Chaos Resonance

Cheng Xi's consciousness, bolstered by the azure light spot containing supreme Dao essence that Lord Tongtian had fused into him, seemed to have been forcibly lifted above the winds of the Ninth Heaven! His Dao Heart, which had been on the verge of collapse, instantly stabilized. The gray light of the Chaos Origin Point surged, and the Break Delusion Rebellious Intent Sword Intent emitted an unprecedented resonant hum! More importantly, his senses were infinitely magnified, piercing through the stone walls of the cave heaven, crossing endless void, and allowing him to clearly "see"—

Within the Pangu Hall Projection space, the fierce collision of those two terrifying wills!

The will belonging to the imprint of Pangu's essence blood was vast, majestic, and desolate, carrying the weight of world-creating and a faint, profound sigh of compassion. "The calamity... rises... not... by... my... will..."

Opposing it was the Will of Chaos from the depths of Yan Lingji's bloodline! It was violent, greedy, filled with ultimate hatred for all order and living beings. Like a primordial fierce beast crawling out of an endless abyss, it let out a roar thick with sulfur and the scent of blood. "Pangu... Will?! It has not... been completely extinguished?! This woman... is mine!"

These two equally ancient and vast, yet utterly opposed wills clashed violently with Yan Lingji's frail body as their battlefield! Her body was like shattered glass, instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks. Dark Gold flames mixed with blood burst forth! Her soul wailed as her consciousness sank into boundless darkness.

Boom—!

This Will Impact spanning space was like two destructive stars colliding upon the dark side of the Primordial World. The invisible ripples it produced pierced through layer after layer of dimensions and slammed fiercely into the invisible, intangible yet omnipresent web of Heavenly Dao Shackles that enveloped the entire Primordial Era Heaven and Earth!

Buzz!

Throughout the entire Primordial World—whether in the Heavenly Court Above the Nine Heavens, the Blood Sea in the depths of the Netherworld, or the bustling cities of the mortal realm—all mighty beings at the Golden Immortal realm and above felt a tiny yet heart-palpitating tremor pass through their hearts without warning! It was as though some most fundamental string sustaining the operation of heaven and earth had been ever so lightly... plucked by an invisible hand!

The Heavenly Dao Shackles had actually loosened by an imperceptible trace because of this clash of wills originating from the ancient level of chaos!

A struggle of Dao? The Heavenly Dao Shackles had loosened?

Cheng Xi's mind shook violently. His elevated consciousness captured this earthshaking sight, and a shocking thought exploded in the depths of his soul like thunder at the dawn of chaos:

Could it be that these outer demons... and the Heavenly Dao imprisoning the Primordial World... are not on the same side?! Are they also... a "calamity" to break the deadlock?!

The moment this thought arose, the Chaos Origin Point in the depths of his soul erupted with unprecedented misty gray radiance! This radiance was no longer merely a "reef" protecting himself. Instead, it became an invisible bridge, following the guidance bestowed by Lord Tongtian's azure light spot, piercing through the barriers of endless time and space to forcefully connect with Yan Lingji, whose consciousness was sinking as she stood on the verge of shattering within the Pangu Hall Projection space!

Buzz!

The gray light of the Chaos Origin Point was not pure energy, but a flood of information containing the essence of "variables"! Ignoring the Pangu purification force and chaotic outer demon will ravaging Yan Lingji's body, it was like the most precise scalpel, instantly anchoring itself upon that point deep in her Bloodline Origin—the purest Fire Witch Origin of Zhurong that had not yet been completely contaminated!

"Yan Lingji! Wake up!"

Cheng Xi's will, carrying the Chaos Origin Point's persistence in breaking the deadlock, its understanding of variables, and its desire for a glimmer of hope, struck fiercely into the darkness consuming Yan Lingji's consciousness like thunder crossing time and space!

Rumble!

Yan Lingji, on the verge of complete destruction, seemed to see a misty gray radiance tearing through the endless night amid that boundless darkness and agonizing pain! There was no distinct figure within the light, yet it held a familiarity that made her soul tremble—it was Cheng Xi! It was his resolve when he had drawn upon the sword sheath amid the corpse tide in the secluded valley; it was his defiance when he roared, "Sword, come!" beneath the ghost claws of Mount Li; and now, it was the lone lamp he had kindled for her with his own Chaos Origin Point, pointing toward a path to survival!

"I... am not a chess piece!"

Cheng Xi's will echoed through the depths of her consciousness like a resounding bell.

"Neither are you! Your fire is kindling to burn away shackles, not raging flames meant to destroy yourself! Protect your origin! Use fire... to burn away the filth!"

