He gazed solemnly toward Empty Bright Valley, not far from Sword-Flying Peak.
His expression shifted between light and shadow.
Before long, colorful streaks of light rose in the distance. The elders and peak heads had arrived together.
"Senior Brother, look at the sky."
"It seems something has gone wrong with Su Zhiyan's Golden Core formation."
Before they had even arrived, the voices of the heads of Sword-Flying Peak and Treasure Pill Valley had already reached his ears.
"I know. It's an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon!"
Master Green Feather's expression was icy as he spoke each word distinctly.
"What? An Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon?"
The elders had already had some suspicions, but upon hearing this, they were still left gaping in astonishment.
Someone cried out in disbelief, "How could it be an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon? She's only forming a mere Golden Core. How could that attract such a monster?"
"Senior Brother, could it... could it be that you're mistaken?"
So shocked were they that some even questioned the Sect Master's judgment.
"I wish I were mistaken, too."
Master Green Feather didn't get angry. Instead, he sighed. "But look at the sky above us."
Everyone looked up.
It was clearly midday, yet the sun seemed to have sunk beneath the hills. A vast blanket of thick, dark clouds covered the sky above the Feathering Sect's main headquarters.
It was a truly horrifying sight!
And most terrifying of all was Empty Bright Valley, where Su Zhiyan was currently in seclusion.
The dark clouds there weren't simply floating in place. They had begun to spin, forming a gigantic vortex.
Gloomy demonic qi poured out from within.
Its depths were unfathomable.
At the sight, the elders and peak heads couldn't help drawing in sharp breaths.
Yet they couldn't make sense of it.
As everyone knew, the thing cultivators feared most was cultivation deviation, especially when breaking through a bottleneck. The danger then was enough to make anyone tremble.
But cultivation deviation came in two forms.
One happened when a cultivator made a mistake in their practice, causing their meridians to reverse and their spiritual power to fall into chaos.
The other was an external demon's invasion.
Like an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon.
Though this was terrifying, the chances of it happening were actually low.
It was nearly impossible for low-level cultivators to encounter one.
Forget forming a Golden Core—even when breaking through to Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, or even Void Refinement, few ever encountered an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon.
Usually, these fearsome creatures only appeared when someone advanced to Mysterious Mastery or even higher, to Mahayana.
Faced with the scene before them, everyone found it impossible to believe.
Had the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demons gone mad?
Why would one take an interest in a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Or was that female disciple surnamed Su so astonishingly gifted that an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon had been drawn to her while she formed her Golden Core?
"Senior Brother, we have to find a way to help her."
"Exactly! We can't just stand by and watch!"
The elders and peak heads were growing restless.
If that female disciple surnamed Su truly was such a peerless genius, then they couldn't watch her die. To attract an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon while forming her Golden Core—she clearly had the makings of an immortal!
Given time, she would surely become a pillar of the sect.
They had to find a way to help her through this crisis.
But Master Green Feather's words doused them with a bucket of cold water. "Help her? How? This isn't like facing an external enemy. When you encounter an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon while breaking through a bottleneck, you can only rely on yourself."
The others fell silent. It was common knowledge, but their concern had clouded their judgment.
Their expressions all turned grim.
Though the one in danger was only a young disciple, they all knew she was the sect's very own Seed of Immortality. In time, the woman surnamed Su would achieve boundless greatness.
Yet against an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon, they were helpless.
Was the hope of their sect's prosperity about to be snuffed out here?
The elders clenched their fists, their hearts filled with resentment.
Inside Empty Bright Valley.
A young woman sat cross-legged on an open grassy field.
Her eyes were shut. A green, glassy radiance enveloped her from head to toe, and her fingers formed a strange seal. A ball of spiritual light, roughly the size of an egg, floated between her palms, shimmering incessantly.
Ten years had passed. The bright and spirited little girl who had first climbed the mountain was now a graceful young woman.
She stood tall, with delicate, lovely features, bright eyes, and pearly teeth. A graceful spiritual aura shone through her gaze...
Yet now her face was contorted with pain, and a faint trace of black qi had appeared between her brows.
She could feel that the spiritual power in her dantian and extraordinary meridians was slipping further and further beyond her control.
Before her eyes, all sorts of strange and terrifying illusions appeared.
"Cultivation deviation!"
The young woman realized what was happening to her.
An incredulous look appeared on her face. Though she had cultivated quickly, she hadn't simply rushed ahead; she had built an exceptionally solid foundation.
Otherwise, she could have tried to break through the Golden Core bottleneck two years ago.
But after listening to her master's advice, she had decided to wait. She spent two years starting from the beginning, tempering her spiritual power over and over again.
It should have been foolproof!
Even the Sect Master's grandmaster had examined her and said she was certain to succeed in forming her Golden Core.
How could this be happening?
Su Zhiyan's face was twisted with pain, but she no longer had time to dwell on the reason.
A catastrophic disaster was already bearing down on her.
The question was no longer whether she could form her Golden Core. If she couldn't get through this trial and fell into cultivation deviation, she would face eternal ruin.
With her peerless talent and prime years ahead of her, the young woman was certainly unwilling to meet such a tragic end.
But the situation was already beyond her control.
No matter how gifted Su Zhiyan was, she was still young. Struck by this sudden upheaval, she had begun to panic.
Outer-Realm Heavenly Demons were naturally skilled at invading cultivators' minds. Even if a cultivator's state of mind had no weakness, they could create one.
And now their opponent had thrown herself into disarray, leaving openings everywhere.
"Hmph. She's still just a greenhorn girl who hasn't seen the world."
The demon sneered.
It was about to press its advantage and plunge her into eternal ruin through cultivation deviation.
But at that moment, a blurry figure suddenly appeared in its path.
"Move aside!"
The Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon froze, unable to understand what was happening.
It had already invaded Su Zhiyan's sea of consciousness. How could anyone else possibly have entered?
But with victory nearly in its grasp, it had no desire to pay attention to this uninvited guest.
With a furious roar, the Heavenly Demon's voice crashed like thunder, bearing down like Mount Tai upon the intruder. It seemed poised to crush the stranger to dust and shatter their soul.
But the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon soon realized its mistake.
A grievous mistake!
Its Heavenly Demon roar was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree.
The blurry figure hadn't moved at all, yet suddenly loomed as vast as a god.
The demon didn't even dare look the figure in the eyes.
The surging demonic qi recoiled like a frightened insect, trembling and too terrified to move.
The figure bore no pressure at all, yet the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon fell to its knees of its own accord.
Just as it had years ago, when, across the boundless sea, it had glimpsed the Heavenly Demon Progenitor from afar!
No, this being was even more powerful—a presence even more inviolable!
That was the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon's final thought before it lost consciousness.
Even as it fell by the being's hand, it couldn't summon the slightest hatred or resentment toward that powerful and mysterious presence.
Before you continue