The group stepped through the breach and into the Spirit Medicine Garden.

Desolation greeted them. It was a graveyard of former glory. Seven broken, colossal bronze pillars stood crookedly on the parched earth, the massive chains wrapped around them consumed by rust.

The spirit fields below were a spiderweb of cracks. Withered husks of ancient herbs lay scattered in the dirt, their shriveled roots pulsating with the faintest rhythm of lingering spiritual energy.

The air hung heavy with the musk of decay and the weight of eons. Yet, every so often, a wisp of an elusive, heavenly fragrance drifted by—a haunting reminder of what this place once was.

In the distance, a half-collapsed white jade altar loomed through the gloom. Around its base lay a carpet of bleached bones. Some skeletons were frozen in kneeling positions, their finger bones still locked in the hand seals of their final, failed spells.

As they ventured deeper, the group found the heart of the garden surprisingly intact.

Here, the spirit soil, though dry, shimmered with a dark golden luster.

A pristine altar stood in silence. hovering above it was a Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus, crystal-clear and radiant. Dim, profound Great Dao runes flowed across its delicate petals like liquid starlight.

“By the Heavens…”

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Even after ten thousand years, this Heaven-grade spirit medicine had survived. However, a faint, dark aura coiled around it, a visual sign of its eternal struggle against the eroding demonic energy of the ruins.

Just as greed began to light up their eyes, a roar shattered the silence.

ROAR—!

The sound came from behind the altar, deafening and primal. The ground convulsed, sending gravel skittering. A suffocating Pressure slammed into them like a physical tide, threatening to buckle their knees.

Accompanied by a gust of foul, metallic wind, a beast the size of a small hill slowly emerged from the shadows.

It was a nightmare made flesh. Pitch-black scales covered its body, each one gleaming with a cold, metallic light and etched with eerie, glowing runes.

Lei Yingjie’s eyes narrowed. He had seen this before—those scales could deflect full-power spells from Golden Core cultivators as if they were pebbles.

But most chilling were its eyes. Jade-green pupils, cold and unfeeling as ten-thousand-year-old glacial ice, stared down at them.

The beast opened its maw.

CRACK!

A bucket-thick bolt of purple lightning slammed into the earth. Rock exploded into magma, leaving a charred pit several zhang deep. The residual lightning didn’t fade; instead, it slithered across the ground like violet snakes, forcing the cultivators to scramble backward.

“Careful!” someone hissed, his ancient sword sliding three inches from its sheath. “Look at its left claw!”

A jagged, unhealed scar marred the beast’s left foreleg. It was an old wound, clearly inflicted by a Nascent Soul cultivator, leaking trace amounts of energy even now.

Qiu Ruoli’s expression turned grave. Seven phantom white lotuses materialized around her, spinning defensively.

Her senses screamed at her. This wasn’t a standard Sixth-Order beast. Its aura was dense, terrifying—it had half a foot across the threshold of the Seventh Order.

Everyone held their breath. Even the most arrogant rogue cultivators felt their blood run cold.

Lei Yingjie’s eyes flashed with a cold light. The formation diagram in his hand fluttered despite the lack of wind. Fifteen nodes on the map lit up with purple radiance.

“Everyone, assume the positions I assigned!” His voice was clear, cutting through the fear with unquestionable authority. “Holy Son Shen, guard the Qian position. Holy Maiden Qiu, I entrust the Kun position to you.”

The two elites nodded, moving swiftly to the safest, most fortified spots in the array. The disciples of the other major sects filed into the secondary support nodes.

When it came time to assign the rogue cultivators, the corner of Lei Yingjie’s mouth curled imperceptibly.

“As for this Fellow Daoist Wang…” He looked at Shen Xian, feigning deep thought. “The Li position requires someone of outstanding strength to act as the lure. I wonder if you could…”

Before he could finish, the faces of several nearby rogue cultivators went pale.

The Li position. The Vanguard. The spot closest to the beast. It was a death sentence.

“Fellow Daoist Lei,” one cultivator whispered, his voice trembling. “That arrangement is a bit…”

“Is there a problem?” Lei Yingjie’s smile didn’t waver, but his eyes turned hard. “This Fellow Daoist slaughtered the Tianyao Sect disciples with ease. His strength is undeniably extraordinary. Unless… he doesn’t dare?”

