Counterattacking the enemy to uncover top secrets, Shen Yi's illustrious name shakes the world of immortality.

Shen Yi's knuckles brushed against the cold dragon patterns carved on the bronze, the lingering sweet fragrance of the vermilion fruit still stuck in his throat.

He pushed Gao Yao back toward Haoyu with a backhand motion. A frost-colored silk ribbon swept past the oncoming sharp claws of the blood-eyed figure, kicking up a flurry of ice crystals as a crisp sound like shattering glass echoed suddenly throughout the valley.

"The purple cloud vines in the western spiritual field need fertilization." With a roguish smirk, he wiped the golden marks from the corner of his mouth, while the frantically flashing system notifications in his spiritual consciousness condensed into two cyan jade mustard seeds in his palm.

Blood droplets, splattered as Night Shadow disintegrated, traced along the bronze dragon patterns, coagulating into a winding River Chart under the moonlight.

The True Fire of Samadhi suddenly detonated in the southeast corner, and the Azure Luan banner held by Mingxin crashed to the ground with a loud roar.

The instant Shen Yi flicked away the mustard seeds, he saw clearly beneath the fleeing disciples' feet—on the bluestone slabs that should have been the core eyes of the guardian mountain array, the Nine-Curved Dragon Scale Grass unique to the Dragon-Extinction Abyss was growing rampantly.

"Haoyu!" Shen Yi spun around, slashing apart the blade light hurtling toward Linyun, while the jade pendant at his waist suddenly burst with cyan light.

The Seven-Star Conjunction grass planted in the herb garden three days ago grew wildly, its vines entangling three disciples who were about to step into the trap. "Take the others and head beneath the crooked-neck pine tree where the wine jars are buried!"

Gao Yao's ice-soul hairpin let out a sharp whistle. As she whirled around, her translucent silk ribbon wrapped tightly around a short blade, driven by the blood-eyed figure, aimed right at Xuanfeng's vital back.

Shen Yi's pupils reflected the bead of blood seeping from the young woman's slender neck, and the Netherworld orchid in the system inventory—nourished with the inner core of a nascent soul beast—suddenly began to bear fruit.

"The little lass has quite some spice." The blood-eyed figure licked the ice crystals off the blade's edge, crushing a clump of newly sprouted dragon scale grass beneath his boots.

Watching the plant juices seep into the bronze patterns, Shen Yi suddenly realized that the blood droplets left by Night Shadow were reorganizing into the Nine-Curved Recurving Dragon pattern—completely overlapping with the flashing red dots on the system map.

With a roguish grin, Shen Yi flicked Gao Yao's ice-soul hairpin, using the rebound force to crash straight into the blood-eyed figure's embrace.

As the two tumbled into the bushes, the golden-patterned vine seeds shaken loose from his sleeves suddenly grew wildly, wrapping the blood-eyed figure's scimitar and forcing it to pierce his own left shoulder.

Amidst the searing pain, the system prompt sounded: [Nine-Curved Dragon Breath detected. Consume 300 years of lifespan to activate the Shennong Pharmacist Body?]

"Ayi!" Gao Yao's exclamation mingled with the sound of shattering ice crystals.

Shen Yi flipped over among the shards of jade, catching sight of the ice lotus imprint emerging between the young woman's eyebrows—the effect of the millennium snow lotus seed he had secretly slipped into her medicinal broth last month.

The blade of the blood-eyed figure was a mere three inches from her throat when seven purple-gold bamboos carrying the roars of dragons suddenly burst from the bronze ground.

Coughing up golden blood, Shen Yi chuckled aloud, "Kidnapping a maiden requires a betrothal gift." He crushed the blood-soaked vermilion fruit pit in his embrace, and the Spirit-Devouring Epiphyllum planted on the cliffside of the Dragon-Extinction Abyss three days ago suddenly bloomed beneath the feet of the blood-eyed figure.

The moment the blood mist left behind by Night Shadow was swallowed by the epiphyllum, the bronze patterns across the entire valley began to rotate clockwise.

