The pain from the lava burns on his backside flared up again, and he was forced to hop on his uninjured left leg. Every jolt wounded the ten Slaughter Seals he had previously severed. His body trembled and he coughed repeatedly, his locked spiritual essence being forcibly siphoned by the Law of the Tomb.

  BRUK! DUG!

  He slammed into the stone walls due to his chaotic steps, and thin blood seeped from a small wound on his forehead. The blood did not immediately clot. His Devil Tree of Life and Divine Organ Cycle, which should have regenerated a minor wound in a fraction of a second, were now struggling against the Tomb's essence extraction and the corrosion of the remaining Extreme Yang. His physical wounds felt slashing and stinging, refusing to heal.

  "The passage is starting to close! Run!" Xiao Die hissed, her voice filled with honest panic.

  Zhi Xuan looked ahead. The passage he had used to enter the crossroads room, which should have been an Extreme Yang corridor, was now narrowing drastically. The pitch-black volcanic stone walls shifted slowly, driven by the power of the Great Emperor's Formation, creating a lethal friction.

  Zhi Xuan channeled his last strength into the twenty Slaughter Seals. He did not care if the Law of the Tomb harvested him; he only needed one final push. He shot forward like a mad arrow, leaping and lunging into the narrowing passage.

  KRAKK! SRAK!

  He managed to pass through most of the passage, but his chaotic movements caused him to get stuck. The volcanic walls squeezed his left shoulder. Zhi Xuan groaned in pain, an extraordinary agony paralyzing his body. He pushed with all his might, his muscles screaming, and he heard a sickening grinding sound from his shoulder blade.

  DUG!

  With a surge that nearly snapped his veins, Zhi Xuan managed to break free. He was thrown out of the passage, which now slammed shut behind him with a thundering sound. He crashed onto the cold rocky ground, his body shaking, and he spat out a mouthful of thick blood.

  He struggled to rise. His body was covered in dust and blood, the wound on his forehead bled without stopping, and his left shoulder felt numb. He crawled forward, the Divine Cauldron stored away, now relying only on instinct. He crawled through the labyrinth of hot rocks, distancing himself from the passage that had now become a grave.

  After crawling through winding corridors, he saw a dim light in the distance. It was a hole, a narrow crack in the cavern ceiling.

  "Master! That hole! It is the gap leading to the core of the Tomb! Quick!" Xiao Die exclaimed, her voice sounding relieved yet still urgent.

  Zhi Xuan forced himself to stand, ignoring the slashing pain throughout his body. He ran, no longer with a ridiculous hopping motion, but with a limping stride filled with deathly determination. He reached the crack, a narrow opening that could only be passed through with great difficulty.

  Zhi Xuan paid no mind to anything else. He used his intact right hand to grab the edge of the crack, and with his remaining physical strength, he pulled his body in. He crawled upward through a hole that felt as if it were squeezing every last drop of his strength.

  As his body made it through, he slid into a dark and cold passage, which immediately closed behind him. He was finally free from the rampaging corridors of the Great Emperor's Tomb.

  Zhi Xuan fell helplessly, rolling until he lay on a flat rock that felt cold and stinging. He gasped for air, his eyes closed, and he simply allowed the Devil Tree of Life to rotate his vitality at maximum speed. He was severely injured. The pain was so real, so deadly.

  In a room enveloped in pure and cold spiritual mist, Zhu Qinglan sat cross-legged on a silk cushion woven from heavenly silk. Her cold and pure face was covered by a pearl veil, radiating an unparalleled tranquility, like a Goddess descended to the mortal world. She had just finished important business at the Disciple Hall of the Thousand Sky Sect.

  Before her was placed a small statue of a man holding a staff, carved from sturdy material. The statue was infused with Zhu Qinglan's Water Law essence, and around the statue, there were faint blood-red stains. It was a lifemark given by Zhi Xuan before he departed for the Ancient Wasteland.

  Suddenly, Zhu Qinglan's closed eyes flickered. The essence fluctuations around her became wild. She felt a brutal disturbance in her Water Law connected to the statue. The small man statue, which had served as a marker for Zhi Xuan's life, suddenly vibrated violently.

