Chapter 191: Thorned Heart, the Doctor's Gaze

The Ancient Court's Guardian's massive body staggered slightly from its severed arm, its skull, burning with ghostly green soul-fire, turning toward the enormous stone door at the end of the corridor that radiated pure green light. That gentle glow seemed to sting its decayed consciousness, and a note of confusion and hesitation crept into its roar. Its remaining tumor-like arm and root-like lower limbs squirmed uneasily, as if whatever lay beyond that door had awakened some primal fear buried deep within its annihilated, rotting essence—a fear belonging to an ancient guardian.

"Quick! To that door!" Zero's electronic voice carried unprecedented urgency. "Pure energy… suppresses corrupted creatures… This is… a chance!"

Sister Ai Li did not hesitate for a single instant. Hoisting the unconscious Priestess Liyana on one arm and supporting the utterly weakened Xiang Lingna—whose right arm's crystal runes flickered—she mustered every ounce of strength and charged toward that stone door! Xiang Lingna clenched her teeth, enduring the tearing pain in her body and the lingering chaotic echoes in her mind, matching Sister Ai Li's pace.

Behind them, the Ancient Court's Guardian's confusion lasted only a few short seconds. The Doctor's frigid will lashed like an invisible whip, brutally striking its chaotic soul-fire! 【Destroy! The key!】 That cold command instantly overpowered its primal dread! It let out an even more frenzied, soundless roar, its remaining tumor-like arm raised high, carrying the force to crush everything, and slammed brutally down toward the three fleeing figures! Though its speed was slightly slower due to the severed arm, its coverage was vast!

The gale of force pressed against their backs! The shadow of death loomed once more!

"Xiang Lingna! The door!" Sister Ai Li barked, using every last bit of strength to shove Xiang Lingna and Priestess Liyana forward. She herself spun around sharply, channeling the final wisp of her power into the alloy short blade in her hand, assuming a stance of desperate defense! She would buy Xiang Lingna the time to open the door with her own body!

Xiang Lingna was sent sprawling before the stone door. Looking at Sister Ai Li's resolute back, at the devastating giant arm about to fall, at the faintly furrowed brow on Priestess Liyana's ashen face in her arms, a torrent of despair, fury, and protectiveness surged up within Xiang Lingna! Her right arm—the crystal that covered up to her shoulder, branded with dark-purple runes—once again sensed the approach of vast corrupted energy and let out an almost greedy hum!

But this time, Xiang Lingna did not choose to resist or devour head-on. She gazed at the thorned crescent emblem radiating pure green light at the center of the stone door, and a vague notion from the depths of her bloodline suddenly sharpened into clarity—resonance! This was the power belonging to the Elven Wang Ting! The power belonging to Sister Liyana! And also belonging to… the thorned order wrapped in chaos within her own body!

"Sister Liyana! Help me!" Xiang Lingna cried out in a voice like weeping blood. Without a care for anything, she slammed her remaining spiritual force—which carried the faint will of thorned order—together with the newborn, shelter-seeking chaos will within her right arm's crystal, brutally "crashing" them into the thorned crescent emblem on the stone door! At the same time, her left hand, stained with fresh blood (blood flowing from her own seven orifices and seeping from the wound on her shoulder), also slammed hard against the cold stone door!

Hum——!!!

A miracle occurred!

The instant Xiang Lingna's spiritual will and blood mingled with chaotic power touched the emblem, the originally faint, flickering emerald glow erupted violently! Pure, vast natural energy, brimming with ancient life-breath, surged like a waking flood, instantly sweeping through the entire corridor! The vine reliefs on the stone door seemed to come alive, emerald radiance flowing across their surface!

Boom!

The Ancient Court's Guardian's descending giant arm halted dead, less than a meter above Sister Ai Li's head! That vast, pure natural energy formed a barrier—flexible yet unbreakable—that held the giant arm and the violent corrupted energy it carried firmly at bay! Dark-purple corrupted energy and emerald natural radiance clashed violently and annihilated each other, emitting a piercing shriek!

Roar——!!!

The Ancient Court's Guardian let out a pained roar. Where its tumor-like arm touched the natural barrier, it withered and carbonized rapidly, as if doused in strong acid! The corrupted moss and animated roots composing its body also contracted violently and withered under the illumination of the pure light! Its massive body began retreating for the first time, its burning soul-fire filled with agony and primal fear!

Seizing the moment, the heavy stone door, bathed in flowing emerald radiance, slowly cracked open inward with the "clack-clack" of ancient mechanisms! A surge of even richer, fresher air, carrying the scent of a forest after rain, poured out from within, instantly dispersing the corrupted atmosphere in the corridor!

"Go!" Sister Ai Li reacted with lightning speed, hauling up the still-dazed Xiang Lingna in one motion, carrying Priestess Liyana, and the three slipped through the stone door like shadows!

Rumble!

The stone door slammed shut heavily the instant they entered! Completely cutting off the Ancient Court's Guardian's unwilling roars and frenzied attacks outside! The light of the thorned crescent emblem on the door gradually dimmed, returning to a gentle, protective state.

Inside the door was an entirely different scene.

