Purifying Demonic Energy, Golden Lotus Appears

After about half a day, Xuande slowly opened his eyes, a flash of golden light flickering briefly within his pupils.

His entire aura had been adjusted to its optimal state.

Calm and restrained, yet like a bowstring taut and ready to release.

He stood up, taking one last look at this small mountain hollow that had just regained a trace of vitality.

Then, without further hesitation, he mounted a faint golden escape light.

Speeding northwest toward that perilous land shrouded in demonic energy.

The further northwest he flew, the more pronounced and harsh the changes in his surroundings became.

The originally somewhat barren and desolate land was gradually shrouded in a grayish tone.

Vegetation grew sparser and sparser, until it almost completely disappeared, leaving only exposed rock and sand of an unhealthy gray-black color.

The already thin Spiritual Energy in the air seemed to be repelled or corrupted by some force.

Becoming increasingly difficult to absorb, instead beginning to mix with strands of a chilling, unsettling aura that agitated the heart.

This was the influence of demonic energy.

Xuande heightened his vigilance, slightly strengthening his protective Merit Golden Light to form a faint golden barrier enveloping his entire body.

The pervasive, chilling aura, upon touching the barrier, melted away like snowflakes meeting a warm stove, unable to penetrate even a fraction.

This steadied his heart somewhat; the restraining effect of merit power against demonic energy was indeed remarkable.

After flying for several more days, a vast region completely shrouded in thick gray-black mist appeared on the horizon ahead.

The mist was so dense it seemed unbreakable, writhing and churning as if alive.

Even from a great distance, one could feel the chaotic, violent, and corrosive evil aura emanating from within.

The sky above this place was also unusually low and gloomy.

No sun, moon, or stars were visible, only a heavy, leaden gray.

The ground at the edge of the basin showed eerie cracks, with wisps of black demonic energy occasionally seeping from the fissures.

There was no sign of life—not even the hardiest moss or lichen existed, only deathly stillness.

This was the core area of demonic energy contamination marked on the Earth Vein Light Shadow Map.

And also the destination of Xuande's journey: the Abyss of Demonic Energy.

Xuande landed his escape light on a high slope about a hundred li from the basin's edge.

He did not rashly enter the mist's range.

Standing here, even with the Merit Golden Light protecting him, he could clearly feel the powerful repulsion and corrosive sensation coming from ahead.

As if that region itself was a living, malevolent monster.

He gazed into the distance, trying to see through the thick mist.

But even with his vision as a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, he could only see the rolling wall of fog, beyond which was nothing but blurry darkness.

He attempted to probe with his divine sense, but the moment it touched the gray-black mist, a sharp stabbing pain and a strong sense of contamination struck him, forcing him to hastily withdraw his spiritual sense.

"Such formidable demonic energy..." Xuande's expression turned grave.

This was only the edge; the concentration and corrosiveness of the demonic energy at the core could well be imagined.

No wonder Zhenyuanzi, using the Earth Scroll, could not ascertain the condition of the underground veins within.

He did not rush in. Instead, he began to fly slowly around the basin's perimeter, observing.

On one hand, he familiarized himself with the surrounding environment, searching for possible entry points or areas where the demonic energy was relatively weaker.

On the other hand, he also tried to sense the state of the demonic energy's integration with the earth from different angles.

After observing for several days, he found that the demonic energy was not evenly distributed.

In some places, the mist was relatively thin, allowing a vague view of the broken ground and massive cracks below.

In others, it was as thick as ink, churning endlessly.

The entire basin was roughly oval in shape, longer from east to west and narrower from north to south.

Based on the location of the Devil Palace ruins that Zhenyuanzi had mentioned earlier, he inferred that the most core and heavily contaminated area was likely near the western side of the basin's center.

"I cannot force my way in,"

Xuande calculated in his mind.

"I must first attempt purification on the periphery, both to weaken the overall concentration of demonic energy, and to familiarize myself with the properties of the demonic energy, as well as the specific effects and consumption of the Merit Golden Light's purification."