  The bloodstain at the statue's heart flickered wildly, radiating extreme heat before being immediately replaced by freezing cold, a reflection of the Extreme Yin-Yang Law Zhi Xuan had just faced. Zhu Qinglan opened her light gray eyes.

  A piercing and cold sensation stabbed her Sea of Consciousness, an ill omen far stronger than physical pain. A feeling of karma being severed and rebounding against her Dao. Before she could move, with a sharp and deafening KRRAKKK!, the small man statue shattered into pieces.

  The statue did not crumble; it shattered and broke into jade dust that was immediately absorbed by the air. The remaining bloodstain surged for a moment in the air before evaporating completely. It was an absolute sign. The lifemark had faded, serving as a signal that the spiritual blood was resonating with its master's blood.

  Zhu Qinglan's face, usually calm and cold as an iceberg, immediately turned pale, and her veil fell, revealing a face as white as snow. Her eyes widened, and her pure spiritual essence fluctuations surged wildly within the room. She stood up abruptly, kicking the silk cushion aside. Her Five Element aura immediately exploded from her body and vibrated uncontrollably.

  "Impossible..." Zhu Qinglan hissed, her voice hoarse and filled with cold denial. "You could not have failed. You could not have died!"

  "Mei! Ling'er!" Zhu Qinglan's ice-cold roar, filled with pain, shook the entire Eternal Jade Peak. The Five Element aura she had been suppressing immediately exploded outward, destroying the defensive formations in her chamber. The chaotic pure energy swept through the pavilion.

  Her two loyal servants, who had served Zhu Qinglan since childhood, immediately appeared outside the door that was now shattered into pieces. They saw their Holy Maiden standing in the midst of the chaos, her blue silk dress trembling, and around her, spiritual essence surged like a wrathful sea. Beneath her feet, there was nothing but fine dust.

  The two servants, Mei and Ling'er, who were usually calm, were now deathly pale. They had never seen Zhu Qinglan lose control of her emotions and spiritual essence in their entire lives. The aura radiated by their Holy Maiden was colder than a night on the Snow Plains and sharper than a Heavenly Sword.

  "Holy Maiden... what happened?" Mei asked, her voice trembling, though she tried hard to maintain her composure.

  Zhu Qinglan did not answer. She reached out her hand, and pure water essence immediately condensed, forming sharp ice crystals. She stared at the dust beneath her feet, and her eyes radiated cold despair.

  "The statue... the lifemark statue has faded," Zhu Qinglan hissed, her voice now returning to a calm state, but that calmness felt more terrifying than her roar of anger. "His spiritual blood has returned to me. He... he failed. He is dead."

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Ling'er's body shook violently. They knew how important the Black-Haired Devil was to their Holy Maiden. Not just as the key holder to the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit, but also as the owner of a mysterious karmic bond. They knew that if that man died, Zhu Qinglan's Dao foundation would be severely shaken.

  "Holy Maiden, perhaps it is only disconnected," Ling'er whispered, trying to offer a futile hope.

  Zhu Qinglan only shook her head slowly, her movements filled with deathly fatigue. "I channeled essence into that wooden statue. The statue did not just fade; it shattered. The statue felt the simultaneous destruction of its master's spiritual and physical foundation, crushed by an extremely powerful force... Extreme Yin-Yang."

  She closed her eyes. Within her Sea of Consciousness, she saw blurred visions of destruction, of rampaging Yang fire and freezing ice. The karma binding her to Zhi Xuan screamed in pain, severed, but not completely broken. A tiny part of that karma still existed, weak, hidden somewhere.

  "I feel it. He is not entirely dead," Zhu Qinglan murmured, her eyes opening again, radiating a cold and sharp light of hope. "If he were dead, the karma would completely sever my Dao. But it is only cut, hidden. He is hiding. He must be hiding."

  The Five Element aura around her, which had been chaotic, now began to settle, returning to a cold tranquility. Zhu Qinglan, the Holy Fairy of the Thousand Sky Sect, had returned. Her weakness was only momentary, replaced by a determination as hard as heavenly steel.

