12: Chapter 12 The Ninefold Sacred Mountain, The First Fruit

The foot of the First Sacred Mountain was different from the others.

There were no dense ancient forests, no jagged, strange rocks, and even weeds were scarce. The entire mountain, starting from its base, was covered in a thick layer of grayish-white "dust." This wasn't ordinary soil but a powder dried to the extreme. Stepping on it produced a "rustling" sound and left deep footprints, which would automatically smooth over within seconds, as if no one had ever stepped there.

Lin Ye crouched down and pinched a bit of the dust between his fingertips.

The powder was as fine as flour, but in the sunlight, one could see countless tiny, translucent crystal particles mixed within—these were the remains of bones, rocks, and even metal, ground down by the passage of time.

"Bone dust," Su Qingyue said softly. The crescent moon mark on her forehead glowed slightly; it was the Vast Cold Spirit Body's instinctive repulsion to death energy. "The whole mountain... is formed from the accumulation of death."

Chen Hao swallowed hard and instinctively took a half-step back. "Just how many living beings must have died here..."

"Throughout the ages, every life that intruded upon the First Sacred Mountain and ultimately failed became a part of this mountain." Lin Ye stood up and patted the powder off his hands. "That's why the First Sacred Mountain is also known as the 'Bone Burial Mountain.' The guardians here are not living things, but... spirits of the dead."

Spirits of the dead.

This term made the atmosphere even heavier.

In the covering the heavens era, undead-type monsters were one of the hardest types to deal with. They were immune to most physical attacks, had varying degrees of resistance to elemental attacks, and usually came with all sorts of disgusting negative effects: life drain, attribute reduction, mental corruption...

"Then do we still have to go up?" Chen Hao felt a bit intimidated.

"We must go up." Lin Ye looked toward the summit. "The sacred fruit of the First Sacred Mountain is 'all-purpose.' It doesn't favor any specific attribute, but it can comprehensively improve one's basic Aptitude. Ah Hao, this sacred fruit is most suitable for you—although the God King Body is powerful, it has extremely high requirements for Aptitude and needs massive resources to build up. The first sacred fruit can lay the best Foundation."

Chen Hao clenched his fists and nodded heavily. "I understand."

"However, brute force definitely won't work." Lin Ye took the bronze lamp out of his storage space. "Undead-type monsters are generally afraid of light, fire, and energy that is extremely Yang and rigid. The Buddha Fire is just the thing to restrain them, but a single lamp won't be enough to last until the summit."

He looked at Su Qingyue. "Your cold energy also has a certain restraining effect on the dead, but it's not enough. We need a more efficient method."

"What method?" Su Qingyue asked.

"A Formation." Lin Ye took several items out of his storage space: six fist-sized white jade stones, three withered branches, and a small bag of pale gold powder—the raw material for "evil-repelling incense" he had found in a corner of the Qingyun Temple warehouse. Although the quality was poor, it would barely suffice.

"A simple 'Evil-Repelling Formation.' The range is small, and the duration is short, but it can form an energy field that repels the dead." Lin Ye began to carve Formation patterns on the ground. "The three of us will stand in a triangle, and each of us will be responsible for maintaining one eye of the Formation. As long as the Formation doesn't break, ordinary spirits of the dead won't be able to get close."

Su Qingyue and Chen Hao helped to set it up.

The six jade stones were placed in a hexagram position, the three branches were stuck into the three corners, and the golden powder was sprinkled onto the Formation patterns. Lin Ye took out the bronze lamp and channeled the Buddha Fire into the center of the Formation.

"Hum—"

A faint golden light rose from the Formation, forming a pale golden light shield with a diameter of five meters. The light shield was very thin, as if it would shatter at a touch, but it did indeed emit an aura of "vitality" that the dead despised.

"Let's go."

The three of them stepped into the range of the Formation and began to climb the mountain.

The mountain path was steep, and the ground piled with bone dust was soft and difficult to walk on; every step sank half a foot deep. But more troublesome was that as they gradually moved upward, the "dust" around them began to move.

