Nether Rift, Talisman Suppresses Death Qi

The black rune floated within the core of the five-colored Dao of Talismans, like a dormant venomous scorpion. Each flicker drew in the deathly aura of the Netherworld. Xuan Fu could clearly sense the rift in the far west expanding wildly. The shadows there were not ordinary vengeful spirits but Netherworld demon soldiers tempered by death force. Their claws carried the law of decay; wherever they passed, grass and trees withered instantly, mountains crumbled to dust, and even the spiritual energy in the air was transformed into death qi.

"The Netherworld and the Primordial World were separated by a boundary barrier. Why has a rift suddenly appeared?" Yang Mei waved his whisk lightly, spatial ripples isolating the encroaching death qi. "This death force carries traces of the law of annihilation, akin to Annihilation Patriarch's but purer."

Xuan Fu condensed five-colored talisman light at his fingertips, suppressing the restless black rune within him. "It's the Demon Ancestor's backup plan. The mark he left in me is not only a fuse for demonic corruption but also a coordinate connecting to the Netherworld." He could feel the black rune resonating with the death force in the Netherworld rift, trying to break through his talisman restraints and transform him into a dual vessel for both Netherworld and demonic corruption.

The Jade Void Palace phantom spoke slowly: "Deep in the Netherworld dwells an ancient being called the Netherworld Ghost Lord, who, along with Annihilation Patriarch and Demon Ancestor Luohou, is known as one of the Three Taboos of Chaos. He governs the cycle of death but is obsessed with eroding all things with death qi, turning the Primordial World into Nether territory. When Pangu created the world, he sealed the Ghost Lord in the Netherworld's core. Now that the seal is loosening, it's clear the Demon Ancestor has struck a deal with him."

Before the words faded, a low horn sounded from the far west. The Netherworld rift suddenly expanded to ten thousand zhang wide, and countless Netherworld demon soldiers surged out like a tide. At their head were three bone-armored Netherworld generals, each at the quasi-sage level, their surrounding death qi nearly solid. "By the Ghost Lord's command, seize the souls of Primordial beings to forge the Netherworld cycle!" The bone-armored general's voice came as if from the deepest abyss, carrying a powerful mental shock that caused many low-level Primordial beings to faint on the spot.

"We can't let them spread!" Xuan Fu shouted, his five-colored talisman light flaring as he raised his hand to deploy the Myriad Laws Balance Array. As the array unfolded, the five forces of life, death, yin, yang, and demon formed a cycle, rapidly converting the approaching death qi into pure energy while purifying the land eroded by death qi. Donghua, Ao Guang, and the others also joined in—wood spirit vines bound the demon soldiers, dragon clan water dragons washed away death qi, phoenix clan flames burned the sinister, and qilin clan stone spikes blocked retreats. In an instant, a fierce battle erupted in the far west.

Xuan Fu's gaze locked onto the three bone-armored generals. The bone blades in their hands contained dense death laws; each slash tore space, releasing vast death qi, and ordinary attacks could not harm their core. "We must cut their connection to the Netherworld!" Xuan Fu activated the Space-Folding Talisman, turning into a five-colored streak that appeared behind the lead general. His five-colored talisman blade, imbued with balance force, stabbed straight at the bone core on the general's back—the source of his power, linked to the Netherworld's death supply.

"You seek death!" The bone-armored general spun and swung his blade. The bone blade clashed with the talisman blade, death qi and five-colored talisman light corroding each other with a sizzling sound. Xuan Fu felt a bone-chilling cold spread along the talisman blade; the death law tried to freeze his talisman's operation, and the black rune inside him stirred, causing a momentary delay in his movements.

In that instant, another bone-armored general's blade swung close, its death-qi-condensed bone spike aimed at his brow. Xuan Fu's heart tightened. He immediately activated spatial talisman power to teleport away, but the blade grazed his shoulder, leaving a wound deep enough to see bone. Death qi instantly corroded the wound, dimming the five-colored light of his talisman body.

"Daoist Xuan Fu!" Donghua saw this and turned his wood spirit power into an emerald whip, wrapping around the general's arm to block his pursuit. But the Netherworld general's strength far exceeded his expectations; the whip corroded and snapped instantly, and Donghua was knocked back several steps, blood seeping from his lips.

Xuan Fu gritted his teeth, using the five-colored Dao of Talismans to purify the death qi in the wound while quickly calculating. The Netherworld generals' bone cores were linked to the Netherworld; as long as the rift existed, they could endlessly absorb death qi to heal. To kill them, he had to close the rift first. The key to closing it might lie in the black rune inside him—it was both the connection coordinate and the key to breaking it.

"Senior Yang Mei, please hold off the three generals!" Xuan Fu called to Yang Mei. "I'll go close the Netherworld rift!"

