Demonic Realm Fragment, Torch Flame First Appearance

The moment he was locked onto by that Nine Nether Source filled with malice and deathly stillness, Xuanwei felt as if his core of Immortal Qi was about to freeze! It was a confrontation and rejection originating from a fundamental level of existence, far more terrifying than anything he had faced with the Demonic Beasts before!

"Not good! We've alerted the big one inside!" Bixiao also sensed the heart-stopping fluctuation. She held the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors horizontally in front of her, her delicate face taut.

Qiongxiao quickly expanded the protective light shield of the Spirit Purifying Pearl to its limit, her voice urgent, "This place is not safe for long! That Source is extremely concentrated, and it's not something we can confront head-on. Let's retreat quickly!"

Xuanwei suppressed the tremor in his heart and decisively said, "Go!"

Without hesitation, the three of them transformed into streaks of escaping light and sped back the way they came!

However, they had only flown about a hundred miles when the sea below suddenly churned as if it were boiling! Countless Demonic Beasts surged out like a tide, madly blocking their path! Even more terrifying was the gray-black mist in the archipelago region, which churned violently. A colossal black tentacle, formed purely from Nine Nether Demonic Qi and spanning the heavens and earth, carrying the terrifying might to corrode the void and devour life, seemed to traverse space itself as it lashed out fiercely at the three of them!

The energy level emanating from this tentacle had surpassed that of a Mysterious Immortal, reaching the realm of a Golden Immortal! Although it was merely an energy construct and not the main body, it was still something the three of them could not possibly resist!

"Careful!" Yunxiao's warning seemed to come from across a vast distance. The golden light of the Primal Chaos Golden Dipper attempted to descend across space to block it, but the black tentacle was too fast, and the Demonic Qi too potent. The golden light was forcefully repelled!

As the destructive tentacle was about to descend, Bixiao and Qiongxiao's faces turned pale, and they were already preparing to fight to the death!

At this critical juncture, a resolute glint flashed in Xuanwei's eyes!

He forcefully poured his own Immortal power, the Wutu Source, the Wood Element Vitality, and the power of the Chaos Bead in his sea of consciousness into the "Chaos Domain" he had recently comprehended, without holding anything back!

"Chaos Domain, expand to the extreme! Hold for me!"

Buzz--!!!

The Chaos Domain, originally ten feet in diameter, was forcefully expanded to a hundred feet! The chaotic energy within the domain churned with unprecedented concentration, and the laws twisted to their limit, as if transforming into an independent miniature world of chaos, directly blocking the colossal black tentacle!

Boom!!!

The black tentacle struck the Chaos Domain fiercely!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a bizarre, teeth-grinding sound of laws and energy annihilating each other! The Chaos Domain trembled violently, its light flickering unstably. Chaotic energy at the edges was constantly being eroded and dissipated by the Demonic Qi, but it was quickly replenished by Xuanwei's Source!

Xuanwei grunted, his Immortal Qi core fluctuating violently, his energy level plummeting like a dam bursting! But he gritted his teeth and held on, injecting the boundless vitality of the Remnant Seed of Jianmu into the domain. The yellow-green vital energy merged with the chaotic energy, surprisingly neutralizing and purifying the erosion of the Nine Nether Demonic Qi to a certain extent!

[Chaos Domain operating under overload! Energy is being consumed rapidly!]

[High concentration of Nine Nether Source erosion detected! Jianmu vitality and chaotic energy fusion, producing unknown resistance!]

[Warning! Host's Source is about to be overdrawn!]

"Go! I can't hold on for long!" Xuanwei roared (mental roar), illusory "bloodstains" already seeping from the corners of his mouth (mental plane).

Seeing this, Bixiao and Qiongxiao's hearts ached, but they knew this was no time for hesitation. Bixiao cleared the path with the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, cutting down the demonic creatures blocking their way. Qiongxiao bound Xuanwei with the Dragon Binding Rope. The three of them transformed into a combined escaping light, taking advantage of the precious gap where the Chaos Domain temporarily held back the black tentacle, and desperately broke through!