It wasn't the wind moving it, but... they "stood" up on their own.

One by one, palms condensed from bone dust reached out from the ground, grabbing at the three people's ankles. The palms had no physical substance and dissipated into powder the moment they were touched, but every grab would take away a trace of weak life essence.

[Received 'Bone Hand Drain' effect, losing 0.5% of maximum Health every second]

[Evil-Repelling Formation in effect, effect reduced to 0.2%]

The damage wasn't high, but it was continuous.

Moreover, the number of bone hands was increasing. From the initial few, eventually, three or four would trigger with every step. The pale golden light shield was constantly scratched by the bone hands, making a "hissing" sound, and the light gradually dimmed.

"The Formation won't last long." Lin Ye judged. "It can hold for five minutes at most. Speed up!"

The three of them quickened their pace.

The higher they went, the darker the color of the bone dust, turning from grayish-white to dark gray, and finally almost black. In those black powders, complete bone fragments began to appear—finger bones, ribs, skull fragments, and one could even see some strange bones that clearly did not belong to humans.

The air also became increasingly "heavy." It wasn't a change in air pressure, but an increase in the concentration of death energy. Breathing became difficult, and every inhalation felt like breathing in cold rust, causing the lungs to ache faintly.

"Ahead..." Chen Hao suddenly stopped and pointed forward.

On the mountain path, a "wall" appeared.

It wasn't a stone wall, nor a dirt wall, but a wall of skeletons piled up from countless bones and cemented with a black, viscous substance. The wall was about three meters high and two meters thick, completely blocking the mountain path. On the surface of the wall, those bones were still slowly squirming and rearranging, like living things.

And on top of the wall stood three "figures."

They were three relatively complete skeletons, similar in height to humans, but the bones were dark gold, and gloomy green soul fire burned in their eye sockets. They wore tattered armor from an unknown era and held rusted but still sharp bone blades in their hands.

[Bone Guard (Elite)]

Rank: 13

Health: 2200 / 2200

Skills: Bone Blade Slash, Death Curse, Bone Recombination

Description: The gatekeepers of the First Sacred Mountain, condensed from the resentment of countless failures, possessing regeneration abilities and curse attacks.

Three Level 13 Elites!

"This is troublesome." Su Qingyue frowned. "The Evil-Repelling Formation's effect on them will be greatly reduced—they are not pure spirits of the dead, but semi-corporeal."

Sure enough, when the three of them approached, the soul fire in the Bone Guards' eye sockets flickered, and then they jumped off the wall simultaneously, rushing toward them.

The speed wasn't fast, but every step made the ground tremble.

"Ah Hao, hold off the one on the left!" Lin Ye quickly commanded. "Su Qingyue, use ice-type skills to slow down the one on the right! Leave the middle one to me!"

Chen Hao gritted his teeth and raised his long blade to meet the Bone Guard on the left. Although his God King Body was only in its nascent form, his strength attribute was already far beyond players of the same level. The long blade collided with the bone blade, making a sound of clashing metal, and he actually blocked it!

-23!

-31!

Damage numbers floated up, and the Bone Guard's health bar dropped by an imperceptible sliver.

On Su Qingyue's side, it was more efficient. She raised her hand, and three ice cones shot out, precisely hitting the right Bone Guard's knee joints. Frost spread rapidly, freezing its legs to the ground, and its movement speed dropped by 70%.

Lin Ye faced the middle Bone Guard.

He didn't force a direct confrontation but deployed the Chaos Domain.

Gray mist expanded, enveloping the Bone Guard. The opponent's movements were significantly sluggish, and the speed of its bone blade slash was at least one-third slower. Lin Ye dodged to the side while smashing the bronze lamp into its skull!

"Bang!"

The Buddha Fire collided with the soul fire, making a "crackle" sound.

-87! (Buddha Fire restraint)

The damage was considerable, but the Bone Guard's health bar had only dropped by less than one-twentieth.

