Six mystic-eyed lions rushed into the swarm of youths chasing Pei Ziao. Some of the faster youths, including Pei Ziao, had already begun scaling the cliffs, but those who were slower to react ended up battling the mystic-eyed lions underfoot.

By the time Yun Ruoyan’s group of four arrived, they saw two dozen youths fighting against six mystic-eyed lions that had turned somewhat feral under the effect of the powder.

“No matter how fast we rushed here, others still got here before us,” Lin Qingxue sighed, panting.

“Who wouldn’t want a spiritual treasure? Just about everyone alive is gathered here, I’m sure.” Zhuo Yifeng glanced at those youths scaling the cliff. Everyone’s attention was on a slender scarlet herb growing on the cliffside. The herb itself wasn’t particularly eye-catching, but the scarlet aura it was giving off was.

An amaranthine sun, a pillmaster’s treasure! Yun Ruoyan’s eyes lit up.

“Oh no!” Lin Qingxue pointed at the cliff. “That Wang Meng’s in the lead!”

After relentlessly scaling the cliff, Wang Meng was just about to reach the scarlet herb. Somewhat anxious, Yun Ruoyan rushed toward the cliff, and Zhuo Yifeng and the Lin sisters followed quickly behind.

Except for Yi Qianying, no one paid any mind to Yun Ruoyao’s seemingly lifeless body. Yi Qianying knew that her cultivation was relatively modest, and she had little chance of securing the treasure for herself. Instead, she walked to Yun Ruoyao’s side and leaned down.

“Sister Ruoyao, are you alright?” Yun Ruoyao’s body was bruised and battered, and she was bleeding all over. Yi Qianying cautiously prodded her.

“Save me, save me!” a weak voice emerged from Yun Ruoyao’s lips. Shockingly, despite Yun Ruoyao’s severe injuries, she hadn’t yet died!

Yi Qianying helped Yun Ruoyao sit up. When she glanced at her face, Yi Qianying sucked in a deep breath. Yun Ruoyao’s right cheek had been torn to pieces by the lions, and her right eyelid had been ripped off, revealing a naked eyeball that was abhorrent to the sight.

Yi Qianying shivered. How severe was the animosity that lay between Wang Meng and Yun Ruoyao that he would lace the beast-attracting powder with a bewitching poison, causing the mystic-eyed lions to treat Yun Ruoyao like a plaything rather than prey?

“Qianying, my face… it hurts…” Yun Ruoyao muttered, her voice so weak it was barely discernible. “Save me… take me away...”

Yun Ruoyao was near death’s door, but if she were treated in time, she would still have a chance to live.

However…

Yi Qianying’s lips twisted into a grim smile. She sighed, “Sister Ruoyao, given your current appearance… death might be preferable.”

“What… what do you mean?” Yun Ruoyao’s naked eyeball stared at Yi Qianying with such intensity that she shuddered and turned away.

“See for yourself.” Yi Qianying pulled out her steel sword and held it vertically in front of Yun Ruoyao, allowing her to see her own reflection from the sword.

“Argh!” Yun Ruoyao’s eyes widened as she looked at her own form, but the more frightened she appeared, the more frightening she looked.

In her reflection, her right eyeball stared penetratingly at her, as though her reflection would jump out of the sword at any moment and possess her. Unable to calm herself down, Yun Ruoyao’s strained heart grew so burdened that it seized up. Her head drooped, and she died.

Yi Qianying sucked in a deep breath after glancing at the husk of her erstwhile sister, her eyes cold and emotionless. She swiftly retrieved Yun Ruoyao’s storage pouch before retreating from the cliffside and continuing to hide.

The six elders and Li Mo observed all this from their tall tower. Some frowned, still somewhat affected by the mindless slaughter taking place, but others looked on calmly as though all they were looking at was a mildly interesting performance.

The tall, thin second elder’s mien always looked as though he had just bit into something disgusting, but it was now adorned with a serene smile. “Although we won’t have as many students as we did in past years, each of them seems quite strong in their own right. I’m sure all that survive to the end will be an asset we can cultivate.”

The corpulent fourth elder nodded with a smile. “Indeed! I’ve already marked out a few promising disciples, haha.”

The short fifth elder sighed. “How many more lives need we sacrifice for this end?”

Li Mo looked into the mirror silently. Swift and agile, Yun Ruoyan scaled the cliff rapidly. Zhuo Yifeng followed quickly behind her, dealing with all those who attempted to attack her. They worked with such coordination that most of their fellow competitors had been left behind. However, there were still quite a few people above them.

