Using Gathering Form and Scattering Qi to fully restore his body, Qi Yun took advantage of the six people opposite him who had yet to recover their senses. He abruptly raised his hand, unleashing a blast of Nanming Demon Fire Sword Qi that ruthlessly shattered the three copper mirrors.

CRACK!

The copper mirrors shattered, a sky full of shards raining to the ground.

Freed from the shackles of the Three Yin Image Displaying True Skill, Qi Yun’s figure erupted into motion. He bypassed the six Qi Refining Fifth Layer Cultivators before him and charged straight for the Three Sects disciples spectating from the sidelines.

Caught off guard, several Three Sects disciples were forcibly seized by Qi Yun, who crushed their bones, sucked their marrow, and absorbed their Essence Qi.

A few shriveled, cracked human skins drifted down on the wind.

"Despicable!"

Seeing Qi Yun bypass them to attack the ordinary disciples, the six True Cultivators from the Three Sects roared furiously.

"If you’ve got any guts, fight us! What’s so great about bullying the weak? Have you no shame?!"

The moment the words left their mouths, the six True Cultivators from the Three Sects faltered.

’Asking a Holy Sect Disciple if they have any shame... isn’t that the same as asking a dog if it eats shit...?’

"If you’re not satisfied, you’re welcome to attack my Holy Sect disciples," Qi Yun’s ethereal voice echoed from all directions.

At this, the faces of the Holy Sect Disciples, who just a moment ago had thought their savior had arrived, instantly darkened.

’You motherf—’

Ignoring the endless stream of curses, Qi Yun relied on the superior stealth and high mobility of Gathering Form and Scattering Qi to relentlessly harvest the lives of the Three Sects disciples.

With eighty-one White Bone Skeletons working in tandem with the Abyssal Iron Sand, these ordinary disciples from the Three Sects didn’t stand a chance. They couldn’t even put up a fight.

They were forcibly seized and turned into Resources for Qi Yun’s Cultivation.

At the same time, the resources in the Storage Pouches of these Three Sects disciples naturally found their way into Qi Yun’s possession.

One by one, Crystal Bottles containing Yellow Springs Holy Water disintegrated into dust.

The auto-update progress bar on the Magic Technique Panel shot up in large chunks.

As three dim, yellow Crystal Bottles in his hand turned to ash, the progress bar for the Skull Curse once again reached Perfection.

[Magic Technique Auto-Update Complete. This is a minor version update. The spell’s effects are adjusted as follows:]

[Skull Curse 9.0: Added Corpse Explosion effect.]

A flicker of dark green flame danced in his pupils. Qi Yun’s eyes narrowed; he already understood this new update.

’This update... is a little brutal.’

Though he thought it was brutal, a hint of eager anticipation surfaced in Qi Yun’s eyes.

He formed a quick spell seal and pointed a finger.

The Corpse Poisoning Yin Fire on one of the White Bone Skeletons suddenly flared. It let out a hair-raising cackle, and in a flash, transformed into a speeding, dark-green afterimage, pouncing on a True Cultivator from the Three Sects.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion swept across the field.

At the epicenter of the terrifying blast, a mushroom cloud of dark green toxic fire billowed upward. The rampaging Corpse Poisoning Yin Fire, carrying immense heat and pressure, instantly created a vacuum in a radius of over ten meters.

Successive shockwaves rippled outward like a tsunami.

As for the Three Sects Cultivator at the center of the blast, his body was completely mangled, not a patch of intact skin to be seen. The incredibly virulent Corpse Poisoning Yin Fire bored into every inch of his flesh, leaving him looking like a standing mound of pulped meat.

"What... what kind of Evil Skill is this..." With only two hollow sockets staring blankly ahead, the True Cultivator from the Three Sects rasped out his final words. Then, his body collapsed into a heap of shredded flesh.

"Even better than I expected."

A cold smirk touched his lips. Qi Yun formed several spell seals, and the True Qi in his body surged like a tide into the eighty remaining White Bone Skeletons.

"KAKAKA—!"

"HEHEHEHE—!"

All eighty skulls let out sharp, twisted, unearthly cackles at once. The combined sound vibrated through the entire twelfth level, making it hum.

The next instant!

Eighty death-meteors, wreathed in ghastly green, demonic fire, roared as they shot out in all directions. They precisely targeted every remaining Three Sects disciple on the field, as well as the five True Cultivators who were already scared witless.

The pupils of the five True Cultivators contracted, and all the color drained from their faces. Just moments ago, they had witnessed with their own eyes a True Cultivator from the Yellow Springs Netherworld being blown to pieces.

They wanted to flee, to defend themselves!

But in the face of the overwhelming, kamikaze-style assault of the skulls, their efforts seemed slow and futile.

"No—!"

"Block them!!"

The shrill screams had only just begun...

...when they were utterly drowned out by the endless, terrifying explosions that followed.

