Deep within the Imperial Mausoleum of Mount Li, at the end of a dark passageway.
A massive black iron door slowly opened, and a bone-chilling yin aura mixed with the earthy stench of soil accumulated over a thousand years rushed forth. Meng Tian held the Ancestor Dragon Token, its dark golden radiance flowing as it dispelled the darkness. Beyond the door was not a grand underground palace, but a natural stone cavern several zhang wide. Its walls were rough, with only a milky-white stone pool about a foot square at its center. The water shimmered with a warm, jade-like glow and exuded a pure, vast, dignified aura—the uncontaminated source of the earth-vein dragon source at the core of Mount Li's dragon vein!
At the pool's edge, Cheng Xi had been placed upon a warm Ink Jade Platform. He was still unconscious, his complexion ashen. Dark red Turbid Fiendish Meridians spread beneath his skin like a spider web, and a deathly heaviness nearly swallowed him whole. Only the faint gray glow of the Chaos Origin Point deep within his brow pulsed ever so slightly under the stimulation of the dragon source's aura.
Meng Tian took a deep breath, his expression as grave as iron. He raised the Ancestor Dragon Token high. The mysterious dragon patterns upon it resonated with the dragon source's power within the stone pool, releasing a low dragon's roar. He shouted, "By royal command! Draw forth the dragon source's aura, seal the filth, and suppress the foundation of the Dao! Rise—!"
Buzz!
The token's radiance greatly flourished! The placid milky-white water in the stone pool suddenly churned! Guided by the token, a condensed pale golden dragon aura rose slowly like a waking young dragon. Carrying supreme majesty and weighty vitality, it slowly poured down toward Cheng Xi's dantian atop the jade platform!
The instant the dragon aura touched him, Cheng Xi's body shuddered violently! The dark red Turbid Fiendish Meridians beneath his skin twisted and pulsed madly like living snakes thrown into boiling oil! They released sharp sizzling sounds of corrosive resistance! The dragon aura represented order, stability, and imperial authority, utterly incompatible with the remnants of Chaos and Disorder within Cheng Xi—the filthy, heavy Turbid Fiendish Power and the remnants of the Chaos Earth Fiend! Rejection and conflict erupted in an instant!
"Urgh..." Cheng Xi let out a pained groan in his unconsciousness, and Black Blood flecked with dark gold spots overflowed from the corner of his mouth. Pouring dragon aura into him was like ladling cold water into a seething cauldron of oil. Rather than bringing relief, it brought fiercer conflict and pain!
Meng Tian gritted his teeth and maintained the token, veins bulging at his temples. He could clearly sense the violent struggle between the dragon aura and the evil power within Cheng Xi. Every collision made Cheng Xi's life force flicker like a candle in the wind. This seal was like forcibly building a wall atop a dam on the verge of collapse—perilous beyond measure!
Yet amid this violent rejection and agony, the dormant gray glow of the Chaos Origin Point deep within Cheng Xi's brow began spinning at an unprecedented speed!
Rejection... conflict... energy attributes... dragon aura circulation trajectory... Turbid Fiendish contamination nodes... violent factors in the Chaos Earth Fiend remnants...
Countless streams of information were frantically captured, broken down, and modeled within the gray glow! Like the most precise scanner, it analyzed and reconstructed the dragon aura energy field pouring into his body, his own chaotic force field, and the structure of the Turbid Fiendish seal in the form of pure data stream!
Deep within the gray glow, a three-dimensional dynamic model composed of pure energy lines rapidly took shape! At its core were Cheng Xi's Dao foundation and Meridian Network, both on the verge of collapse. Outside flowed the pale golden energy representing dragon aura, while within coiled the dark red filth of the Turbid Fiendish Power in his dantian and the restless gray-gold energy representing the remnants of the Chaos Earth Fiend!
Where are the points of rejection? What is the threshold of conflict? Could there be... a dynamic balance? Could this dragon aura even be used to scour away and suppress the Turbid Fiendish Power instead?!