Yun Ruoyan turned to her left to see Pei Ziao surrounded by a group of cultivators. Although he was disadvantaged in number, his superior cultivation allowed him to knock two cultivators down the cliffside.

Frowning, Yun Ruoyan tossed a little pebble at Pei Ziao with her full strength, striking him on the shoulder and momentarily paralyzing him. At the same time, one of the cultivators struck at him with a kick. Unable to dodge, he fell down the cliff.

As he fell, Pei Ziao’s gaze landed on Yun Ruoyan. He knew that she had been the one to strike at him, but what continued to bother him was her motive for doing so. Yun Ruoyan, why do you hate me so?!

Yun Ruoyan returned Pei Ziao’s gaze calmly, thinking that he would surely die from falling at this height. After so long, she had finally found an opportunity to get back at him, but Yun Ruoyan was surprised to realize that his impending death didn’t make her feel particularly happy. She shook her head, focusing once more on the prized amaranthine sun above her.

Contrary to Yun Ruoyan’s expectations, however, Pei Ziao was rather lucky. His body fell directly on top of a lion’s carcass, and the certain death that Yun Ruoyan had been expecting instead manifested as grievous injuries. Yi Qianying, who was hiding near the cliff, dragged him to safety.

Given his lead, Wang Meng was surprised to see someone catching up to him. Right below him was a youth about the same age as he was. He attempted to pull on Wang Meng’s leg to drag him down, but Wang Meng managed to avoid his attack.

The youth continued to tussle with Wang Meng on the cliffside, giving those cultivators behind them a chance to catch up. Two dozen youths fought and dodged each other as they attempted to scale the cliff. From time to time, those who were unfortunate enough to lose their grip would fall from the cliff, letting out a panicked shriek that ended in a muffled thump.

By the cliffside, three of the six mystic-eyed lions had died to the group of cultivators. One escaped, and another was half-dead. Those cultivators that didn’t want to brave the fight for the amaranthine sun began to fight for the mystic-eyed lions’ carcasses instead. Among them were the Lin sisters, whose combined forces and smarts had won them quite a bit of the spoils.

“Look, someone’s reached the spiritual treasure!” the sixth elder remarked.

The all-seeing mirror showed that Wang Meng had broken free of the other student’s grasp, had leapt forward, and had seized the amaranthine sun.

Just as he was about to pull the herb away, however, a black, shiny claw suddenly struck at Wang Meng. The sudden blow caught Wang Meng, and the claw had gored a hole in his right palm.

By the time the claw struck again, Wang Meng had gritted his teeth, retracted his palm and leapt a distance away. He deeply regretted his impetuous actions: how could a sage-grade spiritual treasure be guarded by only a few mystic-eyed lions? He had been too addled by the promise of treasure to think properly!

“Haha, do you think the treasure’s that easy to claim?” the youth behind Wang Meng crowed. He removed a grappling hook from his waist and tossed it at the amaranthine sun, wanting to retrieve it from a distance.

The beast hidden in the cliffs naturally wouldn’t allow the youth to succeed, and its sharp claws knocked the hook aside. Shortly after, it emerged from its crevice and exposed its shiny, black carapace—it was a large centipede-type beast!

“A steel-plated centipede beast,” Qiuqiu murmured. Although such beasts weren’t venomous, their bodies were as hard and tough as standard spiritual weapons, and they possessed significant offensive power.

After hearing Qiuqiu’s words, Yun Ruoyan decided to hide and see how the two cultivators above her would approach the problem.

Clearly, both youths recognized the identity of the beast, and they didn’t seem to panic.

“Well? Shall we kill it together? We’ll split the amaranthine sun between us!”

Wang Meng looked to the horizon. The sun had risen. If they didn’t manage to seize the amaranthine sun before the noon deadline, then both of them would regret the missed opportunity till their death. No matter what, I have to get rid of the centipede first!

“I accept!” Wang Meng exclaimed. The two youths rushed toward the steel-plated centipede together, a steel hook in one youth’s grasp, and an icy dagger in Wang Meng’s hand. Although the centipede’s carapace was hard and tough, there were chinks in its armor that both youths took advantage of.

As their respective weapons struck the beast’s soft flesh, it curled up in pain and locked the youths’ weapons tightly between its segmented armor. If the youths were to lose their weapons, then they wouldn’t be able to do any damage to the beast any longer. As a result, they could only keep a tight grip on their weapons as the steel-plated centipede rapidly scaled the cliff, bringing them up into the distance.

That’s my chance! Yun Ruoyan’s lips curved up as she dashed out from her hiding spot, climbed up to the amaranthine sun, and uprooted it without hesitation!