7: Breaking through another realm, reaching the peak of the first tier, Ye Ming was numb.

The next day, the first light of dawn broke through the sky.

The morning mist in the courtyard had not yet dispersed when Ye Feiyan finished her night of meditation. Within her eyes, which were usually as cold as an ancient well, there was now a hint of urgency that was hard to conceal.

The primary ingredient, the 'earth-suppressing root', was already in her hands. This was the most critical and hardest-to-find Spirit Medicine for repairing a Spiritual Root.

Now that everything was ready, she only lacked a few auxiliary herbs.

As long as she could find them all, she could start the furnace for Alchemy, reshape her Foundation, and let this body, which had been silent for three years, once again radiate the brilliance belonging to an Empress!

She shifted her gaze, and it landed on a corner of the room.

There, Xuan Mo was curled into a ball, his body rising and falling slightly with his breath, looking quite comfortable as if he were fast asleep.

A curve that even she didn't notice tugged at the corner of Ye Feiyan's mouth, but it quickly vanished as she returned to her cold expression.

She moved with light steps toward Xuan Mo, reached out her slender hand, and unceremoniously pinched his middle section, lifting him straight up.

"Let's go, come out with me for a bit."

The sudden sensation of being suspended in mid-air 'woke' Xuan Mo up. He opened his bleary snake eyes and looked somewhat blankly at the peerless face before him.

"We're going to the Luoyun Mountain Range to find a Spirit Medicine called 'Vermilion Fruit'," Ye Feiyan explained succinctly.

Luoyun Mountain Range?

Xuan Mo subconsciously sank his consciousness into the System panel in his mind.

【experience points: 28850/30000】

Seeing the experience bar that was about to be filled, Xuan Mo immediately perked up.

Breaking through from Late First Tier to First-Rank Peak required thirty thousand experience points. After last night's accumulation, he was now only short by over a thousand points, which would automatically fill up in half an hour at most.

Since he had nothing else to do, it wouldn't be bad to go out and stretch his muscles, and witness his own Breakthrough again with his own eyes.

"Hiss hiss." Xuan Mo nodded his snake head, indicating his agreement.

Seeing him agree, Ye Feiyan didn't waste any more words. She draped him casually over her arm and pushed the door open, her figure quickly disappearing into the morning mist.

However, neither she nor Xuan Mo noticed that the moment they left, a sneaky figure hidden in a distant corner immediately turned around and sprinted toward the Mission Hall after confirming they were far away.

...

Inside the Mission Hall.

Ye Ming's eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was a mix of terror and malice.

Just now, the scout he sent to monitor Ye Feiyan brought news—the target had left her courtyard unharmed and headed toward the Luoyun Mountain Range!

Not dead?

That assassin at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining actually failed?!

How could one waste fail to kill another waste?

Ye Ming's heart was full of confusion.

Not only had the assassin he sent not returned to report, but the target was now completely unharmed. What on earth had happened?

Logically, someone at the Seventh Level of Qi Refining should have been more than enough to kill Ye Feiyan. How could they fail?

"Useless! A bunch of useless fools who can't get anything right!" he cursed under his breath, his confusion growing.

Just then, a cold and majestic voice, like a freezing wind from the underworld, suddenly rang out behind him.

"Ye Ming, you have quite the nerve."

Ye Ming's whole body stiffened like a rooster being throttled, and the color drained instantly from his face. He turned around stiffly, and when he saw the newcomer, his legs went weak and he fell to his knees with a thud.

"G-Grand Elder!"

The newcomer was a grey-haired old man dressed in a brocade robe. His face was gaunt, and his eyes were as dark and sharp as a hawk's; he was the powerful Grand Elder of the Ye Family.

"Why is there still no result for the small matter I asked you to handle?" The Grand Elder looked down at him from above, his voice devoid of any emotion. "Why is that girl named Ye Feiyan still alive and well?"

"Grand Elder, please appease your anger! This subordinate... the person I sent failed, I... I was just preparing to..." Ye Ming kowtowed like a woodpecker, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Failed?" The Grand Elder snorted coldly, and a terrifying pressure of the Foundation Establishment Realm crashed down, nearly suffocating Ye Ming. "I only care about results. Since you can't handle it, then this position of Manager should be given to someone more capable."

Upon hearing these words, Ye Ming felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar!

He knew very well that once he lost the position of Manager, given the Grand Elder's ruthlessness, his fate would be absolutely miserable!

