Chapter 161: Embers Rekindled, the Spatial Rift

The invisible tendrils of her spirit, like threading through a minefield, slowly probed toward that dark-purple crystal emanating ominous fluctuations. Xiang Lingna's consciousness was stretched to its limit, bearing immense pressure and a tearing agony of the soul. A stinging, needle-like pain shot from the scarred remnant of her right arm's brand — the Doctor's lingering will, warning her, rejecting her.

Closer... closer still...

Just as the spirit tendrils were about to touch the surface of the crystal—

Hum!!!

The dark-purple crystal, like a beast roused from sleep, suddenly erupted with blinding light! A wave of cold, violent intent — saturated with destruction and chaos, the Doctor's residual will mixed with the pure essence of the Rot-Claw's origin energy — surged back along Xiang Lingna's spirit tendrils like a high-voltage current, viciously counterattacking!

"Gaaah!" Xiang Lingna let out a silent scream on the level of consciousness! The feeling was like throwing her soul into a meat grinder! The Doctor's residual fury, the unwillingness of the root-nodule's destruction, and the corrosive nature of the corruption origin itself slammed wildly against her fragile spiritual defenses! The wisp of emerald light she had just gathered dimmed instantly, and the stardust halo of her identity card fluctuated violently!

"Get... away... you wretched... thief..." A cold, fragmented shard of the Doctor's will flickered through the assault.

Xiang Lingna's consciousness was like a lone boat in a raging sea, liable to capsize at any moment. But she bit down hard on the last shred of clarity (on the level of consciousness)! She could not retreat! Retreat meant death! Wrench would die! She would die too!

"Not a thief... it's... REVENGE!!!" Xiang Lingna screamed with every ounce of her soul's strength! She no longer tried to "absorb" — instead... she guided! Using the same-origin connection between the remnant of her right arm's brand and the Rot-Claw's origin energy as a "channel" and a "filter"!

She no longer directed the violently counterattacking energy toward her own core, but forcibly channeled it toward the scarred remnant of her right arm! Letting those charred bones, still dripping with the embers of chaos, take the brunt of the first wave!

Hiss—!!!

Like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water! A piercing sound of annihilation and blinding light erupted from the remnant of Xiang Lingna's right arm! Under the violent impact of the Rot-Claw's energy, the charred bones — like a parched sponge — began to absorb and contain it madly! Dense, flickering runic patterns of dark purple and chaotic light emerged across the bone's surface!

Agony! An indescribable agony swept through Xiang Lingna's entire body! As if her whole arm had been placed in a forge and tempered over and over! But this pain also meant the energy was temporarily "stored" within the arm's remnant, rather than slamming directly into her core!

Now!

Xiang Lingna endured the inhuman pain, gathered her scattered spiritual force, and guided the wisp of emerald light at her heart and the stardust halo of her identity card, transforming them into the most precise of "engraving knives," carefully probing into the violent energy stored within her right arm's remnant!

She no longer tried to purify or control this destructive force — instead... she channeled it! Using the life-guiding property of the emerald light and the order-stabilizing property of the stardust halo, like carving a tiny, controllable spillway through a raging flood!

An extremely faint, yet relatively "tame" stream of energy was painstakingly peeled away and guided out from the violent vortex by Xiang Lingna! This energy stream took on a bizarre, chaotic hue of dark purple interwoven with emerald and milky white — still destructive, but no longer an unordered frenzy!

Without hesitation, Xiang Lingna channeled this first wisp of extracted energy toward her own body, which was on the verge of collapse!

Hum—

Like a long-parched land meeting sweet rain! Wherever this wisp of chaotic energy flowed, the charred, carbonized tissue tore with searing agony — but following close behind came a powerful "vitality," fraught with the contradictory meaning of destruction and rebirth! Stimulated by the violent energy, the destroyed cells began a frenzied, deformed regeneration at the cost of overdrawing their life potential! Beneath the charred skin, dark-purple flesh buds and emerald new tissue writhed and intertwined like maggots — a horrifying, grotesque sight!

Agony accompanied the return of strength! Xiang Lingna's eyes snapped open! In her pupils, the emerald light of life and the dark-purple chaos of annihilation flickered in alternation!

"Wrench!" she rasped in a low growl, struggling to sit up from the mud. Though her body was still utterly wrecked, and her right arm resembled a monster's limb, she had temporarily regained some mobility! She scrambled on all fours to Wrench's side.

Wrench was already on his last breath. His wounds, soaked in muddy water, were pale and swollen, with the dark-green corrosive energy at their edges slowly spreading like a living thing.

Without hesitation, Xiang Lingna pressed her right hand — that ghost-claw of a limb, saturated with the Rot-Claw's ember energy — onto the wound on Wrench's back! At the same time, the emerald light at her heart and the stardust halo of her identity card were driven to their absolute limits, and, mixed with the extracted chaotic energy, were all channeled in together!

"Live... for me!!!"

Hiss—!!!

Like a branding iron pressed onto ice! Blinding light and a piercing shriek erupted from the wound on Wrench's back! The dark-green corrosive energy writhed madly and evaporated under the impact of the chaotic energy! The charred, necrotic tissue was forcibly stripped away! Guided by the emerald light and stabilized by the stardust halo, new flesh began to grow and repair at a speed visible to the naked eye! Though the new tissue carried an unhealthy tinge of dark purple, it at least halted the spread of the corrosion and saved Wrench's life!

