"That is easy, Master!" Xiao Die buzzed cheerfully, having previously been circling the Devil Life Tree. She immediately drifted from Zhi Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness and transformed into a soft rainbow hum.

  From Zhi Xuan’s body, she was enveloped by a subtle rainbow aura that began to spread. High in the air above the Heaven Mirror Lake, Xiao Die suddenly manifested to a size of ten zhang, shaking the lake with the arrival of a Verdant Titan. Her level was equivalent to a Five Elements realm cultivator. From a distance of dozens of miles, the arrival of a Verdant Titan was regarded as the coming of a Beast Emperor to any Azure King level beasts.

  Xiao Die’s buzz was no longer cheerful, but instead pressed against the air until it grounded the six Consciousness Transformation cultivators simultaneously. The Heavenly Moth, radiating an aura like an Ancient God, made everyone bow their heads due to her deafening buzz of anger. The flapping of her wings caused the waters of the Heaven Mirror Lake to surge violently.

  "A Heavenly Insect?! An Ancient Insect?!" Shi Yue, the Elder Guardian of the Tomb who stood arrogantly in the middle of the whirlpool, suddenly turned pale in his thin face. His narrow purple eyes widened in shock. He was an experienced cultivator, but he had never seen a Heavenly Insect in his life. "This is the Thousand Feathered Moth! The fortieth-ranked Heavenly Insect!"

  The aura of majesty radiated by Xiao Die, the Thousand Feathered Moth who was now as large as a horse, shattered the remains of Shi Yue's arrogance. Although Shi Yue was at the Peak of the Five Elements, his presence now felt like a firefly before a full moon. The Thousand Feathered Moth was an ancient legend, a creature that was supposed to exist only within the ancient scrolls of the Supreme Sects.

  Shi Yue reacted with a deep survival instinct. He was a cultivator steeped in blood and intrigue; he knew that facing a Heavenly Insect head-on was an act of suicide. He immediately moved his spiritual essence, pulling the whirlpool beneath him to form the Nine-Layered Circular Water Shield, his strongest defense.

  However, Xiao Die gave him no time. The deafening buzz of anger immediately transformed into an invisible sonic wave, slamming into Shi Yue’s shield. The water shield vibrated violently, and Shi Yue felt his sea of consciousness churn as if struck by a bronze hammer.

  WHUSHH!

  Xiao Die flapped her wings, emitting a soft rainbow powder. That powder, which usually looked beautiful and peaceful, now turned into a deadly spiritual storm. Thousands of Pure Rainbow Feathers shot out like spiritual arrows, cleaving the air of the Heaven Mirror Lake. These feathers did not contain physical strength, but rather the Soul Purifying Essence of an Ancient Insect.

  Shi Yue was shocked. He was not facing a physical attack; he was facing a pure spiritual assault targeting his Sea of Consciousness. He was a master of Water and Poison Laws, but he had no defense against this kind of ancient essence.

  "Reversing Water Poison Seal!" Shi Yue roared, ignoring the pain tearing through his Sea of Consciousness. He spat a mouthful of spiritual blood filled with poison essence into the air. The blood immediately transformed into a thick bluish-green mist, attempting to neutralize the storm of Rainbow Feathers.

  However, the Rainbow Feathers were the pure essence of Heaven and Earth. As soon as they touched the poison mist, the mist was immediately purified and absorbed, vanishing without a trace. The feathers continued to pierce through, striking the Nine-Layered Water Shield.

  SRINGG! KRAKK!

  Five layers of the shield shattered within breaths. Shi Yue felt his foundation tremble. He realized that this Heavenly Insect was not even using its full power; this was merely a demonstration of ancient arrogance. Shi Yue was forced to use his full strength in the face of this threatening Heavenly Insect.

  "Big Rat," Zhi Xuan hissed from behind the willow tree, his eyes shifting to the six Consciousness Transformation cultivators who had fallen, some slumped into the lake. Zhi Xuan released Ao Sheng's hand, casting a cold gaze that silently commanded Ao Sheng to stay still. Zhi Xuan looked forward again and shot away.

  WHUSH! WHUMP!

  Zhi Xuan charged with a dense Heavenly-Blood Body Law. His movement was like a meteor thrown from a catapult. He swung his hand, and from there emerged three Devil Blood Swords enveloped in the Thunder Law. He scanned quickly, spotting three Consciousness Transformation guardians who were distracted under the pressure of the Heavenly Insect fighting Shi Yue.

