Tang Xuan flew back to his resting place at top speed. The Lava People never readily left that hollow, so it was quite safe here. He sat cross-legged on the ground and swiftly began circulating his cultivation technique. The Godslayer Sword stood carelessly thrust into the ground, red and black flowing over its blade in an utterly eerie display.
"Killing intent and savage energy are roaming through my body, battling each other, battering my meridians, and constantly eroding my will. Meanwhile, the swelling fire essence power is filling my dantian until it feels ready to explode. If this continues, my dantian will rupture, and the killing intent and savage energy will run out of control. I'll inevitably suffer cultivation deviation, and then death will be my only path." He clearly understood his condition. He could not let these three forces continue rampaging through his body. He accelerated his cultivation technique, absorbing and refining the fire essence power within his dantian. During this time, Tang Xuan had come to deeply appreciate its benefits. Absorbing fire essence power not only increased his Soul Power but also tempered his body. Under its searing heat, his body was like a piece of iron being continuously forged and refined. His physique had reached perfection in the second stage, Flawless Body, precisely because of the fire essence power.
If my physique hadn't broken through, I probably would have succumbed to the onslaught of these three forces long ago. I have to refine the fire essence power first to secure a thread of hope for survival.
The energy spilling from his body grew increasingly powerful, whipping ripples across the calm water beside him. Enduring the battering of the killing intent and savage energy, Tang Xuan directed the refined fire essence power into every limb and bone, suppressing the other two forces and repairing his damaged meridians.
"Faster, I have to go faster!" He was almost at his limit. The refinement of the fire essence power had slowed considerably in its final stage, and its progress could not keep pace with the devastation wrought by the killing intent and savage energy. Those two forces poured recklessly from Tang Xuan's body. With him at the center, the ground within a two-meter diameter began cracking inch by inch. A brutal, evil will constantly ate away at Tang Xuan's resolve, and a voice echoed in his mind.
"Slaughter is the ultimate destination. Destroying everything is the right course." "I can give you tremendous power, as long as you accept me." "We will be the best of partners. As long as you accept me, we will make the world prostrate itself at our feet." "The hatred and resentment in your heart are your truest thoughts. You need not resist."
A mass of black mist gradually gathered within his sea of consciousness, and Tang Xuan's consciousness was pulled inside. His mental sea had already become mountains of corpses and an ocean of blood. The black mist flew beside him. "Stop struggling. As long as you accept me, you can obtain everything you desire," said a voice laden with temptation.
"Then... will I control you, or will you replace me?" Tang Xuan asked through gritted teeth, clutching his head.
"Of course you will control me." "Hehe, master, I will be your most faithful servant." The black mist hovered beside Tang Xuan's ear. A cold smile curled his lips. The Clear Sky Hammer appeared in his hand, and he struck the mist. It vanished abruptly, then reappeared on the other side. Tang Xuan turned and swung again, but the mist suddenly disappeared once more, leaving his blow to hit empty air. It coalesced before him again, taking the shape of the Godslayer Sword, and stabbed straight at him. Tang Xuan raised his hammer to meet it. Clang! The sharp ring of clashing metal cleared his muddled mind a little.
"You cannot kill me," the black mist's voice sounded again. "I was born from you. You and I were always one." Tang Xuan knocked the sword aside with his hammer, trying to distance himself from that voice. Then the black mist transformed into Tang Xuan's own likeness.
"Don't waste your strength struggling. Just give up." Like a demonic chant, the voice wore away Tang Xuan's will. He dragged the Clear Sky Hammer helplessly. He had intended to use its lightning power to suppress the black mist from the Godslayer Sword once more, but the purple lightning still refused to appear. He could no longer withstand this assault on both mind and body. "If you want slaughter, then slaughter it is!" A vicious gleam flashed in Tang Xuan's eyes. He swung the hammer back into the crown of his own head and disappeared from his sea of consciousness.
Tang Xuan opened his blood-red eyes, rose, pulled out the Godslayer Sword, spread his Dragon Wings, and flew forward at tremendous speed. He returned to the hollow where the Lava People gathered. Only a short time had passed, yet the hollow was packed with them again. For some unknown reason, their rate of birth seemed to have increased once more. With his mind consumed by killing intent, Tang Xuan no longer cared. Every swing of his sword was a killing move.
Thousand-Mile Pagoda! Tang Xuan slashed again and again, tearing more than ten thousand Lava People apart and reducing them to magma. Dust billowed into the sky from the ground, obscuring his vision. He ignored everything else and charged inside with his sword, hacking and killing.
"See how wonderful it feels," the black mist's voice came again. "Although these Lava People are not true humans, they already possess a trace of spiritual awareness. You are already slaughtering living beings." "Admit it. You revel in slaughter!"
