Junior sister, keep forbear for a while, I almost become invincible as soon!

Every new disciple entering the Wuji Sect is instilled with this belief: Aim to emulate your mentor and strive in your cultivation, but do not adopt your mentor's specific methods.

Someone once couldn't help but ask, "Is the mentor's cultivation very arduous?"

No one answered.

The high-ranking members of the Sect exchanged glances. It was as if the question held an unbearable weight for them, or perhaps… the mentor's cultivation was so arduous they were at a loss for words to describe it.

Yes! It must be so! Li Qi firmly believed that only cultivators who grew through adversity could become true powerhouses. Therefore, the mentor must undoubtedly be one.

At that moment, an oppressive spiritual energy fluctuation permeated from the depths of Salt Mountain.

It's here! Li Qi lifted his head.

The King of Medicine's fluctuation had appeared again.

The young geniuses from various powers also turned their gazes to the depths of Salt Mountain. At their elders' signal, they made a beeline towards it.

"Li Qi, you are their Eldest Senior Brother and also the strongest among them. When necessary, you must protect your junior brothers and sisters, understand?" Nangong Jue instructed.

"I understand, Master," Li Qi nodded.

"Competing for the King of Medicine is secondary; staying alive is what truly matters. Go!"

More than twenty young figures dashed towards the depths…

Whether the King of Medicine truly existed or not, for these young people, it was an essential trial and a chance for the different powers to clash. Its significance was great.

An elder from the Saint Tao clan watched Nangong Jue, his face full of mockery.

Youming Valley also glanced over, a barely perceptible chill in their eyes.

The Taiyu Dynasty and Stone Country Academy were comparatively calm, as they held no significant enmity with the Wuji Sect.

…

WHOOSH!

After entering the deeper region, Li Qi and his few junior disciples quickly went into hiding, observing from the shadows…

Li Qi's idea was simple: he would compete for what he could and, for what he couldn't, he would observe and wait, prioritizing survival above all.

However, no sooner had they hidden themselves than someone disturbed the slumber of a ferocious beast. A heaven-and-earth-shaking roar made the entire mountain tremble.

Not only that, but the ferocious beast was also charging towards them.

Liu Yuting's eyes widened, and her voice trembled as she said, "Senior Brother…"

"Damn it, they must have done it on purpose."

"It has to be those bastards from the Saint Tao clan! Senior Brother, let's fight them together!"

A second-tier ferocious beast, equivalent to the Condensed Soul Realm, was an existence far too powerful for the five from the Wuji Sect to defeat, as the strongest among them was only at the Ninth Heaven of the Breaking Sun Realm.

Even if they wanted to avoid the fight, it would be very difficult.

Li Qi said, "Change locations!"

「In the depths.」

Zi Yan chuckled. "Interesting. Li Qi is quite cautious, but what's the use? A bunch of mere Breaking Sun Realm cultivators entertaining the ridiculous idea of competing for opportunities here? Truly laughable."

"Senior Brother, they've dodged it."

"It doesn't matter. Just draw another one over," Zi Yan replied, his gaze sharp as he watched the mountainside.

With his cultivation realm, slaughtering the Wuji Sect members would be very easy, but he didn't want to do it that way—it was too easy and uninteresting.

He wanted to torture these people slowly, break their conviction, and shatter their willpower.

That would be interesting.

A few minutes later, Zi Yan awakened a second ferocious beast and guided it towards them.

The Wuji Sect group looked grim, their expressions particularly unsightly.

Li Qi had no choice but to lead them to move again, but… this time, the place they moved to unexpectedly had an Array established.

They were trapped.

HA HA HA! Zi Yan burst into laughter. "The Breaking Sun Realm is, after all, just the Breaking Sun Realm—a world apart from the Condensed Soul Realm. How could you possibly contend with me, this young master?"

"You're shameless!" Liu Yuting exclaimed angrily.

"Shameless? What is shameless?" Zi Yan sneered. "Isn't this the cruelty of the cultivation world?"

The Zi lineage of the Saint Tao family held a deeply entrenched belief: defeating the Wuji Sect was their legacy. This particular belief was deeply ingrained in him, largely due to his extraordinary relationship with Zi Yan.

He had heard from the previous generation that the Wuji Sect had severely defeated Zi Yan.

HUH? As the only genius of the Saint Tao family infinitely close to atavism, how could she possibly lose to the Wuji Sect? Shouldn't she have advanced triumphantly, sweeping across vast territories, dominating her peers, and achieving invincibility? How could she lose? Since that's the case, let me, Zi Yan, sweep away this disgrace!

Looking at the group before him, Zi Yan laughed wildly. His goal would soon be reached: to crush the younger generation of the Wuji Sect, pressing even their strongest, Li Qi, under his heel.

They would have no chance to resist.

They would slowly die under his torment.

The mere thought of that scene sent a thrill through Zi Yan. "The Wuji Sect's strongest of the younger generation, Li Qi, crushed under the foot of Zi Yan from the Saint Tao family—TSK, TSK. Can you guess the uproar this news will cause when it spreads?"

The five of them wore somber expressions.

Clenching her teeth, Liu Yuting said, "Senior Brother, we'll fight them with everything we've got!"

"Yes, yes! That's exactly the effect I want! Fight us! Otherwise, if your deaths are too simple, this young master will be quite disappointed," Zi Yan grinned, a hint of madness in his eyes.

「Outside Salt Mountain.」

Nangong Jue's face also darkened, his gaze coldly fixating on the Saint Tao family as his hands clenched tightly beneath his sleeves.

"What? Are you going to make a move?" An expert from the Saint Tao family scoffed. "Do you plan to interfere with the dispute among the younger generation? If you do, the Wuji Sect will become a public enemy. When several major powers unite to attack, can your Wuji Sect withstand it?"

Nangong Jue remained silent. He hadn't expected that the people from the Saint Tao family would willingly forsake the opportunity of a King of Medicine just to eliminate the Wuji Sect's new generation.

Truly, they were shameless. At this moment, his heart was in turmoil.

Li Qi and the other four were the most outstanding young talents of the Wuji Sect's new generation—gifted and peerless. Given time, they were destined to become pillars of the Wuji Sect.

Li Qi's talent, in particular, was lauded by the Sect's upper echelons; they believed he had the potential to surpass even Chen Pingping.

But the current situation was highly unfavorable for them.

Zi Yan was at the Fifth Heaven of the Condensed Soul Realm and had several other Condensed Soul Realm cultivators with him. In contrast, the strongest in Li Qi's group was merely at the Ninth Heaven of the Breaking Sun Realm. The disparity in cultivation realms was immense.

Despite his repeated admonitions before their departure, urging Li Qi to be cautious, the enemy had clearly come prepared, even setting up an Array in advance.

There was no escape. Once a conflict started, the fate of Li Qi and the others was predictable.

And he could not intervene. As the Saint Tao family expert had stated, the established rules prevented him. If he were to act, he would shatter the balance co-established by the five major powers.

In that event, the other four powers would form an alliance to jointly attack the Wuji Sect.

They could not bear such a consequence.

Damn it! Nangong Jue trembled slightly, his gaze profound.

Chen, if you were here, what would you do?