One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

Biyou Village, the core secret chamber.

This place should have been the quietest and most sacred spot in the entire village, the starting line for Ma Xianhong's vision of a world of great harmony.

But at the moment.

Clang!

A loud crash, accompanied by the sound of metal parts hitting the wall, shook the entire wooden building three times.

"waste!"

"They're all useless!"

Ma Xianhong had disheveled hair, and his white shirt was wrinkled, with the cuffs covered in black machine oil and unknown metallic powder.

He clutched a densely packed drawing in his hand, like a crazed gambler, his eyes bloodshot, roaring at the group of people in front of him:

"It's been three days!"

"The core conversion rate only increased by 0.5%?"

"I want perfection! 100%! You're trying to fool me with this garbage data?"

hiss-

He tore the blueprints to shreds, and the fragments fell like snowflakes onto the messy ground.

Old Master Bi Yuan stood at the very front, leaning on his old pipe, his white eyebrows furrowed into a knot.

He looked at the village chief before him, who had completely lost his former refined demeanor, and sighed.

"Master, it's not that we didn't try our best."

"The design of this cultivation furnace is already ingenious; to make further breakthroughs on this basis would be defying the heavens."

"Haste makes waste."

"and……"

Bi Yuan paused, glancing at Ma Xianhong's bloodshot eyes:

"Everyone has been working for 48 hours straight without sleep. If we keep going like this, the furnace won't explode, but we'll collapse first."

"collapse?"

Ma Xianhong suddenly turned his head and stared intently at Bi Yuan.

His pupils contracted sharply, and the veins on his neck throbbed like winding earthworms.

"Who dares to collapse?"

"This furnace is my life! It's the life of Biyou Village!"

Ma Xianhong strode up to Bi Yuan, placed his hands on the table, leaned forward, and his face was almost touching Bi Yuan's nose.

"Mr. Bi, have you forgotten about that person from last time?"

I heard those three words.

The air in the sealed room instantly froze.

Standing behind Bi Yuan, Qiu Rang, Zhao Guizhen, and the others instinctively trembled, a hint of undisguised fear flashing in their eyes.

That lazy-looking man in a Taoist robe.

With just a willow twig, they shattered their prized magical artifact and their invincible leader to pieces.

Zhang Taichu.

This name is now a taboo in Biyou Village.

Ma Xianhong straightened up, nervously clutching his hair, and paced back and forth in the room.

"Just a willow twig..."

"Just willow twigs..."

He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded on sandpaper:

"My protective magic weapon, my divine ingenuity, is like a paper toy in front of him."

The way he looked at me...

Ma Xianhong suddenly stopped and slammed his fist on the heavy solid wood workbench.

boom!

The solid wood countertop shattered instantly, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

"That's the look you give trash!"

"He thinks I'm not good enough! He thinks my stove is a joke! He thinks we're all just playing house!"

"I refuse to accept this!"

Ma Xianhong suddenly raised his head, his eyes revealing a chilling madness:

"Once the Body Cultivation Furnace is perfected, and once I can mass-produce perfect superhumans, I will be able to prove him wrong!"

He turned around, pointed at Bi Yuan and the others, and roared sharply:

"Go back to work!"

"Even if it costs me my life, get the core red-hot by tonight!"

"If anyone dares to mess up, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Everyone looked at each other.

Qiu Rang opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but was stopped by a look from Bi Yuan.

"Let's go."

Bi Yuan shook his head; his back view instantly made him look several years older.

The group of people, as if granted a pardon, fled the secret room as if escaping.

The heavy iron gate slowly closed.

The suffocating roar was trapped inside.

……

Outside the sealed room.

The sun was shining brightly, but it didn't feel very warm on my skin.

Several of the twelve top-tier disciples gathered under the shade of a tree, their faces pale as if they had just recovered from a serious illness.

"I can't live like this anymore."

Zhao Guizhen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and glanced back at the wooden building behind him with lingering fear:

"The village chief has gone mad."

"He used to be so polite and composed to us? Now he yells at us all the time, and his eyes look like he wants to eat us alive."

"Who can argue with that?"

Jin Yong sat on a rock, toying with an iron bead in his hand, but his fingers were trembling slightly.

"Ever since that Zhang Taichu came last time, the village chief has been like a completely different person."

"To be honest, I'm feeling really nervous right now."

"Do you think that person... might come back?"

These words were spoken.

The surroundings became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Even the cicadas chirping in the trees sounded exceptionally jarring.

Qiu Rang swallowed hard and subconsciously touched his neck.

Although he wasn't seriously injured last time, the fear of being dominated by absolute power was etched into his bones.

"Don't...don't jinx it."

Qiu Rang tried to remain calm, but his voice was somewhat unsteady:

"Didn't that person leave? He took that Gu woman with him."

"In this wretched place of ours, those big shots have probably long forgotten about us."

