Shen Xian flicked his wrist, and the frost patterns on the Traceless Sword ignited.

As the blade sliced through the air, fine ice crystals formed in its wake. A crescent-shaped sword qi, three zhang wide, shot forward, freezing the rocks along its path into spiderweb-like cracks.

Just as the sword qi was about to strike the fire phoenix—

“Heaven Fire Rotation!”

Nine Red Flame Lotus Platforms began rotating along specific trajectories.

Each platform shot out nine fiery threads, intertwining in the air to form a fire net as intricate as interlocking gears.

The sword qi slashed into the net, its force dispersing throughout the array system like a blade cleaving through layers of dense cotton.

Hiss—

Amidst billowing steam, the sword qi was ground down into nothingness.

Even more astonishingly, the fire net contracted and rebounded. It transformed the melted ice water into scalding arrows that shot back with explosive speed!

Shen Xian’s pupils constricted.

The Void Rope spun rapidly before him, forming a shimmering silver disc.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

A series of crisp sounds rang out. Most of the water arrows were blocked, but a few droplets pierced his defense, searing several red spots onto his chest.

The top-grade treasure, the Profound Heaven Golden Silk Armor, now felt as fragile as thin paper.

“What an exquisite method of dispersing force…” Shen Xian narrowed his eyes.

He could clearly see the spiritual power flowing within each fiery thread, interconnected like the meridians of a human body.

Su Mei sneered. “A mere rogue cultivator dares to—”

Before she could finish, Shen Xian changed tactics.

The Void Rope shot out like a silver serpent. However, instead of attacking Su Mei, it wrapped around a massive boulder at the cliff’s edge.

“Up!”

With a powerful tug, the thousand-jin boulder hurtled towards the Li Fire Sect disciples.

Seizing the moment they dodged, Shen Xian shot backward, putting another hundred zhang of distance between them in an instant.

“Shameless!” Su Mei’s face paled with fury.

She never expected this swordsman, who had been so imposing just moments ago, to turn tail and run without a second thought!

The nine lotus platforms bloomed with fiery light once more, giving chase relentlessly.

Shen Xian darted between jagged mountain rocks, keeping the corner of his eye locked on the pursuit behind him.

He noticed that whenever he accelerated, three spiral-shaped fire patterns appeared on the bottom of the central lotus platform. The other eight platforms would immediately adjust their positions to match.

“So, the array’s core is there…”

In a flash of insight, he came to an abrupt stop.

His right hand formed a seal, and the Nine-Revolutions Exquisite Needle silently slid from his hair. This golden needle, fine as a strand of silk, spun once on his fingertip before transforming into nine streaks of golden light.

“Break!”

The golden needles shot with pinpoint accuracy towards the spiritual power nodes at the bottom of each lotus platform. The Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl at the tail of the needles blazed with light.

The fiery threads connecting the lotus platforms hissed and sputtered, severed by the needle’s innate power to break restrictions.

“Watch out for hidden weapons!” Su Mei cried out urgently, but it was too late.

The two lotus platforms on the far right lost balance first, causing the disciples atop them to sway unsteadily.

Shen Xian seized this fleeting opening.

Nine cyan jade talismans flew from his sleeve—precisely the items his “brother” Shen Xing had gifted him before he entered the ruins.

“Heavenly Prison Spirit Lock, activate!”

The talismans exploded mid-air, transforming into nine chains of cyan light that lashed towards the lotus platforms.

Seven were dodged, but the two outermost chains ensnared the destabilized platforms.

With a fierce tug, two Li Fire Sect disciples screamed as they plummeted from mid-air, creating a massive gap in the grand array.

Just as Shen Xian was about to press his advantage, the remaining seven lotus platforms suddenly contracted, transforming into seven fiery threads that wove together into a tighter net.

Blazing heat rushed towards his face, forcing him to retreat once more.

“Quick reaction,” he remarked, wiping sweat from his temple.

Over half of his spiritual power was already depleted. Individually, these Li Fire Sect disciples were nothing to fear, but their speed in adapting the array far exceeded his expectations.

Su Mei trembled with rage. “Form the Heaven and Earth Net Array! Today, we must—”

Before she could finish her threat, Shen Xian turned and fled again.

This time, he deliberately chose narrow rock crevices to slip through, forcing the lotus platforms to scatter in pursuit.

“Bastard!” Su Mei nearly ground her teeth to dust.

Every time she thought they had him cornered, he would suddenly change direction. The moment they reformed their formation, he would turn back to launch a sneak attack.

It was like leading a swarm of headless flies on a wild chase.

The most infuriating part was that the treasures in this scoundrel’s hands were utterly bizarre. Every sneak attack targeted the weak points of their array. While it was difficult to damage the core, three disciples had already been shaken off their platforms.

