation of fifteen rogue cultivators was the most chaotic.

Sword auras from grey-robed swordsmen crisscrossed with exploding thunder talismans. Most striking was the cultivator at their center, wearing a bronze mask. The Octagonal Bronze Mirror in his hands refracted beams of heart-palpitating destructive light.

Boom!

Spiritual power from all three sides clashed violently at the center.

Shockwaves sent the surrounding Azure Nether Fire scattering, forcing everyone to keep their distance.

Hidden behind a massive boulder scorched red-hot by the flames, Shen Xian watched.

His gaze swept coldly over the battlefield. Beside him, the Xuan Turtle raised its head. Its beady eyes flickered with complex, dark patterns as the light on its shell waxed and waned.

“Not yet,” Shen Xian whispered.

The turtle had already pinpointed the treasure’s location deep within the platform. But Shen Xian was in no hurry.

He calmly evaluated the odds.

“The restriction holds. Acting now would only make me the public enemy.”

He calculated swiftly. “Even at the peak of the Golden Core stage, facing the combined assault of over thirty peers… the odds are slim.”

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

“Why risk a direct assault? It is better to let the laborers do the work.”

He adjusted his aura, suppressing it until he felt like a mere stone in the background. He merged completely into the shadows, waiting for the moment they exhausted their trump cards.

Time passed.

The battle grew increasingly ferocious. Cracks began to fracture the formations on all sides.

BOOM—

A blinding flash erupted from within the Vermilion Bird Burning Heaven Array.

The blast lifted Su Mei’s sleeve, revealing snow-white skin now marred by ferocious burn patterns.

“Blood Fiend old ghost!” she shouted sharply. “This Burning Heaven Cauldron was left by a senior of my Li Fire Sect. How dare you covet it?”

“Kekehehe…”

The Blood Fiend Sect elder chuckled darkly. He shook the Soul-Devouring Banner, and a bloody maw split open on its fabric.

“Little girl, what’s refined inside is the essence blood of an ancient demonic flood dragon. With your sect’s meager cultivation, wouldn’t you just burn to ash?”

The bronze-masked cultivator suddenly raised a hand.

A beam of mirror light carved a charred trench between the two factions.

“After its owner perished five hundred years ago,” a hoarse voice grated from behind the mask, “this object became ownerless.”

The rogue cultivators behind him eyes lit up with greed.

A low-grade True Spirit Treasure. Even Nascent Soul True Lords coveted such items. For a Golden Core cultivator, obtaining it meant a soaring future.

Su Mei was furious, but she forced herself to remain calm.

CRACK—

The platform trembled violently.

A fissure, three zhang wide, split open like a hideous wound. Scarlet magma gushed out, spreading wantonly.

Accompanied by deafening roars, spiderweb cracks raced across the restriction’s curtain.

BANG!

It shattered.

“Fall back!” the bronze-masked cultivator roared.

His Octagonal Bronze Mirror spun rapidly, erecting a cyan light screen.

But he was too slow.

A cauldron shadow, crimson as blood, shot through the air. Nine dragon-shaped flames coiled around the vessel, roaring and churning.

Two rogue cultivators failed to dodge.

They didn’t even scream. Their protective spiritual light was pierced like thin paper, and their bodies were incinerated to ash in an instant.

“The Burning Heaven Cauldron!”

A terrifying gleam erupted in the Blood Fiend elder’s turbid eyes.

His withered fingers spread the Soul-Devouring Banner wide. “Ten Thousand Souls Devour the Heart!”

Thousands of twisted human faces materialized on the banner. Amidst shrill shrieks, countless vengeful spirits howled forth.

Sizzle…

The moment the spirits approached within three zhang of the cauldron, the dragon-shaped flames scorched them into dust.

The elder swayed, dark red blood foam spilling from his mouth.

Su Mei’s pupils contracted.

Without hesitation, she bit her tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto her array banner.

“Form the array!”

The Li Fire disciples followed suit. Twelve blood lines intertwined in the air, transforming into a flaming Vermilion Bird that pounced on the cauldron.

Clang!

The cauldron was struck heavily, its terrifying flames dimming slightly.

The Li Fire disciples grinned.

However…

In that lightning-fast moment, a figure flashed from the shadows like a ghost.

Shen Xian.

The Li Fire True Seal on his forehead glowed with a faint golden light. The Void Rope on his left arm shot out like a spiritual snake.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the rope seized the cauldron.

The vessel struggled, but under the suppression of the Li Fire True Seal, it fell silent.

“Retrieve!”

Shen Xian yanked the Void Rope, pulling the cauldron toward him.

“Seeking death!”

The bronze-masked cultivator reacted first, firing a beam of destructive light.

Shen Xian’s expression remained unchanged.

The Traceless Sword materialized in his left hand.

Heavenly Abyss Snow Illumination Sword Scripture.

Majestic spiritual power surged. A brilliant, snow-bright sword light cleaved the air, effortlessly extinguishing the beam.

He grabbed the shrunken cauldron and retreated.

“Stop him!”

Su Mei’s piercing shriek tore through the air. She waved her banner, and twelve fiery lines instantly sealed Shen Xian’s escape route.

The flaming Vermilion Bird circled in the air, then dove straight at him.

“Everyone!” Su Mei’s voice was laced with bewitching desperation. “That man has seized a treasure even Nascent Soul Lords covet! Elder Blood Fiend, if your banner absorbs this cauldron, it will ascend to a True Spirit Treasure!”

Greed exploded in the Blood Fiend elder’s eyes.

“Junior, leave the cauldron!”

He spat more essence blood. The Soul-Devouring Banner swelled, transforming into a sky-blotting red curtain that descended to trap Shen Xian.

“Trap him!”

The bronze-masked cultivator’s mirror refracted seven beams, weaving a net of light.

The three forces reached a bizarre, instant truce. Sword auras and talismans poured down like torrential rain.

Shen Xian’s eyes went cold.

The Nine Orifices Exquisite Needle shot out, piercing with surgical precision into the weak points of the Vermilion Bird formation.

Simultaneously, the blood lotus mark on his left hand brightened.

Blood threads coiled around the two nearest Li Fire Sect disciples like venomous snakes.

“Argh!”

The two Golden Core cultivators stiffened. Their essence blood surged backward, drained by the threads.

Su Mei’s banner trembled violently. The Vermilion Bird Burning Heaven Array developed a fatal flaw.

Now.

Shen Xian turned into an afterimage, flashing through the opening created by the needle.

The overwhelming attacks slammed into empty air, blasting a crater dozens of zhang deep into the platform.

“After him!”

Amidst Su Mei’s shrieks, the three forces surged in pursuit.