"Watch out for the Shift-and-Swap array!" Elder Xuanfeng's sword light cleaved open the western cliff face, exposing the bloody array flags hidden behind the vines.

Haoyu led over twenty disciples rushing out from the pine forest, each cradling jars of scorching sun wine that Shen Yi had buried last year.

The blood-eyed figure suddenly tore through space, appearing directly behind Gao Yao. The golden patterns in Shen Yi's pupils flared violently.

Enduring three slashing blood-blades, he pulled the young woman into his arms and rolled into the newly activated system defensive array. As his back slammed against the bronze dragon head, he heard a faint, shattering crack emanate from the ice lotus hairpin in Gao Yao's hair.

"You always say farming can solve every problem." Gao Yao drove an ice-crystal-formed scalpel into his dissolving left eye, the freezing chill sealing the golden marks that were eroding his meridians. "Do you believe it now?"

With a roguish glint, Shen Yi caught a stray lock of her hair between his teeth, his blood-stained fingertip pressing against the center of the young woman's eyebrows.

The system alert tone suddenly turned shrill, and the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Grass he had cultivated in the spiritual spring three hundred miles away experienced violent fluctuations—every single leaf reflected the blood-soaked altar deep within the Dragon-Extinction Abyss under the moonlight.

"Senior Brother Shen! The eastern array eye!" Mingxin shrieked as he lunged forward.

Within the True Fire of Samadhi burning upon the array flag in his hand, the re-forming figure of Night Shadow was vividly mirrored.

Watching his own left hand begin to crystallize, Shen Yi saw the Datura flower in his system inventory—which had ingested eighteen different types of poisons—trembling wildly.

Gao Yao's silk ribbon suddenly wrapped around his neck, pulling him backward. In a moment of weightlessness, Shen Yi watched the blade of the blood-eyed figure sweep past the tip of his nose.

The young woman's breath, fragrant with snow lotus, brushed against the back of his ear. "Even if I die, you must first grow me a field of ice bellflowers."

The bronze patterns on the ground abruptly rose to form a cage, and the blood droplets left by Night Shadow coalesced at the intersection of the dragon patterns into a new body.

Shen Yi felt the jade pendant at his waist grow burning hot—an amulet transformed from the first spirit ginseng cultivated using the Primeval Soil rewarded by the system.

"Elder Xuanfeng, do me the favor of smashing those wine jars toward the Qian-position dragon eye." Coughing up golden blood, Shen Yi flashed a roguish grin, his stained fingers tracing half a dragon pattern onto Gao Yao's palm. "If you see me turn into a golden statue later, remember to pour some Jade Pool water over it—I secretly buried it beneath the third brick under your window last month."

The wild laughter of the blood-eyed figure shook loose falling stones, and the newly formed body of Night Shadow already exhibited the outline of dragon horns.

Gazing at the frantically flashing red warnings on the system interface, Shen Yi watched as spiritual vines accompanied by dragon roars began to sprout from the crystallizing areas of his left hand.

Gao Yao suddenly thrust her ice-soul hairpin into his chest, the extreme cold instantly freezing the mutating golden patterns.

"If we're going to risk our lives," the ice crystals on the young woman's eyelashes fell onto his blood-stained dimples, "you must first pay back the three thousand ice bellflowers you owe me."

Shen Yi's right fingertip stabbed directly into the crystallized fracture of his left arm, ripping away half a section of the spirit vine intertwined with dragon patterns.

The Datura flower, nourished by eighteen kinds of poisons in the system inventory, suddenly bloomed in his throat, spraying toxic juices mixed with golden blood onto Night Shadow's re-forming dragon horns, corroding them with a sizzling hiss and plumes of black smoke.

"You think old man's farm is planted for nothing?" With a roguish grin, he jammed the spirit vine into the bronze ground, causing the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Grass buried deep within the herb garden three days prior to burst through the earth in the four cardinal directions.

Just as the remnant soul of the blood-eyed figure attempted to escape into the shadows, it was bound into a silkworm cocoon by golden threads shooting from the plant leaves—undeniably mutated spiritual plants that Shen Yi had grafted using the Heavenly Silkworm silk rewarded by the system.

