The sea’s surface.

A slender, gaunt, blind saintess stood upon the wind.

"What a pity... A tier-three magic treasure can be self-destructed with a single thought from its cultivator. Seizing one is truly difficult."

She seemed quite regretful. With a flick of her fair hand, she tossed the fragments of a brass bell into the sea.

"Still, capturing this divine soul is a good enough prize..."

The Blind Saintess’s smile was serene as she extended a slender, pale hand.

A divine soul, its face a mask of terror and faintly resembling Shenling, darted left and right in her palm.

But like an insect under a glass dome, it had no escape!

"Your Holiness, the Evil Celestial Auk’s injuries are manageable. After consuming some Spiritual Objects, it should recover in a month or so..."

Navasen materialized. He bowed his head, his attitude respectful, even... fearful!

’This Saintess... Isn’t she a little too strong?’

His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.

In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea.

She had killed a veteran Crystal Formation cultivator from the Cyan Profound Sect—Shenling!

And she herself was almost completely unscathed...

Such terrifying power sent a tremor through Navasen’s heart, and he couldn’t suppress the fear rising within him!

’Her Holiness, the Saintess, is probably invincible among tier-three cultivators...’

A chill ran through Navasen’s heart.

As a scion of the Yunshan Royal Family, he felt little reverence for this Saintess.

In fact, he was even faintly wary and hostile toward her!

But now, having witnessed her terrifying power firsthand...

Navasen wisely followed his heart and completely suppressed those petty thoughts.

"Mm..." The Blind Saintess nodded slightly.

"Prepare to head to Weiyuan Immortal City. In the meantime, practice that technique of yours well..."

She gazed in the direction of Weiyuan Immortal City, her pure white eyes reflecting a magnificent sight.

A lush, black-and-red Divine Tree was growing!

"The Divine Tree... is about to descend..."

...

Weiyuan Immortal City.

The Outer City.

A maze of haphazardly planned alleys.

Moss-covered bluestone bricks gave off a damp feeling.

Dressed in a simple robe like a failed scholar, Zhou Liangcai carried an oil-paper bag as he walked through the alley, stopping before a wooden door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Zhou Liangcai knocked. "Mr. Zhong, are you there?"

He lifted the oil-paper bag in his hand, its fragrance wafting out.

"Mr. Zhong, I waited in line for an hour today just to buy two of these Flower-Brewed Chickens! They’re the specialty of the Hundred Fragrance Tower!"

The room was silent. Not a sound.

"Mr. Zhong? Mr. Zhong?"

WHOOSH.

A slight breeze blew past. Zhou Liangcai shivered, feeling a bit cold.

He muttered, "What’s going on... Brother Zhong Qi couldn’t have moved, right? Without even telling me?"

"Don’t tell me he moved to the Inner City and looks down on his poor friends now?"

Zhou Liangcai mumbled under his breath.

His motives were, in fact, tinged with a bit of self-interest.

But there was no malice in it.

He and Zhong Qi had been good friends. Now, the latter’s outstanding talent in Arrays had earned him the high regard of several Array Masters.

Zhou Liangcai was incredibly envious and hoped to deepen their friendship.

’Maybe when Mr. Zhong makes it big, he can help a brother out...’

It was only human nature.

CREAK.

The wooden door opened, and Zhong Qi appeared before him.

"Mr. Zhong, you..." Zhou Liangcai’s expression changed slightly.

His friend’s eyes were completely bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept in a very, very long time...

His mental state didn’t look promising either.

"Come in," Zhong Qi said.

He turned sideways, clearing half the doorway and revealing the pitch-black room within, like a dark abyss.

GULP.

For some reason, a chill ran down Zhou Liangcai’s spine.

"Er... uh... Mr. Zhong, the chicken is still hot, you should eat it quickly... I just remembered I have something to do, so I’ll be going."

Zhou Liangcai forced a smile, turned, and prepared to leave.

SLAP.

Zhong Qi grabbed his sleeve.

"Come in," Zhong Qi repeated, his face devoid of expression.

"This..." An intense chill bloomed in Zhou Liangcai’s heart.

"Come in."

...

Canghai Mountain.

Su Ye held the jade cup, taking a small sip of tea, his gaze flickering.

He had come this time at the invitation of Bai Xiuying to prepare for a new round of Reverse World extermination.

However, what Bai Xiuying said after they met surprised Su Ye a little.

"For this Reverse World extermination, I only need you to... stand guard?"

"Mm." Bai Xiuying nodded.

The exquisitely beautiful Sword Immortal wore a white robe today, her long hair tied up and pinned with a slanted jade hairpin.

After taking charge of the Immortal City, she had gained an air of sharp competence.

In fact, with Su Ye’s keen spiritual sense...

...he could even feel a faint, sharp aura from her.

’The Sea-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Saber... that magic treasure is in her hands?’

’Is it a trump card from Sikong Xin?’ Su Ye mused.

With this top-tier magic treasure, Bai Xiuying’s strength could at least reach the threshold of the third tier.

With the help of the Nine Nether Blood Sea Array, fighting a few Demon Kings would be no problem at all.

Of course, the backlash a Foundation Establishment cultivator would suffer from activating a magic treasure, even with affinity-based reductions, would likely be terrifying.

Su Ye didn’t think Bai Xiuying’s confidence in clearing out the Reverse World came from the Sea-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Saber.

"Then... what could it be?" Su Ye was a little curious.

His gaze flickered as he watched Bai Xiuying, ready to listen.

As a Sword Cultivator, Bai Xiuying had a straightforward personality and had no intention of being cryptic.

"In the past few days, several Array Masters have made a technical breakthrough. They developed a new generation of Array based on the original ’gate-opening’ array."

"This Array has a startling effect—it can make the monsters from the Reverse World manifest and take physical form in our world!"

"Oh?" Su Ye rubbed the jade cup, inwardly surprised.

’Making Reverse World monsters manifest in our world?’

’Can an Array actually do that?’

’Or rather, is Weiyuan Immortal City’s technology that advanced?’

Seeing Su Ye’s disbelief, Bai Xiuying solemnly assured him.

"It’s absolutely true. We’ve already run small-scale experiments, and it is indeed feasible."

"Our plan is to set up an Orbit at a specific location, lure out a large number of monsters, and make them manifest physically."

"Then, we’ll stack Arrays to bombard and annihilate them!"

"However, just in case, we’ll still need cultivators like you, Mr. Su, to stand guard."

Bai Xiuying laid out the entire plan.

"Sounds good." Su Ye nodded in agreement.

The most disgusting thing about the Reverse World monsters was that they were formless and intangible in the real world.

This forced Weiyuan Immortal City to venture deep into the Reverse World to kill these monsters in an unfavorable environment.

If they could be made to manifest in the real world, they would undoubtedly be much easier to deal with!

It doesn’t matter what you are—in the face of absolute firepower, you’ll be blasted to dust!

"Oh, by the way, while this Array was created by the hands of several masters..."

"The key idea actually came from that young man from the Zhong Family we rescued."

"His talent for Arrays is truly astonishing..."

Bai Xiuying remarked with a sigh.

"Oh?"