The black tentacle seemed enraged by the tenacious resistance of the Chaos Domain, striking the domain even more ferociously with overwhelming Demonic Qi. Xuanwei felt his consciousness blurring, his Immortal Qi core covered in cracks, as if it would completely collapse at any moment.

Just as he was about to run out of energy, an anomaly occurred!

In the process of extreme confrontation with the pure Nine Nether Source, the Chaos Domain he was forcefully sustaining seemed to have reached a certain critical point! The core of the domain, that fragment of the Chaos Bead, suddenly vibrated. A faint, almost imperceptible spiritual light, containing the ultimate truth of escape, flashed and vanished from the depths of the bead!

Immediately after, Xuanwei had a flash of inspiration. A cryptic, difficult-to-understand scripture, yet one that seemed to point directly to the origin of the Great Dao, flowed like a clear spring into his nearly parched heart:

"When the Great Dao is abandoned, benevolence and righteousness arise; when wisdom appears, great deception follows... Abandon sageliness and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold... Return to simplicity, embrace the uncarved block, have fewer desires..."

This was not any known Xuanmen Daoist technique. Its meaning was even more ancient and simple, carrying a profound insight and compassion for civilization, order, and all living beings themselves!

At the same time, at the edge of his Chaos Domain, in the area where it fiercely clashed and annihilated with the Nine Nether Demonic Qi, a faint, almost imperceptible, mysterious yellow spark, warm and tenacious, appeared out of thin air!

Though small, this spark emanated a power distinctly different from Immortal Qi and chaotic energy! It was not dazzling or overbearing, but carried the tenacious will of a torch flame passed down through generations, of never giving up, of rising from obscurity, and of struggling in desperation!

The moment this Mysterious Yellow Spark appeared, the raging Nine Nether Demonic Qi tentacle, as if encountering some natural nemesis, suddenly paused. The speed of its erosion clearly slowed, and it even faintly revealed a sense of... disgust and fear?!

[Unknown energy reaction detected! Attribute analysis: Humanity's Fortune (faint nascent form)! Characteristics: Fire of Civilization, Torch Flame, repels malevolent spirits, wards off all magic!]

[Inferred source: Host forcefully activated the Chaos Bead's Source, combined with Jianmu vitality, their own anomalous soul, and the firm will to resist the demonic realm, under extreme pressure, accidentally touched and activated the hidden within the Primordial World... projection of the Human Race's future fortune (extremely diluted manifestation)!]

Humanity's Fortune?! Projection of the Human Race's future fortune?!

In his extreme pain and daze, Xuanwei captured the System's earth-shattering notification, and his heart was thrown into turmoil!

The Human Race! On the Primordial World at this time, humanity was still in its nascent, extremely weak stage, far from becoming the protagonists of heaven and earth! But their future "torch flame passed down," "self-improvement" civilization fortune, had actually been unexpectedly activated in this way, a nascent form of it!

Moreover, this sliver of fortune actually had a clear restraining effect on the Nine Nether Demonic Qi!

Although this spark was pitifully weak and could be extinguished at any moment, the meaning it represented and the turnaround it brought gave Xuanwei a glimmer of hope in his desperate situation!

He desperately gathered his last shred of will, guiding that tiny Mysterious Yellow Spark, not to attack the massive Demonic Qi tentacle, but to act as a lighthouse, firmly guarding the core of the Chaos Domain, protecting his own rapidly fading spiritual consciousness!

"Roar--!"

The Nine Nether Source deep within the archipelago seemed to be enraged by this sudden appearance of an extremely uncomfortable aura. The Demonic Qi tentacle pressed down again fiercely!

Crack!

The Chaos Domain finally could not bear the strain and shattered inch by inch like broken glass!

