An Understated Dominance

The next morning, sunlight filtered through the canopy at the valley entrance, dispelling the night's chill. After a night of rest, everyone's wounds had mostly healed, and their spiritual energy was nearly replenished. Dustin informed everyone about the cave opening in the cliff face. Margaret gathered the core members to discuss. "We don't know where this cave leads. But since the demon beasts won't approach this cliff, there's something here that frightens them. Either a great opportunity, or a great danger." Margaret said. Adam analyzed: "By Buzhou Mountain's rules, the more dangerous a place, the greater the opportunity. We're trapped here now, and going up is our only way out. If this cave is a shortcut upward, it's worth exploring." Scarlet looked at Dustin with concern: "But Brother Dustin's cultivation is sealed. If there's something inside..." Dustin waved his hand: "Don't worry about me. Since we ...

 Spirit Fruit Valley—the name lived up to its promise. The valley was lush with vegetation, spiritual energy permeating the air, with rare flowers and unusual plants everywhere. Even more exciting were several short trees heavy with vermilion fruits, radiating dense spiritual energy fluctuations—"Vermilion Spirit Fruits" that could rapidly restore spiritual power and even slightly enhance cultivation! "Wonderful! With these spirit fruits, we can recover from our wounds and exhaustion!" Everyone was overjoyed. But Dustin didn't let down his guard. He carefully observed the valley's environment, sensing something was off. This valley was too quiet—abnormally quiet. No birdsong, no insect chirps, even the wind seemed to have stopped. "Careful, there may be danger." He warned in a low voice. The moment he spoke, the ground began to shake violently. A dull rumbling came from deep in the valley, like ten thousand horses charging. Then everyone witnessed ...

 Twelve hours of rest allowed the team to recover some of their strength. The pills took effect—the wounded had their injuries under control, and their spiritual energy was mostly replenished. When the time expired, the protective golden barrier quietly dissipated, signaling they must set out once more. "Go up, or move horizontally to find other paths?" Margaret asked for opinions. "Go up. Heading upward is always the right choice," one court cultivator suggested. But Dustin shook his head slightly: "Buzhou Mountain's trials aren't necessarily just about height. I've observed that at our current elevation, there are many similar platforms and paths around us. Perhaps moving horizontally will give us a chance to meet up with other teams. There's strength in numbers." Margaret adopted Dustin's suggestion and decided to explore horizontally along the mountain ridge at their current elevation. The team advanced cautiously. The terrain here ...

 In the center of the platform, the ancient, weathered stone patterns suddenly lit up, forming a circular design roughly ten meters in diameter. As the pattern's light flickered, three stone statues—entirely composed of dark yellow rock, each wielding a massive axe and standing over three meters tall—slowly rose from the glow. Red flames danced in the statues' eye sockets, emanating spiritual energy fluctuations at the late Foundation Establishment level, locking onto every living thing on the platform! "It's a guardian trial!" Margaret's pupils contracted. "We must defeat them to continue forward, or perhaps earn the right to stay here!" The stone statues emitted deep rumbles, striding forward with heavy steps, swinging their giant axes toward the group. Before the axes arrived, the sharp gale force was already stinging their faces. "Form up! Engage!" Margaret drew her sword and charged toward one of the statues first. She knew there was n...

Panic was instantly replaced by despair—and a twisted fervor! No way down, only up. Opportunity and survival both lay above! "Go up! Climb!" "Get out of here! I have to leave!" "Treasures! There are treasures on the mountain!" The crowd erupted into complete chaos, blindly surging toward any mountain path or cliff face that seemed to lead upward. But how could Buzhou Mountain be a forgiving place? Even relatively gentle areas concealed deadly dangers. "Ahhh—!" Screams soon rang out. Some stepped on loose rocks and plunged into bottomless ravines. Others stumbled into seemingly calm mist zones, instantly torn apart by hidden venomous insects or sha spirits. Still others, fighting over a path that looked passable, turned their blades on those beside them! Chaos, slaughter, death—all erupted instantly across this mid-mountain platform and surrounding areas forcibly packed with "trial participants"! "Form up! Defend!" Margaret com...

While the expedition teams of various powers struggled through different regions of Buzhou Mountain, fighting for opportunities and their lives, the massive and abrupt empty city at the mountain's base and the sprawling temporary camps surrounding it still held tens of thousands of people. There were some civilians who hadn't fully evacuated, personnel and supply lines left behind by various factions, independent cultivators and martial artists who had come upon hearing the news but hesitated to act, and core figures like Margaret and Dustin who commanded from the rear or watched developments unfold. No one had anticipated that Buzhou Mountain, this divine peak silent for three thousand years, had never limited its trials to those who actively chose to climb. At noon, a sudden change occurred. Without warning, countless intersecting golden patterns—intricate and profound to the extreme—blazed across the massive base of Buzhou Mountain. These patterns were like living veins, spr...