Conquering a thousand trials at the peak trial, Shen Yi brings glory to illuminate the immortal gate.

The lapis lazuli steps gleamed with an eerie blue luster in the morning mist. Shen Yi flicked away a honeysuckle petal clinging to his lapel with his finger, then raised his foot to crush a spirit-eating ant crawling out from a crack in the stone stairs.

By the time Haoyu carried the fragments of the bronze slab and smashed through the barrier of the Trial Valley, Lingyun was already stuffing her third bottle of spirit-replenishing pills into the inner pocket of Shen Yi's waistband.

"This damn rock has been scalding hot since the Mao hour." Haoyu grimaced as he dumped the bronze slab onto the ground. Ink-like mist was seeping from the demonic runes carved into the fragments. "Do you think Elder Xuanfeng purposely hid the trial entrance right beneath the Demon Tomb?"

Shen Yi bent down to pick up the bronze slab. As his fingertips brushed against the burning hot runes, the system interface suddenly popped up with a prompt: [Ancient restriction fluctuation detected. Host is advised to redeem the barrier-breaking spirit hoe (Cost: 200 spiritual power points).]

He glanced at the blood-red characters "Netherworld Trial" flashing on the task panel, and casually shoved a spiritual fruit pit into Haoyu's mouth. "Saying a few words less would save you thirty percent of your spiritual power."

Gao Yao's ice silk ribbon brushed against his wrist with the chill of frost and snow. Shen Yi turned his hand over to catch her fingertips, touching the newly formed sword calluses on them. "The seven-leaf red-crowned crane flower in the herb garden is blooming just right. Shall I weave a floral crown for you when we return?"

"Returning alive is more important." Gao Yao suddenly crushed a communication jade talisman. The shattered jade burst with Elder Xuanfeng's voice from three days ago: "...The Trial Valley has undergone a mutation, all teams must evacuate before the Shen hour..."

Before her voice faded, the bronze slab fragments suddenly embedded themselves into the demonic runes on the ground.

Shen Yi felt the jade bottles of detox pills at his waist shatter simultaneously. The instant purple-black miasma spewed out from the ground fissures, his instinct took over and he shoved Gao Yao toward Lingyun. "Take them and fall back to the Kan position!"

[Warning! Spiritual power shield consumption is accelerating.] The system prompt was torn apart by a beast's roar as three blue-eyed magic wolves broke through the wall of miasma.

Shen Yi swiveled his body to dodge a heavy paw swipe from above. His dark iron hoe grazed a wolf's ear and embedded itself into the rock wall, the flying sparks illuminating the densely packed spirit-devouring bats clinging to the cave ceiling.

"The Xun position life-gate is sealed shut!" Haoyu's bronze slab struck the barrier, sending out a spray of sparks, while the medicinal powder scattered by Lingyun formed a fluorescent path in the air. "Big Brother Shen, these demonic beasts are driving us toward the Zhen position!"

Shen Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The Nine-Turn Golden Lotus, which had just matured in his system storage, was glowing.

When he saw the crescent-shaped crack on the rock wall of the Zhen position—which matched the shape of the bronze slab fragments perfectly—he suddenly grabbed Haoyu by the collar and roared, "Jam the fragments into the formation eye at the southeast corner!"

The moment the bronze slab embedded itself into the rock wall, the entire cave began to writhe like a awakened giant beast.

As Shen Yi rolled down the slope while holding Haoyu, he caught a glimpse of the golden micro-light seeping from the crack in the Zhen position—that was unmistakably the spiritual radiance of a thousand-year dragon scale fruit reaching maturity.

"Shen Yi, have you lost your mind?" Lingyun's silver needles flew past his ear, nailing down a poisonous spider attempting a sneak attack. "Any further forward and we'll be at the source of the demonic energy!"

Humus soil exploded with poisonous gas beneath their feet. Shen Yi swung his hoe to cleave through the ghost vines wrapped around his ankles, and an ice jade pendant that Gao Yao had secretly tucked away rolled out from his storage ring.

The moment the pendant touched the ground, an ice crystal path surprisingly manifested amidst the poisonous miasma ahead, and the escape route lit up synchronously on the system map.