And its counterattack came extremely quickly. The moment it was hit, its hollow mouth opened, spitting out a stream of grayish-black mist!

[Bone Guard casts 'Death Curse']

[You are cursed: All attributes reduced by 10%, lasting 30 seconds]

Lin Ye felt his body sink; his strength, speed, and reaction were all significantly reduced.

"Finish this quickly!" He shouted in a low voice and charged forward again.

This time, he changed his tactics.

The Chaos Domain was pushed to its limit, and the death energy within a three-meter radius was crazily swallowed and converted. The Bone Guard's movements became even more sluggish, and even its soul fire began to flicker unstably.

Lin Ye seized the opportunity, and his nameless short sword stabbed toward its chest—that was where the energy core of the soul fire was located.

"Shhh!"

The short sword stabbed into the gap between the bones; although it only entered three inches, it was enough. Lin Ye poured his Chaos Divine Power along the sword body and detonated it inside the Bone Guard!

"Crack!"

A crack appeared in the dark gold breastbone, and the gloomy green soul fire leaked out. The Bone Guard let out a silent roar, and its health bar dropped by one-third.

But just then, an unexpected change occurred.

The Bone Guard that had been frozen by Su Qingyue suddenly self-destructed!

It wasn't a physical explosion, but an energy burst after the soul fire burned to its limit. The gloomy green flames spread like a tide, instantly engulfing a ten-meter radius. Although Su Qingyue condensed an ice shield to defend in time, she was still blown away by the explosion's shockwave, falling into the bone dust five meters away.

-134!

Her health bar dropped by a large chunk.

Worse, the explosion destroyed two eyes of the Evil-Repelling Formation! The pale golden light shield shattered instantly, and the bone hands around them swarmed in like a tide!

"Su Qingyue!" Lin Ye shouted.

"I'm fine!" Su Qingyue gritted her teeth and stood up, pressing her hands to the ground. "Ice Seal!"

Forest-white cold energy spread from her as the center, freezing all the bone hands within five meters. But the cold energy consumption was huge, and her face went pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Can't drag this out any longer." Lin Ye's eyes turned fierce.

He took out the Lightning-Attracting Stone from his storage space—although there was only one use left, he couldn't care about that now.

"Ah Hao, back off!"

Chen Hao immediately retreated upon hearing this.

Lin Ye injected his last bit of Divine Power into the Lightning-Attracting Stone and threw it fiercely at the remaining two Bone Guards.

The stone flew through the air, and the electric light in the holes erupted completely.

"Boom—!!!"

A bolt of lightning, twice as thick as the one at the Second Sacred Mountain, struck down from the clouds, precisely hitting the Lightning-Attracting Stone. The lightning energy exploded like a wild dragon, completely engulfing the two Bone Guards!

-488!

-512!

Terrifying damage numbers floated up.

The Bone Guards' skeletons shattered inch by inch in the lightning, and the soul fire extinguished like a candle in the wind. When the lightning faded, only two piles of charred bone ash remained on the spot.

The Lightning-Attracting Stone also exhausted its last bit of energy, turning into an ordinary stone, falling to the ground, and shattering into several pieces.

[Successfully killed 'Bone Guard (Elite)' x 3]

[Obtained 3900 Experience Points]

[Obtained Reputation + 60]

[Obtained items: Dark Gold Bone Fragment x 9, Soul Fire Crystal x 3]

Lin Ye didn't have time to check the loot and immediately rushed to Su Qingyue's side.

Her condition wasn't very good. The previous explosion and Ice Seal had consumed too much Divine Power; now her aura was weak, and her health bar was less than half full.

"Drink this." Lin Ye took out the water skin of the Life Divine Spring.

Su Qingyue took it and sipped slowly. The cool spring water went down her throat, turning into a warm current to nourish her injuries, and her health bar began to slowly recover.

Chen Hao also suffered some minor injuries, but it was not a big problem.

