Ziwei Emperor Art, Mind Rectification

"Splash..."

Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan appeared inside the jade disc's space, then plunged straight into the Purple Pool directly below them.

Upon falling into the pool, Wen Qingxuan distinctly felt the imposing power that made even the surrounding space feel sluggish. It was an imperial might that reached through heaven and earth, but it did not press down upon her.

Instead, it plunged straight into the mark between Yun Mo's brows.

Wen Qingxuan struggled to reach Yun Mo and helped him up. Seeing the blood on the patterns between his brows, her eyes revealed a concern entirely unlike anything she had shown before. "Was the jade disc you were holding the Emperor's Seal of the ancient Ziwei the Great? Then where are we?"

Yun Mo's face was pale. Two terrifying forces were clashing between his brows.

Now, information from the jade disc also streamed into his mind.

He finally understood. When he entered the depths of the temple, the Extraterritorial Evil Clan's mark had encountered Ziwei's Emperor's Seal drifting through the temple's void. Each had been awakened by the other's aura almost simultaneously, unleashing their respective powers of suppression and resistance.

Ziwei the Great had also been one of the supreme experts who resisted the Extraterritorial Evil Clan in ancient times. On his own continent, he had fought the Evil Clan to the death without retreating, his peerless imperial might striking terror into even their Demon Emperors.

The Emperor Seal Fragment had followed the great emperor for countless years, bearing the imprint of nearly his entire magnificent, turbulent life. It was intimately familiar with the Extraterritorial Evil Clan. Thus, the moment it sensed the Evil Clan's aura, its only impulse was to suppress it immediately.

Although this Emperor Seal Fragment was not large, the imperial might it contained could still hold up the heavens.

The Purple Pool before them, for instance, was formed entirely from imperial will made tangible.

Yun Mo turned toward Wen Qingxuan and said hoarsely, "The jade disc is indeed an Emperor Seal Fragment belonging to Ziwei the Great. This is the space inside the fragment, and this pool is a Creation Pool formed from imperial will.

"Cough, cough... Don't worry about me for now. I'm fine. This Creation Pool is an unimaginable opportunity. Tempering your body with supreme imperial will can awaken your untapped potential and transform your foundation. Seize this chance. Don't worry about me."

After saying this, Yun Mo drew a deep breath and immediately sat cross-legged. The forces between his brows were raging.

Watching him, Wen Qingxuan clenched her delicate hands so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood.

But then she noticed that Yun Mo's breathing had indeed begun to steady. Only then did she press her lips together and sit cross-legged a short distance from him.

Yet the moment she sat down, she truly came into contact with that imperial might spanning heaven and earth. Her expression changed. Steeling her heart, she gritted her teeth and slowly guided the pool's imperial will to cleanse her body.

A single strand of imperial might was enough to collapse heaven and earth. Fortunately, the imperial will in the pool seemed to possess an awareness of its own-or rather, a trace of consciousness remained within the awakened Emperor Seal Fragment.

It had restrained the imperial will within the pool from the outset. After witnessing what followed, it also devoted a portion of its attention to watching over Wen Qingxuan, shielding her body and helping her undergo the cleansing.

Afterward, it poured most of its strength, along with the imperial will within the space, into the spot between Yun Mo's brows. Its instincts drove it to confront the Evil Clan's aura head-on.

The mark between Yun Mo's brows now became a battlefield in earnest.

Ziwei the Great's imperial will entered a terrifying confrontation with the Demon Emperors' mark, making Yun Mo's feeble Divine Soul tremble. Only the jade disc's unwavering protection kept him from being annihilated on the spot.

Yet this Demon Emperor mark had ultimately been branded upon him by more than ten Demon Emperors together. Even if it was merely a hate mark, it remained as impregnable as a fortress with iron walls and a boiling moat. The imperial will of Ziwei the Great alone could neither erase nor suppress it.

