Pink mist curled off the water’s surface, thick and cloying.

Shen Xian hovered above, looking down with a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.

Below him, Qiu Ruoli’s eyes were misty, swimming with unshed tears, yet she held her chin high, stubbornly refusing to yield. The memory of the forced dual cultivation was still vivid, searing her mind with shame. She felt hollowed out, incredibly weak, as if a vital piece of her soul had been scooped away.

Shen Xian had extracted her Gui Water essence, true, but he hadn’t been completely ruthless. He had left her a sliver of leeway.

The Turtle and Snake are the earthly manifestations of the Black Tortoise, Shen Xian mused. They are majestic, righteous divine beasts that follow the natural order. This wasn’t the depraved, destructive plundering of an Evil Cultivator who kills the chicken to get the egg.

Most importantly, his understanding of this specific Yin Water was shallow. He had absorbed it, yes, but transforming and utilizing it efficiently would require time and study. This woman still had great value as a reference material.

Furthermore, this single union had only stripped away her current comprehension. The connection between the Turtle and Snake remained. In the future, he could leverage this bond to… harvest again.

It does sound a bit like something an Evil Cultivator would do, he admitted to himself. But she has only herself to blame. She struck first.

Silence stretched between them.

Then—

BOOM!

The phantom of the [Tortoise-Snake Lamp] hovering above them erupted with dazzling brilliance. The massive Taiji diagram beneath their feet slowly dissolved into motes of light. However, the Yin-Yang imprints within their bodies did not vanish. Instead, they coalesced into two complex spiritual patterns, branding themselves deep within their Dantians.

“The Yin-Yang Seed is formed. The trial is passed!”

The ancient Dao voice reverberated through the void. The pocket dimension began to collapse, the heavy water receding into nothingness as the two cultivators were deposited back onto solid ground.

Shen Xian felt the surging power of the Ren and Gui Water intertwining within him, his smile deepening into something colder.

Qiu Ruoli, conversely, collapsed to the floor. Her snow-white Daoist robes were in disarray, her hair messy, and her eyes burned with a mixture of humiliation and venomous hatred.

Above them, the phantom of the lamp shrank, condensing into a beam of cyan light that shot straight into Shen Xian’s brow.

Hum—

In his [Sea of Consciousness], an ancient bronze lamp manifested. Its flame flickered gently, illuminating the darkness with boundless, mystical profundity.

The Tortoise-Snake Lamp has acknowledged its master!

Shen Xian’s heart shook. He felt an immediate, mysterious connection snap into place.

His gamble had paid off. The dual cultivation was the key. If he hadn’t taken the initiative to dominate the exchange, she would have drained him instead.

As the connection solidified, a line of archaic text surfaced on the lamp’s base:

[Restoration Method: Requires ‘Netherworld Death Water’, ‘Heaven Fire Glazed Glass’, and ‘Divine Silence Quicksand’. Only then can the lamp be made whole.]

This ancient treasure is incomplete? Shen Xian was surprised.

It seemed he would need to gather these materials to unleash its full potential. However, he wasn’t disappointed. Even damaged, the aura of this item was terrifying.

This was a Profound Mystery Treasure.

Such artifacts were typically the exclusive property of Body Integration True Venerables. For a Foundation Establishment cultivator to hold one was defying the heavens.

If I repair it and then gift it to a Dao Companion… the System will surely return something even better.

Shen Xian’s heart raced. If the System upgraded a Profound Mystery Treasure, the return gift could be a Cosmic Divine Treasure—an artifact wielded by Mahayana Divine Venerables!

“Once I gather those three materials, this lamp will regain its ancient, god-slaying might.”

Shen Xian was elated. He had plundered Qiu Ruoli’s comprehension, absorbed her Gui Water power, and secured a masterless high-tier artifact. The harvest far exceeded his expectations.

On the floor, Qiu Ruoli was not entirely empty-handed.

After the lamp acknowledged Shen Xian, a wisp of pure white light separated from the flame and drifted into her brow.

Swish—

Her body trembled violently. A sharp, terrifying concept manifested in her Sea of Consciousness—the God-Slaying Sword Intent!

It contained a trace of a true intent left by an ancient mighty figure, sharp enough to sever the soul of a Soul Formation cultivator.

This is… Qiu Ruoli was shaken to her core. She had been violated and plundered, yet in a twist of fate, she had obtained a supreme killing technique. The Tortoise-Snake Lamp had prepared two rewards from the start.

Subconsciously, she raised her hand. A wisp of white light condensed at her fingertip. The edge was restrained, invisible to the naked eye, yet it concealed a killing intent that could freeze the blood.

Her gaze snapped to Shen Xian, hatred surging like a tide.

