Ding Nan had always harbored a natural fear and deep-seated sense of inferiority toward Zhou Qin, a feeling so profound she dared not even admit it to herself. Initially, this dread and self-deprecation stemmed from Zhou Qin’s formidable background and powerful family standing.

But as the fortunes of their lives shifted, and both became cultivators, Ding Nan grudgingly discovered that even in practice, Zhou Qin still managed to maintain the upper hand! Especially after the Lotus Gathering Assembly, Zhou Qin's ruthless, desperate fighting style had utterly shaken Ding Nan, cementing a subconscious belief that she could never defeat her opponent head-on and must resort to despicable means to secure even a slim chance of victory.

For that infinitesimal hope of winning, Ding Nan cared not if several people died, even if those individuals had once been her classmates. Thus, when Ding Nan saw Zhou Qin suddenly explode into a furious, desperate attack, she instantly recoiled several steps, unwilling to engage directly, her immediate impulse being to flee.

But as Ding Nan retreated, she noticed Orba standing stunned nearby, gazing vacantly into the abyss of the dark cliff valley. A spark ignited in her mind; with a swift movement, her fingers curved like hooks, darting out to seize Orba’s throat.

Ding Nan shrieked, "You dare touch me? I’ll kill her right now!" Just then, Zhou Qin arrived before her, the Fire God Whip in her hand slicing the air as it lashed toward Ding Nan’s face.

Seeing Ding Nan holding Orba hostage, Zhou Qin immediately flicked her wrist. The Fire God Whip grazed Ding Nan’s cheek and swept past Orba’s body, striking the cliff wall with a sharp crack, shattering the solid rock into fragments that scattered everywhere.

Zhou Qin trembled with rage as she advanced step by step toward Ding Nan along the cableway, her voice booming with fury, "Ding Nan, have you gone mad? Have you lost your humanity?" Ding Nan cackled wildly, dragging Orba backward with her, retreating inch by inch.

"I’ve lost my humanity? When you pushed me off the building, did you have any humanity then?" Zhou Qin seethed, "Did I push you?

You slipped on your own!" Ding Nan retorted, "What difference does that make from you pushing me?" In her agitation, the grip of her fingers around Orba’s throat tightened. Orba's face immediately flushed purple as she struggled desperately, but Ding Nan’s fingers, like iron grappling hooks, held fast, preventing any escape.

Zhou Qin’s foot paused. She inhaled deeply, her voice turning ice-cold.

"Ding Nan, in that situation, even if I had jumped myself, do you think Zhao Yujian would have let you off? Even if Zhao Yujian had spared you, do you think my family would have?

If I died, you and your family would die. If I lived, your family could live better!

Life and death—it was such a simple choice. Tell me, if you were me, what would you have chosen?" Ding Nan shook violently, screaming hysterically, "But why is it always poor people like me who die, while rich people like you survive?

Why? Can someone tell me why?" Zhou Qin roared, "Is being poor an excuse for you to lose your mind?

Li Yundong is far poorer than you, have you ever seen him go insane? Ding Nan, put down the butcher’s knife and achieve enlightenment!

Turn back now, it’s not too late! Don't wait until your hands are stained with so much blood that turning back becomes impossible!" A tear traced a path down Ding Nan’s cheek, yet her face broke into a ghastly, unsettling laugh.

Crying and laughing simultaneously, she rasped, "Too late! Since you became Li Yundong’s disciple, and I became Zheng Yuan’s disciple, everything was already too late!

Can you make time flow backward and start over? No, no matter how powerful you are, you can't!" Saying this, she dragged Orba back, step by deliberate step, her gaze growing increasingly cold.

She warned Zhou Qin, "If you come closer, I will kill her! But remember, you forced her death!" Zhou Qin knew that if she rushed forward to forcibly seize the girl, Orba would surely die.

Though Zhou Qin possessed a ruthless side at times, she was not innately cold-blooded; otherwise, she wouldn't have softened her heart and let Ding Nan go when she betrayed her back then. Zhou Qin gritted her teeth, watching helplessly as Ding Nan dragged Orba away into the deep darkness of the night.

From her precarious perch in the tree, Chris let out a cry of near-despair: "No! Let her go!" But the moment Chris’s voice faded, a streak of golden light flashed through the heavy darkness, streaking toward her with lethal speed.

Zhou Qin instantly flicked her wrist, sending the Fire God Whip out to intercept the golden light. However, the golden light seemed to anticipate Zhou Qin’s reaction.

It instantly folded, bypassed the Fire God Whip, and with a swish, pierced directly through the old pine tree Chris was clinging to. The pine tree, already loosened by the struggle between John and Chris, was hanging precariously, and the piercing blow caused it to snap with a loud crack.

Chris shrieked, and her body instantly began to fall. Zhou Qin’s reaction was lightning fast; she snapped the Fire God Whip, wrapping the body of the whip around Chris’s waist.

Glancing at a large jutting boulder nearby, she instructed Chris, "Grab onto that rock!" Chris felt her body lighten as she was flung toward the boulder. She immediately wrapped both hands around it, managing to pull herself back from the jaws of death once again.

After saving Chris, Zhou Qin roared in uncontrollable fury, "Ding Nan, can't you leave these innocent people alone?" Ding Nan roared back with laughter, "Then surrender willingly and let me kill you!" Zhou Qin bit her lip and sneered, "Dream on!" Ding Nan snorted, "Then don't blame me for being impolite!" With that, she vanished back into the shadows, controlling the Luo Mu Soul-Separating Hairpins to launch a fierce assault on Zhou Qin. Zhou Qin had left in haste and hadn't brought along overtly "restricted items" like the Chiyè artifact.

