Facing the Filth Clan, every universe would come under tremendous pressure.
"Alright then."
Su Min's quiet voice carried across the ruined void, calm even in the face of cosmic corruption. It was neither cold nor forceful, yet it brooked no refusal.
The others exchanged looks. Even Xie Yingying hesitated, her fingers twitching faintly at her side.
To be honest, even Tian Yang, with his near-hundred lifetimes of experience, couldn't comprehend Su Min's current state. This was a realm beyond the Five Great Physiques, one that no one had ever reached before.
Moreover, she was actually able to absorb dark matter like this. He refused to believe that Su Min was someone who would lose her mind for power. If that wasn't the case, then she must have her own plans.
Everyone was injured to varying degrees. The battles had left them drained, their spiritual foundations cracked, their souls stretched thin. So when Su Min gave them leave, no one argued.
In the blink of an eye, the battlefield cleared. Only Su Min, Yao Xian'er, and Xie Yingying remained in the space.
Yao Xian'er hovered nearby, arms crossed, golden eyes flickering with wariness and something like awe.
Xie Yingying, on the other hand, stood completely still. Her body trembled almost imperceptibly—whether from exhaustion or something deeper, even she didn't know.
She didn't want to go.
"What are you planning to do?" she asked, her voice low.
Su Min didn't look up. Her hands moved in a flowing gesture, pulling chaotic strands of dark essence into the shape of an alchemy furnace.
"I'm going to refine a Grade Nine Dark Pill," she said. "Once complete, it'll allow me to absorb the dark substance faster—and more efficiently."
Xie Yingying stared at her. "That's insane," she whispered.
Yao Xian'er snorted lightly. "Ruthless is more like it. This universe has only ever grown larger, more chaotic. And now, you're forcing it to shrink."
If she weren't still limping from injuries and weighed down by the black sun's suppression, Yao Xian'er would've thrown a punch for old time's sake. But even she had to admit—if Su Min could truly reverse this corruption, she would change the fate of countless worlds.
"If we'd lured those beasts into this place to die, things might've been simpler," Yao Xian'er added. "Too bad the price was too high."
"Enough," Su Min said gently. "You've done enough. Leave the rest to me."
"…You're really staying here alone."
The words weren't a question.
Xie Yingying's fists curled at her sides. She wanted to argue, to step forward and say she would remain too. But her cultivation was unstable, her soul still trembling from the last impact. She would only slow Su Min down—and that knowledge burned.
She bit her lip.
Then a hand wrapped around her wrist.
"Let's go," Jiang Xi said softly, landing beside her with a tired expression. Her eyes flicked to Su Min, then back to Xie Yingying.
"We can't help right now. If we stay, we're just giving her more to worry about."
"I..."
Xie Yingying glanced back.
Su Min stood there, already beginning the preparation for pill refinement, her silhouette framed by writhing strands of dark essence and floating shards of collapsed space. She looked calm. Composed. Completely untouchable.
Something in Yingying's chest twisted.
There was a quiet fear—one she hadn't spoken aloud.
That this distance wasn't temporary. That Su Min was moving beyond them. Beyond her.
And that someday soon, she might never be able to catch up again.
"Let's go," Jiang Xi said, more firmly this time.
Xie Yingying didn't resist. Not outwardly. But as the two of them ascended together into the void and vanished into a retreating streak of light, her heart was still facing the woman below.
And she didn't look away.
Not until Su Min was gone from view.
As they left, the dark tides of the universe surged forward again, and Su Min closed her eyes.
The others had retreated.
Now it was her turn to shape the darkness.
"First, deal with the remaining four Mahayana-stage cultivators below. Then, it'll be my time to perform."
With that thought, Su Min looked down at the Dark Continent. She intended to kill all the remaining Mahayana-stage cultivators, completely cutting off that entity's hopes of a quick recovery.
Of course, even though her current strength had reached terrifying heights, she still wasn't absolutely confident in facing the true immortal who had descended here. The gap in their cultivation was simply too vast. However, that being didn't dare leave the core region. What Su Min needed to do was simple, gradually compress the core region's territory.
