Willpower Struggle

The icy, dark gold patterns, like living venomous snakes, instantly spread across Fang Gang's neck, crazily advancing towards his head!

A torrent, far exceeding anything before – cold, chaotic, filled with boundless greed and supreme will – surged from the brand on his left arm. It disregarded his severely wounded, near-death physical defenses and violently crashed into his sea of consciousness!

"A perfect vessel… tempered through trials… finally mature…"

The higher will within the Broken Horn declared with ecstatic joy, like demonic music from the deepest abyss, exploding directly in the depths of Fang Gang's soul. "Resist… futile… return… and obtain… eternity!"

Fang Gang felt his consciousness plunge into an abyss of ten-thousand-year-old profound ice!

The bone-chilling, chaotic will, like billions of steel needles, madly tore and eroded his remaining sanity!

The Heart Like Glazed Glass mirror violently vibrated. It was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, emitting groans of being unable to bear the burden, threatening to shatter completely at any moment!

In his sea of consciousness, the core light cluster representing Fang Gang's self-will was madly engulfed and compressed by the icy darkness!

Countless chaotic ramblings and fragmented images surged in:

Mountains of corpses and seas of blood… collapsing stars… massive, twisting, writhing shadows… and a cold perspective overlooking all beings, indifferent to everything…

Possession! True possession had begun!

The entity within the Broken Horn had been waiting for this moment, when he was severely wounded, near death, and his will was at its weakest!

"Get… out!" Fang Gang's remaining will roared like a heavens-shattering cry from the abyss of his sea of consciousness, like the final roar of a dying beast!

He frantically activated the Clear Mirror Still Water Heart Sutra, attempting to stabilize the heart mirror on the verge of shattering. But that sliver of cool, resilient power was like a firefly facing the bright moon against the torrent of the higher will, instantly submerged!

More and more cracks appeared on the heart mirror, and its light dimmed rapidly!

The light cluster representing the self grew smaller and weaker under the erosion of the darkness… The dark gold patterns had already spread to his jawline, the icy touch reaching directly for his temples!

[Warning! Corruption at 16%! Mental barrier on the verge of collapse!]
[Higher Will Invasion Strength: Lethal!]
[Heart Like Glazed Glass Status: About to disintegrate!]
[Host's Self-Will: Rapidly weakening!... 10%... 8%... 5%...]

The system's blood-red warnings flashed wildly like death knells, heralding ultimate damnation!

Just in the final instant before Fang Gang's self-consciousness was completely devoured and assimilated by the icy darkness!

Hummm—!!!

An indescribable, vast, seemingly boundless stream of coolness violently erupted from the deepest part of his consciousness!

This power, pure, resilient, carrying a will that encompassed all things yet was indestructible, instantly swept through the entire sea of consciousness on the verge of collapse!

It was the system!

[Detected Host's will about to be annihilated! Activating highest emergency protocol!]
[Consuming all potential reserves! Infusing: Will Tempering!]
[Mental Power: 400 → 4000! Tenfold amplification! Solidified!]

Boom—!!!

The heart mirror, Heart Like Glazed Glass, which was about to shatter, instantly erupted with unprecedented, brilliant light under the infusion of this vast mental torrent!

All the cracks instantly healed as if new! The heart mirror's volume expanded more than tenfold, its entire surface radiating pure, flawless, and vajra-like glazed clarity!

The viscous, icy dark will torrent struck this tenfold expanded glazed heart mirror, like storm surges crashing against a ten-thousand-foot reef!

"Hummm—!!!"

A deafening roar, perceptible only to the soul, erupted in the sea of consciousness!

The dark torrent was forcefully blocked and shattered! Countless chaotic ramblings and invading wills emitted "sizzling" dissolving sounds under the illumination of the glazed clarity, like ice and snow meeting the sun!

"What?!" The higher will within the Broken Horn let out a soul-piercing shriek filled with shock and disbelief, "How can an ant… possess… such will?!"

Tenfold mental amplification!

Fang Gang's self-consciousness light cluster, which was about to extinguish, instantly expanded like a star injected with infinite fuel, erupting with billions of golden-red rays!

A resilient, unyielding, wild and fierce will surged towards the heavens, instantly turning the tables and forcefully suppressing the dark torrent that had invaded his sea of consciousness, pushing it back!

"My body! I'm the only one in charge!" Fang Gang's consciousness roared deafeningly within his sea of consciousness, filled with the ferocity and savagery of surviving a near-death experience!

With the tenfold mental power boost, his will was clearer and stronger than ever before!

The state of Heart Like Glazed Glass was as stable as a mountain, not only completely isolating the higher will's invasion but also beginning to counterattack!

"You want my body? Become my nourishment!" A crazy, fierce glint flashed in Fang Gang's eyes!

He no longer passively defended but actively drove this surging, vast as the sea mental power, coordinated with the furnace reignited by the Nine Yang Qi and Blood in his chest, fiercely pouncing on the icy, contaminated energy that had invaded his body!