The three of them rested for a minute and then looked at the wall of skeletons.

There were no guards on top of the wall, but the wall itself was still squirming. Those bones were constantly rearranging, seemingly trying to "grow" new guards.

"Must pass through as soon as possible." Lin Ye said. "The wall will constantly regenerate guards; the longer we drag it out, the more troublesome it will be."

"How do we pass?" Chen Hao looked at the three-meter-high wall. "Climb over?"

"No, break through it."

Lin Ye walked to the wall and reached out to touch the squirming bones.

The touch was cold, hard, and... there were faint energy veins circulating inside. He closed his eyes, and his Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body's perception was fully deployed.

Three seconds later, he opened his eyes and pointed to a position in the lower right corner of the wall: "There, the energy node. Destroy it, and the whole wall will collapse."

"I'll do it." Su Qingyue stepped forward, her palm condensing an especially thick ice cone.

The ice cone was deep blue, with fine silver runes flowing on its surface. She took a deep breath and injected most of her remaining Divine Power into it.

"Break!"

The ice cone shot out, precisely hitting the position Lin Ye pointed to.

"Crack—!"

A crisp shattering sound.

Centered on the hit point, spiderweb-like cracks quickly spread to the entire wall. Those squirming bones stopped moving instantly and then began to disintegrate and fall off. Three seconds later, the three-meter-high wall of skeletons collapsed with a bang, turning into a pile of lifeless broken bones.

Behind the wall, the mountain path continued upward.

But the scene was completely different.

It was no longer grayish-white covered with bone dust, but... a dark red "carpet" that seemed to be paved with flesh and blood. There were vein-like patterns squirming on the surface of the carpet, and the air was filled with a heavy smell of rust and... a faint sweet, fishy smell.

"This is..." Chen Hao's face turned pale.

"Blood Soil." Lin Ye said in a deep voice. "A filthy place formed under special circumstances where the flesh and blood of the dead mix with resentment. Stepping on it will continuously drain life, and it will attract stronger spirits of the dead."

Sure enough, from the depths of the Blood Soil came a low sound, as if countless people were groaning at the same time.

That was... a Corpse Demon?

"Cannot walk here." Su Qingyue shook her head. "My cold energy can freeze the Blood Soil, but the range is too large; I can't afford the consumption."

Lin Ye looked around.

On both sides of the mountain path were steep cliffs that could not be climbed. Behind was the wall of skeletons that was re-condensing. In front was only this path of Blood Soil.

Unless...

He looked up toward the top.

After the Blood Soil area, the mountain path had a clear turn, turning to the other side of the mountain. If they could go around from the side...

"There is a way." Lin Ye took something out of his storage space—it was the "Rock Armor Fragment" dropped by the Stone Ape, hexagonal, palm-sized, with sharp edges.

"Use this as a stepping stone." He explained. "I will throw the fragments onto the Blood Soil, and we will jump over by stepping on them. The fragments are hard, and the Blood Soil won't be able to corrode through them in a short time. As long as the speed is fast enough, we should be able to pass before the fragments are completely corroded."

"But we only have six pieces." Chen Hao said. "Is it enough?"

"It's enough." Lin Ye calculated the distance. "The Blood Soil area is about fifteen meters wide, and each person needs five to six stepping points. Two people will go over first, and then we will pull the third person over with a rope."

"Rope?" Su Qingyue was puzzled.

Lin Ye took a bundle of rough hemp rope out of his storage space—this was exchanged with the town's NPC for red glow grass last night, originally to deal with complex terrain, but he didn't expect to use it here.

"I'll go over first." Lin Ye said. "Su Qingyue, you're second, and Ah Hao, you're the last one. After I get over, I'll fix the rope, and you guys can come over along the rope, which can save fragments."

The plan was confirmed.

Lin Ye took a deep breath, picked up the first Rock Armor Fragment, and threw it hard toward the Blood Soil area.

