The Cloud Mist Sect was in a state of total panic. Torches flickered across every mountain path, and patrols of disciples marched through the night, their eyes wide with paranoia. They were looking for a "ghost," but Su Lan was already miles ahead of them.
While the elite guards were busy defending the Phoenix Pavilion where Lin Yue was resting, Su Lan was standing in front of a hidden waterfall on the northern peak.
[Ding! Scanning... Detection complete.]
[The 'Hidden Moon Treasury' is protected by a Grade 4 Spirit-Locking Array. If touched by unauthorized energy, it will alert the Sect Leader immediately.]
"Can you bypass it?" Su Lan asked, her voice calm despite the sirens wailing in the distance.
[Answer: The Void Root can consume the 'frequency' of the array. Cost: 200 System Points. Would the Host like to proceed?]
"Do it."
Su Lan placed her hand against the wet stone. Instead of a spark or an explosion, a ripple of black ink seemed to bleed from her fingertips. The glowing blue lines of the sect's protective formation turned gray, then crumbled into nothingness. The waterfall parted, revealing a heavy bronze door.
Su Lan pushed it open.
Inside, the air was thick with the scent of medicinal herbs and the hum of high-grade spirit stones. Rows upon rows of wooden shelves stretched into the darkness, piled high with gold, jade boxes, and ancient scrolls. This was the accumulated wealth of a thousand years.
"Everything they have, they stole from the hard work of disciples like me," Su Lan murmured. She waved her hand, and the Void Storage Ring began to glow. "Tonight, I'm just collecting the interest."
[Ding! Sweeping in progress...]
[Gained: 50,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones.]
[Gained: 5,000 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.]
[Gained: 10 'Foundation-Perfecting' Pills.]
[Gained: Rare Herb 'Heavenly Snow Lotus'.]
As the shelves emptied, Su Lan reached the very back of the room. There, sitting on a pedestal of pure obsidian, was a crimson box.
[Warning! High-energy signature detected. This is the 'Blood-Flame Essence'—the Sect's core treasure.]
Su Lan opened the box. Inside was a swirling ball of red fire. This was what the Sect Leader, Qinghe, was planning to use to push his cultivation to the next level.
"If I take this, he'll lose his mind," Su Lan smiled. She didn't put it in her ring. Instead, she sat down cross-legged and held the flame between her palms. "System, protect my meridians. I'm going to swallow it."
[Ding! Warning! This energy is extremely unstable! The chance of body explosion is 70%!]
"With the Void Body, nothing is unstable," Su Lan hissed. "I've already died once. You think a little fire can stop me?"
She pulled the flame into her chest.
BOOM!
Her vision went white. It felt like her veins were being filled with molten lead. The red fire fought against the black void energy, trying to burn her from the inside out. But the Void Root was like a hungry beast; it latched onto the flame and began to tear it apart, shredding the fire into pure, usable power.
[Ding! Absorbing Blood-Flame Essence...]
[Foundation Establishment Level 2... Level 3... Level 5!]
[Ding! Level Up! Current Realm: Foundation Establishment Level 7!]
Su Lan opened her eyes. A burst of heat erupted from her body, melting the stone floor beneath her. She felt like she could punch a hole through the mountain.
Outside the treasury, a patrol of three inner-sect disciples finally noticed the waterfall was flowing strangely.
"Wait... the formation is gone!" the leader shouted. "Quickly! Sound the—"
The door to the treasury swung open.
Su Lan walked out, her skin glowing with a faint, dangerous red hue. She looked at the three disciples. They were the same ones who used to mock her for being "too poor" to buy spirit pills.
"Su Lan?!" the leader gasped. "You... you robbed the treasury? Do you know what the Master will do to you? Return the items now and maybe he'll only cut off your limbs!"
Su Lan didn't even draw her sword. She simply took a step forward. The sheer pressure of her Level 7 Foundation Establishment aura hit them like a physical wall. The disciples were forced to their knees, the sound of their bones creaking under the weight.
"You're still talking to me about 'Master'?" Su Lan asked, walking up to the leader. She reached out and patted his cheek condescendingly. "Tell me, how does it feel to be the 'trash' now?"
"I-I'll kill you!" The disciple tried to raise his hand, but Su Lan stepped on his wrist.
CRUNCH.
"That's for every time you stole my monthly allowance," she said coldly.
She turned to the other two, who were trembling so hard they had wet themselves. "Go. Run to your 'Goddess' Lin Yue. Tell her that the fire she's waiting for is currently keeping me warm. Tell her... I'm coming for the rest of it soon."
She didn't kill them. Leaving them alive to spread the terror was much more effective.
[Ding! Successfully 'Face-Slapped' Inner Disciples. Reward: 1,000 System Points!]
[New Skill Unlocked: 'Void Illusion'—The ability to leave a shadow clone behind.]
An hour later, the Great Hall was shaking.
Qinghe stood in the middle of the empty treasury, his face purple with rage. The crimson box was open. Empty.
"SU LAN!" he roared, the sound shattering the windows of the hall. "I will hunt you to the ends of the earth! I will soul-search you for a thousand years!"
Ye Chen and Lin Yue stood behind him, shaking. Lin Yue's face was pale. Without that Blood-Flame Essence, her new spiritual root wouldn't be able to stabilize. She would become a cripple again in a matter of months.
"Master, we have to find her," Lin Yue cried, her fake tears finally becoming real ones—tears of fear. "She's a demon! How did she get so strong so fast?"
"She must have found a forbidden treasure in the Abyss," Ye Chen gritted his teeth. "Master, let me lead the hunt. I'll bring her head back."
"No," Qinghe said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "She's mocking us. She mentioned the Sect Competition. She wants to humiliate us in front of the other four sects. If we can't find her in the woods, we will wait. We will turn the competition arena into her graveyard."
Meanwhile,
Deep in a hidden cave far from the sect, Su Lan sat in front of a pile of spirit stones. She had a month. To anyone else, a month was nothing. To Su Lan, with the System and a treasury full of loot, it was an eternity.
"System," she said, her eyes burning with ambition. "Convert all the low-grade stones into 'High-Efficiency Cultivation Time.' I don't just want to beat them. I want to crush their spirits so badly they wish they had never been born."
[Ding! Conversion successful.]
[Entering 'Void Time-Dilation' mode.]
[One month outside = One year inside.]
"Good," Su Lan said, drawing the Heaven-Slaying Sword. "Let's start the real work."
[Current Stats:]
Name: Su Lan
Level: Foundation Establishment (Lvl 7)
Techniques: Void Step, Heaven-Slaying Sword, Void Devour.
Mood: Bloodthirsty.