Nor did she possess a Seven Treasures Pouch like Li Yundong, so she only had the soft Fire God Whip on her person. While she could defend herself against the hairpin assault, Ding Nan, whenever she felt herself losing the upper hand, resorted to the cowardly tactic of shifting her attacks toward Chris, who was trapped on the boulder.

This left Zhou Qin with no room to counterattack effectively. The harder she fought, the more arduous it became, and the more furious she grew.

Despite her rage, Zhou Qin's mind raced, searching for a solution. Just as she was thinking, a tremendous roar echoed from Tiandu Peak in the distance, sounding like countless dragons and tigers crying out in unison.

A seven-colored radiant glow shot into the sky, its light piercing the firmament, its power reaching the highest heavens! This anomaly instantly drew the gaze of both Zhou Qin and Ding Nan.

Neither had ever witnessed such a miraculous sight, and for a moment, both stood transfixed. Chris, too, forgot her perilous situation, forgot the tragedy that had befallen John and Orba.

She tilted her head back, watching the seven-colored, dazzling, magnificent pillar of light soaring from Tiandu Peak toward the clouds, her gaze momentarily vacant. In Chris’s heart, a hesitant voice echoed ceaselessly: Is this what you want to pursue?

Is this the power you seek? What will it truly bring you?

And how much are you prepared to pay for it? Everything?

As Chris stared dreamily at the seven-colored light pillar, Ding Nan, hidden in the night, suddenly felt a powerful presence flash right before her. Startled, she instinctively prepared to counterattack, but then she heard a familiar voice sharply command, "Insolent!

Have you forgotten even me?" Ding Nan turned to see Zheng Yuan standing beside her, his eyes flickering toward the direction of Tiandu Peak. Ding Nan immediately ceased her action, offering a sheepish smile as she released her grip on Orba’s throat.

"Master, where are Ziyuan and the others?" Zheng Yuan’s face darkened, and his voice turned chilling. "Those two little wretches are playing a guerrilla game with me!

Hmph, let them run. I doubt they dare approach!" He then glanced at the already paralyzed Orba and coldly inquired, "Who is this?" Ding Nan huffed, "An exchange student from Tiannan University, somewhat of a classmate to Li Yundong." "Classmate?" Zheng Yuan narrowed his eyes, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

"Good. Make her a hostage!" Ding Nan hesitated.

"But, Master, she doesn't seem to have any connection to Li Yundong." Zheng Yuan was preoccupied. He dismissed her impatiently, "Who told you to fail to capture someone of value?

Having anyone hostage is better than having no one! Besides, even without hostages, with the Nether Five-Foot Soul-Snatching Jade in my hand, why should I fear failing to secure the Earth Core Spirit Pill?" Seeing Zheng Yuan’s ill temper, Ding Nan inwardly sneered: The old fool can’t catch Ziyuan or Su Chan, so he takes it out on me?

But while thinking this, Ding Nan steered the conversation elsewhere. "Master, what was that seven-colored light pillar just now?" Zheng Yuan’s eyes blazed as he stared intently at Tiandu Peak, his voice vibrating with uncontrollable fervor and excitement.

"The Earth Core Spirit Pill, the Earth Core Spirit Pill has appeared!!" Ding Nan gasped in shock. "So soon?" Zheng Yuan's gaze remained locked on the light pillar.

"Did you think it would take dozens of days? Hmph, let’s go, we’re moving!" As his words fell, countless streaks of blue light flashed across the sky, as if innumerable cultivators had materialized in an instant, frantically converging on Tiandu Peak!

Zheng Yuan roared with laughter. "They’ve come, they’ve all come!

Good disciple, we mustn't lag behind! Let’s go!" He grabbed Ding Nan, who in turn seized Orba, and the three vanished from their spot in a flicker of movement.

Only after Zheng Yuan departed did Su Chan and Ziyuan dare to emerge and approach Zhou Qin. Upon seeing them, Zhou Qin exclaimed, "Are you two alright?

What was that light just now?" Ziyuan’s expression was grave. "That was the appearance of the Earth Core Spirit Pill!

I never expected it to be this fast!" Su Chan saw the continuous flashes of blue light around them, cultivators flying toward Tiandu Peak one after another, and felt a rising panic. "Let's go quickly, what are we waiting for?" Zhou Qin gestured toward Chris, trapped on the boulder.

"What about her? Are we taking her along?" Ziyuan frowned immediately.

"No, there will certainly be brutal, savage fighting on Tiandu Peak shortly. Taking someone like her, who has zero self-protection ability, will only bring disaster, not fortune!

It’s better to leave her here on the cableway for now; at least it’s relatively safe here. We'll come back for her later, how about that?" Zhou Qin considered this, flashed over to Chris, caught her, and then leaped back onto the section of the cableway not yet severed by Ding Nan.

She said, "Chris, we're going to Tiandu Peak to help Li Yundong. You must absolutely not move from here.

We’ll come back for you later. Okay?" Chris appeared stunned, staring blankly at Zhou Qin without speaking.

Fearing the delay, Zhou Qin, seeing Chris’s silence, assumed she agreed. With the help of Su Chan and Ziyuan, they flew off together.

As the three figures vanished, the Huangshan Cableway, which had just moments ago been the site of murderous confrontation, fell into profound silence. The night wind blew, the cliffs loomed somberly, the cableway felt cold, and an unsettling chill permeated the air.

Chris stared fixedly in the direction of the seven-colored light pillar atop Tiandu Peak. A sentence John had once spoken to her suddenly echoed wildly in her mind: Chris, if you ever get the chance, you must tell me...

what exactly does cultivation feel like! This memory surged and reverberated through Chris’s mind, and a look of stubborn, unyielding determination gradually bloomed in her eyes.

Suddenly, Chris sprang up, charging toward the direction of Tiandu Peak with a frantic, almost maddened pace!