Zhou Kai touched down, his chest heaving, heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.

The power of that Death Mountain Nail was truly catastrophic. Had he not just comprehended the Delusional Dao Cicada Scripture—which, when combined with the Cicada Raiment Art, allowed him to project his cicada shell externally—and layered it with the elusive afterimages of Dragon Roaming the Void, he would be dead. It was that split-second deception, creating a decoy indistinguishable from his true body, that had saved him. Otherwise, he would have been obliterated by that Dharma Treasure right then and there.

Even having survived, the residual aura of destruction that had erupted in that instant was enough to drench his back in cold sweat.

“Weilun!”

In the distance, Fu Hongchang witnessed Fu Weilun being pulverized by Zhou Kai’s hammer. His eyes bulged, capillaries bursting until his vision turned red.

The poisonous mist around him surged violently, crashing against the talisman formation as he roared, his voice hoarse with madness. “You little beast! I’ll send you to hell to keep Weilun company! Senior Brother, why are you still holding back?!”

His desperate howl injected a frantic energy into the enemy ranks.

On Xue Yang’s side, the air filled with the sickening crunch of grinding bone and the wailing of ghosts. Three Yin Corpses and three fierce specters began to melt and twist, their forms losing cohesion. They slammed together, merging into a knot of black Qi so dense it seemed to swallow the light.

BOOM!

A Ghost General, towering thirty zhang high with azure skin and jagged fangs, materialized with a thunderous roar.

It exhaled a visible gale of gray Yin Wind, thick with the stench of rotting corpses and old blood. The smell alone was enough to make one gag. The pressure radiating from this monstrosity was overwhelming—like a mountain collapsing or a tsunami crashing down—actually forcing Li Qiwen’s dragon spear back by several inches.

“Kill Zhou Kai! Seize the inheritance!” Xue Yang screamed.

The battlefield instantly reached a boiling point.

“Courting death!” Li Qiwen snorted, his expression icy. The azure dragon spear in his hands blazed with light. A water dragon roared from the shaft, grappling with the Ghost General. Water elemental energy and ghostly Qi collided, triggering a series of deafening explosions.

Spray flew like shrapnel; corpse gas churned like a storm.

Fish Baibai let out a battle cry. Her war hammer erupted in flames as she batted a Yin Corpse through the air. In the next breath, her momentum shifted. The heavy hammer moved with the fluidity of water, ripples visible in the air, as she smashed toward another cultivator with deceptive agility.

Shen Hanyi was even more efficient. Her sword light cascaded like a waterfall, every strike lethal and precise.

Her movement was ghostly, her blade unforgiving. The two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators fighting her were already struggling. Now, seeing Zhou Kai’s display of dominance, Shen Hanyi’s fighting spirit surged. She abandoned all defense, unleashing a torrent of killing moves.

“Ah!”

One cultivator was a split second too slow. He felt a sudden chill at his throat before his vision spun. He collapsed, his aura extinguished instantly.

The other, terrified out of his wits, turned to flee. But Fish Baibai was waiting. Seizing the opening, she swung her hammer in a brutal lateral arc, smashing into his ribs. The impact shattered bone and sent him staggering.

Shen Hanyi’s eyes were cold. She flickered forward—Long Rainbow Piercing the Sun.

The blade entered his back and punched through his chest. Sword Qi detonated inside his body, shredding his internal organs. He was dead before he hit the ground.

In the blink of an eye, two of the three late-stage enemies had been butchered by the combined might of Shen Hanyi and Fish Baibai.

On the other flank, Chen Yao roared like a beast, eyes glowing crimson. He merged with his Yin Corpse, transforming into a twenty-zhang Bronze Corpse Giant. Possessing boundless strength, he smashed through the talisman formation and locked horns with Li Yunmian.

Li Youci’s ghost body waved the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. A deluge of beast souls poured out, a spectral flood that firmly entangled Fu Hongchang and his five fierce ghosts.

Her main body sat imperiously within the Dark Cloud Soul Chasing Sedan. The sedan blazed with intense fire, the flames relentlessly grinding away Fu Hongchang’s protective poison barrier.

Fu Hongchang was screaming internally. How is Li Youci’s Divine Sense this oppressive? I can’t even circulate my Mana properly!