This call from a Chaos Variable carried a strange power capable of breaking predetermined fate, instantly igniting the nearly extinguished fire of survival in the deepest reaches of Yan Lingji's soul!

"Aah—!!!"

Within the Pangu Hall Projection, Yan Lingji's shattered body suddenly arched backward as she released a piercing shriek mixed with ultimate agony and Unyielding Will! The Dark Gold patterns flashing wildly beneath her skin abruptly froze! Under the protection and guidance of the gray light from the Chaos Origin Point, that purest wisp of blazing white witchfire from the deepest depths of her bloodline burst free from its contaminated core as if injected with a powerful stimulant!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Pure blazing white flames, carrying an ancient aura capable of burning away the eight wastelands, stubbornly ignited amid the gap between the Dark Gold chaotic flames and Pangu's purifying force! No longer resisting Pangu's purification, they instead took the initiative to guide that immense power, turning it into furnace fire that burned away their own filth! At the same time, they fiercely rejected the invasive will of the chaotic outer demon!

"Ant! How dare you!!!" The Will of Chaos roared in shock and anger. It sensed a threat! That point of gray light from the Chaos Origin Point was like a poisoned thorn lodged in its plan of corruption, preventing it from contaminating and controlling everything as it pleased!

The will of Pangu Hall also seemed to sense this subtle change. Its immense purifying force was no longer indiscriminate crushing, but held an additional trace of precise guidance, focusing more upon the core imprint of the Will of Chaos! The origin lights of the Twelve Ancestral Witches—especially Zhurong's crimson radiance—sent Yan Lingji's pure blazing white flame a trace of... imperceptible recognition and reinforcement!

It worked!

Within Biyou Cave Heaven, Cheng Xi's consciousness jolted! Through his connection to the Chaos Origin Point, he clearly sensed the revival and growth of that pure witchfire within Yan Lingji, the shock and anger of the Will of Chaos, and the subtle shift in Pangu Will! A strange resonance formed between him and Yan Lingji through that invisible bridge. The gray light of his Chaos Origin Point and Yan Lingji's pure witchfire seemed to draw upon each other's traits in their resonance—chaos's "disordered variables" imbued the witchfire with the sharp edge to break the deadlock, while the witchfire's power to "burn away filth" added a searing purifying intensity to the Chaos Origin Point!

Upon the lotus platform, Lord Tongtian's eternally unmoving figure finally shifted slightly. He slowly withdrew the sword fingers pointed toward Pangu Hall, and the remaining Sky-Severing Sword Intent on his fingertips gradually dispersed. His eyes, reflecting the vicissitudes of countless ages, fell upon Cheng Xi below, whose body beside the spirit pool violently trembled while his consciousness fiercely resonated with a distant place. On his usually placid face, an exceedingly rare trace of... approval appeared?

"Using the Chaos Origin Point as a bridge to draw upon the fire of the witch clan's origin... turning the calamity of outer demons into an opportunity for tempering..." Lord Tongtian's voice sounded directly within Cheng Xi's elevated consciousness, calm yet carrying the profound depth of one who understood the secrets of heaven. "Have you... seen it? This is... 'calamity'! And also... the source of 'variables'!"

"The Heavenly Dao Shackles are not an unbreakable wall. Wherever Calamity Qi surges, there lies the chance for the shackles to loosen! Outer demons covet, the Heavenly Dao suppresses, the Ancestral Witches revive, humanity awakens... all manners of karma are intertwined, and the great calamity is about to rise! This calamity is destruction, but it is also... the Primordial World's only path to transcendence!"

"Your chaos is the greatest 'anomaly' within this calamity! Your will is the... first wisp of kindling to ignite the fire that breaks this deadlock!"

Lord Tongtian's words were like a sudden enlightenment, instantly illuminating the grand yet chaotic chessboard before Cheng Xi! The loosening of the Heavenly Dao Shackles was no accident, but the inevitable result of many forces contending and Calamity Qi accumulating! Outer demons were a calamity, but also a blade capable of tearing open the iron curtain of the Heavenly Dao! And he, bearing the Chaos Origin Point, was both the hand wielding that blade and the spark that would set the plains ablaze!

Boom!

Cheng Xi's consciousness ascended amid his enlightenment! That wisp of Break Delusion Rebellious Intent Sword Intent underwent a complete transformation. Upon its blade, chaos's gray radiance and witchfire's blazing white light shone in alternating brilliance, carrying supreme sharpness capable of severing fate and burning away shackles! He abruptly raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through Biyou Cave Heaven and fall upon the Heavenly Dao web that enveloped all things from the Netherworld! Its threads remained grim and strict, yet at the point where the wills had just collided, an almost invisible crack was quietly appearing!

