Tuning the Dragon Vein (Part 1)

The stone cave in the Imperial Mausoleum of Mount Li gradually quieted.

Cheng Xi lay on the Ink Jade Platform, the strange vibrations that had been swirling around his body slowly subsiding. The gray light of the Chaos Origin Point deep within his brow had exhausted all its strength and fallen into a deep slumber. Yet, a miracle had occurred—the spiderweb-like dark red veins of Turbid Evil beneath his skin had visibly faded, their violent throbbing suppressed as if they were frozen venomous snakes. A faint but real warmth, nourished by Dragon Qi that had integrated with the essence of the Earth Vein, struggled to flow through his scorched meridians.

Meng Tian's hand, holding the decree, trembled slightly. His eyes, wide with disbelief, stared at the scene before him. The Dragon Source water in the stone pool no longer needed to be forcefully drawn by the token; instead, as if possessing life, it actively separated into wisps of warm, milky-white airflow, merging into the pale golden Dragon Qi being infused into Cheng Xi's body. This new airflow was even purer and gentler, carrying the pulse and vitality of the earth.

"Using oneself as a conduit... resonating with the Earth Vein..." Meng Tian murmured, utterly shaken. Lord Chang'an could actually induce the Dragon Source to willingly assist? Such a feat was beyond the realm of martial arts or immortal techniques! He dared not be careless, gathering his focus, carefully maintaining the token, and guiding this hard-won balance.

However, this balance was as fragile as glass.

Just as the Dragon Qi and the essence of the Earth Vein were gently nurturing Cheng Xi's Dao Foundation—

An anomaly occurred!

A heavy, majestic, ancient will, as if from the dawn of creation, erupted from the deepest part of the Imperial Mausoleum of Mount Li without warning! This aura was grand and righteous, yet filled with an undeniable intent to command and suppress! It ignored spatial barriers, instantly penetrating layers of rock and descending into the stone cave!

It was the Ancestor Dragon True Spirit, slumbering at the core of the Imperial Mausoleum! It had been disturbed by the resonance of the Chaos Origin Point within Cheng Xi's body with the Earth Vein, and the pure Dragon Qi! It was like a sleeping emperor whose palace had been invaded by an unknown force!

BOOM!

An invisible pressure, like a mountain weighing billions of tons, slammed down upon Cheng Xi! More accurately, it pressed down upon the slumbering gray light of the Chaos Origin Point in his dantian! The Ancestor Dragon True Spirit viewed this "foreign object," containing the variable of Chaos, as a provocation to its own authority! It intended to completely suppress and obliterate this unstable variable!

"Pfft—!" Cheng Xi, unconscious, felt as if struck by a heavy hammer, spitting out a mouthful of dark golden blood! The blood even contained tiny specks of light! The dark red veins of Turbid Evil beneath his skin, which had just faded, instantly turned a dazzling dark gold and throbbed wildly! That new stream of vital warmth was instantly severed! His entire body was once again swallowed by a deathly sense of descent! The gray light in his brow flickered frantically, emitting a silent wail. Under the terrifying pressure of the Ancestor Dragon True Spirit, it was like a candle in the wind, on the verge of extinguishing completely!

"Not good!" Meng Tian's face changed drastically! The Ancestor Dragon Token in his hand trembled violently, almost slipping from his grasp! The Dragon Source water in the stone pool was also affected by the Ancestor Dragon True Spirit's pressure, its surging momentarily halted!

The balance was broken! The backlash was fiercer! Cheng Xi's life hung by a thread!

At the northern foot of Mount Li, beneath a withered scholar tree.

Flames rose in Yan Lingji's amber eyes as she pressed her hands to the ground, her mind tightly connected to the silent battle of purification happening underground. Her orange-red Kindling Fire power transformed into countless needle-like flames, precisely scorching the energy nodes of the dark golden Demonic Root's keratinized layer. The Demonic Root writhed and pierced through the soil, its dark golden core pulsing like a drum, releasing a violent, chaotic demonic intent, like a wounded beast stubbornly resisting.

"Stubborn fool!" Yan Lingji gritted her teeth, her Heart Lamp's orange-red light growing stronger! Behind her, the vague silhouette of Zhurong, with its serpentine tail, moved, connecting more firmly with the earth. She sensed the grain-of-rice-sized dark golden light spot at the core of the Demonic Root, like the core of a malignant tumor, madly absorbing the free-floating pollution energy from the soil, attempting to repair damage and even brewing a more vicious counterattack.

It must be destroyed!

