When they realized that even a concentrated barrage had failed to leave so much as a mark on the ancient tortoise, the air shifted.

Just then, a bulky cultivator forced his way forward, shoving aside those who blocked his path.

His presence alone parted the crowd, his frame towering, his aura dense and oppressive like a war drum beating in the chest.

He rose into the air, looking down with unconcealed disdain, his gaze locking onto Xuanwu.

"Beast," he called out, voice rolling like thunder, "prepare to face the strength of a barbarian."

His skin flushed a deep crimson. Veins surged like molten lines beneath it, his muscles tightening as raw power flooded every inch of his body.

The air around him warped under the pressure as he descended in an instant.

His first connected with Xuanwu’s shell with a thunderous impact, the sound exploding outward like a detonated mountain.

The shockwave rippled across the dome, scattering cultivators and tearing open the ground below.

For the first time Xuanwu moved.

Its massive body slid back, one step... then another... the earth groaning beneath its weight as it was forced several paces away.

A ripple of relief passed through the invaders.

"Hah, I can see the tortoise hp moves! It can be killed!" Screamed one of them. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Xuanwu slowly lifted its head, its eyes looked up in dissapointment.

"PUNY HUMANS," its voice boomed, deep enough to make the very air tremble, "YOUR ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDING IS DISSAPOINTING."

The words struck strangely for them but before any of them could comprehend what the tortoise meant.

Something cold brushed past their throats.

And lines of red appeared while heads slipped cleanly from bodies.

Dozens... then hundreds.

Blood spray out from their headless body and from the sky, Lin Zhaoyue slowly descended.

A simple hair ribbon was looped between her fingers, its soft fabric unmarked, as though it had not just passed through flesh and bone alike.

She stepped down lightly, her foot coming to rest atop Xuanwu’s massive head, claiming the highest point of the battlefield without resistance.

Her gaze drifted across what remained.

"There’s really no one worthy to be spared."

Her voice was calm.

On the far end of the battlefield, Xiao Bai paused.

Beneath its claws was a Hollow Spirit cultivator struggled weakly, bloodied yet still clinging to life.

The tiger’s golden eyes flickered as soon as it heard Lin Zhaoyue’s message.

Its massive jaws opened and the man’s head vanished between its fangs in a single, decisive bite.

Watching all this unfold, Shan Yueyan was frozen stiffed.

The arrogance that once sat so naturally on his face had long since shattered, replaced by something far more fragile.

"She’s... at the peak of the Hollow Spirit Realm..." he muttered, disbelief cracking through every word. "But how...?"

No one answered him, no-one could.

Because they had all realized the same thing by now.

Not a single one of their attacks could do anything against the trio.

Instinct took over and Shan Yueyan turned and fled.

Others followed without hesitation.

Pride, greed, arrogance, everything was discarded in that moment.

They started to attack the dome from all directions.

The barrier trembled at the combined attack and before long, it burst apart in a cascade of fading light.

Relief surged through them as the dpace opened.

But when they had thought, the danger was behind them... a figure hovered before them.

A young girl.

She stood alone in the open sky, small and unassuming, her presence quiet to the point of being almost invisible.

She had no overwhelming aura.

Shan Yueyan’s expression twisted both in annoyance and arrogance.

The humiliation from earlier still burned in his chest. The memory of turning his back, of fleeing like a prey when he should have been the predator.

The moment he saw her, all of that shame found an outlet.

He didn’t hesitate as his hand snapped forward, fingers curving as qi gathered along them, stretching into razor-thin edges that shimmered with deadly precision.

"Flying Crane Technique: Soaring Sky Talons!"

The air screamed as his attack formed.

He lunged forward like flash but then he suddenly stopped.

No.... He didn’t stop.

He was split cleanly in perfect half. From crown to groin, his body parted into two halves, the momentum of his charge carrying each side past the other before gravity claimed them.

For a brief, frozen moment, no one understood what they were seeing.

The girl hadn’t moved or pulled out her sword.

At least... not in any way they could perceive.

"...Another Hollow Spirit Realm?" someone whispered, disbelief hollowing out his voice. "How...?"

It didn’t make sense.

A lower realm was defined by its limits.

A normal lower realm had enough resources to nurture Nascent Soul cultivators but not enough to produce even a single Hollow Spirit expert.

That was the boundary, the limit it was shackled with.

Yes, there had been rare exceptions where a lower realm cultivate one strong hollow spirit realm. But for this, the other cultivators would be deprived of the energy needed as well.

That was how they had rationalized Lin Zhaoyue. This world might just have been one of the abnormal lower realm resulting her in being strong.

But this—

Two?

Their thoughts spiraled.

Had they misjudged this place entirely?

Had they stepped into a medium realm instead?

The question lingered but survival crushed it aside.

"It’s just one girl!" someone shouted, forcing courage into his voice. "Kill her!"

They moved together.

Not out of confidence but necessity.

"Don’t blame us, kid," another muttered as they charged, trying to steady his trembling resolve. "You chose this—"

They never finished their words.

Their bodies were already sliced the moment they had started moving.

Their bodies separated into clean segments mid-motion, expressions still frozen in their final moments of intent.

Blood followed a heartbeat later, painting the air in delayed arcs as gravity reclaimed what remained.

The ones who had just been about to charge halted instantly, their bodies locking in place as if moving even an inch would invite the same fate.

One of them staggered back, lips trembling, eyes wide with something far deeper than fear.

"S-she’s..." his voice broke, barely holding together, "...a grandmaster swordmaster!"