The tension inside the Hidden Peak Citadel was suffocating. Hu Lie and the Bladefang Corps were huddled beneath the main walls, terrified. Lin Yue, sweat dripping down her face, activated the final nexus point of the Nine-Cloud Defense Array.
"It's ready, Master Ling Tian! The core array is stable, but it can only withstand three full-power attacks from a Spirit Severing expert before failing!" Lin Yue shouted.
Ling Tian stood in the center courtyard, having just concluded his forced cultivation. He felt a powerful, surging energy within. He had achieved the pinnacle of the Late Golden Core Realm—a level where his Perfect Golden Chaos Core was operating at maximum conversion efficiency, placing his effective power level between Peak Nascent Soul and Early Spirit Severing, but with infinitely purer Qi.
"Three attacks are two too many," Ling Tian dismissed.
The Elder's Fury
A terrifying presence slammed into the mountain. The very air pressure caused the ground to crack. Elder Gao Feng, radiating the oppressive aura of the Early Spirit Severing Realm, appeared above the Citadel, his robes billowing with unrestrained fury.
He spotted the newly repaired formations and the small figures below. His eyes immediately fixed on Ling Tian, sensing the core of the defiance.
"Insects! You repair a fortress only to die within it!" Gao Feng bellowed. "I am Elder Gao Feng of the Jade Lake Palace! Surrender the traitor Lin Yue and the alchemist who provided the Tier-8 Pills, and I will grant you quick deaths!"
Ling Tian looked up, his expression one of bored contempt.
"Elder Gao Feng," Ling Tian replied, his voice calm yet carrying an unsettling command that cut through the Elder's intimidation. "You are too loud. And you are trespassing on the territory of the Chaos Sect."
The claim of a "Chaos Sect" made Gao Feng pause, but only for a second.
"A pathetic name for a pile of corpses!" Gao Feng shrieked. "You dared to cripple my fellow Elders! Taste the wrath of the Jade Lake Palace!"
The Tactical Counter
Gao Feng unleashed his first attack: Soul Cleaving Thunder, a massive beam of destructive purple lightning aimed at the entire Citadel. This technique was capable of instantly dissolving the Dantians of dozens of Immortal Foundation cultivators.
BOOOOOM!
The attack struck the Nine-Cloud Defense Array. The array flared brilliantly, sucking the energy from the Mid-Grade Immortal Vein to compensate. The Citadel shuddered, but the formation held, weakening the attack by 80%.
"Now!" Ling Tian commanded.
Lin Yue, following Ling Tian's earlier instructions, immediately initiated the counter-formation: the Vein Suppression Array—a technique Ling Tian devised based on the Citadel's ancient blueprints.
The Vein Suppression Array didn't target Gao Feng, but the ambient Immortal Qi surrounding the Citadel. It violently suppressed the purity and flow of all external energy within a five-mile radius.
Gao Feng, preparing his second attack, suddenly froze.
"What is this?! My Qi flow is sluggish!" Gao Feng cried out in shock.
Cultivators in the Spirit Severing Realm rely heavily on external Immortal Qi to fuel their powerful spiritual Avatars and world-law fragments. By suppressing the external Qi, Ling Tian had dramatically increased the cost of Gao Feng's next technique, forcing him to draw primarily from his internal reserves.
The Decisive Move
Ling Tian knew the array couldn't hold forever. He had to force the confrontation now.
He soared out of the Citadel, confronting the Spirit Severing expert directly.
"Your grand technique is too expensive now, old man," Ling Tian mocked, his Late Golden Core humming. "I will grant you one clean strike, Elder Gao Feng. Use it, or die."
Gao Feng, furious at the unexpected handicap and Ling Tian's unbearable arrogance, decided to end the fight instantly. He channeled nearly half of his internal Immortal Qi into his most potent technique: The Spiraling Abyss Blade—a technique designed to shatter the spiritual core of a victim.
The Spiraling Abyss Blade, massive and destructive, tore toward Ling Tian.
Ling Tian smirked. This was exactly the energy expenditure he needed.