She gathered all her will, and the emerald green light core within her Heart Lamp (the brand of Tongtian Sacred Blood) suddenly lit up! A thread of extremely condensed, fused Kindling Fire's purifying essence, Zhurong's true intent of burning demons, and the sharpness of the Sky-Severing Sword Dao, shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, following her connection to the earth. It ignored the Demonic Root's frantic obstruction and fiercely pierced towards the pulsing dark golden core deep underground!

This strike contained all her newly born strength and her resolve to protect the Earth Vein!

The dark golden core seemed to sense the fatal threat, and its pulsing instantly stopped! It then erupted with unprecedented dark, gloomy light! A viscous, cold, chaotic force field, filled with endless intent to devour and distort, instantly spread out, attempting to pollute, twist, and consume this thread of fire!

The orange-green fire thread and the chaotic force field collided violently!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!

Invisible annihilation clashed fiercely on the law level! The purifying fire of orange and green intertwined, madly tearing and dissolving the dark, gloomy chaotic demonic light! Even space distorted! Yan Lingji's delicate body shook violently, her face instantly turning as pale as paper, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth! The light of her Heart Lamp flickered rapidly! The Demonic Root's counterattack far exceeded her expectations!

Just as the orange-green fire thread was about to be completely swallowed by the chaotic force field—

Buzzz—!!!

A grand, vast, heavy will, as if from the beginning of creation, descended without warning from the endless, deep end of the Earth Vein! This will did not attack directly but carried a majestic power that smoothed all and suppressed eternity! It was like a sleeping giant turning over, an unconsciously emitted pressure!

The Will of Pangu Hall! It had been stirred by the intense law conflicts in this area and the Kindling Fire intent protecting the Earth Vein!

This will swept across the battlefield, and the chaotic force field opened by the Demonic Root's core shattered silently like a soap bubble in the sun! The pulsing of the dark golden core was forcibly solidified and suppressed! It was as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand!

The pressure on the orange-green fire thread suddenly lessened, and it seized the opportunity to enter! It fiercely pierced the dark golden core temporarily suppressed by Pangu's will!

Pfft!

Countless fine cracks instantly appeared on the surface of the core! The purifying fire of orange and green surged into it along the cracks!

"Hiss—!" A soul-piercing scream, mixed with extreme pain and malice, erupted from deep within the earth! The Demonic Root convulsed and twitched wildly in the soil, like a live snake thrown into boiling oil!

Yan Lingji's pressure eased, and surprise flashed in her eyes! The Will of Pangu Hall! She dared not delay, fully urging the fire thread to burn the nearly shattered demonic core!

However, Pangu's will came and went as quickly as it arrived. The grand pressure receded like a tide. Although the suppressed dark golden core was on the verge of collapse under the burning of the purifying fire, it also unleashed its final madness the moment Pangu's will faded!

Boom!

The dark golden core exploded violently! It did not completely annihilate but transformed into billions of tiny, dark golden fireflies burning with a gloomy flame! These fireflies ignored the burning of the orange-green fire thread, like shrapnel from an explosion, piercing through the soil and scattering wildly in all directions, especially towards the Imperial Mausoleum of Mount Li and the main peak!

At the edge of the burial pit, the dead silence was broken by chewing sounds.

Wang Wu and the tomb guards' faces were ashen, listening to the bone-chilling grinding and devouring sounds coming from the deep fissures at the bottom of the pit. A complete terracotta warrior was dragged into that dark abyss before their eyes!

Fear gripped everyone's throats. Their palms, holding weapons, were slick with cold sweat.

"He... Head... we... should retreat?" a young tomb guard stammered, his teeth chattering, almost unable to hold his halberd.

Wang Wu stared fixedly at the fissure where the terracotta warrior was being devoured, his eyes bloodshot. He knew that if they retreated now, allowing the thousands of trembling terracotta warriors at the bottom of the pit to continue being devoured... who knew what kind of monster would be born! He gritted his teeth fiercely, took out a bronze whistle carved with a Black Bird pattern from his waist, and was about to sound the highest alarm!

Just as he raised his hand to blow—

Rumble—!!!

The entire burial pit shook violently! Ten times stronger than before! As if a giant beast had turned over underground!

All the trembling terracotta warriors at the bottom of the pit suddenly stopped their humming! They fell into a strange, dead silence!

Immediately after!

Crack! Crackle! Crackle crackle—!

The scalp-splitting cracking sounds sounded densely like popping beans! Dozens of terracotta warriors at the bottom of the pit, near that fissure, had their clay bodies instantly covered in a spiderweb of cracks! It wasn't from external force, but... they were collapsing from within!