Demonic Thoughts Corrode the Heart

In the side hall of the Imperial Physicians' Bureau, the scent of medicine was replaced by a heavy smell of blood and turbid energy. Cheng Xi lay on his back on the couch, his face ashen, his breaths so faint they were almost imperceptible. Beneath his skin, dark red veins of turbid evil spread from his dantian and qi sea to his neck, like decaying tree roots. Each pulse brought a sense of dead, sinking weight. Hou Yi's rough fingers rested on his wrist, his dark red blood qi probing like a needle, piercing into the dantian tightly sealed by the turbid evil.

"The Chaos Fiendish Qi is like a trapped beast, the turbid evil like a cage," Hou Yi's voice was as heavy as iron. "The cage is being eroded by the fiendish qi, and it is also consuming its life force. The two evil forces are wrestling within this child... he has become a battlefield!"

Meng Tian stood by the couch, his sword at his side. The hole in his arm armor was sealed with congealed black blood, and a numb coldness was spreading up his arm. He looked at Cheng Xi's pale face, then towards Mount Li outside the window where strange dark clouds churned. His tiger-like eyes were bloodshot: "Can this turbid evil be removed?"

"Difficult," Hou Yi shook his head, withdrawing his blood qi. "The turbid evil originates from the earth's chronic ailments and is connected to the earth veins. Unless the earth fire is ignited to burn the mountain, or the source of innate pure fire is found... otherwise, if it is forcibly removed, the turbid evil will backlash and kill him instantly! For now, only the Earth Vein Stone Milk, a secret art of my clan, can sustain his heart meridian and slow the erosion..."

Before he finished speaking--

Cheng Xi on the couch trembled violently! It wasn't a sign of waking, but his body arched as if struck by an invisible force! Beneath his closed eyelids, his eyeballs spun wildly! The dark red veins on his skin instantly turned a scorching dark gold, pulsing intensely! A cold, sticky, invisible force filled with endless greed and malice, ignoring spatial barriers, penetrated the heavy walls of the Imperial Physicians' Bureau and precisely pierced the chaotic vortex in his dantian, which was wrapped in turbid evil!

[Warning! Encountered high-dimensional mental pollution attack! Source: Deep earth veins! Target: Host's core chaotic vortex! Intensity: Annihilation level!... System energy depleted... Passive defense module overloaded... Initiating deep sleep protocol...]

The silent system light screen flashed a final piece of scarlet! Deep within Cheng Xi's sea of consciousness, the wisp of grey light representing the Chaos Origin Point flickered wildly like a candle in the wind, compressing itself, and finally transforming into an extremely tiny singularity, carrying all consciousness and deduction functions, sinking into the boundless, silent darkness--this was the system's final self-protection under the threat of absolute destruction!

Almost the instant the system fell silent!

BOOM--!!!

The chaotic vortex, sealed by the turbid evil, under the frantic stimulation of that pure polluting intent, exploded like a gunpowder barrel that had been ignited!

Beneath the main peak of Mount Li, Yan Lingji stepped barefoot over the rugged mountain rocks. Her soles sensed the earth's pained pulsations--the warm earth qi was being twisted and defiled by a scorching, violent, filthy force. The call of Pangu Hall and the sight of the polluted earth veins burned in her soul. Oranges-red flames flickered in her eyes, and her weak body was driven by a resolute will.

She stopped before a large, wind-sheltered rock face. At the base of the rock face, a deep crevice, barely wide enough for one person to pass, exuded a strong smell of sulfur and... the unique earthy spiritual energy from the depths of the earth veins. This was a natural fissure leading to the depths of the earth veins!

Yan Lingji sat down cross-legged, placing the cracked Qingping Sword Sheath horizontally on her knees. She formed hand seals, and a faint orange-red flame of her Heart Lamp appeared in her palms. Closing her eyes, she focused her consciousness, following the faint connection to Pangu Hall deep within her bloodline, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, slowly sinking...

Her consciousness penetrated the thick rock layers, sinking into the dark underground world. Countless golden veins symbolizing the flow of earth qi unfolded in her "vision," warm, majestic, and full of life--this should have been the earth's blood vessels! However, at this moment, countless viscous, malicious dark gold stains, like bone spurs, were spreading wildly on these golden veins! Where the stains passed, the golden veins became scorching, restless, and dyed with violent dark gold patterns! The entire earth vein network was letting out a dull, painful groan!