BOOOOOOOOM—!!!

In that moment, it seemed as if the apocalypse had come to the twelfth level of the Peach Garden.

The deafening explosions merged into a continuous roar that threatened to rupture eardrums.

One after another, mushroom clouds of dark green toxic fire erupted, each vying to rise higher. They expanded madly, merging with one another until, in the blink of an eye, they had swallowed everything in sight.

The raging shockwaves were like a physical tsunami, colliding, compounding, and spreading in successive layers. In their wake, the ground cracked and everything was pulverized into dust.

Even the very air seemed to ignite and warp from the terrifying Corpse Poisoning Yin Fire!

An endless sea of Corpse Poisoning Yin Fire swept over every corner.

The ghastly green light became the only color in this world, illuminating countless faces twisted in absolute terror before they were incinerated to char.

Wails, screams, and desperate curses—every sound was drowned out by the ceaseless, thunderous explosions.

Qi Yun stood firm in the eye of the storm, his robes whipping in the chaotic currents. He was encircled by the incomparably solid Abyssal Iron Sand, which shielded him from the shockwaves.

He calmly watched this vision of Purgatory he had personally created.

The hint of eager anticipation on his lips finally transformed into a satisfied, bone-chilling smile.

’Art is an explosion!’

After the explosions, all the destroyed White Bone Skeletons began to rapidly reform beside Qi Yun.

A mere ten minutes later.

All eighty-one of the sacrificed White Bone Skeletons had fully recovered. They floated beside Qi Yun once more, the eerie green light in their eye sockets flickering menacingly.

Gazing at the scorched earth before him, Qi Yun waved a hand, recalling the Abyssal Iron Sand that had been protecting the Holy Sect Disciples.

This wasn’t an act of kindness on his part.

There were still many disciples from the Three Sects in the Peach Garden, and he needed his fellow sect members to serve as bait for another harvest.

He commanded the White Bone Skeletons to drain every last drop of value from the Three Sects Cultivators—both those already killed in the blast and those clinging to their last breath.

A steady stream of True Qi Cultivation and Innate Divine Rhyme surged into him, rapidly replenishing the energy Qi Yun had just expended.

’Bone Corpse Explosion is powerful, but its True Qi consumption is immense.

If I weren’t cultivating Innate True Qi, and if I hadn’t used the Devouring Essence ability to drain the Cultivation of so many Outer Sect Cultivators to boost my total True Qi...

...I’m afraid a single, full-powered activation would have completely drained me of True Qi.’

The new Corpse Explosion ability filled a crucial gap in Qi Yun’s arsenal: he now had a high-powered, decisive spell.

Its only drawback was the immense True Qi consumption.

Without enough Cultivators to replenish his True Qi, he could only use it twice at most, even at full power.

After wiping out the Three Sects Cultivators, Qi Yun glanced down at the Crimson Cicada Embryo Storage. The cicada’s body, once blood-red, was now two-thirds a bright yellow.

’One-third to go...’

With a slight raise of his eyebrow, Qi Yun put away the divine object capable of changing one’s aptitude. He quickly swept the battlefield, taking every single Storage Pouch from the dead Three Sects Cultivators.

Watching Qi Yun hum a little tune as he collected all the Storage Pouches, the Holy Sect Disciples who had been touched by his earlier protection now wore complicated expressions.

’No wonder he’s the Champion Scholar. Forget his Cultivation, even this habit of plucking a feather from every passing goose is something we should learn from.’

Soon, Qi Yun had collected the Storage Pouches from all the Three Sects Cultivators.

After confirming repeatedly that he hadn’t missed anything, Qi Yun’s form wavered, and he dissolved into Pure Qi and departed.

’Time is short. The paths for the Three Sects to enter the Peach Garden are constantly expanding, and the disciples infiltrating will only get stronger.

I must complete the Crimson Cicada Embryo Storage and alter my aptitude before those Qi Refining Sixth, Seventh, and even Eighth Layer disciples from the Three Sects arrive. I have to seize that sliver of a chance to achieve a Foundation Establishment that surpasses all others!’

...

「At the same time, on the first level of the Peach Garden.」

An irregular, jagged rift in the Cosmic Jade was forced open by countless tendrils of black energy. One by one, powerful figures stepped into the Secret Realm, each one wreathed in dense Yin Qi, with deathly pale skin and an expressionless face.

The moment these figures set foot in the Secret Realm, invisible waves swept out from them, scanning the surroundings like the most precise radar.

Divine Sense!

An ability that could only be mastered at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

"So this is... the Peach Garden?" Fan Wushi’s dull, ash-gray eyes slowly swept his surroundings. He slowly flattened his palms, and it was as if black holes had suddenly opened within his body. An incredibly powerful suction force erupted, pulling in the ambient energy of the world.

Hundred Acupoints Spirit Communication!

Qi Refining Eighth Layer!

...