Heavenly Rift Shocks the Sage (Part 2)

BOOM--!!!

There was no deafening explosion, only a dull, heart-stopping sound of annihilation! Inside the monstrous demon shadow's gaping maw, it was as if a miniature black hole had been dropped in! A gray-gold destructive energy spread instantly! Tough dark gold flesh and blood, sharp fangs, surging demonic energy... under the erosion of the Chaos Earth Fiend Sword Qi, they melted away like snow under the scorching sun, vanishing!

"AOOOOOO--!!!" The demon shadow let out the most piercing, most desperate howl of its existence! Its entire head was devoured and disintegrated from the inside by the gray-gold light! Its massive body, as if all its bones had been removed, convulsed violently and collapsed backward with a crash! Dark gold demonic blood gushed out from the severed neck like a fountain!

The dust settled.

The demon shadow's headless, massive body lay in the ruins, dark gold blood flowing and emitting a pungent smell of sulfur. The head, completely annihilated from the inside by the Chaos Earth Fiend Sword Qi, had long since turned to ashes.

Cheng Xi maintained the posture of his sword-finger pointing to the sky, his body rigid, the gray-gold light on his fingertips slowly dissipating. The madness and sharpness in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by boundless exhaustion and a deathly pallor. The newly formed Chaos Earth Fiend had been almost completely depleted in that last attack, and the backlash force, along with the erosion of the Demonic Thought Chains, erupted simultaneously! His body went limp, and he fell backward, only to be caught firmly by Meng Tian, who rushed forward.

"Cheng Xi!" Meng Tian looked at the figure in his arms, whose breath was as weak as a candle in the wind, the dark red Turbid Evil veins under his skin reappearing and spreading rapidly, his tiger eyes filled with tears.

Hou Yi looked at the headless corpse of the demon shadow, then at the unconscious Cheng Xi, his gaze as heavy as iron. "Chaos Earth Fiend... incredibly powerful, yet it backfires on the user. This child... his meridians are all destroyed, his Dao Foundation is on the verge of collapse, and the Turbid Evil backlash is even more severe... I fear... there is no hope of recovery."

In front of the main peak rock face of Mount Li, Yan Lingji's resistance had reached its limit.

The orange-red Kindling Fire Heart Lamp in her chest, under the continuous defiling erosion of the Demonic Thought Chains, had its light dimmed to a mere flicker. The call from Pangu Hall was completely blocked, and the Dark Gold Demonic Markings dormant deep within her bloodline were stirring. A cold despair, like a tidal wave, was about to drown her last consciousness.

Is this... the end...? A thought of unwillingness flashed through her mind.

Just as the Kindling Fire was about to be completely extinguished!

The Qingping Sword Sheath in front of her knees, covered in cracks and silent for a long time, erupted with a final, faint yet incredibly pure azure halo without any warning! This halo was not the Sword Intent of Lord Tongtian, but a lament and... a direction from the spirituality of the sheath itself, silent for eternity!

The halo flowed, not attacking the Demonic Thought Chains, but gently enveloping Yan Lingji's fading Heart Lamp, and then... carrying this faint flame, it fiercely shot into the depths of the rock face's crack—towards the small branch source that had not yet been completely polluted, towards the Earth Vein Spirit Eye that had just provided her with strength!

Returning to the source... awakening the spirit? Yan Lingji's heart was enlightened. Using the last shred of her will, she no longer resisted but actively guided the Kindling Fire, wrapped by the sheath's azure light, following the induction of the Earth Vein Spirit Eye, towards the deepest part of the earth, towards the source of the Will of Pangu Hall in the distant unknown, sending out her final, faint call!

Though the Kindling Fire was weak, its intent was sincere! Protection! Inheritance! Prayer!

This faint point of light, a fusion of the sheath's spiritual azure light, the protective intent of the Kindling Fire, and the origin of the Earth Vein Spirit Eye, like a beacon piercing the darkness, instantly penetrated the layers of pollution and demonic thought interference, sinking into the deep Earth Vein, shooting towards that distant, unknowable place!

Golden Ao Island, Biyou Palace.