And at the core of the heaviest pollution, where countless dark gold patterns converged, a huge, blurry dark gold vertical pupil, condensed from pure chaotic demonic energy, floated coldly! Deep within the vertical pupil, it reflected the polluted earth veins, and even more so... the exploding chaotic vortex in Cheng Xi's dantian within the Imperial Physicians' Bureau of Xianyang Palace!

"Found it!" Yan Lingji's mind trembled violently! This Demonic Eye was the source of the pollution! It must be destroyed!

She gathered all her will, and the orange-red flame of her Heart Lamp surged! A strand of extremely condensed orange-red fire, carrying the protective intent of the Sacred Fire Inheritance, shot out like an arrow from a bow, following her bloodline's sensing, towards the huge Demonic Eye deep within the earth veins!

The orange-red fire line penetrated the turbid earth qi. Wherever it passed, the spreading dark gold stains, as if encountering their nemesis, made "sizzling" burning sounds and instantly melted away! A faint purification channel was forcefully opened!

"Roar--!"

The dark gold vertical pupil deep within the earth veins suddenly turned! Its cold, greedy gaze instantly locked onto this wisp of flame that dared to provoke it! Deep within the pupil, billions of resentment fragments spun wildly, and a dark gold beam, a hundred times more condensed and filled with chaotic corrosive intent, like a poisonous dragon emerging from its lair, fiercely collided with the orange-red fire line!

BOOM!

An invisible clash of wills erupted at the earth vein level! Orange-red and dark gold violently collided! Yan Lingji's seated body trembled violently, her face instantly turned ashen white! A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth! That orange-red fire line was tied to her Heart Lamp, and now it was as if struck by a colossal hammer! The call of Pangu Hall and the blessings of Empress Pingxin continuously came during the confrontation, barely supporting her tottering will.

"Burn!" Yan Lingji bit her tongue, and stimulated by the sharp pain, the orange-red flames surged again! She had to hold on! She had to buy time for that wisp of fire to approach the Demonic Eye itself!

Just as she was fully resisting the Demonic Eye's counterattack--

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Around the crevice in the rock face, countless black tree roots, as thick as a child's arm and covered in dark gold keratin, emerged silently from the soil like snakes smelling blood! They did not attack Yan Lingji's physical body, but frantically burrowed into the rock layer beneath her, precisely piercing the invisible "channel" through which her consciousness connected to the earth veins!

Buzz!

A violent, chaotic polluting force, carrying the intent of plants growing and devouring madly, followed that consciousness channel, like poisoned liquid pouring in, and fiercely impacted Yan Lingji's mind! It was the Ancient Locust Tree rooted in demonic blood! Driven by the will of the Demonic Eye, it had become an accomplice in intercepting the purification power!

"Ugh!" Yan Lingji felt as if she had been struck a heavy blow, and her consciousness channel vibrated violently! That orange-red fire line, which was struggling to resist the dark gold beam, instantly flickered! The path of purification was completely blocked by this demonized demonic plant!

Cheng Xi's body jolted violently on the couch, then fell back heavily! At his dantian, a mass of chaotic grey-green light mixed with turbid dark red blood light erupted from his body, instantly corroding the covering quilt into ashes! Beneath his skin, the veins interwoven with dark gold and dark red pulsed and bulged like red-hot branding irons! His entire body seemed on the verge of being torn apart by the violent, conflicting forces within him!

"Not good! That underground demon is drawing out the fiendish qi within him!" Hou Yi's expression changed drastically. With a roar, his palms were instantly covered with a heavy dark red blood qi, carrying the suppressing power of a mountain, and he slammed them fiercely towards Cheng Xi's dantian and chest! Attempting to forcibly stabilize the seal that was on the verge of collapse!

"Roar--!!!"

A non-human roar, filled with violence and chaos, exploded from Cheng Xi's wide-open mouth! It wasn't his voice, but more like the borrowed cry of the underground Demonic Eye's will! With this roar, a visible torrent of energy, mixed with grey-green sword qi and dark red turbid evil, erupted violently from Cheng Xi as the center, like an out-of-control hurricane!

Bang! Bang!

Hou Yi, who was hit first, had his dark red blood qi, which he was slamming down with his palms, instantly scattered by this violent torrent! His burly body was hit like by a giant hammer, and he let out a muffled groan as he was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into a hall pillar! Stone fragments flew everywhere!

Meng Tian only had time to block with his sword! The fine steel sword body was swept by the torrent and instantly bent and deformed. The terrifying force slammed him and his sword against the wall! A sweet taste rose to his throat, and blood spurted out!