The fragment rotated and flew across a distance of five meters, landing on the Blood Soil with a "slap." It did not sink but was firmly embedded on the surface.

Lin Ye leaped out and landed precisely on the fragment. The moment his toes touched the ground, he felt a cold suction force coming from under his feet, wanting to devour his life essence. But the fragment did act as an insulator, and the suction was very weak.

He didn't stop and immediately threw the second fragment, which landed three meters ahead.

He leaped out again.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

Five seconds later, he had already reached the center of the Blood Soil area.

A "sizzling" sound came from beneath his feet—the Blood Soil was corroding the Armor Plates. The edge of the first plate had already begun to blacken and soften; it could last ten seconds at most.

"Quick!" Lin Ye urged.

Su Qingyue immediately followed. Her movements were even lighter; her Vast Cold Spirit Body allowed her to achieve extreme control over her body. With a light tap of her toes, she leaped three meters, landing on the Armor Plates almost silently.

Working together, the two soon reached the opposite bank of the Blood Soil area.

Lin Ye tied one end of the hemp rope to a protruding rock and threw the other end to Chen Hao.

"Ah Hao, grab on!"

Chen Hao caught the rope, but he didn't come over immediately. Instead, he first looked at the Armor Plates being corroded—three plates had already turned completely black and disappeared into the Blood Soil.

"Brother Ye, there aren't enough Armor Plates!" he shouted.

Indeed, only the last three plates remained, which wasn't enough for him to jump to a position where he could reach the rope.

"Use this!" Su Qingyue suddenly remembered something and took an item out of her storage space.

It was a palm-sized, irregular polyhedral transparent crystal with a faint blue glow flowing inside—this was the "Ice Soul Stone" she had picked up near the Moonlight Pool on the Second Sacred Mountain, a natural ice-attribute mineral with an extremely hard texture.

"Throw it over!" Chen Hao shouted.

Su Qingyue threw the Ice Soul Stone with force.

The stone traced an arc and landed on the Blood Soil, surprisingly not being corroded immediately—the ice attribute had a restraining effect on the Blood Soil!

Chen Hao seized the opportunity and leaped out.

He stepped on the first plate that was about to sink, used the momentum to leap again, landed on the Ice Soul Stone, and then jumped once more, finally reaching the end of the rope.

"Pull!" Lin Ye and Su Qingyue exerted force simultaneously.

Chen Hao grabbed the rope, his feet leaving the ground. Countless blood-colored tentacles stretched out from the Blood Soil, trying to grab him, but they were all pulled out of range by the rope.

Three seconds later, he landed safely.

"Phew... that scared me to death..." Chen Hao slumped to the ground, his heart still racing.

The three looked back at the Blood Soil area. The used Armor Plates had all sunk, and only half of the Ice Soul Stone remained exposed, its surface covered in black corrosion marks.

"Continue." Lin Ye didn't waste any time.

The mountain path after the Blood Soil returned to normal bone meal ground. But the bone meal here was darker, almost completely black, and... things were starting to "grow."

Pale, vine-like plants poked out from the bone meal one by one. They had no leaves, only bare stems covered in tiny barbs. The vines wriggled slowly, as if breathing or waiting for prey.

[Forbidden Land Demon Vine (Elite)]

Rank: 14

Health: 2400/2400

Skills: Entangle, Poison Sting Spray, Blood-sucking Roots

Description: A strange plant that feeds on necromantic energy, growing in places where corpses and bones pile up. It excels at trapping enemies and continuous attrition.

"It's Demon Vines," Lin Ye stopped. "These things are very troublesome. Once entangled, they will continuously drain life and Divine Power, and the poison stings have a paralyzing effect."

"How do we deal with them?" Su Qingyue asked.

"They're afraid of fire, light, and extreme yang energy," Lin Ye held up the bronze lamp. "Buddha Fire can restrain them, but there are too many Demon Vines; one lamp isn't enough."

He looked around.

