“Wang! Hand over the Huishen Sanqing Longkui. Do that, and I’ll spare your life.”

At the foot of the peak, wind hissed like a blade against stone.

A knot of Heavenly Ascent Sect disciples, led by Boundless Peak’s Zhao Zhan and Li Qian, ringed four from Guzhen Sect. Zhao Zhan’s Golden Core aura rolled like a tide, and the Guzhen disciples froze like deer in frost.

Trapped in the center, Wang Zhu bled from a dozen gashes. Fear rose first, then stubborn heat held his spine straight. He clutched the Huishen Sanqing Longkui in one hand, and shielded his juniors with the other, his smile sharp as broken jade. “Spare me? Your sect reneged once already. You think I’ll swallow the hook twice?”

“We’re not some lofty great sect,” he said, voice cold as sleet. “But we’ve got backbone. If you want the Huishen Sanqing Longkui, come take it. I’ll tear the net even if the fish dies.”

“Stubborn to the grave. Then die.”

Zhao Zhan’s words fell like iron, and his Golden Core might arced like a rainbow. Behind him, blades flashed as disciples drew steel and charged, greed burning like oil on water.

Whoosh—

A streak of black light cut across Wang Zhu’s front. The lead Boundless Peak disciples hit an invisible gale and flew like leaves; the ground cracked in a jagged web, and a winter chill crept over the crowd.

“Peak Lord, look! What is that—” Li Qian’s eyes snagged on a black shadow half-buried in dust. The shadow twitched, and in a blink it was at his face.

Smack!

A dull impact dropped with his scream. Zhao Zhan hadn’t even felt Nana Toki’s aura before Li Qian was swatted away by a colossal axe, blood spraying like rain.

“Azure An! You!” Zhao Zhan saw that familiar face, and fury flared like a prairie fire. This woman had crippled his disciples’ foundations, then left him half-dead. If not for his master’s skilled hand and a basket of pills, he’d still be flattened on a sect bed. How dare she strut in front of him now?

“Tsk. Why scream? I’m not deaf.” Azure An lounged with a Black Great Axe on her shoulder, standing before the Guzhen disciples as if in a street corner breeze. “Boundless Peak, bold bunch. You sic a Nascent Soul beast on Du Fei Yu, then loot other sects. Not afraid the Sect Master will string you up when this leaks?”

She swept the ring of faces, eyes cool as a lake. No sign of Tianqi Yu. Huh. A perfect treasure-scramble and the Protagonist Lord is missing? Where’d he run off to?

“Enough, Azure An! You still owe me for knocking me out. Now you meddle in my peak’s trial. What do you want?” Anger hit first, then power surged. Zhao Zhan’s Golden Core pressure climbed like a storm wall. “No good reason, no exit. Not one step.”

He dared draw the Longarm Demon Ape to Du Fei Yu because that man wore defenses like armor under armor. If Du Fei Yu ran, even a third-stage Nascent Soul Longarm Demon Ape couldn’t pin him quick.

“Oh? You talk like a reason would make you let me go.” Azure An’s smile curled, moon-slice bright and somehow chilling. “I was passing through. Saw you robbing treasure. Thought I’d join. Peak Lord Zhao, mind if I cut in?”

“Heh. Depends if you’re strong enough to cut in.”

His blade flashed out, a crystal-clear sword that breathed a vast spiritual wind. He lunged, sword-tip howling like a hawk. Azure An lifted the axe with a wolfish grin and met him head-on, no frills, just iron and intent.

That sword was a safeguard from his master, the Heavenly Ascent Sect’s Third Elder. A rare treasure, it sang with power. Paired with Zhao Zhan’s first-stage Golden Core, it could cross realms to kill.

Yet her Black Great Axe was strange. No Spirit Energy ripple, no glow. Steel met steel, and neither gave ground; a faint pressure pressed him back, like a deep current under calm water.

“So yeah, killing a Golden Core with Foundation Establishment alone isn’t easy.” The thought flickered, but her strikes didn’t slow. Zhao Zhan’s face darkened to iron-blue; losing to Foundation Establishment, again, tasted like ash.

“What are you waiting for? All of you, go!”

His Golden Core pressure cracked like thunder. Disciples jolted awake, lifted weapons, and rushed in like a wave.

It made her laugh. She was holding even with a Golden Core across five small steps. What made these non–Golden Core gnats think numbers would matter?

She twisted her wrist, stamped forward, and swung wide. The Black Great Axe carved the air like a falling gate. The charging disciples couldn’t even cross two meters; they flew back like straw and thudded into the earth.

“So you did get your hands on a fine treasure.” Zhao Zhan’s gaze sharpened, a rare fervor flaring in his eyes. That axe wasn’t mortal craft. He could feel it like a drumbeat in his bones.

“This axe? Mm, it’s very nice,” Azure An said, voice thin and cold as a knife’s edge. “Want to try getting cleaved by it?” The blade came down in a tyrant arc for his head. His crystal sword rode his Golden Core might, yet still he staggered back more than a dozen steps, heels grinding furrows in the dirt.

“Hey, you over there. Want a deal?” Azure An used the breath between strikes to snap a question at the four Guzhen disciples. “You give me the Huishen Sanqing Longkui. I get you out. I’ll toss in an opportunity.”

Wang Zhu didn’t answer at once. Caution rose first, then a cool clarity settled. He had watched enough to tell this Azure An was their enemy’s enemy, and the grudge ran deep. Better the herb land in a rival’s hands than those looters’.

“Fine. Get us out, and the Huishen Sanqing Longkui is yours.” He pushed the herb forward, fingers steady as a nail.

“Straightforward. I like it.” Azure An took the Huishen Sanqing Longkui, and for once, warmth touched her smile, quick as sunlight on steel.

“Azure An! You dare!” Zhao Zhan’s eyes reddened; power flooded his sword like a river into a sluice.

“What wouldn’t I dare? It’s in my hand now. Come take it.” She flicked the axe up, and steel slammed into crystal.

Boom— Sparks burst like a firework, bright enough to sting the eye.

Her arms sank. The axe felt like it bore a small mountain, crushing the breath from her chest for a heartbeat. Damn. Overplayed it. He’s set on a death match.

“Break!” Zhao Zhan roared. His Golden Core might spiked like a geyser; Spirit Energy surged from his core and poured into the sword.

He had nothing else to use. To stop this woman here, he had to wager everything.

Boom—

Spirit Energy filled the blade. Sword-qi swept out like a hurricane. A nearby hill shuddered as if waking.

“...Damn.” Azure An’s heart dipped, cold and sharp. Can’t win that head-on. The shockwave threw her, and she tumbled, hit earth hard, then clawed up, face sour as bitter tea. If she could, she’d twist his head off right now.

“Forget it. Time’s about right. We’re pulling out.” She whipped five Amber Talismans from her sleeve and slapped them onto herself and the four Guzhen disciples.

The next heartbeat, a savage demonic aura punched up from the mountain’s foot, spearing the sky like a black pillar.