Sacred Blood Taints the Demon

The spiritual pool of Biyou Palace was as silent as a grave.

At the edge of the World Purifying Green Lotus, the savage crack that had just been temporarily mended by sacred blood now resembled a wound bitten by a venomous snake. A trace of glaring Dark Gold markings quietly emerged along its edge! Though fine, the markings emitted pure chaos and malicious intent, utterly incompatible with the Green Lotus's pure sacred origin, like filthy blood splashed across white silk!

"Hmm?!" Lord Tongtian's fingers pressed against the crack suddenly trembled! A cold, sticky Will of Chaos filled with endless devouring desire stabbed viciously into the depths of his Sage Soul through the channel of returning sacred power! Though tiny, this will carried an essential pressure originating from the depths of the Chaos Sea, one that stood above ordinary demon gods!

"Nirvana Demonic Intent?!" Lord Tongtian's pupils constricted sharply, and for the first time, a grave expression appeared on his pale face! He instantly understood—this was the dying counterattack of that underground demonic eye. Using its last bit of primordial demonic intent as a guide, it had exploited the sacred power channel he opened to carry out a bone-clinging maggot-like invasion! Its target was the flawless Dao Foundation of him, a Primordial Sage!

"Evil obstruction! How dare you deceive a Sage!" Lord Tongtian's furious roar exploded through Biyou Palace like thunder! The dormant Sky-Severing Sword Intent all over his body erupted! Countless condensed azure sword energies, as tangible as solid matter, burst from within him. They did not attack the external world, but instead instantly intertwined within the sea of consciousness of his Sage Soul, forming a Netherworld Sword Prison!

Within the sword prison, billions of sword lights flowed, carrying the Supreme Will to sever all things and destroy all laws as they viciously ground toward that invading strand of Dark Gold demonic intent!

Hiss, hiss, hiss—!

An invisible clash erupted in the deepest reaches of the Sage's sea of consciousness! The Dark Gold demonic intent was like a slick venomous snake, charging and twisting wildly as it released thoughts of chaotic corruption, attempting to taint his Sage Soul and stir up inner demons! But how tyrannical was Lord Tongtian's Sky-Severing Sword Intent? The sword prison was stern, its sword light imprisoning. Every grinding strike precisely shaved away a trace of the demonic intent's origin!

The Dark Gold demonic intent let out a soundless shriek, struggling and twisting madly as its form rapidly shrank! It was about to be completely annihilated within the sword prison!

However, at the very last moment before the demonic intent was destroyed—

It suddenly abandoned resistance. Instead, it turned all its remaining demonic intent origin into an extreme stream of corrupting information. Rather than attacking Lord Tongtian, it slammed viciously into the barrier of the sword prison! This data stream contained the pain of its purification, its hatred for Pangu's primordial world, its greed toward the "Chaos Variable" (Cheng Xi), and... scattered imprints of the "Lord of Nirvana" it served!

Boom!

Although the corrupting data stream failed to breach the sword prison's barrier, it was like a spark falling into boiling oil, instantly stirring the trace of hostility buried within Lord Tongtian due to his Dao Foundation being damaged when he had forcefully shaken the Heavenly Dao, along with his resentment at Heavenly Dao's Injustice! It also stirred the crack in the World Purifying Green Lotus that had been tainted by Dark Gold markings!

Bzzz—!

The Dark Gold markings on the Green Lotus's crack suddenly lit up! They instantly resonated with the hostility and resentment stirred within Lord Tongtian's sea of consciousness! A weak yet exceedingly stubborn force of chaotic corrosion seeped backward through the Dao Foundation connection between the Sage Soul and the Green Lotus!

Pfft!

Lord Tongtian's body shook violently, and he spat out another mouthful of golden sacred blood that scattered over the Green Lotus! A faint layer of Dark Gold spots instantly covered the fingers he had pressed against the crack! Though the demonic intent within the sword prison had been completely annihilated, a trace of contamination from the "Lord of Nirvana" used that moment of internal and external assault to burrow deeply into the Dao Foundation Crack like the tiniest spore! It even stirred a flaw in his own Dao Heart!

