The outskirts of the Withered Valley were as bleak as the name suggested.
The once lush trees had shed their leaves long ago, leaving behind twisted, calcified branches that pierced the grey sky. The ground was devoid of any grass, replaced by cracked, dead soil that crunched underfoot.
As they crossed the invisible threshold into the valley, Lin Yao took a step forward and immediately stumbled, her chest tightening as a sudden weakness washed over her.
"Master…" she gasped, tightly gripping her sword. "My dantian feels heavy. The qi here is…it feels... sluggish."
Su Ming came to a halt, his silver-threaded grey robes unstirred by the dead air. He swept his gaze across the barren landscape. The natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which was usually present everywhere, was entirely absent here. It was a complete vacuum, an atmospheric void that actively resisted a cultivator's internal circulation.
"Your cultivation is struggling because the qi in the nearby area is depleted," Su Ming explained with a calm voice.
"The atmosphere is very different from the one you are used to. Try to calm yourself down and relax. Use your cultivation technique to stabilize your cultivation."
Lin Yao closed her eyes, recalling the flawless circulation paths Su Ming had helped her understand. Slowly, she pulled her flaring qi inward, sealing it tightly inside her meridians rather than allowing it to interact with the oppressive environment. The heavy pressure on her chest gradually eased.
"I see," she murmured, opening her eyes. The strain on her face was replaced by quiet focus.
"It feels different, but stable."
"Good," Su Ming said. "Adaptability is the difference between a real cultivator and a paper tiger. Let's go."
Su Ming analyzed internally as they resumed walking. Without ambient qi, every technique costs more Qi to perform and yields less output. I must manage my reserves strictly. No flashy sword waves. Clean and efficient moves only.
For the next hour, they descended deeper into the valley. Mutated beasts - rotting, fleshy, grey-skinned creatures with red eyes - periodically lunged from the dead brush. Su Ming did not draw his sword. Instead, he allowed Lin Yao to take the vanguard, using the hostile environment to temper her newly consolidated cultivation.
She dispatched the beasts with clean, efficient strikes of her sword, her movements growing sharper and more conservative with every kill.
When they finally reached the deepest basin of the valley, the air grew so thick with oppressive energy that it felt like wading through freezing water.
Su Ming held up a hand, bringing Lin Yao to a halt. He narrowed his eyes, activating the Twilight Nether Lantern within his soul.
Through the Eye of the Essence, the grey fog peeled away, revealing the true nature of the valley. Beneath the cracked earth, countless natural ley lines had twisted and inverted, forming a massive, naturally occurring Death Formation. At the absolute center of this formation, floating above the deadly earth, was a physical crystallization of pure death energy—a dark, pulsing Death Seed.
The seed was acting as a vacuum, relentlessly sucking the life and qi out of the entire region to fuel its own growth.
And it was not unguarded.
Resting comfortably at the base of the altar was a colossal, dark-furred demonic wolf. Its body was wrapped in thick, corrupted miasma, and its aura bordered on the terrifying threshold of a Demon Lord. Fortunately, it was currently asleep, by the dense death qi gathering around the seed.
As Su Ming evaluated the structural weak points of the formation, a sudden shift in the air broke his concentration.
From the high ridge overlooking the basin, a figure stepped out from behind a dead tree, pulling away a talisman that crumbled into ash.
It was Lin Fan.
The young man's robes were stained with dirt, a stark contrast to the arrogant, untouchable aura he had projected at the Greenwall City banquet. Following his humiliating defeat by the Wang Clan enforcers, his Dragon Orb had guided him here to the Withered Valley.
He had spent his last few spirit stones tricking an ordinary merchant, his cheat item allowing him to pluck a high-quality aura-hiding talisman from a pile of cheap, ordinary items.
He had spent the last two days investigating Su Ming, his resentment festering into a toxic obsession.
'A useless, crippled Peak Master,' Lin Fan had thought, his teeth grinding every time he remembered the man's indifferent gaze.
"A mere handyman disciple who got lucky during a crisis", that was his impression of Su Ming.
Lin Fan had rationalized everything. He needed Lin Yao.
His Heaven-Stealing Cauldron Art required a vessel of supreme talent to fix his damaged foundation, and Lin Yao was the only woman he had encountered whose talent met the requirements.
