Zhi Xuan let out a cold snort. In an instant, a grey essence enveloped him, and he faded away like a shadow merging with his surroundings. The poisonous needles of light pierced the spot where he had just stood, but they only passed through empty air, leaving behind grey trails like incense smoke drifting in the wind.

  SRAAAKK—!

  The two Purple Shadow Spiders lunged into the void, their dagger-like legs clashing against each other and creating sparks in the toxin-saturated air. Zhi Xuan reappeared high in the sky. In his hand, a black hole began to form, carrying a weight filled with an irresistible gravitational pull, causing the frozen swamp water to melt and churn once more.

  "Eternal Star: Heaven Swallower," Zhi Xuan hissed.

  The small black hole in Zhi Xuan's palm spun at a speed that defied mortal logic, sucking in light, purple mist, and even the surrounding sound until it created a suffocating silence. The air warped, forcibly pulled into a void that carried the infinite weight of the Heavenly Wheel of Samsara.

  Zhi Xuan moved his arm gracefully, as if placing a chess piece upon the board of destiny. "Perish," he said flatly.

  The black point shot downward—not with the speed of lightning, but with the absolute certainty of inevitable death. The Sky-Crust Turtle roared in panic, its ten-thousand-year-old instincts screaming of a danger it had never felt before. It withdrew its head into its crystal shell, while the two Purple Shadow Spiders attempted to leap away with their shadowy speed.

  However, the pressure of the Eternal Star knew no mercy. As the black hole touched the turtle's crystal shell, there was no sound of impact. Instead, space at that point began to pucker like crumpled paper. The crystal shell, as hard as celestial metal, cracked and was sucked inward, while the two nearby spiders thrashed in the air, their sharp legs snapping as their bodies were forcibly dragged toward the center of the grey vortex. Then, in the blink of an eye—

  BOOOOM—!!!

  The explosion did not emit a bright light, but rather a shockwave of dense grey that slammed into the atmosphere with a force capable of toppling mountains. The entire Heart of the Swamp seemed to be lifted toward the heavens. Black swamp water, poisonous mud, and ancient trees exploded into a blanket of dust instantly.

  A violent spiritual wave rippled outward like an invisible ocean. For several miles, giant mangrove trees fell in unison as if they were mere blades of grass struck by a storm. The ground shook violently, sending seismic ripples through the West Swamp Forest, causing beast-birds to take flight in a frantic panic.

  Zhi Xuan remained hovering in the sky, his robes fluttering wildly as he withstood the blast of his own explosion. Below, a giant crater had formed, leaving behind a smoking basin and a pungent metallic stench. From the center of the crater, which was now slowly being refilled by murky swamp water, three orbs of light—soul cores larger and brighter than any before—floated upward.

  "Five... no, six soul cores," Zhi Xuan murmured, catching the glowing orbs. "And one of them is exceptionally ancient. The Sacred Pavilion will be quite surprised when they see what I've brought back."

  Zhi Xuan swept his gaze over the churning crater. Amidst the rising steam, he saw the half-destroyed carcass of the Sky-Crust Turtle, leaving behind chunks of purple crystal that still pulsed with a thick essence of poison. Without hesitation, he moved his sleeve, collecting the remains of these valuable materials into his storage bag.

  "Seven hundred Heavenly Jade is only the beginning," Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice traveling coldly through the ruins of the now-silent forest. "With the addition of this soul core that has touched the limit of the Crimson Lotus, they will have no reason to hold back my progress any longer."

  Zhi Xuan stood in the middle of the destruction he had wrought, letting the silence of the Heart of the Swamp envelop him. However, the peace did not last. From behind the purple mist, which was beginning to fade due to the Eternal Star’s explosion, a beam of golden light as sharp as a dawn sword cleaved the air, bringing a heat that scorched the remaining cold vapor.

  "Gu Fengyan! Is this the result of your arrogance?!"

  A flying carriage pulled by four Sun-Fire Horses landed roughly at the edge of the crater. Yang Jin stepped out, his handsome face now distorted by a combination of envy and rage. In his hand, he held a mirror that emitted a blinding glow of pure fire—the Eternal Sun Mirror.

