Junior sister took first place again

The dusk was as dark as blood. Wen Xingzhou stood at the edge of the chasm, his robes rustling in the strong wind.

He stared at the chaotic fog swirling in front of him, and calculated the best time to cross with his fingertips.

As a half-demon, he knows better than anyone the dangers of crossing the chasm - this place is not only a barrier between the two worlds, but also the strongest shield left by the Human Emperor for all the people in the world. Any demon who steps in will fall into the eternal turbulence of the void if he is not careful.

"We must get through before midnight," Wen Xingzhou muttered to himself, pulling out his specially crafted "boundary compass" from his sleeve. The compass needle spun frantically, eventually pointing to a slightly calmer rift somewhere in the chasm.

Just as he was about to jump, a subtle fluctuation of spiritual power came from behind him.

Wen Xingzhou did not look back, but the sword energy around him had quietly condensed.

The fluctuation quickly dissipated, as if it was just a casual observation by a passing monk.

Wen Xingzhou's eyes were slightly cold. He always knew that someone was watching him from behind, but at this moment he had no time to pay attention to these eyes in the dark.

The moment he leaped, a pale golden light shield lit up around Wen Xingzhou. This was the protective energy he created with his Grandmaster cultivation.

However, as soon as it entered the range of the natural chasm, the light shield dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The suppression of the natural barrier on high-level cultivators and demons was immediately apparent - he felt that the circulation of spiritual energy in his body became sluggish, as if a heavy burden of a thousand pounds was pressing on his dantian.

The spatial fragments within the chasm struck like sharp blades, forcing Wen Xingzhou to frequently shift his form to dodge. A twisted fragment of space brushed past his sleeve, instantly ripping a hole through the Xuanling Sect's specially crafted vestments.

He frowned and quickened his pace. At the same time, he took out the Liquan jade pendant from his arms and began to recite the formation formula in his mind.

At the same time, at the core of the Heaven-Locking Formation, Ning Jiasheng's situation became dire.

As she destroyed more and more nodes, after reaching a certain critical point, Ning Jiasheng activated the ultimate killing move prepared for her by her inner demon.

A terrifying pressure like a tsunami came over him, Ning Jiasheng's pupils shrank into a line, and in an instant he turned into his original form and stood up to resist.

But her spiritual power had been sealed, and after a long battle, in just a dozen breaths, the Nine-Section Wolf, which was as big as a hill, was knocked to the ground, creating a crater. Three thousand demon chains pierced through her limbs and bones, hanging her in the center of the formation.

Each chain was constantly draining her memory and spiritual power, transforming them into nutrients to keep the formation running.

Ning Jiasheng's consciousness shifted between lucid and hazy. In the brief moments of clarity, she could see countless fragments of memories floating around her—the Xuanling Sect's sword training grounds, scenes of her master teaching her, and vague, ancient memories of her half-demon bloodline. These fragments, twisted and reorganized by the formation, constantly assaulted her consciousness.

"Here we go again..." Ning Jiasheng gritted his teeth, feeling the onslaught of a new wave of inner demons.

The scene before him suddenly changed to a blood-soaked Wen Xingzhou. He held out his hand and said in a shrill voice, "Junior Sister, why did you betray your master?"

Ning Jiasheng closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down: "Fake... all fake..." But the chains immediately increased their pulling force, causing her to let out a long howl.

At this moment, she suddenly felt a warmth on her paw. It was the black jade ring she put on after coming down the mountain for the first time. It was echoing the other one.

"It's my senior brother who is coming..." She forced a smile, but was immediately overwhelmed by a new round of inner demons and illusions.

Wen Xingzhou finally passed through the most dangerous area of the natural barrier and landed on the land of the floating world.

As soon as he landed, he felt an unprecedented weakness - the spiritual power in his body was suppressed to less than 20%, and the range of his spiritual awareness was greatly reduced.

This is the price high-level cultivators pay for entering the floating world. The higher their cultivation level, the stronger the suppression they receive.

He didn't dare delay and immediately followed the compass's instructions, rushing towards Jing'an City. What he saw along the way was shocking—villages reduced to scorched earth, roads filled with fleeing civilians, and strange blood-red lights occasionally streaking across the sky.

The world was clearly undergoing some kind of drastic change, but Wen Xingzhou forced himself to look away. He now had only one goal: to reach the Imperial City and set up his formation before the Nine Stars aligned.

"Faster..." Wen Xingzhou mobilized his remaining spiritual power and shuttled through the wasteland like lightning.

He could sense that Fushi's suppression of him was intensifying as time went on. At this rate, by the time he reached the Imperial City, he might even lose his ability to control his sword.

Four days later, when Wen Xingzhou finally arrived at the outskirts of Jing'an City, his cultivation had been suppressed to the Foundation Establishment stage.

To make matters worse, he discovered that a blood-colored barrier was covering the sky above the imperial city - this was obviously a method of the demons.

As the saying goes, "sweet dew falls from the sky and sweet springs emerge from the earth." The requirements for the environment for setting up the sweet spring array are very strict.

Taking into account the rampant demons today and the continuous weakening of the righteousness of the world, the Immortal Venerable Nanming also specially prepared a Liquan jade pendant for Wen Xingzhou to wear.

But when Wen Xingzhou took out the jade pendant, he saw that the originally abundant spiritual power had become extremely weak under the influence of the world.

"We must destroy this barrier before we can set up the formation." The thought flashed through his mind, Wen Xingzhou raised his head slightly, gently clenched his right hand, and a stream of light appeared silently in his hand.