"Are you a ghost?"
Tian Hao stared dumbfounded at Su Min's outrageous actions. The turbid qi in his body had already pushed him to the brink of danger, yet Su Min was even more exaggerated—her devouring of the qi had triggered a turbid tide.
"So refreshing."
Su Min stretched lazily, savoring the sensation. Ever since reaching this level, she had felt a constant emptiness. Now, she finally felt somewhat filled.
Of course, that emptiness was still there, it wasn't something that could be resolved in a short time.
"The turbid qi here is extremely dense. Why did you bring me here?"
Su Min felt incredibly comfortable in this environment.
"Because someone is trying to open a passage between this place and our universe. If they succeed, hundreds if not thousands, of crazed Mahayana Stage and Unity Stage cultivators will flood into our world."
"Ugh..."
Su Min's lips twitched at the thought. If those thousands of cultivators surrounded and attacked her, that would be one thing. But if they scattered? She wouldn't be able to stop them all. The chaos that would ensue was unimaginable.
These cultivators, though corrupted by turbid qi, weren't dark cultivators. They could leave the Dark Starry Sky without issue. Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
As the two spoke, they landed in a small village. At a glance, Su Min noticed many people most of them Mahayana Stage cultivators, but their conditions were far from ideal.
They looked drained, as if their vitality had been sucked dry. This wasn't something you'd expect from cultivators of this level.
"Didn't you take them back to our universe to recover?"
Su Min was puzzled. Shouldn't they be resting and recuperating? Why were they still stationed here?
"That passage has an immense gravitational pressure. Only my Great Desolate Sacred Body or someone with your Azure Dragon Tempered Physique can pass through."
Tian Hao frowned at Su Min. Clearly, she hadn't even noticed the pressure. Her perception shouldn't be that weak, which meant she simply wasn't affected. This was bizarre. He had tried bringing people through before, but even storing them in a pocket dimension didn't work. Yet Su Min could ignore it entirely.
It had to be related to her current state.
Honestly, the aura she gave off now was strange—almost as if she carried an undeniable authority.
This was new. When they'd met before, she hadn't felt like this. It could only mean one thing: Su Min had undergone some kind of breakthrough.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. They had to deal with the immediate crisis—the fate of their world was at stake.
"Let's set that aside for now. What's the plan?"
Su Min's eyes gleamed, but she didn't explain further. Undoubtedly, this was related to her physique. She hadn't felt anything when crossing the passage earlier. She wasn't foolish enough to ask about it now. The priority was figuring out what to do next.
"Kill the Four Guardians. Each of them is equivalent to a Transcendence Stage cultivator."
Tian Hao pulled out a map and laid it before Su Min. But as he spoke, his confidence wavered slightly. Asking a Mahayana Stage cultivator to face a Transcendence Stage existence what their world called a Half-Immortal, was no small request.
In terms of combat power, these Half-Immortals were weaker than the Great Emperors who had fought their way up in their universe. But it was still an outrageous demand. He had no choice, though. The situation was urgent, and Su Min was the only one he could turn to—mostly because he wasn't familiar with Yao Xian'er.
"That's troublesome."
Su Min's brows furrowed deeply.
A Half-Immortal's cultivation was on par with a Great Emperor's. But she had never actually fought one before, so she didn't know their true strength.
"These four are stationed at the Four Directions Formation of the Nether Prison. Killing one delays the opening of the gate by a hundred years and shrinks its size. If we kill all four, the gate will only allow one or two Mahayana Stage cultivators through at a time, we can easily blockade it then."
"What about the True Immortal? Will he intervene?"
"No. He's currently deep in the core, presiding over the ritual. He won't be able to act during this time."
Tian Hao's certainty reassured Su Min slightly. She wasn't too worried about the Half-Immortals. she was over 90% confident she could kill them. But if the True Immortal got involved? She'd rather let the gate open. Even if countless maddened cultivators poured in, she could at least protect a portion of the world.
Fighting a True Immortal and a Half-Immortal head-on was practically suicide. But under these circumstances, her chances of success were much higher.
"I can only handle one at a time. What about the rest of you?"
After a moment of silence, Su Min nodded.
"Are you sure? You're only at the early Mahayana Stage."
A mid-Mahayana Stage cultivator nearby voiced his concern. Though his words were few, the hatred and killing intent in his eyes were palpable.
"We'll deal with their subordinates. The Four Guardians are stationed separately in the formation, so they won't reinforce each other. Besides the Half-Immortals, there are also many high-level cultivators there."
Ignoring the man's doubts, Tian Hao's expression brightened when Su Min agreed. If she said she could do it, then she must have absolute confidence. He knew Su Min was always cautious, no matter how strong she was.
"Don't rush into action. If they're really planning something, waiting a month won't change anything. Let me help you recover first."
