Meng Tian's iron arm clamped tightly around Cheng Xi's waist as he raced through the shadows of Xianyang Palace. The body in his arms burned like a hot iron, while out-of-control blue-gray sword qi writhed like living snakes, continually tearing through his armor and carving bloody gashes across his steel-like arms. Every burst of sword qi brought spasmodic convulsions and stifled groans of pain from Cheng Xi.
"Hold on! The Imperial Physician is just ahead!" Meng Tian roared. A sudden eruption of sword qi tore open the web between his thumb and forefinger, leaving him bleeding profusely.
"Let... go..." Blood seeped from between Cheng Xi's clenched teeth. Stimulated by Ancestor Dragon's Power, the Chaos Sword Essence had completely gone berserk, crashing through his shattered meridians like lava bursting through a broken dam. The faint glow of the Tongtian Mark flickered between the cracks of the sword sheath, like a candle in the wind. He felt as though his body were becoming a volcano on the verge of eruption, every inch of flesh screaming to break free and blast everything around him—including himself—to dust!
"Ughaaah—!" Another uncontrolled burst of sword qi exploded from his right shoulder! The blue-gray edge lashed out like poisonous vines, instantly coiling around Meng Tian's breastplate!
Screech—!
The breastplate forged from refined steel was corroded through as though it were thin paper! The sword qi's remaining force did not fade, stabbing straight toward Meng Tian's heart!
At the critical moment!
Whoosh—!
A streak of black light tore through the night, arriving after yet striking first! It was a crude bone arrow, its shaft wrapped in Savage Blood Qi, striking with flawless precision at the most violent node of the blue-gray sword qi!
Bang!
There was no clash of metal, only a dull boom like a heavy blow striking thick hide. That violent sword qi was actually nailed in midair by the seemingly primitive bone arrow, like a venomous snake seized by its vital point—twisting madly, yet unable to advance an inch! The dark-red blood qi wrapped around the arrow's tail spread as though alive, beginning to devour and neutralize the chaotic blue-gray edge!
Still shaken, Meng Tian abruptly looked up.
From the shadows beside the palace wall, a towering figure slowly emerged. He wore a beast-hide loincloth, his knotted muscles like ancient bronze rock, and carried an enormous Bone Bow on his back. His face was resolute, his eyes deep and calm as still pools. His gaze passed over the corroded hole in Meng Tian's breastplate before finally settling on Cheng Xi, and he frowned deeply.
"Houtu Tribe, Hou Yi." His voice was low and heavy as mountains. "By Empress's command, I sought the Zhurong Bloodline and encountered this... Chaos Fiendish Qi." He stared at the blue-gray sword qi nailed by the bone arrow, still hissing and struggling. "This power is too vicious. You cannot restrain it. Hand him over to me."
Yan Lingji curled up in the cold shadow of a hall pillar, her right hand gripping the back of her left hand tightly. Beneath her skin, the Dark Gold vertical-eye pattern burned like a hot iron driven into bone. Faint hissing whispers, reeking of sulfur, echoed within her skull, growing ever clearer:
"Are you in pain... are you struggling..."
"Look... at this damaged shell... this feeble witchfire..."
"Open yourself... embrace me... I shall grant you the power to burn the world..."
Blazing white witchfire instinctively surged up, attempting to burn away those markings, but it vanished like a mud bull entering the sea. The faint glow of the cloud patterns on the sword sheath tried to guide it, only to be pinned down by an icy pressure originating from deep within her bloodline—it was the remaining brand of the Will of Pangu Hall, majestic yet more like a heavy shackle!
"Shut up!" Yan Lingji screamed in the depths of consciousness, her nails digging deeply into her flesh as she tried to dispel the demonic voice with searing pain. The skin on the back of her hand suddenly tightened, and the crack of the vertical eye that had once opened appeared again! Within that slit, a spot of pure, inhuman Dark Gold light slowly lit up!
"Be angry... hate..." The demonic voice oozed with bewitching stickiness. "The ones imprisoning you... are that hypocritical Pangu... and this useless sword sheath... destroy them... release me... I am you... you are me..."
The urge to destroy surged wildly like weeds! Burn down this palace that imprisoned her! Burn this useless sword sheath! Burn everything! The Dark Gold markings instantly spread to her neck, and the violent heat nearly burst her skin apart!
Buzz—!
The Qingping Sword Sheath in her arms suddenly shook violently! The cloud pattern at its opening erupted with one final, resolute flash of blue light. Like a final flicker before death, it stabbed fiercely into her brow! Lord Tongtian's weak yet unwavering voice, mixed with a distant call from deep within the earth, exploded through her soul sea:
"Hold fast to the lamp in your heart! Witchfire is not for burning the world... it is... passed down through generations!"
