Chapter 357

The gray-black death mist activated by the Soul-Consuming Bone-Rotting Array rolled and howled in the mine cavern like a living thing.

Countless ferocious ghost heads and white bone claws phantasms condensed from the mist, biting relentlessly at the weak barrier formed by the overlapping of Wang Ping's Chaos Domain and Qinglin's Yin-Wood Spirit Domain.

Outside the barrier lay soul-freezing chill and erosion; inside, the four stood back-to-back, the atmosphere taut as a drawn bowstring.

Lei Shuo's furious roar and the explosive thunderclaps were the most violent notes of this moment. He transformed into purple lightning, swinging his heavy hammer with wind and thunder surging, locked in battle with that early Nascent Soul evil-dark leader.

That evil-dark leader's form flickered, bone shields and spears of condensed death mist appearing endlessly; though restrained by Lei Shuo's peerless, overbearing thunder methods, they shattered repeatedly, yet his movement was uncanny, and the death mist possessed extreme corrosiveness and tenacity, actually entangling Lei Shuo for a moment, preventing him from breaking free to support elsewhere.

Qinglin's face turned slightly pale, fine sweat beading on his forehead. He formed seals with both hands, the Yin-Wood Green Emperor Technique operating at its peak, emerald-green spirit light like substantial vines and leaves spreading around him, desperately maintaining the "Yin-Wood Spirit Domain".

Spirit flowers blossomed within the domain, vital energy circulating, continuously purifying the threads of death mist seeping through the gaps in the dual domains. But the power of the Soul-Consuming Bone-Rotting Array clearly exceeded estimates.

That death mist was not only dense, but also carried a vicious curse targeting vitality; each thread purified consumed great amounts of his spirit power and mental focus. He struggled left and right, barely maintaining the domain from collapsing, already at his limit, with no remaining strength to launch attacks.

Xuanji Zi half-knelt on the ground, the Heavenly Stars Disk floating before her, clear starlight transforming into countless fine rays like dexterous tentacles, penetrating the violent death mist fog, swiftly sweeping every corner of the cavern, probing the array's operational flow and nodes.

Her eyes tightly closed, a point of starlight flashing at her brow, obviously pouring all her mental focus into deduction and calculation.

The external ghostly wails and wolf howls, thunderous explosions seemed unrelated to her; only the occasional rapid twitch of her fingertip seals showed she was racing against time.

Wang Ping stood at the center of the three, his Chaos Domain like a gray tide slowly rising and falling, expanding around him, blocking the fiercest death shockwaves from outside. He did not rush to attack, his deep eyes calmly scanning every change in the array, sensing the trajectory of death mist flow, observing the attack patterns of the remaining four evil-dark cultivators (one entangled with Lei Shuo, three wandering and harassing the periphery).

These evil-dark cultivators were shrouded in twisting undulating gray-black death mist, their faces blurred, only a pair of scarlet eyes burning with madness, resentment, and an inhuman indifference. Their attack methods were direct and sinister: waving hands condensed death mist into various weapon forms, or bone spikes, or ghost claws, or lurid green phosphorescent fire, accompanied by strong erosion, corruption, and life-devouring effects. Their movement in the death mist fog was like fish in water, elusive and shifting, seeming able to use the array's power for short-distance teleportation.

But Wang Ping keenly sensed that although their power was evil and strong, it was not without pattern. The surge of that death mist, the operation of the array, even the flow trajectory of their spirit power (or rather death mist) during spellcasting, all followed a certain specific, though heading toward destruction and silence, yet still "ordered" rule. This was a twisted order biased toward "termination" and "annihilation", like an ice-sealed river—though lifeless, the ice crystal arrangement still had structure; like dying stars—though heading toward termination, the collapse process still followed some physical law.

"Chaos embraces all things, evolves myriad phenomena. Order and chaos, creation and destruction, are both faces of Chaos." Gradual enlightenment arose in Wang Ping's heart. His Chaos power was not merely to restrain netherworld death mist; more accurately, it possessed higher "inclusivity" and "evolvability". The death mist's "destruction order" could be seen as an extreme branch leaning toward "end" in Chaos evolution. To "interfere", "guide", and even "include and transform" this order with a higher-level Chaos Dao rhythm might be more effective and energy-saving than pure violent destruction.

