United hearts gather to shatter the enemy's core; Shen Yi's wisdom and courage blunt the foe's vanguard.

Shen Yi's web of the thumb went numb from the impact of the demonic energy, his boot heels dragging two deep ruts into the scorched earth.

Leveraging the recoil to pull back, he looked up. The crimson liquid in the northwest corner was snaking along the ground fissures, gleaming in the moonlight with a pearlescent luster identical to that of the phoenix wood.

"Symbiotic defense remaining: thirty seconds." The system's light screen flickered across his retinas, every character like an ice needle piercing his nerves.

Gao Yao's snowy gown brushed across the back of his hand, her sword tip flicking out three frost blossoms to barely block a bone spike lunging from a blind angle.

Her pale lips reminded Shen Yi of early spring ice crystals that had yet to melt; the sleeve torn by the Heart-Devouring Gu was still seeping blood, blooming plum-blossom-like red spots on the pristine white fabric.

"Don't push yourself." He gripped Gao Yao's pulse to channel spiritual energy into her, the system inventory's last two Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Herbs transforming into streams of light. "Look at the demonic energy vortex in the southeast corner of the spirit field."

Nine feet away, Elder Xuanfeng suddenly let out a muffled groan, the silver threads of his horsetail whisk wrapping around the necks of three demonic soldiers, only for the rebound of the strangulation to violently split the web of his thumb.

The old man's bloodshot eyes locked with Shen Yi's, and both simultaneously looked toward the faint blue light dots in the demonic troop formation that flashed every seven seconds—that was precisely the resonance frequency between Night Shadow's faceplate runes and the honeycomb formation whenever orders were issued.

"Senior Brother Shen!" Haoyu's shout came mixed with the clashing of metal and steel. The robust young man, whose smile usually flashed a row of white teeth, currently had his left shoulder armor corroded by demonic energy into a hole the size of a bowl. "The junior brothers in the third defense perimeter are almost at their limit!"

Shen Yi counter-handed and threw out a jade box. The moment the lid sprang open, fragments of the profound iron hoe that shattered during last month's failed experiment burst forth like a rainstorm.

Amid the clanging collisions, he saw Lingyun kneeling among the pile of wounded, her light cyan dress stained beyond recognition. As her medicine pestle mashed the seventh Qi-Consolidating Pill, the young girl's slender wrists were already trembling like reeds in the wind.

Gao Yao suddenly broke free from his embrace, her Frost Moon Sword carving a semi-circular sword curtain: "Let me help Lingyun, at least I can..."

"Do you want the Heart-Devouring Gu to crawl along your blood vessels straight to your heart?" Shen Yi grabbed the back of her neck and pressed her back into the defensive zone, his fingertips brushing past the broken snow-lotus hairpin when the system suddenly popped up a prompt: [Residual symbiotic defense materials detected. Synthesize temporary heart-guard mirror?]

Twenty zhang away, Night Shadow let out a sneer. The moment his heavy halberd plunged into the spirit field, the earth that should have been purified by the phoenix wood suddenly churned up purplish-black vines.

Shen Yi's pupils shrank—this was clearly the mutant strain of the blood-demon vine he had failed to cultivate last month, and at the tip of every vine right now hung the screaming souls of cultivators.

"Shen Yi!" Elder Xuanfeng's horsetail whisk swept over three explosive flame talismans. "More than half of the immortal sect disciples are casualties; we must..."

The old man's words were shattered in mid-air by the seventh wave of demonic energy impact. Watching the countdown ticking on the system light screen, Shen Yi suddenly noticed that every time Night Shadow swung his heavy halberd, the faint blue light dot in the northwest corner of the honeycomb formation resonated with the phoenix wood liquid.

Swallowing the fishy sweetness rising in his throat, his spiritual sense swept over the section of phoenix wood in his inventory that was beginning to grow hot.

"Haoyu, take two people and make a feint to the east." He snatched a spear from a fallen demonic soldier, dipping the spearhead into the blood from his palm to draw a talisman. "Elder Xuanfeng, trouble you to use the Tiangang Steps to trap the demonic energy vortex in the southeast corner."

"Are you insane?" Gao Yao's Frost Moon Sword brushed past his ear to pierce an ambusher. "The east is the spiritual energy node of the honeycomb formation!"

Shen Yi suddenly chuckled softly, his blood-stained thumb wiping away the tear mole at the corner of her eye.

