The silence in the canyon was broken by Iron Fist Zhang's ragged breathing. He stood ten paces from Mei Lan, his bruised arm uselessly at his side, his eyes fixed on the cold, inhuman focus of the girl. He had watched her neutralize his guards and had seen the devastating, surgical purity of her Qi-an energy that tasted alien and divine.
"The Flowing Spirit Jade," Zhang hissed, trying to project authority he no longer possessed. "You won't get it. You will die for that divine energy you wield."
Mei Lan finally spoke, her voice flat, devoid of tone, cutting through the canyon air. "The Innate Sword Soul is hungry. It requires resources. You are hoarding them. You are an obstacle." Her logic was pure and brutal, leaving no room for negotiation or mercy.
She didn't draw a weapon. The sword was an extension of her intent, and her intent was absolute. She took one step forward, and the pressure in the canyon doubled. Zhang felt a phantom blade pressed against his throat. He realized he wasn't fighting a girl; he was fighting the very Dao of Purity.
"Kill her!" Zhang shrieked, desperate. "Get her now!"
The remaining six core disciples, all heavily armed, surged forward simultaneously. They were Foundation Establishment cultivators, used to dominating the wilderness. Their strategy was sound: surround, overwhelm, and utilize crude but potent combined Qi bursts.
Mei Lan vanished, but not with simple speed. She moved by following the Sword Intent's Path, instantly perceiving the flaws in the disciples' formation-the slow arc of one man's broadsword, the gap between the spear points of two others.
She struck low and fast. Her target was the disciple holding the strongest formation position, a man named Luo. She met his charging shoulder with her elbow, delivering a single, sharp burst of Sword Qi. The Qi didn't impact the surface; it pierced Luo's defensive spiritual sheath and instantly targeted the central nervous cluster in his spine. Luo convulsed, his body locking up as his own Qi was hijacked and forced into paralysis. He collapsed, immobile, a statue of terror.
The formation was broken. Mei Lan had not wasted a single calorie of energy on defense. She was a system of pure offensive efficiency.
Zhang watched, his face ashen. He was fighting a machine that calculated damage and maximized impact with every gesture. He channeled every ounce of his remaining Qi into his good fist, preparing a final, desperate attack-a move that would drain his Dantian but release a kinetic shockwave meant to shatter Mei Lan's fragile body.
He roared and launched his attack. "Die, demon!"
Mei Lan met him not with force, but with a complex dance of deflection. Her feet spun, her body bending like a willow in a storm. She caught Zhang's arm in a fluid block, diverting the overwhelming kinetic energy of his strike into the nearest canyon wall. The impact sent a cloud of pulverized granite high into the air.
As Zhang staggered back, dizzy from the rebound, Mei Lan delivered her finishing move. She placed two fingers precisely on his chest-not his Dantian, but his heart. She channeled a focused thread of Divine Sword Qi, not to destroy, but to seal.
The thread wrapped itself around Zhang's spiritual heart, locking his Qi flow. He gasped, his body instantly reduced to that of an ordinary mortal. He was powerless, alive, but utterly defeated.
"The cache," Mei Lan stated, stepping away from the immobilized bandit leader. "The fight is over."
Mei Lan found the strongbox and broke the lock easily. Inside, the spiritual light of the Flowing Spirit Jade cluster was intoxicating. She seized it, along with the bundles of Iron-Wood Grass and the pouches of Spirit Stones. Her Innate Sword Soul throbbed with anticipation.
She consumed the Flowing Spirit Jade instantly. The high-purity resource flooded her exhausted meridians, meeting the overwhelming demand of her Divine Talent.
[Cultivation Status: Foundation Establishment Stage 5. Qi Saturation: CRITICAL.]
The spiritual hunger was so immense that even the Flowing Spirit Jade was insufficient. Mei Lan felt a sharp pain in her Dantian as the Sword Soul prepared to consume her own life force.
The purity is too high for this realm's spiritual energy, her tactical mind concluded. I need a Breakthrough, or I will be destroyed by my own talent.
She looked at the defeated bandits and realized their existence was a hidden resource. Mei Lan grabbed the heaviest Spirit Stones and placed them on the ground in a tight, geometric pattern around her. She sat cross-legged, ignoring the pain, and forced her Qi to stabilize.
Her goal was no longer simply survival; it was Breakthrough to Core Formation Stage.
She started absorbing the spiritual energy of the Spirit Stones, but the process was agonizingly slow. She needed speed. She needed Chaos.
Mei Lan opened her eyes and looked at the defeated Iron Fist Zhang. She channeled a tiny spark of her most potent Sword Intent and sent it directly into the bandit's mind-a command rooted in pure spiritual dominance.
"You will draw every cultivator from the nearby regions here. Now. Tell them you have found a Divine Artifact."
Zhang shrieked, not in pain, but in forced compliance. He was utterly enslaved by the power. He rushed out of the canyon, leaving his weapons behind, screaming a message of a fantastic treasure.
Mei Lan smiled faintly. She needed the spiritual energy of the entire region, and the fastest way to get it was to draw every nearby cultivator to this spot. Their fighting would create the violent, chaotic flow of spiritual energy necessary to push her Foundation into a Core.
She began the final compression phase, using the chaotic spiritual flow of the region-now rapidly approaching-as the external pressure to forge her core.
[Cultivation Status: Core Formation Stage Initiated. External Pressure Requirement: EXTREME.]
The blood of the Crimson Lotus Bandit Lair would be the price of her ascent.