The hem of Ying Zheng's dark robe, embroidered with dark gold dragon patterns, swept over the bloodstained jade steps as he crossed the plaza strewn with demon corpses. The metallic scrape of Tai'a Sword returning to its sheath was especially piercing in the dead silence. The lingering warmth on the hilt scorched his palm—it was the mark of the Ancestor Dragon True Spirit's first awakening, and also a warning of overexertion.
Meng Tian knelt on one knee, black blood seeping through the rough cloth wrapped around his severed arm. "The Rebel Army has been purged, but Lu Buwei... escaped." His voice was hoarse as sandpaper grinding against iron. "While clearing Ganquan Palace, we found this in a pool of blood."
Half a Chilong Jade Pendant was presented, its edges stained with cosmetics and congealed blood. Ying Zheng's fingertips brushed the broken end of the pendant, dark gold roiling in his eyes. This had been Zhao Ji's personal belonging, and also the token Lu Buwei had once offered to curry favor. At the center of the pendant, a hair-thin line of dark red blood moved eerily, like a living thing.
"Where is the Empress Dowager?" Ying Zheng's voice betrayed no emotion.
"Not even her bones remain." Meng Tian swallowed. "Only this pendant was left at the scene... along with inhuman claw marks."
The air suddenly froze. Ying Zheng clenched his fist, and the Chilong Jade Pendant groaned under the strain in his palm. Dark gold dragon qi spilled out of control, sending shattered stones all over him floating and trembling. Ganquan Palace had become a lake of blood, Zhao Ji had vanished without even bones left behind, and Lu Buwei had fled with a demon... This was no defeat. It was a deeper festering poison planted in Great Qin's flesh and blood!
"Pass down my decree." Ying Zheng raised his head, his dragon eyes locked on Mount Li. "The Shady Ravine of Mount Li is to be sealed forever. Anyone who approaches without authorization shall have their nine generations of kin executed. Chancellor Lu Buwei murdered the sovereign and plotted rebellion. Whoever displays his severed head to the public... shall be rewarded with ten thousand gold and granted the rank of Marquis!"
The killing order was like an Ice Blade leaving its sheath. Meng Tian accepted the order with awe-inspiring solemnity, only to see the emperor sweep his dark sleeve. He had already Turned into a streak of dark gold light and shot toward the Underground Cave beneath Mount Li—where there was still a "royal brother" whose fate remained unknown.
A thick, bloody stench mixed with the scorched reek of sulfur forced its way into Cheng Xi's consciousness as he was startled awake. Every breath tore at his lungs and entrails, while his meridians felt as though countless red-hot steel needles were piercing them again and again—Chaos Sword Essence had gone out of control and was backlashing!
[Warning! Meridian damage: 71%... Chaos Sword Essence continuously leaking... Tongtian Mark about to be depleted...]
The system screen glowed a glaring crimson, its energy bar displaying an appalling [0%]. He lay sprawled across the cold stone floor, Qingping Sword Sheath planted at an angle beside him, so dim it resembled ordinary iron. His vision swayed in a blur. Only a shaft of daylight shone through a hole in the cavern roof, where dust floated like specks of gold.
"Cough... cough, cough!" Another mouthful of dark, clotted blood burst from him, carrying fragments of his organs. The price of forcibly merging chaos and sword intent had now become a bone-clinging maggot. He attempted to draw upon the Jianmu Fragment, but it answered only with a faint green gleam, a candle in the wind—after resisting the Demon God's will, it was burned out.
"You're awake?" A cold voice sounded from above.
Ying Zheng stood against the light, the dragon patterns on his dark robes flowing with a shadowy sheen through the dusty haze. He looked down at Cheng Xi, his gaze as sharp as a blade as it swept across the bloody ruptures all over him and the uncontrolled blue-gray sword qi spilling from him. "What was that sword strike?"
Cheng Xi tugged at the corner of the mouth, but the agony twisted his smile. "A... sword for killing demons." He panted and struggled to point toward the fallen demon lizard. "Though the demon egg was destroyed... Lu Buwei... was taken away by a black claw..."
Ying Zheng's dragon eyes abruptly contracted! His line of sight swept across the sword wound on the demon lizard's skull, deep enough to see bone. At the edges of the cut, blue-gray energy gnawed at the scales like a living thing, producing a faint sizzling sound. This was absolutely not mortal power! He suddenly crouched and clamped Cheng Xi's wrist in his hand like an iron vise, forcing a tyrannical, pure stream of dark gold dragon qi inside!
"Argh—!" Cheng Xi howled in pain. Ancestor Dragon True Qi crashed into his battered meridians like a torrent of molten lava, colliding violently with the rampaging Chaos Sword Essence! The blue-gray and dark gold powers Frenzy Attacked each other within him, like two vicious dragons tearing and fighting for dominance!
"Let go... You'll ignite it!" Cheng Xi's eyes nearly split apart. Chaos Sword Essence grew more violent against stronger force. Stimulated by Ancestor Dragon's Power, it had now become an unbridled wild horse, Fiercely Attacking the final line of defense laid down by the Tongtian Mark! The sword sheath buzzed and trembled, spider-web cracks spreading across its surface!
