Chapter 35: Mutual Destruction

These past few days had been utterly exhausting for him. He had fought almost continuously against demonic beasts, survived countless brushes with death, and now his mind and body were both drained beyond measure.

At the mountaintop, Qiu Han took out several low-grade spirit stones, gripping them tightly to replenish his spiritual energy. It took the time of an incense stick burning before his depleted energy was somewhat restored. Rising to his feet, he extended his spiritual sense to survey the Spirit Nether Valley below.

The cliffs surrounding Spirit Nether Valley were steep, and the mountaintop soared nearly a thousand yards above the ground. Without flight, climbing from the valley floor to the peak would require bypassing several mountains and would take at least ten days or half a month. For now, his safety was assured.

His spiritual sense stretched downward. The valley was in chaos. The Flower-marked Marten had tracked Qiu Han into the valley, killing several Greywolf Beasts along the way. Unable to find the true culprit, the valley’s original inhabitants instead targeted the intruding Flower-marked Marten.

The marten was already furious—its prey had escaped, wounded it, and successfully fled. Now the Greywolf Beasts attacked it as well, fueling its rage further. Confident in its formidable strength, the Flower-marked Marten showed no fear, slaughtering several Greywolf Beasts that charged at it.

An inevitable battle erupted. The leader of the Greywolf Beasts, the Greywolf Emperor, joined the fray. Though only at the early second tier—clearly inferior to the marten—it relied on sheer numbers to fight to a stalemate.

Yet, with grudges formed, there could be no retreat. The conflict among demonic beasts was even more brutal than that among cultivators; the phrase “fight to the death” was no exaggeration.

Originally, there were over forty Greywolf Beasts in Spirit Nether Valley. Qiu Han had already slain more than half. The remaining twenty, including the Greywolf Emperor, now attacked the Flower-marked Marten together.

Relying on its strength, the marten killed nearly half of the weaker Greywolf Beasts. The ten or so survivors, nearly all at the peak of the first tier, coordinated under the Greywolf Emperor’s leadership to surround and attack the Flower-marked Marten.

Only the peak first-tier wolves and the emperor could pose any real threat, while the weaker ones could barely scratch it. Both sides soon bore multiple wounds, casualties mounting among the Greywolf Beasts. Driven to fury, the Flower-marked Marten unleashed its full power, killing nearly half of its opponents once again.

At last, only four peak first-tier Greywolf Beasts and the Greywolf Emperor remained, locked in a fierce battle against the Flower-marked Marten. The conflict reached a fever pitch. The marten, exerting its overwhelming pressure, slaughtered the four wolves, but suffered grievous wounds itself—its left arm severed at the shoulder.

Now, only the Flower-marked Marten and the Greywolf Emperor remained in Spirit Nether Valley. Matters had escalated beyond reconciliation; one must die for the battle to end. In this world of cultivation, only absolute strength commanded submission—survival belonged to the victor.

Rocks flew and dust billowed through the valley, the wind whipping it into a murky haze. The final life-and-death struggle between the Flower-marked Marten and the Greywolf Emperor played out. Since Qiu Han’s escape, the battle had lasted nearly five hours. Now, dark clouds gathered overhead and a violent wind howled; it would not be long before a torrential rain fell.

The valley, already obscured by dust and debris, became even more muddled in the gale. Visibility was reduced to barely ten feet; all was shrouded.

Thunder roared, and the long-awaited downpour finally burst forth, drenching the valley. The battle ended—ultimately, the Flower-marked Marten slew the Greywolf Emperor and claimed victory.

But victory came at a heavy price. The marten’s body was riddled with wounds, and it had lost an arm forever. Standing at the center of the battlefield, battered by the relentless rain, it raised its head and let out a mournful howl.

Meanwhile, the instigator of all this chaos, Qiu Han, was comfortably observing every movement within the valley through his spiritual sense. One could say the outcome was entirely orchestrated by him.

Trouble sent eastward!

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Qiu Han’s lips. He felt no sympathy for the marten’s tragic fate. If not for its pursuit, he would not have suffered such serious injuries or been forced to flee repeatedly, nearly dying several times.

“If others do not trouble me, I will not trouble them.” In this harsh world of cultivation, everything depended on strength. Now, with the Flower-marked Marten at its weakest, it was time to seize the opportunity—to take its life!

“If you want my life, you must pay the price. Be prepared to die.”

A gleam of icy determination flashed in Qiu Han’s eyes. Since entering the world of immortals, his character had begun to change. What the future held, no one could say—for him, it might be good, or ill.

The Flower-marked Marten endured a full incense stick’s time in the pouring rain before finally retreating deeper into the valley, apparently intending to reside there for a while. With its current injuries, wandering the Ten-Thousand Mountains would be perilous.

The rain lasted over an hour before gradually easing. During this time, Qiu Han fetched several large rocks from afar, used magic to carve them into basin shapes to collect water, and then enjoyed a comfortable bath, changing into clean clothes.

After bathing and washing away the dust, he took the sect’s special healing medicine, sat cross-legged, and began to recover, restoring his spiritual energy.

By the end of the afternoon, Qiu Han found that not only had he failed to fully restore his spiritual energy, it had reached barely forty percent. However, his wounds were nearly healed and posed little inconvenience.

He was somewhat surprised. Using his spiritual sense to examine himself, he discovered that the spiritual energy vortex in his dantian had grown several times larger and much denser.

Qiu Han realized that even with only forty percent of his energy, he was still stronger than he had been at the peak of the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage. His spiritual sense had increased several-fold. Now, he could perceive everything within nearly three thousand yards if he fully extended his spiritual sense.

This was an ability only cultivators in the sect with more than fourteen layers of Qi Refining could achieve. Yet, he had reached it at only the eleventh layer. Truly, the method his master had taught him for cultivating spiritual sense and energy was extraordinary.