For the first time since Leon had stepped foot into the Tortoise Wetlands, the suffocating atmosphere of death seemed to lift.
As the group ventured deeper into the Sunken Expanse, the bruised, twilight-purple sky above them began to fracture. A breathtaking phenomenon painted the heavens. Shimmering ribbons of jade green, vibrant gold, and deep crimson bled through the purple clouds, weaving together to form a colossal, slow-moving rainbow aurora. The light it cast was soft and ethereal, illuminating the forgotten empire in a cascade of prismatic colors.
The terrain here was a startling, beautiful contradiction. The ancient, dead ruins of the demi-human civilization had been reclaimed by nature. Massive, skeletal archways of white marble were choked by thick, glowing silver vines that pulsed with a gentle rhythm. Giant weeping willow trees, their leaves a deep, vibrant violet, had burst straight through the roofs of shattered temples, their roots wrapping around the ancient architecture like protective fingers.
Cutting directly through the center of a massive, ruined grand hall was a crystal-clear stream. The water babbled softly over a bed of smooth, multi-colored pebbles and cracked black jade paving stones. The air was cool and smelled of fresh rain, a stark contrast to the rotting stench of the Mistveil Marsh.
Leon walked near the back of the group, his boots splashing lightly in the shallow edge of the stream. He looked at the youths ahead of him. Sira was laughing at a joke Kael had just made, while Elon shook his head with a faint smile. Vane walked at the front, his posture relaxed, his silver-embroidered robes catching the rainbow light from the sky above.
For a fleeting moment, listening to the gentle flow of the stream and the banter of his new companions, Leon felt a profound sense of peace. It was a beautiful, surreal painting of life thriving upon the bones of the dead. Leon hoped one day he could explore the world with his friends and comrades .
But in the cultivation world, peace was always an illusion.
It started with the stream.
Leon noticed it first. The gentle, rhythmic babbling of the water suddenly faded. The crystal-clear surface vibrated violently, sending rapid, chaotic ripples outward. A second later, the glowing silver vines hanging from the marble arches went completely dark, as if terrified into submission.
The air grew unnaturally still. The vibrant rainbow light from the sky seemed to dim, swallowed by a sudden, massive shadow that fell over the courtyard.
"Formation!" Vane roared, his relaxed demeanor vanishing in a fraction of a second. His silver sword was drawn before the echo of his voice even reached the edges.
BOOM!
The massive, half-collapsed dome of the temple beside them completely exploded.
A tidal wave of pulverized marble and dust blasted into the courtyard, obliterating the trees and vaporizing a section of the stream. Leon was thrown backward by the sheer concussive force of the blast, rolling across the black jade stones until he crashed into the base of a pillar.
As the dust began to settle, a suffocating, terrifying pressure crashed down upon the clearing. It felt as though the sky itself had suddenly plummeted. Leon gasped for air, his newly repaired Nascent Profound meridians locking up instantly. The pressure was so immense it forced him flat against the ground, his muscles spasming in protest.
From the billowing cloud of dust, a large monster stepped out.
Leon's breath caught in his throat. It stood easily seven meters tall. Its body was a grotesque, exaggerated parody of human anatomy—bulging, armor-like muscles that rippled with dark, chaotic energy. From its broad shoulders extended four massive arms. Two of its giant hands dragged ancient, rusted stone pillars—the remnants of the temple it had just destroyed—gripping them as makeshift, lethal clubs. Its other two arms remained free, massive fists clenching and unclenching with bare, bone-crushing intent.
But it was the beast's head that struck absolute terror into Leon's soul. Atop the humanoid body sat the colossal, demonic head of a heavily horned bull. Its eyes burned with a mindless, crimson fire. Thick, boiling steam hissed from its flared nostrils, instantly killing the green moss beneath its hooves.
"Do not move!" Vane shouted, his voice tight with a tension Leon had never heard before. Vane stood between the monster and the rest of the group, his knuckles turning white around the hilt of his sword. "That is a Four-Armed Taurus Fiend. It is at the Peak of the Low Earth Profound Realm!"
Leon's heart thumped hard. Earth Profound Realm.
To a Nascent Profound cultivator like Leon, the True Profound Realm was a high mountain. But the Earth Profound Realm? That was the sky itself. It was a realm where cultivators and beasts could shatter mountains and alter the landscape with a wave of their hands.
The Taurus Fiend let out a deafening, guttural roar that physically shook the ancient black jade stones beneath them. It raised its two massive stone clubs and bared its empty fists, preparing to turn them into a bloody paste.
"We can't outrun it," Vane said, his voice dropping to a deadly, chilling calm. "Sira, Kael, Elon. Array."
"Senior Brother Vane, it's an Earth Profound Fiend!" Kael yelled, his usual boisterous confidence replaced by raw panic. "Our True Profound Qi won't even scratch its hide!"
"I said, form the array," Vane commanded.
Suddenly, Vane closed his eyes. The subtle, restrained aura he usually projected vanished.
In its place, an ocean of profound energy erupted from his body.
A vertical pillar of blinding silver light shot from Vane into the rainbow sky, parting the clouds. To Leon, who couldn't accurately measure anything beyond the True Profound Realm, it just felt like a hurricane of razor-sharp wind whipping across his face, forcing him to shield his eyes.
But Sira, Kael, and Elon could measure it. And their jaws dropped in absolute horror and awe.
