Li Yuan was embedded in the rock wall, rubble pattering into the hollow of his neck, cold and rough. His arms felt as if they'd been frozen stiff and then tossed into a fire. The Deacon's curse power was like countless ice needles drilling between his bones, battling the surging Crimson Sun energy until his vision darkened in waves from the pain.
All around him, the twisted monsters' dark green eyes drew closer and closer. Their low growls and scraping crawls wove a net of death. The Deacon stood in the shadow of a bend, black qi lingering around his bone staff. His gray-green pupils were like two pools of stagnant water, fixed on Li Yuan.
He couldn't just wait to die!
A low growl rumbled from Li Yuan's throat—not at his enemies, but at himself, at the Crimson Sun in his dantian, wrapped in gray-black mist, its light flickering in and out.
Devour them! Just like before! Every last bit of that damn curse power—devour it all!
The thought was sheer madness, driven by the ruthless resolve of a man with nothing left to lose. It slammed into the Crimson Sun!
The Crimson Sun shuddered violently. Its core, glowing with Crimson Gold Light, began to flash at an unprecedented rate, as though struggling—or gathering strength. The gray-black curse power wrapped around it stirred at this sudden madness, roiling violently.
The first monster lunged, its claws carrying a foul wind as it raked for his face!
Li Yuan jerked his head aside. The claws scraped his cheekbone, leaving a searing sting. He forced strength into his right arm, still embedded in the wall. His muscles swelled to their limit, veins writhing like earthworms beneath his dark red skin. With a pain that felt like he was tearing apart, he wrenched his arm free of the rock. Shards flew everywhere!
He didn't hesitate. The instant his right arm came free, he spread his fingers—not to block, but to meet the bone blade another monster thrust at him, wreathed in curse power!
"Pfft!"
The bone blade pierced his palm. Pain speared through him!
But a savage grin spread across Li Yuan's face! His fingers clamped down, gripping the bone blade tightly as curse power surged frantically into him through the wound!
"Come on! Give me more!"
He roared and actively circulated the Crimson Sun. He wasn't defending or dispersing the curse power anymore. He was... gulping it down!
A powerful suction burst from the wound in his palm! The curse power inside the monster, along with the sinister, icy energy clinging to its bone blade, surged uncontrollably into Li Yuan like floodwaters bursting through a dam!
"Raaagh!" The monster shrieked, its cry sharp with terror. It tried to retreat, but Li Yuan held it fast!
More curse power poured into him! More than ever before—more chaotic, more violent!
Li Yuan felt as if his body were about to burst! His meridians seemed ready to freeze and crack, then burn through under the Crimson Sun energy flooding in after them! Ice and fire waged the cruelest battle inside him. Every collision brought unbearable agony!
Blood began to seep from his seven orifices. Frost formed on his skin, then vanished as it turned burning red. His muscles spasmed and swelled uncontrollably, and the form of his Crimson Sun Battle Body flickered in and out, wildly unstable.
The Netherworld Cult Deacon's expression shifted. He sensed Li Yuan's aura growing dangerously chaotic. "Stop him!" he shouted, swinging his bone staff. Another solid bone spike shot out!
The surrounding monsters pounced in a frenzy!
Li Yuan suddenly raised his head. His eyes were completely filled with Crimson Gold Light, not a trace of white remaining—only burning madness. He released the bone blade, and the monster slumped to the ground. Then, clenching both fists, he unleashed a roar of pain and fury, his rage building to its breaking point, at the rock wall beneath him and the monsters lunging from every side.
"Every last one of you—get the hell away!!"
His fists slammed down, carrying the chaotic, explosive power of ice and fire within him!
"RUMBLE—!!!"
It wasn't the dull thud of a blow landing on flesh, but a thunderous roar that shook the earth!
Centered on Li Yuan's fists, frenzied energy exploded outward in tangible waves! The scorching Crimson Sun energy and the icy curse power annihilated one another in a burst of destructive force!
The monsters at the front came apart and vaporized like paper caught in a blaze. Those a little farther away were hurled aside, smashing into the surrounding rock walls with broken bones and severed sinews!
The entire passage shook violently. Huge cracks split open overhead, and countless chunks of stone rained down!
The rock wall beneath Li Yuan bore the brunt of the impact! Already eroded and battered, it groaned beneath the blow of that chaotic force. Webs of cracks spread wildly from his fists!
"Crack... BOOM!!"
A massive section of the rock wall collapsed, revealing a deeper, wider space behind it! A wave of scorching air surged out from the breach, thick with the stench of sulfur!
Li Yuan fell with the rubble!
After a brief sensation of weightlessness, he crashed onto hard, warm ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop. Pain wracked every inch of him, his bones felt shattered, and the backlash from forcibly devouring the curse power and detonating that energy finally hit in full. He could barely lift a finger.
He lay on his back and strained to turn his eyes toward the hole above. At the collapsed opening, the Netherworld Cult Deacon and the surviving monsters peered down. Their gray-green and dark green eyes stared at him through the swirling dust, but none of them immediately followed. They seemed wary of this new space below.
Li Yuan tried to grin, but the movement tugged at his internal injuries. He coughed violently, spitting up black blood flecked with pieces of his organs.
With difficulty, he turned his head and surveyed the place where he'd fallen.
It seemed to be a vast underground cavern, far wider than the passage above. The air was scorching, heavy with the stench of sulfur. Far away, a dim red glow flickered, accompanied by the thunderous roar of an underground river.
And on the cavern wall not far from him, he saw something.
These weren't naturally formed rock strata. They were... traces of human craftsmanship! Crumbling reliefs covered in moss, broken stone pillars, and metal fittings embedded in the wall, their luster long since lost...
This really was a ruin!
Li Yuan's gaze finally fell on his bloodied fists, still trembling.
In the face of certain doom, he'd gambled and won again. With a nearly self-destructive move, he'd torn open a path to survival—and found... a possible turning point.
He closed his eyes, sensing the Crimson Sun within him. After his frenzied devouring, it was dimmer, but seemed to have shed a layer of Shackles and grown more condensed. The icy quality in his qi and blood had also grown more intense.
"Cough, cough... Netherworld Cult... this place is mine..."
He murmured weakly, and at last his consciousness gave way to darkness. Above, wary yet unwilling eyes remained fixed on him, while within the ancient ruin, scorching heat and silence flowed on, eternal.
Before you continue