The Cicada Awaits

Once Bai Lan and her five companions confirmed that there were three Golden Scorpions at the ninth level of Qi Refinement inside, they began assigning tasks. With six of them—two at the eighth level and three at the seventh—the distribution was somewhat difficult.

“There are three Golden Scorpions at the ninth level of Qi Refinement inside. I’ll deal with one myself. Ziyun and Xuan Ye will take another. The three of you handle the last one. Is that acceptable?” Bai Lan asked.

Ziyun and Xuan Ye nodded confidently.

After all, two eighth-level Qi Refinement cultivators working together, combined with their treasures, could certainly deal with a ninth-level Golden Scorpion.

However, the three seventh-level Qi Refinement cultivators facing a ninth-level Golden Scorpion felt some pressure.

“Uh… we’ll try our best,” An Xiao replied somewhat uncertainly.

They didn’t know the exact combat strength of these Golden Scorpions, so “doing their best” was the most they could promise.

“Good. If you can’t defeat it quickly, just keep it occupied. Don’t let it support the other two,” Bai Lan instructed.

The three of them fell silent.

If they couldn’t even hold one Golden Scorpion in place, then they would truly be too weak—hardly worthy of cultivators who had spent a year or two in the Void Heaven Realm.

Outside the Void Heaven Realm, they would naturally be confident. A mere ninth-level demonic beast would be easy for the three of them to handle, even when they had only been at the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refinement.

However, things were different inside the Void Heaven Realm.

Spiritual energy here was extremely scarce, making it impossible to freely use powerful techniques. This was the true difficulty of the realm. No matter how talented one was or how powerful their background, it meant nothing here.

On the first layer, one could rely on physical strength and bloodline abilities, but techniques above the ninth grade simply could not be used.

Even a peak ninth-grade technique would instantly drain all of one’s spiritual power. Who would dare to use such a thing recklessly?

Thus, unless absolutely necessary, trial participants would only rely on basic ninth-grade techniques and their innate abilities.

The first layer of the Void Heaven Realm, the Yellow Sand Realm, existed precisely to temper one’s foundations.

Once the assignments were finalized, the six of them rushed into the palace at full speed.

The three Golden Scorpions were positioned in separate areas, allowing each group to directly engage their respective target.

The Golden Scorpions had already sensed their presence.

They immediately counterattacked, preventing Bai Lan and the others from approaching too closely.

The Golden Scorpion that Bai Lan faced suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a stream of golden quicksand. This was clearly no ordinary sand.

Seeing the quicksand surging toward her, Bai Lan quickly used her movement technique to evade. She avoided the attack whenever possible, conserving her strength. A direct clash would only waste both stamina and spiritual power.

Seeing Bai Lan continuously dodge, the Golden Scorpion withdrew the quicksand attack and instead lashed out with its venomous tail.

This time, Bai Lan did not dodge.

She raised her hand and used the Hanpo Sword to block the scorpion’s tail. After deflecting the strike, she immediately closed the distance.

The Golden Scorpion raised its massive pincers and slammed them down toward Bai Lan.

The power behind the attack was tremendous, clearly beyond what Bai Lan could withstand head-on.

Clashing directly with a demonic beast of the same cultivation level was never wise. Although demonic beasts had lower intelligence, they exchanged intellect for brute strength. In terms of raw power, they were usually stronger than human cultivators of the same level.

Fortunately, this Golden Scorpion was rather slow.

Despite constantly swinging its pincers and tail, it couldn’t land a single blow on Bai Lan.

Looking at the other battles, Ziyun and Xuan Ye were already locked in fierce combat with their Golden Scorpion.

Although they were only two eighth-level Qi Refinement cultivators, their coordination allowed them to gain a slight advantage compared to Bai Lan fighting alone.

Ziyun wielded her treasure, the Violet Lightning Whip.

Every strike of the whip carried crackling lightning that could briefly paralyze the Golden Scorpion.

Meanwhile, Xuan Ye wielded a silver spear, relentlessly attacking the scorpion. Each thrust managed to pierce its tough shell, leaving visible wounds.

On the other side, An Xiao and their two companions were clearly struggling.

