Disturbances Rise Again, Remnant Dao Crystal Shows Its Might

The ground was still shaking.

It was not the sort of brief tremor, but a continuous rumble coming from the direction of the Forbidden Ground, like something turning over deep underground. I lay prone under the side courtyard's veranda, my blood-stained clothes dried hard against my skin, and every breath tugged at the rent across my waist. Yet I knew I could not move right now, nor could I wake up too fast.

The sound of wind brushed past the eaves, and footsteps approached from afar, mixed with the light, crisp clatter of weapons colliding. The guards had all been reassigned to the northern side, and the Forbidden Ground over there was already in chaos. The Spiritual Energy was in severe disarray, fiercer than last night's, as if the Earth Meridian of the entire estate were being churned up. I closed my eyes, yet could perceive that the jade slip inside my breast pocket was growing slightly warm, vibrating in complete synchronization with the underground tremors—that Remnant Dao Crystal hidden within the iron box in the interlayer of the bedboards was responding to it.

It was about to explode.

If it were allowed to remain there any longer, it would sooner or later draw out deeper investigations. Ji Hantian would not let go of any tiny clue, and on that iron box, a wisp of my aura from sealing it last night still remained.

I could wait no longer.

I slowly reached my right hand into my breast pocket, my fingertips brushing the corner of the jade slip. It grew quiet, but that cold resonance still echoed within my heart. At the same time, a muffled groan came from the direction of the distant torture room, followed immediately by the sharp, cracking snap of a leather whip tearing through the air.

Afu was dragged out.

I did not open my eyes, nor did I move. Yet my palms had already quietly clenched tight, the Heaven-Slaying Origin condensing into a single thread within my meridians to suppress the surging fury. He had entered and exited the edge of the Forbidden Ground simply because he delivered medicine to me, and now he had become a scapegoat. The screams from the hanging rack sounded one after another, muffled yet clear, like someone slowly carving meat with a dull blade.

"Speak! What did you steal from the Forbidden Ground?"

"N-No..."

"Crack!"

I heard his voice shaking, yet he did not recant.

Good.

Right at that moment, I suddenly twitched, my shoulders giving a fierce jolt, and a hoarse whimpering squeezed from my throat. Then, my entire body trembled violently, as though seized by a nightmare. A guard stood outside the veranda, glanced toward this side, and frowned.

"Having another episode?"

I did not answer, merely springing up abruptly from the ground with unfocused eyes, stumbling as I dashed outward. A guard reached out to intercept me, but I crashed head-on into his chest, leveraged the momentum to roll away, and took advantage of the motion to fling myself toward the path leading to the front courtyard.

"He's mad, truly mad!" someone laughed out loud. "The trash Young Master has been scared out of his wits again!"

I ignored them, running on stumbling and tripping. The iron box concealed in my sleeve pressed closely against the inner side of my arm, heavy as a piece of glowing red-hot iron. The altar lay ahead, already sealed by array runes with rune pillars erected at the four corners. Ji Hantian sat personally at the center, his Purple-Gold Python Robe snapping in the wind as his gaze swept across the crowd like a hawk.

I could not get too close.

Yet I had to get that thing inside.

I ran wildly all the way straight to the edge of the altar, suddenly throwing my head back to roar, grabbed a handful of incense ash from the ground, and shoved it straight into my mouth. The onlookers burst into loud laughter, and even the guards relaxed their vigilance, taking it simply for a madman causing trouble.

At that very instant, I feigned a slip of the foot, plunging forward headfirst and taking advantage of the rolling momentum to fling the iron box out of my sleeve, precisely tossing it into the ancient rune array at the center of the altar with the force of the tumble.

Boom—

A muffled explosion burst forth from beneath the ground.

The iron box shattered by itself the moment it landed, and the instant the Remnant Dao Crystal was exposed to the core of the array, golden torrents of light gushed forth like a tidal wave. The runes on the altar all lit up completely, and a ring-shaped shockwave swept across the entire scene, churning up dust and remnant incense as it charged straight into the night sky. The heavens and earth hummed, Spiritual Energy poured backward in reverse, and even Ji Hantian retreated half a step, his pupils contracting sharply.

