The Purple-Gold Immortal Vein's Nine Nether Dungeon.
An ever-burning lamp hung on the damp stone wall. Its dim glow cast elongated shadows across the stone slabs.
Zhou Xuan descended the final stone step.
Ahead stood a cage woven from one hundred and eight purple-gold chains of law.
The Grand Hua Old Ancestor hung suspended in its center. His Dharma Robe had been reduced to ragged strips, and his disheveled hair clung to his face.
Black Qi still seeped from the ghastly fissure in his chest. Every breath brought excruciating pain that tore through his flesh.
Zhou Xuan pulled over a stone chair and sat outside the cage.
He did not use any instruments of torture.
He took a piece of black ore tainted with Corruption from his sleeve. It was residue he had previously obtained from Old Ancestor Xuanming.
Hearing the movement, the Grand Hua Old Ancestor raised his head with difficulty.
"You little bastard."
The Grand Hua Old Ancestor clenched his teeth, forcing the words from deep in his throat.
"Come to laugh at me?"
Zhou Xuan ignored him.
He studied the ore in his hand.
Dark Gold Taiyi Divine Power poured from his fingertips, instantly enveloping the ore.
The black Corruption, once violent and devouring everything, actually became extraordinarily docile at the touch of the Taiyi Divine Power.
Black Qi coiled and flowed around Zhou Xuan's fingertips, then was purified into nothingness bit by bit.
The Grand Hua Old Ancestor's breathing abruptly quickened.
He stared fixedly at Zhou Xuan's hand, even forgetting the agony wracking his body.
For hundreds of years, this power had taken deep root, gnawing away at his Dao Fruit little by little and draining his vitality dry.
He had tried countless heavenly treasures, drawn upon every reserve of the Grand Hua Immortal Vein, and