There were at least twenty Demon Vines spread across the fifty-meter mountain path ahead. Although they moved slowly, their coverage was wide, making it almost impossible to avoid them all.

"We can only use area-of-effect attacks to clear a path," Lin Ye made a decision. "Su Qingyue, how large an area can your ice skills cover?"

"If I go all out, I can freeze an area within ten meters for five seconds," Su Qingyue estimated. "But the consumption is huge; I'll temporarily lose my combat effectiveness after using it."

"Five seconds is enough," Lin Ye said. "I'll use the Buddha Fire to lead the way, and you'll be responsible for freezing the area we pass through to prevent the Demon Vines from pursuing. Ah Hao, you're on guard on both sides; cut down any vines that slip through immediately."

"Understood!"

The plan was set, and the three prepared to act.

Lin Ye held the bronze lamp high and injected all his remaining Divine Power into the wick.

The Buddha Fire surged, expanding from a bean-sized flame to the size of a fist, its golden light as dazzling as sunlight. Wherever the light reached, the Demon Vines let out "hissing" shrieks and shrank back as if avoiding a venomous snake.

"Now!"

Lin Ye was the first to rush out, waving the bronze lamp in front of him as the Buddha Fire traced a golden trail in the air. The Demon Vines were forced back, yielding a narrow passage.

Su Qingyue followed closely behind. She pressed her hands to the ground, and a forest-white cold air surged out like a tide, instantly freezing all the Demon Vines within five meters on both sides of the passage! The wriggling vines froze in place, their surfaces covered in a thick layer of frost.

Chen Hao was at the rear, his long saber swinging, cutting down several frozen vines that tried to ambush them from the side.

The three passed through the Demon Vine area at top speed.

As they rushed out of the last patch of vines, Su Qingyue's face turned pale, and she almost fell—the full-power freezing just now had consumed ninety percent of her Divine Power.

"Take a rest." Lin Ye supported her while warily looking back.

The frozen Demon Vines were breaking free. Cracks appeared in the ice, and the vines began to wriggle. In ten seconds at most, they would regain their mobility.

But ten seconds was enough.

Ahead was the summit of the First Sacred Mountain.

It was a relatively level platform, about thirty meters in diameter. In the center of the platform, there was no pool, no rocks, only... a tree.

A withered tree, pitch-black all over, its branches twisted like ghost claws.

The tree had no leaves, only nine bare branches. Eight of the branches were empty, and only on the topmost branch hung a fruit.

The fruit wasn't large, only about the size of an egg, pale gold all over with natural spiral patterns on its surface. The light it emitted was very soft, but against the backdrop of the pitch-black withered tree, it appeared exceptionally holy.

archaic sacred fruit!

The sacred fruit of the First Sacred Mountain!

But contrary to expectations, there were no guardian beasts under the tree.

No Skeleton Guards, no Corpse Demons, not even any Demon Vines extended here. The entire summit platform was eerily clean, with only that withered tree and that sacred fruit standing quietly in the morning light.

"Something's not right," Su Qingyue frowned. "Too quiet."

Lin Ye felt the same.

As the head of the Nine Sacred Mountains, the First Sacred Mountain's defensive power should be the strongest. But as they fought their way up, although they encountered Skeleton Guards, Blood Soil, and Demon Vines, it was all... "easier" than expected.

Yes, easy.

Although those obstacles were dangerous, they all had obvious weaknesses. Buddha Fire countered the undead, ice countered Blood Soil, and area attacks countered Demon Vines. It was as if... someone had intentionally set these trials but left behind the "keys" to pass.

"Get the sacred fruit first," Lin Ye suppressed his doubts. "No matter what traps there are, we'll talk after the sacred fruit is in hand."

He walked toward the withered tree.

His footsteps on the platform ground made a crisp "tap-tap" sound—the ground wasn't bone meal but some kind of smooth, jade-like black stone slabs.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

Just as Lin Ye was about to touch the sacred fruit—

"Buzz!"

The entire platform lit up.

