The mountain was collapsing.
As rocks rained down from above, Yu Ci sat with his eyes closed, meditating.
He was seizing every possible moment to recover his strength—and he had regained some, but it wasn’t enough. Earlier, using the Hidden Star Grand Refinement Technique had completely drained his accumulated innate Qi. Now, the energy naturally circulating through his meridians was just ordinary true breath, far inferior in quality. In this state, he could barely even wield the Half-Mountain Mirage Sword Intent.
To compensate, Yu Ci attempted to use his Yin Spirit to activate the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror, hoping to accelerate the refinement and conversion process.
It seemed promising—he could already feel the transformation of energy within his body. But then came the deafening roar of destruction, accompanied by Jin Huan’s booming laughter. Boulders the size of millstones came crashing down like rain.
And then he saw Immortal Chi Yin tumbling down the cliff.
A crushing sense of danger gripped him. Instantly, he pushed off with his legs, using the snow and ice on the slope to slide downward at breakneck speed.
But in the next moment, that fleeting advantage vanished.
The ground beneath him grew hot—scalding!
Yu Ci grunted and, without hesitation, leaped aside.
A split second later, a golden-red tongue of fire erupted from the very spot he had just been, soaring several zhang high. The blistering heat melted the snow and seared the air.
Before he could even feel relief, more fiery tongues burst forth one after another, forming a crisscrossing web of flames that spanned half a li. The intense heat could melt metal and char bone—trees and rocks within the area blackened and withered.
Yet even more terrifying than the flames was the scorching killing intent rolling down from the mountaintop.
Jin Huan had now set his sights on him.
With no room left for hesitation, Yu Ci poured out every last drop of his newly gathered innate Qi. Even without a sword in hand, he became the sword—his body dissolving into an almost intangible mist that slipped between the erupting flames. He even managed to evade a searing blast of energy Jin Huan sent his way from a distance.
But this final effort drained him completely. Worse, the collision with Jin Huan’s true innate Qi as he broke through the fire net left him with internal injuries. The moment he escaped the flames, he lost control of his sword intent and could only glide weakly for several zhang before crashing onto a steep slope. He slid down desperately, the snow beneath him already turning to slush.
Atop the mountain, Jin Huan let out a furious shriek after his failed strike. Ignoring Shi Song, Immortal Chi Yin, and the others, he summoned the Myriad Rays Draping Cloud Pearl, intent on reducing Yu Ci to ashes.
But in the chaos of battle, a missed opportunity was hard to reclaim.
Shi Song and Hu Dan closed in from both sides. The already fractured mountaintop endured another devastating impact, its collapse now imminent. Finally, others snapped into action.
“Jin Huan! You colluded with demons, slaughtered your fellow cultivators—I will not let this stand!”
The thunderous voice of Daoist Yu Chi echoed for miles, reaching every corner of the city. Others might not believe his words, but every cultivator and commoner in Heavenly Wings Pavilion who had suffered under the Void Heart Demon Spider Shadow Curse roared in agreement.
Tu Du’s ruthless massacre had treated human lives as worthless—in mere moments, over a hundred people had died, including more than thirty Enlightened Spirit cultivators.
In the months of conflict between Cliff City and the demons, the total number of dead cultivators hadn’t even reached that figure. And among the dead were many “outsiders” who had traveled far to attend the Treasure Exchange Banquet.
Even the survivors had tasted the agony of the Void Heart Demon Spider Shadow Curse—its soul-draining, demon-inducing torment. The only exceptions were Zhou Youde and Zhao Ziyue.
Rage united the crowd.
In this atmosphere, even those who knew the truth—like Zhao Ziyue and Zhou Youde—couldn’t speak in Jin Huan’s defense. After all, to those in the know, the reputation of the Northern Demon Sect might be even worse than that of the Sky Rift Valley demons…
Daoist Yu Chi had just discovered that one of his most beloved disciples had perished in the pavilion. Furious, he charged up the cliff, howling. His momentum spurred the other Core Refinement cultivators into action.
By the time Yu Ci glanced back mid-slide, the scene had become one of encirclement.
Aside from Zhou Youde and Zhao Ziyue—who had their own reasons for holding back—the four other visiting Core Refinement cultivators joined the assault. Even those who had once been on friendly terms with the Sun Light Sect now turned against it.
Their involvement changed everything.
These cultivators were among the strongest in Cliff City.
Daoist Yu Chi was no weaker than Shi Song, and with righteous fury driving them, their coordinated assault—alongside Shi Song and Hu Dan—was even fiercer than the previous siege on Dan Cliff.
Under such pressure, there was no room for hesitation. Led by Shi Song and the others, they unleashed a barrage of techniques and artifacts.
Seven Core Refinement experts clashed within the cramped space of the mountaintop, their concentrated power warping the very rock. The cliff face split with massive fissures, on the verge of collapsing entirely—but the overwhelming force fields generated by the combatants crushed the fragments into dust before they could fall.
Jin Huan, wielding the Myriad Rays Draping Cloud Pearl, deflected Daoist Yu Chi’s Jade Light Ruler, then endured a direct hit from a golden pellet with his protective innate Qi. His hair was disheveled, blood trickling from his nose and mouth—he was a mess.
In terms of raw power, he was still the strongest present. But against such numbers? Even the finest steel could only forge so many nails.
And worse—high above, Monk Yixin and Lu Mingyue were closing in.