Just as his thoughts flashed, Xuanji Zi's urgent yet clear voice pierced through the chaos: "Team Leader! Found it! The array's core node is at the base of the third rock pillar in the northeast corner, inlaid with a fist-sized chunk jumping with dark red blood light—'Netherworld Blood Crystal', the main energy source! In the southeast and northwest corner rock crevices, each has a slightly smaller blood crystal, forming triangular support! Additionally, on the ground at the south, north, east, and west positions, there are concealed 'Gathering Yin Sigils', responsible for guiding and amplifying death mist!"

Hardly had her voice fallen when the three evil-dark cultivators wandering the periphery (two Golden Core perfected, one early Nascent Soul) seemed to sense Xuanji Zi had found the array's key point, their assault suddenly intensifying! They ceased probing, all letting out fierce cries, each spitting out a mouthful of pure innate death mist, merging into the surrounding fog. Instantly, the array's power surged! Countless death mist phantasms became more substantial, even began merging, forming several huge ghost-king phantoms with horns on their heads and bone wings on their ribs, letting out earth-shaking roars, waving massive bone blades and claws, fiercely smashing toward the dual domains!

"Crack!" A sound of strain came from the domain's edge! Qinglin grunted, a trickle of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, the Yin-Wood Spirit Domain violently trembling, its range shrinking again! Lei Shuo's side was also joined by a newly condensed ghost-king phantom, instantly increasing pressure, his angry roars continuous, his lightning light suppressed to only protect a three-foot radius around himself!

At the critical juncture, Wang Ping moved.

He did not choose to assault the main array eye with the Chaos Tribulation Sword, nor immediately unleash the Heaven-Overturning Seal to suppress the ghost-kings. Instead, he raised his left hand, fingers spread, and lightly pressed toward the surging, array-death-mist-condensed huge ghost-king phantom, as well as the area where those three evil-dark cultivators taking advantage attacked.

Without earth-shaking roar, without dazzling blaze. Only a thread of Chaos Immortal Essence refined to the utmost, gray-misty in hue, seeming able to embrace all things and evolve myriad phenomena, shot soundlessly from his fingertip. This thread of Immortal Essence was fine as a hair, yet its speed surpassed divine sense capture, not aimed at any entity, but precisely entering the death mist flow trajectory in that area, an extremely obscure yet crucial "order node"—that was the "transfer hub" where the array's death mist absorbed and transformed from the "Gathering Yin Sigils", flowed toward the "Netherworld Blood Crystal" for strengthening, then output to form attack phantasms!

This point, like the most exquisite surgical strike, pierced the patient's most critical nerve node!

"Ong——!"

The entire violently operating Soul-Consuming Bone-Rotting Array suddenly emitted a muffled sound, like gears jamming! The surging ghost-king phantom's movement froze abruptly, its huge body blurring and distorting for a moment, like a poor signal projection. The surrounding tumbling death mist fog's flow speed obviously sluggished, as if losing some precise command. Even the death mist tumbling on the three evil-dark cultivators showed a momentary disorder, their assault easing accordingly!

Now!

Wang Ping's eyes flashed with sharp light, his robe sleeve flowing out like drifting clouds!

"Chaos first opens, five colors evolve—swish!"

A gorgeous beyond compare, yet containing ineffable Chaos Dao rhythm, fan-shaped five-colored divine light swept out from his sleeve! This divine light was not the colors of metal, wood, water, fire, earth five phases, but more ancient, more primal, like the first five Chaos primordial colors differentiated in the primordial haze before heaven and earth opened: gray-misty, dark-yellow, red-white, blue-black, dark-gold! Five colors flowing, endless, evolving without cease, bearing a supreme conception of embracing all things, ordering all laws, returning to the source!

Where the five-colored divine light passed, the scene was strange and shocking.

Those several stiff ghost-king phantoms, like snow and ice under sunlight, did not even have time to emit a miserable cry before they began silently melting and dissolving from the edges, becoming the most primitive, gray-black death mist energy bereft of the "destruction order" support, immediately swept up by the five-colored divine light, and actually part was embraced, absorbed, transformed by the Chaos Dao rhythm flowing within that divine light, feeding back to the light itself, making its radiance even brighter!

The three evil-dark cultivators bore the brunt. Their protective death mist, before the five-colored divine light, was as fragile as paper, shattering on contact! The divine light brushed over their bodies, causing no flesh-and-blood flying harm, yet seemed to strip away the outer shell representing the "Netherworld order" on them. The three evil-dark cultivators simultaneously emitted piercing, soul-rending wails, their death mist all over their bodies boiling like hot water, violently steaming and dissipating, revealing beneath withered, shriveled forms covered in strange black patterns. They collapsed like boneless, the mad scarlet in their eyes quickly dimming, leaving only extreme pain and bewilderment, their breath plummeting to rock bottom, unable to resist further.

