The "rat path" Xiao Wei mentioned wasn't a trail, but a narrow crevice between sheer rock faces, overgrown with chest-high thorny bushes. The smell of sulfur and burning smoke grew stronger as they crept closer to the sect's rear wall. "This way," Xiao Wei whispered, brushing aside thick cobwebs covering a small hole at the base of the ancient defensive wall. "This is an old, dry drainage channel. Only core disciples know this route for... emergency purposes." "Emergency use, or sneaking out for a date?" Artur teased softly, trying to ease the tension of Ayu, who looked ready to shoot her own shadow. Xiao Wei’s face flushed crimson. "Sir! This is no time for jokes!" Artur chuckled silently. He entered first, crawling through the damp darkness. His new spiritual senses mapped the passage like sonar. He could feel the vibrations of footsteps above them—many footsteps, hurried and panicked.<

The energy inside the dark pavilion was so thick it could almost be chewed. The pool water that had been thrown into the air now fell back down like heavy rain, soaking the wooden floor and the still-entwined bodies of Artur and Ling Ling. Ling Ling leaned weakly against Artur's chest, her voluptuous body feeling soft and helpless. She took a long breath, her first breath as a *Golden Core* realm cultivator. The air tasted sweeter, the sound of dripping water was clearer, and she could feel the flow of life in every lotus petal outside the pavilion. "You..." Ling Ling whispered, her voice hoarse with exhaustion and total satisfaction. "You truly are a monster." Artur smiled faintly, stroking Ling Ling's long, wet black hair. "I told you, didn't I?" He could feel the new energy surging within his *Dantian*. No longer just liquid energy, it now felt like dense, heavy mercury, spinning slowly, radiating

The main strategy room in the Lotus Flower Palace felt cramped, not due to the number of people, but because of the weight of destiny hanging in the air. In the center of the room, a three-dimensional map made of blue-gold light hovered, projecting a miniature replica of Peach Blossom Mountain in horrifying detail. Every watchtower, every dark magic defense formation, and every movement of the demon patrols was displayed as red dots pulsating like festering wounds. Artur stood before the map, his back straight, his hand pointing to a narrow gap on the mountain's west side. "This is its weakest point. An old, inactive lava fall channel. According to sect intelligence, the defense formation there is the thinnest." "It's a trap," Ling Ling said instantly, her voice sharp. She stood beside Artur, her magnificent white robes contrasting with the weary expression on her beautiful face. "Cupetong might be brutal, but he isn't stupid. He deliberatel

Dawn broke over Lotus Mountain, not with the warmth of the morning sun, but with the cold aura of freshly sharpened steel. On the main training ground—the same place where Artur had proven his strength days ago—thousands of cultivators stood in tight formation. A tense silence enveloped them, broken only by the soft roar of the wind and the occasional clinking of armor rubbing together. They were a combination of all the White Alliance sects. The Sky Sword Sect in their sky-blue robes, the Jade Cloud Sect in pristine white robes, the Tranquil Water Sect in moss-green attire, and dozens of other smaller sects, all standing shoulder-to-shoulder under the banner of the Lotus Flower Sect. Their faces were pale, most of them very young. In their eyes, a mixture of deep fear and forced determination shone. They knew what awaited them. They knew they most likely would not see the next dawn. In front of the restless ranks, on a raised st