"Besides, we now have the Body Cultivation Furnace and the village chief's newly developed white puppet. If a fight really breaks out..."

"Come on."

Ding Ziheng, standing to the side, sneered, interrupting Qiu Rang's self-consolation:

"White puppet?"

"Believe it or not, even if our whole courtyard is full of white puppets, that person can still make us kneel with just a flick of his finger."

"Those kinds of monsters can't be killed by sheer numbers."

"I think..."

Ding Ziheng lowered his voice, his eyes flickering:

"This Biyou Village is probably doomed."

"Shouldn't we leave ourselves a way out?"

Their gazes met, and although no one spoke, the wavering in each person's eyes was impossible to hide.

human heart.

scattered.

……

Inside a sealed room.

Ma Xianhong was unaware of the gossip circulating outside, or rather, he no longer cared.

He stood alone in front of that enormous furnace for self-cultivation.

The furnace body emitted a faint blue light, and intricate runes flowed across the metal surface, emitting a soft humming sound.

This is the culmination of his hard work.

It is his faith.

It was his only bargaining chip to prove his worth.

Buzz—Buzz—

The phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

Ma Xianhong's body suddenly stiffened.

He slowly turned his head and looked at the lit screen.

The caller ID display shows no name, only a string of gibberish.

But he knew who it was.

Ma Xianhong took a deep breath, trying to calm his breathing, and picked up the phone with trembling hands, pressing the answer button.

"Feed...sister."

His voice instantly became gentle, even slightly ingratiating, and the manic rage he had just displayed vanished without a trace.

"Xianhong".

A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

The voice was very soft and gentle, like a spring breeze, but when it reached Ma Xianhong's ears, it made all the muscles in his body tense up instantly.

"I heard you're very anxious?"

"No...no."

Ma Xianhong quickly denied it, sweat trickling down his face.

"I just... I just want to speed things up."

"The furnace is almost finished, sister. Trust me, this time it will be fine."

"I trust you."

The woman's voice remained flat, devoid of any emotional fluctuation:

"But Xianhong, you're too slow."

"Some people can't wait any longer."

"And... I heard you were treated like a dog last time, pinned to the ground and rubbed into the ground?"

Ma Xianhong's hand tightened suddenly around his phone.

The knuckles are turning white.

That sense of shame was like a sharp knife, piercing his heart.

"That was...that was an accident!"

Ma Xianhong gritted his teeth, his voice becoming somewhat out of control:

"I'm not ready! My divine weapon isn't perfect yet!"

"Once the Body Cultivation Furnace is completed, and once I can mass-produce superior cultivators, that Zhang Taichu... I will make him pay the price!"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then a soft laugh was heard.

It was very short.

Yet it was full of irony.

"Xianhong, you're still so naive."

"You think we want you to seek revenge?"

"What we want is results."

"You know the rules of this house."

"If a perfect finished product cannot be produced within the specified time..."

The woman's voice gradually turned cold, as if it had been covered with a layer of ice:

"You have no value to exist."

"Don't blame me if I don't protect you then."

beep - beep - beep -

The phone hangs up.

The sound of blindness echoed in the empty, sealed room.

Ma Xianhong remained frozen in place, still holding his phone.

a long time.

Snapped!

He smashed the phone to the ground.

"ah--!!!"

Ma Xianhong clutched his head and let out a desperate roar.

He knelt before the furnace, gripping his hair tightly with both hands and tearing at it forcefully.

There is no way out.

Ahead lies an abyss, behind is a cliff.

This is the only stove.

Only this damn furnace can save him!

"Start it! Start it up!"

Ma Xianhong suddenly got up from the ground, rushed to the control panel, and frantically pounded on the control panel with both hands.

"Overload operation!"

"I need maximum power!"

"I just don't believe it..."

drop--!

Just as his finger was about to press the red start button.

A sharp, piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire Biyou Village.

That was the highest level of defense alert.

It will only be triggered when the village's defensive barrier suffers a devastating blow.

Followed by.

Rumbling--

The ground began to shake violently.

Dust settled from the ceiling of the sealed room.

The skylight used for observing celestial phenomena shattered instantly.

A golden light.

An extremely domineering, dazzling, and almost tangible golden light pierced through the hole in the roof and shot straight down.

It illuminated Ma Xianhong's pale face.

It also illuminated the self-cultivation furnace that had not yet been activated.

Ma Xianhong slowly raised his head.

Looking at that golden light.

He felt that familiar aura that made his soul tremble.

There was no fear.

There was no anger.

In that instant, a twisted smile appeared on his face.

It felt like a relief, yet also like some kind of frantic anticipation.

"They're here..."

Ma Xianhong licked his chapped lips, his eyes bloodshot as if burning:

"It's finally here."

"Since you don't want me to live..."

"Then let's see who's actually performing the ritual for whom!"

boom!!!

next second.

The enormous impact engulfed everything.