After roughly half a day, Xuande slowly opened his eyes. A flash of golden light vanished from his gaze.
His entire being had returned to peak condition.
He was calm and restrained, yet like a bowstring drawn taut and ready to spring.
He rose to his feet and took one last look at the small hollow, which had only just begun to show signs of life again.
Then, without further hesitation, he mounted a pale golden Escape Light.
He sped northwest, toward the perilous land shrouded in demonic energy.
The farther northwest he flew, the more stark and severe the changes in his surroundings became.
The land, once merely somewhat barren and desolate, gradually became shrouded in a gray gloom.
Vegetation grew increasingly scarce, until it had almost vanished entirely. Only exposed rocks and soil remained, their surfaces an unhealthy grayish black.
The Spiritual Energy, already thin in the air, seemed to be repelled or tainted by some force.
It grew increasingly difficult to absorb, while a thread of unsettling, chilling energy began to mix into it.
This was the influence of demonic energy.
Xuande heightened his vigilance and slightly strengthened the Merit Golden Light protecting him, forming a faint golden barrier around his body.
When the omnipresent chill touched the barrier, it melted away like snowflakes falling onto a warm stove, unable to penetrate it in the slightest.
That reassured him somewhat. As expected, the power of merit was remarkably effective against demonic energy.
After several more days of flight, a vast area appeared on the horizon ahead, completely shrouded in dense gray-black fog.
The fog was so thick it seemed impossible to disperse, slowly churning and rolling as though it were alive.
Even from a great distance, he could sense the chaotic, violent, corrosive evil radiating from within.
The sky above this place seemed especially low and gloomy, too.
The sun, moon, and stars were nowhere to be seen. Only a somber leaden gray filled the heavens.
The land around the basin's edge was covered in bizarre cracks. Now and then, wisps of black demonic energy seeped from them.
There was no sign of life. Not even the hardiest moss or lichen could be found. Only deathly silence remained.
This was the core area contaminated by demonic energy, as marked on the Earth Vein Light Shadow Map.
It was also Xuande's destination on this journey: the Abyss of Demonic Energy.
Xuande brought his Escape Light down on a rise about a hundred li from the basin's edge.
He did not rashly enter the area shrouded in fog.
Even standing here with the Merit Golden Light protecting him,
he could clearly feel the powerful repulsion and corrosive force emanating from ahead.
It was as if that region itself were a living monster, filled with malice.
He gazed into the distance, trying to see through the fog.
But even with the vision of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, he could see no more than the churning wall of mist. Beyond it lay only a blur of darkness.
He tried to probe ahead with his spiritual sense. The moment it touched the gray-black fog,
a sharp pain and a powerful sense of corruption struck him, and he hastily withdrew it.
"How formidable this demonic energy is..." Xuande's expression turned grave.
And this was only the outskirts. The concentration and corrosive power of the demonic energy at the core were unimaginable.
No wonder Zhenyuanzi had been unable to investigate the condition of the Earth Vein within, even with the Earth Scroll.
Rather than hurry inside, he began flying slowly around the basin's perimeter to observe it.
He wanted to familiarize himself with the surroundings and look for a possible entry point or an area where the demonic energy was relatively weak.
He also wanted to sense, from different angles, how the demonic energy had intertwined with the earth.
After several days of observation, he discovered that the demonic energy was not evenly distributed.
In some places, the fog was relatively thin, and he could just make out the shattered ground and enormous fissures below.
In others, it was as thick as ink, churning without end.
The basin was roughly oval, longer from east to west and somewhat narrower from north to south.
Based on the location of the demonic palace ruins that Zhenyuanzi had mentioned earlier,
he deduced that the area at the heart of the demonic energy, where the contamination was most severe, was probably near the basin's center, slightly to the west.
"I can't force my way in."
Xuande considered the matter.
"I should first attempt to purify the outskirts. That will weaken the overall concentration of demonic energy,
and help me understand its properties, as well as the precise effects and cost of purifying it with Merit Golden Light."