"Grand Elder! Give me one more chance!" He suddenly looked up, a flash of madness and ferocity in his eyes. "This time, I will take action personally! I guarantee that girl will never return!"

"Oh?" The Grand Elder's eyebrows twitched slightly, seemingly surprised.

"I guarantee it!" Ye Ming said through gritted teeth. "I am now at the Qi Refining Eighth Level cultivation. Dealing with a waste whose Spiritual Root is completely destroyed will be as easy as reaching for something in a bag! Please believe me one last time!"

The Grand Elder's dark gaze lingered on him for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Fine, since you say so.

Remember, I don't want to hear of any more accidents. Otherwise, you know the consequences."

As the words fell, the Grand Elder's figure vanished from the spot like a ghost.

Ye Ming slumped to the ground, panting heavily, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

A moment later, he climbed up from the ground, his eyes filled with nothing but endless malice and killing intent.

"Ye Feiyan... today, I will surely tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

He let out a roar, and a powerful aura of the Qi Refining Eighth Level erupted. His figure blurred as he turned into a streak of light, pursuing the direction Ye Feiyan had left!

...

Meanwhile, deep within the Luoyun Mountain Range.

Ye Feiyan and Xuan Mo's figures moved through a dense forest.

"The Vermilion Fruit loves the sun, but its roots need to be nourished by cold Qi. It mostly grows near caves on sun-facing mountain walls," Ye Feiyan explained softly to Xuan Mo while searching.

Xuan Mo released his powerful perception, carefully probing every trace of energy fluctuation within a hundred meters.

After nearly an hour of searching, his snake eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hiss hiss!" He flicked his tongue toward a direction to the front-left, giving a signal.

Ye Feiyan looked in the direction he indicated and saw a steep mountain wall covered in vines. Without careful observation, one wouldn't notice a deep cave entrance hidden behind the vines.

A faint, scorching aura was diffusing from that cave entrance.

"Found it!" A flash of joy appeared in Ye Feiyan's eyes.

She walked to the cave entrance and pushed aside the vines. A rich fruity aroma mixed with pure Fire Spiritual Qi wafted toward her.

"Stay outside and don't wander off." To ensure Xuan Mo's safety, Ye Feiyan gave a soft instruction before slipping into the cave.

In her view, there might be a guardian Yao Beast inside the cave, and Xuan Mo following her would only add to the danger.

However, the very next second after Ye Feiyan entered the cave, Xuan Mo, who had been quietly coiled up, suddenly narrowed his pitch-black snake eyes and snapped his head up toward the distant horizon!

An unmasked, bone-chilling killing intent was approaching this place at an extremely high speed!

The newcomer's cultivation far exceeded that of the previous Fourth Layer of Qi Refining assassin!

"Qi Refining Eighth Level? A human aura with such thick killing intent... looks like they're coming for Ye Feiyan." Xuan Mo muttered to himself.

He glanced at the deep cave and chose not to disturb Ye Feiyan.

Ye Feiyan wouldn't be able to handle a mere Qi Refining Eighth Level.

Xuan Mo's body, like a flowing ink shadow, silently slid down the mountain wall and took the initiative to head toward the source of the killing intent!

A moment later, in an open forest clearing, Ye Ming's figure descended from the sky, his eyes flashing with a hideous killing intent.

But when his gaze swept the surroundings, preparing to find traces of Ye Feiyan, he was suddenly stunned.

Because on his path, a small snake, pitch-black and only as thick as an arm, was holding its head high, its cold snake eyes locked onto him.

"Is it you, that Wasted Snake?"

Ye Ming recognized Xuan Mo. He was initially startled, then his brow furrowed tightly. There was no mockery on his face; instead, there was an extreme sense of disbelief and deep vigilance.

The disappearance of the previous assassin was already strange.

Now, this dying snake, rumored to have an Innate deficiency, was not only not dead but actually dared to show itself and intercept him?

Something was wrong!

Something was very, very wrong!

"Interesting... truly interesting..." Ye Ming grinned hideously. "I'd like to see what right a tiny snake demon like you has to block my path!"

Before his voice finished, he struck out boldly!

"Rending Wind Palm!"

With a loud shout, Ye Ming formed a palm with his right hand. Boundless Spiritual Qi gathered on it, transforming into a massive green palm print. Accompanied by the whistling sound of tearing air, it slammed down toward Xuan Mo's head!

He didn't hold back at all with this strike, intending to crush this strange little snake into powder along with the ground beneath it!

However, facing this thunderous blow, Xuan Mo didn't dodge or hide!