Dao Foundation Tarnished! Sage Body Soiled!

Lord Tongtian slowly drew in his erupting aura, his expression frighteningly grim. He lowered his head to look at the stubborn Dark Gold markings upon the Green Lotus's crack and the faint golden spots on his fingertips, sword light flickering unstably in his eyes. The Tribulation of Killing... had indeed begun. Even a Sage could not remain uninvolved! Though this demonic intent was slight, the "Lord of Nirvana" behind it filled him with an unprecedented sense of warning.

His gaze pierced through the void, falling once more upon Mount Li, upon Xianyang, upon the unconscious Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji, before finally fixing on the withered Demonic Locust Tree at the northern foothills of Mount Li. A cold gleam flashed through his eyes. "This tree... cannot be allowed to remain!"

The side hall of the Imperial Medical Office was filled with the stench of blood and turbid air.

Cheng Xi lay in Meng Tian's arms, his breathing weak and nearly extinguished. Beneath his skin, dark red Turbid Fiendish Meridians writhed like living things, spreading from his dantian to his neck as they greedily sucked away his remaining life force. The newborn Chaos Earth Fiend had nearly been exhausted after killing the demonic shadow, while his meridians were like scorched earth after being ravaged by raging flames, breaking apart inch by inch.

"Imperial Physician! Hurry!" Meng Tian's tiger eyes were bloodshot as he roared toward the door. Several elderly imperial physicians with white hair and beards entered trembling with medicine chests in hand. When they saw the savage Turbid Fiendish Meridians on Cheng Xi's body and his frail aura like a candle in the wind, all of them turned pale in horror.

"General... this... this cannot be treated with medicine!" The leading old imperial physician placed his fingers on Cheng Xi's wrist. His touch was icy cold, while the pulse beneath it was as chaotic as boiling porridge. A heavy, deathly turbid force was entrenched in his dantian, madly devouring life force. The physician shook his head repeatedly in fright.

"Useless trash!" Meng Tian was furious. If he had not been holding Cheng Xi, he would have nearly drawn his sword!

"Move aside." A low, commanding voice came from outside the hall.

Ying Zheng appeared before the shattered doors of the hall. He had changed out of his damaged black robes and now wore ordinary garments of black embroidered with gold, yet the heavy, prison-like Ancestor Dragon Pressure around him had become even more condensed and restrained. His dragon eyes swept across the mess in the hall, passed over the headless corpse of the demonic shadow, and finally settled on Cheng Xi, his gaze deep and unreadable.

He slowly stepped forward, ignoring the imperial physicians kneeling on the ground. He directly extended his right hand and pressed it against Cheng Xi's icy forehead. A condensed point of Dark Gold dragon aura entered his body through his fingertips!

"Hmm?" Ying Zheng's brows furrowed slightly. He sensed the utterly devastated state within Cheng Xi's body, and he also sensed the Turbid Fiendish Power, like bone-clinging maggots, madly devouring his life force. Ancestor Dragon True Power instinctively surged toward the source of that filth—the sea of energy in his dantian!

However, at the instant Ancestor Dragon True Power touched the Turbid Fiendish Power—

Bzzz!

Deep inside Cheng Xi's dantian, the gray glow of the Chaos Origin Point wrapped in Turbid Fiendish Power, along with the remaining aura of Chaos Earth Fiend, reacted like a ferocious beast that had been provoked. It instinctively rejected the majestic Ancestor Dragon True Power! Though the remaining gray, gold, and azure powers were weak, they possessed the traits of Chaos and Disorder. They collided thunderously with the order and majesty represented by Ancestor Dragon True Power!

Hiss, hiss!

Cheng Xi's body suddenly shuddered, and black blood overflowed from his mouth once more! The Turbid Fiendish Meridians beneath his skin pulsed even more violently! The conflict caused by that rejection accelerated the loss of his life force!

