The wind howling through the floating peaks of the Ascendant Realm was crisp, carrying the thick, refreshing scent of high-grade spiritual Qi. A streak of fluid darkness blurred across the jagged mountain paths, moving with such terrifying speed that it left afterimages in the golden mist. Shaktivel sat low on the back of the condensed Primordial Void Sovereign, his violet eyes locked onto the massive chasm opening up ahead.This was the Black-Lotus Valley.The valley was a massive, natural bowl surrounded by towering, purple-tinted stone cliffs that natural spiritual energy had carved over thousands of years. Deep within the valley, fields of dark, glowing herbs stretched out like a sea of midnight velvet, but the true treasure lay at the very center—a heavily fortified stone fortress carved directly into the mountain core, pulsing with the defensive arrays of the High Heavens Sect. This fortress was the outer region's primary resource vault, storing millions of raw spirit stones col