At the same time, a vast, heavy consciousness carrying the pulse of the earth pierced through space and resonated within her bloodline. "Return..."
It was the call of Pangu Hall! It was Empress Pingxin's will!
The blazing white witchfire suddenly swelled! Though weak, it carried a sorrow and defiance born from the very source of her bloodline as it crashed fiercely into the Dark Gold spreading from her heart! The two forces collided explosively within her body!
"Ahhh—!" Yan Lingji threw back her head and let out a shrill cry! It was not pain, but release! Violent white flames mixed with a thread of forced-out Dark Gold radiance erupted from every pore all over her body like an uncontrollable mad dragon!
Rumble—!!!
The entire ruined side hall of Ganquan Palace was completely torn apart and flung away by that uncontrolled storm of flames like a paper toy! Pillars snapped, rubble rained down! Within the soaring white blaze, a Dark Gold shadow flashed and disappeared!
Deep in the wilderness north of Mount Li, Lu Buwei stumbled and collapsed beneath a dead tree. His luxurious Chancellor's robes had long since been torn into rags by thorns, covered in mud and bloodstains. He clutched a scorched-black, curled object tightly to his chest—it was half of the Shadow of the Demon Lizard Sargeras's severed head, covered in damaged scales. The thick Dark Gold fluid at its severed surface had nearly solidified.
"Hah... hah..." He panted greedily. Every breath tugged at the wounds in his chest and abdomen torn open by the sword qi's aftershock, bringing piercing pain. The remaining corrosive force of Chaos Sword Essence spread through his meridians like a bone-clinging maggot, bringing burning agony and a strange sense of weakness.
"Power... my power..." Trembling, he pressed his face against the cold, fetid Demon Lizard's Severed Skull. The egg had been destroyed, the Holy Lord Projection had been cut down, and his final support... was this head containing the Demon God's remaining power!
Buzz...
A faint pulsation suddenly came from the severed skull in his arms! Like the last twitch of a dying heart! Immediately afterward, the solidified Dark Gold fluid began to squirm like a living creature, seeping into Lu Buwei's chest wound in strands!
"Urgh!" Lu Buwei's entire body jolted! An icy, sticky will filled with chaos and hunger instantly seized his soul! It was a hundred times stronger than when he had served the Holy Lord! Countless crazed, twisted fragments of imagery flooded his mind—shattered stars, wailing gods and demons, endless devouring... and a pair of enormous vertical eyes, cold and merciless, overlooking all worlds!
"No... this is my... power!" Blood threads filled Lu Buwei's eyes as his remaining sanity clashed fiercely with his mad greed. He attempted to resist that invading will, but the Demon Lizard's Severed Skull pulsed ever more strongly, and the Dark Gold fluid seeping into him sank roots into his flesh and spread like greedy roots!
Screech... The skin on his chest silently split open, and several tiny Dark Gold scales slowly... pushed out from his flesh!
Deep within Mount Li, all was silent. The surface above the collapsed demon lair was covered by thick mountain rock, like a massive scar.
Very deep underground, there was only darkness and silence. Dragon Vein Earth Energy flowed slowly like a golden river through ancient rock strata, nourishing the entire mountain range and sustaining the foundation of Great Qin's national fate.
A drop of thick, heavy Dark Gold Demonic Blood, emitting endless chaos and malice, slowly but resolutely seeped downward through the finest crack in the rock strata. It ignored the Dragon Vein Earth Energy's instinctive rejection. Like the most stubborn cancerous tumor, wherever it passed, the golden dragon qi was contaminated and twisted, stained with strands of ominous Dark Gold markings.
At last, it touched the thickest and most surging main dragon vein!
Like a water droplet falling into boiling oil!
Sizzle—!!!
The Dark Gold Demonic Blood instantly dissolved! Countless hair-thin, snake-like Dark Gold markings spread madly like living creatures! They greedily coiled around the golden torrent of dragon qi, corroding, merging, contaminating... The originally grand and righteous power of the dragon vein was forcibly infused with a trace of violence, chaos, and destruction!
From deep within the earth veins came a faint, heavy, pained dragon's roar. Across Mount Li, countless birds and beasts scattered in panic.
At the unseen core of the earth veins, within that contaminated golden torrent, a huge, hazy phantom of a vertical eye condensed from pure Dark Gold Demonic Qi was slowly taking shape. Deep in its pupil were reflected the entire shaking Xianyang City, as well as... those places within the city burning with chaos, witchfire, and strange light.
The demonic blood had taken root, poisoning the dragon vein. The severed head was merely a beginning. The true corruption had already begun to spread silently beneath the foundation of the dynasty.
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