It wasn't that the light became brighter, but that those black stone slabs on the ground suddenly revealed dense, pale golden runes! The runes flowed and connected like living things, forming a massive Formation that covered the entire platform!

In the center of the Formation was that withered tree.

And the moment the Formation was activated, Lin Ye felt a terrifying suction coming from beneath his feet, frantically devouring his life essence and Divine Power!

[You have fallen into the 'Nine Nether Spirit-Devouring Formation']

[Loss of 3% of maximum Health and 5% of maximum Divine Power per second]

[Formation Effect: All living units within range will have their energy continuously drained; the energy will gather at the Formation Eye (Withered Tree)]

3% Health and 5% Divine Power per second!

With Lin Ye's current attributes, his Health would be exhausted in thirty-three seconds at most! His Divine Power could only last twenty seconds!

"Retreat!" he shouted, while quickly pulling back.

But the Formation had already started, and the way back was blocked by a pale golden light membrane. Chen Hao and Su Qingyue were also trapped in the Formation, their health and mana continuously dropping as well.

"Cut down that tree!" Chen Hao raised his long saber and rushed toward the withered tree.

But when the long saber struck the trunk, it only left a shallow white mark. The hardness of the withered tree far exceeded imagination, and when attacked, its black bark would ripple, absorbing and dispersing most of the force into the entire Formation.

"It's useless," Lin Ye shook his head. "The Formation and the withered tree are one; without breaking the Formation, the tree cannot be destroyed."

"Then how do we break the Formation?" Su Qingyue's face was pale; her Divine Power was already low, and now it was dropping rapidly.

Lin Ye quickly observed the Formation.

The pale golden runes covered the ground like a spider web. They seemed chaotic, but upon closer inspection, they could be seen flowing toward the same direction—the base of the withered tree.

And around the base of the withered tree, there were nine particularly bright rune nodes arranged in a ring.

"Nine Formation Eyes..." Lin Ye's eyes narrowed. "We need to destroy all nine Formation Eyes simultaneously to break the Formation. But there are only three of us."

"I can attack three directions at once," Su Qingyue said. "But I need time to condense it, and I'll be completely exhausted after the attack."

"Ah Hao can handle two," Chen Hao gritted his teeth. "I'll cut down two Formation Eyes even if it kills me!"

"Still four short," Lin Ye calculated. "My Chaos Domain can cover three meters and can affect up to three Formation Eyes at once. But the last one..."

He looked at the bronze lamp in his hand.

The Buddha Fire in the wick was already very weak, and the remaining Divine Power wasn't much. But what if... he detonated the wick?

The bronze lamp was a Buddhist artifact. Although the remaining Buddha Fire in the wick was weak, its essence was extremely high. If detonated, the released Buddha light should be able to instantly purify one Formation Eye.

But after the detonation, the bronze lamp would be destroyed.

This treasure obtained from the Great Thunder Sound Temple, which had accompanied him all this way...

"No time to hesitate," Lin Ye took a deep breath. "Prepare! I'll count to three, and we attack simultaneously!"

He quickly assigned tasks: "Su Qingyue, you attack the front-left, direct-left, and back-left Formation Eyes. Ah Hao, you're responsible for the front-right and back-right. I'll take the front, direct-right, and back. The last Formation Eye... leave it to me."

The two nodded and took their positions.

Lin Ye walked to the last Formation Eye—it was at the "Gate of Life" position directly facing the withered tree, where the runes were densest and the energy flow most active.

He raised the bronze lamp and injected Divine Power for the last time.

The Buddha Fire in the wick grew bright to the extreme, its golden light as dazzling as the sun.

"One!"

Su Qingyue formed hand seals, and three ice spikes condensed in her palms, their surfaces revealing fine silver runes.

"Two!"

Chen Hao gripped his long saber, the golden light of the God King Body flowing over the blade, its sharp aura almost slicing the air.

"Three!"

"Do it!"

Three ice spikes shot out!

Two saber lights slashed down!

