Bathed in golden light, Xuande plummeted into the endless darkness like a stone dropped into a deep well.
The farther down he went, the dimmer the light around him became.
Soon, he was plunged into absolute darkness.
Only the Merit Golden Light radiating from him illuminated a small area nearby.
But the light also provoked an instinctive reaction from the demonic energy lingering deep underground.
Wisps of black vapor seeped from cracks in the rock walls.
Like sharks scenting blood, they wound toward the golden light.
Yet the moment they touched its surface, they hissed and rapidly dissolved.
Besides the darkness and demonic energy, the increasingly powerful pressure from the Earth Vein was even more oppressive.
The surrounding rocks, initially loose and crumbling, gradually grew dense and hard, while the temperature slowly rose.
But for a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, this was no problem.
What he truly needed to watch out for was the chaotic, powerful geomagnetic force deep underground.
And the scorching underground fire or frigid baleful energy that occasionally burst from some fissure.
Xuande maintained his protective golden light at full strength, while his divine sense spread outward like the finest tendrils.
He carefully sensed every anomaly around him.
He deliberately kept his descent at a moderate pace, lest he miss an important clue or run into sudden danger.
As he went deeper, the pull originating from the Origin Essence became clearer and stronger.
It was like an invisible thread, drawing his mind toward a definite point deep underground.
The feeling was so real that he was even more certain something closely connected to the lotus's Origin Essence lay below.
Down, farther down.
The depths seemed endless.
Time lost all meaning here.
Only the ever-changing layers of rock and the increasingly harsh environment reminded him how deep he had gone.
He passed through a layer of hot, viscous magma.
Then he crossed an underground river filled with poisonous, baleful Yin energy.
The surrounding rocks had turned into strange ores that shimmered with a metallic sheen. They were incredibly hard and astonishingly dense.
At last, after descending for an unknown length of time, a faint glimmer appeared ahead, distinct from the absolute darkness.
And the source of the pull was close at hand!
Xuande's spirits lifted. He gathered his aura even more carefully, dimmed his golden light slightly, and slowly approached the glow.
He passed through a narrow fissure in the rock, as if it had been torn open by immense force, and the view before him suddenly opened up!
It was a vast underground cavern.
It was unimaginably spacious, as though the entire mountainside had been hollowed out.
Countless strange crystals, glowing with dim or ghastly green light, were embedded in the cavern walls.
They provided a faint light, allowing Xuande to see the scene around him.
But what drew his eyes most was the sight at the cavern's center.
There, instead of the Earth Vein's core node or a source of chaotic demonic energy, were two objects floating quietly in midair!
On the left was a lotus.
It had twelve petals as well, but its color was deep, pure black, as though it could absorb all light!
Its petals seemed less like solid matter and more like crystallized shadows and the embodiment of the laws of destruction.
A heart-stirring black gleam shimmered along their edges, and it radiated a terrifying chill—a dead stillness that devoured all life and hope.
Yet it was undeniably shaped like a lotus.
Its form bore a fundamental resemblance to Xuande's true form.
Only they had taken completely opposite paths: merit and destruction, purity and corruption, creation and annihilation.
The Twelve-Petal Destruction Black Lotus!
The supreme treasure wielded by Demon Ancestor Luohu!
Xuande's heart gave a sudden thump.
He had never imagined that what had drawn him down here would be this infamous treasure!
Luohu had fallen, yet this supreme treasure had somehow survived the Dao-Devil War, hidden deep within the Earth Vein!
On the right was a long spear.
Its shaft was a dull, dark red, as if it had been soaked in the blood of countless living beings until it had congealed.
A glint of cold light shone at its tip. Even in the dim depths,
it seemed capable of piercing the void, radiating a murderous aura so pure and intense that it froze the soul!
Simply looking at it made Xuande's eyes sting faintly.
It was as though countless razor-sharp thoughts were slicing toward him along his line of sight.
The God-Slaying Spear!
An innate supreme treasure of slaughter, said to be capable of wounding a Sage's Primordial Spirit!
The two supreme treasures simply floated there in silence.
There seemed to be some subtle connection between them, forming an independent field of energy.
The demonic energy permeating the entire cavern, far denser and purer than anything on the surface, was continuously emanating from these two treasures!
They were like two cores, ceaselessly releasing corruption.
The demonic energy seeped into the surrounding rocks and the Earth Vein, causing the deep demonic corruption that plagued this area.
"So that's it..." Xuande understood much at once.
Why the demonic energy here was so stubborn and difficult to dispel, and why it was so deeply entangled with the Earth Vein.
The root of it all lay here!
Two supreme treasures contained Luohu's Origin Essence, Devil Dao, and will to slaughter.
They had remained for a long time at a crucial node in the Earth Vein.
The demonic energy they gave off was like the most potent poison, having deeply "infected" the Earth Vein in this area.
After his shock came an overwhelming sense of caution!
What sort of figure had Luohu been?
He was the peerless demon who dared to detonate the West's Spiritual Veins, intending to remake the forces of earth, water, fire, and wind!
How could his personal treasures be without safeguards?
Perhaps they bore some vicious restriction, lingering demonic thoughts, or even a means to perish together with whoever came after them, waiting to ensnare the unwary!
Xuande stopped at the edge of the cavern and did not approach rashly.
First, he carefully observed his surroundings.
Aside from the two supreme treasures, there seemed to be nothing else in the cavern.
The crystals in the walls were merely ordinary Nether Crystals and Earth Baleful Stones. Only after being tainted by demonic energy for so long had they taken on an ominous aura.
The ground was hard black iron rock, covered in fine cracks. Demonic energy was seeping through them into the deeper Earth Vein.
His gaze finally settled firmly on the Twelve-Petal Destruction Black Lotus.
That powerful pull from the same source came from it.
Both lotus platforms had been formed from seeds of the Chaos Green Lotus.
Though their attributes were diametrically opposed, at their very Origin Essence,
they were indeed bound by an unbreakable connection. Like light and shadow, they were two sides of the same whole.
"Let's test it first."
Xuande made up his mind.
He did not use any other spell.
Instead, he once again summoned his own Merit Golden Light.
It was the most effective against demonic energy, while also being relatively gentle and safe.
He raised his hand, and a concentrated beam of golden light, solid as matter, slowly shone toward the floating Twelve-Petal Destruction Black Lotus like a searchlight.
The moment the golden light touched the black gleam on the lotus, a sudden change occurred!
"Ssssh—!"
The reaction was far more violent than any he had seen before!
The thick, ink-black demonic energy on the lotus churned and evaporated violently, like burning oil, making a piercing sound.
Where the golden light fell, the blackness of the lotus seemed to fade ever so slightly.
Beneath it lay the lotus itself, even deeper in color, as if it contained a universe of destruction.
But apart from that, nothing else happened.
There was no counterattack from demonic thoughts, nor did any hidden restriction flare to life.
The Black Lotus simply endured the purification of the Merit Golden Light passively, its demonic energy steadily dissolving.
Xuande did not let his guard down. He kept the light trained on it for an unknown length of time.
At last, he had completely purified the layer of demonic energy clinging to the lotus's surface.
The Black Lotus was still pitch-black from top to bottom.
But the "vitality" that had made it constantly leak demonic energy seemed to have weakened considerably.
It appeared calmer now, more like a treasure than a "source of corruption."
The destruction Dao Rhythm it gave off was purer, but it had lost some of its savagery and corrosive force.