The Moon-Shattered Valley was no longer silent. The air hummed with the discordant notes of clashing Qi, and the silver mist had turned a bruised shade of purple where Qin Feng's aura met the dark energy of the Inner Disciples.
The first disciple lay in the silver sand, his chest caved in and frost creeping over his eyes. He hadn't even managed to scream. The other two 9th Layer disciples recoiled, their faces pale under their hoods. To them, Qin Feng wasn't a man; he was a glitch in the natural order. A miner shouldn't move like a lightning strike.
"Don't just stand there, you idiots!" Senior Sister Meng screamed, her 'Spirit-Seeking Eye' pulsing with a frantic green light. "He's using a forbidden burst technique! He can't maintain this level of power for long! Formation! Now!"
The two remaining disciples snapped out of their shock. They moved in perfect synchronization, spinning their swords to create a 'Silver Moon Net', a web of razor-sharp Qi strands designed to trap and shred anything within its reach.
Qin Feng felt the air grow heavy as the glowing threads closed in on him. Every movement felt like pushing through thick syrup.
[WARNING: 'Silver Moon Net' detected.] [Status: Movement Speed reduced by 40%.] [Analysis: The net is anchored by the rhythmic breathing of the two disciples. Disrupt the rhythm to shatter the cage.]
Disrupt the rhythm? Easy to say, harder to do, Qin Feng thought. He could feel the cold drain on his soul from earlier, and the 'Eclipse Flash' had left his muscles twitching.
"Left," a voice whispered in his ear. It wasn't the System. It was Ye Chen. She was still weak, leaning against the cave wall inside, but she was watching through their bond. "The disciple on the left has a shallow breath. He is afraid of you. Strike when he blinks."
Qin Feng focused. He watched the disciple on the left, a tall, thin youth whose sword hand was trembling. As the 'Net' tightened, the youth blinked.
"Eclipse Flash!"
Qin Feng didn't aim for the disciple. He aimed for the ground at the disciple's feet. He surged forward, his body low to the earth, sliding under the glowing Qi threads. The sudden move forced the 'Net' to warp. Qin Feng swung his pickaxe upward, catching the hilt of the thin youth's sword.
CLANG!
The sword flew from the youth's hand, and the 'Silver Moon Net' evaporated into harmless sparks. Qin Feng didn't stop. He pivoted on his heel, delivering a brutal roundhouse kick to the youth's temple. The disciple collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Two left," Qin Feng growled, turning his gaze toward the third disciple.
But the third man didn't wait. Seeing his comrades fall so easily, he turned and bolted toward the forest. "I'm getting the Elders! This guy is a demon!"
"Coward!" Senior Sister Meng spat. She didn't try to stop him. Instead, she stepped forward, her black and silver robes billowing. She unsheathed a long, slender rapier that glowed with a sickly, emerald light.
"You've surprised me, miner," she said, her voice dropping to a deadly calm. "But a 9th Layer combatant is not a 10th Layer Peak expert. You lack the 'Qi Liquefaction' that comes with the threshold of Foundation. To me, your power is like a raging fire, bright, but doomed to burn out."
She moved.
She was significantly faster than the others. Her rapier didn't just strike; it danced, leaving trails of emerald poison in the air. Qin Feng raised his pickaxe to block, but the rapier bypassed his guard, grazing his shoulder.
[WARNING: Unknown Toxin detected!] [Effect: Numbing of the left arm. Qi flow reduced by 15%.]
"You think you're a hero?" Meng sneered, her rapier blurring into a dozen stabs. "You're just a dog who found a discarded bone. When I'm done with you, I'll drag that woman back to the Sect. The Elders have many ways to make an Empress talk. They'll peel her secrets away, layer by layer, until there's nothing left but a screaming husk."
The mention of Ye Chen being tortured triggered something deep within Qin Feng. It wasn't just the 'Eternal Eclipse' bond. It was a raw, primal protective instinct.
Nobody. Touches. Her.
[DING! RAGE STATUS DETECTED.] [System Overdrive: 'Berserk Eclipse' unlocked!] [Effect: All remaining Qi is channeled into a single strike. Success chance: 45%.]
"I don't need a high success chance," Qin Feng muttered, his eyes glowing a terrifying, solid violet.
He ignored the emerald rapier plunging toward his throat. He ignored the numbness in his arm. He stepped forward, entering Meng's inner circle, a suicidal move for any other cultivator.
Meng's eyes widened. "Are you mad?"
Her rapier pierced his shoulder, but Qin Feng didn't flinch. He dropped his pickaxe and grabbed her sword-arm with his bare hand. The emerald poison burned his palm, but he held on with the strength of a dying man.
"You talk too much," Qin Feng hissed.
He pulled her closer and slammed his right fist into her solar plexus. But it wasn't just a fist. Every drop of his 9th Layer Qi, combined with the violet residue of the Empress's power, was concentrated into that single point of contact.
[ACTIVATE: ECLIPSE BURST!]
BOOM!
A shockwave of violet energy exploded between them. The ground beneath their feet cracked, and the silver mist was blown back for a hundred yards. Senior Sister Meng's emerald Qi shield shattered like glass. She was thrown backward, crashing into a limestone pillar with enough force to leave a crater.
She slumped to the ground, her rapier broken in two. She coughed up a mixture of blood and emerald bile, her 'Spirit-Seeking Eye' shattered.
"Impossible..." she wheezed, looking at the miner who was still standing, his shoulder bleeding, his hand charred, but his gaze as steady as a mountain. "The Sect... will never... let you..."
She lost consciousness before she could finish.
Qin Feng stood alone in the clearing. He felt the 'Berserk' status fade, replaced by a soul-crushing exhaustion. His legs buckled, and he fell to his knees, using his pickaxe to keep himself upright.
[DING! BOSS DEFEATED: Senior Sister Meng.] [EXP Gained: 2500!] [LEVEL UP: 10th Layer Qi Refining (Peak)!] [Loot Acquired: 'Emerald Viper Rapier' (Broken), 50 High-Grade Spirit Stones, 'Sect Entry Token'.]
"Qin... Feng..."
He turned his head. Ye Chen was standing at the entrance of the cave, leaning heavily against the wall. She looked at the carnage, then at the man who had fought like a beast for her.
"The one who escaped," she said, her voice trembling. "He will reach the outer perimeter in an hour. We have to move. Now."
Qin Feng nodded weakly. He crawled toward the pile of high-grade stones Meng had dropped. "The System says I'm at the Peak now. Ye Chen... I can feel the 'Foundation Barrier'. It's right there."
She walked toward him, her steps shaky. She sat down beside him in the blood-stained sand and took his hands. "Then we don't move yet. If we leave this valley as Qi Refiners, the Elders will hunt us down like animals. But if we break through..."
She looked into his eyes, her expression solemn. "If we both reach Foundation Establishment together, we will have the power of a 'Celestial Pair'. Not even the Sect Leader will be able to track us easily."
[NEW MISSION: 'The Twin Foundation Breakthrough'] Time remaining: 59 minutes. Risk: Extremely High. Failure results in permanent cultivation loss. Reward: Realization of the 'True Eclipse Body'.
"Fifty-nine minutes," Qin Feng whispered, clutching the high-grade stones. "Let's give them a breakthrough they'll never forget."