Even the death mist fog permeating the entire cavern from the Soul-Consuming Bone-Rotting Array was forcibly brushed thin by that sweeping five-colored divine light! Although the array still operated, the main energy source Netherworld Blood Crystal still present, but that suffocating erosive pressure suddenly lessened considerably!

Qinglin's pressure greatly reduced, he hastily swallowed medicine, steadied his wobbling Yin-Wood Spirit Domain, his face full of post-catastrophe relief and shock at Wang Ping's sleeve of splendor. Xuanji Zi also seized the moment to relax her breath, accelerating her final marking of the array nodes.

The evil-dark leader entangled with Lei Shuo, seeing his companions instantly disabled, the array set back, red light flashing wildly in his eyes, revealing a hint of fear. He let out a fierce cry, suddenly erupting with a death mist stronger than before, shaking off Lei Shuo's hammer, his form retreating rapidly, actually intending to flee using the residual death mist fog in the array!

"Trying to run?" Wang Ping coldly snorted, that sleeve of five-colored divine light just now, though appearing gorgeous, actually consumed considerable energy, being his initial insight into the marvel of Chaos evolution, combining his own Immortal Essence with a hint of understanding of the five phases' mutual overcoming reversal, still imperfect, not to be lightly repeated continuously. But dealing with an early Nascent Soul evil-dark whose mind was already in disorder, no need for a second use.

His mind slightly stirred, the Heaven-Overturning Seal perpetually hovering above his head, emitting沉凝乌光 to protect everyone, suddenly shrank, transformed into a stream of乌黑 flowing light, yet swift as lightning, later arrival achieving first, instantly appearing ahead of that evil-dark leader's escape route, the seal base's "Heaven-Overturning" ancient script blazing brightly!

"Suppress!"

An intangible, substanceless, yet heavy as a meteor fall, solidified as amber terrifying suppressing force erupted with the Heaven-Overturning Seal as center! The air around the evil-dark leader instantly became incredibly viscous, space seemingly briefly frozen! His retreating form was like striking an invisible iron wall, he stiffened violently, the death mist tumbling over his entire body forcibly suppressed and solidified by this force!

How could Lei Shuo pass up such a good opportunity? He roared loudly, body following the hammer, man and hammer as one, transformed into a bolt of purple lightning piercing the void, fiercely striking the evil-dark leader immobilized by the Heaven-Overturning Seal!

"Boom——Rumble!"

This time, no bone shield could block. The violent purple celestial thunderbolt truly thundered into the evil-dark leader's body, lightning exploding, death mist scattering like torn cloth! The evil-dark leader emitted a short, desperate howl, his whole body scorched black, like a torn sack blasted away, heavily striking the rock wall, sliding to the ground, breath faint, death mist completely dissipated over his body, only weak twitching remaining, obviously already lost combat ability, his Nascent Soul severely wounded and imprisoned by the thunderbolt.

Thus, of the seven ambush evil-dark cultivators, six lost combat ability and fell, one (already wounded early by Wang Ping's sword qi) had already perished. The Soul-Consuming Bone-Rotting Array still operated, but having lost its commander and most energy output points (those three evil-dark cultivators also bore part of the array's drive), its power greatly reduced, the mist thinned, phantasms blurred.

Wang Ping raised his hand to recall the Heaven-Overturning Seal, simultaneously his mind stirred again, the Chaos Tribulation Sword transformed into a stream of gray-dark flowing light, at a speed hard for the naked eye to catch, flashing past the southeast and northwest auxiliary nodes marked by Xuanji Zi!

"Hiss! Hiss!"

The two small Netherworld Blood Crystals inlaid in the rock crevices, together with the concealed Gathering Yin Sigil patterns around them, were precisely severed and peeled off by the sword edge! Blood crystals shattered, dark red light extinguished, death mist supply instantly cut off a large section!

The death mist fog in the cavern thinned again, the array's humming sound also became intermittent, like a dying struggle.

Wang Ping then walked toward the main array eye at the northeast corner's base. There, at the base of the third thick rock pillar, a fist-sized dark red crystal, inside seeming to have viscous blood flowing, flashed an ominous light bright and dim, still stubbornly supporting the remnant array.