In the center of the spiritual pool, the giant World Purifying Green Lotus's light was dim. A jagged crack, struck by the Zixiao Divine Lightning, was glaringly conspicuous on the edge of the lotus platform, with wisps of Chaos energy seeping out. Lord Tongtian sat cross-legged on the lotus platform, his face as pale as paper, with traces of golden Sage's Blood at the corner of his mouth. He pressed one hand against the crack on the Green Lotus, azure Dao Rhyme flowing with difficulty, attempting to mend the wound and suppress the escaping Chaos energy.

"Master!" Core disciples like Daoist Duobao and Holy Mother Jin Ling, who stood respectfully on the lotus platform, all wore worried expressions. Holy Mother Jin Ling could not help but speak out.

Lord Tongtian waved his hand, indicating he was fine. He closed his eyes to sense, his brows tightly furrowed. He clearly felt the fluctuations of the heavenly rift, and he also understood the instant eruption when Cheng Xi activated the Chaos Earth Fiend to slay the demon shadow. This child's actions were indeed accompanied by the desperation of seizing a thread of life and... a reckless frenzy!

His Dao Foundation is destroyed... Turbid Evil clings to him... A pity for that strand of Chaos root nature... Lord Tongtian sighed inwardly, about to forcibly split off a wisp of divine sense to investigate the anomaly in the Mount Li Earth Vein—

Buzz!

A faint yet incredibly familiar sensation, carrying the intent of prayer for protection and inheritance, mixed with the vitality of the Earth Vein and the lament of the sword sheath, crossed infinite space, penetrated the Biyou Palace's restrictions, and instantly entered his sea of consciousness!

"Yan Lingji... Qingping Sword Sheath... Earth Vein Spirit Eye... Kindling Fire..." Lord Tongtian's eyes snapped open! A flicker of surprise flashed across his pale face! He instantly understood the perilous scene in front of the Mount Li rock face!

This call was faint, yet it pointed directly to the origin! Especially the protective intent of the Kindling Fire contained within, which faintly touched a chord within him, shackled by the Heavenly Dao Shackles! More importantly, this call was transmitted through the Earth Vein Spirit Eye, which had not been completely polluted, guided by the lament of the Intercepting Sect's sacred artifact, the Qingping Sword Sheath—this was... a call from one thread of life to another!

So be it! A decision flashed in Lord Tongtian's eyes! He formed his fingers into a sword and pointed sharply at the terrifying crack on the World Purifying Green Lotus beneath him!

Pfft!

A mouthful of radiant golden Sage's Blood spurted out, all of it splashing onto the crack of the Green Lotus! The Sage's Blood contained his Primordial Chaos Limitless's vast origin and the supreme sharpness of the Sky-Severing Sword Dao!

"Using my Sage's Blood as a guide! The Green Lotus's origin as a bridge! The remnant spirit of the sword sheath as proof! Open--!"

As Lord Tongtian's low shout echoed, the Green Lotus crack, stained with Sage's Blood, erupted with unprecedented azure light! A condensed, fused pillar of azure light, formed from Sage's Blood, Green Lotus origin, and Sky-Severing Sword Intent, shot up into the sky from the crack! The light pillar ignored space, followed the trajectory of that faint call, instantly crossed infinite distances, penetrated layers of rock, descended before the main peak rock face of Mount Li, and precisely enveloped Yan Lingji and the Qingping Sword Sheath!

The azure light cascaded down, carrying the supreme power of a Primordial Sage and the resolute will to seize life, instantly cleansing the Demonic Thought Chains entwined around Yan Lingji! Warm, majestic power surged into her dried meridians. The Heart Lamp, about to extinguish, was as if injected with endless lamp oil; its orange-red light instantly surged, not only stabilizing itself but also burning the stirring demonic markings deep within her bloodline!

Yan Lingji's paper-pale face instantly regained a trace of color, and her weakened aura rapidly recovered! She looked up in shock, feeling the vast Sage's power enveloping her and the familiar Sky-Severing Sword Intent, her eyes bursting with unbelievable light. "Lord Tongtian...?!"

At the same time, the azure light pillar did not stop. Part of its power, following the connection between Yan Lingji and the Earth Vein, like a surging torrent, fiercely rushed into the depths of the Earth Vein, surging towards the Purifying Fire she was maintaining!

