The underground chamber beneath the shrine in the Land of Demons was more spacious than expected.
The walls were covered in ancient sealing runes, glimmering with a faint ghostly blue light beneath the dim candlelight. The air was thick with the mingled scent of sandalwood and some kind of herb, so heavy it was almost tangible. Hyuga Xiao sat cross-legged in the center of the chamber, the deep blue starlight of his Tenseigan slowly flowing through the depths of his pupils like stars that would never fade from the night sky.
Three meters in front of him, Kurenai Yuhi lay flat on a stone platform.
Three days had passed.
Ever since obtaining the Netherworld Core from the shrine's sealing nexus that night, Hong had remained in a deep coma. Xiao suspended the fist-sized, pitch-black crystal three inches above Hong's chest, using Tenseigan Chakra as a bridge to slowly guide the pure Yin-natured power within into her body.
The process had been more dangerous than anticipated.
The Netherworld Core's power had violently clashed with the residual Curse Mark, poison, and genjutsu chakra Hong had cultivated for years. On the first night alone, her body showed signs of chakra rampage seven times. Veins bulged beneath her skin, writhing like earthworms, and each time forced Xiao to halt the process and use the Tenseigan's power to suppress it by force.
But now—
Xiao's pupils narrowed slightly.
Hong's finger twitched atop the stone platform.
It was faint, like the unconscious spasm of someone asleep. But immediately afterward, her eyelids began to tremble, her lashes fluttering like butterfly wings. Her breathing changed, shifting from weak, steady shallow breaths into deep, deliberate inhalations and exhalations.
Xiao did not approach at once.
He remained seated cross-legged, but the Tenseigan's field of vision had already fully expanded. In