"Peak... Peak Spirit Profound Realm?!" Sira screamed, her voice cracking in shock.
"Heavens!" Elon gasped, stepping back. "You were only at the low level of the Spirit Profound Realm when we left the sect! When did you break through the two minor realms?!"
Vane didn't answer. His eyes snapped open, glowing with a terrifying silver radiance. "Heavenly Tribulation Sword Array! Now!"
Snapped out of their shock, the three Outer Court disciples moved with lightning speed. They dashed into a perfect triangular formation behind Vane. Drawing their swords, they thrust the tips of their blades forward, pointing them directly at Vane's back.
SHING!
A massive, intricate silver array, shaped like a soaring sword, materialized beneath their feet. Sira's agility, Kael's raw power, and Elon's stabilizing energy flowed instantly through the array, funneling directly into Vane's meridians.
Vane's power swelled to a critical, explosive peak.
The Taurus Fiend charged.
Every time its hooves struck the ground, the earth shuddered, launching jagged chunks of black jade into the air. It swung its upper right arm in a devastating, horizontal arc, bringing a massive stone pillar hurtling toward Vane's head, while its lower right fist launched a devastating straight punch that tore through the sound barrier.
Vane didn't dodge. He planted his feet, channeling the combined might of his juniors, and swung his silver sword in a sweeping upward arc to meet the onslaught.
CLANG!
The collision between the thin silver sword, the colossal stone pillar, and the hardened fist produced a sound like a cracked bell the size of a city. A terrifying shockwave of silver Qi and dark kinetic energy exploded outward.
The crystal-clear stream beside them was instantly vaporized by the sheer friction of the clash, turning into a massive cloud of blinding white steam. The giant willow trees surrounding the courtyard were sheared perfectly in half, their upper halves crashing to the ground.
Leon pressed his body into the dirt, covering his head as a hail of splintered wood and pulverized stones rained down on him.
The Fiend roared in surprise. Vane had actually stopped its strike. But the beast had two more arms.
Before Vane could recover his stance, the Fiend's lower left arm shot forward, delivering a brutal, bare-knuckled uppercut meant to shatter his entire torso.
"Shift!" Vane roared.
The array flared. Sira funneled a massive burst of agility Qi into Vane. Vane blurred, his body moving with unnatural, liquid speed. He slid backward, using the slick, moss-covered black jade to glide out of the fist's path by a mere fraction of an inch. The massive, knuckle-hardened fist tore through the air where Vane's chest had been, the wind pressure alone ripping a long gash across Vane's white robes.
"Strike!" Vane commanded.
Kael screamed, pushing his raw, violent True Profound power into the array. Vane used the momentum of his backward slide to pivot, launching himself off the stump of a severed willow tree. He flew into the air, becoming a streak of blinding silver light, and brought his sword crashing down on the Fiend's extended left arm.
SKRRRKT!
The Heavenly Tribulation Sword Qi bit deeply into the Fiend's arm. Black, boiling blood sprayed into the air, sizzling as it hit the ground.
But it wasn't a clean cut. The fiend's Earth Profound muscles were as dense as tempered steel. The sword stopped halfway through the bone.
The Fiend's eyes widened in fury. Their combines energy amplified through the sword array could actully stand against him . It completely abandoned its weapons, considering them to be hampering his speed ,dropping its stone clubs. With a speed that defied its massive bulk, it thrust its remaining three functional hands forward, aiming to crush Vane out of the air.
"Defend!" Vane shouted.
Elon, the stabilizer, slammed his hands onto his sword hilt. A massive, semi-transparent silver bell formed around Vane and the three juniors.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The Fiend's giant, heavily muscled fists rained down upon the silver bell like meteors. The sheer impact was gruesome to watch. The ground beneath the Heavenly Tribulation youths shattered. The black jade paving stones turned into a crater, sinking deeper and deeper into the earth with every strike the Fiend landed.
Leon watched in terrified awe. The sensory overload was absolute. He could feel the raw power of the clashing profound energy mixed with the foul, sulfurous stench of the Fiend's blood. He could feel the earth vibrating so violently it made his teeth chatter. He could see the blinding flashes of silver light warring against the suffocating, dark red aura of the demon-bull.
Inside the array, the toll was becoming visible.
Elon's nose began to bleed profusely, the strain of maintaining the defensive bell tearing at his internal meridians. Kael's arms were trembling so violently he could barely hold his sword straight. Sira's face was ashen, her breathing ragged.
"Senior Brother," Elon choked out, blood spilling over his lips. "It's... it's too heavy. The physical gap is too vast!"
Vane's eyes were locked onto the monstrous face of the Taurus Fiend above them. He could see the beast's muscles bulging, preparing to bring its uninjured fists down in a single, unified strike that would undoubtedly shatter their barrier and crush them into the dirt.
"Hold the array for three more breaths!" Vane roared, his own eyes bloodshot. The silver aura around his body began to burn violently, shifting from a pure light into a chaotic, desperate storm.
The Fiend threw its head back, letting out a bellow that tore the rainbow clouds above. Its arms pulled back, wrapping in a dense, suffocating layer of Earth Profound energy.
Leon clutched his chipped short sword, his knuckles white. The beautiful, serene ruins had been transformed into a gruesome slaughterhouse of crushed stone and blood. The array was flickering, the silver light dimming under the shadow of the colossal beast.
The fists began their descent, tearing through the air with the force of a falling mountain.