Su Min's eyes gleamed as she soared into the air. In an instant, she began devouring the surrounding turbid qi, shocking everyone present. They quickly sat down in meditation, seizing the opportunity to recover. With the turbid qi absorbed, the remaining clear qi was perfect for cultivation.
Tian Hao nodded in satisfaction. He could help these people expel the dark energy, but he couldn't restore their spiritual qi. The turbid qi here was too dense, they couldn't recover on their own. Now that they had the chance, none of them dared slack off.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Su Min stood atop an altar, narrowing her eyes at the distant fortress. It was a massive stronghold covered in intricate formations, clearly a heavily fortified base teeming with powerful figures. But "powerful" might not be the right word. The sound of agonized wails never ceased.
"What's going on there?"
Su Min's frown deepened. In the cultivation world, one rule was absolute: never enter a place with formations lightly. Never fight a formation master on their home turf unless you had overwhelming strength. She had expected an altar, but this was something else entirely.
"That's a prison fortress where the dark clans imprison powerful cultivators. When they conquer a universe, they transform all its inhabitants into dark beings. Those who resist conversion especially the strongest, are brought here and imprisoned. They're injected with turbid qi to control them."
"How did you rescue these people?"
Su Min was puzzled. She didn't know the specifics of this place, but Tian Hao had gathered so many people, he must have some understanding.
"Heh, you're asking the right person."
Tian Hao smirked. He had spent centuries navigating this hellscape. He knew these places inside out, making him the perfect guide.
"I infiltrated these places carefully. These massive fortresses have a critical flaw: they're designed to hold powerful prisoners, so their defenses are focused inward. Escaping triggers a violent backlash, but sneaking in isn't that hard."
"Alright."
Su Min didn't press further, simply nodding for him to lead the way. Without another word, Tian Hao guided a group of over a dozen into the fortress. The moment they entered, Su Min expanded her spiritual sense, enveloping everyone. With her current soul power, even a Half-Immortal or crippled immortal wouldn't detect them. But soon, her expression turned icy. The moment they stepped inside, countless screams of agony assaulted her senses.
"Late Mahayana Stage... So this is what they've done..."
Inside, she saw a colossal figure covered in dark streaks, writhing in pain. For ordinary cultivators, turbid qi eroded the mind, amplifying desires and fears to unbearable levels. This soul-deep corruption could break even Mahayana Stage cultivators, many had been reduced to mindless husks, moving mechanically.
These were cultivators who had endured heavenly tribulations—trials that tested both body and soul. Their wills were supposed to be indomitable. Yet they had been broken to this extent. The suffering they'd endured was unimaginable.
"Those bastards..."
A mid-Mahayana Stage cultivator beside Su Min gritted his teeth. Clearly, he had experienced this himself. He had been rescued before losing his humanity completely, but his home universe was already gone.
Cultivators faced the tribulation of severing mortal ties, much like her disciple Lin Yao. But that didn't mean they lacked emotions. Their hatred ran deep.
"Where is that guy?"
"The core of the fortress. There are countless slaves like these there. Unlike the fallen or the dark beings from the Dark Universe, they retain almost all their original strength—and have been enhanced by dark modifications. In this plane, they're even more terrifying."
"Hmm."
Su Min wasn't particularly interested. She no longer cared about the so-called clear and turbid worlds. The power of the Chaos Body lay in its ability to harmonize everything, achieving it postnatally was nearly impossible.
Soon, they reached the heart of the fortress.
A sky-spanning dome stretched tens of thousands of meters overhead, and at its center floated a solitary figure. Just sitting there, the pressure he exuded was suffocating. In this world, he was known as a Half-Immortal. In Su Min's universe, he'd be called a Quasi-Immortal.
The moment Tian Hao saw him, he instinctively raised his hand to strike, but Su Min stopped him. As a seasoned old six, Su Min lived by one principle: if there was an advantage to be taken, not taking it made you a fool. So she popped a pill into her mouth and vanished.
[Shadowmeld Pill (Eighth-Grade, Three-Colored)]: Enhances stealth capabilities.
Back when she first entered Yao Xian'er's secret realm, the first thing she encountered was a law entity specializing in assassination. She was simply following its example now. And in her current state, she was even stronger than that entity. Under the stunned gazes of the group, Su Min disappeared without a trace.
Then—
"AHHH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream erupted as the floating figure coughed up blood and was sent flying.
"Does she have no pride as a powerhouse? If she can ambush, she won't fight fair?"
Though shocked by Su Min's strength an early Mahayana Stage cultivator breaking a Half-Immortal's defenses, what left them speechless was her shameless tactics. Only Tian Hao wore a knowing smile. He should be grateful Su Min hadn't set her sights on him. At the same time, the entire fortress seemed to tremble at that scream.
"Move out according to the plan. Now!"