Xuanwei spat out a mouthful of "spiritual energy," and his consciousness plunged into darkness. His Immortal Qi core plummeted like a kite with a broken string.

"Junior Brother Xuanwei!"

Bixiao and Qiongxiao cried out in grief and rushed to catch him without a second thought.

However, the expected fatal strike from the Demonic Qi tentacle did not come. After shattering the Chaos Domain, the tentacle seemed to be quite wary of the still stubbornly flickering Mysterious Yellow Spark, or perhaps it was threatened by the approaching main body of the Primal Chaos Golden Dipper from the direction of the Three Immortal Island. After a moment of stalemate in the air, it let out a roar of unwillingness and slowly retracted back into the gray-black mist.

The crisis was temporarily averted.

Bixiao and Qiongxiao, holding the unconscious Xuanwei whose Source was dim, did not dare to delay. They fully activated their escaping light and fled desperately towards the Three Immortal Island.

After they departed, deep within the desolate archipelago, a pair of immense eyes, formed entirely from Nine Nether Demonic Fire and brimming with malice and greed, slowly opened within the mist. They stared intently in the direction Xuanwei had vanished, especially at the faint trace of the Mysterious Yellow Spark that had flashed across him just before.

"Chaos... vitality... and that nauseating... faint Torch Flame... anomaly... must... devour..."

A low, malevolent demonic thought echoed through the mist.

Three Immortal Island, Immortal Nourishing Pool.

Xuanwei was once again immersed in the milky white pool water. This time, his injuries were more severe than before. His origin was nearly depleted, his Immortal Qi body covered in cracks. Only at the very core did a faint Mysterious Yellow Spark stubbornly flicker, sustaining his last shred of life.

Yunxiao personally intervened, using the Primal Chaos Golden Dipper (replica) to stabilize his dissipating origin. With her great pháp lực, she guided the Immortal Nourishing Pool water and a trace of Three Lights Divine Water to nourish his injured body. Bixiao and Qiongxiao stood guard beside him, their faces etched with worry.

"Eldest Sister, Junior Brother Xuanwei..." Bixiao's eyes reddened as she looked at Xuanwei's tragic state.

Yunxiao's brows were tightly furrowed, her usually cool gaze holding an unprecedented solemnity. "His origin was overdrawn too severely, compounded by the impact of Golden Immortal-level Nine Nether Demonic Intent. It's a miracle he could preserve his spiritual consciousness... and furthermore..."

Her gaze fell upon the Mysterious Yellow Spark, a flicker of uncertainty flashing in her eyes.

"This power within him... it is neither immortal nor demonic, neither Chaos nor the Five Elements. Its essence... it actually faintly relates to the sliver of fortune of the future protagonist of heaven and earth that Master once mentioned... How did he manage to trigger it?"

Just then, Xuanwei's weak origin, nourished by the Immortal Nourishing Pool and the Primal Chaos Golden Dipper, produced a wondrous resonance with the Mysterious Yellow Spark. The spark flickered slightly, and a subtle, almost imperceptible intent, carrying warmth and protection, quietly emanated, brushing past the San Xiao sisters guarding the pool.

In an instant, the Dao hearts of the three sisters seemed to be touched by this faint yet tenacious intent.

Bixiao felt the anxiety in her heart greatly soothed.

A flash of enlightenment and gentleness appeared in Qiongxiao's eyes.

Even Yunxiao, usually so cool and detached, felt a ripple in her Dao heart, her gaze towards Xuanwei becoming more complex and unreadable.

Meanwhile, Xuanwei's consciousness, lost in his unconscious state, sank into a peculiar illusion.

He seemed to see, in an endless, dark wilderness, countless frail figures gathered around tiny, weak bonfires. Surrounded by fierce beasts, battered by wind and rain, they struggled to pass on that single spark, shouting, fighting, and moving forward...

That bonfire was identical to the Mysterious Yellow Spark guarding the depths of his origin.