Tables, chairs, and medicine cabinets in the hall were swept away and torn apart like paper! Doors and windows exploded into pieces in the shockwave! The violent, chaotic energy torrent, carrying an annihilating aura, raged wildly!

"Cheng Xi!" Meng Tian's eyes were bloodshot. He struggled to get up and, ignoring his own injuries, rushed towards the couch!

On the couch, Cheng Xi's body strangely stilled after the energy eruption. The terrifying vein light around him slowly receded, but his skin showed a deathly grey pallor, and his breath was so weak it was almost extinguished. Only deep within his brow, a faint, almost imperceptible grey light of chaos, enveloped by boundless silence and turbid evil, was undergoing its final, instinctive deduction like a spark fallen into an icy abyss--analyzing the source of the turbid evil that had invaded his body, searching for that almost non-existent... glimmer of hope!

At the northern foot of Mount Li, the desolate forest was silent.

In the center of a depression, a terrifying demonic shadow, over ten feet tall, stood under the pale moonlight. It largely retained a distorted human silhouette, but its body was covered in cold, hard dark gold scales, with sharp bone spurs protruding from its joints. A ferocious scorpion tail covered in barbs swung slowly behind it, striking the air with a sound like tearing silk. Its head was a mix of lizard and human, its snout protruding, fangs bared. Deep within its cold, emotionless dark gold vertical pupils, the entire chaotic Xianyang City was reflected.

Lu Buwei... or rather, this body completely eroded and transformed by the Demon Lizard's Severed Skull, slowly raised a demonic palm covered in scales, its claws like hooks. In its palm, a mass of viscous, wriggling dark gold demonic energy was condensing, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of devouring and chaos. Hoarse, sticky, non-human, non-beast syllables rolled from its throat:

"Chao...hun...nu...tri...ent...ci...ty...blood...food..."

It suddenly turned its head, its vertical pupils locking onto the direction of Xianyang Palace! More accurately, onto the location within the Imperial Physicians' Bureau where the chaotic energy fluctuation had just occurred! The out-of-control chaotic vortex within Cheng Xi was, to it, a more tempting tonic than the essence blood of ten thousand spirits!

"Roar--!"

The demonic shadow raised its head and let out a roar that tore through the night sky! Its feet stomped on the ground fiercely! Its scaled claws dug deeply into the soil! Its massive body transformed into a dark gold stream of light that tore through the night, carrying a foul wind and the stench of sulfur, charging towards the direction of the Imperial Physicians' Bureau of Xianyang Palace at a speed exceeding that of a galloping horse! Wherever it passed, trees withered, and the ground was left with corrosive scorched marks!

It had only one goal--to devour that out-of-control chaotic origin! To complete its final demonic transformation!

Deep within the earth veins, the confrontation between orange-red and dark gold had reached a fever pitch!

In front of the rock face where Yan Lingji sat, blood continuously flowed from the corner of her mouth, her face was as pale as paper, and her body swayed precariously. The orange-red flame of her Heart Lamp, under the dual pressure of the pollution impact from the Demonic Locust Tree's roots and the Demonic Eye's dark gold beam, was like a small boat in a raging storm, on the verge of capsizing at any moment!

The orange-red thread of fire aimed at the Demon Eye's main body, when still a hundred zhang away from its target, was tightly ensnared by the countless dark-gold roots of the Demonic Locust Tree that frantically intercepted it! The roots secreted a viscous dark-gold liquid, continuously corroding and wearing away the flame's power! The fire thread's light rapidly dimmed, unable to advance an inch!

A trace of humanized mockery and greed flashed in the Demon Eye's cold vertical pupil. More dark-gold filth surged from all directions, attempting to completely extinguish and devour that thread of flame representing purification!

"No..." Yan Lingji's consciousness blurred, despair washing over her like a tide. The call of Pangu Hall became faint under the impact of the pollution, and the power Empress Pingxin had bolstered was rapidly depleting. Could it be... she could only watch as the earth vein was thoroughly polluted?

At this critical moment!

The Qingping Sword Sheath, covered in cracks, in front of her knees, let out an extremely faint sword cry, as if from a distant time and space, without any warning! It wasn't the Sword Intent of Lord Tongtian, but a kind of... primordial resonance that had slumbered for eons, now stirred by the ultimate conflict between purity and filth!