"Ugh..." Wrench let out a pained groan. His eyelids twitched violently, as if about to wake from his deep coma.

Relief flooded Xiang Lingna's heart, and an overwhelming wave of exhaustion and the searing pain of energy backlash instantly crashed over her, blacking out her vision and nearly making her collapse again. The Rot-Claw ember energy stored in her right arm had been partially consumed, but it remained vast and violent — like a bomb buried inside her, ready to explode at any moment.

She had to dispose of it as soon as possible! Or... find a safer way to channel it!

Xiang Lingna's gaze turned once more to that dark-purple Rot-Claw ember crystal. The crystal had dimmed slightly, some of its energy having been drawn out. Just then, the identity card in her embrace seemed to sense the crystal's presence; the stardust halo it emitted rippled faintly, pointing toward the metal wall of the chamber beside the crystal — the section most severely battered by the chaotic storm and the root-nodule's disintegrating energy!

Xiang Lingna followed the guidance with her eyes, and her pupils contracted sharply!

There, on that wall, spread massive cracks like a spider's web. And at the densest center of those cracks, space... was exhibiting an unnatural distortion and folding! Like a piece of crumpled cloth! Wisps of grayish-white spatial energy, saturated with chaotic aura, were slowly seeping out from those folds!

It was the colossal energy shockwave from the chaotic storm Xiang Lingna had detonated and the root-nodule's disintegration, layered with the residual of the Doctor's annihilating force — combined with the inherently fragile, corruption-weakened structure of this underground space — that had, by sheer accident, torn the spatial barrier! Opening a micro spatial rift — extremely unstable, liable to collapse at any moment, or leading to an unknown place!

And the identity card's stardust halo was pointing clearly at that rift! As if to say: there lies the outlet to vent this dangerous energy! And perhaps... the only path to survival!

Xiang Lingna's heart began to pound wildly! An opportunity! A chance to escape this predicament — perhaps even to leave this corrupted wasteland! But also a tremendous risk! What lay on the other side of the rift? Spatial turbulence? Another dead end? Or... a land of hope?

"Cough, cough... k-kid?" Wrench's weak voice came through. He had finally opened his eyes, his gaze dazed and pained.

Xiang Lingna looked at the waking Wrench, then at her own right arm — like a monster's limb — feeling the violent energy within her and the chaotic ripples emanating from the spatial rift. A bold plan took shape in an instant.

She took a deep breath, and with her relatively intact left hand, laboriously propped Wrench up, letting him lean against her. Then, dragging her heavy steps, she walked, one step at a time, toward that wall of distorted space, toward that grayish-white rift emanating a dangerous aura.

"Wrench... hold onto me..." Xiang Lingna's voice was hoarse but firm. "We're... going all in! Leaving this hell!"

She stood before the distorted spatial folds, raised her right hand — that lava ghost-claw of a limb, storing the violent Rot-Claw ember energy — and aimed it at the most unstable center point of the rift!

Blast this destructive energy into the spatial rift, using the force of the explosion to stabilize or widen the passage! This was the only way! The final, desperate gamble!

However, just at the instant Xiang Lingna was about to detonate the energy in her right arm—

Hum!!!

The spatial rift suddenly fluctuated violently! The grayish-white chaotic energy churned like a boiling pot! Deep within the rift, instead of the expected disordered turbulence, a scene was faintly emerging!

It was a dead, silent forest shrouded in dark-purple mist! Twisted, withered trees stood like dying giants, and the ground was covered in a thick layer of writhing, dark-purple moss. At the center of the forest, a massive altar — constructed of enormous, ghastly-white bones and dark-purple crystals, brimming with blasphemous meaning — was faintly visible! At the top of the altar, a colossal vertical pupil, formed of pure dark-purple energy, was slowly turning, coldly "gazing" toward the rift!

It was the heart of the Rot-Claw! The Doctor's lair! The rift had actually connected to that place!

What made Xiang Lingna's soul fly from her body in terror was that, beneath that vertical pupil, atop the altar, she saw a familiar figure — Lin Mo! He was bound to the center of the altar by countless chains flowing with annihilation runes, the faint stardust glow on his chest nearly extinguished. And the Doctor's energy projection hovered beside Lin Mo, a giant hand formed of energy seemingly reaching slowly toward Lin Mo's forehead!

The Doctor seemed to have also sensed the fluctuations of the spatial rift and Xiang Lingna's presence! That colossal vertical pupil instantly locked onto the rift! A wave of cold intent, tinged with surprise and an even stronger greed, crashed toward her like a tsunami:

"The key... the vessel... perfect... catch them all at once..."

Under the impact of the Doctor's will, the spatial rift instantly became extremely unstable, twisting violently, its edges beginning to crumble! A terrifying suction force emanated from the rift, tearing at Xiang Lingna and Wrench's bodies!

Before them, the terrifying gaze of the Rot-Claw's heart; behind them, the collapsing underground ruins! The spatial rift had become a shortcut to hell!