In Lin Fan's twisted mind, he was a destined hero, obligated by the heavens to save the fairy Lin Yao from wasting her potential under a fraud.
Standing on the ridge, Lin Fan looked down at the natural Death Formation. His Dragon Orb pulsed, and he immediately noticed that the massive array of death qi was violently reacting to the rich dragon blood essence contained within his stolen Crimson Blood Sword.
A cruel, arrogant smile spread across Lin Fan's face.
"Let's test the waters," he thought.
"Let's see if the fraud can survive this."
Driven by sheer malice, Lin Fan raised the Crimson Blood Sword and plunged its blade directly into a crucial node of the Death Formation on the ridge.
The reaction was instantaneous and catastrophic.
The massive influx of pure, vibrant dragon blood essence acted like a drop of boiling water hitting hot oil. The Death Formation went violently berserk. The grey fog swirling in the basin turned pitch black, and the colossal demonic wolf at the center of the altar snapped its eyes open, letting out an earth-shattering howl that sent goosebumps down Lin Yao's bones.
As the dense fog suddenly cleared as if making a way for someone, a loud voice pierced her ears.
"Fairy Yao!" Lin Fan called out from the ridge, his voice dropping into a softer, calculated tone that echoed across the basin.
"I am not here to harm you. I am here to help you."
He gestured dismissively toward Su Ming.
"That man...do you understand what he is? He takes disciples so that he can use them. You are talented. You deserve proper guidance, a proper future—"
"Stop," Lin Yao said, her voice icy.
"Come with me. I can offer you—"
"I said stop it."
"He is a useless cripple playing at Peak Master!" Lin Fan shouted, genuine contempt bleeding into his voice, the frustration of months of humiliation finally finding a target.
"A handyman disciple who got lucky! You are wasting your potential following a man who cannot even—"
As Lin Yao did not bother to hear the rest, something changed in her gaze.
It was not rage in the dramatic sense. It was not fire-veined fury or an emotional surge. It was something quieter and more absolute than that. A line being crossed that she had not known existed until it was crossed.
She looked up at the boy on the ridge, and for the first time, she saw him not as an arrogant peer but as something utterly pathetic and repulsive.
Despite the oppressive death energy attempting to trigger something within her, she drew her sword, the blade humming with pure, uncorrupted killing intent aimed solely at Lin Fan.
"Lin Yao, fall back," Su Ming's voice cut through the tension, calm and commanding. She blinked, turning to her master.
"Leave the valley immediately and fetch the Wang Clan guards," Su Ming ordered, his eyes locked on Lin Fan and the enraged demonic wolf bounding down from the altar.
"Tell them their thief has been cornered."
Su Ming's voice did not waver at all. It was as steady as a lake, without any ripple, completely unaffected by the apocalyptic pressure of the Death Formation.
This sudden, absolute calm and authoritative tone from Su Ming brought her back from the edge. Taking a moment to steady her breathing, she nodded.
"Yes, Master!" Lin Yao did not hesitate. She sheathed her sword and immediately bounded backward, retreating toward the valley entrance.
Su Ming stepped forward without drawing the mystic grade sword from his waist.
The demonic wolf completely ignored Lin Fan on the ridge. Its instinct was entirely consumed by the violent clash between the formation's death qi and the dragon blood essence, leaving Su Ming as the only target in its path.
'Peak high-level demonic beast. The strongest opponent I have faced since my transmigration,'
Su Ming analyzed the massive beast with a smirk as it lunged forward, its jaws wide enough to swallow him whole.
'But its attack pattern is completely predictable.'
Su Ming's eyes flashed silver. He will not give it any chance.
'Its extreamly risky, but it's the most efficient way to defeat it,' he concluded his calculation in an instant.
He channeled his Qi, executing his Crimson Sword Manifestation as three highly condensed, physical swords of crimson flame materialized in the air around him. With a flick of his wrist, Su Ming sent two of the blazing swords shooting forward with pinpoint accuracy.
The first sword pierced the wolf's open maw, while the second impaled its chest, shattering its corrupted core and pinning its massive body to the cracked earth.
The crimson fire erupted from the inside out, burning the colossal beast to ash in a single, flawless execution.
***
[A/N - Yes, Heaven-Stealing Cauldron Art is a Dual Cultivation Technique.]