“Senior Sister…” one disciple said, his face pale. “We only have six Red Flame Lotus Platforms left.”

Su Mei looked at the distant figure standing on a boulder, panting. She suddenly felt an absurd sensation—as if they were the ones being hunted.

“Keep chasing!” she squeezed the words out from between her teeth. “We’ll wear him down if we have to!”

The Godfiend Battlefield stretched out, a desolate expanse.

The two groups flickered across the landscape, one in front, one behind.

Just as the pursuers were about to close in, Shen Xian came to a stop on a boulder, turning to face the approaching Su Mei.

He noticed fine cracks had appeared on Su Mei’s Red Flame Lotus Platform. The spiritual power of the other five Golden Core cultivators was also rapidly depleting.

“It’s time.”

The Flawless Golden Core within Shen Xian’s body erupted with blinding golden light.

Spiritual energy within a ten-zhang radius surged inward, forming a visible vortex of power around him.

“How is this possible?!” Su Mei’s pupils contracted violently.

She frantically formed hand seals. The six Red Flame Lotus Platforms hastily formed their array.

But the disciples, exhausted from the prolonged chase, were already running on fumes. The fiery threads were nearly half as thin as before.

The barely-formed fire net, upon touching the frosty sword intent, began to melt away with a hiss, like thin ice meeting a red-hot iron.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Xian struck instantly!

The sword intent, condensed with seventy percent of his spiritual power and amplified by the Heavenly Abyss Snow Illumination Sword Scripture, erupted with terrifying might.

Where the sword’s edge pointed, even the air condensed into fine ice crystals.

Whoosh—

The sword light descended with unstoppable force, tearing through the opponent’s teetering array and shooting straight towards Su Mei.

Su Mei hastily summoned her life-bound fire talisman. Nine fire dragons instantly returned to defend, weaving into a wall of flame before her.

Yet that frost-white sword light passed through the fire wall as if it were nothing, heading straight for her throat.

“No…”

Her eyes widened in terror as she instinctively twisted her body to dodge.

But the sword light was too fast. Too fast for her to even form a hand seal.

Thud!

The muffled sound of steel piercing flesh exploded in her ears.

Su Mei looked down. The Traceless Sword had already pierced through her abdomen.

The icy sword qi instantly froze her dantian, congealing even her blood into ice.

Just as this fatal blow was about to extinguish her life force—

Hiss!

The crimson serpent coiled around Su Mei’s wrist suddenly erupted. Purple flames blazed in its eyes as it used its own body to block the subsequent sword qi.

Simultaneously, one of the Li Fire Sect disciples spat out a mouthful of essence blood, activating a secret technique.

“Blood Flame Escape!”

Boom!

A sky full of blood-colored flames exploded, briefly obstructing Shen Xian’s sword momentum.

When the blood flames dissipated, Su Mei could be seen being supported by two disciples as they fled in panic, her face as pale as paper.

The third-tier spirit beast had already turned into an ice sculpture.

The two remaining disciples, wearing ferocious expressions, charged forward to cover their retreat.

“Trying to leave?”

A cold glint flashed in Shen Xian’s eyes. The Traceless Sword swept horizontally, sending two frost-white sword qi streaks through the air.

Thud! Thud!

The two disciples covering the retreat were instantly cut in half at the waist. However, their Golden Cores self-detonated just before death.

Shen Xian’s figure retreated rapidly.

He saw the last disciple activate a crimson talisman. As the talisman paper burned, it transformed into a giant flaming hand that swept Su Mei and the others into the void.

His gaze sharpened.

The Void Rope on his left arm shot out like a silver serpent, but it only managed to snatch a crimson storage pouch from the waist of one disciple, failing to capture the people.

“A pity…” Shen Xian stared in the direction they had fled. “If I pursued further, perhaps I could have wiped them all out, but…”

He looked down at the burns on his chest from the fire net and felt the spiritual power within him—only thirty percent remained.

The Godfiend Battlefield was fraught with danger. With his spiritual power depleted, encountering other powerful enemies now would only allow others to reap the benefits.

Weighing the pros and cons, Shen Xian sheathed the Traceless Sword and collected the fallen storage pouches.

“Enough. Su Mei’s dantian was severely damaged by my sword qi; her path to immortality is severed.”

“Taking advantage of the situation like this can also be considered removing a major threat for Zhaoli.”

He lightly tapped the ice sculpture that was once the crimson serpent. A fiery red crystal core flew out from within the spirit beast’s body.

A third-tier fire-attribute demon core—a rather unexpected harvest.

“The urgent matter now is to find a safe place to recover.”

Shen Xian’s eyes scanned the battlefield, now a chaotic mess of debris and destruction. Satisfied that nothing of value remained, he didn’t hesitate.

With a burst of energy, he transformed into a streak of light and darted away, heading in the opposite direction from the Li Fire Sect remnants.