Ying Zheng gave a muffled grunt. The hand gripping Cheng Xi was actually knocked away by a chaotic, razor-sharp great force! Wisps of gray mottling corroded the dark gold qi around his fingertips. He stared at his trembling hand, then looked at Cheng Xi curled on the ground, sword qi rampaging all over him as though he might explode at any moment. For the first time, shock surged in Ying Zheng's eyes.
If such power could not be controlled... it would be fire that burned its wielder alive!
Moonlight pierced the shattered gauze windows, illuminating the congealed blood pooled across the hall. The maids' remains had already been removed, leaving only wreckage everywhere and a cloying sweet and fishy stench. Yan Lingji curled up in the shadows at the corner of the hall, clutching Qingping Sword Sheath in her arms like a drowning person holding driftwood.
"Ugh..." A soft groan of pain overflowed through her clenched teeth. The wound on her left shoulder had long since healed, but beneath her skin, Dark Gold patterns were spreading and rising at an unprecedented pace! No longer confined to her shoulder and arm, they crawled toward her heart and spine like poisonous vines. A savage heat rammed through the depths of her bloodline, and every heartbeat brought whispers smelling of sulfur:
"...Pangu... has decayed..."
"...Embrace... chaos..."
"...Release... us..."
"Get out!" Yan Lingji screamed in the depths of consciousness. Blazing white witchfire surged forth on instinct, yet like fireflies striking a reef, it was instantly swallowed by an older, darker gold. The cloud patterns on the sword sheath flickered as they attempted to guide the remaining Zhurong Origin within her, only to be pinned down by an icy pressure originating from her soul—
It was the lingering mark of the Will of Pangu Hall! Majestic and compassionate, yet carrying an unquestionable force of confinement, it suppressed her boiling bloodline like mountains weighing ten thousand tons! Two Supreme Wills had made her body their battlefield. One sought to purify, the other to corrupt, while her own consciousness was squeezed nearly to suffocation!
Buzz!
The sword sheath in her arms suddenly turned scorching hot! A nearly imperceptible thread of blue light burst from the cloud patterns at its mouth, piercing her brow like a fine needle! Lord Tongtian's weak but still utterly resolute voice exploded through her sea of souls:
"Hold fast to the lamp of your heart! Witchfire is kindling! Burn away the filth, not yourself!"
The agonizing pain ebbed like a tide for an instant. Yan Lingji seized the opportunity and gathered every shred of her will, pressing a weak flame of blazing white into her heart. The dark gold patterns were temporarily forced back, lurking beneath her skin like coiled venomous snakes. Gasping, she raised her head, cold sweat soaking her temples, only to see the back of her right hand pressed against the cold tiles. Her skin silently cracked open, revealing a thin slit—within it, a dark gold, inhuman vertical eye suddenly opened! Then, beneath her horrified stare, it slowly closed.
A chill instantly froze her marrow. Was this body becoming a prison... or a passage?
Shackle Marks: Stars Falling Like Rain
At midnight, Xianyang lay dead silent. The invisible ripple that had suddenly erupted from Mount Li finally swept across the summit of the Nine Heavens.
Boom—!
In the Depths of Zixiao Palace, Hongjun's Cushion, suspended above endless laws, shook violently! At its edge, a hair-thin crack silently spread, leaking several wisps of Chaos Color mist. The hazy Dao shadow atop the cloud couch trembled clearly for the first time. Into that indifferent voice, placid for ten thousand years, seeped a metallic chill like scraping steel:
"The anomaly... must be punished!"
Almost at the same time, at the bottom of the Netherworld Blood Sea, the wails of billions of vengeful souls were forcibly strangled by an invisible great power. Thick blood churned as a giant eye, as large as a star and formed entirely from filthy blood and resentment, slowly opened. Its vertical pupil locked onto the void, greedily "licking" the Heavenly Dao Crack that pierced the Three Realms.
Within Fire Cloud Cave, Fuxi's hand on the zither came to an abrupt halt. The sealing barrier underwent violent fluctuation, and a string snapped with a sharp twang. He looked up at the void, the fleeting crack reflected in his profound eyes, and murmured like a sigh, "A line opens in Heaven... calamity rises... who will wield the chess pieces?"
In Xianyang Marketplace, a night watchman curled up in a shabby alley and was startled awake by an inexplicable palpitation. He raised his head in confusion, his clouded old eyes suddenly widening—above the pitch-black sky, countless stars were breaking free from their eternal paths, trailing mournfully beautiful tails of light as they fell in a fluttering cascade!
Stars Falling Like Rain illuminated Cheng Xi's agonized, curled figure in the Underground Cave, and the dark gold vertical-eye crack that had silently closed on the back of Yan Lingji's hand. At the crack of Qingping Sword Sheath, a drop of residual Tongtian blood slowly seeped out. Before it could touch the dust, it Turned into an imperceptible wisp of pure qi and vanished without a trace.
Deep within Mount Li, amid the ruins of the demon lair repeatedly plowed by Ancestor Dragon sword qi and Chaos Sword Essence, a drop of viscous Dark Gold Demonic Blood slowly seeped from the fingertip of half a scorched-black demon god's claw into a crack in the earth, disappearing from sight.
The ashes had not yet cooled, but dark undercurrents had already risen.
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