Nether Soul-Gnawing Law

Golden words surfaced within the golden scroll!

"Child of later generations! Do you know what this seal imprisons? Whom it locks away? If the seal is broken, the common people shall weep tears of blood—can you bear the consequences?!"

"Evil and treacherous, poison in the heart! Should this fiend escape, the realm shall be overturned!"

"Only one of the 'Huang' descendants whose heart holds sincere courage and the world within it, whose blood is purest and fiercest, whose heart shines bright as the sun, is qualified to wield this blade that breaks the seal! Can your heart illuminate sun and moon?! Can your blood shoulder this burden?!"

This sudden interrogation of his soul split Xiao Fan's head with pain. It felt as though countless steel needles were piercing his spirit; darkness swam before his eyes, and his body swayed on the verge of collapse! His misfortune toxicity value instantly soared!

Misfortune toxicity value... +1... +3... +5...

"Steady your mind, young friend! This is merely the lingering will of the formation putting on a fierce front—the trapped beast's final struggle! Quickly! Drip blood and burn the scroll, or delay may breed disaster!"

Xun Huan's voice transmission carried intense coaxing urgency, like a man clutching at a lifeline.

Enduring the soul-rending agony and the scorching corrosion of the misfortune toxicity, Xiao Fan's eyes reddened. With the unyielding willpower of a ninth-rank martial man, he forcibly pressed that crimson drop of blood toward the center of the scroll!

Just as the blood droplet was about to touch the majestic dragon head on the scroll—

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The flowing golden runes on the scroll abruptly erupted in blinding brilliance. They actually detached from the scroll, transforming into several solid-looking, radiant golden chains!

Carrying the heavy sealing force of the earth element and a bone-chilling cold aimed at the soul, the chains wound around him like living things, instantly locking down Xiao Fan's arms, waist, and legs!

"Argh!"

Xiao Fan felt a terrifying force pour from the chains, freezing his soul and suppressing his spiritual essence. His body instantly stiffened, as though even his blood were about to congeal!

The bone-deep chill violently clashed with the scorching bloodline spiritual essence surging inside him. Ice and fire intertwined, tormenting him beyond endurance!

"These are the Coiling Dragon Chains! You must taint their spiritual radiance with the blood of utmost yang! Quickly! Press your blood onto it!" Xun Huan's voice was full of anxiety, as though he feared failure even more than Xiao Fan himself.

"Fuck!!! You never said the formation would fight back!" Xiao Fan roared, nearly crushing his teeth.

Xun Huan transmitted, "At this point, young friend, there is no road back for you. Quickly! Burn it!"

You motherfucking... Xiao Fan was utterly speechless...

That rotten old man was bad to the bone! Xiao Fan cursed inwardly.

Now, he could only go all in and smash the cracked pot!

With every last shred of will and strength, he marshaled the scorching spiritual essence of his bloodline to resist the soul-freezing cold. The muscles in his arm bulged, veins standing out.

[Misfortune Toxicity Value: 72/100]

This was going to kill him!

Under the terrifying suppression of the golden chains, as though pushing a boulder weighing ten thousand jun, he inched his blood-stained finger with unimaginable difficulty toward the scroll's core—the center of that majestic, coiled dragon-shaped rune!

At last, his fingertip touched the flowing golden light!

Sizzle!

Like a red-hot branding iron plunged into ice water! The instant Xiao Fan's blood touched the scroll, the solemn dragon-shaped rune violently twisted and boiled! Golden light blazed, and then—

RUMBLE!!!

The entire scroll shook violently, erupting in a dazzling white radiance before being instantly swallowed by golden-red flames that ignited from nowhere, carrying a sacred aura.

Within the flames, the phantom of the Coiling Dragon Chains let out a soundless wail, breaking inch by inch before vanishing.

At the same time, the entire Taoist temple shook as earth and mountains quaked!

The dense sealing talismans across the walls and pillars danced madly like kites with their strings cut, disintegrating as cracks split open across the ground!

"HAHAHAHAHA...! Two hundred and thirty-seven years! A full two hundred and thirty-seven years! This old man is free! Surnamed Ji! You cannot hold this old man prisoner!!"

A hoarse, utterly crazed mental howl echoed throughout the entire space, even drowning out the thunderous collapse of the Taoist temple!

The yin wind howled. Xun Huan's shriveled head, trailing a length of stark-white spine, shot out from the porcelain's mouth like a vicious ghost breaking free from hell!

Inky deathly white mist and the lingering sinister aura within the temple frantically gathered toward him, coalescing in the blink of an eye into a blurry, dark humanoid outline that continuously twisted and writhed!

Then, the mutilated remains of corpse-ghouls from every direction floated up under the control of some force, converging upon the head in midair, writhing as they were absorbed to become his new "body."

But rather than a man, it was more like some warped flesh-and-blood abomination stitched together.

Hands were no longer hands, legs no longer legs. An eyeball larger than its eye socket dangled outside, too grotesque to look at directly.

Facing that stitched abomination which could barely be called humanoid, Xiao Fan could no longer hold back and began to dry-heave.

Then Xun Huan opened his mouth! He had temporarily cobbled together a throat and tongue from corpse-ghoul flesh!

"My apologies, young friend! To fully control this Soul-Capturing Porcelain and make up for this old man's losses of two hundred years, I can only borrow your pure-yang soul for a while! This is your honor! Hahahaha!"

His utterly bizarre, hoarse, inhuman voice was thick with venom and greed.

Then an obscure, tongue-twisting, utterly warped and bizarre incantation burst forth like the shrieks of countless wronged souls, mixed with tangible mental corruption!

"An unintelligible incantation!"

Every syllable was like a red-hot, blunt saw frantically tearing across Xiao Fan's soul!

Blood instantly seeped from his ears and nose. His vision turned completely crimson as countless warped illusions screamed within his mind!

This simply was not a sound that a human could fully remember and recite! It was blasphemous speech from the abyss...

Calamity Poison Value +1... +3... +8!

[Calamity Poison Value: 97/100]!!!

[An unintelligible incantation...]

[Incantation being identified...]

[Incantation identified successfully: Nether Soul-Gnawing Law]

It was over... Had he bet wrong? No... There was still a chance!

Amid the utmost agony and corruption of his soul being torn apart, Xiao Fan's remaining consciousness was like a candle flame in a violent wind.

He could not catch the complete incantation; the sounds were far too twisted and terrifying...

He could only desperately memorize the final few syllables—the most impactful ones, crashing down like sledgehammers!

But the good news was that his [Calamity Poison Value System] could actually identify that old bastard's incantation!

That way, he could use the system to assist his pronunciation!!!

Could a ritual requiring a living sacrifice trigger a backlash if the offering voluntarily presented its core possession and recited the key verses?

At that thought... "Fuck your mother, you old bastard!!"

Xiao Fan erupted in a dying roar. Blood poured from his seven orifices, and his face twisted into the ferocity of a savage ghost.

With his last shred of strength, he viciously flung the pure yang blood from his fingertips at the frantically burning remnants of the scroll!

At the same time, tearing his throat apart, he made full use of the system's pronunciation assistance in his mind, mixing blood foam and towering hatred into a hoarse bellow:

"An unintelligible incantation...!"

The roar had no structure, shattered beyond recognition, utterly incapable of perfectly reproducing the incantation. Yet it carried all of Xiao Fan's life force, the scorching spiritual resonance of his pure yang bloodline, and the mad will of a man driven into a dead end!

A miracle happened!