For three years, Han Yi had thoroughly explored all eighteen market districts on the Outer Peaks. He also frequented Little Sea-Viewing Peak, home to the female cultivators, and Little Boulder Peak, Zheng Hai's territory, becoming intimately familiar with both places.
Apart from these excursions, he spent most of his time on Little Spirit Void Peak, making an annual trip to Vermilion Bird Peak to complete his Points missions.
Although he hadn't actively sought to promote himself, his reputation for quality medicinal pills had inevitably spread, and people often approached him for private transactions. He generally refused such offers. If the introducer was particularly persistent, he would sell only the minimum quantity of pills, and at prices slightly higher than those at Little Sea-Viewing Peak, matching the Sect's official rates.
Despite his reluctance, the exceptional quality of his pills drew an ever-growing number of customers.
Lost in thought, Han Yi's feet carried him steadily upward until he reached the midpoint of Little Spirit Void Peak.
Suddenly—
BOOM!!
A deafening shockwave erupted overhead, jolting him from his reverie. Instinctively, he looked up.
Above him, the ethereal sea of clouds, once a vision of celestial beauty, had vanished entirely. In its place stretched a pitch-black gash, as if the sky itself had cracked open, arcing from the neighboring Outer Peak, Little Valley Sword Peak, directly across to Little Spirit Void Peak.
Rumble!
A terrifying tremor erupted from the fissure, radiating in all directions. As if sentient, the sinister black rift tore through Little Spirit Void Peak's protective formation. It writhed forward with astonishing speed, slamming directly into the peak's central core.
A furious roar echoed through the air. "Gu Wuchen, have you gone mad?!"
The roar was accompanied by a middle-aged cultivator in his early forties, soaring skyward. Han Yi recognized him as Fan Mo, the Peak Lord of Little Spirit Void Peak, whom he had met several times—a pinnacle Ninth Layer Qi Refinement cultivator.
Spirit Light blazed from Fan Mo's hands, channeling the peak's core power to resist the writhing black fissure.
In an instant, the Spirit Light shattered. Fan Mo, who had soared into the sky, crashed back onto the peak in disarray.
"Something's wrong, Gu Wuchen! Have you been corrupted by demonic forces?"
"Damn it!"
"A Heavenly Demon invasion! All disciples of Little Spirit Void Peak, flee immediately!"
Before the words had fully left his lips, golden light enveloped Fan Mo's body. Transforming into a streak of light, he shot out of Little Spirit Void Peak and vanished into the distance.
He had abandoned everyone and fled without a second thought.
Han Yi, standing halfway up the mountain, watched the scene unfold with indescribable shock.
In the next instant, a sudden realization struck him, his face draining of color as a primal sense of danger surged through him.
Danger!
As if in response, the writhing black fissure in the sky shattered and dissipated into swirling masses of eerie black miasma. These malevolent clouds descended upon the courtyards of Little Spirit Void Peak.
Figures rose from the courtyards, soaring into the air on their magical artifacts. These were the stewards and other high-ranking disciples of Little Spirit Void Peak, whose cultivation had reached the advanced stages of Qi Refining.
But their strength was far inferior to Fan Mo's. No sooner had they taken flight than the pervasive black miasma engulfed them. Their agonized screams echoed as they plummeted back to earth, their vital energies extinguished, their fates unknown.
Those below the advanced Qi Refining stage, lacking the ability to fly, scattered in panic. Some fled down the mountain, others toward the Back Mountain. Many still foolishly believed the courtyard's defensive formations would protect them, unaware that the disruption of Little Spirit Void Peak's central nexus had caused these formations—which relied on the peak's underground spirit vein—to collapse instantly.
The eerie black miasma swirled wildly, cascading from the sky like a malevolent tide. In the blink of an eye, it had blanketed Little Spirit Void Peak from summit to base.
With the Formation Arts shattered, the Outer Sect Disciples still in the courtyard were immediately vulnerable.
