One Day to Qi Refining, Three Days to Foundation Establishment

Since she'd decided to play the role of an ambush predator, Su Min quickly formulated a plan.

First, she needed to blend in with the sacrificial offerings and wait for either the "Mountain God" or his envoy to appear before making her move.

As for the other cultivators in this world? She couldn't care less.

Killing them all might be excessive, but sparing even one in a hundred would mean letting 99% of the worst scum escape justice. These people were even more depraved than the Fallen. At least the Fallen stopped devouring lives once they regained their peak strength, focusing on cultivation instead. But these creatures? Their path to power required endless slaughter.

No wonder Yao Xian'er had chosen to hide in a remote cave to recover rather than establish a faction or recruit allies. These people weren't worth saving. Burying them all was the only solution. But their numbers were staggering. Su Min couldn't possibly hunt them down one by one. Along her journey, she'd already casually erased dozens of Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators.

Those below that level? Not worth her time. There were simply too many, some even went from ordinary humans to Foundation Establishment in under a year.

A speed unheard of even in her own sect.

At this point, she could only sigh:

"I'm tired. Just burn it all down."

…Well, not literally.

Her real targets were the Seven Dark Kings—all Mahayana-stage experts.

Thanks to this world's nature, they were scattered far apart with no alliances, giving her the chance to pick them off one by one. But she couldn't go too hard, or they might band together against her, a fight she couldn't win alone.

"According to Yao Xian'er, we can't let their numbers exceed ten. Time to start culling."

Though she spoke boldly, Su Min had no issue playing it safe. With her Unity Stage cultivation, infiltrating this place was child's play.

Soon, the Mountain God Festival began.

Dozens of children selected for the soul fragments within them, were carried out of the city under their families' numb, resigned gazes.

No tears. No goodbyes. Just habitual indifference.

The reason was simple: soul fragment corruption.

These tainted fragments randomly attached themselves to fetuses, merging with their souls at birth. But unlike Jiang Xi's case where a single dark memory fragment drove a Mahayana peak expert to madness, these were ordinary children with fragile souls.

Once the fragments awakened, the children regardless of their original nature, would turn bloodthirsty and savage. If two such children met, they'd fight to the death, devouring each other in the process.

The aftermath? Entire villages slaughtered.

So in this world, "immortals" were taboo. If a child showed signs of awakening, their own neighbors would beat them to death.

The Mountain God's "offerings" were precisely these children. Though their families were reluctant, the alternative watching their child turn into a monster, was far worse. Thus, the procession proceeded without the dramatics Su Min had expected. No wailing, no desperate struggles, just grim acceptance.

Even the children, after a final hearty meal, followed the adults cheerfully, oblivious to their fate.

"This continent is sick to its core."

Su Min's expression darkened.

"It shares the same foundation as the Heavenly Continent, yet birthed in darkness, it's become… this."

If she ever reached Great Emperor—no, even that might not be enough. Only a true Immortal could uproot this cursed land. Yao Xian'er had only managed to tear off a fragment and toss it into the void an act that, while causing suffering, had prevented far greater calamity.

Under Su Min's watchful gaze, the procession arrived at the foot of the Fulu Mountain Range one of the darkest continent's most massive landforms. Towering peaks over 100,000 meters high, stretching farther than the eye could see, a sight impossible on any planet.

But what caught Su Min's attention was the mountains themselves.

Barren. Lifeless. Yet… pulsating.

"Strange. Are these mountains… alive? Did that bastard fuse with the entire range?"

If so, killing him would be a nightmare.

While she could shatter planets, the Dark Continent's structure was far sturdier. And this mountain range? Larger than most celestial bodies.

Destroying it outright would require activating her Emperor artifact at full power, a move that'd leave her vulnerable afterward.

"I need to find his true body."

Just as she pondered her next move, the ritual began.

Before a sheer cliff face thousands of meters tall, the priests lit incense and chanted.

"O Mountain God, grant us favorable winds and rains!"

A gigantic face emerged from the stone, its mouth yawning open.

"An avatar. Not the real thing."

Su Min's eyes gleamed. This was just a transport mechanism—a way to automate the child collection process across his vast territory.

"Perfect."

This laziness was her opportunity.

As the children floated into the gaping maw, Su Min slipped in unnoticed, using her Illusion Ring to take the form of a seven-year-old child.

"Let's see where you're hiding."

Space twisted around her as the avatar teleported its cargo. Mahayana experts' control over space far surpassed hers, a gap only reaching Mahayana herself could bridge. But with an Emperor artifact as her trump card, she wasn't worried. As they traveled deeper, the dense spiritual energy began awakening the soul fragments inside the children.

"M-mommy…?"

One by one, the children woke up, and hell broke loose. The first to awaken pounced on the nearest child, biting through their throat with terrifying force.

Crack.

The sound of crushing bone echoed as the victim thrashed silently, their trachea severed.

Within minutes, half the children were dead.

The survivors? Their cultivation skyrocketed.

"Already at Body Refining Stage?!"

Su Min watched, stunned, as the children evolved through slaughter. Back in her sect, reaching Qi Refining from scratch took a decade. These kids were about to hit it in a single day. By the time only three remained, all had reached late Body Refining Stage, their eyes glowing with bloodlust as they sized each other up.

Su Min, completely invisible to them, could only shake her head.

"He's farming them. Each 'mouth' is an isolated arena. Let them kill until only the strongest remains, then… dine on the winner."

Disgusting. But efficient.

By the next round, the last child stood at Qi Refining Stage, having devoured all competitors. The spaces merged again, pitting multiple Qi Refining children against each other. The final survivor would reach Foundation Establishment in three days.

A speed that'd shame even the Heavenly Continent's geniuses.