The gray glow's calculations reached a fever pitch! It was no longer passively enduring; it was actively analyzing, calculating, and searching for that fleeting sliver of possibility! Under the threat of death, the Chaos Origin Point's core ability to analyze all things had been driven to its utmost limit!
The withered Demonic Locust Tree stood in the middle of the desolate forest like a colossal tombstone. Its scorched black branches moaned in the wind, and the stench of decay filled the air.
Yan Lingji walked barefoot over the dead branches and fallen leaves, her orange-gold eyes sweeping across this silent land of death. Pangu Hall's guidance pointed clearly underground—the lurking demonic root was the final remnant of the contamination.
She stopped before the huge mound of earth raised by the Demonic Locust Tree's main root. There was no need to dig. Her bloodline's perception of earth and flame had already clearly outlined the main lateral root deep below: covered in dark golden keratin, coiled like a venomous dragon, cold, greedy, and waiting for its chance.
"A place that harbors filth must be burned away by kindling fire..." Yan Lingji's voice was cold and resolute. She sat cross-legged and laid the crack-covered Qingping Sword Sheath across her lap. Forming hand seals, she made the orange-red kindling flame heart-lamp at her chest light up instantly! The Emerald Core at the flame's center—the imprint of Tongtian Sacred Blood—circulated, giving the fire a more condensed will to destroy evil!
She did not attack directly. Instead, she sank her consciousness into the earth. Orange-red flames flowed from her heart-lamp, passing through the palm pressed against the ground. Like countless warm yet resilient roots, they silently seeped into the soil and wound toward the Dark Gold Demonic Root below!
The flames were formless, but their intent was to burn! The power of kindling fire did not target physical matter, but rather... the very source of filth and Chaos and Disorder!
Buzz!
Deep underground, the coiled Dark Gold Demonic Root suddenly shuddered! The thick keratin layer covering its surface emitted faint sizzling sounds under the intent-burning of the orange-red flames, as if corroded by invisible acid! A searing pain and revulsion originating from its very source traveled along the demonic root to its core—the rice-grain-sized dark golden core!
The dark golden core suddenly lit up! Violent, chaotic demonic intent erupted! It attempted to resist the all-pervading Purifying Fire! Like a startled venomous snake, the demonic root twisted and pierced wildly through the soil, trying to shake off the flames wrapped around it!
"Hmm!" Yan Lingji gave a muffled groan, her face turning slightly pale. The demonic root's resistance was extremely fierce, and the impact of its chaotic demonic intent shook her mind. Yet her gaze remained firm, and the orange-red glow of her heart-lamp grew brighter! Behind her, the vague phantom of a human-headed, snake-bodied figure formed from flames appeared—the initial manifestation of Ancestor Witch Zhurong's power after her bloodline purification!
The phantom's snake tail swayed and merged into the earth. Yan Lingji's perception and control of the earth veins instantly rose! She guided the orange-red flames, no longer scattering them to burn indiscriminately. Instead, she condensed them into countless fine fire needles and precisely stabbed them into the minute Energy Nodes exposed across the demonic root's keratin layer by its frantic twisting! These nodes were the hubs through which the demonic root absorbed and converted contaminated energy!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
The invisible sound of annihilation rang out densely underground! The Dark Gold Demonic Root's twisting abruptly intensified, and it let out a silent wail! The areas of its keratin layer struck by the fire needles swiftly turned gray and lifeless, losing their luster! Its efficiency in absorbing and converting contaminated energy was forcibly interrupted and weakened!
The dark golden core pulsed madly, releasing even denser chaotic demonic intent as it attempted to repair the damaged nodes and even corrode the orange-red flames in return! But the Emerald Core within the flames circulated, and the sharp edge of the Sky-Severing Sword Intent faintly emerged, firmly blocking the demonic intent's corrosion!
A silent tug-of-war fiercely unfolded deep beneath the northern foothills of Mount Li. The kindling fire purified and pressed forward step by step; the demonic root stubbornly resisted, waiting for a chance to strike back. Beneath the withered giant tree, Yan Lingji sat motionless as stone, orange-red flames rising all over her body in stark opposition to the cold dark golden demonic intent underground.
Before you continue