The Grand Altar of the Ancient Moon was no longer a sanctuary of silent meditation; it had become the epicenter of a looming apocalypse. The air, which had been still for ten thousand years, now vibrated with a rhythmic, bone-deep drumming, the sound of the Azure Sky Sect's war drums. From the high balcony of the Inner Sanctum, Qin Feng looked down the vertical cliffs of the mountain.
The sight was enough to make any seasoned warrior's heart falter. A river of white and azure robes was flowing up the Frozen Stairway, like a tide of predatory insects. At their lead, the Golden Dragon of Sect Leader Ling circled the peak, its roar shaking loose massive sheets of ice from the mountain's face.
Thousands of disciples, outer circle fodder, inner circle elites, and core experts, were ascending with a single, bloodthirsty purpose: to erase the stain on their sect's honor by executing a "trash" miner and his "traitorous" wife.
"They brought everyone," Qin Feng muttered, his eyes narrowing as he felt the sheer weight of the combined Qi approaching. "All this for one man who used to dig their latrines and a woman they were too afraid to kill three years ago."
"They aren't here for us," Ye Chen said, stepping up beside him. Her Moon-Severing Blade sat at her waist, its silver light casting long, ethereal shadows across the ancient stone floor. Even in the face of an army, she looked like a queen surveying her subjects. "They are here because they are terrified. They know that if we survive this night and the Heart of the Moon fully synchronizes with your blood, the Azure Sky Sect will become nothing more than a footnote in a history of failures."
[SYSTEM ALERT: Massive Enemy Force Detected.] [Quest Updated: The Siege of the Eclipse.] [Objective: Hold the Grand Altar for 15 minutes while the Heart of the Moon synchronizes.] [Current Progress: 02:15 / 15:00] [Reward: Path to the Golden Core & 'Eclipse Lord' Title.]
"Fifteen minutes," Qin Feng said, a cold, predatory smile spreading across his face. He turned away from the precipice and looked at the intricate, ancient architecture of the ruins. "They think I'm just a brawler who got lucky with a breakthrough. They forget that before I was a cultivator, I spent ten years in the dark, learning exactly how to make a mountain collapse on someone's head."
He slammed his ebony pickaxe into the central floor of the altar. Instead of the sound of breaking stone, there was a resonant hum. Qin Feng didn't just strike the floor; he funneled his 3rd Layer Foundation Qi directly into the dormant ley lines of the ruins, using his 'Miner's Insight' to find the structural echoes of the mountain.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: Seismic Manipulation (Miner's Insight).]
The ground groaned in response. Using the transparent map provided by the System, Qin Feng identified the three primary stone bridges that connected the outer plateau to the Grand Altar. He wasn't just fighting with his hands; he was fighting with the very bones of the world.
The first wave of elite disciples reached the final bridge. They were led by Second Elder Mo, a man famous for his ruthless fire techniques and his hatred for "low-born" workers. He charged across the narrow stone span, his hands wreathed in crimson flames that melted the frost beneath his boots.
"Qin Feng! Come out and die like the dog you are!" Mo bellowed, his voice amplified by Qi. "I will burn your soul until there is nothing left to reincarnate!"
Qin Feng stepped out onto the edge of the altar, looking down at the Elder with a look of pure boredom. "You know, Mo, back in the mines, we had a life-saving rule: 'Never stand under a loose ceiling'. It's a shame nobody taught you basic safety."
Qin Feng snapped his fingers.
A series of "Spirit Compressed Charges" he had planted deep within the bridge's support pillars detonated simultaneously. It wasn't a messy explosion; it was a surgical removal of support. The stone bridge didn't just break, it vaporized. The scream of the Second Elder was cut short as he and fifty of the sect's most promising core disciples plummeted into the mist-covered abyss, their fire spells flickering out like dying candles.
[DING! 51 Enemies Defeated.] [Face-Slapping Multiplier: x15! (High-ranking Elder eliminated in one move).] [EXP Gained: 45,000!]
