Polluted Origin

The icy electronic voice was like the death sentence of the Grim Reaper, each component carrying the power to freeze the soul.

The entire battlefield, whether it was the surviving cultists or the bloodthirsty ghostly beings, trembled and prostrated themselves under the pressure of this supreme will.

The fear that had just risen in the eyes of the Phantom Sound Priest and the Insect Gu Priest was instantly replaced by fanatical reverence. Ignoring their injuries, they struggled to kneel.

"We welcome the Holy Lord's Will!"

Fang Gang, however, stood perfectly straight, like a reef that never bends in a storm.

The pitch-black Broken Horn in his hand became scorching hot, even starting to tremble slightly!

The dark gold blood patterns flowing upon it, like venomous snakes that had come to life, suddenly accelerated their spread upwards!

Hum—!

An indescribable icy, chaotic aura, filled with endless greed and madness, surged through his left arm's brand and fiercely drilled into his body!

This power was domineering and unparalleled, carrying the indifference of a higher being looking down on ants. It violently impacted his flesh and blood, his tendons and bones, even attempting to erode his spiritual core!

"Urgh!" Fang Gang grunted, the muscles in his left arm instantly bulging. The dark gold patterns under his skin writhed madly, like living creatures!

Agony!

Agony a hundred times more intense than ever before!

It felt as if billions of red-hot ice needles were piercing and churning within his bone marrow!

Even more terrifyingly, an uncontrollable, destructive madness, like a maggot gnawing at bone, began to assault his consciousness!

[Warning! Warning!]

[Detected unauthorized forceful intrusion of a high-dimensional corrupted will!]

[Vessel origin fusion degree has exceeded critical point (45%)! Corruption degree rapidly increasing (8%!)!]

[Mental barrier under assault! Heart Like Glazed Glass state experiencing violent fluctuations!]

[Corrupted will objective: Seize host control! Assimilate vessel origin!]

[Extremely dangerous! Extremely dangerous!]

The system's cold red alerts flashed frantically in Fang Gang's mind.

"Trying to possess me?"

Golden-red light surged in Fang Gang's eyes, like burning lava stars, instantly suppressing a hint of chaotic dark gold that flickered in their depths. "Get out, damn you!"

Roar—!

It was as if an ancient Dragon Elephant had awakened within him!

The Nine Yang Divine Skill was pushed to its absolute limit!

The qi and blood throughout his body erupted forth, and the golden-red, supreme Yang True Fire blazed from his body, transforming him into a divine furnace forged from molten gold and iron!

Beneath his skin, the dark gold patterns, under the searing pressure of the golden-red True Fire, had their progression rate forcibly halted, even showing signs of being pushed back!

At the site of the left arm's brand, the dark gold and golden-red forces clashed violently, emitting a teeth-grinding "sizzling" sound. His skin would occasionally glow with brilliant gold light, then become densely covered with dark patterns.

"The Holy Lord's Will has issued a purge order! Baldy! Your death day has arrived!"

The Phantom Sound Priest, enduring the severe pain in his spiritual sea, let out a shrill scream. He raised the Soul Guiding Death Rat again, pouring his remaining mental energy into it. "Sorrowful Soul Lure! Myriad Ghosts Cry!"

The mournful wailing abruptly sharpened, transforming into countless distorted, venomous ghostly faces, carrying even stronger mental shockwaves that bypassed physical distance, heading straight for Fang Gang's head!

"Blasphemer of the Holy Lord! You shall become an insect hive!"

The Insect Gu Priest's black robe exploded, revealing a terrifying, writhing body beneath composed of countless small poisonous insects!

He slammed his chest, spitting out a stream of viscous, foul-smelling, emerald-glowing origin blood, which merged into the churning black mist of poison miasma beneath his feet!

The poison miasma instantly boiled, transforming into a horrifying maw the size of a house, condensed from billions of poisonous insects. Carrying a foul wind that corroded all things, it lunged towards Fang Gang from above!

The two great priests, disregarding the damage to their origins, launched their final, desperate counterattack! This was a fatal blow coordinated with the Holy Lord's purge order!

"Noisy!"

Facing the pincer attack from left and right, a sinister light flashed in Fang Gang's eyes! He stomped his right foot fiercely!

Rumble!

The ground seemed to be struck by a meteorite!

The ground within a ten-meter radius sank and cracked!

A shockwave of berserk Dragon Elephant might mixed with the qi and blood of the Nine Yang True Fire exploded outwards from him, like a tangible golden-red tidal wave!

"Break!"

A furious roar, containing the shockforce of the Eight Extremes Suppressing Prison Force!