Meanwhile, the sounds of battle from Red Cliff were fading. Without Jin Huan’s support, what little resistance remained would soon be crushed.
Jin Huan strained to look at the sky.
The shimmering waves of light that had once flashed so frequently were now sparse.
Yet the figure he had been waiting for…Still had not appeared.
“Hateful Yu Ci! That ruthless little b*stard struck before the Treasure Exchange Banquet even concluded. If only he had waited half an hour longer—if only the honored guest from Sunset Valley had arrived—the situation would have been entirely different! But now, it was too late for regrets.
“The tide has turned!”
Or perhaps, from the very beginning of this battle, he should never have held any hope.
A piercing shriek erupted from the crumbling mountaintop. The golden flames enveloping Jin Huan darkened in an instant, turning a deep crimson. Though the surrounding temperature dropped and the aura of power diminished, none of the besieging cultivators—all shrewd veterans—let their guard down. If anything, they grew even warier.
Yet some things were beyond the control of mortal will. Before their thoughts could fully form, a molten, fiery substance burst forth, leaving behind a distorted scarlet glow in their vision.
In that moment, three of the six cultivators encircling Jin Huan failed to clearly see what had emerged. Only the Daoist Yu Chi cried out in alarm—his floating jade ruler had been scorched by an unnatural heat, already damaged. It was then that Zhou Youde, observing from the sidelines, shouted:
“Molten Gold Surge!”
The warning came too late. The crimson surge brushed past Shi Song, who stood at the forefront.
Shi Song, being closest to Jin Huan, barely had time to react despite hearing Zhou Youde’s cry. He could only reinforce his protective innate Qi, but before his defenses fully solidified, a terrible sensation pierced from his shoulder straight into his mind.
The leader of the Thousand Spirit Gate froze, only then realizing that his entire left arm—from the shoulder down—along with half his shoulder blade, had vanished into ash. The attack had been so swift that he hadn’t even felt pain.
The crimson glow “devoured” Shi Song’s arm in passing, then surged onward without pause, breaking through the encirclement. There was no doubt—this blazing light was Jin Huan himself. Witnessing such terrifying power, the besieging cultivators felt a chill in their hearts. Those meant to intercept hesitated, and some now recalled the origins of this “Molten Gold Surge.”
The “Molten Gold Surge” was a fearsome technique from Sunset Valley, beyond Sky Rift Valley. Originally, it was used by Void Stepping cultivators who, failing to overcome their tribulation, chose reincarnation via corporeal dissolution. Later, it evolved into a forbidden technique—a mutual annihilation strike. By igniting the heartfire with Core Refinement cultivation, one could enter a state of boiling vitality, merging with the flames of innate Qi and driving it with the Yin Spirit, unleashing power far beyond normal limits for a short time.
In this state, the caster burned their own flesh for strength. Though death was inevitable afterward, the practitioner shed all physical limitations, becoming a flowing torrent of innate Qi and flames—dubbed the “Molten Gold Surge.” Ordinary magical tools and even flying swords could not harm it; instead, they risked being destroyed by its overwhelming heat. It was a technique of unmatched ferocity.
While the cultivators hesitated, the crimson glow broke free of the encirclement, streaking toward the shadowed slope below.
Shi Song, grievously wounded with his left arm turned to ash, paled but still roared: “After him! Immortal Yu is there!”
He shouted at Hu Dan, but his cry snapped everyone to attention. Some immediately gave chase on their artifacts. Yet the speed of the “Molten Gold Surge” was terrifying—in the time it took to speak, the crimson light had already plunged from the cliff, leaving a fiery trail as it shot toward the slope’s midpoint, right above Yu Ci.
The blazing light flooded Yu Ci’s vision, instantly melting the icy slope beneath him into a muddy morass.
Yu Ci’s descent slowed drastically—though even at full speed, he could never have evaded the “Molten Gold Surge.”
Without a word, without pause, the crimson radiance descended. Before it even touched him, Yu Ci’s hair crisped and curled. Soon, his scalp and brain would suffer the same fate.
Then, a mirror rose to meet it.
Its surface reflected the flames, staining the surrounding forest blood-red. But swiftly, the mirror’s luster dimmed, no longer reflecting light—instead, it seemed to devour it. In moments, the mirror turned pitch-black, not from ink, but from an endless void manifesting behind its surface.
The “Molten Gold Surge” slammed into it.
No sound emerged—only a rapidly expanding ring of fire.
Yu Ci, shielded beneath the mirror, was hurled back by the scorching blast, his clothes half-ablaze. He rolled through the slush, extinguishing the flames, but lay motionless, as if dead.
The Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror, having withstood the “Molten Gold Surge,” trembled violently as a second fire ring erupted. Unable to endure further, it was sent flying far into the distance.
Jin Huan’s soul, already scorched by heartfire, could barely form coherent thoughts. With an inhuman shriek, he lunged forward to finish off the fallen Yu Ci.
But then, a melodious, magnetic voice pierced directly into his consciousness:
“Do not overstep your bounds!”
As the words faded, the scorching heat of the slope vanished, washed away in an instant.
A figure drifted down, cold energy condensing—from nothingness to form, from illusion to reality—until a glacial light sliced cleanly through the crimson “Molten Gold Surge.”
Deep within the void, an all-seeing gaze seemed to glance sideways.
Divine might as sharp as a blade!”