He let out a silent roar toward the sky as his Late First Tier Yao Beast aura fully erupted. His body suddenly arched, and his thick snake tail, like a tensed steel whip carrying immense force, soared into the sky and slammed fiercely against the green palm print!

BOOM!!!

A deafening, earth-shaking explosion erupted in the mountain forest!

The violent energy shockwave turned into a visible ring of air that spread crazily in all directions, snapping all trees within a radius of dozens of meters in half!

As the dust settled, the scene in the clearing caused the hideous grin on Ye Ming's face to completely freeze!

Xuan Mo was still coiled in the same spot. Under the impact of the energy aftermath, not even a single white scratch was left on his deep scales!

And the Rending Wind Palm he was so proud of had been shattered on the spot by that seemingly ordinary tail strike!

"You, this... how is this possible?!" Ye Ming cried out in shock, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, his mind going blank!

Late First Tier? This black snake with an Innate deficiency was actually at the Late First Tier?!

But how the hell was that possible?

As a Manager, he knew very well the situation of the Yao Beasts in the Spirit Beast Valley. Even the cubs of Second Order Demon Beasts were at most First-Rank Mid-stage in the valley.

Not to mention this black snake with an Innate deficiency.

It had only been a few days since the new generation of contracted Yao Beasts, so how could this black snake's Realm be at the Late First Tier!?

Ye Ming was both dazed and terrified.

Just as his mind was reeling in shock, Xuan Mo moved!

A streak of black lightning cut through the sky. His indestructible body became the deadliest weapon, shooting toward Ye Ming at a speed that surpassed the limits of vision!

Ye Ming turned pale with horror. Without a second thought, he immediately pushed his entire Spiritual Qi to the limit, setting up a thick spiritual shield in front of him.

CLANG!!!

Another loud sound of clashing metal!

Xuan Mo's head, like a siege hammer, slammed fiercely against the shield!

CRACK—

Only a crisp sound was heard as the shield, which was strong enough to withstand a full-strength blow from an ordinary Seventh Level of Qi Refining Cultivator, was covered in spider-web-like cracks and shattered instantly like fragile glass!

Ye Ming was hit as if by a heavy blow, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he flew backward miserably, his eyes filled with endless horror and confusion!

They were evenly matched!

No! Even... he was faintly at a disadvantage!

He was completely dumbfounded! He couldn't understand why a little snake with a depleted Innate Foundation, who everyone had determined wouldn't live past three months, would possess such Heaven-Defying and terrifying combat power in just one day!

Now he finally understood why the assassin he sent had failed; it must have been because of this black snake!

"Die! Die for me!"

Immense fear and humiliation drove Ye Ming completely insane. He sacrificed a Low Grade Magical Artifact longsword and attacked Xuan Mo like a madman.

Sword light and snake shadows clashed crazily in the forest. Every collision produced a deafening roar and brilliant sparks.

Relying on his insane defense and terrifying strength, Xuan Mo fought the Qi Refining Eighth Level Ye Ming to a standstill, even faintly holding the upper hand!

The more Ye Ming fought, the more alarmed he became.

How could this black snake, which everyone in the Ye family despised, be so powerful?

Just at this moment, a mechanical notification sound that only Xuan Mo could hear, sounding like heavenly music, boomed in his mind!

【Ding! experience points are full. Detected that the host is in a combat state. Breakthrough immediately?】

"Yes!" Xuan Mo roared in his heart without any hesitation!

【Ding! Consuming 30,000 experience points. host's Realm is beginning to increase!】

BOOM—!!!

An aura more terrifying and boundless than any previous Breakthrough, like an awakening ancient Vicious Beast, soared into the sky from within Xuan Mo's body!

His body grew a size larger at a speed visible to the naked eye. The pitch-black scales became even deeper, as if they could swallow all light, and even faint, mysterious, and ancient patterns appeared on them!

First-Rank Peak!

Achieved!

The strength of that pressure had even surpassed an ordinary Ninth Level of Qi Refining, approaching the Ninth Level of Qi Refining Peak!

"What?!"

Feeling this suddenly surging terrifying aura, Ye Ming, who was in the middle of a frantic attack, suddenly froze, a look of shock more intense than if he had seen a ghost appearing on his face.

A... a Breakthrough in the middle of battle?!

He watched helplessly as the little snake's aura jumped from Late First Tier to a terrifying level that made his very Soul tremble!

At this moment, endless shock, fear, and confusion completely swallowed him.

What kind of monster is this damn thing?!