"This crack... is a path to survival!" Cheng Xi's will was incomparably resolute.

Mount Li, deep within the Yin Valley, behind the bronze gate.

The enormous underground cave had been artificially excavated into something like the belly of a demon god, filled with a thick smell of sulfur and blood. Viscous Dragon Vein Earth Energy, glimmering dark red, was forcibly extracted and gathered upon a massive altar at the center, built from countless pallid bones. The altar's surface was covered with bizarre, writhing runes, through which filthy Black Blood flowed.

At the altar's summit was not an idol, but a Dark Gold giant egg the size of a house, floating in the air and constantly pulsating! Its shell was covered in savage scale-like patterns, while a heavy, evil heartbeat came from within. With every pulse, it greedily devoured the Dragon Vein Earth Energy surging up from below and the blood qi of the wailing living souls around the altar!

Lu Buwei wore luxurious robes befitting the prime minister, but they were now stained with scattered black-red marks. Standing beneath the altar, his face looked especially sinister under the eerie green glow of ghostfire. Beside him stood a figure entirely shrouded in a broad black robe, revealing only a pair of eyes burning with ghostly green flames. It was the demonic person who had used the Corpse Fiend Ghost Claw at the riverbank that day! An aura of nauseating decay and sinister evil emanated from the black-robed figure, more solid and powerful than before.

"Trash!" Lu Buwei's voice was icy and piercing, carrying suppressed fury. "You could not even bring back two juniors who were severely injured and near death! You even alerted the River God? If not for the Blood River Escape Talisman bestowed by the Holy Lord, how could you have escaped back?!"

The black-robed demonic person's body trembled imperceptibly, and a trace of fear flashed through his ghostly green eyes. He rasped, "Prime minister, calm your anger! It was not because this subordinate was incompetent! Cheng Xi possesses an Exotic Treasure. At the final moment, he actually invoked Lord Tongtian's Sword Intent Imprint and broke through space to escape! As for that Witch Maiden... there is something unusual about her bloodline. She seemed... seemed to have triggered some extremely ancient existence..." Remembering the collision of the two terrifying wills that had pierced through space at the end, he still felt lingering fear.

Lu Buwei's eyes sharpened as he was about to rebuke him.

Suddenly!

Buzz—!

The entire enormous underground cave shook violently! The pulsating Dark Gold giant egg atop the altar suddenly released a piercing shriek! The scale-like patterns across its shell writhed madly, as though receiving some intense stimulation! The bloody runes flowing around the altar flashed violently, and the speed at which they extracted Dragon Vein Earth Energy abruptly increased, though they became extraordinarily chaotic!

"What is happening?!" Lu Buwei and the black-robed demonic person changed expression at the same time.

"The earth veins... the Dragon Vein Earth Energy is in turmoil!" The black-robed demonic person sensed it uncertainly. "No! It is the entire... the entire 'qi' of heaven and earth... It seems... seems something... plucked it?!" He could not accurately describe the sensation. It was as though the iron law binding all things from the Netherworld had developed an exceedingly slight... loosening?

Lu Buwei abruptly raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through the thick mountain rock and into the depths of the sky. Though he was not a top-tier cultivator, as Great Qin's prime minister, wielding authority, his senses toward the subtle shifts in Human Dao Destiny and the greater trend of heaven and earth far surpassed those of ordinary people. In that instant just now, he had felt the invisible "shackle" upon him, representing the prime minister's authority and connected to Heavenly Dao Order, seem to have... loosened by the tiniest trace? The feeling vanished in an instant, yet it made his heart pound in alarm!

"Holy Lord! Was that the Holy Lord's power?" With fervent reverence, the black-robed demonic person looked toward the giant egg upon the altar.

The giant egg's shriek gradually calmed down, but its pulses became even more powerful, as though it were greedily sucking in some more fundamental Calamity Qi that had escaped between heaven and earth due to that slight loosening...

Lu Buwei's gaze flickered uncertainly, shock and greed intertwining on his sinister face. He slowly raised his hand, sensing the fleeting feeling of "loosening" at his fingertips as a mad thought began growing beyond control:

The Heavenly Dao... also has gaps to exploit? Could this loosening... be a sign that the Holy Lord is about to succeed? Or... the prelude to an even greater storm?

He looked at the Dark Gold giant egg atop the altar, whose pulse was growing ever stronger, then toward Xianyang City beyond the Yin Valley. The corner of his mouth slowly curved into a cold and resolute smile.

"Whatever it is... no one can obstruct this prime minister's path! Ying Zheng... Cheng Xi... the time of your deaths... has come!"