The countless venomous ghostly faces that lunged before him were like ice and snow thrown into a scorching sun. Before they could even scream, they were instantly vaporized in the golden-red tidal wave and the shockwave!

The Phantom Sound Priest was hit as if by a heavy hammer. Black blood gushed from all seven of his orifices. The Soul Guiding Death Rat flew from his grasp, and he himself, like a tattered sack, was violently blown away by the shockwave, crashing into the distant ruins, his fate unknown.

Simultaneously, Fang Gang's left arm muscles tensed, the dark gold blood patterns fluctuating violently under the pressure of the Nine Yang True Fire. Without even looking at the devouring giant mouth of poisonous insects, his left fist, burning with golden-red True Fire, was thrown out with pure violence!

No technique, only crushing force!

The wind from his fist compressed and ignited the air with extreme force, creating a blazing, violent golden-red fist aura!

Puchi—!

Like a searing hot iron rod plunged into a snowdrift!

The giant mouth of the venomous insect, condensed with the Insect Gu Priest's origin essence and blood, was pierced straight through by the golden-red fist aura!

The Supreme Yang True Fire, like a prairie fire, blazed into the giant mouth's interior along the fist aura!

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

A dense, scalp-numbing burning sound erupted!

Billions of venomous insects twisted, carbonized, and exploded under the Supreme Yang True Fire! Foul-smelling black smoke billowed up! The giant mouth of venomous insects instantly collapsed and disintegrated!

"No!!!" The Insect Gu Priest let out a non-human howl. His body, composed of venomous insects, visibly blackened and collapsed over a large area, countless scorched insect corpses rustling down!

As if his spine had been ripped out, he crumpled to the ground, only capable of twitching.

Two moves! Merely two moves! Two peak Grade A priests were completely incapacitated!

However, the instant Fang Gang's punch obliterated the venomous insect's giant mouth and his momentum surged to its apex!

Buzz—!

High above, the cold torrent of data suddenly condensed!

A colossal beam, composed purely of deep blue data links and exceeding three meters in diameter, tore through the thick lead clouds. Like a spear of judgment cast by a deity, it descended instantly with a terrifying aura that annihilated all matter and energy, disregarding spatial distance!

The target—the pitch-black Broken Horn in Fang Gang's hand!

Or rather, the connection point between the Broken Horn and the brand on Fang Gang's left arm!

The Faceless Cult Master's purge attack had arrived! Fast! Precise! Ruthless!

The timing was incredibly cunning, precisely at the moment Fang Gang's old strength had waned and new strength had yet to arise, his left arm experiencing a momentary lag due to contamination and suppression!

A terrifying sense of mortal danger instantly seized Fang Gang's heart! Every cell in his body screamed wildly!

The power contained within this beam far surpassed Grade A! It had definitely reached the threshold of Grade S!

He couldn't dodge! There was no time to activate defensive techniques!

At the critical moment!

"Get the hell—OPEN!"

Fang Gang's eyes split wide, his roar shaking the heavens!

His entire body's qi and blood surged towards his left arm without regard! He completely ignored the frantically encroaching dark gold blood patterns! His left arm's muscles instantly swelled to their limit, golden-red and dark gold light weaving and clashing madly beneath his skin, almost bursting!

He didn't attempt to evade, nor did he try to block!

Instead, he met the terrifying deep blue beam head-on with his left fist, which condensed the last explosive power of his entire body, and hammered into it fiercely!

Attack against attack! Flesh confronting rules!

BOOM—!!!!

An indescribable collision erupted!

The deep blue data beam and the fist, burning with golden-red flames and entwined with dark gold blood patterns, violently clashed!

No sound! Or rather, the sound was swallowed by the area where extreme energy collision annihilated it!

Only an intensely blinding light exploded forth!

Illuminating hundreds of meters around as brightly as day!

The ground was silently annihilated and sunk!

Forming a massive circular crater!

The shockwave transformed into a visible white ring of energy, sweeping out like a destructive force, completely leveling the last remnants of the City God Temple!

The cultists and ghosts cowering in the distance were like fallen leaves swept by a gale, instantly turning into ashes!

In the center of the crater.

Fang Gang maintained his punching posture, his entire body pinned to the spot like a nail.

The sleeve of his left arm was completely shattered, revealing an arm bulging with muscle and covered in bizarre dark gold blood patterns.

The surface of his fist was torn open, revealing bone, and wisps of deep blue data streams, like maggots clinging to the bone, flickered and eroded at the wound, attempting to burrow deep into his flesh.

But he had blocked it!

