Inside the Immortal-Sealing Tower.
Yun Huang suddenly stepped closer, instantly closing the distance between them to less than three feet!
Yun Qing's body stiffened slightly.
At this distance, the aura emanating from Yun Huang, mingling the divine might of the radiant sun with icy fury, enveloped him without restraint.
Yun Huang leaned forward slightly, pointing a fingertip through the air toward the sea of qi in Yun Qing's lower abdomen, where a cultivator's core lay.
"Brother, do you know why the chaos Dao embryo is called a 'Dao embryo,' rather than simply some kind of immortal body or divine body?"
The question came abruptly, without apparent reason.
Beneath the stone pearl's radiance, Yun Qing's mind jolted, and he inwardly went on guard.
His instincts told him this topic was dangerous!
Without waiting for Yun Qing to react, Yun Huang continued, lowering his voice further into an almost whispered, intimate cruelty:
"A Dao embryo is a perfect embryo, a... vessel nurtured by heaven and earth." His gaze settled on the sea of qi in Yun Qing's lower abdomen, looking directly at the chaos essence sealed beneath layer upon layer of restrictions. "It holds limitless potential to evolve all arts, and precisely because it is 'unformed,' it is most easily... plundered and exploited. If I were not reincarnated, but instead needed a perfect physical body to bear an Immortal Emperor's power, your chaos Dao embryo would be an ideal 'embryonic vessel.'"
His gaze rested on Yun Qing as though he were appraising an interesting object.
A chill shot up Yun Qing's spine to the crown of his head. His whole body shuddered, making the chains rattle.
Seemingly satisfied with his reaction, Yun Huang continued, "In ancient times, there were secret arts that used a chaos Dao embryo as a 'mother vessel' to gestate an even stronger divine body or immortal body. Of course, the day that gestation succeeded would also be the day your life as that 'mother vessel' was exhausted, your Dao extinguished, and your body destroyed."
Watching Yun Qing's face turn deathly pale, an inscrutable glint passed through his Golden Pupils. "In fact, this method can benefit even a Reincarnated Immortal Emperor's body. I originally thought that if you displeased me, Brother, I could simply 'eat' you and spare myself the trouble."
Yun Huang straightened and put a little distance between them again, but the oppressive pressure only increased. "Unfortunately, you kept up your act so well before that I had no opening to act."
"Now... this is a good thing too, isn't it?"
Yun Qing abruptly raised his eyes, an uncontrollable flicker of horror passing through his double pupils.
"It seems you understand, Brother. Those crude methods of the Twelfth Elder were simply a wanton waste of heaven's treasures." Yun Huang's tone held undisguised contempt. Then his words took a turn.
"But I am different."
That single sentence froze the air inside the tower solid!
Yun Qing met Yun Huang's gaze. There was no warmth whatsoever in those Golden Pupils, only the cruel indifference of an Immortal Emperor looking down upon ants.
He slowly raised his right hand toward Yun Qing. His five fingers were slender as jade, yet a wisp of dazzling, supremely dangerous radiant sun divine power curled around his fingertips! That golden light was not blazing; instead, it was terrifyingly contained, holding a dreadful Dao resonance capable of extracting essence. Even Yun Qing's divine soul trembled!
"I have already extracted the essence of Yun Chi's 'spirit-devouring body,'" Yun Huang said flatly, his voice seeming to rise from the ninefold netherworld. "Though inferior in quality, it is better than nothing."
He raised his hand, the terrifying golden light pulsing at his fingertip, barely an inch from the sea of qi in Yun Qing's dantian!
"As for your chaos Dao embryo..."
"I am very curious whether it can completely mend the fissures left by reincarnation and stabilize my supreme Dao foundation."
Boom-!
Terrifying pressure poured down like the starry rivers of the nine heavens, crashing onto him! The space around Yun Qing froze completely, becoming a prison even more indestructible than the Immortal-Sealing Tower!