  Zhi Xuan did not turn around. He only glanced through the corner of his sapphire eyes, watching Yang Jin's reflection in the surface of the settling swamp water. "You arrived faster than I imagined, Young Master Yang. Is your solar fire so impatient to become ash in this place?"

  "Stop boasting!" Yang Jin screamed, raising the Eternal Sun Mirror high. "I have watched you since you entered this swamp. You are indeed strong, but that explosion must have drained half of your internal essence. You are nothing more than a paper tiger trying to scare a dragon!"

  Behind Yang Jin, the clan guards stood hesitantly, but the presence of an Immortal Treasure in their master's hand gave them a false sense of courage. They saw the giant crater before them and knew that the creatures Zhi Xuan had slaughtered were no ordinary opponents.

  "Hand over those soul cores, Gu Fengyan!" Yang Jin continued, his voice trembling with greed. "That Sky-Crust Turtle soul core has belonged to our East Sun Clan for a long time. You are merely a thief passing through. Surrender it now, or let this Mirror purify your soul!"

  Zhi Xuan slowly turned his body. His long, dark purple hair swayed gently, creating a chilling contrast against the backdrop of the ruined swamp. He looked at the Eternal Sun Mirror with a dismissive gaze, as if that high-level relic were merely a child's toy.

  "Purify my soul?" Zhi Xuan stepped forward, each footstep in the air creating grey ripples that extinguished the fiery aura trying to approach. "Even the real sun must hide when night falls. You think a piece of rusted metal can change the laws of my night?"

  Ruo Xianxue laughed hoarsely within his Sea of Consciousness. "Zhi Xuan, this brat truly doesn't know how to write the word 'death'. Shall we give him a lesson on what it feels like to see the sun set forever?"

  Zhi Xuan did not answer Ruo, but his killing intent, which he had momentarily suppressed, began to seep out like an invisible poison. "Young Master Yang, I am giving you one last chance. Leave my sight before the fifth bell tolls, or I will ensure that this Mirror becomes a tombstone for your entire clan in this place."

  Yang Jin gnashed his teeth; his sky-high pride could not accept such an insult in front of his guards. "Impudent! Feel the wrath of the Eternal Sun!"

  He channeled all of his fire essence into the mirror. Instantly, the mirror's surface churned, letting out a roar like a fire dragon awakening from a long slumber. A beam of solar light, incredibly hot and dense, shot out, cleaving the atmosphere and turning the swamp water into steam instantly.

  "I had no intention of provoking a quarrel," Zhi Xuan hissed coldly. "You come from a clan, and I hate it when the big rats of your clan come to bother me."

  Zhi Xuan remained standing still, his right hand reaching for the hilt of the Heavenly Sword, still wrapped in white cloth. He did not draw the blade. Instead, he simply swung the wrapped sword in one lazy, straight motion.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The heatwave from the Eternal Sun Mirror surged forward at a speed capable of melting celestial metal, but when the light was only a hair's breadth from Zhi Xuan's face, the swing of the cloth-wrapped Heavenly Sword cut the beam. There was no sound of clashing metal, only the sound of heavy air tearing, like the veil of heaven being forced open.

  BLAARRR!

  The pure solar light was split into two parts, flowing past the sides of Zhi Xuan's body and hitting the forest behind him, creating two paths of a blazing sea of fire. Zhi Xuan stood in the center of the blaze, his tall figure untouched by a single spark, as if the cold he radiated was a forbidden zone for the element of heat.

  "W-what?!" Yang Jin's eyes widened until they almost popped out of their sockets. The hand holding the ancestral relic trembled violently. "You split the attack of the Eternal Sun Mirror... with a sword that is still sheathed?!"

  "A weapon is merely an extension of understanding," Zhi Xuan said, his voice traveling low amidst the sound of crackling wood. "Your mirror is indeed an Immortal Treasure, but your soul is too small to be a vessel for such a great light. You are not using this relic; you are being enslaved by it."

  Zhi Xuan flickered and became a creeping shadow, reappearing beside Yang Jin's flying horses. He spun his body, swinging one leg in a sharp arc before kicking with concentrated spiritual energy. In an instant, the impact did not crush the flying carriage, but the collision between the protective formation and Zhi Xuan's spiritual energy hurled the carriage toward the Holy City.