Amidst the sword cry, deep within Yan Lingji's soul sea, the vision of the earth vein being polluted, transmitted by the Will of Pangu Hall, flashed violently! One of the relatively small earth vein branches, being frantically eroded by the dark-gold filth, its source position, eerily overlapped with the rock wall where she was currently located!

This branch... had not yet been completely polluted! Its source, perhaps... still held a trace of an Earth Vein Spirit Eye untainted by Demonic Blood!

Inspiration struck!

Yan Lingji used her last ounce of strength, no longer directing the dimming orange light of her Heart Lamp towards the distant, heavily obstructed Demon Eye, but instead... violently guiding it towards the rock layer beneath her! Towards the source of that small, unpolluted branch!

"Sacred Fire... Returns to Origin!"

The orange-red flame, following the channel connecting her to the earth vein, instantly plunged into the depths of the rock layer beneath her, like a weary bird returning to its nest!

Boom--!

The rock wall shook violently! A weak, yet incredibly pure and warm, pale golden beam of light shot up from the crack beneath Yan Lingji! Though the beam was thin, it carried the vigorous life force of the earth's origin, unpolluted! It precisely illuminated that thread of orange-red fire, entangled by the Demonic Locust Tree's roots and on the verge of extinguishing!

Like dry tinder meeting a raging fire!

The orange-red fire thread instantly surged! The Demonic Locust Tree's roots wrapped around it, under the dual scorching of the pale golden beam and the surging orange flame, let out a piercing "sizzle" and instantly turned black and withered! The orange-red flame broke free from its restraints. While its volume didn't increase, its core condensed into a point of pure, incandescent white light! Carrying the origin power of purification that could burn away all filth in the world, its speed surged, like a white rainbow flowing upstream, ignoring the surging dark-gold filth ahead, and fiercely shot towards the massive Demon Eye at the earth vein's core!

In the Demon Eye's vertical pupil, for the first time, a trace of... a fluctuation called fear was clearly reflected!

In a side hall of the Imperial Physicians' Bureau, smoke and dust filled the air.

Hou Yi struggled to stand, leaning on his bone bow, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The beast-skin on his chest was torn open in several places by chaotic energy. Meng Tian knelt by Cheng Xi's couch, resting his greatsword on the ground, his tiger's mouth cracked, staring intently at the figure on the couch whose breath was almost extinguished.

The faint grey chaotic light on Cheng Xi's brow, enveloped by boundless Turbid Evil, was undergoing an unimaginable extreme deduction. The composition, flow, and connection nodes of countless Turbid Evil forces with the earth vein... were rapidly decomposing and analyzing within the grey light! An extremely minuscule energy gap, hidden by layers of filth, was slowly revealing its outline under the grey light's scan--this was the only weakness of the seal! It was also... the most fragile point connecting the Turbid Evil force to the earth vein! If this point could be precisely struck...

At the very instant this life-or-death deduction was about to lock onto the gap's coordinates!

CRACK--!!!

The massive window of the Imperial Physicians' Bureau facing the street, along with half the wall, was violently shattered by an unstoppable, ferocious force! Wood chips and bricks flew like rain!

In the swirling dust, a giant demonic claw, covered in cold, dark-gold scales with hooked talons, tore through the smoke, carrying a pungent smell of sulfur. It ignored the residual energy turbulence raging within the hall and lunged towards Cheng Xi, who was defenseless on the couch, with a fierce grab! The dark-gold demonic energy coiling around the claw tips emanated a hunger and destruction that devoured everything!

The demonic figure of Lu Buwei had arrived! His target was directly aimed at the tempting ball of chaotic origin within Cheng Xi's dantian!

"Beast! How dare you!!!"

Meng Tian's eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a heaven-shattering roar! He had no time to think; his body's instincts surpassed his pain! His greatsword, carrying all his remaining strength and boundless rage, transformed into a desperate streak of dark light, slashing upwards towards the terrifying demonic claw! The sword's edge pointed precisely at the relatively weak scale connection on the demonic claw's wrist!

The sword's edge and the demonic claw collided violently just inches above Cheng Xi's body!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The dark light of Meng Tian's greatsword, the cold glint of Hou Yi's unreleased bone arrow, the dark-gold trajectory of the demonic claw tearing through space, and... the grey chaotic light on Cheng Xi's brow, madly deducing in deathly silence, about to lock onto the Turbid Evil gap!

The deafening clang of metal on metal and the screech of energy annihilation were about to tear through this brief silence!