Deep within the Earth Vein, the white-hot Purifying Fire, about to be extinguished by the demon eye's dying counterattack, received the reinforcement of this Primordial Sage's power. It was as if it had been infused with the power of creation itself; its light instantly magnified ten thousandfold! It transformed into an Azure Flame Sacred Sword that spanned the Earth Vein, carrying the purifying will to burn all directions, and fiercely slashed through the last remaining phantom of the demon eye!

"No--!!!" The demon eye let out one final, despairing, unwilling ripple of thought, completely annihilated under the Azure Flame Sacred Sword!

North of Mount Li, deep within the root system of the Demonic Ancient Locust Tree.

The newly formed dark gold vertical pupil was greedily "watching" the two battlefields of Xianyang Palace and the Mount Li rock face, waiting for the moment the prey was weakest. Suddenly!

It trembled violently! Its pupils contracted sharply! A terrifying aura, emanating supreme majesty and destructive sharpness that made it tremble from its soul, descended overwhelmingly from the direction of Mount Li's main peak! The azure light pillar pierced heaven and earth, cleansing demonic thoughts, and a torrent of azure flames, which posed a fatal threat to it, fiercely slashed and extinguished the last remnant soul of its "mother" along the Earth Vein!

"Hiss--!" For the first time, clear terror appeared in the vertical pupil! It instinctively wanted to close, to hide!

Too late!

The azure light pillar, ignited by Lord Tongtian's Sage's Blood, while cleansing the demonic thoughts around Yan Lingji and strengthening the Purifying Fire, its supreme Sage's Might also acted like an invisible searchlight, instantly penetrating the soil, locking onto this Demonic Ancient Locust Tree that was polluting the Earth Vein! It also locked onto the newly formed, threatening demonic eye deep within its root system!

"Wickedness! How dare you occupy the Earth Vein!" Lord Tongtian's cold, majestic voice, like thunder from the nine heavens, exploded directly in the depths of the Demonic Locust Tree's root system!

The next moment!

A wisp split from the azure light pillar. Though as thin as a hair, it was condensed with the ultimate sharpness of Primordial Sage power and Sky-Severing Sword Intent! Ignoring the tough demonic wood and dark gold cuticle of the Ancient Locust Tree, it was like a red-hot steel needle piercing rotten wood, instantly stabbing into the depths of the root system, precisely hitting the newly opened dark gold vertical pupil!

Squelch!

There was no earth-shattering explosion. That wisp of azure light, like the most precise scalpel, gently rotated at the core of the vertical pupil!

The dark gold vertical pupil froze abruptly! The pure chaos and desire to devour within its pupils instantly solidified and shattered! The entire vertical pupil, like a popped bubble, silently turned into a wisp of viscous dark gold smoke, rapidly dissipating into the soil of the root system.

The Demonic Locust Tree's massive body trembled violently. The dark gold patches on its trunk rapidly dimmed and peeled off, its branches and leaves completely withered. Without the demonic eye as its core, it was just a polluted, dying old tree.

However, just as the wisp of azure light annihilated the demonic eye and was about to dissipate—

An unexpected change occurred!

Where the Demonic Eye dissipated, a tiny speck of dark gold light, condensed purely from chaotic demonic intent, had not been completely annihilated! It was as if it possessed life, and the instant the azure light vanished, it fiercely attached itself to the tail end of the fading azure light! Following the trajectory of the azure light's retreat, it was like a maggot clinging to bone, surging upstream! Its speed was beyond imagination!

This dark gold speck ignored spatial distance. Following the channel of sacred power opened by Lord Tongtian, it instantly pierced through the endless void. A moment before Lord Tongtian sensed something amiss, it ruthlessly shot into the spiritual pool of Biyou Palace—into the depths of the crack on the World Purifying Green Lotus beneath Lord Tongtian's seat!

Hummm—!

The World Purifying Green Lotus trembled violently! At the edge of the crack, where the wound, temporarily mended by Sage's Blood, had been, an extremely subtle yet incredibly piercing dark gold pattern, like a venomous snake, quietly emerged!