A Dark Gold gleam flashed through Ying Zheng's eyes, and he instantly withdrew the Ancestor Dragon True Power. He stared at Cheng Xi's ashen face in silence for a moment before he slowly spoke, his voice betraying neither joy nor anger. "You stirred the earth veins, became tainted by chaos, and slew evil spirits... Cheng Xi, the 'surprises' you give me grow greater each time."

He raised his hand, and a palm-sized Dark Gold token engraved with mysterious dragon patterns appeared in his palm. It was neither metal nor jade, warm to the touch, and emitting a vast, pure Ancestor Dragon aura—it was precisely the Ancestor Dragon Inheritance Token he had initially brought under his control!

"Meng Tian."

"Your servant is here!"

"Take this token. Draw upon the uncontaminated dragon aura of the Imperial Mausoleum of Mount Li and inject it into his body." Ying Zheng tossed the token to Meng Tian, his gaze cold. "Use dragon aura as a prison to seal the Turbid Fiendish Power and remaining hostility in his dantian! Keep him hanging onto his last breath. As for whether he can awaken, that depends on his own fate."

"Yes!" Meng Tian caught the token with both hands. Feeling the vast Ancestor Dragon aura within it, his spirits lifted. The Imperial Mausoleum of Mount Li was the ancestral court of Great Qin's dragon vein. Though its core dragon aura had been damaged by the demon calamity, there had to be a pure dragon source deep within that remained uncontaminated! using that aura to seal the Turbid Fiendish Power might offer a glimmer of hope!

Ying Zheng no longer looked at the unconscious Cheng Xi. He turned and walked toward the outside of the hall, his black sleeves sweeping over the bloodstained ground, his voice as cold as ice. "Deliver my decree: Lord Chang'an Cheng Xi has rendered merit in slaying evil spirits, but he has suffered severe wounds from foul forces and must enter the imperial mausoleum to recuperate. Effective immediately, seal off the ruins of the side hall of Ganquan Palace. Without my personal decree, no one may approach Yan Lingji. The Demonic Locust Tree at the northern foothills of Mount Li and everything within ten li of it shall be designated a forbidden zone. Any who enter without authorization... shall be executed!"

He wanted to keep Cheng Xi alive, but he also wanted to control these two people who bore earth-shattering secrets—the "variables"! Though he had obtained the Ancestor Dragon inheritance, the road ahead was still shrouded in mist. These two might... be crucial pieces to break the deadlock, or they might be... the source of an even greater disaster!

Before the rock wall at Mount Li's main peak, the Azure Light Pillar slowly dissipated.

Yan Lingji sat cross-legged on the ground. Though the vast sacred power enveloped all over her body had receded, earth-shaking changes had taken place within her. The emerald light Lord Tongtian had drawn forth with sacred blood not only cleansed the demonic intent, but also injected a pure, gentle force containing supreme vitality and the true meaning of the Sky-Severing Sword Dao into her dried-up meridians and heart lamp.

The orange-red kindling heart lamp at her chest now shone steadily and warmly. Though it had not grown in size, its core contained an additional condensed Emerald Core—the imprint of sacred blood and Sky-Severing Sword Intent! As the flame danced, faint azure sword gleams flowed within it, emitting a will to protect and ward off evil.

What shocked her even more was the change in her bloodline! Her originally thin Zhurong Descendant Lineage was now like ore cast into a furnace under the combined effects of sacred blood and the heart lamp's kindling flame, beginning an intense purification and ascension! The blazing white core of witchfire had taken on a faint orange-gold hue. Its temperature was higher, and its purifying power stronger! The Dark Gold Demonic Markings lurking deep in her bloodline were thoroughly silenced under the dual suppression of the sacred blood imprint and orange-gold flames, tightly imprisoned in a corner.

