The wind blew strongly at the edge of the crater.
More than fifty Nascent Soul Realm cultivators formed a ring around the hole that stretched dozens of kilometers in diameter. Patriarchs, sect masters, and elders from various sects kept a safe distance from the edge, their faces tense as they tried to understand what had removed the center of the Silver Steel Forest.
Lǐ Kuáng took a step forward from the crowd. He looked down into the crater — a flat sheet of rock cut like a perfect cylinder into the planet's crust.
"There are no ashes. No trace left," he said, his voice sharp as it cut through the murmurs. "The ground simply disappeared. The matter was erased."
Mèng Lián stepped out from among the cultivators and stopped beside him. The Mistress of the Celestial Heron wore tight crimson silks and exuded a sweet perfume that contrasted with the smell of upturned earth.
"And our fifty sects' trackers didn't pick up even a single trace of Qi," she commented, impatience leaking into her voice.
Elder Bai took a step forward, assuming his place as the third major leader present. He lightly pushed the girl in the white tunic who was trying to hide behind him.
"My granddaughter has a theory," the old man said.
Bái Wǎn stumbled forward. She held a bamboo scroll tightly against her chest, her brown eyes lowered as dozens of gazes from the province's elite turned toward her. Her face was round, her cheeks plump, and her brown hair fell limply over her shoulders. In the world of cultivation, where the Nascent Soul refined the body to perfection, her ordinary appearance at the First Transcendent Stage bordered on defective.
"G-greetings, l-leaders…" her voice came out thin and trembling. "M-my name is Bái Wǎn."
Mèng Lián let out a low laugh, her gaze sweeping over Bái Wǎn from head to toe with clear disdain.
"Interesting," she said, her voice sweet as honey. "Elder Bai really brought his granddaughter to speak on our behalf. How considerate."
Some leaders of smaller sects let out muffled chuckles. Bái Wǎn's face burned. She hunched her shoulders, wanting to disappear into her own tunic. But her grandfather touched her back firmly. She swallowed hard, unrolled the bamboo scroll with trembling hands, and forced her voice out.
"We know about Heavenly Tribulations… we know that the heavens judge and expel those who reach the peak of the Nascent Soul," she spoke quickly, stuttering less as her eyes remained glued to the ancient text. "But the pattern of the purple clouds and the geometric destruction here… this wasn't an ascension tribulation. There's no record of this in recent eras."
Lǐ Kuáng frowned.
"Speak clearly, girl."
Bái Wǎn raised her gaze for a second, then quickly looked back down at the scroll.
"The ancient records before the fragmentation call this an Annihilation Tribulation," she answered, her voice gaining firmness. "It doesn't test anyone's foundation. The punishment descends when one is too powerful for the Laws of the plane to bear its mere existence. The heavens only attack like this when they try to erase a being that shouldn't be here."
The silence that followed was dense. The wind seemed to be the only sound at the crater's edge.
Bái Wǎn rolled up the bamboo scroll, took a step back, and quickly hid behind Elder Bai's arm.
"I apologize for my granddaughter's shyness," the old man said, maintaining a defensive posture in the face of the terrified silence from the other leaders.
Mèng Lián looked down into the hole. The mocking smile had vanished from the crimson-clad woman's face, replaced by cold pragmatism.
"If a being is capable of attracting an Annihilation Tribulation," she said, turning to the sect leaders, "then it is far too dangerous to be ignored. The Continental Disciple Competition in four months will be a bloodbath. Order your patrols to be doubled. If this 'superior being' is still alive… we want to know where it is."
------
Dozens of kilometers away from the crater, the armored carriage advanced along a dirt road that skirted the Silver Steel Forest.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was one of calm boredom. Zhì Yuǎn was reclining on the seat with Yù Qíng sitting on his lap, her back resting against his chest. The priestess kept her eyes closed, silently recovering her Qi. On the other side, Yù Méi stared out the window with a bored expression, while Mò Yán slept leaning against her shoulder, still exhausted from the pressure of the new world.
On the driver's seat, Mò Zhōng held the reins firmly.
Suddenly, the two copper-scaled beasts snorted and came to a stop.
Mò Zhōng pulled on the reins. Two men had just landed in the middle of the road, blocking the path. One was a young man in fine silks with an irritated expression, and the other was an older man with a rigid posture.
Lǐ Wēi, the Young Master of Celestial Spear City, looked visibly frustrated. The hunt he had organized had been completely ruined hours earlier when the pillar of light descended from the sky and scared away all the local wildlife. To make matters worse, Elder Gu — the bodyguard his father had insisted on sending with him — wouldn't stop repeating that they were already late and should return to the city immediately.
Lǐ Wēi looked at the armored carriage now blocking his path and felt a spark of irritation mixed with opportunity. He needed to vent his frustration on someone.
"Elder Gu," he said, pointing at the carriage. "Let's stop these people. I want to have some fun before we head back."
Elder Gu frowned.
"Young Master, we've already passed the time we should have returned. Your father—"
"I'll go back later," Lǐ Wēi cut him off, already walking. "I just want to play with these road rats for a bit."
Elder Gu sighed but followed the young man.
