In the middle of the night, faint lights flickered in the Mirror Sound Array.

Initially, the appearance of these lights did not attract the attention of anyone, including Tan Su, after all, the Qiulin Ruins were so vast.

But gradually, the lights increased, like sparks spreading into a prairie fire, until before and after dawn, fires broke out in multiple places of the Qiulin Ruins.

Fire spread from patch to patch, eventually connecting into one continuous blaze.

By noon, it had become a continuous conflagration.

What on earth do these two intend?

When Tan Su noticed, the fire had reached an uncontrollable stage.

Most of the Qiulin Ruins were engulfed in a sea of flames.

Without water, even Tan Su couldn’t extinguish such a vast fire with her spiritual power.

Tan Su’s expression grew increasingly grim.

Everything in the Qiulin Ruins was indeed under her spiritual power’s control, but to restore everything within would drain her spiritual power.

The longer the ten-day-and-night trials lasted, the fewer deaths there were, the greater the spiritual power consumption for Tan Su.

If this unnecessary fire continued to spread, it would inevitably burn down the entire Qiulin Ruins, and to restore everything within, she would at least need to consume a third of her spiritual power.

If she extinguished it, she would still need at least a third of her spiritual power.

But if she did, she would lack enough spiritual power to support the ten-day-and-night period.

Could it be, those two have deduced the secret of the Qiulin Ruins?

Tan Su’s heart chilled at the thought.

Impossible, her father was dead, and all previous guardians of the Qiulin Ruins were dead too; no one would know of the treasure’s existence.

They must have done this by coincidence.

Tan Su hesitated for hours, finally not using her spiritual power to extinguish the fire.

She could only watch as the Qiulin Ruins burned for a day and a night, turning the once lush Qiulin Ruins into desolate wasteland, full of scars.

In Tan Su’s heart, hatred boiled over, she wished she could tear Ye Lingyue and the others apart.

"Burn on, the cleaner it burns, the less way you have to survive. I want to see what you rely on, once everything is turned to ash. How will you last the final four days and nights?"

A line of words squeezed through Tan Su’s clenched teeth.

Finally, on the morning of the seventh day, the fire went out.

Ye Lingyue and Di Shen had gone over two days without a drop of water or a morsel of food.

Both were very weak, but their spirits remained high.

Because they knew, the final moment was finally upon them.

"Di Shen, you head south, I’ll go north. Whether we find anything or not, meet back here every half day."

Ye Lingyue instructed Di Shen, deciding to split up to conserve energy.

The burned Qiulin Ruins were even more desolate than before.

This time, Tan Su did not use spiritual power to restore any vegetation in the ruins.

The smell of charred grass and wood lingered everywhere.

Ye Lingyue grinned mockingly at the void ahead.

Sure enough, even Tan Su could not limitless restore every piece of flora and fauna within the space.

Having learned from the last encounter, Ye Lingyue didn’t doubt for a moment that Tan Su was monitoring her every move.

To avoid raising suspicion too early, Ye Lingyue walked north as if she were taking a leisurely stroll.

She passed through densely populated residential areas, heading towards a small hill behind Qiulin County.

She walked for half a morning before reaching a riverbed.

The river had dried up, and Ye Lingyue looked around at the scattered blackened pebbles.

The area appeared desolate, devoid of any signs of life.

The original area was not here.

Ye Lingyue walked forward for another two hours, nearly reaching the time she had arranged with Di Shen.

Maybe I should come back tomorrow. Ye Lingyue’s stomach was rumbling with hunger.

Just then she was about to turn back.

When she heard an odd rustling sound behind her.

A demon beast burst forth from a stream nearby.

It was a Golden Back Mantis, with a triangular head, a coin-like pattern atop it.

The most striking feature about the Golden Back Mantis were its two arms, like large blades, crossed in front of its chest.

Its protruding eyes glimmered with a fearsome light.

A demon beast, and judging by its level, it was near Great Demon Level.

In the past, such a demon beast would be no threat to Ye Lingyue, but now, starved and devoid of Primordial and spiritual power...

Tch, this guy is no doubt another "gift" from Tan Su.

Although this "gift" was far from enjoyable for Ye Lingyue.

Her path was blocked by the Golden Back Mantis, as for her back... Ye Lingyue quickly turned to look behind her.

What she saw made her silently curse.

Behind her was the end of the dried stream, which used to be a waterfall.

With the river dry, the waterfall became an unknown height natural cliff.

Clearly, this Golden Back Mantis was crafty, having likely trailed Ye Lingyue all along, striking just as she reached a "dead end".

The Golden Back Mantis, wielding its "blades", closed in step by step on Ye Lingyue.

Its throat emitted strange gurgling noises.

Unexpectedly, Ye Lingyue suddenly spun around, leaping towards the cliff.

The Golden Back Mantis hesitated, its protruding eyes showing a flash of red light, clearly unprepared for Ye Lingyue’s choice to "commit suicide" without struggle.

It swayed its head, reluctantly approaching the cliffside to confirm whether its prey was truly dead. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

But just at the moment its head peeked over.

Swiftly, a shadow sprang from below the waterfall.

Pretending to jump off, yet grabbing a protruding Mountain Stone, Ye Lingyue was as tense as a bow string.

In a graceful upside-down move, she dodged the Mantis’s deadly blades, headfirst, her arms like steel cords, choking the Mantis’s neck with a "crack".

Using the Acupoint Techniques taught by the Jade Hand Poison Master, Ye Lingyue snapped the Mantis’s neck, fearing it wasn’t dead enough, Ye Lingyue hooked it with her feet, tossing the Mantis’s adult-sized body over the cliff.

Using the Mantis’s weight, Ye Lingyue landed with her hands on the ground and flipped back onto the top of the cliff.

Upon completing this sequence of actions, Ye Lingyue was already breathless.

"Barely escaped with my life."

She was still somewhat shaken, just about to steal a breath.

Her shoulder suddenly ached, the sound of a blade piercing flesh came through.