General Zhao Feng was not a man of patience. As his legion of ten thousand entered the narrow pass known as the Devil's Throat, the only path to Heaven's Reach, he felt a nagging sense of unease. The birds had stopped singing. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
"General," a scout reported, his voice trembling. "The vanguard... they've vanished."
"Vanished? Don't be absurd," Zhao Feng growled, his Core Formation aura flaring like a miniature sun. "Ten squads of armored cavalry don't just disappear in a forest!"
"They didn't disappear, General," a voice whispered from the canopy above. "They were harvested."
A rain of black ice needles descended.
"[Dark Frost: Thousand Grave Piercing]"
Ye Lin descended like a falling star. Her blue eyes were cold as she danced through the ranks of the Imperial soldiers. Every swing of her needle-sword left a trail of black frost that didn't just freeze skin—it shattered the souls of those it touched.
Nearby, a heavy boom shook the earth. Ye Fan leaped into the center of the infantry, his [Earth-Shaker Polearm] slamming into the ground. A shockwave of dark Qi erupted, flipping armored horses and pulverizing the bones of anyone within twenty paces.
"Rebels! Die!" Zhao Feng roared, leaping from his rhinoceros. He swung a massive war-hammer, glowing with the golden light of the Empire.
But before his hammer could connect with Ye Fan, a wall of pure shadow rose from the dirt.
Clang!
The hammer rebounded as if it had struck an indestructible mountain. Out of the shadows stepped Shen Yuan, his hands folded behind his back, his expression one of bored disappointment.
"Ten thousand men to catch one 'servant'?" Shen Yuan remarked. "Ling Xian is getting desperate. Or perhaps she has simply forgotten what a real war looks like."
"You... you are the one!" Zhao Feng's eyes went wide. He could sense Shen Yuan's cultivation—it was only at the Foundation Establishment realm. "A mere Foundation brat dares to stand before a Core Formation General? I will grind your bones to dust!"
Zhao Feng lunged, his hammer wreathed in the [Sun-God's Judgment] technique. The air scorched. The trees ignited.
Shen Yuan didn't move. He simply closed his eyes and snapped his fingers.
"[Nine-Abyss Array: The Maw of the World]"
The entire Devil's Throat pass lit up with purple runes carved into the very bedrock. The thousands of soldiers who had already fallen weren't just corpses—they were catalysts. Their blood began to flow in reverse, filling the runes and activating a formation that hadn't been seen in a millennium.
The ground turned into a liquid void.
"What is this?!" Zhao Feng screamed as his legs began to sink into the stone. His golden Qi was being sucked out of his body by the very air he breathed.
All around him, his ten thousand soldiers were being dragged into the earth. It wasn't a battle; it was a sacrifice. The screams of ten thousand men merged into a single, horrific note that shook the heavens.
Shen Yuan stood at the center of the carnage, his robes fluttering in the violent gale of spiritual energy. He wasn't just watching—he was inhaling.
The massive amount of Qi from the dying army was being filtered through the array and funneled directly into Shen Yuan's Dantian.
Crack.
The bottleneck of the Middle-Foundation stage shattered.
Crack.
The Late-Foundation stage was bypassed in a heartbeat.
"Peak Foundation Establishment," Shen Yuan whispered, his aura turning into a visible pillar of black flame that reached the clouds.
He looked at Zhao Feng, who was now paralyzed, buried up to his waist in the shifting, hungry earth.
"General," Shen Yuan said, walking toward him. "You wanted my head on a pike. I think I'll take yours instead... and use it as a bowl for the Empress's tears."
Shen Yuan raised his hand, and the shadows around Zhao Feng began to sharpen into blades.
"Wait! The Empress... she has the Heavenly Key! You'll never reach her!" Zhao Feng begged, his pride finally broken by the sheer, crushing weight of Shen Yuan's presence.
"I don't need to reach her," Shen Yuan said, his fingers closing into a fist. "I am going to make her come to me."
Squelch.
The blades closed in. The Iron-Blood General was no more.