Lin Ye's Chaos Domain fully expanded, the gray mist simultaneously enveloping three Formation Eyes, frantically devouring the death energy within!

At the same time, he slammed the bronze lamp hard against the last Formation Eye!

"Break... for me!"

The moment the lamp body hit the ground, Lin Ye detonated all the remaining Buddha Fire in the wick!

"Boom—!!!"

A deafening explosion!

It wasn't a physical explosion, but the ultimate collision between Buddha light and necromantic energy! The golden Buddha Fire swept across the entire platform like a tsunami; wherever it passed, the pale golden runes melted and were annihilated like snow meeting fire!

All nine Formation Eyes collapsed simultaneously!

The pale golden light membrane covering the platform flickered violently, then shattered with a "crack," dissipating into countless points of light.

The Formation was broken!

And the bronze lamp was also completely destroyed in the explosion. The lamp body shattered, the wick was extinguished, and only a few charred bronze pieces remained scattered on the ground.

Lin Ye didn't have time to grieve and immediately rushed toward the withered tree.

This time, there were no obstacles.

He reached out and plucked the pale golden sacred fruit.

It felt warm and heavy in his hand, emitting a fragrance completely different from the previous two—it wasn't the scent of a specific attribute, but a pure scent of "Life Origin" that seemed capable of nourishing all things.

[Obtained: archaic sacred fruit (All-around Type · Mature)]

Quality: Legendary (Gold)

Description: A natural treasure nurtured by the First Sacred Mountain, containing the purest Life Origin. It does not lean toward any attribute but can comprehensively improve a Cultivator's Foundation and Aptitude.

Effects:

1. Direct Consumption: Permanent +50 to all attributes, 100% chance to open the wheel sea secret realm, improvement of basic Aptitude (hidden attribute)

2. Refining Medicinal Pills: Can be used to refine 'Origin Pills', which have gentler effects, can be used by multiple people, and have no risk of attribute conflict

3. Other Uses: Can serve as a 'neutralizer' for high-level Medicinal Pills to balance medicinal properties

Warning: No special restrictions; any Physique can consume it, but the effect is related to the consumer's own Aptitude.

It's in hand!

Lin Ye put the sacred fruit into his storage space and then quickly checked the status of Chen Hao and Su Qingyue.

Both were still alive, but in poor condition.

Su Qingyue's Divine Power was exhausted, her face as pale as paper, leaning against a stone slab and panting. Chen Hao's health bar was only one-third full, and his arm had a deep wound from the Formation's backlash, bleeding.

Lin Ye himself wasn't much better. The backlash from detonating the bronze lamp had caused him to lose most of his health, and his Divine Power was almost zero.

"We must leave immediately," he gritted his teeth and helped the two up. "Now that the Formation is broken, it's bound to alert something. This mountain... isn't as simple as it seems."

Supporting each other, the three headed down the mountain the way they came.

Not long after they left, in the center of the summit platform, the withered tree from which the fruit had been plucked suddenly "came alive."

On the surface of the pitch-black trunk, a blurry, distorted human face emerged.

The face opened its eyes, looking in the direction Lin Ye's group had left, its mouth slowly curling into an eerie arc.

"The seed... has been planted..."

"Chaos... Heavenly Emperor..."

"Looking forward to... your growth..."

The voice was low and raspy, as if coming from the depths of the Nine Nether.

Then, the face faded back into the trunk, and the withered tree returned to its original state, as if no abnormality had ever occurred.

Only the few pieces of the bronze lamp on the ground reflected a dim luster in the morning light, proving that everything just now was not a hallucination.

And in the deepest part of the Forbidden Ground, those silver-white eyes opened again.

This time, its gaze pierced through layers of the mountain, looking directly at the summit of the First Sacred Mountain.

"The first one... has been taken..."

"Much faster... than expected..."

"Is it because... of that Physique?"

The eyes slowly closed, leaving behind a faint sigh.

"The plan... must be moved forward..."