Within the sea of consciousness, the vast glazed clarity transformed into an intangible mental grinding disc, fiercely crushing the fragments of dark will that were being pushed back!

At his chest, the golden-red qi and blood furnace burned fiercely. The supreme yang true fire, under the precise guidance of tenfold mental power, acted like the sharpest surgical knife, precisely cutting, wrapping, and refining the wildly pulsating dark gold corrupted core!

An attack from both inside and out! A dual refinement of will and flesh!

"Sizzle—!!!"

Intense agony, a hundred times stronger than before, instantly surged through Fang Gang's entire body!

It felt as if his soul and physical body were simultaneously plunged into a purgatorial furnace!

His body convulsed violently, veins bulging like dragons on his bald head, his teeth grinding with a deafening crunch. Blood slowly seeped from his seven orifices, his appearance as horrific as a vengeful ghost!

But he held on tightly!

[Warning! Active refinement intensity has greatly increased! Polluted energy is severely backlashing!]

[Detected annihilation of high-level willpower fragment... Pure energy precipitation...]

[Mental power guiding refinement... Absorption efficiency increased!]

[Constitution +100! Strength +100! Mental Resilience permanently and minutely increased!]

[Nine Yang Divine Skill operating at overclocked speed... Dragon Elephant particles are accelerating their condensation...]

System notifications flashed wildly, pain and reward existing side-by-side!

"Roar—!!!" The high-level willpower within the Broken Horn let out an enraged, unwilling soul roar. It sensed a true threat!

Under the dual internal and external refinement, the dark golden pollution core was like cold iron thrown into a furnace. Its light dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye, its pulsating power rapidly weakening!

The dark golden patterns spreading across his body, like bloodless veins, quickly turned grey and withered!

"No... I... how can I be... refined by an ant..." The chaotic will was filled with unbelievable fury, attempting a final struggle, concentrating its remaining strength for a counterattack!

But Fang Gang's mental will had grown immensely. His Heart Like Glazed Glass realm was as solid as an impenetrable fortress, and with his mental guidance, his Nine Yang Qi and Blood acted as if extensions of his own limbs!

The counterattacking power, as soon as it condensed, was instantly crushed and refined by the crimson qi and blood furnace and the vast mental grinding wheel!

The refinement speed accelerated! The dark golden pollution core rapidly shrank!

Strands of incomparably pure origin energy, containing fragments of strange laws, were forcibly tempered and integrated into Fang Gang's qi and blood and spirit!

The terrifying glazed cracks on his arms began to mend and heal at a visible rate, nourished by the pure energy!

His weakened aura climbed rapidly, like a rocket!

The barrier of the early Marrow Cleansing Realm, under this extreme refinement and nourishment, suddenly loosened!

[Warning! Pollution core is about to collapse! Residual high-level willpower fragments may escape!]

[Detected energy level transition... Opportunity for realm breakthrough...]

System notifications lit up again!

High above, the azure geometric structure, after a long period of silent analysis, finally stabilized its cold data streams and issued new commands:

"Target... willpower anomaly... energy level transition... threat re-evaluated: SS-Class!"

"Pollution source fluctuation... significantly attenuated... suspected... suppression..."

"Coordinates... leaked... execute... highest priority... annihilation order!"

"Initiating... global strike... coordinates: East Longitude XXX, North Latitude XXX..."

The azure data structure abruptly disintegrated, transforming into countless minute data light streams that shot out in all directions like a meteor shower, instantly disappearing into the sky!

It abandoned single-target attacks and instead sent Fang Gang's location information to all Nightmare Holy Cult forces capable of receiving the signal!

The true encirclement and kill was about to begin!

At the bottom of the deep pit.

Fang Gang's eyes snapped open!

A golden-red light, like tangible flames, instantly pierced the surrounding darkness from his eyes!

An aura far stronger and more condensed than his previous early Marrow Cleansing stage erupted from him!

Marrow Cleansing Realm, Mid-stage! Breakthrough!

"Trying to run?" He sensed a tiny, yet extremely pure and chaotic point of cold light deep within the collapsing pollution core inside him, attempting to break free and escape along the flow of his qi and blood!

"Stay where you belong!" Fierce light flashed in Fang Gang's eyes, and his surging mental power, like an invisible giant hand, clenched down hard with the qi and blood furnace!

"Ah—!!!"

A soul scream filled with extreme malice and unwillingness echoed within him, then abruptly stopped!

That fragment of cold will was completely crushed and refined! The last trace of pure energy merged into his body!

At his chest, the pulsating dark golden core completely vanished, leaving only a slightly warm patch of skin that seemed to have been tempered. The dark golden patterns that had spread across his body disappeared entirely.

The severed dark horn in his hand lost all its luster, becoming like ordinary charcoal. Then, with a "crack," it shattered into countless black powder particles, which trickled down through his fingers.