From Senior Sister’s explanation, Wen Shan formed a rough understanding.

  Her Dao path power could temporarily seal a cultivator’s cultivation, suppressing it to the level of a mortal.

  By doing so before entering the secret realm, they avoided the erosion of spiritual power within the End of Dharma domain.

  Now that she had lifted the seal, the cultivation the five of them originally possessed was manifesting once more inside the realm.

  Even so, Wen Shan could clearly sense that the spiritual fluctuations around Senior Sister and the other four were weakening at a rapid rate.

  The laws of this realm could not be fully defied. They had only bought themselves precious time.

  What astonished him even more was something else.

  Senior Sister’s Dao path power, though also belonging to Yin Learning, differed in form from the Yin Learning power displayed within the secret realm itself.

  Could the same Dao path truly give rise to entirely different manifestations of strength?

  He desperately wanted the answer.

  But the demonic hound still stood before them. Until this lethal threat was resolved, there would be no chance to ask.

  Seeing the five restore their cultivation, the hound panicked briefly, disbelief flashing in its eyes. Yet it quickly regained composure and sneered.

  “So what? Do not forget where you are. This is the Hai Suan secret realm. Even if you regain some strength, under these laws you are no match for me.”

  Before its words had fully faded, Senior Sister moved.

  She did not form hand seals like ordinary cultivators. Instead, she softly recited a line of poetry:

  “Where the long blade points, ten thousand armies fall. With the breath of heaven and earth, one sword may cleanse all.”

  The moment the verse ended, a metallic resonance rang between heaven and earth.

  The air before her rippled like water. A translucent longsword materialized out of nothingness. Within its blade, phantom armies seemed to roar and charge.

  The sword shot forward like a streak of light, carrying an unstoppable might as it cleaved toward the hound’s head.

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  At the same time, the other four cultivators struck.

  The cultivator from the Divine Iron Camp roared and clasped his hands together. A massive black iron halberd condensed before him, brimming with heavy martial killing intent. It swept toward the hound’s flank.

  The Five Grains Mountain cultivator formed seals rapidly. From the earth burst countless green vines, writhing like living serpents, weaving into a colossal wooden cage that lashed toward the beast’s limbs.

  The Xia Ke Gang cultivator laughed boldly. Brilliant white light erupted around his fist. With a single punch, a roaring dragon’s head formed, surging toward the hound’s chest with overwhelming force.

  The Bai Xing Forest cultivator flicked a finger lightly. A needle as thin as a hair slipped silently through the air. It carried no visible spiritual fluctuation, yet contained terrifying vitality eroding power, aimed directly at the floating eye.

  Their combined assault sealed every path of retreat.

  No matter where the hound moved, it would be struck.

  Yet it did not move at all.

  Only the giant eye above its head pulsed at a strange rhythm, gazing indifferently at the attacks converging from every direction.

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  Explosions tore across the summit. Violent shockwaves ripped through the ground. Smoke and shattered stone rose skyward, completely swallowing the beast.

  Every attack appeared to land cleanly.

  And yet Senior Sister and the others looked grave.

  They felt it.

  Something was wrong.

  As the dust slowly cleared, the hound emerged.

  Unharmed.

  It burst into thunderous laughter.

  “I told you. In this Hai Suan realm, before me, all your attacks are meaningless.”

  “Because the probability that your strikes will hit me…”

  “From the very beginning, was zero.”

  “It is the eye,” Senior Sister said quietly, staring at the floating orb. “A supreme treasure of Hai Suan. Perhaps it was meant to be the final reward of this realm. But you stole it, to prevent later generations from reclaiming the Dao path.”

  The hound’s laughter faded into a sneer.

  “Stole? Humans have no right to this Dao. Even if this realm has fallen into the End of Dharma, you will never take this treasure away.”

  “None of you can be recognized by it. How many in this world can truly align with this path? The remnant soul you hid in that girl, how long did it take you to find her? Can you find another?”

  “Impossible,” it declared coldly. “This treasure sees all aptitude. No one here qualifies. Only that girl possessed it. And she is dead.”

  A heavy silence fell.

  Someone whispered, “But Junior Brother Wen Shan is also a genius…”

  Before he could finish, Wen Shan gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

  “I am not.”

  The hound scoffed.

  “Him? A genius? If he were, this treasure would have broken free from me and flown to him already. And even if he were, I would have killed him the moment I sensed it. Just as I killed that girl. No soul can hide from this eye.”

  With that, the final thread of hope snapped within the crowd.

  The Xia Ke Gang cultivator roared and attacked again.

  But as his power neared the hound, it twisted aside unnaturally, grazing past and slamming into the distant cliff face instead.

  Another miss.

  “Give up,” the hound mocked. “Within this realm, while I hold this treasure, the chance of any attack hitting me is zero.”

  “You cannot harm me.”

  Then Senior Sister spoke.

  “Buy me a quarter hour.”

  Her voice was absolute.

  “Hold it off for that long.”

  Everyone froze. Even the hound hesitated.

  “What could you possibly do in fifteen minutes?” it jeered. “I am nearly invincible here. Will you find another genius?”

  Senior Sister looked at it coldly.

  “No need to find one.”

  At that instant, a familiar aura erupted from her body.

  She spoke each word clearly.

  “Because I am.”

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