  "You will not die so easily," Zhu Qinglan murmured, as she slumped calmly back onto the silk cushion she had previously kicked. She remembered Zhi Xuan's last words before he left her Pavilion for the Ancient Wasteland. "No, he will definitely return. I will drag his soul back if he does not return; he will return."

  Zhu Qinglan took a cold breath, channeling her Five Element essence into herself, restoring silence around her ravaged room. Her light gray eyes radiated a cold light of calculation. Zhi Xuan had failed, or rather, he had been assumed to have failed by the Laws of Heaven, but that weak karmic bond was proof that he was fighting against death.

  The haunting silence did not last long. The Eternal Jade Peak, usually enveloped in a calm pure spiritual aura, now radiated brutal essence fluctuations, a trace of a Holy Fairy's wrath. The distance between the peaks was not far.

  From the path outside the Pavilion whose door was now utterly destroyed, stable footsteps and a powerful aura were heard, as if someone were moving with calculated arrogance and concern. A moment later, the shadow of a tall and handsome young man, wearing a pristine white robe with golden lace representing his status as a core disciple of the Thousand Sky Sect, appeared before the ruins of the door.

  It was Xu Sheng, a true disciple of the Cloud Sky Peak, his foundation being the most solid among the other geniuses. His clear eyes looked into the chaos of the room, stopping at the figure of Zhu Qinglan sitting calmly amidst the destruction, the pure Five Element aura slowly stabilizing.

  "Holy Maiden Zhu," Xu Sheng said, his voice filled with a mixture of admiration and gentle anxiety, his posture showing deep respect. "I felt an unexpected essence fluctuation coming from your Pavilion. I was worried. Is there a wicked cultivator brave enough to attack the Eternal Jade Peak? Or could there be some threatening danger?"

  Mei and Ling'er, standing outside, immediately bowed their heads, not daring to answer. They knew their Holy Maiden did not want anyone to know about her momentary madness. Zhu Qinglan raised her hand slightly, a cold and absolute gesture for her two servants to step aside. She stared at Xu Sheng. In her light gray eyes, Xu Sheng saw the return of tranquility, but also a layer of fatigue and tension he had never witnessed before.

  "Thank you for your concern, Brother Xu," Zhu Qinglan replied, her voice cold, as if cutting the air between them. "There is no wicked cultivator. There was only a minor issue in my pill refinement. The matter has been resolved."

  Xu Sheng stepped forward slightly, his eyes sweeping the fine dust on the floor, which were the remnants of the shattered wooden statue. The damage in the room was too great to be called a minor issue in pill refinement. His cultivator's instinct told him this was a brutal explosion of emotion. Xu Sheng chuckled inwardly, knowing that perhaps the Black-Haired Devil had truly died, either at the hands of the Eternal Killing Temple or in the Ancient Wasteland.

  "Holy Maiden Qinglan is too polite," Xu Sheng hissed, his tone now softening, trying to show an intimacy he did not possess. "If it were a pill issue, your Five Element essence fluctuations would not have been so wild. I see that you are tired. My Cloud Sky Peak is calmer, shrouded in spiritual mist that can soothe the Sea of Consciousness. Why don't you come to Cloud Sky Peak for a moment? I will prepare Heavenly Dew Tea to stabilize your foundation."

  That offer, intended as gentle care, instead stung Zhu Qinglan's sensitive nerves. Zhu Qinglan stared at Xu Sheng with freezing cold. Heavenly Dew Tea? Stabilizing the foundation? While there was a Black-Haired Devil struggling between life and death, whether hiding or dead, and her karmic bond was straining like a snapped rope.

  "No need, Brother Xu," Zhu Qinglan replied, her tone now as sharp as an ice blade, devoid of emotion, but hidden within was a brutal fatigue and rejection. "I do not need a place to calm myself. My Sea of Consciousness is stable. My foundation is more solid than you imagine."

  She stood up fully, radiating the aura of a cold and impenetrable Holy Fairy.

  "My mission here is not yet finished. I do not have time to drink tea and enjoy the mist. If you truly wish to help, return to Cloud Sky Peak. Guard your own foundation so it is not affected by the mortal chaos out there."

