"They're coming! Brace for impact—defensive formations now!"
The stone mountains seemed to come alive as hordes of Spirit-Devouring Rats, each half the length of a human arm, surged toward the clearing like a black tide.
Jian Dan's eyes narrowed at the unexpected surge, but she reacted swiftly when attacked from behind. Pivoting on her right foot, she dodged a pair of palms with a fluid twist of her body. Activating her Shadowstep Movement Technique, she slipped behind You Xinyue and—without hesitation—shoved her clean out of the thatched hut.
"Ahhhh!!"
In seconds, the rats swarmed You Xinyue, gnawing at the white protective glow around her. The radiance dimmed rapidly under their teeth.
Jian Dan, now gripping her Twin Moon Flood Dragon Sword, watched coldly.
"Xiao Zhuzi, look!"
The withered branches atop their shed suddenly revived. Leaves unfurled, shifting from yellow to green, then deep purple. Vines lashed out, ensnaring any rat that dared approach and dissolving them into bloody fertilizer.
The rats wisely avoided purple-shrouded sheds, turning their frenzy on You Xinyue, who writhed on the ground.
From larger sheds farther away, screams and clashing blades echoed. Jian Dan's divine sense revealed other cultivators also shielded by purple plants—though less densely, allowing some rats to breach their defenses.
Spirit swords dulled to mundanity under rodent jaws, snapping moments later. The cultivators were next.
Amid the chaos, another ear-splitting screech rang out. The rat tide receded as swiftly as it came, vanishing within minutes. Daylight returned.
"We survived... again." Gasping, the survivors collapsed inside their shelters.
You Xinwu staggered to his feet and charged toward Jian Dan's shelter. Upon seeing his sister lying unconscious outside the hut, his face twisted in rage.
"You treacherous witch! You took my storage pouch, promised to protect her, then threw her to the rats!"
"When did I promise anything?" Jian Dan scoffed. "Weren't you two plotting to steal my shed by pushing me into the swarm?"
"You have my pouch! My sister's dead! The truth is obvious!"
"My storage pouch is in your hands, and my sister was thrown to the beasts. The truth is clear as day!"
"What an expert at twisting black and white," Jian Dan said, rising slowly. "I only arrived here today. How could I have known the shelter would protect me? That the danger would come at all? You practically begged me in broad daylight to let your sister stay—don't think others are blind. What, you thought everyone else's divine sense and spiritual power were sealed, but yours weren't?"
Before he could reply, she punched him.
You Xinwu hadn't expected her to strike without further warning. He had just survived the rat horde, his strength barely recovered. He dropped his sister from his arms and drew his sword in a rush to block the incoming fist.
But Jian Dan had conserved her strength. With her raw power and her Shadowstep Technique, she fought effortlessly.
Fist met blade in a clash of steel and flesh, resounding clang-clang-clang. After a hundred swift exchanges, Jian Dan knocked his spirit sword aside and struck him square in the chest.
CRACK!
The sound of splintering bone echoed as You Xinwu coughed blood and stumbled back several paces before collapsing, unable to rise.
BANG!
A new voice cut through the tension. "Enough."
The old woman's cane thudded, halting Jian Dan's follow-up strike.
"If you've energy to spare, start quarrying stone."
Grudgingly, Jian Dan withdrew. The others, not daring to disobey, fetched baskets and stone picks from their sheds.
"Yours."
A larger basket and heavier pick materialized before her.
"Three days. Fail to fill it, and don't return." The old woman vanished.
"Ugh. Trash luck." Glaring at the unconscious siblings, Jian Dan shouldered her tools and marched toward the mountains with Brother Parrot.
"Xiao Zhuzi, why'd you go easy on him just now?" Brother Parrot asked as they walked.
"We're on someone else's turf. Stay low."
"Hehe! Just say you couldn't beat him!"
"Oh? Then you take him on." Jian Dan snorted. "You didn't notice? She's the only one here unaffected by the Spiritless Land?"
The two bickered as they arrived at the mountain—at least twenty zhang tall, a wall of solid stone.
Jian Dan set down her basket, took up the pick, and gave it a try. With thirty percent of her strength, she struck the rock.
Clang!
Her hands went numb from the rebound. All she'd made was a tiny dent.
"Xiao Zhuzi, put some muscle into it!" Brother Parrot flapped his wings, landing on the stone to cheer her on.
Jian Dan wasn't discouraged. She raised her strength to fifty percent—this time dislodging a black stone the size of her thumb. Brother Parrot zipped over, grabbed the chunk with his claws, and tossed it into the basket.
"Nice! Again!"
With ninety percent power, Jian Dan smashed out a rock the size of her fist.
Strike by strike, she fell into rhythm. Jian Dan focused on her technique, while Brother Parrot flew back and forth collecting the debris.
Occasionally, he'd hover nearby, but never dared fly far.
"Xiao Zhuzi! Over there—someone's collapsed! Covered in blood!"