"Follow the ice path!" Shen Yi tossed out his last three explosive flame talismans. The firelight illuminated the ferocious claw marks on the rock wall—those marks were so fresh they were still oozing blood, clearly left by previous batches of trial-takers.

Haoyu suddenly grabbed him by the back of the collar. "Wait! The nest of the dragon scale fruit and the heart-devouring magic scorpions are in a symbiotic relationship!" The youth's trembling finger pointed beneath the golden spiritual light, where dark red shells could be vaguely seen writhing. "If you want the treasure, you have to deal with that nest of venomous scorpions first..."

Shen Yi swallowed the sweet taste of blood rising in his throat. The system's spiritual power bar had dropped to thirty percent.

He touched the empty bottle of spirit-replenishing pills at his waist, and the frost condensed on Gao Yao's eyelashes as she ground herbs flashed across his eyes—if they retreated now, those old fellows of the immortal sects would definitely seize the opportunity to strip them of their trial qualifications.

The ice crystal path began to thaw, and the sound of the heart-devouring magic scorpions' pincers rubbing together drew closer.

Shen Yi swapped the dark iron hoe for the nether sickle just unlocked by the system. The golden ear-of-wheat patterns winding along the sickle blade suddenly grew scorching hot; that was a sign that the God-Tier Farming System had sensed a rare spiritual plant.

"Haoyu, grind the bronze slab fragments into powder." Shen Yi slit his palm and smeared his blood onto the sickle blade, smiling softly as he looked at the countless scarlet compound eyes lighting up in the darkness. "I heard that heart-devouring magic scorpions fear the sap of the dragon scale fruit tree the most?"

When the first magic scorpion leaped out of the poisonous miasma, the ice silk ribbon around Shen Yi's wrist suddenly burst with biting cold.

Watching the gradually forming golden veins on the sickle, he finally understood why Gao Yao insisted on mixing her natal essence blood into every single detox pill—those winding ice patterns were overlapping perfectly with the system's spiritual power net, weaving a brand-new totem across the surface of the nether sickle.

The ice patterns and golden spikes on the nether sickle blade intertwined into a net, sending a numbing shock up the webbing of Shen Yi's hand.

The magic scorpion's shell collided with the sickle, striking blue-purple sparks. The bronze powder scattered by Haoyu exploded into blue smoke within the poisonous mist, and the swarm of scorpions immediately threacted like an anthill scalded by boiling water, churning wildly.

"Now!" Shen Yi flipped over and vaulted onto a stalactite pillar, his sickle slicing open his palm to fling blood droplets toward the dragon scale fruit tree.

The moment Gao Yao's natal essence blood met the tree sap, the entire cavern suddenly flooded with ice crystals. In the extreme cold, the shells of the heart-devouring magic scorpions emitted a teeth-gritting cracking sound.

A system prompt exploded in his sea of consciousness: [Rare spiritual plant Dragon Scale Fruit detected. Do you wish to consume 500 spiritual power points to ripen it?] Shen Yi brushed past a scorpion's pincer to roll into a recess at the base of the tree, and backhanded the nether sickle into the trunk.

The golden veins grew frantically along the sickle handle, and the previously unripe fruits developed dragon-scale patterns at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Catch!" Shen Yi swung his arm and cleaved down three dragon scale fruits. Lingyun's medicine pouch traced an arc through the air.

The instant the fruits entered the pouch, the magic scorpion king burst out from beneath the earth, its foul-smelling venom causing the stalactites to corrode with a sizzling sound.

Instead of retreating, Shen Yi advanced, stepping on falling rubble to leap onto the scorpion's back. The tip of the sickle lit up with the system's characteristic gilded halo.

Haoyu suddenly tossed over a bronze slab fragment. "Catch this!" The moment Shen Yi turned mid-air to catch the fragment, the system storage popped open—the ice jade pendant soaked in Gao Yao's essence blood was resonating with the fragment.

With a clatter, the scorpion king's tail stinger grazed his neck and embedded itself into the rock wall. Shen Yi seized the opportunity to press the ice jade pendant into the venom gland atop the scorpion king's head.

The extreme cold spread instantly along the venom pathways. The moment the scorpion king turned into an ice sculpture, Shen Yi's nether sickle had already pierced straight through its compound eyes.

Before the dark purple venom could splatter, it was frozen into ice prisms. The system light screen popped up with a massive [Victory in Battle] text, and his spiritual power bar surged straight to maximum due to over-level monster slaying.

