Chapter 33: Ling Yue's Worry

**Chapter 33: Ling Yue's Worry**

###**Act I: Frost Stains the Star Gauze, A Mother's Heart Uneasy**

The Profound Heaven flags of the Supervision Hall snapped in the night wind. Ling Yue sat alone on the Star Observation Platform, her fingertips tracing the cracks on the peach wood talisman. The chaotic Qi flowing within the talisman flickered, casting the shadow of Lin Jin leveling the three halls of the Immortal Sect—the silver-white Burial Fire on his black robe was already tinged with blood, and even when beheading immortals, his lips curled with the same mocking playfulness as Xiaoyaozi.

"The Burial Fire devouring the heart... it has finally begun."

She closed her eyes, sensing the warning left behind by Lin Xuan Su in her consciousness:

**"If the Coffin Keeper uses hatred as fire, they will eventually burn themselves."**

Night dew condensed into ice crystals as it hit the ground. Ling Yue suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood—the blood contained wisps of Void Poison! The Chaos Brand planted by Xiaoyaozi during her rebirth was now scorching her Life Soul.

####**Hidden Wounds Hard to Heal, Causal Backlash**

-**The Price of the Chaos Brand**: Xiaoyaozi's resurrection technique was actually "borrowing life." Every time Ling Yue used the Burial Fire, the Void Poison eroded her further.

-**Mother Soul as a Conduit**: When Lin Jin was in seclusion, she used her own soul as a bridge, channeling chaotic Qi to help him break through his tribulation, but this allowed the Void Poison to find an opening.

###**Act II: Dragon Marrow as Bait, Ao Hui's Plot**

"Lady Ling, the Ancestral Dragon Marrow is here."

Ao Hui knelt before the steps, holding a gilded jade box. The dragon marrow inside shimmered with an eerie bronze luster. "I only ask to exchange it for the survival of Palace Master Ao Tian."

Ling Yue's peach wood talisman suddenly trembled. The chaotic Qi transformed into a blade, pressing against Ao Hui's throat: "This marrow is mixed with the Immortal Sect's 'Soul-Eroding Lead.' Do you think I wouldn't notice?"

Ao Hui's pupils contracted. Before he could trigger the God-Slaying Talisman hidden in his robes, it was reduced to ash by the Burial Fire on Ling Yue's fingertips. He let out a miserable laugh, black blood gushing from his seven orifices: "The Dragon Clan... would rather die than submit..."

As his corpse hit the ground, the Ancestral Dragon Marrow in the jade box transformed into nine Void Poison pythons, roaring as they lunged at the Burial Fire Guards outside the Star Observation Platform!

###**Act III: The Young Master Enters the Demonic Path, Silver Fire Stained with Evil**

Lin Jin tore through the void and arrived. As his black robes billowed, the pythons exploded. The gourd mark on his right eye seeped the scent of wine, refining the Void Poison into three blood-colored pills: "Mother, these pills can increase your cultivation by a hundred years. You..."

"Enough!" Ling Yue suddenly barked. The peach wood talisman exploded, sending out chaotic chains to bind Lin Jin: "Look at your Burial Fire!"

Within the silver-white flames, countless vengeful souls wailed—all of them residual thoughts of Immortal Sect disciples who had been incinerated. Lin Jin merely chuckled and flicked his sleeve, the vengeful souls instantly devoured by the scent of wine: "The weak are prey to the strong. Since when did Mother become so womanly and soft-hearted?"

Ling Yue staggered back, momentarily seeing Lin Xuan Su from one hundred thousand years ago—the First Generation Coffin Keeper who had eventually frozen herself due to excessive slaughter—her figure overlapping with the son before her.

###**Act IV: Xuan Su's Residual Memories, The Ice Coffin's Warning**

That night, Ling Yue forcibly activated the peach wood talisman, her spirit escaping into the "Ice Coffin Illusion" left by Lin Xuan Su.

In the illusion, Lin Xuan Su knelt in the center of seventy-two ice coffins, her silver hair stained with blood, her fingertips driving the rampaging Burial Fire into her own heart: "Yue'er, remember... the Burial Fire must be sheathed in compassion, otherwise..."

The scene suddenly twisted. Xiaoyaozi's wine gourd smashed an ice coffin: "Compassion? Does this world deserve it?!"

He squinted his drunken eyes at Ling Yue outside the illusion: "Girl, your Shi Fu was too soft-hearted, which is why she ended up frozen—do you want Jin'er to repeat her mistakes?"

###**Act V: Mother and Son Break Ties, Chaos as a Game**

At dawn the next day, Lin Jin led the Burial Fire Guards on an expedition to the Dragon Clan's ancestral lands. Ling Yue blocked the cross-boundary array, the cracks on her peach wood talisman spreading to her chest: "If you insist on exterminating the Dragon Clan, you will have to step over my corpse first!"

Lin Jin's Burial Fire suddenly turned violent, the scent of wine condensing into Xiaoyaozi's phantom: "Womanly and soft-hearted! As long as the Dragon Clan lives, the Void Poison will exist forever!"

Ling Yue tore open her collar, revealing the Chaos Brand on her chest eroded by Void Poison: "Look at what this is! Do you really think that old monster was just passing by?!"

The moment the brand burned, Lin Jin felt a sharp pain in his consciousness—he glimpsed a secret conversation between Xiaoyaozi and Ling Wuji in the chaos:

**"The Gu has been raised. Once Jin'er burns the heavens, it will be time for the harvest..."**

###**Finale: The Brand as a Lead, The Heavens as a Chessboard**

The Burial Fire Guards mutinied, and half of the Supervision Hall's Profound Heaven flags defected. Lin Jin's silver-white Burial Fire flickered. He pressed hard against the rampaging Chaos Brand on his forehead: "Mother... you knew all along?"

Ling Yue pressed the peach wood talisman into his heart. Lin Xuan Su's final residual thought flew out from the talisman:

**"Use emotion as a lock, use life as a key—Jin'er, do not let the fire of hatred burn your Lin surname!"**

A massive explosion came from the direction of the Immortal Sect. Nine Burial Fire Puppets broke through their seals. Ling Wuji's wild laughter shook the heavens:

"Xiaoyaozi! This grand gift... I shall accept it!"

And deep in the chaos, a single bamboo raft sailed slowly forward, the scent of gourd wine permeating the ages. ===== CHAPTER 34 =====