He emphasized the last two words, his gaze sweeping over the crowd like a blade.

The scions of the noble families stayed silent, some hiding amused smirks behind their sleeves. In the cultivation world, the weak were meat on the chopping block. Rogue cultivators without backing existed to be used.

Faced with this blatant setup, Shen Xian didn’t object. He didn’t even hesitate.

“I’ll do it,” he said simply.

Internally, he was laughing. Lei Yingjie, you’re actually doing me a favor.

The Li position was dangerous, yes. But it was also the closest position to the altar. When the chaos started, he could feign injury, retreat backward, and swipe the spirit medicine right under their noses without anyone noticing.

A flicker of surprise passed through Lei Yingjie’s eyes before he masked it. “Fellow Daoist Wang is truly a man of action!”

He turned to the other two unlucky souls chosen for the vanguard. “You two will support him. Remember, do not engage head-on. Just lure it.”

The young cultivator’s face was white as a sheet. He’s feeding us to the tiger! But under the looming threat of the Wind Thunder Sect, he had no choice but to nod stiffly.

The other, a middle-aged man in black robes, seemed steadier. However, his withered fingers nervously rubbed a jade pendant at his waist, his eyes darting around as he calculated his survival odds.

With everyone in place, the atmosphere tightened to a breaking point.

“Formation, RISE!”

At Lei Yingjie’s command, fifteen pillars of spiritual light erupted into the sky.

Shen Xian and the two sacrificial pawns transformed into streaks of light, charging straight at the colossus.

ROAR—!

The Green-Eyed Golden-Pupiled Beast bellowed in fury. The scales across its body stood erect, linking together to form a shimmering runic barrier.

The young cultivator panicked. His cultivation erupted, and he launched an ancient flying sword with all his might.

Clang!

The sword struck the barrier and bounced off harmlessly. Not even a spark was ignited.

“How is that possible?!” the white-robed Talisman Master in the back exclaimed. “It’s immune to sword arts?!”

Seeing this, the black-robed middle-aged cultivator immediately shifted tactics.

Seven pitch-black nails shot from his sleeve, whistling through the air to strike the beast’s old scar on its left claw.

He was an old hand; he went straight for the weak point.

Pfft!

The beast flinched in pain. Its jade-green pupils snapped to the middle-aged man instantly.

CRACK-BOOM!

A bolt of purple lightning tore through the air. The middle-aged man barely twisted his body to dodge, but the shockwave alone blasted him backward by dozens of zhang, charring half his robe.

Terror flooded his eyes. That lightning… it contains a trace of Heavenly Tribulation power!

Meanwhile, Shen Xian moved like a ghost through the chaotic storm of lightning.

To the onlookers, he seemed to be scrambling, barely surviving. In reality, every step was calculated. Relying on his Soul Formation-level Divine Sense, he had already dissected the beast’s rhythm.

Breathe. Strike. Three-second delay. Breathe.

“Retreat! Now!” Shen Xian shouted.

The bait was taken. There was no need to linger.

The trio turned and fled toward the designated ambush zone.

However, the enraged Sixth-Order Demon Beast opened its mouth, and to their horror, it spoke in a guttural, human tongue.

“Where do you think you are going?”

BOOM!

The ground exploded as the beast lunged with terrifying speed. Its massive front claw swiped at the young cultivator trailing behind.

“Shield!”

The young man screamed, activating his life-bound Talisman. A golden barrier sprang up.

SNAP.

“AHHHH—!”

It was like crushing an egg. The talisman shattered, followed by the shield, followed by the man. Blood rained down like confetti, mixing with severed limbs that splattered onto the edge of the altar.

A Golden Core Perfection cultivator, obliterated in a single strike.

The black-robed middle-aged man felt his courage shatter. Fated Chance? Screw the medicine! My life is more important!

He turned to flee the garden entirely.

But the beast wasn’t finished.

Another bolt of purple lightning descended from the heavens.

Zzzzt!

The middle-aged cultivator didn’t even have time to scream. Half his body was instantly carbonized, turning into ash as he plummeted from the sky.

But their sacrifice had bought enough time. Shen Xian had led the beast exactly where Lei Yingjie wanted it.

“NOW!” Lei Yingjie roared, his eyes blazing with triumph.