With this Sword Intent, I can kill him!

But the impulse died as quickly as it rose. She forced herself to calm down.

No. Not now.

She was drained, her foundation shaken. She couldn’t even summon the energy to activate this intent properly. To attack now would be to bring humiliation upon herself.

Shen Xian caught the fluctuation in her killing intent and sneered. “What? You gained a little benefit and immediately think of biting the hand that fed you?”

Qiu Ruoli shot him a cold glare but remained silent, closing her eyes to regulate her breathing and recover her scattered spiritual power.

Shen Xian didn’t press the issue. He was in too good a mood. With the lamp in hand, the Ren Water spiritual root in his body, and his various trump cards, his path to the peak of cultivation was open and smooth.

“This trip was worth it.”

He clasped his hands behind his back, surveying the surroundings as he prepared to exit.

Qiu Ruoli slowly rose to her feet. Though her robes were disheveled, her temperament had returned to that of an icy, untouchable goddess.

They exchanged one final look, both seeing the deep, hidden calculations in the other’s eyes.

A flash of white light enveloped them.

…

The two reappeared on the third floor of the Treasure Pavilion.

Two other cultivators stood waiting, nursing various injuries and looking utterly dejected. They had clearly been eliminated from the competition for the other ancient treasures.

When Shen Xian and Qiu Ruoli appeared one after the other, the losers’ eyes flickered with surprise. They had expected these two to tear each other apart inside, with only one survivor emerging. To see both return alive—albeit with strange tension between them—was unexpected.

Shen Xian ignored them, his gaze drifting to the entrances of the other two trials. The assessment wasn’t over; the others hadn’t come out yet.

He sat cross-legged to the side, meditating to consolidate his gains.

Why did the Mystic Turtle only react to the lamp and not the other two treasures? he wondered.

He reached out to the beast in his spiritual pet bag via Divine Sense. The turtle was just as confused. Treasure hunting was its instinct, not a science; it didn’t understand the ‘why’ any more than he did.

Clang—!

Suddenly, the [Profound Heaven Sword Diagram] emitted a clear, melodious cry that cut through the air.

A figure tumbled out of the light screen first.

It was Shen Xing.

The usually steady and composed Holy Son looked wretched. His face was pale as paper, and the right sleeve of his robe had been shredded, revealing an arm crisscrossed with bloody sword marks.

Shen Xian’s eyes narrowed.

Big Brother looks terrible. Did he fail to get the Sword Diagram?

It seemed impossible. In terms of sword path attainment, Shen Xing had no equal in the entire Azure Province. If he couldn’t gain the diagram’s acknowledgment, who could?

Hum, hum—

The Sword Diagram vibrated again.

Liu Wanduo stepped out, riding a wave of dazzling sword light. His head was held high, and his arms were wrapped tightly around a jade scroll wreathed in purple aura.

“Hahaha! The [Profound Heaven Sword Diagram] is finally mine!”

Liu Wanduo was delirious with joy. Sword energy erupted around him, spontaneously manifesting the phantom roars of dragons and tigers—the Dragon and Tiger Phenomenon.

Shen Xian’s pupils constricted. That was the sign of a Sword Record acknowledging a master!

Even more alarming was the dark red sword pattern etched onto Liu Wanduo’s brow. His aura had surged by at least thirty percent compared to when he entered.

The onlookers gasped.

“Liu Wanduo? How?”

“Is it related to that strange inheritance he uses?”

BOOM!

Before they could process the upset, the [Eight Desolations War Chariot] exploded with deafening thunder.

Lei Yingjie strode out, his massive frame wreathed in arcs of purple lightning. The armor on his right arm was shattered, but he held a bronze chariot linchpin high in the air. The characters for “Eight Desolations” on the command talisman pulsed with terrifying baleful energy.

“Hahaha!”

Lei Yingjie’s laughter rolled like thunder. Behind him, the illusion of a stampeding army—thousands of soldiers and horses—materialized in the air, shaking the pavilion floor.

The massive war chariot shrank into a stream of light, diving into the command talisman in his hand.

Behind him, Zhou Fengxing stumbled out, shaking his head with a withered, defeated aura.

The three heavy treasures had found their owners.

Of the ten who entered, only seven remained.

One of the eliminated cultivators walked straight toward Liu Wanduo, eager to pivot his allegiance. “Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Liu! A monumental achievement!”

His smile was fawning, desperate to curry favor with the new owner of the Sword Diagram.

Liu Wanduo’s lips curled up, prepared to offer a modest deflection.

But then, his body jerked violently.

The smile vanished from his face instantly. He froze, his head twitching, and when he looked up again, the whites of his eyes were rapidly filling with a web of bloody, chaotic veins…