Defeating the enemy and turning the tide to protect the spiritual veins, the beloved is saved from the brink of crisis.

Shen Yi’s fingers danced rapidly across the burning peachwood clapper. As he finished the final stroke of the tripod seal, eighteen bone swords were less than three inches from the fissure where Gao Yao had vanished.

The phantom of the Vermilion Bird let out a clear, sharp cry, and the gale stirred by its wings sent the bone swords veering off course.

"System, pull up the Shennong Herbal Compendium!" he roared in his consciousness, drops of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth into the boiling realgar wine.

Tiny, golden specks of light began to float in the liquid—these were the Nine-Turn Golden Scale Grass seeds he had buried beneath the medicine tripod three days ago.

Night Shadow’s obsidian robes fluttered without a breeze, and his nine bone lamps suddenly flipped and spun in mid-air: "Do you truly believe that summoning the ley line dragon energy can—" Before he could finish, the century-old locust tree at the east end of the starter village collapsed with a thunderous roar. The silver-white spiritual energy erupting from its roots condensed in the air into the silhouette of a giant dragon.

Seizing the moment, Shen Yi wiped the blood from his earlobe and added three more blood-runes to the back of his clapper.

The system interface exploded before his eyes: [Detected Yin artifact. Suggest activating Shennong bloodline to cultivate Spirit-Devouring Vines.]

"The Sovereign wants the fragment?" He deliberately shook his hands as he reached for the brocade pouch at his waist, the Golden Scale Grass powder on his cuffs quietly seeping into the soil. "Why not let me feed Lady Gao a Heart-Protecting Pill first? You’ve seen it yourself, this ley line dragon energy..." Before he could finish, Gao Yao’s whimpering turned into a heart-wrenching cough; the emerald vines wrapping around her were turning black at a visible rate.

Three bone chains flew from Night Shadow’s sleeves, pinning Shen Yi’s ankles, and the bone lamps descended until they were half a foot from his brow: "My patience..." The words were cut short as the sound of gongs, earth-shaking in volume, erupted from the village entrance.

The seventy-year-old village head charged into the barrier wielding a hoe, followed by thirty-six villagers carrying torches—each one wrapped in the anti-evil mugwort Shen Yi had distributed the day before.

[Spirit-Devouring Vine maturity countdown: ten breaths.] The system prompt blared, accompanied by a piercing ringing in his ears.

Shen Yi’s pupils contracted. He saw the purple-black veins emerging on Gao Yao’s neck, spreading toward her heart like poisonous snakes—it was the Heart-Devouring Curse planted by Night Shadow!

"The fragment is here!" He ripped open his pouch. The moment the half-bronze fragment flew toward Night Shadow, the silver-white roots lurking deep underground surged upward.

The villagers sang the rain-prayer chant in unison. The golden mist formed by the realgar wine, mixed with falling locust blossoms, descended in a flurry, and Night Shadow’s bone lamps emitted a teeth-grinding screech.

"You actually used mortal blood to nourish a spiritual plant!" Night Shadow’s furious roar shattered three of the bone lamps, but the remaining six suddenly shifted direction, stabbing toward the villagers.

Shen Yi seized the chance to crush the Golden Scale Grass fruit hidden in his palm. The splashing juice transformed into ten thousand golden needles the moment it touched the ground—it was the Rainstorm Pear Blossom formation rewarded by the system!

The vine cocoon around Gao Yao split open, and the leaves of the Spirit-Hidden Vine began to ravenously absorb the ley line energy.

Coughing up blood, Shen Yi lunged toward the fissure. As his fingertips touched the vines, he heard a system alert: [Warning! Host spiritual power below 5%.]

"Drain it!" He gritted his teeth and tapped the "Life Conversion" button on the interface, the agonizing pain in his dantian nearly causing him to black out.

But the cocoon around Gao Yao finally blossomed fully. The small, ice-blue flower that appeared in the maiden's hair as she fell was the Profound Frost Lotus, the very thing that could suppress the Heart-Devouring Curse!

Night Shadow’s bone sword stalled just as it pierced the final barrier of golden scales—the village head and his men had splashed realgar wine along the edge of the barrier, and the thirty-six mortals had used their mugwort torches to form a makeshift Spirit-Trapping Array.

Though it could only trap a Golden Core cultivator for three breaths, it was enough for Shen Yi.

"Yao'er, catch!" He poured his remaining spiritual power into the peachwood clapper, and the artifact, etched with the tripod seal, spun into the sky.

The Vermilion Bird phantom suddenly materialized, its talons tearing through the night as Shen Yi used his last strength to push Gao Yao toward the village head: "Take her to the end of the village to find..."

A deafening explosion drowned out the rest of his words, and all of Night Shadow's bone lamps shattered.

When the dust settled, the others saw only Shen Yi kneeling on one knee in the scorched earth, the half-fragment clutched tightly in his hand stained with ice-blue floral nectar.

And where Night Shadow, who should have been reduced to ashes, had been, a damaged bone lamp wick still glowed faintly.

When Gao Yao stumbled over, Shen Yi was using his peachwood clapper to poke at the remains of the wick. Amidst the charred black marks that should have been lifeless, faint dark-gold patterns were visible, resembling some kind of ancient formation...

As Shen Yi’s fingertips touched the wick remains, the system screen suddenly flashed a line of red text: [Detected Nether Imprint. Suggest using the bronze fragment to perform reverse analysis.]

He calmly wiped the blood from his lips, his peripheral vision catching Night Shadow’s left hand as it formed a seal—the bone ring on his finger cast no shadow under the moonlight.

"Old Lie!" Shen Yi suddenly shouted outside the barrier, "The realgar wine jars you buried in the cellar yesterday need to be flipped!" Before the words faded, several golden patterns arched up from the ground beneath Night Shadow—it was the Eight-Trigrams Spirit-Locking Array he had taught Lie Feng to bury three days ago.

