Chapter 126: Dark River Prison, The Touch of Annihilation

The freezing dark river water, thick with the stench of rust and rot, pierced Xiang Lingna's exposed skin like countless steel needles. The rushing current swept the four of them forward through absolute darkness, and every collision with rocks hidden beneath the surface or floating, rotting massive logs brought a fresh wave of sharp pain and dizziness.

"Hold on tight! Don't let the current scatter us!" Uncle Suolin's hoarse voice struggled to carry over the roaring water. He was the only one who still possessed any relative clarity and mobility.

Wrench gripped one of the unconscious Lin Mo's arms in a death grip, paddling desperately with the other, choking on water, letting out meaningless whimpers. Xiang Lingna, meanwhile, threw every ounce of strength into clutching Lin Mo's other side; her little face was blue with cold, her teeth chattering, and only the faint trace of warmth transmitted from the jade shard clenched in her hand kept her going.

Behind them, in the murky water, countless thick, rotting tendrils inscribed with dark purple runes pursued relentlessly, like a school of sharks scenting blood! They broke the surface, whipping and coiling wildly, each strike missing the group's bodies by a hair's breadth and sending up stinking sprays of water! The Doctor's will clung to them like a maggot to bone, locking firmly onto them—and especially onto the shard in Xiang Lingna's hand!

"Up ahead... is that light?" Wrench suddenly choked out.

The group raised their heads with effort. There, at the far end of the dark river's endless darkness, a faint yet strangely familiar emerald-gold glow had appeared! The light seemed to come from some massive cave opening on one side of the riverbank, refracting into a hazy halo through the water.

The aura of that light... was of the same origin as the plea for help emanating from the Wang Ting core!

"That's it! That's where the core is imprisoned!" Uncle Suolin's silver-grey eyes blazed with hope. "Faster! Push through!"

The will to survive overwhelmed exhaustion and cold. The four of them exploded with their last reserves of strength, paddling desperately toward that emerald-gold light!

The distance closed rapidly! It was a massive arched opening set high in a towering rock face! The cave mouth was sealed layer upon layer by countless even thicker rotting tendrils coursing with viscous dark purple energy, like a network of blood vessels! From within the opening, the emerald-gold light stubbornly shone through the gaps between these tendrils! A vast underground space could be vaguely seen inside, and at its center hung a massive emerald-gold orb of light, bound and shackled to a crystal pillar by countless chains of dark purple energy! It was the core will of the Wang Ting!

And atop those countless rotting tendrils sealing the cave mouth, a humanoid silhouette composed of pure dark purple energy hovered indifferently—blurred, yet radiating a terrifying pressure! It had no features, only two cold, abyssal gazes that pierced the darkness and locked dead onto Xiang Lingna as she came downstream!

The Doctor's energy projection! He had come in person to guard the entrance to the core's prison!

"Shard... key... leave it..." A cold, utterly emotionless voice sounded directly in the depths of their souls, like a pronouncement from the god of death.

At this voice, the countless rotting tendrils sealing the cave mouth sprang to life as if receiving a command! A portion whipped even more frantically at the group in the water! The rest wove together like giant pythons, forming an airtight net of tendrils before the cave mouth, coursing with annihilation runes! The path into the opening was utterly cut off!

At the same time, the Doctor's energy projection slowly raised its hand. A colossal palm, composed purely of dark purple annihilation energy and blotting out the sky, slowly took shape in the void above the heads of Xiang Lingna's group of four! Before the palm had even fully formed, its terrifying pressure had already caused the rushing dark river's surface to freeze solid! The cold breath of death seized every heart!

Ahead, the tendril net blocked the way; above, the Palm of Annihilation descended; behind, countless rotting tendrils pursued!

A true death with no escape!

Xiang Lingna looked up at the colossal palm slowly pressing down—enough to annihilate everything—then at the unconscious Lin Mo in her arms, then at the jade shard radiating its faint warmth in her hand; her little face was streaked with tears of utter despair and helplessness. Uncle Copperbeard had sacrificed himself; they had given everything to reach this place, yet couldn't even get through the prison door before being utterly erased...