He chose an area on the basin's edge where the demonic energy was relatively weak and the ground was elevated.
Several huge fissures split the earth there. Black demonic energy continually billowed from them like smoke, joining the fog above.
Xuande landed several hundred zhang from the fissures. He first set up a few simple warning and protective arrays, then sat cross-legged and focused his mind.
He extended a finger, and a warm, pure golden orb roughly the size of a fist gathered at its tip. It was highly condensed Merit Golden Light.
He carefully controlled the orb as it slowly floated toward the nearest fissure.
As the golden light drew near, the black demonic energy rising from the fissure seemed to encounter its natural enemy.
It churned violently, giving off a faint sizzling sound like cold water dripping into hot oil.
Where the golden light passed, the black demonic energy swiftly dissipated, faded, and transformed into wisps of harmless clear energy before vanishing.
It worked!
Xuande's spirits lifted, and he focused even more intently on controlling the orb of merit.
He began purifying, bit by bit, the newly emerging demonic energy along the fissure's edge and the energy clinging to the rocks around its opening.
After continuing for some time, Xuande sensed that although Merit Golden Light was effective, the purification was far too slow.
At this rate, purifying the surface demonic energy across a basin that spanned who knew how many li would take kalpas.
The demonic energy entangled with the depths of the Earth Vein would be even more difficult and time-consuming to deal with.
The five of them had time.
But the decline of the West's Earth Vein deepened with every passing moment. The longer they delayed, the more difficult and costly its restoration would become.
"This can't go on."
Xuande withdrew the orb of Merit Golden Light and stood up.
He looked toward the churning gray-black wall of fog, his mind made up.
He temporarily retreated from the edge of the basin and began working in the area farther out.
He formed hand seals, sending streams of pure magical power into the air and the ground around him.
He intended to set up a barrier large enough to enclose the entire area of demonic energy.
It would prevent any unexpected intruders from interfering with the purification to come.
It would also keep any energy or disturbance that might leak out during the process from attracting unwanted attention.
The barrier was not meant to provide powerful defense or inflict heavy damage. Its primary functions were isolation and warning.
It was like an invisible, resilient membrane.
It would separate the basin of demonic energy from the outside world, making it extremely difficult for information to pass between them.
From the outside, the basin would appear even more indistinct, and perceptions of it would be distorted.
At the same time, Xuande would immediately sense anyone attempting to cross the barrier.
Setting up such a large barrier was a considerable undertaking, even for a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
Xuande spent several months flying countless circles around the basin.
Only then did he finish placing the barrier's nodes, finally bringing them together at the center.
When he cast the final hand seal,
the space around the entire basin rippled faintly, then returned to stillness.
Yet an invisible barrier had been established.
Having finished this step, Xuande returned to the rise he had chosen at the start.
He took a deep breath. This time, he held nothing back.
He closed his eyes, and his mind sank completely into his Origin Essence.
His Dao-body began to radiate an increasingly intense golden light. It was warm and serene, yet carried an inviolable majesty.
The light grew brighter and brighter, until it completely enveloped him.
The next moment, it suddenly contracted and condensed!
Xuande's figure vanished from where he stood.
In his place was a golden lotus, floating quietly in midair.
Its twelve petals unfurled in layer upon layer.
Each one looked as if it had been carved from the purest gold and jade.
Profound and mysterious Dao Marks flowed naturally across them, radiating boundless, pure Merit Golden Light and an aura of Purity!
This was Xuande's true form: the Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus!
Revealing his true form meant he was no longer wielding his power through the relatively restrained form of a humanoid Dao-body.
Instead, he was taking on his most fundamental and powerful form,
unleashing the innate powers of the Merit Golden Lotus to purify, defend, and suppress evil!
The Twelve-Petal Lotus Platform began to rotate slowly.
As it spun, its warm and majestic golden radiance
surged outward in every direction from the platform like a tangible tide!