Lǐ Wēi stopped in the middle of the road, right in front of the carriage. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it with a flourish, and began reciting loudly in a dramatic tone:
"In this road, it was I who opened,
These trees, it was I who planted.
If you wish to pass through here,
Leave behind the toll money!"
The silence that followed was broken by a feminine voice coming from inside the cabin, clear and irritated:
"You opened what?!"
Lǐ Wēi blinked, confused.
"The road! I opened the road!"
The voice immediately replied, now with a tone of correction:
"Ah, that's not how you say it! The way you phrased it, it sounded like you opened something inside the road. You should say 'This road'!"
Inside the cabin, Yù Qíng facepalmed and shook her head with a sigh.
Yù Méi, on the other hand, turned to Zhì Yuǎn with a wide smile and gave him a thumbs-up.
"See? Now that my memory is perfect, I can even remember literature lessons, my love~" she whispered, clearly pleased with herself.
Outside, Lǐ Wēi turned red with anger. He crumpled the paper in his hand and shouted:
"Are you mocking me?!"
Lǐ Wēi's offended shout died in the air.
Yù Méi vanished from inside the cabin. There was no sound of a door opening or footsteps on wood. She simply appeared on the dirt road, a palm's width away from Elder Gu.
The old man didn't see the movement. The survival instinct screamed in the chest of the Fourth Stage Transcendent veteran. He attacked directly, his hand descending with full force to rip her head off.
Yù Méi didn't dodge. She raised her fist and met his strike. The Law of Rupture activated on contact.
Elder Gu's body exploded.
He wasn't thrown back. The man simply disintegrated, turning into a cloud of warm blood and chunks of flesh in the air.
Lǐ Wēi froze. The boy blinked, his brain trying to process what had just happened. Elder Gu's warm blood ran down his face and stained his fine silks.
Yù Méi stood in the same spot. Dark blood dripped down her face and bare arms, but her golden dress remained spotless.
She opened a wild smile. Her tongue slid across her lips, collecting the fresh blood.
"It's been days since I felt this hungry," she murmured. "Thanks for the meal."
Lǐ Wēi opened his mouth to scream, but Yù Méi's two hands were already pressed against the sides of his head. She squeezed.
His skull caved inward with a wet crack. Brain matter and crushed bone leaked between the girl's fingers. The headless body collapsed into the dust.
Yù Méi closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, rubbing the warm blood over her own hands with an expression of pure ecstasy. Her chest rose and fell slowly.
Inside the cabin, Yù Qíng brought her palm to her forehead for the second time in less than a minute and shook her head, sighing.
"This sister of mine…" she muttered, more to herself than to Zhì Yuǎn.
Yù Méi opened her eyes and looked toward the carriage. The satisfied smile still danced on her lips. She brought her finger to her mouth, slowly licking the blood that ran down it, never taking her eyes off Zhì Yuǎn through the window. Her gaze changed — from bloodthirsty ecstasy to something much hotter, direct, and provocative. A silent, almost obscene invitation, as if she were saying: "My love… fuck me right here, right now."
Zhì Yuǎn stepped down from the driver's seat and walked over to the young man's corpse. Right behind him, Yù Qíng advanced while supporting most of Mò Yán's weight. The white-haired girl was gasping with her eyes closed, her mortal body trembling from exhaustion, kept alive only by the invisible film of the Floating Lotus that Yù Qíng extended around her.
Zhì Yuǎn crouched down and pulled the green jade ring from the dead boy's finger. His mind scanned the internal space and located the spiritual tracking mark embedded by his clan. He isolated the invisible thread of the Law of Karma and erased it completely using the Law of Destruction. The connection vanished.
He tossed the ring behind him. Yù Qíng caught it in the air with her free hand.
"There's an entire camping pavilion inside, along with maps and stones," Zhì Yuǎn said. "Throw the tent by the side of the road."
Yù Qíng looked at the ring and opened a slow smile.
"Her body won't be able to handle the pressure of this plane for much longer, even with your protection," Zhì Yuǎn continued, his eyes fixed on the exhausted girl. "We're going inside. The only way for her to survive out here is by breaking her mortal foundation completely."
Yù Qíng's smile widened. She knew exactly what method her husband was referring to.
"An intensive treatment…" she murmured, her voice low and laced with malice.
She activated the ring and threw a small wooden sphere into the clearing beside the road. The sphere expanded in a silver mist, materializing a heavy silk pavilion.
Zhì Yuǎn walked over to the two of them, slipped his arm behind Mò Yán's knees, and lifted her off the ground. Carrying the white-haired girl in his arms, he marched toward the entrance of the tent.
"Mò Zhōng, clean the blood off the road and move the carriage," he ordered.
Yù Méi remained standing in the middle of the road, her face, arms, and golden dress stained with blood and brain matter. She watched her husband's back as he carried Mò Yán inside the pavilion. Her breathing was heavy. Her gaze was sharp, almost hungry.
" Méi." Yù Qíng's voice cut through the air like a blade. The eldest was looking at her with authority. "Stop drooling and go wash up." She pointed to the small wooden bath beside the tent. "Now."