That terrifying Grade S purge beam, his ferocious punch imbued with Dragon Elephant power, Supreme Yang qi and blood, and a portion of the bizarre dark gold energy, had forcefully scattered its main body!

Although the residual energy inflicted severe damage on his left arm, it failed to annihilate him, nor could it destroy the Broken Horn!

"Cough…" A sweetness filled Fang Gang's throat, and a trickle of blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth. His internal organs were impacted by the violent recoil force.

But the light in his eyes was like an unyielding flame as he stared fixedly at the dark sky.

"Trying to purge me?"

He slowly raised his blood-soaked left fist, facing the direction of the cold will, and fiercely gave it the middle finger, his voice hoarse but carrying unyielding ferocity: "Ask my 200,000 jin fist first!"

The dark gold blood patterns seemed provoked, writhing madly. In an instant, they broke through the suppression of the Nine Yang True Fire and spread rapidly up his arm like living creatures!

Wherever they passed, his flesh felt a tearing, agonizing pain mixed with a strange, cold sensation, as if countless tiny things were burrowing beneath his skin!

Shoulder blade… collarbone… neck… heading straight for his chest!

<strong>[WARNING! Contamination level exceeds 10%!]

<strong>[WARNING! Corrupting Will is accelerating its invasion! Target: Heart!]

<strong>[Detected high-level will whispering... attempting mental seduction...]

<strong>[Heart Like Glazed Glass state fluctuating violently... mental defenses being infiltrated...]

The system's alarms flashed frantically.

Just then, the pitch-black Broken Horn clutched tightly in his hand pulsed with a violent, heartbeat-like throb!

A cold, chaotic will, laced with endless greed, whispered directly into Fang Gang's mind like countless tiny venomous snakes:

"Power... eternal power... embrace it..."

"Chains... break the chains... release me..."

"Resistance... will only bring... destruction..."

"Surrender... merge... become... a new... Vessel..."

The whispers were filled with a twisted allure, as if speaking the ultimate truths of the universe by his ear, or like the sweet trap of a devil from the abyss, frantically assailing Fang Gang's mental defenses! The dark gold blood patterns' spread suddenly accelerated, mere inches away from his vital heart!

Fang Gang felt his consciousness dragged into a frigid vortex, countless chaotic ramblings and broken images flashing before his eyes. The desire for destruction intertwined with the ultimate craving for power, nearly tearing his sanity apart!

"Get out!!!"

He bit down hard on his tongue, the sharp pain mixed with the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, forcibly stimulating his consciousness that was on the verge of succumbing!

The Nine Yang Qi and Blood converged furiously at his heart, forming a final, scorching barrier, stubbornly resisting the invasion of the dark gold blood patterns!

<strong>[Detected intense mental contamination impact! Consumed 50 Evolution Points! Forcibly stabilized 'Heart Like Glazed Glass'!]

<strong>[Mirror Still Water Heart Sutra proficiency increased! Current: Great Accomplishment (130/1000)! Spirit +50!]

The system prompts flashed, and a cool, resilient power surged into his sea of consciousness, temporarily stabilizing the violently fluctuating Heart Like Glazed Glass state and clearing Fang Gang's chaotic thoughts.

He stared intently at the dark gold patterns that had almost touched the skin of his chest, feeling the increasingly clear, increasingly greedy cold will emanating from the Broken Horn.

This thing... wasn't some key or holy artifact origin at all! Inside it hid something alive, something incredibly terrifying! It was using the Faceless Cult Master, and it was using him too! It wanted out!

The Faceless Cult Master wasn't trying to eliminate Fang Gang, but this "contaminant" that was about to spiral out of control!

And he, Fang Gang, had now become the most suitable host vessel for this contaminant!

"Trying to use me as a stepping stone?"

A savage ferocity flashed in Fang Gang's eyes, his lips curling into a blood-stained, almost ferocious smile. "Then let's see... who swallows whom!"

He clenched the Broken Horn in his hand, letting the icy throbbing and invading will batter him.

The golden-red qi and blood clashed fiercely with the dark gold blood patterns at his chest, the light beneath his skin flickering erratically, as if engaged in a silent battle for life and death.

High in the sky, the cold will seemed to sense the strange stalemate below. The data stream paused slightly, then emitted even more piercing alarms:

"Alarm! Target contamination breakthrough critical limit! Purge failed! Purge failed!"

"Vessel and contaminant deeply entangled... inseparable!"

"Initiating... backup contingency... target threat level re-evaluation..."

"Requesting... activation of 'God Burial' protocol..."

An azure data stream surged and reorganized frantically in the depths of the clouds, a more profound, more chilling aura of destruction slowly condensing