Their offensive power and defensive abilities were inferior to the Golden Scorpion’s. Even with high-grade treasures, they found it difficult to break through the beast’s defenses.

Still, keeping it occupied was not a problem.

This secret realm was somewhat considerate. Once inside the palace, the sounds of battle would not spread outside.

Bai Lan continued to circle around her Golden Scorpion, searching for the perfect moment to deliver a fatal strike.

This type of Golden Scorpion was a common demonic beast in the first layer and appeared in many secret realms.

It possessed an extremely hard shell, with defensive strength comparable to a low-grade ninth-level magical artifact.

However, it had a fatal weakness.

Its mouth.

Since the Golden Scorpion constantly guarded its mouth with its two massive pincers, Bai Lan couldn’t simply attack directly. She had to wait patiently for an opening.

‘Looks like I’ll have to use a sword technique,’ Bai Lan thought.

‘Relying only on ordinary sword strikes will make it nearly impossible to hit its mouth.’

After a brief moment of consideration, she decided to use a sword technique.

She suddenly retreated several dozen meters, intentionally creating an opportunity for the Golden Scorpion to use its demonic technique.

The Golden Scorpion immediately seized the chance and lowered its pincers.

Its two eyes glowed with golden light, and golden quicksand once again spewed from its mouth.

“Heh, got you.”

Leaving behind a faint afterimage, Bai Lan darted beneath the stream of quicksand and instantly appeared in front of the Golden Scorpion.

The creature froze in shock at Bai Lan’s sudden appearance.

Instinctively, it stopped its demonic technique and hurriedly raised its pincers to attack.

But it was too late.

Bai Lan smiled faintly and thrust her sword directly into its mouth.

Crack!

A shattering sound echoed.

A streak of white light pierced through the Golden Scorpion’s mouth, tore through its body, and burst out from its back.

The enormous body of the Golden Scorpion collapsed to the ground.

The battle was over.

After its death, the Golden Scorpion vanished, leaving behind a single treasure box.

Bai Lan did not open it immediately. Instead, she stored it and hurried to assist An Xiao and the others.

Ziyun and Xuan Ye, however, didn’t need help.

Their Golden Scorpion had already been crippled.

Only the Golden Scorpion fighting An Xiao’s group remained.

At this moment, the beast had gone into a frenzy and was relentlessly chasing An Xiao.

Ziyun and Xuan Ye tried to interfere, but their attacks did not cause any noticeable damage.

The Golden Scorpion clearly intended to eliminate one opponent first.

However, its chaotic attacks gave Bai Lan the perfect opportunity.

Taking advantage of the beast’s full focus on An Xiao, Bai Lan once again used Fluttering Like a Startled Swan and struck directly into its mouth.

The Golden Scorpion collapsed instantly.

An Xiao and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, Ziyun and Xuan Ye also finished off their Golden Scorpion.

The monsters inside the palace had been completely cleared.

“Alright, it’s finished. Hm? Who’s there?!”

Just as they were about to collect the treasure boxes, something unexpected happened.

A shadow suddenly shot out from a corner of the palace like a ghost.

The figure snatched the treasure chest belonging to Ziyun and Xuan Ye with lightning speed.

Everything happened so suddenly that none of them had noticed someone hiding nearby.

Hearing Ziyun’s furious shout, Bai Lan and the others immediately looked over.

They saw a black-cloaked figure rushing toward the palace exit at incredible speed.

Ziyun and Xuan Ye immediately chased after the thief, but they were already too late.

The figure moved astonishingly fast and disappeared from the palace in the blink of an eye.

An Xiao and the other two quickly guarded the remaining treasure boxes, wary of any further ambush.

Ziyun and Xuan Ye chased all the way to the palace entrance, but the black-cloaked figure had already vanished without a trace.

“Damn it! How careless of us! Someone was actually hiding in the palace!” Ziyun said angrily, her face dark with frustration.

After all their hard work defeating the Golden Scorpions, the reward had been stolen.

But in the Void Heaven Realm, such things were extremely common.

Like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.

They had no right to complain about treachery.

It only meant that they had been careless.