Gao Yao's ice-soul hairpin flew out of her hand, transforming in mid-air into three hundred and sixty needles of ice that pierced straight into the cocoon.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Yi bit the tip of his tongue, spraying his vital essence onto the waist pendant.

The guardian ginseng cultivated with Primeval Soil suddenly expanded into a three-zhang-tall golden-armored giant, its palm as large as a winnowing fan slamming down toward Night Shadow's nascent dragon horns.

"Farmer!" Night Shadow roared, ripping through space, only to collide squarely with the Spirit-Devouring Epiphyllum that Shen Yi had pre-planted in the void.

The scimitar of the blood-eyed figure suddenly reversed direction, its system-modified hilt sprouting barbed thorns that plunged deep into its master's throat—a masterpiece crafted by Shen Yi last night using demon vine seeds.

Elder Xuanfeng's wine jars detonated at the Qian-position dragon eye. The scorching sun wine buried last year, nourished by the system's spiritual spring, erupted into flames accompanied by the resounding roars of dragons.

By the firelight, Shen Yi spotted the Nine-Curved Recurving Dragon pattern emerging on Night Shadow's chest, while the system map in his consciousness popped up a prompt: [Enemy weakness detected. Consume 500 years of lifespan to activate the Shennong Soul-Exterminating Art.]

"Thanks for the auspicious words." With a roguish grin, Shen Yi wound Gao Yao's silk ribbon around his wrist; the fabric stained with both their blood instantly activated the millennium snow lotus root buried beneath the earth.

The entire valley was instantly frozen in ice, save for the dragon pattern at Night Shadow's fatal weakness, which steamed with heat—resembling precisely the lure-plant Shen Yi cultivated in the system space.

The golden-armored giant abruptly disintegrated into myriads of ginseng rootlets, burrowing into the crevices of the dragon patterns wrapped in the True Fire of Samadhi.

Coughing golden blood, Shen Yi shoved Gao Yao toward a safe area, his blood-stained dimples suddenly blooming with an eerie red light: "Explode for this young master!"

Amidst Night Shadow's agonizing screams, the cocoon of the blood-eyed figure was dragged deep underground by the ginseng roots.

The planting log flashing frantically in Shen Yi's consciousness suddenly locked: [Spirit-Devouring Epiphyllum has devoured Nascent Soul-tier energy. Convert to Shennong spiritual power?] Choosing "yes" without hesitation, seven purple-gold man-eating flowers burst forth from beneath the ground, crushing Night Shadow's nascent dragon horns into powder.

"Impossible... This is clearly a farming system..." Night Shadow's fragmented body began to crystallize, and Shen Yi seized the chance to drive the toxic-blood-soaked spirit vine right between his eyebrows.

The Datura flower in the system inventory blossomed fully inside Night Shadow's skull, its black petals inscribed with dense, intricate maps of the celestial realm.

Gao Yao's ice-crystal scalpel pressed against Night Shadow's throat. "Where have you set up the altar?" Her snow lotus fragrance, mingled with the scent of blood, choked off Night Shadow's final route of escape.

With a roguish smirk, Shen Yi sprinkled a handful of spiritual soil over his wound—a fast-acting herbal potion modified from the system's hemostatic grass reward, causing tender shoots carrying a medicinal fragrance to sprout instantly.

Night Shadow's sneering laughter turned intermittent as his broken form began to dissolve into points of light: "You mere ants... how could you possibly know the Sovereign is three hundred miles away..." Before he could finish, the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Grass in the spiritual spring shrieked, the dew-drops on its leaves reflecting the complete outline of a blood-red altar.

"Thanks for the chat." Snapping his fingers, Shen Yi watched as the subterranean Spirit-Devouring Epiphyllum devoured Night Shadow's remnant soul down to nothingness.

Staggering as he turned, he collided with Gao Yao's embrace, his nose brushing against the inner layer of her collar adorned with the ice lotus hidden pattern—an array diagram he had personally embroidered for her last month.