He selected a basin-edge area where demonic qi was relatively thin and the terrain was higher.

Several massive earth fissures lay here, black demonic qi rising from them like cooking smoke, merging into the mist above.

Xuande landed several hundred zhang from the fissures, first laid down a few simple warning and protective formations, then sat cross-legged, his mind focused and still.

He extended a finger, and at its tip condensed a fist-sized, warm and pure golden orb—this was highly concentrated Merit Golden Light.

He carefully controlled the orb, slowly guiding it toward the nearest fissure mouth.

As the golden light approached, the black demonic qi rising from the fissure seemed to meet its natural enemy.

It churned violently, emitting faint sizzling sounds like cold water dripping into hot oil.

Wherever the golden light passed, the black demonic qi rapidly dissolved, faded, and transformed into harmless wisps of clear qi that dispersed.

It worked!

Xuande's spirits lifted, and he focused even more intently on controlling the Merit Light orb.

He began purifying the newly emerging demonic qi and that clinging to the rocks along the fissure's edge, bit by bit.

After a period of purification, Xuande sensed that while the Merit Golden Light was effective, the purification speed was far too slow.

At this rate, purifying the surface demonic qi of this basin, whose area stretched unknown thousands of li, would likely take eons to calculate.

And the part entangled with the earth veins deep below—the difficulty and time required were incalculable.

Though the five of them had time.

The decay of the West's earth veins deepened with every moment; the longer the delay, the greater the difficulty and cost of repair.

"This cannot continue."

Xuande withdrew the orb of Merit Golden Light and stood up.

Gazing at the rolling gray-black wall of mist ahead, he made a decision in his heart.

He first temporarily retreated from the basin's edge and began working in the outer area.

His hands formed seals, and streams of pure dharma power were struck into the surrounding void and ground.

He was setting up a restriction large enough to envelop the entire demonic qi region.

This would prevent any accidental intruders from interfering during the upcoming purification.

It would also avoid drawing unnecessary attention from any leaked qi or disturbances during the process.

This restriction did not pursue great defensive or lethal power; its core function was isolation and warning.

It was like an invisible, resilient membrane.

Separating the demonic qi basin from the outside world, making the flow of information in and out extremely difficult.

From outside, the basin's view would grow even blurrier, and perception would be distorted.

At the same time, any attempt to cross the restriction would be immediately sensed by Xuande.

Setting up such a large restriction was no small task, even for a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

Xuande spent several months flying countless circles around the basin.

Only then were the restriction nodes finally arranged, converging into form at the center.

When the final dharma seal was struck.

The space around the entire basin rippled faintly, then returned to calm.

But an invisible barrier had already been established.

With this done, Xuande returned once more to the high ground he had first chosen.

He took a deep breath; this time, he held nothing back.

He closed his eyes, his mind sinking completely into his origin.

The dao body around him began to radiate an increasingly intense golden light—warm, peaceful, yet carrying an unassailable majesty.

The light grew brighter and brighter until it completely engulfed him.

The next moment, the light suddenly contracted, condensed!

On the spot, Xuande's figure vanished.

In its place, a golden lotus floated quietly in midair!

Twelve petals layered and unfolded in full bloom.

Each petal was like the purest gold and jade carved into being.

Upon them naturally flowed profound and unfathomable Dao Marks, radiating a vast, ocean-like, supremely pure Merit Golden Light and Purity dao resonance!

This was Xuande's true form—the Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus!

Revealing his true form meant he was no longer using power in the relatively restrained manner of a humanoid dao body.

Instead, he directly employed his most fundamental, most powerful form.

Driving the innate power of the Merit Golden Lotus to purify, defend, and suppress evil!

The Twelve-Petal Lotus Platform began to rotate slowly.

As it turned, the warm and majestic golden radiance.

Like a tangible tide, surged outward in all directions from the lotus platform, vast and unstoppable!