I knelt on the ground, the Pseudo-Primordial Body spontaneously operating to its absolute limit, crazily absorbing the Heaven-Slaying Origin dissipating into the air. Those golden torrents of light fell like rain, a portion merging into my bones while another portion converged into my Dantian. Deep within the Sea of Consciousness, a long-awaited thought surfaced:

"Heaven-Slaying Origin, one wisp accumulated. Pseudo-Primordial Body, advanced."

Pale golden patterns spread outward from deep within the bone marrow, their strength multiplying, and the wound at my waist actually began to knit together at a speed visible to the naked eye. I lowered my head to mask the corners of my mouth, a trace of a smile almost uncontrollably pulling upward, yet my body still trembled violently as if battered by the aftermath.

"What is going on!" Ji Hantian barked sternly, his folding fan sweeping through the air as several guards immediately swarmed onto the altar to inspect the damage to the array.

"Reporting to Young Master, the rune array is unbroken, but... the source of the energy is unknown," a steward reported with lowered head. "It looks like some kind of treasure spontaneously ignited and detonated, and the residual fluctuations are extremely unstable."

Ji Hantian narrowed his eyes to scan his surroundings, finally landing on me as I knelt on the ground unable to get up.

He walked over, his boot heels treading upon the shattered fragments of the iron box and producing a harsh, grating sound.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his tone terrifyingly calm.

I did not raise my head, merely panting with a vacant gaze as I muttered incoherently, "Fire... the fire is burning... Father... save me..."

"Feigning madness?" He crouched down, his fingers pinching my chin to force me to look up.

I let him do as he pleased, my face still wearing a foolish expression while a stain of mixed incense ash and blood still hung at the corner of my mouth. Yet the very instant he drew close, I perceived his gaze pause at my waist—that rent slashed open by the Blood Fox last night was slowly drawing together at this moment, flesh and skin writhing as it nearly finished healing.

He stared at it for two breaths, his brow wrinkling in a way hardly noticeable.

Then he released his hand, stood straight up, and spoke indifferently, "Take him back, lock him in the side courtyard, and do not let him out."

"Understood!"

Two guards hoisted my arms and dragged me away. I did not resist, letting them haul me off. As I passed the torture rack where Afu was located, the corner of my eye caught sight of him discarded in a corner, covered in blood with his limbs curled up and his breath faint, yet his chest was still rising and falling.

As long as he was alive, that was enough.

Returning to the side courtyard, they dumped me beneath the veranda and turned to leave. The door was locked, and the footsteps faded into the distance. I still lay sprawled on the ground with my face pressed against the cold brick surface, listening to the Heaven-Slaying Origin settle slowly within my body.

The first wisp was complete.

The Pseudo-Primordial Body had finished its first transformation, its physical strength far surpassing those of the same realm, and its recovery speed was all the more astonishing. As long as I kept my head down for another period of time, the second wisp and the third wisp would also successively condense. Once the Heaven-Slaying Dao Foundation took shape, that would be the time for a counterattack.

Yet for now, I still had to endure.

I slowly slid my right hand into my breast pocket, confirming the jade slip was still there. It no longer vibrated, but that cold texture still pressed against my heart like a slumbering piece of cold iron. And the tremor underground had finally subsided as well.

The wind passed through the courtyard, stirring the bronze bells on the eaves.

I closed my eyes, feigning unconsciousness.

I knew not how much time had passed when slight footsteps came from outside the door, followed by the sound of a key inserting into the keyhole. The door cracked open a sliver, an old servant carrying a lantern poked his head in, and seeing me in this state, he let out a sigh, set down a bowl of clear water, and retreated outside.

The lamplight flickered, casting a very long shadow upon the wall.

I opened one eye a slit, staring at that bowl of water.

The surface of the water rippled slightly, reflecting the cloud shadows outside the window. Yet at a certain moment, the water surface suddenly stirred with a ring of ripples, not caused by the wind.

It was coming again.

It was neither a tremor nor a fluctuation of Spiritual Energy.

It was something much deeper, slowly revolving underground, like the first soft sound of a chain loosening.

I stared at that circle of ripples, my fingertips slowly hooking into the ground.