"Look!" Lingyun cried out, pointing at the gradually transparent barrier.

As the scorpion swarm was wiped out, the restrictions on the rock wall of the Zhen position receded like a tide, revealing a passage behind it embedded with moonstones.

As Shen Yi plucked the final two dragon scale fruits, he found the lower half of a jade slip curled up at the tree roots—the characters "Immortal Realm" could be vaguely seen blurred by bloodstains.

Haoyu winced as he bandaged a sting on his leg. "Is this thing enough to trade for three bottles of immortal dew?" He shook a glass bottle filled with the scorpion king's venom sacs, where purple mist inside swirled into the shape of a tiny scorpion.

Lingyun suddenly pressed his wrist. "Don't move! The toxic mist is guiding the way..."

Shen Yi's ear tips twitched slightly as the ice crystal path on the system map began to flash once more.

As he pressed the jade slip close to his glabella, Gao Yao's voice suddenly resounded in his sea of consciousness: "No matter what you see, don't believe the illusions within the formation eye." The tail end of her voice carried the crisp sound of a pestle pounding medicine, clearly recorded secretly this morning.

The moment they stepped through the passage, blinding light forced everyone to squint.

Shen Yi's dark martial robes fluttered without wind, and the automatically activated spiritual power shield of the system batted away the hidden weapons flying from all directions.

When their vision recovered, the trial altar was right before their eyes—turns out they had been circling within the core area of the Trial Valley all along.

"The third quarter of the Shen hour!" Haoyu screamed, pointing at the sundial on the altar.

The shadow of the gnomon happened to fall precisely upon the time limit marker required by Elder Xuanfeng for evacuation. However, the altar, which ought to have been completely empty, was now packed with immortal sect disciples.

Shen Yi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the snowy figure standing at the very front of the crowd. Gao Yao's clenched ice silk ribbon refracted a seven-colored rainbow light under the morning sun.

Jian Chen's natal sword suddenly emitted a dragon-like hum. Staring at the blood-stained dragon scale fruit pouch at Shen Yi's waist, Jian Chen's knuckles turned white. "To think this mud-legged fellow actually..." Before he could finish, Elder Xuanfeng's horsetail whisk swept up the trial tokens.

When Shen Yi pressed the blood-stained bronze fragment into the slot of the token, twenty-eight constellations pillars of light rose dramatically across the entire altar.

"Netherworld Trial victor, Shen Yi." Elder Xuanfeng's voice echoed through the valley, startling flocks of birds to sweep across the sea of clouds.

Shen Yi felt the dragon scale fruits in his embrace suddenly grow scalding hot, and the system light screen popped up with a new prompt: [Immortal sect destiny binding successful, planting space upgraded to Spiritual Vein Grotto-heaven.]

Gao Yao's ice silk ribbon wrapped around his wrist carrying a faint medicinal fragrance, and Shen Yi naturally pulled her into his embrace.

The maiden's hair still carried the fragrance of sweet pine from the herb garden, and her fingertips brushed against the scabbed sting on the side of his neck. "If you act recklessly again next time, I'll mix the seven-leaf red-crowned crane flower into your spirit tea."

Amidst the cheers of the immortal sect disciples, Shen Yi caught a glimpse of Jian Chen flicking his sleeves as he strode away.

That natal sword, which never left his side, actually gouged a scorching scar onto the bluestone slabs, faintly leaking the aura of inner demons.

Haoyu squeezed over to bump his shoulder. "Tonight at the Drunken Immortal Tower, this young master is treating!"

When Elder Xuanfeng tied the gilded trial token around Shen Yi's waist, an unusual stir came from the system storage.

That blood-stained fragment of the jade slip was absorbing the spiritual energy of the trial token. Beneath the incomplete characters "Immortal Realm," blood-red runes slowly emerged—the exact same restriction totem he had seen in the Demon Tomb three days ago.

As dusk stained the sea of clouds red, Shen Yi stroked the suddenly burning jade slip, gazing toward the snow-capped peak at the highest point of the immortal sect.

The system light screen flickered at this moment. Newly ripened vermilion fruits in the planting space stirred without wind, arranging themselves into a distorted warning pattern across the spiritual soil.