Panic erupted, and their cries of terror filled the air.
Halfway up the mountain, Han Yi broke into a cold sweat, his soul nearly leaping from his body. He abandoned all thoughts of the courtyard.
He bolted, pushing his Light Body Technique to its absolute limit, achieving a speed far surpassing even that of disciples at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.
Yet even as fast as he was, the sinister black miasma moved faster.
Suddenly, a fist-sized sphere of black miasma materialized ten meters away and hurtled straight toward his face.
Han Yi had clearly witnessed the high-ranking Qi Refining disciples who had tried to escape into the air being struck down one by one by these dense black masses.
Though the sphere targeting him was only the size of a fist, Han Yi dared not underestimate it. A chilling sense of impending doom gripped him, as if his life hung by a thread.
Without hesitation, he frantically waved his hands, blurring them into afterimages. The Spirit Void Finger technique unleashed like a torrential storm, weaving an impenetrable net of layered Spirit Light.
The net pressed forward, colliding with the fist-sized sphere of black miasma.
Boom!!
The point of impact erupted in a terrifying explosion, sending Han Yi, who had no time to defend himself, flying over ten meters. He tumbled several times before finally coming to a stop.
Ignoring his disheveled state, Han Yi fixed his gaze on the center of the blast. When the smoke cleared, his pupils constricted, and goosebumps prickled across his skin.
The black miasma at the epicenter hadn't dissipated. Instead, it had shrunk to half its original size and, as if enraged, began to shake violently, poised to lunge at Han Yi once more.
"Damn it, all or nothing!"
Discarding any semblance of dignity, Han Yi pressed his index and middle fingers together. The three daggers concealed at his waist vibrated faintly and leaped into the air, hovering around him like guardian spirits.
Just then, another earth-shattering roar echoed from above.
Han Yi's full attention remained fixed on the black miasma ten meters away, daring not to divert even a sliver of focus. But with the deafening boom, the dark entity abruptly shifted its trajectory and soared skyward.
Only then did Han Yi glance upward.
A cultivator stood aloft above Little Spirit Void Peak. Though his features were indistinct, Han Yi could clearly sense the boiling fury radiating from his voice.
Before the soaring cultivator, the scattered wisps of black miasma from the mountaintop had coalesced into a towering black giant over three meters tall, its features indistinguishable.
"Audacious Heavenly Demon! How dare you manifest your true form?"
"Die!!"
With a gentle flick of his wrist, the Soaring Cultivator sent a Magic Artifact flying from his palm. It swelled rapidly in the wind, transforming into a nine-cornered instrument.
Flames erupted from the artifact, coalescing into a fiery net that descended upon the black giant.
The giant roared, spewing a thick torrent of dark miasma from its maw, but the fiery net instantly vaporized it.
Turning to flee, the giant was no match for the artifact's power.
The artifact spun rapidly, releasing nine Fire Dragons that coiled around the giant from all directions, their searing flames burning into its form.
Moments later, the black giant vanished into thin air. The Soaring Cultivator retrieved his artifact, glanced down at the ravaged landscape of Little Spirit Void Peak, and swept his emotionless gaze across Han Yi, who was staring intently upward. Then, with a swift turn, he soared toward the Inner Peak.
The terrifying spectacle had come to an end.
Han Yi's eyes followed the departing cultivator's figure.
"So powerful..."
"Could that be a Golden Core Stage Great Cultivator, an elder from the Inner Peak?"
"And that fire artifact... was it actually a more potent Magic Treasure?"
His gaze returned to Little Spirit Void Peak, now heavily damaged. His expression turned grim, then a sigh escaped his lips, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
"Is this what they mean by 'heavenly calamity'?"
For the first time, Han Yi fully grasped the true danger of Heavenly Demons—not just the temptations they offered during cultivation breakthroughs, but the tangible threat of demonic invasion, now vividly before his eyes.