Chapter 179: Pulling the Firewood from Under the Cauldron

Their movement was uncanny, their strikes sneaky and vicious, their coordination seamless—clearly they were top‑notch experts from the Shadow Organization.

One focused on the lower body, legs flashing, sweeping, kicking, hooking, tripping—every strike aimed at Zhang Jun's foundation; the other excelled at close‑quarters short strikes, fists, palms, elbows, and knees lashing out viciously at Zhang Jun's vital spots all over.

Relying on his overbearing pure yang energy, Zhang Jun unleashed wide, powerful blows, forcing the two back several steps and temporarily stabilizing his footing.

But the Black Judge stood aside, staring at him with a grim, heavy pressure that prevented Zhang Jun from exerting his full strength.

At this critical moment of life and death!

At the far end of the secret passage, Lin Xue's Yin Jade in her hand and Zhang Jun's Yang Jade in his palm sensed each other's danger.

Hum!

The two jade pendants simultaneously emitted a faint resonance; an invisible wave crossed space, instantly linking the two!

Zhang Jun felt his dantian's pure yang energy jump violently, a new vitality springing from nowhere, his strength gaining a faint but clear boost!

Lin Xue in the distance likewise sensed the link; her Yin Jade's chill grew stronger, as if responding, giving her a bit more foothold against the violent energy's impact.

Using the jade pendants' resonance, Lin Xue's attention fell on the formation before Qin Yueyao.

That was no simple spirit‑gathering formation; it resembled some kind of sacrificial or merging ritual.

She caught a flash of near‑mad determination in Qin Yueyao's eyes.

Qin Yueyao was forcing the entire ritual forward, sparing no cost!

Above the medicine cauldron, a huge energy vortex was slowly but firmly forming, its depths seeming to devour the whole space.

Meanwhile, at the stone chamber's entrance.

The Black Judge saw that Zhang Jun's strength far exceeded expectations, doubting that the two guardians could subdue him quickly.

He no longer waited; his cold gaze locked onto Zhang Jun as black energy surged within him, thick as ink, condensing around his body.

A suffocating terrifying pressure pressed down on Zhang Jun.

This was him preparing to strike personally, delivering a lethal blow!

"Kid…… the chains……"

Qin Boyan, chained to the stone wall, expended his last breath, his hoarse voice tinged with blood, barely managing to shout a few words.

"Destroy…… the lock‑eye runes…… not the chains themselves!"

Qin Boyan's final words each hammered heavily into Zhang Jun's heart!

Now!

Zhang Jun's pure yang energy surged toward the Yang Jade like a flood, the jade on his palm blazing with golden light so bright it was hard to keep one's eyes open.

He tapped his toe, his body twisting in an impossible maneuver, narrowly slipping through the deadly gap between the two black‑clad guardians' combined attack!

The fierce gust even tore the sleeves of those two!

The Black Judge's twisted energy bundle, condensed with all his killing intent, whizzed past Zhang Jun's back and slammed hard into the rear stone wall!

"Boom!"

The stone wall exploded into a huge, shocking hole, shards flying everywhere!

Zhang Jun had no time to look; a flick of his wrist sent the Yang Jade flying free!

The golden light turned into a meteor, striking straight at the point where the two black chains met the stone wall—the two rune holes flickering with eerie crimson light!

"Crack!"

"Bang——!"

The two explosions sounded almost simultaneously!

The rune holes burst open at the sound, the dark red light instantly extinguished!

Those two vicious chains instantly lost all power, their glow fading; with a clatter they slipped from Qin Boyan's scorched, rotted shoulder blades, crashing to the ground and carving two shallow pits.

Qin Boyan went limp and collapsed, temporarily free!

On the other side, the far end of the dark secret passage opened into another vast underground space.

Shennong Cauldron!

That ancient, weathered bronze giant cauldron trembled violently, countless ancient runes dancing wildly across its surface, a savage force threatening to tear this space apart.

Qin Yueyao!

Her face, ashen as paper from forcing the secret technique, now bore a hint of mad ferocity: "Lin Xue! Don't come over! This is the Qin clan's affair, none of your business!"

Her voice was sharp and piercing, but she had no time to spare; her hands flew through seals so fast they left afterimages, desperately trying to channel the primal surge bursting from the cauldron into her body and the already‑etched aberrant formation nodes on the ground!

"Doing this will destroy the capital!" Lin Xue's voice was icy enough to make frost fall.

The Yin Jade in her hand flared with icy light; her extreme pure yin energy surged unchecked, condensing into several icy‑blue streams like living spirit snakes, shooting precisely at the energy torrent Qin Yueyao was guiding, attempting to forcibly disrupt its course.

Inside the stone chamber.

The Black Judge watched helplessly as Qin Boyan broke free; the face hidden beneath his hood twisted, his greed and savagery intensifying.

He no longer let his subordinates entangle them.

"You bastard, hand over the jade pendant!"

The Black Judge moved in personally!

His withered palm, rolling with thick black energy, shot out like an eagle's claw, aiming straight at the Yang Jade that had just flown back into Zhang Jun's hand!

Within the underground space.

The Shennong Cauldron, seemingly enraged by Qin Yueyao's near‑mad plundering control, let out a piercing cry that could split metal and stone!

Hum——!

A surge of energy a hundred times more violent than any before erupted from the cauldron, slamming hard into Qin Yueyao!

"Pfft——!"

Qin Yueyao, as if struck by a ten‑thousand‑jin hammer, spat out a mouthful of blood; her petite body flew backward like a broken‑string kite, slamming hard into the distant stone wall.

The formation she had painstakingly laid out instantly revealed a huge, deadly flaw!

Opportunity!

Lin Xue's pupils flashed a cold glint, firmly seizing this fleeting good opportunity!

She pushed the profound yin power within her body to the extreme!

The Yin Jade in her hand burst forth with an unprecedented brilliant icy-blue radiance!

At the same time, Zhang Jun, who was locked in a death struggle with the Black Judge deep in the stone chamber, felt the Yang Jade in his palm also sense, and a scorching golden light shot up into the sky!

Hum—!

Two mysterious forces, utterly different yet originating from the same source, crossed the spatial barrier and at this moment achieved a certain profound perfect resonance!

A vague yin-yang taiji diagram formed from the interweaving of ultimate icy cold and ultimate scorching heat flickered faintly above the violently trembling Cauldron of Shen Nong, exuding an ancient aura that suppresses all things and harmonizes yin and yang!

Lin Xue felt a blessing to her spirit, and the Yin Jade transmitted an extremely vague yet clear guidance.

She lightly tapped with her jade finger, and a thread of profound yin qi, condensed to the extreme, as fine as a cow's hair yet incredibly tough, like an invisible ice needle, pierced with pinpoint accuracy into an almost imperceptible node of the minute pattern on the bottom of the Shen Nong cauldron, a node almost entirely blended with the cauldron's intricate engravings!

There lay the core hub of Qin Yueyao's entire sacrificial ritual, and also the weakest link in the entire formation!