Pinned down by the aunt-niece duo—Li Yunmian with talismans and Li Youci with fire, one attacking from range and the other suppressing him up close—Chen Yao and Fu Hongchang were stuck in a hopeless stalemate.

Xue Yang cursed them as useless trash in his heart. Although his Ghost General was fierce, Li Qiwen’s spear technique was like a raging river—endless and impenetrable. He couldn’t gain an inch of ground.

“Li Qiwen! Are you really going to fight to the death over a mere Foundation Establishment brat?” Xue Yang shouted.

“And what if I am?” Li Qiwen shook his spear, the water dragon roaring in agreement. “You dare touch my people? Even if the Heavenly King came personally, he would die today!”

Xue Yang grit his teeth in hatred. He knew that continuing this fight would only lead to mutual destruction. He had come here for the Fated Chance, not to throw his life away.

Making up his mind, he signaled the Ghost General. The monstrosity howled mournfully, reaching into its own gullet and pulling out a massive blade condensed from pure resentment.

The Ghost General swung the resentment blade, clashing evenly with the water dragon.

Xue Yang chanted a rapid incantation, and a black pearl materialized in his palm.

“Not good! Youci, watch out!” Li Qiwen cried out in alarm.

“Li Qiwen, the world is small! We will meet again!” Xue Yang screamed. He hurled the black pearl at Li Youci.

Bang!

The pearl detonated, splitting into several bolts of Bone-Corrupting Yin Lightning!

Li Qiwen had no choice. With a furious roar, he pulled his dragon spear back to defend his sister, shattering the lightning bolts mid-air.

Seizing the split-second distraction, Xue Yang grabbed Chen Yao and Fu Hongchang. “Go!”

He crushed a talisman. A blinding light erupted, releasing a violent spatial fluctuation. The three figures blurred and vanished into the void.

Li Qiwen dispersed the remaining arcs of lightning, staring gloomily at the empty space. “You ran fast enough.”

Seeing that Li Youci was unharmed, Zhou Kai let out a long breath. He looked at the devastation around them. “This place… there should be one more technique here.”

“Ahem… excuse me, big shots? I think I… found something?”

A voice, dusty but still trying desperately to sound stylish, drifted over.

Everyone turned to see Gao Feiyang poking his head out from a crack in the rock wall. He dusted off his cape and flourished a thin booklet.

The group stared at him in silence.

Gao Feiyang chuckled awkwardly. “The fight was too intense. A weakling like me would just get in the way, so I looked for a safe spot. Who knew the wall would collapse and reveal a little cave? I thought, ‘Hey, maybe there’s treasure,’ went in for a look, and bam! Jackpot.”

Li Qiwen took the booklet. On the cover were three ancient characters: Cicada Tribulation Art.

Zhou Kai’s eyes lit up. “The inheritance in the stone tablet is the Delusional Dao Cicada Scripture. It’s an auxiliary technique similar to the No Word Scripture, divided into three parts: ‘Cicada Raiment’, ‘Cicada Cry’, and ‘Cicada Tribulation’. However, the core method didn’t explain the specific applications. This Cicada Tribulation Art must be the combat manual corresponding to the Tribulation chapter.”

Hearing this, Li Qiwen nodded and moved to stow the Cicada Tribulation Art into his Storage Bag.

Cough.

A soft, polite cough drifted from the sedan.

Li Youci sat perfectly straight inside, her voice calm and rippleless. The curtain parted slightly, revealing a pair of clear, cold eyes that cast a faint glance at Zhou Kai.

Li Qiwen froze. He sighed internally. My good sister, here we go again.

He helplessly turned the booklet toward his sister, his voice gentle. “Youci, why don’t you examine this Cicada Tribulation Art first?”

Then, he turned to Zhou Kai, projecting his voice so everyone could hear. “Zhou Kai, your contribution to this expedition is the greatest. Once you transcribe the Delusional Dao Cicada Scripture and we confirm its grade, the Li family will grant you a heavy reward.”

The moment the words left his mouth—

Cough, cough.

A slightly louder, very deliberate cough echoed from the sedan.

Li Qiwen rubbed his temples. He glanced at his sister. Her gaze was still cool and detached, yet it held a distinct glimmer of dissatisfaction. He understood immediately.

He cleared his throat, his tone becoming solemn. “Correction. It is I and Youci, after joint discussion, who will ensure you receive a reward… one that will absolutely satisfy you.”