Within his sea of spiritual sense, the system was overlapping the phoenix wood grain with Night Shadow's faceplate runes, and that familiar taboo symbol slowly rotated in the void—it was precisely the bizarre totem he had accidentally coaxed into growing with spiritual springwater in the corner of the spirit field when the dragon-blood vines matured.

When the crimson liquid in the northwest corner suddenly boiled, Shen Yi finally saw that every drop of liquid curled up a miniature version of the honeycomb formation.

Striking his own chest with a backhand, the ice crystal fragments of the symbiotic defense condensed into a prism in his palm, refracting the moonlight into seventeen light swords that pierced different directions.

"Now!" Dragging Gao Yao, he lunged toward the area illuminated by the light swords. Amid Night Shadow's shrieks, seventeen demonic soldiers simultaneously clutched their eyes where runes had surfaced.

Elder Xuanfeng's explosive flame talismans tore open the southeast gap precisely at that moment. With the dull thud of Haoyu's wolf-tooth club smashing into a ground fissure, a faint, crisp sound of jade shattering echoed.

The system light screen suddenly unfurled across his entire sea of spiritual sense, golden characters jumping on the three-dimensional map of the honeycomb formation: [Command core fluctuation detected, remaining decoding time 300 seconds].

Looking at the constantly growing names on the casualty list, Shen Yi still felt the lingering presence of ice and snow from Gao Yao's hair on his palm.

Biting the tip of his tongue, Shen Yi spat blood onto the bronze compass, the droplets instantly sucked by the formation patterns into web-like golden radiance.

Reversing his hand, he slapped the compass into Haoyu's palm: "The Kun-position gate of life rotates three times every half-shichen; use the Green-Cicada Guidance Talisman and hug the earth veins."

"But there are blood-demon vines to the east..." Before Haoyu could finish, his mouth was stuffed full of Qi-Recovery Pills, choking him until his eyes rolled back.

"That's why I prepared this for you." Shen Yi pulled three charred wooden stakes from his boot shaft, their tips bursting into green-blue flames at a flick of his finger.

Patterns resembling phoenix tail feathers surfaced on the wooden stakes—they were exorcism torches refined from the spirit field's wooden fences burned down last month.

Lingyun suddenly stumbled over, dropping a sugar-coated tonifying pill from her pestle: "Keep this under your tongue and you can hold on for half a quarter of an hour!" The young girl's blood-crusted eyelashes fluttered, and the silver bell bracelet sliding from her sleeve chimed melodiously—a mortal trinket Haoyu had traded ten low-grade spirit stones for on her birthday last year.

Elder Xuanfeng's horsetail whisk suddenly wrapped around Haoyu's waist, the old man's cracked lips moving: "The Tiangang Big Dipper Formation still has three nodes unbroken. If you encounter..."

"Keep your true Qi to maintain the mountain-guarding formation, Elder." Shen Yi snatched the whisk tassels to tie a safety knot, turning to beckon Mingxin with a finger: "I heard you secretly copied the *Manual of Earth Vein Stealth* in the library last month?"

The ashen-faced youth trembling pulled out a wrinkled sheepskin scroll, only to have his neck hooked by Haoyu: "Good lad! Once this battle is done, Senior Brother will trade ten catties of Crimson Flame Fruit with you!"

Night Shadow's cruel laughter came from the northwest corner, and the blood-demon vines suddenly surged three zhang higher.

Seventeen faint blue runes reflected in Shen Yi's pupils, and the system in his sea of spiritual sense suddenly flashed a red warning: [Residual symbiotic defense materials insufficient; immediate replenishment of phoenix wood sap recommended].

"Go!" A burst of green light erupted from his palm, pushing the five out of the engagement circle. As he turned, the chill of the Frost Moon Sword brushed past the tip of his nose.

Gao Yao's pale cheeks flushed with a morbid flush, the ice crystal rabbit hanging from her tassel bumping against his chest—a trinket he had casually carved on New Year's Eve last year.

"Thirty-six breaths." She said out of nowhere, her sword tip nonetheless precisely deflecting three bone spikes. "Before every stunt you pull, your heartbeat speeds up by thirty-six beats."

In the split second Shen Yi was stunned, Night Shadow's heavy halberd pierced toward his face.