  The flying carriage, pulled by the four Sun-Fire Horses, was tossed like a dry leaf caught in a storm. The screams of Yang Jin’s guards were drowned out by the roar of the wind as the carriage streaked across the horizon, leaving a trail of white vapor in the dense swamp air. Zhi Xuan stood tall, his sapphire eyes staring coldly toward the Holy City, as if he had just thrown away trash blocking his path.

  "A fragile bloodline," Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice like the cracking of ice on an eternal mountain peak. "Carrying a great clan name, yet his soul weighs no more than a grain of dust."

  Ruo Xianxue chuckled within his mind, her tone full of cynical satisfaction. "You are too soft, Zhi Xuan. If it were me, I would have ensured their fire was extinguished forever in this mud. But your action just now... throwing them back to the gates of the Holy City in front of all the other practitioners, that is an insult more painful than death for someone like Yang Jin."

  Zhi Xuan did not respond. He regained control over his inner self, dampening the surge of essence from the Eternal Star still pulsing in his veins. He glanced toward his storage bag; six soul cores pulsed with a rich glow, a result that far exceeded the mission requirements.

  "The fifth bell is just about to toll," Zhi Xuan hissed, looking at the position of the sun starting to lean westward. "There is still time to wash this robe of the fishy smell before I go back to see her."

  With a stomp of his foot, Zhi Xuan streaked back toward the Holy City. This time, he did not hide his aura. The mental pressure he released made the beasts in the West Swamp Forest cower at the bottom of their dens, letting the sovereign from the South pass like a god of death in a hurry.

  Meanwhile, at the main gate of the Holy City, chaos erupted as a large, smoldering object fell from the sky and hit the marble plaza with a deafening thud. Marble dust billowed high, revealing the shattered remains of the East Sun Clan’s flying carriage.

  Yang Jin crawled out of the wreckage, his golden robes torn and his face covered in dust. His Eternal Sun Mirror glowed brightly before entering his body, seemingly vibrating after its clash with Zhi Xuan's will. Practitioners gathered at the gate immediately swarmed the scene with looks of utter disbelief.

  "Isn't that Young Master Yang? Didn't he just go after the Southern Devil?"

  "Look at the carriage... it wasn't destroyed by a sword slash, but thrown dozens of miles with a single strike!"

  "Who is capable of this? Has an ancient beast awakened in the swamp?"

  Yang Jin gnashed his teeth, trying to stand even though his knees trembled violently. The shame he felt burned far more than his own essence fire. "Gu... Gu Fengyan..." he whispered hoarsely, his eyes filled with a fear that was now beginning to overtake his anger.

  Just as the name was spoken, a black shadow glided from the direction of the forest, landing with terrifying grace before the crowd. Zhi Xuan stood there, his black-and-white robes clean without a single speck of mud, though the scent of death still clung strongly to the white cloth wrapping the Heavenly Sword on his back.

  The crowd instantly parted, creating a silent path filled only by the sound of Zhi Xuan's footsteps on the marble. He walked past Yang Jin without a single glance, as if the heir of a great clan were nothing more than a worthless road stone.

  Zhi Xuan continued toward the Jade Altar where the Elders of the Sacred Pavilion Heavenly Leaf were still waiting. The female Elder with the high bun stood up, her eyes widening at the calm on Zhi Xuan’s face.

  "You... you have returned?" the Elder asked in a voice of disbelief. "The fifth bell hasn't even finished echoing. Where are the five soul cores we requested?"

  Zhi Xuan did not answer with words. He moved his hand, and six orbs of light emerged from his storage bag, hovering in the air of the plaza. The soul cores pulsed with energy so dense that the temperature around the altar dropped drastically.

  "Five ordinary Crimson Lotuses..." Zhi Xuan pointed to the largest, deep purple soul core pulsing violently. "...and one Sky-Crust Turtle soul core that has touched the peak realm boundary. One thousand Heavenly Jade; I demand that price for this Sky-Crust Turtle."

