Shen Xian transformed into a streak of azure light, a silent meteor cutting through the sky toward the distorted, grayish-black horizon. As he closed the distance, the ambient Spiritual Qi grew volatile and jagged. The very air tasted of copper and ancient decay, thick enough to coat the tongue.

When he reached the precipice of the God Burial Valley, he pulled up short, his [Profound Heaven Azure Cloud Robe] snapping in the turbulent wind.

“This is no valley,” he murmured, narrow-eyed.

Before him lay a wound in reality itself—a spatial rift torn open by some primeval, unthinkable force. Gray-black mists churned at the jagged edges of the fracture, offering glimpses into a kaleidoscopic nightmare. In one pocket of the rift, a lush meadow bloomed under a pale sun; in the next, shattered mountain peaks hung suspended and inverted like teeth in a predator’s maw. The geometry was wrong, twisted into shapes that defied the natural order.

Shen Xian carefully extended his Soul Formation Divine Sense into the haze. The feedback was chilling. The rift was layered: the outer periphery was chaotic but navigable, yet the inner core was a void of absolute darkness. Any thread of his consciousness that strayed too close was instantly devoured by the gloom.

He unfurled Lin Lang’s map. The “Dragon Transformation Pool” was marked within a relatively stable spatial fragment on the edge of the outer layer.

“Let the exploration begin.”

Shen Xian put away the map. A faint shimmer of silver light rippled across his shoulders as the [Taixu Rope] sensed the instability and automatically wove a spatial barrier around him.

Stepping into the rift was like walking into a whirlpool. The world spun, gravity yanking at his center until he adjusted his gait. He found himself standing on the surface of a mirror-still lake, while above him, ancient trees grew horizontally out of the void and inverted peaks loomed like stalactites.

He proceeded with cold precision. Along the way, he encountered horrors born of the rift—silver fish that flickered in and out of existence, and swarms of obsidian beetles that hummed as they gnawed on the very fabric of space. One predatory plant, a mass of snapping vines and wet maws, lunged from a floating isle; Shen Xian didn’t even slow down, the [Wuchen Sword] carving it into a dozen pieces with a single, casual thought.

Two hours in, a violent surge of essence erupted from a dense thicket ahead.

Shen Xian masked his aura and glided forward. In a clearing, three Divine Wood Sect disciples—a girl in a green dress and two young men—were locked in a desperate struggle. They had formed a triangular [Azure Light Formation], trying to suppress a Jade Water Dragon Rhinoceros.

The beast was a mountain of muscle and armor, its single horn pulsing with a lethal, cerulean radiance.

“Lock the formation! Do not let it break the line!” the girl, Liu Qingxu, shouted. Her hands moved in a blur, weaving jade-colored seals in the air.

The two men poured their spiritual power into the chains, binding the beast’s massive hind legs. But the Dragon Rhinoceros let out a roar that shook the very lake beneath them. Its horn erupted in a blinding azure flare, shattering the chains like brittle glass.

With a thunderous stomp of its six legs, the beast charged.

“Scatter! Move!”

The disciples dove for cover, but the beast’s path took it straight toward the thicket where Shen Xian stood. Liu Qingxu’s eyes went wide. Seeing a “stranger” in the beast’s path, she didn’t flee. Instead, she bit her lip and dove back into the fray, her jade hand waving to summon a cyan shield between Shen Xian and the charging monster.

Boom!

The impact was cataclysmic. The shield disintegrated into a thousand shards. Liu Qingxu was tossed through the air like a ragdoll, her dress torn and blood trickling from her lips.

“Junior Sister Liu!” the men cried, but they were too far.

The beast, sensing blood, lowered its head. Its horn glowed as water vapor condensed into jagged, crystalline ice spikes. It intended to finish her.

Slash.

A line of snow-white light divided the forest.

The [Wuchen Sword] hissed through the air. With a sickening crunch, the priceless, azure horn was severed cleanly from the beast’s head. The Dragon Rhinoceros bellowed in agony, but as it turned to flee, a wall of white, primordial flame roared up from the earth.

Extinguish.