Yun Mo ought to have counted himself fortunate that, just as the records stated, these marks contained none of the Demon Emperors' active means of attack. Otherwise, if the two sides truly fought within him, even the jade disc's protection would likely have been useless.

He could not tell whether encountering this jade disc was a blessing or a curse.

No, this Demon Emperor mark can still influence my mind. If I let my guard slip one day, I may still be swayed by it and drawn toward the Extraterritorial Evil Clan. Worse, if these marks erupt when I make a breakthrough in the future... I have no way to resist them.

He had no choice but to admit it. This Demon Emperor mark was like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, ready at any moment to deliver a fatal strike and drag him into corruption.

Thinking it through, this was merely a crisis erupting ahead of time.

Even now, the imperial will's suppression had provoked the mark into resisting. It released a sinister aura that shook his mind, leaving him lucid one moment and malevolent the next.

If he could hold fast to his true self now, he would have confidence that he would not lose himself in the future.

If he gave up here, the Demon Emperors' will would devour him in an instant, erasing all his consciousness and turning him into another existence.

This was a crisis to which he could never surrender. He could only bite down hard on the tip of his tongue, trying to resist in this way.

As Yun Mo fought desperately, the jade disc's last trace of consciousness sensed the turmoil in his mind. It immediately sent a strand of divine thought into his Divine Soul.

Yun Mo was startled, but he knew this might be the key to breaking the deadlock.

Without hesitation, he focused all his attention on that strand of divine thought, probing its mysteries. Before his pupils turned completely black, he had to find the key to holding his mind steady.

And this strand of divine thought contained an art of the great emperor.

*Ziwei Emperor Art, **Mind Rectification!*** Yun Mo whispered inwardly.

The Ziwei Emperor Art was a supreme imperial art created by Ziwei the Great himself, possessing both supportive abilities and the power to slay enemies.

It consisted of six forms, and Mind Rectification was the fourth.

As its name suggested, it rectified the heart, allowing one to hold fast to one's true self. No evil in the world could shake the resolve within. To those demons and fiends, this divine ability was their natural nemesis.

He did not know how much time passed. Drawing upon the dense imperial will around him, Yun Mo displayed his astonishing talent to the fullest, beginning to work out this divine ability at a speed others could never hope to match. He did not need to master it, nor could he master such a profound art in so short a time.

He only needed to grasp the barest trace of its workings, enough to keep himself from becoming lost.

"Hum..."

Yun Mo formed hand seals, slowly at first, then faster. Mysterious auras emerged from his hands and spread outward, making the imperial will remaining in the space dance with his fingertips and the imperial will within the Creation Pool wash through his entire body.

Rumble!

The imperial will within him began to rage. Gritting his teeth, Yun Mo guarded his Divine Soul and finally used a tiny wisp of power to slowly strengthen this will.

At last, the mark's power began to weaken during its confrontation with the imperial will, and his awareness slowly returned.

In the end, he barely managed to establish a stalemate with the Demon Emperor mark.

The imperial will ultimately could not erase the mark, but when it erupted again, it could obstruct it and protect the last vestige of Yun Mo's consciousness.

At least when Yun Mo made a breakthrough, he would be able to rely on his own will to avoid losing himself completely and falling into corruption.

I don't even know how to describe what happened this time. Encountering the Emperor Seal Fragment triggered its suppression of the Demon Emperor mark and nearly killed me. Yet thanks to that very suppression, the mark's problem erupted early and was resolved. Does this count as a blessing amid misfortune? Fortune and calamity entwined?

Yun Mo slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Wen Qingxuan before him. She had already awakened, and the worry on her face was plain to see.

"I'm fine now. I just exhausted myself a little too much." Looking at her, Yun Mo managed a faint smile on his deathly pale face and struggled to rise.

But the instant he stood, his vision suddenly went black. With his Divine Soul's power depleted, he felt the world spin and toppled toward Wen Qingxuan. Not only that, but the robe he wore shattered at that very moment, dissolving into nothingness.

The force of the pool's waters was ultimately more than his ordinary clothing could withstand.