  ZHRINGG! ZHRINGG! ZHRINGG!

  The three Devil Blood Swords shot out like poisoned arrows toward the three Consciousness Transformation cultivators who were still reeling in the air. The spiritual pressure from Xiao Die had paralyzed half of their defensive capabilities, and now they were faced with a deadly frontal assault.

  "Attack from behind!" one of the cultivators shouted, his face filled with fear. They struggled to rotate their Divine Wheels, but their spiritual essence felt frozen, suppressed under the majestic aura of the Verdant Titan.

  Two of the Shi Clan cultivators managed to react, channeling their choked Water Law. They formed thin Water Poison Shields, a quick defense they believed sufficient to withstand an attack from someone in the same realm. However, the third cultivator, whose Sea of Consciousness was still vibrating from Xiao Die’s buzz, did not move.

  WHUSH! DUAKH! DUAKH!

  The first Devil Blood Sword struck the Water Poison Shield of one cultivator. Devil Blood and pure Thunder exploded into a vortex of destructive energy. The shield, which had been full of confidence, shattered into pieces. Although the cultivator managed to jump back, his gray robes were torn, and his shoulder was scorched black by the remnants of the Thunder Law. Sharp pain and a Devil aura immediately seeped into his meridians.

  The second Devil Blood Sword hit another water shield with a similar result. The second cultivator was thrown onto the surface of the lake, breaking the silence of the water with a loud splash. He vomited a mouthful of blood filled with his own poison essence, his meridians suppressed by the Thunder Law. However, the third Devil Blood Sword—aimed at the paralyzed cultivator in the air—suddenly changed direction. Zhi Xuan, who was already within dozens of zhang of them, felt a strange resistance.

  "Stop being a rat and show your face, intruder!" a roar of anger exploded from one of the Consciousness Transformation cultivators who had fallen into the lake, who appeared to be the leader of the group. He was the one who had recovered fastest from Xiao Die’s pressure.

  The fallen cultivator, with a hideous face, channeled his remaining spiritual essence. He manipulated the water beneath him, creating a pillar of water that shot into the air, striking the third Devil Blood Sword with unexpected force. The sword vibrated violently before finally crumbling into blood and thunder powder.

  Zhi Xuan landed gracefully on the turbulent surface of the water, his feet not sinking, as if the water's surface were solid jade. He smiled coldly. He glanced briefly at the other four cultivators who were still trying to stabilize themselves, two of whom were wounded and two others who had just risen from their shock. Zhi Xuan's battle was not just about killing; it was about breaking their will and harvesting their blood efficiently.

  "Kill him! He is a Consciousness Transformation expert who only relies on artifacts!" shouted the group leader, who was now floating back up, his eyes filled with a mad killing intent.

  The four relatively stable cultivators immediately shot into the air, forming a loose attack formation. They channeled the Laws of Water and Poison, creating Water Poison Tongues—four bursts of dark green water resembling deadly snake tongues that shot toward Zhi Xuan from various angles.

  However, Zhi Xuan, with the Snow Phoenix Jade radiating Pure Water Law, whose strength and purity carried the aura of an Ancient Clan, immediately manifested a Lotus Flower Water Shield around himself. Zhi Xuan merely stepped lightly and avoided the poison bursts instinctively.

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  WHIRR!

  The surrounding water, which had been dirty due to the Shi Clan’s poison, was immediately purified, and the Lotus Flower Water Shield appeared around him, radiating an aura of spiritual purity. The shield was not made of ordinary water, but of Pure Water essence that far surpassed the Shi Clan’s manipulation abilities. The Water Poison Tongues struck the Lotus Shield. Instead of exploding, the poison was immediately absorbed and neutralized by the Pure Water essence. The four cultivators gasped, feeling their Poison Law vanish instantly, as if meeting a spiritual extinguisher.

  "Pure Water Law! Where did he get such pure Water Law?!" the leader roared in fear.

  Zhi Xuan smiled coldly, the exact same smile often displayed by the Devil Thought in his sea of consciousness, but his sapphire eyes still radiated cold calculation. He let the Lotus Shield absorb the remnants of the Water Poison Tongues; the Pure Water essence emitted by the Snow Phoenix Jade was a natural antidote to the Shi Clan’s Water Poison.

  "Your Water Law is nothing more than a small pond before a jade forged by a Holy Fairy of the Ancient Zhu Clan," Zhi Xuan mocked with a sneer. He immediately concentrated his essence and caused the Consciousness Transformation guards to be blown back by the surge of his essence. They were flung backward toward the small island in the middle of the lake.

  WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!

  The Consciousness Transformation cultivators were blown back violently, like puppets with their strings cut. They hit the rocks on the small island with a deafening sound, raising dust and stone debris into the air. They coughed and wheezed, some of them vomiting blood, not because of physical wounds, but because the vibration of Zhi Xuan’s cold and dense spiritual essence had shaken their Divine Wheels.

  They stared at Zhi Xuan with eyes full of horror. The Pure Water Law from the lotus shield had neutralized their Water Poison attack, and the force that repelled them felt like facing a much more senior Five Elements realm cultivator, not a Consciousness Transformation expert as they had thought.

  "Ancient Zhu Clan?!" the leader roared with a tone of fear. He was not just facing a cultivator with strange techniques and artifacts, but one with connections to an Ancient Clan that could easily destroy their Shi Clan.

  Zhi Xuan snorted harshly, waving his hand as the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron appeared and hummed in his palm. He lifted the cauldron high, tossing it into the air, and it immediately enlarged to the size of a massive obsidian boulder—carrying the weight of thousands of catties that seemed to make the air heavy and oppressive.

  The Heavenly Cauldron floating in the air felt threatening while carrying the weight of certain destruction. A Heaven-grade artifact expanded in such a way brought the oppressive Law of the Four Seasons. Zhi Xuan stepped briefly on the water and supported the massive spinning cauldron in the air.

  WHIRL! WHIRL! DING! DING! DING!

  With a sharp roar, Zhi Xuan tensed his body like a catapult and launched the thousand-catty cauldron toward the small island in the middle of the Heaven Mirror Lake. He did not target the Consciousness Transformation cultivators, but rather the pavilion in the center of the small island.

  The six Consciousness Transformation cultivators, reeling and clutching their Divine Wheels, stared at the giant bronze cauldron hurtling toward them with eyes filled with indescribable horror. They were guardians of the Shi Clan, not mortal cultivators, but the pressure of the aura emitted by that cauldron—a Heaven-grade artifact carrying the Law of the Four Seasons—made them feel like ants before a giant hammer.

  "A Heaven-grade artifact! He possesses a Heaven-grade artifact!" the group leader roared, his voice choked with fear. They were no longer thinking about battle or harvesting souls; they were only thinking about how to escape certain destruction.

  "Pavilion Protection Seal!" the leader shouted again, with the remnants of his chaotic spiritual essence. The six of them immediately channeled their power into the Cloud-Edge Water Pavilion, hoping the pavilion’s defense formation could withstand the attack.

  The Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron, hurtling at a speed that tore the air and made it feel oppressive, created massive air pressure and then struck the Cloud-Edge Water Pavilion with a heavy, crushing boom.

  KRAKK! BOOOM!

  The small island shook violently. The pavilion’s defense formation, which the Shi Clan had maintained for years, was shattered in an instant. The wood and jade of the pavilion exploded into debris, shooting in all directions. The Heavenly Cauldron embedded itself in the center of the island, leaving a massive, deep crater and thick spiritual smoke.

  The Consciousness Transformation cultivators near the pavilion were thrown again by the brutal shockwave. They were now truly injured, not just by the vibration of Zhi Xuan’s spiritual essence and the Thunder Law, but also by the physical strike of a Heaven-grade artifact. They fell around the crater, blood flowing from the corners of their mouths, their Divine Wheels spinning very slowly.

  Zhi Xuan landed back on the water's surface before the destroyed island. He moved his hand, and the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron immediately shrank back into a humming bronze jar in his hand. He looked at the six cultivators, who now lay helpless. He did not kill them, but he had broken their will to fight.

  Zhi Xuan wasted no time; he waved his hand and three threatening Devil Blood Swords appeared, enveloped in the Thunder Law intended to separate three Consciousness Transformation guards from the others. Zhi Xuan flicked his finger and immediately directed them at the three weakest Consciousness Transformation cultivators among the six.

  ZRINGG! ZRINGG! ZRINGG!

  The three Devil Blood Swords shot out with deadly speed, targeting the three cultivators whose Divine Wheels were spinning the slowest. Two of them, a thin man and a middle-aged woman, could only react with eyes wide with terror. Their bodies were still stiff from the shock of the Heavenly Cauldron, and the remaining spiritual energy they gathered was not enough to form a meaningful shield.

  WHUSH! CHUK!