The [Sky-Burning Cauldron] manifested in the air, its mouth erupting with True Fire. In a heartbeat, the beast was reduced to a pile of fine white ash. Only a single, glowing blue inner dan remained, floating gently in the heat.

Shen Xian caught the pill and turned to the girl on the ground. He held out the jagged shards of her broken shield. “Your property, I believe.”

Liu Qingxu could only stare. She looked at the mysterious, masked man, then at the spot where a high-tier demon beast had existed seconds ago. Behind her, the two men approached with trembling steps, their eyes filled with a mix of terror and reverence.

“Lofty… Lofty Senior,” Liu Qingxu stammered, cupping her hands. “I am Liu Qingxu of the Divine Wood Sect. We owe you our lives.”

Shen Xian tucked the dan into his sleeve. “A name is a burden I do not carry.”

Liu Qingxu bowed her head, not daring to pry. “Is Senior headed for the Dragon Transformation Pool?” she asked. “This path leads nowhere else.”

Shen Xian gave a non-committal hum.

“Senior, please do not think us presumptuous,” she added quickly. “We are here on the Sect Master’s orders to collect [Azure Spirit True Water]. It is a vital resource for our spirit plants. However, the pool is guarded by a Golden-Winged Thunder Roc—a nightmare that has claimed the lives of three Golden Core elders.”

Shen Xian’s interest piqued. Azure Spirit True Water? If it could help spirit plants break through bottlenecks, it might be the key to maturing his [Purple Cloud Mushrooms] ahead of schedule.

“I have business there,” Shen Xian said.

“Then please, let us assist you,” she pleaded. “We intended to use the Rhino’s dan to lure the beast away. We only ask for a small portion of the water in exchange for our guidance.”

Shen Xian looked at his fellow disciples. They were naive, but Liu Qingxu’s willingness to shield a stranger spoke of a rare integrity. “Lead the way.”

They navigated the twisting rifts until the air began to crackle with ozone. Ahead, a stone platform stood within a deluge of golden lightning. On the altar sat a jade slip—the [Spirit Beast Ascending Dragon Art].

SKREE!

A golden bolt descended from the heavens. A Golden-Winged Thunder Roc, its wingspan stretching ten zhang across, landed on the platform. Its feathers were polished gold, and its eyes burned with sentient malice.

“More worms seeking a grave?” the Roc hissed, its voice a rolling peal of thunder.

“I am merely here to borrow a scroll,” Shen Xian said, stepping forward.

“Arrogant!” the Roc shrieked. It beat its wings, sending a torrential rain of golden bolts crashing down.

Shen Xian didn’t flinch. The [Taixu Rope] expanded into a silver dome, the lightning sliding off the spatial barrier like water. He pointed a finger. Nine streaks of sword-light lanced toward the Roc’s eyes.

The beast was fast—a golden blur that evaded the strike and countered with a pillar of lightning as thick as a temple column.

Bang!

Shen Xian slid back, his sleeve slightly scorched. Speed was the beast’s greatest weapon. He narrowed his eyes. “Enough games.”

He summoned the [Mountain-Suppressing Chaos Bell].

Suppress!

An earth-yellow dragon spirit spiraled from the bell. Within a ten-li radius, the very flow of the world’s essence ground to a halt. The Thunder Roc let out a startled squawk as its wings grew heavy, its god-like speed anchored by the weight of a thousand mountains.

Shen Xian raised his left hand, the [Taixu Rope] coiling like a viper, ready to bind the beast as a mount. But the Roc was cunning; it let out a shrill cry, shedding three of its golden primary feathers in a burst of blinding light. It used the sacrifice of its vital essence to slip through the spatial net, fleeing into the void as a diminished golden streak.

“Clever bird,” Shen Xian sighed. He didn’t chase. A beast that sacrificed its cultivation to flee wasn’t worth the effort.

He walked to the altar and claimed the jade slip. A quick sweep of his Divine Sense confirmed the technique: nine levels of bloodline purification, capable of turning a beast into a dragon.

He then turned to the pool of [Azure Spirit True Water]. He collected the lion’s share, but as promised, he left a generous amount for the three stunned disciples.

Liu Qingxu watched him vanish into the mists, her heart pounding. “Truly,” she whispered, “a lofty Senior among men.”