He did not use the sword, but extended his right index finger, fingertip condensing a point of Chaos spirit light, lightly touching the surface of that Netherworld Blood Crystal.

"Chaos returns to origin, revert to trace source—scatter."

This point, seeming gentle, yet contained Wang Ping's deeper understanding of the true meaning of Chaos power's "inclusivity and evolution". Chaos spirit light entered the blood crystal's interior, that extremely ordered yet destruction-intent-filled energy structure, not violently destroying, but guiding and dissolving its internal "destruction order" with a higher-level "Dao rhythm".

"Crack……crack-crack..."

The surface of the Netherworld Blood Crystal quickly covered in fine gray cracks, the internal flowing dark red blood light as if pulled away by an invisible force, diluted, transformed, light rapidly dimming. After several breaths, the entire blood crystal "puff" with a soft sound, turned into a pinch of dark red powder devoid of spirituality, scattering down.

With the destruction of the main array eye, the Soul-Consuming Bone-Rotting Array finally ceased operation completely. The residual death mist fog in the cavern, like water without roots, began to slowly dissipate. Those ferocious phantasms also vanished like smoke. Although the air still lingered with chill and deathly stillness, it no longer possessed active aggressiveness or strong erosiveness.

The mine cavern restored its dimness and silence, only the faint light from phosphor ore on the walls, and the spirit light from everyone's treasures and jade vessels providing illumination. On the ground lay the bodies of evil-dark cultivators scattered haphazardly, some already dead, some still weakly twitching.

Lei Shuo leaned on his hammer, slightly panting, the lightning on his body gradually gathering, but his eyes still fiercely scanned the surroundings, guarding against hidden enemies. Qinglin retracted his Yin-Wood Spirit Domain, face pale as he sat cross-legged, quickly adjusting breath to recover. Xuanji Zi also stood up, her face equally unpleasant, but the Stars Disk still slowly turning, monitoring surrounding space and energy changes.

Wang Ping approached the evil-dark leader heavily wounded by Lei Shuo's hammer, clinging to a single breath. This person lay on the ground, whole body scorched black, breath weak, those originally scarlet eyes now dim and lightless, yet still fixedly staring at Wang Ping, filled with resentment, hatred, and also a hint of……hard-to-understand fervor?

Wang Ping squatted down, his gaze calm and waveless, yet carrying a penetrating depth to the soul. He extended his right hand, index and middle fingers together, fingertip again condensing a thread of Chaos spirit light, but this time, the spirit light was infused with greater strength, belonging to his own Chaos divine sense.

"I know you do not fear death, and may even have been placed under some prohibition, once captured you would self-destruct your souls." Wang Ping's voice in the silent cavern sounded especially clear, "But before me, ordinary prohibitions may not work. I give you a chance, actively lower your soul defenses, answer my questions, perhaps you can suffer less from soul-searching, leave a relatively intact soul for reincarnation."

The evil-dark leader's throat emitted a strange "hoho" sound, as if trying to say something, but due to severe injury unable to form words. Yet the resentment and resistance in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

"Seems unwilling." Wang Ping said no more, fingertip carrying Chaos spirit light, lightly pressing on this person's brow.

"Ugh—!!!"

A shrill, inhuman wail erupted! The evil netherworld leader, like a live shrimp tossed into hot oil, convulsed violently, thick black death aura like ink oozing from his seven orifices, reeking of foul stench! Deep in his sea of consciousness, indeed lurked an extremely vicious and sinister netherworld seal, which, upon Wang Ping's divine sense intrusion, sought to erupt and utterly annihilate his soul and memories!

However, Wang Ping's chaotic divine sense, fused with the stable Dao rhythm of the Fusang tree seed and the suppressive true intent of the "Suppress" divine character, possessed a nature and resilience far beyond ordinary. The destructive energy of the netherworld seal's eruption, upon colliding with his chaotic divine sense, was like a mud cow entering the sea—layered, wrapped, decomposed, and neutralized. Though it caused a violent shock, making the evil netherworld leader scream in agony, it failed to fully achieve its self-destructive purpose.

Wang Ping closed his eyes and focused, pouring all his mind into this perilous and delicate "divine sense offense-defense" and "memory plunder." His chaotic divine sense, like the most agile and resilient probe, swiftly shuttled, captured, and read the memory fragments not yet utterly obliterated in the opponent's collapsing, loosening sea of consciousness.