"Lord Tongtian..." Yan Lingji slowly opened her eyes. Orange-gold flames flashed and disappeared from her gaze, filled with deep gratitude and shock. She struggled to her feet. Though she remained weak, the power within her was purer and more condensed than before, and she had even vaguely touched the threshold of a higher realm.

Her gaze fell upon the Qingping Sword Sheath before her knees. The sheath was covered with cracks, yet after the emerald light faded, a warm, contained radiance faintly flowed across it, as though it had undergone the baptism of sacred blood and gained a subtle increase in spirituality. She carefully picked up the sword sheath and stored it close to her body.

The summons from Pangu Hall came clearly once more, carrying approval and guidance, along with a trace of urgency—the core of the earth vein contamination had been cut down by the Azure Flame Sacred Sword, but countless contaminated branch nodes remained, and the hidden danger had yet to be removed! Especially deep within the roots of the withered Demonic Locust Tree at Mount Li's northern foothills...

Yan Lingji looked toward the northern foothills, flames rising in her orange-gold eyes. Purifying the earth veins and removing the source of contamination was her mission, as well as a trial ground for her Newborn Power! Without hesitation, she followed the guidance of Pangu Hall and her bloodline's perception of the earth veins, taking firm steps toward the northern foothills of Mount Li.

At the northern foothills of Mount Li, the desolate forest was deathly still.

The Demonic Ancient Locust Tree, dozens of zhang tall, had completely withered. The Dark Gold patches on its trunk had entirely peeled away, exposing the scorched black, rotten interior. Its bare branches stretched toward the sky like withered bones, releasing a mournful wail in the wind. The air was thick with the pungent stench of sulfur and decay.

Yet beneath the earth, at the heart of this withered place that symbolized death and ending, a silent plunder and transformation was taking place.

The vast root network of the Demonic Locust Tree had, for the vast majority, lost its vitality alongside the annihilation of the demonic eye, turning gray and withered. Only one thickest primary lateral root, which had once directly penetrated the rock layers and touched that drop of Dark Gold Demonic Blood, now displayed strange vitality!

The Dark Gold Cuticle covering this primary root had not only failed to peel away, but had instead become darker and thicker, like a layer of metal armor. No longer absorbing nourishment from the earth veins, the root was like an awakened giant python, wildly digging and piercing through the dark soil! Following the faint remaining aura and contamination path left behind when that drop of demonic blood seeped through, it bored toward deeper, darker underground depths!

At last!

After piercing through several layers of hard rock, the root tip suddenly touched a small pool of viscous, heavy gelatinous matter emitting a faint Dark Gold glow—this was precisely the last bit of unpurified demonic blood essence remaining from the drop of Dark Gold Demonic Blood that had contaminated the earth veins after the core demonic eye was destroyed by the Azure Flame Sacred Sword!

Bzzz!

Like a shark smelling blood, the Dark Gold primary root split open at its tip with countless tiny mouthparts and frantically latched onto it! The viscous demonic blood essence was swiftly sucked up and devoured! The root visibly expanded and throbbed at a rapid pace! The Dark Gold Cuticle covering it became darker and thicker, even beginning to spread toward the surrounding roots!

As the demonic blood essence was entirely devoured, this primary lateral root completely severed itself from the other withered roots. It was no longer a section of tree root, but more like a Dark Gold Demonic Root possessing independent life! It slowly retracted, coiling deep within the vast dead main root system of the Demonic Locust Tree. Like a hibernating venomous snake, it emitted a cold, greedy aura as it waited for an opportunity to strike.

At the demonic root's core, a Dark Gold core the size of a grain of rice, condensed from pure demonic blood essence, slowly pulsed like a sleeping heart. It greedily absorbed the last trace of Chaos Energy drifting through the soil from the contaminated earth veins, silently accumulating power as it waited for... the next chance to awaken and hunt.

The withered tree was its tomb, the demonic root lay dormant. Though the poison in the earth veins had temporarily been cleared, its roots had not been eradicated.