She was about to engage in a prolonged battle with that thing. This wasn't something that could be resolved overnight.
"This time, you won't be able to hide. Without your environmental advantage, what else do you have left?"
Sensing the entire Dark Continent, Su Min revealed a faint smile. After reaching the Mahayana stage, it was no exaggeration to say that her soul power had undergone another qualitative leap. Thanks to her earlier transformation, it had reached an astonishing level.
In her current state, she was capable of refining Grade 9 Pills.
For a Grade 9 Alchemist, there was no such thing as a fixed pill formula. Even with the inheritance of the Medicine Buddha, she couldn't find a single Grade 9 Pill recipe. But that didn't matter—an alchemist of this level was no longer constrained by formulas. They could create as they pleased.
Thus, Su Min intended to refine a Dark Pill, using the filthy energy as its foundation. This would allow her to rapidly deplete this world's corrupted spiritual energy while also accelerating her own path to perfection.
Once she reached Perfection, she would dare to face even that true immortal in battle.
"Then, let's start by eliminating you all. A Mid-Mahayana cultivator—this time, let's see how far you can hide. Show yourself!"
In that instant, Su Min appeared above a massive desolate tomb. Mid-Mahayana cultivator, Old Man Withered Bones. He had hidden everything within this ancient graveyard. It was said that he had left countless skeletons scattered across this continent. If he were killed, he would revive in one of them. Thus, killing him was nearly impossible. Though he was weaker than the thing in the desert, even Tian Yang hadn't chosen him as the final target. But now, things were different for Su Min.
"Chaotic Karmic Seal!"
Without hesitation, Su Min raised her hand. In the next moment, the entire graveyard was enveloped in an inky glow.
By merging Yin-Yang and Karmic forces, she could seal all things in existence. No matter how many preparations he had made, there was no way for him to escape now.
"Now, please die."
With that, Su Min slammed her palm down. In an instant, the entire area was obliterated. Within the ruins, a withered old man stared at her in horror. He couldn't understand—how could a mere Early-Mahayana cultivator severely injure him with a single casual strike?
What terrified him even more was that he had lost all connection to his countless hidden skeletons. This was his ultimate life-saving trump card, a connection based on karma. Yet this woman had severed even karma itself. "Who is she?"
Unfortunately, no one would answer his question. Because in the next moment, Su Min struck again—and he was crushed to death.
His soul fragments were all gathered in Su Min's hand. After shattering the memories within, she swallowed them whole. At this point, she didn't even need purification. She desperately needed these fragments now.
"Next, it's your turn."
Glancing at the jade slip in her hand, Su Min quickly locked onto her next target. Right now, she was an emotionless speedrunning machine. She would clear the entire Dark Continent in three days.
She would kill all nine of the strongest beings here.
This continent had suffered long enough. It was time to give its inhabitants a chance to breathe.
And so, she vanished once more.
In just three short days, all the Mahayana-stage experts who had lurked on the continent for millennia were dead. Su Min had collected an enormous number of soul fragments, but unfortunately, it still wasn't enough for her to break through.
After all, she had shattered all the memories within them, greatly diminishing their efficacy. Moreover, progressing through the Mahayana stage was incredibly difficult—each step required immense effort. To advance further, she still needed external help.
So now, Su Min hovered at the peak of the Dark Continent. With a wave of her hand, a massive cauldron formed from the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—appeared before her.
This time, she was going all out.
On the Dark Continent, all cultivators were driven by bloody, primal instincts. In the past, Su Min had helped a few of them, purifying their souls when they first awakened. But all of them had one thing in common: while they no longer attacked their loved ones, they still ruthlessly devoured strangers.
"If that's the case, then I have no reason to hold back."
The next moment, the colossal cauldron enveloped the entire Dark Continent. Dark energy began rapidly condensing, drawn into the cauldron in a frenzy. But it wasn't just the ambient energy, even the dark power within the continent's cultivators was being forcibly extracted. Those who possessed soul fragments were instantly stripped of them.
The unawakened ones were spared, but the bloodthirsty ones were rapidly drained. In the blink of an eye, they withered into desiccated corpses. The low-level cultivators they had been preying upon didn't even have time to turn on each other before meeting the same fate.
