Dust flew everywhere, like a long curtain drawing slowly open.

Shen Yi stood with his hands at his sides, and into his sight there came by degrees a mountain of surpassing majesty and magnificence, like a natural moat standing up in front of him, its edges out of sight. Set against it, the Nameless Mountain outside was no more than a low earthen mound.

In the instant he saw its true face—

a heavy pressure that set the whole body shaking came down on Shen Yi.

Boom!

What had sunk into the Nameless Mountain was a spirit-soul, so there could of course be no question of bones being crushed.

But Shen Yi still had the feeling of being ground to powder from head to foot.

His body pitched forward, his knees shook wildly, and he nearly went down on them.

On instinct Shen Yi tried to call out the Guixu Immortal Armor to shield him, and his fingertips went to his brow to open a White Jade Capital immortal city.

And came away with nothing.

What stood here now was only a spirit-soul. All those so-called supports of his had lost every use inside this Nameless Mountain, and the only thing left to lean on was himself.

Shen Yi understood at last why only a body-tempering cultivator had any chance of coming near this opportunity.

Only a cultivator like himself, who had known the forging of the body by demon core, the burning of the flesh by demon blood, the tempering of the body by phoenix fire, had even a thread of a chance of straightening his back again under a weight like this.

"Whew."

Shen Yi closed his eyes, and something savage came into his features.

The hand that could tear a White Jade Capital demon apart clenched tight. It set nothing in heaven or earth moving; its only effect was to let him take one step forward, with the greatest difficulty.

In front of that treasure mountain the ink-robed figure looked so very small. His pace was slow, and even unsteady; but it never stopped.

Set beside the…