A tear from the young woman fell onto his crystallized left shoulder, the freezing chill locking the spreading golden marks half an inch away.

With a roguish bite at a stray lock of her hair, Shen Yi murmured, "What are you crying for? I won't die yet; I still have three thousand acres to plant for you..." Before he finished, his words were sealed by lips formed of ice crystals, the taste of the system's exclusive Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill lingering between their teeth and lips.

When Elder Xuanfeng and the others gathered around, Shen Yi was casually tossing about the dragon pattern fragments stripped from Night Shadow.

The system prompt rang out suddenly: [Celestial realm spatial coordinates detected. Consume a millennium of lifespan to open cross-plane farming?] Narrowing his eyes, he studied the bloody runes swirling within the fragments—runes that undeniably shared the same origin as the ice lotus imprint on Gao Yao's brow.

"Senior Brother Shen!" Haoyu ran over holding a wine jar, the aroma drifting from its rim carrying the breath of a dragon. "The fiery grapes you planted last year..." Before he could finish, Shen Yi pressed the dragon pattern fragment directly into the wine.

The fiery burst from the jar vividly projected the nine unactivated altars deep within the Dragon-Extinction Abyss.

Gao Yao's ice-soul hairpin hummed with a warning tone, and the system map in Shen Yi's consciousness began flashing red.

The Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Grass in the spiritual spring three hundred miles away collectively drooped, their leaves pointing toward the northern sky—where a blood-red vortex was faintly taking shape.

"Looks like it's going to rain." With a roguish smile, Shen Yi flicked the dragon pattern fragment toward the vortex, the residual blood on his fingertips congealing into tiny dragon scales under the moonlight.

As he turned, he met Gao Yao's gaze of deep concern and deliberately pulled his blood-stained collar open wider. "Would the wife care to bandage her husband first?"

The tips of the young woman's ears instantly frosted over, yet the silk ribbon she flicked out gently wrapped around his wound.

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Shen Yi felt the jade pendant at his waist grow hot—the Datura flower in the system inventory, having devoured Night Shadow's remnant soul, was slowly opening its eighteenth petal inscribed with celestial runes.

During the victory banquet that night, Shen Yi used the pretext of wine to straighten the ice lotus hairpin on Gao Yao's temple.

The snow lotus seeds hidden within the hairpin's intricate patterns suddenly sprouted, bursting into twin blossoms growing from a single stem amidst their shared breaths.

The system prompt sounded once more: [Twin spiritual plant mutation detected. Consume lifespan to activate symbiotic contract?]

Choosing to cancel under the young woman's reproachful glare, Shen Yi secretly etched the runes of the symbiotic contract into her waist pendant with his fingertips.

In a secluded corner of the banquet, Mingxin tremblingly put away the array flag stained with dragon pattern fragments, the blood on its surface quietly seeping into the earth.

At the midnight hour, Shen Yi went alone to the back-mountain spiritual field.

The newly unlocked "Celestial Soil" in the system space was devouring ordinary spiritual plants. Squatting down, he discovered that all the dragon scale grass planted three days ago had turned blood-red.

The moment the moonlight shifted, a masked figure faintly materialized within the shadows of the crop ridges.

"You're quite prompt..." With a roguish grin, Shen Yi crushed the dragon pattern in his palm and scattered the powder into the cultivating Spirit-Devouring Epiphyllum.

The sound of shattering ice suddenly echoed from the herb garden behind him. The moment he turned around, he slipped into a lazy, nonchalant smile. "Is the wife here to observe the celestial phenomena as well?"

Gao Yao's silk ribbon unfurled in the night wind, the snow lotus in her hair unexpectedly tinged with faint golden patterns.

Gazing fixedly at the northern sky, she said, "The Jade Pool water you buried beneath your window... it's time to water it tomorrow."

Following her gaze, Shen Yi saw that the blood-red vortex three hundred miles away had dissipated, yet the red dots representing danger on the system map were rearranging themselves anew.

He touched the burning dragon horn fragment hidden in his sleeve; the newly surfaced runes upon it were an exact match for the incantation Gao Yao had murmured in her dreams the previous night.