  Those words were a very sharp dismissal, an implicit rebuke to Xu Sheng's assumption that she was vulnerable. Zhu Qinglan did not want her weakness seen by any cultivator, especially Zhi Xuan's rival in the attempt to win her heart.

  Xu Sheng froze.

  His handsome face showed an expression of shock and slight offense. He had tried to show his gentleness and concern, yet he was met with a deadly cold attitude and a rebuke. He did not understand. He only saw a Holy Maiden angry over a minor failure.

  "I understand," Xu Sheng replied, his tone returning to a formal one, indicating he had withdrawn his false warmth. He clasped his hands before his chest. "I shall return to Cloud Sky Peak. Holy Maiden, be careful with your foundation. I will wait until you are willing to share your burden of thoughts."

  Zhu Qinglan nodded coldly, her eyes staring sharply, an absolute sign that the conversation was over. Xu Sheng bowed once more, then turned and walked away, the aura around him feeling slightly insulted. After Xu Sheng disappeared, Zhu Qinglan returned to her seat, her gaze directed at the fine dust on the floor. She let out a breath that was barely audible.

  "Curse you, Black-Haired Devil," Zhu Qinglan murmured, her voice now containing sorrow and a painful determination. "You must return. I have endured all that nonsense. Don't you dare make me lose my mind and my Dao foundation just because of a ridiculous failure."

  She channeled her Five Element essence. Around the Pavilion, the spiritual aura began to work, repairing the damage caused by her explosion. But the damage in her Sea of Consciousness, due to the uncertainty of that Devil's fate, would take much longer to repair. She now knew that the only way to save her foundation was to ensure that the Black-Haired Devil returned—whether alive or only as a soul.

  On the other side, in the center of the Holy Mountain Peaks of the Ancient Zhu Clan in the Eastern Continent, Zhu Yanghai opened his silvery eyes, his golden robe with red lotus patterns encircling the folds of his garment. His face was perfect, radiating the aura of a Holy Son of an Ancient Clan. He stared at the jade hanger beside him, as he slowly felt the six life talismans belonging to the six disciples who were his envoys to the Middle Continent shatter simultaneously.

  KRAK! KRAK! KRAK! KRAK! KRAK! KRAK!

  The jade hanger was totally destroyed, its dust floating in the air filled with dense spiritual essence. Zhu Yanghai remained sitting cross-legged, but the tranquility on his face had vanished, replaced by a burning sense of despair. The six life talismans—six elite disciples, the strongest foundation he possessed in the Consciousness Transformation realm—had perished simultaneously in the Divine Stone Mine.

  He did not feel any large fluctuations of battle, only absolute and sudden destruction. It was not death by battle; it was annihilation by an unparalleled Law. Even the blood of the Ancient Zhu Clan could not enter the tomb, and the hundreds of cultivators sent had only gained uncertain futility.

  "Emperor Zhu Yan Tian," Zhu Yanghai murmured, shaking his head slowly with grace. His calm nature, being in the Soul Transformation realm and following neither the path of righteousness nor the path of the Devil, did not show anger. "Hundreds of cultivators have already perished. It is so heavy to bring back the legacy of the Great Emperor."

  Zhu Yanghai let out a spiritual sigh that evaporated in the air, looking at his advisor standing and bowing slowly to him. "Advisor Zhao, have you received news about my sister? She still refuses to speak about her karmic bond with the man acknowledged as the Black-Haired Devil."

  Advisor Zhao, an elderly man who appeared simple in a plain gray robe, bowed his head deeper, deep respect radiating from his aura. He was the figure who secretly held control over many affairs in the Ancient Zhu Clan.

  "Holy Son," Advisor Zhao hissed, his voice calm and full of wisdom. "Holy Maiden Qinglan will not be willing to speak of it. The will of a Holy Fairy with a balanced Dao foundation is an iceberg difficult to penetrate, especially regarding her karmic destiny. In fact, she has rejected every approach made by Xu Sheng of the Thousand Sky Sect. I am certain her karmic bond with the man called the Black-Haired Devil has reached a level where it affects the stability of her spiritual foundation."