at the same time.

Deep within the secret realm lies a narrow valley in ruins.

The air was thick with the stench of blood. The once smooth ground was now riddled with potholes and crisscrossing, sharp claw marks. Several huge rocks had been smashed to pieces by brute force.

The "Nine Stars Linked Array," which the Tianyan Sect was so proud of, was now in ruins and had completely lost its luster.

Several Tianyan Sect disciples lay sprawled on the ground. Under the only relatively intact stone wall, Yun Wan'er huddled, her face even paler than her unconscious fellow disciples on the ground.

She hugged her knees, her body trembling slightly uncontrollably, her eyes filled with incomprehensible terror and bewilderment.

how so?

She didn't understand. Everything was fine at first...

She simply discovered that whenever her senior brothers and sisters were injured, the spiritual energy within her body, which was automatically refined by the black jade marrow, would become even purer.

So... she just "accidentally" revealed a tiny, insignificant flaw during the battle.

They said it themselves!

They say she is a genius, and that the future of the Tianyan Sect depends on her!

Since the future of the Tianyan Sect rests on her shoulders, then... isn't it... only right and proper for her senior brothers and sisters to suffer minor injuries and bleed a little in exchange for her rapid improvement in cultivation?

It's all for the good of the sect!

But... why did things turn out this way?

Although the Steel Feather Chicken was fierce at first, the senior brothers and sisters worked together to set up the "Nine Stars in a Row" formation, and their perfect coordination allowed them to completely suppress it.

She occasionally makes a "mistake," but always manages to escape unscathed.

But the further they went, the Steelfeathered Chickens seemed to go...crazy!

No, it's not madness!

In their scarlet eyes gleamed a cunning, almost cruel slyness that sent chills down her spine!

This is hardly a newly established Foundation Establishment demon beast.

The foul wind and oppressive force they brought with them when they pounced made even a Foundation Establishment Stage 1 person like her feel suffocated!

Nine Stars Alignment Formation?

They're like paper in front of them, torn to shreds in the blink of an eye!

This is so strange! All of this is so strange!

Yun Wan'er tightly gripped the black jade hidden in her sleeve.

A cool sensation came over her, followed by the incredibly pure spiritual energy within her body, which had been forcibly smoothed and refined by the black jade marrow, slowly circulating and nourishing her meridians.

She could clearly feel that after the fierce battle just now, she was one step closer to the threshold of the second level of Foundation Establishment, almost within reach.

In just a few hours... that speed is simply astonishing.

She suddenly raised her head and looked into the distance.

The only one still standing, Liu Qingyi, was biting her lip as she tore open the hem of her relatively clean inner garment to bandage a disciple on the ground whose abdomen had been pierced and who was barely breathing.

Liu Qingyi's face was also pale, and there were several deep wounds on her arms that exposed the bone. Blood stained half of her sleeves, but her movements remained steady.

Yun Wan'er's gaze was fixed on Liu Qingyi, watching her struggle to stop the bleeding of her fellow disciple, and watching her body sway slightly due to blood loss.

Senior sisters... can you hang in there a little longer?

A voice inside Yun Wan'er was screaming wildly, with an almost greedy eagerness.

Hang in there a little longer, hold on a little longer!

Let those terrifying steel-feathered chickens... injure a few more people!

Just a little bit more... and she could break through to the second level of Foundation Establishment!

Hang in there a little longer!

For her sake, for the future of the Tianyan Sect, please hold on a little longer!

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Rift Valley.

The junior disciples from the Crimson Cloud Sect acted swiftly and captured two array cultivators.

Under the dual "inspiration" of the spirit stone and Pei Lang's reputation as the "Little Tyrant of the Crimson Cloud Sect," the two array cultivators stumbled and crawled together to set up a large earthen-yellow defensive array—the Rock-Solid Thousand-Pound Array.

A thick barrier of earth elemental energy rose up, enveloping Eagle Beak Rock and bringing a faint sense of security.

Shen Zhaozhao and Pei Lang placed the still unconscious Chu Xiao at the innermost part of the formation, and then the two walked to the group of still-shaken cultivators.

Shen Zhaozhao succinctly recounted her encounter with the demonized steel-feathered chicken in the valley, as well as the strange golden core nascent form.

Finally, she said in a deep voice, "The situation has changed, far beyond what was expected. Everyone, try your communication talismans immediately."

A stir ran through the crowd as people pulled out communication talismans of various materials and bearing the symbols of different sects.

For a moment, the "poof" sounds of flashes of inspiration followed by their extinctions were incessant.

A moment later, all the participants' faces were ashen.

"No... mine is ruined too!"

"Mine too, no reaction at all!"

A gloomy atmosphere instantly spread, and panic, like a cold vine, quietly crept into everyone's heart.

Shen Zhaozhao silently looked at everyone, a fleeting, almost imperceptible glint of light flashing in the depths of her bright eyes.

She suddenly gave Pei Lang a look, who was still spending spirit stones on the Rock Formation and was feeling the pinch.

Pei Lang: "???"

He blinked his fox-like eyes blankly, completely unaware of the "troublemaking" signal hidden in Shen Zhaozhao's gaze.

However, Shen Zhaozhao no longer needed him to understand.

"Ahem, family members, calm down and listen to me."

She cleared her throat, and her voice suddenly rose, carrying a highly provocative and penetrating power that instantly drowned out the whispers in the crowd.

"The situation is already like this. We can't contact anyone outside, and who knows how many of those monsters are hiding in the valley. Tell me, what's the use of panicking? What's the use of crying?"

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