"Get lost! You have no right to judge me!" Tang Xuan roared. The sword in his hand never stopped killing. His figure moved like a phantom through the crowd of Lava People, leaving swaths of them dead in his wake. Their rate of replenishment could no longer come close to matching his slaughter. Tang Xuan unleashed Thousand-Mile Pagoda repeatedly, killing almost all the remaining Lava People. Only the Lava Giant beside the central boulders remained to confront him. Tang Xuan slowly approached with his sword, and the Lava Giant watched him warily. Halfway there, Tang Xuan suddenly sprang forward and slashed at him. This Lava Giant was clearly more intelligent than ordinary Lava People and immediately raised an arm to block. Tang Xuan severed it with a single stroke, but the Lava Giant did not fall or die like the others. Another arm quickly grew in its place. He then charged straight at Tang Xuan. Intent only on slaughter, Tang Xuan naturally gave little thought to anything else and rushed forward with his sword. The Lava Giant swung his heavy iron fist at him. Tang Xuan did not dodge, slicing the fist off with a single stroke. Just as before, it quickly regrew, and Tang Xuan was punched away. The Lava Giant turned to return to the boulders, but Tang Xuan flew back and cut away half his body. Tang Xuan noticed a glowing bead in the Lava Giant's chest. Before he could act, however, the giant's restored body threw another punch, and Tang Xuan leaped aside. Turning, he slashed straight at the Lava Giant's head. This time, the Lava Giant pressed his hands together to block the attack. But how could a mass of magma possibly withstand the Godslayer Sword's edge? His head and both hands were severed together. This time, Tang Xuan gave him no chance to recover and thrust his sword into his chest. His head and hands did not regrow. Thud! He collapsed onto the ground and turned into magma like his kin.
The Godslayer Sword's tip pierced a fiery-red bead. Could this be that Lava Person's inner core? Tang Xuan wondered. As the bead shattered, the Godslayer Sword devoured the Lava Giant's power, including his killing intent. The influx greatly strengthened the black mist within Tang Xuan, allowing it to further erode his mind and body. His brief flicker of clarity was replaced by bloodlust once again. Gripping the Godslayer Sword, he stared at the central boulders and unleashed a slash. Sword energy surged like a dragon, shattering one of them. The other boulders did not fall and remained standing. A gap appeared where the shattered boulder had stood, letting light spill out along with a fragrance that refreshed the heart and soul.
Just as Tang Xuan was about to approach, a group of Lava People crawled out of the fissures. As though they too had caught the fragrance, they charged over like mad. Without even turning his head, Tang Xuan swept his sword backward, sending out a streak of Sword Aura that killed them all, then continued toward the boulders. When he was less than a meter away, a pure, sacred power emanated from within.
"What pure power!" The moment Tang Xuan came into contact with it, he awoke from his bloodlust.
"No matter how dense the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth becomes, it could never reach this level," Tang Xuan marveled. It also contained a sacred aura that instantly calmed his restless killing intent. Curious, he leaned closer and peered inside, but the gap was too small for him to see clearly. He pried two boulders apart with his sword, creating a narrow entrance. At last, he could see what lay within. To his surprise, several plants radiating halos of light grew in the soil sheltered by the boulders.
"This is saint origin grass! And the ones beside it are too!" Tang Xuan exclaimed, looking at the plant in the center.
"The Medicine Codex in the art of alchemy recorded this herb. It is said to have become an immortal herb after absorbing a wisp of a sage's aura, and its effects are extraordinary. Immortal-grade saint origin grass can dispel a mortal's hundred ailments and extend their life by a hundred years with a single sniff. Consuming it allows them to ascend to immortality on the spot. It is even more beneficial to cultivators, improving their aptitude and aiding their cultivation. Even an ordinary person can become a cultivation genius after consuming it. Its sacred power can also suppress all evil, neutralize a hundred poisons, and forge a treasured physique."
"It takes a hundred thousand years to produce a single blossom. Nine blossoms make it immortal-grade." Tang Xuan's gaze fell on the tallest stalk of saint origin grass in the center. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" he shouted excitedly.
"Ten blossoms! This... this has already surpassed immortal grade! This is divine-grade saint origin grass! No! It should be called divine origin grass!" Even ordinary saint origin grass was something one might not encounter in ten thousand years, let alone this unprecedented divine origin grass that had grown to divine grade. Tang Xuan looked over the others. They each bore several blossoms in varying numbers. Oh, there were also three immortal-grade stalks.
Tang Xuan could not help reaching out to touch this legendary immortal herb, but before he could get close, he was repelled. "This divine origin grass should be like those Lava People. Although it has broken through to divine grade, it is suppressed by the special power of order in this world, so it has never developed divine consciousness or assumed human form. Otherwise, what I just did would probably have provoked it into slaying me, rather than simply repelling me with its pressure." A sovereign's majesty could not be violated.
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