  The first Devil Blood Sword pierced the right shoulder of the thin male cultivator, and black blood and thunder essence exploded. He screamed in a heartbreaking voice, his body immediately thrown into the air before falling into the Heaven Mirror Lake with a loud splash! The cold lake water immediately absorbed his blood, but the damaging thunder essence still burned his meridians.

  The second Devil Blood Sword targeted the chest of the middle-aged female cultivator. She managed to turn her body slightly in desperation, and the sword only grazed her ribs. Although it did not pierce her fully, the scratch was enough. The vile Devil Blood immediately poisoned her spiritual essence, and she fell slumped at the edge of the crater created by the Heavenly Cauldron, her face deathly pale.

  However, the third cultivator, an old man with a gray beard, managed to react. He was the most senior among them. Although his Divine Wheel was vibrating violently, he managed to condense his spiritual essence into an ancient talisman he kept in his sleeve.

  WHIRR!

  A circular bronze shield, decorated with ancient water snake patterns, immediately radiated from the talisman, protecting him just before the third Devil Blood Sword arrived.

  DUANG!

  The Devil Blood Sword struck the bronze shield with a hard impact, splashing dark purple thunder. The shield vibrated violently, and the old man felt his left arm nearly break, but the shield held. The Devil Sword bounced back and vanished into blood powder.

  Zhi Xuan was not surprised to see the bronze shield withstand his attack. The Shi Clan’s defensive talismans, though ancient, still possessed reliable power. However, he had no intention of wasting time on one protected cultivator. He had achieved his goal: separating the six cultivators into pieces that were easier to control.

  He turned, his cold eyes searching for the three cultivators who were still relatively stable—the group leader who had recovered from the shock, the cultivator who had survived the first Devil Blood Sword attack with a scorched shoulder, and the gray-robed old man protected by the bronze shield.

  "Three small rats remaining," Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice calm yet implying pure killing intent. He no longer drew any artifacts or Devil Blood Swords. His body, enveloped by the Heavenly-Blood Body Law, now radiated a cruel Primordial aura, a mixture of thick blood and thunder that was far more terrifying than any artifact attack.

  WHUSH!

  Zhi Xuan shot forward. His speed far exceeded the ability of a Consciousness Transformation expert to react. He moved not like an ordinary cultivator, but like a devil shadow hunting its prey. His first target was the group leader, the most vital piece.

  The leader, despite his combat experience, only saw a deadly flash of black and red hurtling toward him. His survival instinct screamed. He tried to rotate his Divine Wheel to manifest another Water Poison Shield, but it was too late.

  DUAGH!

  Zhi Xuan, using his right fist as hard as obsidian, struck the leader’s chest with the brutal force tempered by the Heavenly Calamity. That strike, enveloped in the dense Heavenly-Blood Body Law, was a foundation-shattering blow. The leader made no sound. His ribs were crushed instantly, and his chaotic spiritual essence exploded from within.

  Simultaneously with the strike, the Heavenly-Blood Body Law activated. Fine blood rune lines on Zhi Xuan’s skin glowed briefly. The fresh blood and soul essence of the leader—the first piece he harvested at the Heaven Mirror Lake—were forcibly pulled out.

  WHIRL!

  The fresh blood and spiritual essence were quickly absorbed into Zhi Xuan’s body, strengthening his physical foundation. His Heavenly-Blood Body felt increasingly dense, and the first Slaughter Seal in his meridians glowed faintly, absorbing the energy from the kill.

  Zzzring!

  At the same moment, the Soul Lantern wrapped tightly in his storage bag vibrated violently. The soul of the group leader, just released from his body, was pulled irresistibly into the Lantern.

  BRUKH!

  Zhi Xuan jolted. Instantly, a bone-chilling cold shot from his storage bag, piercing into his Sea of Consciousness. It was the Soul Backlash he knew would come. The thousands of silent whispers inside the Lantern, now joined by a new soul, exploded into a wail that was deafening to the spiritual ear. Within his Sea of Consciousness, a great turmoil occurred. The Devil Thought at the bottom of his Sea of Consciousness shook with joy, trying to take control of the chaos, while Zhi Xuan felt his Divine Wheel spin erratically.

  WHIRL! WHIRL!

  However, his Heavenly Samsara Wheel and his Devil Life Tree immediately responded. The Silvery Wheel spun faster, radiating the calming aura of the Law of the Four Seasons, suppressing the turmoil. The Devil Life Tree glowed a deep green, releasing an essence of warmth that wrapped around his soul, controlling the backlash.