Instinctively tilting his head to dodge, the side of his neck was scorched by demonic energy.

The last half-section of phoenix wood in the system inventory began to grow hot—so hot it reminded him of the plum blossom porridge Gao Yao cooked by the spirit field that night.

"Senior Elder Xuanfeng!" Shen Yi abruptly hurled seven Thunder-Explosion Talismans. "Switch the Zhen and Dui positions in the formation!"

The old man's gray-white beard fluttered wildly in the shockwave, yet his steps executed the Seven-Star Pace with absolute precision.

Thirty-six earth puppets suddenly bulged from the ground, each holding exorcism grass seeds Shen Yi had buried in advance.

Amid Night Shadow's curses, the seeds went wild upon touching demonic energy, growing into thorny vines that temporarily snared the deadliest killing gate of the honeycomb formation.

At that moment, Haoyu was stealthily moving along the earth veins, the bronze compass in his arms scorching him until he bared his teeth.

Mingxin suddenly grabbed the hem of his trousers: "Wait! Ahead is..."

Five blood-demon vines burst through the earth, the souls of cultivators at the vine tips shrieking.

Lingyun's Qi-Consolidating Pill exploded into a sweet mist inside her pestle, and Haoyu seized the chance to hurl the exorcism torch.

The moment the green-blue flame touched the demonic vines, it morphed into a phoenix phantom, burning the twisted faces until they hissed and smoked.

"Senior Brother Shen can even turn ashes into useful resources?" Mingxin stared dumbfounded at the husks of spiritual rice floating from the torch.

"How else did you think the cafeteria's eight-treasure porridge always tasted like talisman paper?" Haoyu laughed heartily as he slashed through the final barrier, three suspended faint blue crystals suddenly appearing before his eyes—the exact lifeline of Night Shadow's resonance with the honeycomb formation!

Meanwhile on the frontal battlefield, the web of Shen Yi's thumb had split down to the bone.

Rolling to Gao Yao's side with a sideways tumble, he suddenly brushed against the sugar-soaked plum preserved in her sleeve pocket—this foolish girl had given away all her healing medicines to the wounded.

"Open your mouth." Biting his fingertip, he passed a droplet of blood across. The fresh fragrance of phoenix wood mixed with the smell of rust diffused between their lips and teeth.

The frost on Gao Yao's eyelashes melted into water droplets, trance-like reverting to the young girl who chased him through the snow to feed him medicine.

The system light screen flooded his entire vision: [Command core decoding progress 97%... 98%...]

"Now!" Shen Yi suddenly surged upward, his blood-stained outer robe whipping up a sky full of sparks.

The silver threads of Elder Xuanfeng's horsetail whisk snared Night Shadow's heavy halberd, buying Haoyu the most crucial breath of time.

Dazzling cyan light burst from the northeast corner, and the three faint blue crystals shattered in response.

The demonic soldiers of the honeycomb formation wailed in unison, the runes on their bodies fading like a receding tide.

The blades of the immortal sect disciples finally pierced their enemies' throats, and as someone shouted "The spirit field is still alive!", more than a dozen cultivators on the verge of collapse reignited their fighting spirit.

Night Shadow's faceplate split open with spiderweb-like cracks, revealing half a face crawling with runes: "Do you think destroying the formation core can..."

His remaining harsh words were frozen in his throat by Gao Yao's Frost Moon Sword, and Shen Yi seized the chance to plunge the final half-section of phoenix wood into the earth veins.

Gushing springs of pure water surged from the scorched earth, and the contaminated spirit fields lost their purplish-black color at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Senior Brother Shen! The southeast corner!" Lingyun screamed, pointing toward the sky.

Wiping the blood from the corners of his eyes, Shen Yi saw more faint blue light dots faintly emerging behind the scattered demonic clouds, resembling countless eyes hidden behind the night curtain.

Night Shadow's tattered cloak billowed in the wind, and an aura colder and darker than the honeycomb formation was awakening beneath his shattered faceplate.

The little rabbit on Gao Yao's sword tassel suddenly frosted over—this was the early warning that only appeared when encountering a top-tier demonic entity.

Shen Yi crushed the pit of the sugar-soaked plum in his palm, the sweet and fishy taste reminding him of the system's prompt that morning: [Phoenix wood purification progress 99.9%]—that missing 0.1% was currently beating like a heartbeat deep within the earth veins.