He could only watch as that fingertip, imbued with destructive power, approached his sea of qi little by little to the rhythm of death.
Reflected in his double pupils was Yun Huang's face, cold as the Heavenly Dao and devoid of any human emotion.
Had... he truly miscalculated?
Had everything before this, all that tacit indulgence and those subtle glimpses of warmth, failed utterly to move this Immortal Emperor's supreme Dao heart?
The stone pearl's radiance fell over him, and the truth, unbearably real and sharp, twisted viciously into the deepest recesses of his heart!
Yun Huang said no more. The divine power at his fingertip solidified, and just as that fingertip was about to touch the robes over Yun Qing's chest-
"Young Lord!"
Yun Qing suddenly forced himself to speak. His voice was somewhat hoarse under the immense pressure of the chains, yet exceptionally clear.
He neither struggled nor begged for mercy. He merely looked into Yun Huang's eyes, a flame of desperate resolve burning deep within his double pupils.
"If the Young Lord needs it..."
He paused, as though using every ounce of strength in his body to suppress his instinctive fear of his Dao path coming to an end.
Then he said clearly:
"I... am willing to offer up my Dao embryo."
The instant those words fell, Yun Huang's fingertip, about to strike his dantian, paused almost imperceptibly.
The golden light pulsed, illuminating eyes whose expression had abruptly withdrawn into their depths.
Dead silence filled the tower chamber. Only the stagnant pressure and the flickering golden light at Yun Huang's fingertip spoke of a dangerous balance poised to erupt at the slightest touch.
"Heh."
An icy, mocking chuckle escaped Yun Huang's throat.
He swept his sleeve sharply and faced Yun Qing squarely once more. Those Golden Pupils, which had only just withdrawn their edge, now brimmed with an even deeper, colder fury, becoming all the more terrifying!
"Willing to offer it up?" He rolled those words over his tongue, his tone icy. "Yun Qing, you're playing this trick again. Before, I was willing to play along. Now, what gives you the confidence to think you can still bluff your way through?!"
"Whether you consent or are forced, I will extract your chaos Dao embryo." A biting chill filled Yun Huang's Golden Pupils as he clearly pronounced his final judgment:
"Surrender every memory related to the 'Soul-Tracing Secret Rite,' and lower your divine soul's defenses so I can inspect them myself." His voice was cold, brooking no argument. "Then, as for your Dao embryo... I will extract thirty percent of its essence as punishment."
Extract thirty percent of its essence!
This would be a devastating blow to any cultivator, damaging their foundation, drastically diminishing their potential, and forcibly lowering the ceiling of their future achievements!
For a heaven-defying constitution like the chaos Dao embryo, losing thirty percent of its essence would be all but impossible to remedy!
Was Yun Huang going to... utterly destroy half his future?
Yun Qing's face was pale. Looking into Yun Huang's golden eyes, which brooked no dissent, he knew there was no room for negotiation this time.
Either he opened his divine soul completely, surrendered his memories, and paid the price of having his foundation half destroyed.
Or... he died.
Despair, so heavy it suffocated him, surged from every direction like the cold, viscous waters of the deep sea, slowly rising over Yun Qing's mouth and nose before swallowing his head.
Within his sight, the stone pearl's radiance flowed across the top of the tower, so dazzling and cruel.
He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. When he opened them again, only a desolate gray stillness remained within his double pupils.
"...Yes."
He heard his own voice ring out, dry and rough.
"I... obey."
He slowly relaxed every defense around his divine soul and opened the gates of his sea of consciousness. At the same time, he forcibly halted the circulation of his chaos Dao embryo, waiting for the pain of its essence being stripped away to descend.
On his handsome, refined face, there was only an accepting calm, along with a faint tremor that escaped despite his utmost efforts to conceal it.
That was not fear of death. It was more like a kind of... fragility before his faith was about to collapse.
Before you continue