Gao Yao suddenly grabbed Shen Yi’s wrist, and ice-blue spiritual energy flowed into his meridians through their contact.

The Profound Frost Lotus in her hair bloomed, and the dew on its petals transformed into thirty-six silver needles suspended in mid-air—it was the "Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers" hidden weapon technique Shen Yi had taught her the day before.

"Trifling tricks." Night Shadow sneered and flicked his sleeves, and the five bone lamps suddenly clustered into a lotus shape.

But just as the ghostly fire was about to touch the silver needles, Shen Yi crushed the Golden Scale Grass fruit hidden between his fingers. The exploding juice caused dragon-scale patterns to shimmer across the surface of the silver needles!

A system prompt sounded amidst the explosions: [Shennong blood + Profound Frost Lotus triggered mutation effect. Armor penetration increased by 300%.]

Night Shadow’s bone lamp lotus shattered, and two fragments of the lamp flew straight toward the realgar wine jar by the village head's feet—the very eye of the Spirit-Trapping Array.

"Now!" Shen Yi grabbed Gao Yao and leaped, three vermilion seeds shooting from his waist pouch.

The moment the seeds touched the ghostly fire of the bone lamps, all the mugwort in the starter village ignited spontaneously, the green-blue flames illuminating the night sky like broad daylight.

As she soared, Gao Yao ripped off her hair ribbon, and the ice-silkworm silk instantly bound Night Shadow’s right hand as he was forming a seal.

Shen Yi seized the opportunity to throw the peachwood clapper at the array eye. The moment the artifact collided with the realgar wine jar, the ley line sleeping within the fissure emitted a roar like a dragon.

"You actually used the ley line as bait!" Night Shadow’s black robes were blown away by the earth energy, revealing a pulsing, ghostly blue flame at his heart.

Shen Yi’s pupils shrank—the shape of the flame was identical to the Shennong mark on the system interface!

Lie Feng suddenly leaped from the rooftop carrying a wine jar, splashing amber realgar wine beneath Night Shadow’s feet.

The thirty-six villagers sang the rain-prayer chant in unison, the sound waves causing the bone lamp fragments to arrange themselves into an eerie star map in the sky.

Shen Yi seized the chance to wrap his arms around Gao Yao’s waist, diving rapidly amid the light-rain transformed by the Golden Scale Grass.

"Hold me tight!" he hissed into the girl’s ear, using his other hand to pour the last half-pot of realgar wine over them both.

As Night Shadow’s bone sword pursued them, the wine condensed into ice armor under the moonlight, and the sparks from the blade’s edge ignited the Profound Frost Lotus on Gao Yao’s temple.

A system warning sounded in tandem with the girl’s muffled groan.

Shen Yi suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of saliva mixed with Shennong blood into Night Shadow’s face.

No one expected this ruffian-like move to make the arrogant villain leader stumble back three steps—it turned out that the blood of ultimate Yang was the nemesis of Nether arts!

"Now!" The village head suddenly raised his torch and struck the gong, and the thirty-six villagers scattered mugwort ash into the sky in unison.

Shen Yi dragged Gao Yao into a pre-dug cellar, a deafening explosion sounding overhead.

Only when he felt the girl’s cold wrist did he realize his palms were slick with cold sweat.

The cellar was filled with the fresh scent of Golden Scale Grass. Gao Yao suddenly reached out and touched the bleeding corner of Shen Yi’s lips: "Next time you trick me into eating a Heart-Protecting Pill, remember not to smear realgar wine on the bottle rim." A faint light flickered at her fingertips; she had secretly transferred her own life-bound spiritual energy to him.

The battle above had reached a fever pitch.

Night Shadow’s bone lamps were all shattered, but he suddenly bit his finger and drew a talisman in the void.

The moment the blood talisman took shape, the bronze fragment in Shen Yi’s arms turned scorching hot, and the system interface flashed frantically: [Warning! Detected spatial fissure fluctuation.]

"The old bastard is trying to run!" Shen Yi pulled away from Gao Yao’s hand, ready to charge up, but was restrained by the ice-silkworm silk the girl had wrapped around his wrist.

Misty-eyed, Gao Yao smiled like a cunning fox: "You taught me, catch the king to catch the thieves." She suddenly pulled open her collar, and the ice-blue flame pulsing at her heart resonated with Night Shadow’s ghostly blue fire!

Night Shadow’s scream pierced through the cellar.

When Shen Yi broke through the earth, he saw the villain leader with half his body trapped in the spatial fissure, the ley line's surging earth energy tearing at his Golden Core.

The scattered bone lamp fragments formed a partial star map in the air, fitting perfectly with the patterns on the edge of the bronze fragment.

"Brother Shen!" The villagers gathered around with torches, only to find the hero squatting in the scorched earth, picking through the remains of the wicks.

Lie Feng’s booming voice echoed through the night sky: "Stop digging! Widow Wang at the end of the village says she’s going to brew you a ten-ingredient tonic!"

Gao Yao giggled, though her fingertips quietly hooked onto the corner of Shen Yi’s clothes.

As she saw the young man tuck a fragment with dark-gold patterns into his pouch, the moonlight illuminated his profile—in that familiar, ruffian-like grin, there was a weight she had never seen before.

Dawn was approaching, and the silver glow of the ley line enveloped the starter village.

Shen Yi toyed with the bronze fragment, leaning against the old locust tree stump, the system interface flickering in the morning mist.

As the first ray of sunlight pierced the clouds, he suddenly noticed that the patterns on the fragment, illuminated by the sun, formed a brand-new totem with the star map fragments left behind by Night Shadow—it was clearly a miniature map of the ley line distribution.