This place appeared to be a vast circular stone hall, its vaulted ceiling soaring high, inlaid with countless natural crystals that emitted a soft glow, like stars in the night sky. At the center of the stone hall was a dry, circular pool built of pure white jade. At the pool's center stood not a fountain, but the remains of an enormous tree—long since withered, leaving only a blackened, twisted trunk and a few gnarled, snapped roots. The remains were coated in thick dust, yet miraculously bore not a single trace of corruption.

Most striking of all, at the roots of that withered giant tree's remains, a half-human-tall, crystal-clear emerald-green crystal stood quietly. It radiated a soft, steady, pure glow—the very source of the power that had just erupted! The light rippled outward like water, shrouding the entire stone hall and forming an absolute domain that isolated the corruption outside. The air was saturated with refined life-breath, bringing a wave of soothing relief to Xiang Lingna and Sister Ai Li's exhausted, pain-racked bodies.

"Pure… origin crystal… same source… as the sacred tree…" Zero's scanning beam fell upon the emerald crystal. "Energy level… extremely high… it is… the core… maintaining this place… uncorrupted…"

Safe? Temporarily escaped the Doctor's pursuit and the erosion of corruption? The tension in Xiang Lingna's nerves eased slightly, and a wave of crushing exhaustion and pain swept over her instantly. Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground. Sister Ai Li also carefully laid Priestess Liyana flat on the ground covered in soft moss, swiftly checking her condition.

Priestess Liyana remained unconscious, but within this environment of pure natural energy, her ashen complexion seemed to ease a fraction, and her breathing steadied somewhat. However, the pulsing of those dark-purple crystals on her forehead and chest had not stopped; instead, stimulated by the pure energy, they radiated an even more intense, resistant glow, like poisonous tumors embedded in fine jade, ceaselessly eroding Priestess Liyana's remaining life-force.

"The crystals… are resisting… natural energy…" Zero analyzed. "Must… remove them… as soon as possible… otherwise… Priestess Liyana… will be… completely drained…"

Remove them? Easier said than done! Those crystals seemed entangled with Priestess Liyana's life-origin; forcibly extracting them would have unthinkable consequences! Xiang Lingna gazed at Priestess Liyana's pained expression, her heart twisting like a knife. She instinctively looked at her own mutated right-arm crystal. Those dark-purple runes seemed to have grown somewhat dim under the illumination of the pure natural energy, but the "hunger" for annihilation energy within the crystal still remained. Flashes of having devoured the Guardian's energy and blocked the colossus's attack crossed her mind… An extremely dangerous notion surfaced: if she could devour the corrupted Guardian's energy, could she… also devour these crystals?

Just as Xiang Lingna struggled within, Sister Ai Li pondered countermeasures, and Zero attempted to analyze the crystals' structure—

Hum!

The "starry sky" formed by glowing crystals on the stone hall's vaulted ceiling suddenly flickered violently! The gentle light instantly became chaotic and blinding! Immediately after, an icy, vast will carrying an absolute sense of dominion, like an invisible giant hammer, slammed brutally into the three minds! The refined natural energy within the stone hall seemed suppressed, its very glow dimming!

【Found you, little mice. And… my key.】

The Doctor's will! He could actually penetrate the barrier formed by this pure natural energy?!

Xiang Lingna, Sister Ai Li, and Zero looked up in horror!

There, at the center of the vaulted ceiling, the densest cluster of glowing crystals had their light bizarrely twist and converge, gradually sketching out a massive, indistinct outline composed of pure light—a pale humanoid figure seated upon a Wang Zuo! Though indistinct, that cold, downward gaze, that stare that seemed to pierce through souls, made Xiang Lingna plunge instantly into an icy abyss! The Doctor's will-projection had descended in this very manner!

His "gaze" swept over the weakened Xiang Lingna, over the wary Sister Ai Li, and finally fixed upon the unconscious Priestess Liyana—particularly the dark-purple crystal on her forehead.

【Moon Priestess… a perfect vessel. The fusion of the annihilation spores… is proceeding splendidly.】 The frigid will carried a note of satisfied, playful malice. 【As for you, the key… your growth has exceeded my expectations. The power of chaos… in your hands, can actually blossom with such… fascinating brilliance.】

His "gaze" finally settled upon Xiang Lingna's crystal right arm—the one that covered up to her shoulder, branded with dark-purple runes.

【However, the game should end now. Hand over the key, present the vessel. Otherwise…】 The Doctor's will-projection slightly raised its hand, pointing toward the emerald origin crystal radiating pure light at the center of the stone hall. 【I will destroy this last 'seed,' and turn this final pure land into your… eternal tomb.】

As his words fell, an invisible, terrifying pressure of annihilation began to coalesce, locking onto the emerald origin crystal that sustained the entire stone hall's pure domain! The natural energy within the hall began to fluctuate violently, wailing!

The brief respite just gained instantly transformed into a deeper abyss of despair! The Doctor's origin-will projection descended, threatening to destroy the last Elven "seed"! Xiang Lingna looked at her mutated right arm, at the unconscious Priestess Liyana, at the origin crystal that symbolized their final hope… The Doctor's icy gaze was like something tangible, pinning her firmly in place.

Surrender? Or destruction? What choice should she make? And her right-arm crystal, under the dual stimulation of the Doctor's will pressing down and the pure energy of the origin crystal, the chaos within began to stir and roar restlessly once more… as if longing… to devour everything?