"No... can't give up..." A faint yet extraordinarily resolute will shot through the hand Xiang Lingna had clenched around the shard and into her mind, like an electric current. It was the Wang Ting core! It was making one last effort!

【... Shard... resonance... impact... shackles...】

【... I... will aid you... one instant...】

【... Charge... in...】

The core's will brimmed with urgency and resolve! It would stake everything, using the resonance between the shard and the core's true body to violently strike the seal and shackles at the cave mouth at the very instant the Palm of Annihilation fell, prying open a gap for Xiang Lingna and the others! But this required the shard in Xiang Lingna's hand as the medium and detonator, and demanded that she charge headlong at the tendril net without a thought for her own life!

This was almost suicide! The instant the shard struck the seal, the energy unleashed would be enough to tear Xiang Lingna apart! Even if by some miracle she survived, once she charged in, facing the Doctor's projection waiting there would still be a dead end!

Xiang Lingna's small hand gripped the jade shard in a death clench, her knuckles white with force. The shard's warm, smooth surface seemed to transmit an encouraging pulse. She thought of Uncle Copperbeard's final roar, of Priestess Liyana's gentle smile, of Brother Lin Mo's back shielding her time and time again...

"Lingna! Decide now!" Uncle Suolin stared up at the nearly fully formed Palm of Annihilation and let out a desperate howl.

Wrench closed his eyes as well, awaiting the final judgment.

Xiang Lingna suddenly raised her head! Tears still streamed down her face, but within those clear, large eyes burned a courage and resolve like flame, the likes of which had never been seen before! She was no longer a little girl in need of protection, but a warrior bearing the last hope!

"Brother Lin Mo... Wrench... Uncle Suolin... hold on to me!" Xiang Lingna screamed with every last ounce of strength, her voice choked with tears yet extraordinarily resolute! She clutched the unconscious Lin Mo tightly to her chest, and with her other hand gripped the jade shard in a death grip, raising it high and aiming it straight at the tendril net before the cave mouth!

"Core! We're coming!!!"

She poured every ounce of strength, every shred of will, every last spark of her life's potential into transforming herself into an arrow bearing the shard and hope, and hurled herself—ruthlessly, without a backward glance—at the tendril net radiating annihilation!

The very instant Xiang Lingna, clutching Lin Mo and holding the shard aloft, slammed into the net—

Wooooong!!!!

The jade shard in her hand erupted with an unprecedented, blindingly dazzling emerald radiance! This light resonated violently with the massive emerald-gold orb imprisoned within the cave!

Boom——!!!

The entire underground space seemed to have a sun hurled into it! A pillar of emerald light, composed of pure life-essence energy and beyond description, erupted from the prison's core, and following the chain of resonance, slammed brutally into the tendril net before Xiang Lingna! Its target was the source tendrils at the center of the net—those wrapped around the core's shackles!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A teeth-grinding chorus of shattering rang out! The net woven from countless rotting tendrils and coursing with annihilation runes was instantly torn open by this core's strike, burning its very essence, into a massive breach edged in emerald flames!

Now!

Xiang Lingna, clutching Lin Mo, shot through that burning breach like a moth diving into flame! Wrench and Uncle Suolin, too, exploded with their last reserves of potential and followed hard on her heels!

And at that very same instant—

The Doctor's cold, emotionless voice rang out once more: "Annihilation."

The dark purple Palm of Annihilation, now fully condensed and hovering above their heads, pressed down slowly and irresistibly, bearing the will to erase all! Its target was the four who had just passed through the breach and entered the core's prison!

The breach edged in emerald flames swiftly closed and was extinguished under the pressure of the Palm of Annihilation! The final path to survival was utterly cut off! Inside the prison, facing the Doctor's energy projection and this world-destroying palm, where could they possibly flee?