This process was excruciatingly painful—for the soul-search victim, akin to purgatory. The evil netherworld leader's wails gradually weakened, until only unconscious twitching remained, his eyes utterly unfocused.

After a long while, Wang Ping slowly withdrew his finger; the chaotic spiritual light at his fingertip appeared slightly dim. He frowned slightly, digesting the forcibly seized, fragmented, and chaotic, painful information.

The memory fragments were like torn scrolls, stained with gray-black and blood-red:

——Endless dark void, floating with the icy outline of a massive fortress built from unknown bones and metal, countless figures in tattered black robes, emanating yin chill, shuttling and kneeling within……Is this the "Nest of Extinction"? A suspected old lair of the evil netherworld in the depths of the Withered Spirit Star Field? Coordinates blurred, only a distorted starry background.

——Cold command echoed: "……Harvest……Mo Yan Seven……Test the fusion degree of 'Return to the Ruins Seed' with local spirit veins……Collect data……Await the 'Guiding Light'……"

——Scene shifted: Deep underground of Mo Yan Star, a more concealed natural cavern, at its center a more complex, larger netherworld formation; at the formation's heart, seemingly buried a constantly beating, heart-like black crystal——"Return to the Ruins Seed"? What is it? Are the evil netherworld trying to implant it into the planet's spirit veins? What is the purpose?

——Several blurred figures, their aura far deeper and stronger than these evil netherworld cultivators before, seemingly higher-ranking "Netherworld Sacrificers" or "Overlords," whispering before the formation: "……The vanguard has dispersed……'Eyes' are observing……The time approaches……'The Gate' needs more sacrifices and coordinates……"

——The final scene: desperate miners driven to the formation's edge, forcibly drained of life and soul, turned to ash……Their pain and fear became fuel for the formation's operation……And the one overseeing all this was precisely this evil netherworld leader before, his eyes then holding only cold frenzy and infinite devotion to the "Netherworld Sovereign."

The information was杂乱 and chaotic; many key points either prematurely destroyed by the seal or shrouded in mist. But one thing was certain: evil netherworld activity on Mo Yan Star was neither random nor mere plunder; they seemed to be conducting an experiment named "Sowing the Return to the Ruins Seed," involving deeper conspiracy, tied to the so-called "Guiding Light" and "Gate," with higher evil netherworld beings observing and commanding from the shadows. This might merely be an outpost or test site.

Wang Ping opened his eyes, cold light flashing in his pupils. He shared via divine sense the key information obtained from the soul-search, concisely transmitting it to his three teammates who had just finished adjusting their breath and gathered around.

"Return to the Ruins Seed? Guiding Light? Gate?" Xuanyi Zi frowned tightly, starlight on her armillary sphere rapidly deducing, "These terms……have never appeared in known netherworld records. But 'Return to the Ruins'……in ancient legends, often points to the place where all things end and return to nothingness. If the evil netherworld truly can create or use something like this……" She trailed off, but the meaning was clear.

Qinglin's face showed reluctance and anger: "They actually used living human souls to fuel the formation……utterly deranged!"

Lei Shuo then spoke in a muffled, resonant tone: "Whatever the seed and gate, since there's a larger lair and stronger bosses, might as well take them all! Captain, in this guy's memories, is there the exact location of that old nest?"

Wang Ping shook his head: "Coordinate information was severely damaged; only a vague directional hint toward the deeper Withered Spirit Star Field, near a dangerous star region called the 'Eternal Still Vortex.' Moreover, that place is heavily guarded, with high-ranking evil netherworld commanders stationed there; with our current strength, recklessly entering would be too risky."

He stood up, surveying the messy cave: "This place is exposed; not suitable to linger. We need to immediately clean the battlefield, collect all possibly useful items (damaged artifacts, scroll fragments, scraps on evil netherworld cultivators), then swiftly withdraw, return to the 'Shadow Veil,' and at once transmit the situation and obtained intelligence to Zhenyuan Star and the Alliance. As for next steps……requires long-term planning."

Everyone nodded. Though unable to strike at the heart, they had exposed the evil netherworld's deeper conspiracy, gained valuable intelligence, and successfully cleared a stronghold—the task already counted as a阶段性 achievement. Only, the shadows of "Return to the Ruins Seed," "Guiding Light," and "Gate," like heavier clouds, weighed heavily on each heart.

The war beneath the starry sky seemed to have only just lifted the corner of the iceberg. And they, had already fallen into the vortex.