Yang Mei nodded, his green robe billowing as spatial power surged. Countless spatial cracks opened and closed around the Netherworld generals, tightly restricting their movements. "Be careful, Daoist. The death qi deep in the rift is extremely dense; one misstep and your mind will be corroded!"

Xuan Fu didn't hesitate. He activated the Myriad Laws Balance Talisman to shield his body and turned into a five-colored streak, charging toward the Netherworld rift. The death qi around the rift was so thick it nearly condensed into liquid; each breath brought erosion from the death law. The black rune inside him grew more restless, as if trying to break free and merge with the rift's power. He forced his spiritual sense into the talisman core, wrapping the black rune with five-colored balance force like pressing grass under a stone, temporarily stabilizing the situation.

When he reached the rift's edge, Xuan Fu finally saw inside. The rift's depths were an endless darkness, countless vengeful spirits wailing within. At the center floated a massive black palace. At its peak, a skull-shaped rune flickered, resonating strongly with the black rune in his body. That was the Netherworld Ghost Lord's seal core, the source of the rift's expansion.

"Break rune with rune, counter imbalance with balance!" Xuan Fu took a deep breath, unleashing the full power of his five-colored Dao of Talismans. The black rune was forcibly drawn from the talisman core, hovering in his palm. Instead of destroying it, he channeled the forces of life, death, yin, and yang, carving balance patterns onto the black rune's surface, trying to transform it into a key to close the rift.

The process was excruciating. The black rune struggled violently, death law and demonic corruption intertwining, trying to devour Xuan Fu's mind. He could feel the Netherworld Ghost Lord had noticed his actions. A furious roar came from the palace, and countless death-qi tentacles extended from the rift, reaching for him.

Xuan Fu dodged the tentacles' attacks while accelerating the carving of balance patterns. Five-colored talisman light clashed with the black rune, sparking countless flashes. Each pattern carved came with severe damage to his origin. Cracks appeared again on his talisman body; blood slid from his lips, dripping onto the black rune and being instantly absorbed, but it also slightly slowed the rune's struggle—his essence blood contained the rhythm of the balance Dao, a natural counter to the death law.

"Now!"

When the last balance pattern was completed, Xuan Fu hurled the black rune at the skull-shaped rune at the rift's center. The moment they collided, the black rune erupted with dazzling five-colored light. The balance patterns spread rapidly, enveloping the skull rune. With a booming sound, the Netherworld rift began to shrink violently. The surge of death qi slowed drastically, and the Netherworld demon soldiers' aura weakened, clearly losing their power supply.

The three bone-armored generals in the far west changed expression drastically. They could feel their connection to the Netherworld being severed. Roaring, they tried to rush back to the rift, but Yang Mei's spatial power held them fast. "Your end is here!" Yang Mei waved his whisk, unleashing countless spatial blades at the generals. Combined with Donghua and the three clans' attacks, the three quasi-sage generals were soon slain, their death force purified.

Xuan Fu sighed in relief and was about to turn away when he suddenly sensed an even more terrifying aura from the black palace deep in the rift. Though the Netherworld Ghost Lord's seal had been temporarily reinforced and the rift was shrinking, his consciousness pierced through the seal, locking onto Xuan Fu with intense killing intent and unwillingness.

"A mere ant dares to ruin this Lord's great plan!" The Netherworld Ghost Lord's voice thundered in Xuan Fu's mind. "Your Dao of Talismans hides the balance of life and death, perfect to complete my death cycle. When this Lord breaks the seal, I will refine you into the core of the Netherworld cycle!"

Xuan Fu's heart tightened. He dared not linger, activating spatial talisman power to instantly teleport out of the rift and back to the others. By then, the Netherworld demon soldiers had been cleared, and the death qi in the far west was gradually dissipating under the Myriad Laws Balance Array. The Primordial land began to slowly recover.

Yang Mei looked at Xuan Fu's pale face, a hint of admiration in his eyes. "Daoist, you closed the Netherworld rift and reinforced the Ghost Lord's seal alone—boundless merit. But though the black rune in your body has been transformed, it still bears the Netherworld Ghost Lord's mark. Be cautious in the future."

Xuan Fu nodded, using talisman power to inspect his body. The black rune was now fully wrapped in balance patterns, becoming part of the five-colored Dao of Talismans, no longer restless. But he could feel the Netherworld Ghost Lord's consciousness had been branded deep into the rune, like a time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

Just as everyone thought the crisis was over, the Jade Void Palace phantom suddenly issued a warning: "Not good! Unrest in the three clans' territories—large numbers of demonized and Netherworldized beings are gathering, seemingly launching a rebellion!"

Xuan Fu's heart jolted. His spiritual sense instantly spread to the three clans' lands. Indeed, in the Dragon Clan's Eastern Sea, the Phoenix Clan's Southern Wilderness, and the Qilin Clan's Central Region, large-scale rebellions had erupted. The rebels were mostly beings previously corrupted by demonic or death qi, driven by a mysterious force to attack the three clans' core areas, trying to overthrow their rule.

