Xuandu looked at White Guard, at that calm yet resolute face.
The corners of his lips slowly lifted into a smile.
It was a faint smile, yet it carried a trace of gratification.
"Good."
That single word rang out like clashing gold and stone.
Xuandu raised his hand, and a streak of Chaos Radiance quietly emerged in his palm.
At first, the radiance was exceedingly faint, but in a single breath, it blazed as fiercely as the scorching sun.
Within that light lay the terrifying power of Zenith Heaven Nine Heavens.
It contained the supreme might of the Chaos Bead.
It contained the domineering will of the Martial Dao Law.
"Sit."
Those two words landed like an evening drum and a morning bell.
White Guard sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
Xuandu raised his hand and gave a gentle push.
The Chaos Radiance shot directly into White Guard's body.
"Boom!"
White Guard's entire body jolted.
His face turned deathly pale.
Veins bulged across his forehead.
The aura around him abruptly fell into chaos.
That unstable foundation began to shatter.
That turbulent aura began to surge.
That uncontrollable power began to run wild.
Medicinal power.
Mana.
Heavenly Dao origin.
Strand by strand, wisp by wisp, surge by surge.
They were stripped from his body.
The process was agonizing.
White Guard gritted his teeth, his expression unchanged.
Yet his entire body trembled, sweat pouring down like rain.
His gray-white Daoist robe was soaked through.
His cross-legged body swayed as though it might collapse at any moment.
But he held on.
Because he no longer wanted to be a tool.
Because he wanted a path of his own.
Because he wanted to live as a person.
Within Soaring Cloud Cave, purple mist churned and the green jade trembled.
Kong Xuan stood to