Within Qingshan City, the atmosphere was tense but outwardly orderly. The skeleton of the new city had already risen from the earth, markets were taking shape, and caravans arrived daily. On the surface, it was prosperity in the making. Beneath it, however, every major force present understood that the balance here was fragile and temporary.
Inside a provisional council hall overlooking the central construction zone, Ning Fengzhi stood before a large topographic map. His fingers traced the winding lines of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, his brows drawn together in concentration.
"Still no agreement?" he asked calmly, though the impatience beneath his tone was difficult to hide.
A subordinate answered cautiously, "The high-level magic beasts have agreed to allow flying mounts to pass over the outer regions of the mountain range, but their conditions are… excessive."
"How excessive?" Ning Fengzhi asked without lifting his gaze.
"One million sacrificial coins per month for each sixth-tier magic beast involved in escort routes," the subordinate continued, "and three million per month for each seventh-tier."
Ning Fengzhi paused. Then he laughed softly, though there was no warmth in it.
"They are testing limits," he said. "They believe we will pay because we are in a hurry."
He straightened and turned toward Gu Yuena and Medusa, who stood nearby in silence.
"Please ask the Grand Elder and Her Majesty the Queen to take action," Ning Fengzhi said evenly. "Deal with the few leading troublemakers first. After that, negotiations will become… reasonable."
Gu Yuena did not question the decision. She merely nodded once. "Understood."
Medusa's gaze flicked briefly toward Ning Fengzhi, but she said nothing. This was not the first time force would precede diplomacy.
Ning Fengzhi was about to continue when—
Boom!
A violent fluctuation of energy erupted far in the distance, so intense that the air itself trembled. Gu Yuena and Medusa turned their heads almost simultaneously.
Before Ning Fengzhi could speak, space distorted beside him.
Gu Yuena vanished.
Ning Fengzhi's expression tightened. "What happened?"
Medusa closed her eyes briefly, sensing the disturbance. "A Dou Zong-level energy fluctuation," she said slowly. "Far away… but unstable. Something violent."
Ning Fengzhi fell silent. There was not enough information yet. He could only wait.
Far from Qingshan City, amid broken terrain and ravaged forest, the chase had reached its climax.
Another explosion tore through the air.
Boom!
The violent backlash forced the pursuing figure to slow for an instant. Bo Saixi staggered as she landed, her breathing ragged. The inner armor on her body shattered into fragments of light—it had been detonated deliberately, its last function expended.
At this point, both she and Qian Daoliu had nothing left.
Every high-level spirit tool they carried had been destroyed—staff, sword, inner armor, all gone. What remained was only their exhausted bodies and fading Dou Qi.
The black-robed man halted mid-air, his expression darker than the clouds above.
Four.
Four sixth-tier spirit tools detonated.
Even as a Dou Zong, he felt pain in his heart at the sheer waste. He had never possessed such wealth himself. If not for the ambush at the start, if not for Qian Daoliu's injury, this pursuit would never have gone so smoothly.
And that made him uneasy.
"I'd like to see," he sneered coldly, "if you can pull out a fifth one."
Bo Saixi did not respond. She tightened her grip on Qian Daoliu, pushing her speed to the absolute limit.
"How bad is it?" she asked in a low voice.
Qian Daoliu's face was deathly pale, sweat pouring down his temples. "The wounds… are stabilized," he said hoarsely. "But that claw… it didn't just injure my body. The power inside it is corroding my soul origin."
His breathing hitched violently.
"It feels like… needles piercing my soul," he gasped. "I can't gather my spirit. I can't—"
Pain wracked him again, forcing a groan from his throat.
Behind them, laughter echoed.
"Hehehe… little bugs," the black-robed man's voice carried cruel satisfaction. "The game is over."
He raised both hands.
A massive ghostly claw condensed out of pure, icy Dou Qi, its surface crawling with distorted, wailing soul imprints. The air froze around it. This was no probing attack—it was his absolute killing move.
A strike meant to annihilate.
Bo Saixi felt her heart sink.
She stopped abruptly, turning and placing herself in front of Qian Daoliu without hesitation. Her remaining Dou Qi surged outward, her posture resolute.
If death was inevitable, she would die standing.
Just then—
Space rippled.
Not violently. Not loudly.
It was as if the world itself paused for half a breath.
A silver-haired figure stepped out of nothingness and stood calmly before the descending ghostly claw.
Gu Yuena had arrived.
The black-robed man's smile froze instantly.
Every instinct he possessed screamed danger.
That speed—no, that was not speed. That was displacement. This presence was fundamentally different from anything he had faced.
For a single heartbeat, the thought of retreat surged in his mind. But then another thought followed immediately—Wu Protector.
If he fled without resistance, the Soul Hall would not forgive him. Death would come regardless.
He clenched his teeth.
"I'll test you," he snarled, forcing his Dou Qi to surge. The ghostly claw swelled again, its power reaching its peak. "Even a Dou Zong would avoid this!"
Gu Yuena did not respond.
Her gaze was calm. Indifferent.
Her right hand was already encased in a dark-gold claw-shaped spirit tool—Dragon Fang. Silver dragon scales flowed over her arm, spreading up to her elbow, cold and flawless.
She did not dodge.
She clawed forward.
The collision lasted less than a blink.
There was no stalemate.
The ghostly claw shattered.
Not cracked. Not weakened.
It collapsed outright, Dou Qi dissolving as if erased by an unseen law.
"Pfft!"
The backlash slammed into the black-robed man. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his face twisted in disbelief.
Impossible.
Only then did he truly see it—the dragon scales, the weapon, the pressure.
A humanoid dragon-type seventh-tier magic beast.
Equipped with a seventh-tier spirit tool.
Terror flooded his mind.
Run.
That was the only thought left.
He turned to flee—
And Gu Yuena vanished.
To the black-robed man, it felt as though death itself struck from every direction at once. He could not see her movement. He could not track her position.
"No—!" he screamed, crossing his arms and forcing his Dou Qi into a desperate, final defense.
In his reflection, he saw his own face—twisted by fear—mirrored in Gu Yuena's cold violet eyes.
Then the claw fell.
Splat.
A single dark-gold flash.
Dou Qi defenses parted like mist. Bone, flesh, and meridians were severed with surgical precision. The sound was soft, almost gentle.
Gu Yuena reappeared several meters behind him, already retracting her claw. Dragon scales faded. Dragon Fang gleamed, immaculate.
In her open palm rested a storage ring.
Behind her, the black-robed man's body separated mid-air.
Arms, legs, torso, head—cleanly divided, falling apart in silence.
A Dou Zong.
Instantly killed.
Gu Yuena hovered calmly, silver hair stirring in the turbulent air. She glanced once at the scattered remains, then looked down toward Bo Saixi and Qian Daoliu.
The residual dragon might pressed down upon the land.
Bo Saixi exhaled slowly, awe flickering in her eyes.
The battlefield fell silent.