At Death's Door, He Severed His Own Arm

Only the six of them's hurried breathing and footsteps echoed through the passage.

Lin Ye charged at the front, his face pale, blood bubbling from the corner of his mouth.

The meridians in his left arm throbbed with unbearable pain. The whole limb had gone numb, while several energies he was barely keeping in check clashed wildly inside his meridians.

The violent will contained within the Earth Dragon Core battered his consciousness relentlessly.

"Haah... haah..."

"Brother Lin!" Chen Feng noticed his abnormal state and hurried forward to support him.

"Don't touch me!" Lin Ye growled, knocking Chen Feng's hand away. A flash of ferocity crossed his eyes, then was forcibly suppressed.

"I can manage. Keep moving!"

Su Muxue could see how dire his condition was, and she knew the pursuers behind them were dangerous.

They had to put more distance between themselves and their pursuers as quickly as possible, then find somewhere safe for him to suppress his injuries.

"Hold on a little longer! There's a fork up ahead!"

"Left!" Lin Ye pointed toward the passage on the left without a moment's hesitation.

The others didn't hesitate either, immediately turning into the left passage.

Faint shouts from the gray-robed men came from behind them.

"They're catching up! Hurry!"

Tension gripped them, and they sprinted forward with all their might.

After turning several more corners, the passage suddenly opened up. In the distance, they could just make out a fissure with air currents streaming from it.

"Over there! It might be an exit!" Su Muxue pointed toward the fissure.

Their spirits lifted, and they were about to rush toward it.

"Wait!" Lin Ye suddenly stopped.

"Lin Ye, what's wrong?" Su Muxue hurried over.

"The energy's out of control... It's backfiring..." Lin Ye forced the words through clenched teeth as his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"We have to treat the injuries and suppress it immediately!" Chen Feng said gravely.

"Senior Sister Su, you know medicine. Is there anything you can do?"

Su Muxue shook her head. "The energy inside him is too chaotic. Ordinary healing pills won't help; they might even provoke an outburst."

"Then what do we do?"

"I'll handle it myself." Lin Ye struggled to lift his head.

He remembered the jade bottles Daoist Xinghe had left behind. One of them had a label that read "Clear Mind Pill."

"Ptooey—"

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood. The violent energy within it corroded the hard ore, eating several small holes into it.

"Lin Ye!" Su Muxue cried out.

Lin Ye slid down the cave wall into a sitting position. Only his chest continued to heave violently as his breathing rapidly weakened.

"I can't suppress it..." A thread of despair rose in his heart.

"Kill... devour... grow stronger... kill everything..."

Chaotic thoughts sprouted wildly.

"Clear Mind Pill..." He used the last of his strength to try to retrieve the jade bottle.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Three sharp sounds of something cutting through the air rang out from the passage they had come through!

Three gray figures formed a triangle, loosely surrounding them.

They had caught up so quickly. The leader fixed his gaze on Lin Ye, slumped on the ground, and curled his lips into a bloodthirsty smile.

"You're not slow."

"Too bad. This is as far as you go. Your soul is quite special. You managed to interfere with the Blood Sacrifice Array just now, so you're the perfect first offering for The Master's awakening."

"Don't even think about it!"

"A mantis trying to stop a chariot." The gray-robed leader sneered and signaled to the two men beside him.

The two gray-robed men sprang into motion, turning into streaks of gray as they darted toward Su Muxue and Chen Feng. Their attacks were ruthless, aimed straight at vital points.

They clearly intended to take the two of them out first, then deal with Lin Ye, who was powerless to fight back.

The clash of metal rang out. Su Muxue and Chen Feng were already injured, and they were weaker than their opponents, so they immediately fell into a disadvantage, barely escaping one peril after another. The other two disciples tried to help, but the gray-robed men's cold, sinister palm strikes drove them back step by step, leaving them struggling to protect themselves.

The gray-robed leader stood to one side, his black eyes fixed on Lin Ye, whose pupils were turning dark red. He watched him as if he were a work of art nearing completion.

"Yes, just like that. Unleash the desires in your heart and let savagery devour reason. Become a weapon that knows only slaughter and consumption. That is your true destiny."

His hoarse voice carried a strange mental fluctuation, constantly coaxing Lin Ye to unleash the ferocity buried in his heart and sink completely into madness.

Lin Ye's body shook violently. A beastlike growl forced its way from his throat as he clutched his chest, his fingernails nearly digging into his flesh.

Dark red and the last remnants of reason clashed wildly in his eyes, two forces battling fiercely in the depths of his soul.

The leader's mental influence acted like a catalyst, completely detonating the violent will within Lin Ye. The malformed dark-gold seed in his dantian quivered violently, its cracks spreading wider and wider.

If the seed became corrupted and burst, he would turn into a mindless puppet of slaughter, controlled by others.

In his past life, he had muddled through in mediocrity; in this one, every step had been a struggle. He had finally glimpsed the path of martial arts. He couldn't sink into darkness now and become the very monster he despised most.

"Get out of my head!" A furious roar exploded from deep in Lin Ye's throat.

He suddenly lifted his eyes. Two points of dark-gold light flared at the edges of his dark red pupils: the undying will that had survived his desperate plight.

The quivering seed in his dantian abruptly stilled. Dark-gold light burst from its core, forcefully driving back the encroaching aura.

The Star-Shattering Sword intent awoke, slaughtering the violent will; Wind-Thunder True Qi surged, annihilating the chaotic energy.

Gaping wounds burst open across Lin Ye's body, forcibly expelling the Earth Dragon's blood essence and the impurities of its demonic power.

Excruciating pain swept through him, but the dark red faded from his gaze in an instant, leaving it calm once more.

"Oh?"

The mocking expression vanished from the gray-robed leader's face, replaced by surprise and suspicion.

"This is getting more and more interesting."

He hadn't expected Lin Ye to forcibly suppress the backlash.

Such willpower and constitution made him a perfect vessel. The Master would surely be pleased.

Without another moment's hesitation, he blurred into a streak of gray and pounced on Lin Ye, five phantom claws gathering around his right hand as he reached straight for Lin Ye's crown.

He planned to seize Lin Ye completely while the young man was at his weakest, having only just suppressed the backlash.

"Lin Ye, look out!" Su Muxue cried, but her opponent had her pinned down. Chen Feng and the others were struggling to fend for themselves as well.

The phantom claws reached him in an instant, yet Lin Ye slowly raised his right hand and pressed it against his left arm, which was covered in cracks.

He looked at the gray-robed leader rushing toward him, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly as he spoke in an even voice:

"You want to devour me? You want to use me as an offering?"

"Then let's see who devours whom—"

Before the words had even left his mouth, Lin Ye's right hand clamped down hard on his left arm.

"Riiip—"

The sound of something being violently torn apart rang out.

He had ripped his own left arm off with his right hand!

No blood sprayed from the stump. Instead, a strange liquid, shimmering with energy, slowly dripped down.

"What?" The gray-robed leader, lunging at him, abruptly froze. His eyes widened in disbelief and horror.

He severed his own arm?

What was this madman trying to do?

The others, locked in battle, were also so shocked by this sudden turn of events that they briefly froze.

But what happened next shocked them even more—and filled them with fear.