He didn’t stop there. “Furthermore, the blind fools lying dead on the ground were killed by Zhou Kai and his Dao Companion. Their Storage Bags belong to Zhou Kai alone.”

He paused, looking at the now-silent stone tablet. “First, I will retrieve the Dharma Treasure that manifested the great river.”

Li Qiwen’s Aura Pressure erupted. He shook his spear and slashed violently at the massive monolith.

BOOM!

The stone tablet shattered, exposing the deep earth veins beneath and the channel connecting to the surging underground river.

The tablet was not just a carrier for the inheritance; it was the formation eye that sustained the river manifestation.

The moment it broke, a pillar of magnificent light shot up from the depths, turning the underground cavern as bright as noon. Within the light, an object slowly ascended.

It was an ancient scroll painting. Though unfurled, waves of vast, watery intent radiated from it.

Li Qiwen’s eyes flashed. He reached out, and the scroll landed in his palm. Mana surged, and the scroll snapped open, revealing a breathtaking ink-wash landscape of mountains and rivers.

“Collect!”

At his low command, the roaring underground river transformed. It split into countless water dragons, surging into the painting like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea.

Roar! Aow!

As the water vanished, the aquatic beasts that had been swimming in the air suddenly found gravity remembering them. Pili-pala! They rained down from mid-air, smashing into the ground in clouds of dust.

Seeing this, the group immediately went to work, slaughtering the disoriented mobs.

Li Qiwen flew up, heading toward the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core trial grounds to sweep for loot.

While the beasts weren’t individually strong, their numbers were vast. For a while, the cave was filled with flying spells and severed limbs.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Fish Baibai sidled up to Zhou Kai, whispering, “Junior Brother, you were so amazing just now! That Fu Weilun died so miserably! It was great!”

Shen Hanyi walked over, wiping her blade. “It is good that you are unharmed.”

Gao Feiyang was busy boasting to the air about his “discerning eye” and how he “cracked the puzzle” to find the manual, causing Fish Baibai to roll her eyes so hard it looked painful.

Li Yunmian leaned lazily against a boulder, propping her chin on her hand. She stifled a yawn, her voice husky and magnetic. “Tsk, so noisy. I should have just stayed on the boat and slept.”

Despite her words, her eyes tracked Zhou Kai and Li Youci with a faint, knowing smile playing on her lips.

Li Youci remained in her sedan. Her gaze swept over the battlefield with apparent indifference, yet it always seemed to linger on Zhou Kai for a fraction of a second too long.

Once the beasts were cleared, Zhou Kai finally opened Fu Weilun’s Spirit Beast Bag.

Inside was a small nest of Split Back Katydids and the insect eggs he had been coveting.

The moment the adult Katydids flew out, they tried to scatter. But before Zhou Kai could even lift a finger, a wave of pitch-black Netherfire surged from the sedan. It incinerated the poisonous insects instantly—dust to dust—without leaving even a wisp of smoke.

Crucially, the fire moved with surgical precision, leaving the delicate eggs completely unharmed.

Zhou Kai raised an eyebrow, singing praises in his heart. Truly worthy of my future sugar mommy wife. She solves the trouble but leaves the loot. This thoughtfulness… tsk tsk, your husband appreciates it.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Li Qiwen returned. He held only a thin jade slip, looking somewhat disappointed. “The rewards from the other trials were gone. Only this book of pill formulas remained. They are all for feeding Spirit Insects.”

Cough.

Li Qiwen smiled wryly. “Alright, alright, my good sister. Stop coughing, I get it.”

He turned to Zhou Kai. “This book contains several ancient, rare formulas for cultivating special Spirit Insects. I’ve made a copy for the archives. The original is yours. Consider it preventing a pearl from remaining hidden in the dust.”

Zhou Kai took the jade slip, scanning it with his Divine Sense. He didn’t bother hiding his grin. “Thank you for the reward, Young Master.”

Internally, he was screaming: Youci! Keep coughing! Cough his pockets empty!

“That concludes matters here. Let’s move out.” Li Qiwen waved his hand.

The group exited the underground space, returning to the warship anchored at the secret realm entrance.

Zhou Kai had just entered his cabin, ready to settle down and comprehend the profound Delusional Dao Cicada Scripture, when his communication jade token lit up.

Li Youci’s voice drifted out, cool and commanding.

“Zhou Kai. Come here.”