In that single moment, the war-torn continent finally experienced a long-lost peace. At least while the cauldron remained, they no longer had to fear being hunted by dark cultivators. Of course, these people were only a small part of the equation. Within a single month, the entire Dark Continent was completely cleansed of dark matter.
The instant it vanished, the Heavenly Dao's laws descended upon the land.
Lush green plants sprouted across the barren earth.
And for the first time in centuries, true cultivators emerged—not the corrupted ones, but those blessed by Heaven's Enlightenment.
Su Min was satisfied. At the very least, this continent had finally begun its natural cycle of life and death. Meanwhile, her massive absorption of dark energy had caused a reverse flow within the Dark Universe.
In less than a year, the Dark Universe's radius had shrunk by nearly a hundred kilometers. While this was insignificant compared to the universe's vast size, it was still a cause for celebration. For countless eons, the Dark Universe had expanded, starting from a single planet and growing to its current state. Now, for the first time, it had shrunk.
Even if it was only a hundred kilometers, it was a monumental change. Of course, the initial shrinkage was rapid because the outer layers of dark energy were thin and easy to reclaim. But further progress would be far more difficult, perhaps even impossible.
Deep within the Dark Universe's core, the True Immortal glared in rage. He had seen everything Su Min had done, yet despite his fury, he was powerless to stop her. Su Min would love nothing more than for him to come out and fight her. If he did, as long as she didn't lose, he would die.
So for now, he remained entrenched, refusing to move.
But what frustrated him even more was another problem—
Because of their forced descent, the dimensional passageways were in complete chaos. If he tried to return now, he would be annihilated the moment he left this world. Worse, he couldn't even send back a single scrap of information. This meant he had no choice but to kill Su Min himself, or everything would be for nothing.
Even the entity sitting atop the River of Time would be threatened.
But he couldn't leave this place.
All he could do was watch helplessly as Su Min continued her work.
Yes, she was compressing the Dark Universe's territory, but she couldn't threaten him yet.
So for now, he waited.
~
Time passed in a blur.
Decades flew by in the blink of an eye.
Then, on this day—
A terrifying aura enveloped the peak of the Dark Continent.
A Grade 9 Pill was about to be born.
Unlike Grade 8 Pills, which summoned tribulation lightning, the birth of a Grade 9 Pill triggered an energy tide that engulfed the entire region.
No cultivator, no matter how strong, could interfere at this stage.
Thus, every Grade 9 Pill's birth required perfect timing, location, and luck.
All the alchemist could do was lay the foundation.
Su Min had spent ten full years preparing for this moment.
And now—
The energy tide erupted.
A torrent of power surged from all directions, pouring into the pill. Su Min quietly retreated. There was nothing more she could do. The pill would have to endure this trial on its own. Even so, she couldn't help but feel nervous.
Refining a Grade 9 Pill was incredibly difficult, this one had taken her ten years. And Grade 9 Pills were further classified into Gold, Silver, and Bronze tiers, with massive gaps between them.
Moreover, Grade 9 Pills had complex effects. In myths, there were legends of mortals consuming divine pills and ascending to immortality in a single day. While Grade 9 Pills weren't that powerful, they could allow an ordinary person to instantly reach the Divine Transformation stage.
Of course, no one would actually waste a Grade 9 Pill on a mortal.
Under Su Min's watchful gaze, the energy tide raged—
Until finally, a bronze-hued pill emerged.
[Dark Great Recovery Pill (Grade 9 - Bronze Tier)]
The moment it appeared, the pill shot into the air—
And transformed into a ferocious monster, roaring at Su Min with Mahayana-stage power. This was another trait of Grade 9 Pills, their spiritual intelligence was so high that they were practically sentient. Even though Su Min had created it, the pill knew she intended to consume it, so it resisted with everything it had.
After all, this pill contained vast amounts of dark energy and soul fragments. An ordinary Mahayana cultivator wouldn't dare use it—and if released, it would become a calamity.
"Early Mahayana strength is impressive, but it's still far from enough against me."
Su Min smirked—
Then slapped it back into pill form.