"It's the remnants of the Demon Ancestor and the Netherworld Ghost Lord causing trouble!" Ao Guang's face changed. "Though they can't act personally, they're secretly manipulating these rebels, trying to plunge the Primordial World into civil war!"

Xuan Fu's spiritual sense probed carefully and found that at the core of each rebel group, a tiny black rune flickered, identical to the one in his body—clearly a backup plan left by the Demon Ancestor and the Netherworld Ghost Lord. These runes acted like signal towers, constantly emitting demonic and death qi to control the rebels' actions.

"We must quell the rebellion quickly, or if the three clans fall, the Primordial World's defenses will collapse completely!" Donghua said gravely, a resolute glint in his eyes.

Xuan Fu nodded without hesitation. "I'll go with Daoist Donghua to the Dragon Clan's Eastern Sea. Senior Yang Mei and Senior Jade Void Palace, head to the Phoenix Clan's Southern Wilderness. Ao Guang, Feng Yao, and Qilin Cang, return to your own territories to suppress the rebellion and purify the runes!"

After the discussion, everyone split up. Xuan Fu and Donghua turned into a five-colored streak, flying toward the Eastern Sea. Along the way, they saw countless rebels burning and looting. The three clans' lands were devastated, countless beings displaced, a scene of utter misery.

"These rebels have been completely controlled, their minds lost. We can only kill them and purify the runes in their bodies." Xuan Fu's voice carried a note of heaviness. He knew this was the only way, or the demonic and death force would continue to spread.

The two didn't pause, diving straight into battle. Xuan Fu's five-colored talisman blade reaped rebels like a scythe, while he released balance talisman power to purify the demonic and death qi in the air. Donghua's wood spirit power turned into countless vines, binding the rebels to aid Xuan Fu's purification.

After several days of fierce fighting, the rebellion in the Eastern Sea was finally quelled, and the Dragon Clan's territory gradually returned to order. But Xuan Fu and Donghua didn't relax. They knew the rebellions in the other two regions were still ongoing, and the Demon Ancestor and Netherworld Ghost Lord would not stop there—greater crises lay ahead.

Just as they prepared to head to the Southern Wilderness to support Yang Mei and the Jade Void Palace phantom, the black rune inside Xuan Fu suddenly trembled again. This time, the rune conveyed not restlessness but a clear message: "Xuan Fu, this Lord knows you seek the opportunity to break through to sagehood. Deep in Chaos lies the 'Source of All Talismans,' hiding the ultimate secret of the Dao of Talismans. Find it, and you can not only become a sage but also fully control the demonic and Netherworld marks within you. But remember, beside the Source of All Talismans sleeps the final chaos prohibition left by Pangu's creation. One misstep, and you'll face utter destruction..."

This message came from the Netherworld Ghost Lord himself!

Xuan Fu's heart jolted. Why would the Netherworld Ghost Lord tell him this secret? Was it genuine help to break through, or another, larger trap?

What unsettled him more was that deep in his spiritual sense, he could feel the Source of All Talismans in Chaos emitting a rich talisman origin aura, resonating strongly with his five-colored Dao of Talismans. That aura was far more precious than any opportunity he had encountered before—clearly the key to breaking through to sagehood.

Donghua noticed Xuan Fu's abnormality and asked worriedly, "Daoist Xuan Fu, what's wrong?"

Xuan Fu didn't hide it, relaying the Netherworld Ghost Lord's message to Donghua. Donghua's face changed. "This must be a trap! The Netherworld Ghost Lord wants you to break Pangu's prohibition, allowing him to fully break the seal!"

Xuan Fu nodded, but hesitation filled his heart. He knew it was likely a trap, yet the temptation of the Source of All Talismans was immense. He was already at the quasi-sage peak, one step from sagehood, but unable to break through that bottleneck. The Source of All Talismans might be his only chance.

At that moment, a violent energy fluctuation came from deep in Chaos. The aura of the Source of All Talismans grew stronger, and an ancient, powerful prohibition force spread outward—Pangu's chaos prohibition.

Clearly, the Netherworld Ghost Lord had begun to act, trying to use some force to disrupt the balance between the Source of All Talismans and the chaos prohibition.

Xuan Fu's eyes wavered between hesitation and resolve. He knew he had to choose: give up the Source of All Talismans and continue guarding the Primordial World against the Demon Ancestor and Netherworld Ghost Lord's schemes? Or risk venturing into deep Chaos to find the Source of All Talismans, break through to sagehood, and resolve all crises once and for all?

At that moment, the five-colored Dao of Talismans inside him also began to stir, as if urging him to go into deep Chaos and seek the ultimate secret of the Dao of Talismans.

A new adventure, a massive trap, was already waiting for him in the depths of Chaos.