In the shadows by the doorway, a hand pressed against the rock wall.
The hand began to tremble, its nails scraping across the stone with a piercing shriek. Chen Wuya immediately opened his eyes, his palm pressed tightly against the formation-eye stone. Misaligned Force circulated once through his meridians before swiftly drawing back into his limbs.
Bai Zhi sensed that something was wrong as well. She took half a step back, her fingers settling on her sword hilt.
The figure at the corner of the wall slowly emerged. It was that Demonic Cult elder. A gash had split open on his forehead, black blood spilling from it as though something were crawling beneath his skin. His clothes were soaked through and plastered to his body, his chest heaving violently.
"You came back?" Chen Wuya asked in a low voice.
The elder did not answer. He raised his left hand, palm upward, and a mass of black mist gathered at his fingertips. The mist reeked of rot. As it spread, bubbles began to rise from the ground, while tiny pits appeared across the rock surface.
Holding her breath, Bai Zhi shifted a step aside to avoid the stench.
Chen Wuya, however, took a deep breath.
He closed his eyes and broke down the gas he had inhaled within his sea of consciousness. The circulation route of the Canglang Art was forcibly reversed, his true qi traveling through reverse-flowing meridians. The system immediately reacted—[Foreign toxin misread successfully, purification path completed]
When he opened his eyes again, he exhaled.
What he breathed out was no longer black smoke, but a wisp of delicate fragrance, like the scent of grass and trees in the mountains after rain.
The moment that scent emerged, Bai Zhi involuntarily inhaled. She felt the true qi within her surge