However, the victory was short-lived. Above them, the clouds parted. Sect Leader Ling, perched atop his Golden Dragon, let out a roar of absolute fury. He was a man who believed himself to be a god in this region, and seeing his Second Elder discarded like trash by a miner was an insult he couldn't endure.
He waved his hand, and a rain of a thousand golden swords descended from the sky, each one a concentrated needle of 9th Layer Foundation Qi, aimed directly at the Altar's roof.
"Protect the Heart!" Qin Feng yelled, his hands still anchored to the floor to maintain the structural traps.
Ye Chen moved like a blur of violet light, her speed surpassing the visual limit of the disciples below. She leaped into the air, her blade spinning in a complex, recursive dance. "Lunar Shield: Mirror of the Night!"
A translucent dome of violet energy erupted around the altar. The golden swords hit the barrier and shattered like glass against high-grade steel, sending sparks of light cascading down the mountain. But the effort was visible; Ye Chen's face grew pale, and a thin line of blood ran from her nose as she maintained the barrier against the relentless, crushing pressure of a 9th Layer expert's killing intent.
"Stay focused, Ye Chen! I've almost breached the main defense mechanism!" Qin Feng shouted, his own Qi sweating out of his pores as he fought the mountain's resistance.
The System's timer flickered in his vision: 08:42 remaining.
More disciples were scaling the vertical cliffs now, using grappling hooks, spirit-climbing insects, and flying talismans. The plateau was becoming a chaotic battlefield of swirling colors and clashing steel. Qin Feng was forced to release his grip on the floor and engage in the most brutal form of close combat.
He swung his pickaxe with a surgical precision that was terrifying to behold. He didn't waste energy on wide swings; each strike was a short, piercing thrust that didn't just hit a person, it hit a vital Qi node, causing the victim's own energy to backfire and explode their internal organs.
He was a whirlwind of black and gold. A group of four inner disciples tried to pin him down with a binding formation, but Qin Feng didn't even turn his head. His Eclipse Domain sensed their heartbeats, their intent, and the very flow of their blood. With a thought, a series of jagged stone spikes rose from the floor, impaling the attackers before they could finish their incantation.
"You call me a dog! You call me trash!" Qin Feng shouted, his voice booming over the sound of clashing blades and dying screams. "But look at yourselves! Here you are, the 'elite' of the world, dying like cattle at the feet of a man you used to kick for sport! Tell me, as your souls fade, who is the trash now?"
[SYSTEM: 200 Disciples defeated. EXP Gained: 60,000. Relationship Resonance: 98%.]
Suddenly, the air grew so heavy it felt like being submerged in deep water. The Golden Dragon descended, its massive wings shattering the ancient statues lining the altar. Sect Leader Ling stepped off the beast's head, his boots thudding onto the stone with the weight of a falling star. His eyes were no longer human; they were burning pits of murderous golden light.
The disciples nearby instantly scrambled away, terrified of their own leader's aura. Ling looked at the blood-stained Qin Feng and then at the shimmering Heart of the Moon behind him.
"Enough of this peasant circus," Ling said, his voice quiet but echoing in everyone's soul. "Qin Feng, I have lived for three hundred years. I have seen empires rise and geniuses fall. You are nothing but a flicker of dust that caught a stray spark. I will peel the skin from your living bones and force Ye Chen to watch while I feed your soul to my dragon."
Qin Feng stood his ground, leaning slightly on his pickaxe, breathing heavily. He was covered in blood, a macabre painting of his journey from the mines, but his eyes remained as steady as the mountain itself.
"You've lived for three hundred years, and yet you're still this stupid?" Qin Feng replied, spitting a glob of blood to the side. "You talk too much for a man whose legacy is about to be buried by a 'peasant'."
[TIMER: 01:00 remaining.] [Heart of the Moon Synchronization: 99%...]
Behind Qin Feng, the Heart of the Moon began to pulse with a blinding, divine silver light that turned the night into day. The ruins didn't just glow; they began to hum a song of ancient vengeance. The final confrontation had finally arrived.