The Demon Venerable smiled. "Because I promised you. And—" His gaze fell on the hand that was tightly gripping the Source of Chaos, a hand that had lost all color and was as white as snow, "... you're carrying this all by yourself, and I don't like watching it."
The Snow Empress stared into his eyes for three breaths. Then she freed her left hand and swiftly drew a complex rune pattern on the Demon Venerable's palm, explaining the incantation and key points of Spiritual Power circulation as she drew. The Demon Venerable watched intently, his dark eyes reflecting the golden rune patterns, his expression as focused as if he were comprehending a profound Dao.
At the mountaintop, Perfected Qingxuan watched this scene, and a complex expression finally appeared on his usually calm face. He did not make a move immediately, but stood there silently, his moon-white Daoist robe fluttering gently in the mountain breeze, like an unchanging stone statue.
Poison Elder, Fire Barbarian, and Shadow Phantom Demon looked at each other, each in a dilemma. With Perfected Qingxuan here, they naturally dared not compete with this Spirit Transformation Stage cultivator for the Source of Chaos. But they were unwilling to leave just like that, after all, they had gone to such great lengths.
Perfected Qingxuan suddenly spoke, his voice calm and cold. "The three of you, today's matter has nothing to do with you. Please leave."
The Poison Elder's expression shifted several times before he finally chuckled dryly and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, "Since Senior Qingxuan has spoken, we naturally dare not disobey. Farewell." With that, he transformed into a cloud of green mist and headed south, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Fire Barbarian and Shadow Phantom didn't say much either, each transforming into streaks of light and vanishing at the horizon.
Only three people remained on the desolate mountain. Perfected Qingxuan stood atop the mountain, while the Demon Venerable and the Snow Empress stood side by side beside a crevice halfway up the mountain. The mountain wind howled past, stirring up gravel and dust. The night was as thick as ink, with only the gray luster flowing across the surface of the Source of Chaos and the faint light of the golden sealing runes flickering in the darkness.
" Snow Empress," Perfected Qingxuan's voice came from above, still gentle, yet tinged with an indescribable weariness, "You really don't believe your master?"
The Snow Empress did not look up. Her left hand was still drawing the last set of runes on the Demon Venerable's palm, and her lips moved as she recited the last few words of the incantation. The Demon Venerable nodded, his right hand clenching, and a wisp of black Spiritual Power emerged from his palm, condensing into a dark golden rune according to the trajectory he had just learned, which complemented the Snow Empress's golden rune.
"Belief or disbelief is not about words, but about actions." The Snow Empress finally spoke, her voice soft yet firm. "Master, if you truly cared about the safety of this continent, you wouldn't have allowed the Council of Elders hoard fragments of the Chaos Pearl. If you truly cared about me, your disciple, you wouldn't have concealed so much from me for three hundred years. If you are willing to leave today, I will come to apologize to you after sealing the Source of Chaos. But if you insist on taking the Source of Chaos— "
She paused, then suddenly gripped the dark stone tightly with her left hand. The twelve layers of golden runes on it suddenly lit up, casting a golden glow on her entire face.
"--Then this disciple can only repay your kindness. This life was given to me by you, and if you want to take it back, this disciple has nothing to say. But the Source of Chaos, you cannot take it away."
Perfected Qingxuan closed his eyes.
In that instant, the Demon Venerable suddenly felt that something was collapsing from this old man who had lived for nearly a thousand years. His aura was still as vast as the sea and as majestic as a mountain, but his shoulders slumped slightly. It was just a tiny, almost imperceptible sag, yet it made him look much older.
"So be it." Perfected Qingxuan opened his eyes, the light in them dimming for a moment. " Snow Empress, since you've chosen this path, I won't force you. But you're right, I do have my own obsessions. I can hand over those two fragments. I can also speak to the Council of Elders ' Council. But it's good that you sealed the Source of Chaos today; consider it as severing that attachment for me."
He took something from his sleeve—a crystal-clear jade pendant—and casually tossed it down. The pendant landed on the rocks in front of the Snow Empress, making a crisp sound.
"This contains seventy percent of my Spiritual Power accumulated over three hundred years. You damaged your essence while repairing the boundary wall, and you exhausted your life essence while sealing the Source of Chaos. If you don't replenish it, even if the seal is completed, you will be crippled. Take this, consider it my... compensation to you."
After Perfected Qingxuan finished speaking, his moon-white Daoist robe suddenly transformed into a soft pillar of light, soaring into the sky and flying towards the heavens. The pillar of light rose higher and higher, becoming fainter and fainter, until it finally merged into the night sky and disappeared from sight.
The barren mountain fell silent once more.
All that remained was the mountain wind, the night, and a man and a woman standing side by side beside the crevice.
The Demon Venerable looked down at the Snow Empress. She was swaying precariously, her hand clutching the Source of Chaos was still trembling, her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and the color had completely drained from her lips. But she remained standing, not falling.
The Demon Venerable reached out and picked up the jade pendant, placing it in her hand. "Use it. Don't waste your master's good intentions."
Snow Empress looked down at the jade pendant in her palm. It indeed contained a vast and boundless Spiritual Power, warm and powerful, the culmination of her master's three hundred years of accumulation. She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately drew a wisp of Spiritual Power into her body. As that Spiritual Power flowed along her meridians throughout her limbs and bones, she felt as if she were enveloped by a warm current. Her parched meridians gradually became full again, and the intense pain in her body was somewhat relieved.
She took a deep breath and grasped the Source of Chaos once more.
"Come on," the Demon Venerable stood opposite her, his right hand also pressing on the dark stone, dark gold runes Entanglement with golden runes. "I'll count to three, then we'll activate the seal together. You'll be in charge of the main seal, and I'll be in charge of the auxiliary seal. Don't try to outpace each other, don't overexert yourselves, and tell me if you can't hold on."
Snow Empress nodded.
"One."
The mountain wind howled.
"Two."
The Power of Chaos within the Source of Chaos surged even more violently under the combined suppression of the two, causing the entire stone to tremble violently.
"Three!"
Two beams of light shone simultaneously. Gold and dark gold intertwined to form a dazzling light curtain, completely enveloping the pitch-black stone. Layer upon layer of sealing runes rained down on the stone like a dense storm. With each layer that fell, the Power of Chaos within the stone was suppressed, and the gray luster on its surface dimmed.
Thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth...
The Demon Venerable's dark gold runes moved with extreme precision, each one perfectly embedded between the Snow Empress's gold runes, filling the gaps and reinforcing the whole. Although the two had never cooperated before, their tacit understanding was as if they had rehearsed a thousand times. The Snow Empress was the main seal, and the Demon Venerable was the auxiliary seal; the main and auxiliary seals complemented each other perfectly.
20th floor, 21st floor, 22nd floor...