Du Yanran urgently needed to enter the cultivation realm. Even if her meridians were fully repaired, she would not be able to cultivate in the mundane world. Moreover, her meridians remained fragile and needed nourishing with Meridian-Warming Pills, which the mortal realm could not provide.
A few days later, Du Yanran ordered Ah Hu to escort her toward the border between the mundane and cultivation realms. She was determined to cross over.
At the time, she had no idea about the black-armored beetles that had begun spreading across the cultivation world. With her advantage from a past life, she thought she could make her mark easily. Reality, however, soon shattered that illusion.
The moment she crossed the barrier and arrived in Tianyue City, she was targeted.
After concealing her appearance and asking around for information, she drew even more attention and, predictably, was captured.
Labeled as a successful host for black-armored beetle parasitism, and lacking any legitimate background—with her only records being those obtained through mind-controlling mortals—she was immediately apprehended by a Jīndān-level cultivator from the Yin-Yang Sect.
What followed was relentless interrogation. Unless her innocence could be confirmed, death awaited her.
Only then did Du Yanran realize that she was now merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator, not the Mahayana-level Zhēnzhūn she had once been. Nor was she in the lawless era of the lower realm where she could bend the rules at will.
Facing reality, she quickly abandoned her pride and did everything she could to win favor with the Yin-Yang Sect's Jīndān Zhēnrén, hoping to carve out a sliver of survival.
While Du Yanran was trying to stay alive, Jian Dan was working hard to improve her cultivation and increase her odds in the trial.
This time, she and Mo Su Zhēnjūn spent less than half an hour on the stairway before being transported to the eighth level.
They landed atop a red mountain peak. A foul stench clung to the air. Jian Dan frowned. Mo Su Zhēnjūn took out a porcelain vial and poured out two pale green pills with a faint minty scent. He handed one to her.
"Awakening Pill. Keeps your soul clear, so the smell doesn't mess with your mind."
Jian Dan nodded, placed it under her tongue, and let it slowly dissolve. In the plains below, swarms of massive black beetles surged forward, accompanied by beetle larvae and ochre-colored blade mantises. They came in droves, pouring up the mountainside.
"What the hell, they're really trying to kill us!"
Jian Dan couldn't hold back and swore aloud. Mo Su Zhēnjūn, already pale, turned even grimmer. There was no other choice. If they wanted to live, they had to fight. With mutual understanding, the two launched themselves downhill and charged the horde. In such a narrow clash, momentum was key.
This time, Jian Dan's Mó Yuè Zhǃn had permission to fully draw upon demonic energy. Hundreds of crescent blades materialized and hovered one meter from her. As she dove into the swarm, they began their harvest.
After several rounds of killing, Mó Yuè Zhǎn grew sharper. Rotating rapidly, it left layer after layer of beetle corpses around Jian Dan. The two-meter-tall blade mantises either lost legs or heads. In half an hour, she had carved a bloody path.
Mo Su Zhēnjūn was equally ruthless. One move, Frozen Miles, froze the mantises' legs. Then an Ice Shatter blew them to pieces, leaving a trail of icy wreckage.
For the larger black-armored beetles, they joined forces to kill them, collecting shells and legs—precious materials for crafting.
They didn't stop. For five days, they fought side by side, inching toward exhaustion.
"This can't go on. They're endless. We'll be drained of spiritual power and die here."
"Let's retreat to the peak and take turns meditating to recover."
"Bad idea. We'll be surrounded. You go first. I've got some talismans. I'll hold them off. Use whatever treasures you have. No need to be stingy."
Jian Dan couldn't help but tease him.
"Naturally. Nothing's more valuable than my life."
Mo Su stepped back and quickly reached the peak, sat cross-legged, and swallowed his last high-grade Spirit Restoration Pill.
Once he left, Jian Dan pulled out a bottle of Purple-Heart Fruit Wine brewed with mid-grade spiritual spring water. If a disciple from the Pill Sect saw this, they'd surely curse her. Such rare ten-thousand-year-old fruit, and she made wine out of it? Had it been used for pills, it could yield dozens of Wall-Breaking Pills!
She tossed several mid-grade explosive talismans to either side, then took a sip from the jug. Pure spiritual energy coursed through her, soaking into her limbs and nourishing her fragile meridians.
The essence entered the Yang side of the Taiji diagram in her dantian, and her spiritual Yuányīng immediately transferred the energy to the Yin side's demonic sea. Once refined, it flowed back to her demonic Yuányīng. The cycle completed, her dry meridians were noticeably restored.
The self-destruction of disposable artifacts bought her time. Once the swarm noticed her attacks had weakened, they let out a screech and surged forward, eager to devour her.
Jian Dan took another sip of the wine, signaled Mó Yuè Zhǎn to sever the antennae of the leading mantis, then charged alone into the horde.
Her heart was calm, eyes sharp. The blades of Mó Yuè Zhǎn danced around her. With sword in one hand and fist in the other, she weaved through the swarm, striking relentlessly.
She leapt onto the back of a giant beetle. Her fist, glowing with violet light, struck where its head met its wing membrane. Three punches ended it. The beetle dropped, lifeless.
She swallowed the last of the spirit wine. Within her dantian, both Nascent Souls opened their eyes, smiled at each other, pressed palms together, and began spinning rapidly.
Battle frenzy took over. Her eyes flashed blue. Every flight path and attack from the beetles played in slow motion to her perception, allowing her to intercept or counter in advance.
Her movement technique, Shadowstep, advanced mid-fight. Faster and more precise, it enhanced every strike. Sword flashes and the howling of Mó Yuè Zhǎn filled the air with a deadly aura.
One punch to the ground split it open, a five-meter crack swallowing dozens of mantises. Jian Dan followed up with a fiery Manjushahua, scattering their shrieks on the wind.
Mo Su Zhēnjūn, now recovered to eighty percent, returned and saw Jian Dan cutting down enemies with such fierce momentum and rising spiritual energy that he nearly choked. She was breaking through mid-battle. From the look of it, she was going to ascend directly to Divine Transformation.
What a monstrous cultivator.