  The entire marble plaza of the Holy City instantly fell into a suffocating silence, as if time itself had frozen under the gaze of Zhi Xuan’s sapphire eyes. The Elders of the Sacred Pavilion, who usually possessed the calm of an ancient lake, could not hide the trembling in their fingers as they looked at the Sky-Crust Turtle soul core pulsing arrogantly in the middle of the marble.

  "A Sky-Crust Turtle..." the female Elder whispered, her voice a combination of disbelief and pure horror. "That creature has been the sovereign of the Heart of the Swamp for thousands of years. Even our law enforcement teams would have to think seven times before disturbing its slumber. And you... you brought it back in less than a single incense stick's time?"

  Zhi Xuan remained standing tall, his hands hidden behind the sleeves of his long robes appearing calm, showing no signs of essence fatigue after releasing the Eternal Star technique. "This Gu has no time for pleasantries regarding the history of beasts. I have fulfilled the mission requirements, even exceeded them. Give me my due, and let me go about my business."

  The crowd of practitioners behind him began to churn like boiling water. The name Gu Fengyan, which was once considered only a rumor of slaughter from the South, had now manifested into a tangible weight pressing upon the soul of everyone there. Seeing the fallen Yang Jin and the six hovering soul cores, they realized they were not facing an ordinary genius practitioner, but a walking disaster wearing human skin.

  "One thousand Heavenly Jade..." another Elder, an old man in grey robes, stood up with a stiff motion. "The value of a Sky-Crust Turtle is indeed priceless for the formation of pills for those wishing to step into Soul Transformation. Here, take one thousand two hundred Heavenly Jade."

  The grey-robed old man flicked his sleeve, sending a silver silk pouch decorated with the rune seals of the Sacred Pavilion. The pouch floated slowly, landing in Zhi Xuan's palm with a fine clinking sound that carried the weight of one thousand two hundred pieces of pure crescent moon crystals.

  "Thank you for the Pavilion’s generosity," Zhi Xuan replied flatly, though there wasn't a hint of gratitude in his tone. He stored the pouch into his storage belt, then turned, preparing to leave the altar filled with inquisitive gazes.

  "Wait, Fellow Daoist Gu!" the female Elder with the high bun called out again, her voice now carrying a more respectful tone, yet still holding a sharp vigilance. "With your achievement today, you have earned the qualification to enter the West Flower Tower up to the ninth floor."

  "This Gu is only interested in Heavenly Jade," Zhi Xuan replied calmly. "If a level eight mission is displayed outside, then this Gu has no reason to enter the West Flower Tower directly. If the West Flower Tower wants me to kill every Crimson Lotus in the West Swamp Forest, then this Gu will require seven full days."

  "Besides, those soul cores are very useful for those who have shackles preventing them from ascending to the Soul Transformation stage," Zhi Xuan added calmly. "This Gu does not intend to be arrogant; it is only that if the Eternal Snow Fairy wishes to keep me from that Ancient Cultivation Technique, then I can only use the West Flower Tower to carve out Heavenly Jade for my own cultivation."

  Zhi Xuan's cold and straightforward statement was like a subtle yet painful slap to the dignity of the Elders. He was openly declaring that the West Flower Tower—a sacred place revered by thousands of practitioners as a test of the Dao—was, to him, merely a mine to dredge for resources.

  "Impudent!" a disciple of the Pavilion standing by the altar gnashed his teeth, but his voice was immediately swallowed by the cold aura Zhi Xuan accidentally released.

  The female Elder took a deep breath, trying to calm the turbulence in her heart. "Fellow Daoist Gu, you indeed possess extraordinary strength, but to underestimate the West Flower Tower is unwise. If you only chase Heavenly Jade, you can continue to take the Red Missions."

  Zhi Xuan did not answer. He turned his body, letting his black-and-white robes swish over the celestial marble. His gaze swept the crowd, which now gave him a path five paces wide, as if he were a king walking among a row of slaves. His sapphire eyes caught the figure of Yang Jin, who was now being helped up by his guards; the youth lowered his head, no longer daring to meet Zhi Xuan's eyes.

  "This world is always about exchange, Elder," Zhi Xuan said as he continued to walk away. "You provide the Jade; I provide death to your enemies. It is as simple as that."