Chapter 341: The Terror Unleashed

"Lingling!"

Lin Yifan's eyes were about to split.

And Xiao You, who had been quietly lying down, suddenly sprang to her feet.

The star‑river patterns flowing over its body erupted in dazzling silver‑blue light, and in its Starlight Eyes the cold faded, replaced by a fury utterly enraged, belonging to the ancient heavens.

It lowered its body slightly, letting out a low roar like a muffled thunder, its fine shattered‑diamond fangs glinting with lethal cold, locking onto the outline of the terrifying giant claw beyond the light screen.

The forced symbiotic contract brought not only a link, but also instinctive guardianship and… the raging wrath of a violated domain.

Lin Yifan watched the near‑broken barrier, the gravely wounded Lingling, and the battle‑ready yet uncertain Xiao You, feeling a surge of despair mixed with a wildly fierce resolve.

Escape? No place to run!

Defend? The barrier will shatter!

Fight? Like an egg striking a stone!

He suddenly glanced at the Bloodsucking Vine bracelet on his wrist, which had been quiet for a moment but now, due to Xiao You's fury and the external Overwhelming Pressure, burned hot again, its dark‑gold veins flashing wildly.

He then looked at the countless spiritual crystals embedded in the cavern walls, radiating pure energy,

a wildly insane, life‑or‑death thought flashed through his near‑breaking consciousness like lightning.

"Since we're all going to die… let's gamble big," Lin Yifan thought, a flash of resolute madness crossing his eyes.

Crack!

The Moonshadow Barrier, like fragile crystal, let out a heart‑splitting wail under the second charged crush of the terrifying giant claw.

Web‑like fissures instantly spread across the entire light screen, the protective moon‑white glow dimming sharply, and the central ancient fox shadow image teetering on collapse.

"Puff!"

Lingling again spewed a mouthful of pale silver blood, her tiny body convulsing violently, the rune on her forehead flickering like a dying candle in the wind, nearly extinguished.

Maintaining the barrier was far beyond the limit for her, a young fox who had just inherited the legacy.

The barrier—can't hold!

The shadow of death, like solid ice, instantly froze Lin Yifan's blood.

He saw the despair in Lingling's eyes, and the barely concealed, childish, tiny rage poised in Xiao You.

He also saw the giant claw beyond the light screen, formed of molten lava and twisted shadows, bearing a will to annihilate everything, slowly withdrawing, clearly gathering strength for the next crushing strike.

Time! No time left!

"I'm betting!" The last hint of hesitation in Lin Yifan's eyes was replaced by madness.

He let out a beast‑like low growl, ignoring the tearing pain throughout his body, using his last strength to lunge at the nearest half‑person‑tall massive spiritual crystal!

At the moment he lunged, the dormant Bloodsucking Vine bracelet on his wrist seemed to sense his desperate resolve and the intensely concentrated crystal energy nearby, suddenly erupting with unprecedented heat.

Hum!

The dark‑gold veins no longer flickered but shone glaringly like a red‑hot branding iron.

A dark will, born from the core of the dark‑gold cocoon, extremely greedy and ferocious, mingled with the Bloodsucking Vine's own blood‑thirsty instinct, surged like a breached dam, violently breaking through Lin Yifan's already feeble mental suppression.

"Ugh!" Lin Yifan grunted, feeling his right arm as if a raging force were tearing and devouring it from within.

Heh heh heh!

Dozens, even hundreds of dark‑gold vines, like poisonous snakes sensing blood, erupted from his wrist bracelet at astonishing speed.

They were no longer the black‑green vines of earlier combat, but now radiated a metallic dark‑gold sheen, their tips flashing a chilling glint.

With a destructive greed, they thrust fiercely toward the countless spiritual crystals embedded in the cavern walls, scattered on the ground, and even those near the massive central skeleton.

"No! Brother Yifan!" Lingling screamed in terror, feeling a pure devouring and destructive aura that made her soul shudder more than Xiao You's oblivion.

Xiao You also snapped her head around, a hint of… astonishment? flashing in her Starlight Eyes for the first time.

The dark‑gold aura of those vines instinctively gave her a trace of respect—and… attraction—from a power of the same rank.

Yet, nothing could stop it in time.

Pfft pfft pfft pfft!

A dense, teeth‑aching piercing sound rang out. The dark‑gold vines easily pierced the hard crystal shells, like greedy leeches, burrowing deep inside.

Boom—boom—boom—boom!

The entire crystal cavern seemed to have a lit powder keg tossed inside.

The forcibly extracted, unimaginably massive crystal energy instantly turned into a tangible, viscous, liquid‑like rainbow torrent, crazily back‑flowing along the dark‑gold vines into Lin Yifan's right arm.

This energy was too massive! Also

Too violent!

Far beyond what Lin Yifan's body could endure.

"Ah!" Lin Yifan let out an inhuman wail.

His right arm instantly swelled and twisted, skin cracking inch by inch, veins bulging like red‑hot branding irons, emitting a bizarre rainbow light tinged with dark gold.

The raging energy torrent barreled through his fragile meridians, tearing muscle fibers, making bones groan under the strain, even sprouting fine cracks.

The feeling was a hundred times more painful than the soul‑rending when he signed the contract, a physical agony of being blown apart and shredded.

His consciousness, under the destructive energy shock, was like a tiny boat in a raging sea, instantly submerged.

Before his eyes only the blinding rainbow and dark‑gold light swirled wildly.

Yet, just as Lin Yifan thought he would explode and die the next second, becoming a sacrifice to this raging energy…

Hum!

On his right arm, the imprint of the Dawnbreak Sword suddenly lit up.

This time, it was no longer a gentle protective white light. The imprint seemed fully activated by the destructive torrent and the vines' dark will, unleashing an unprecedented, fierce sword intent that could cleave all chaos and darkness.

A blade of pure white light, honed to the extreme as if it could cut the void, surged skyward from the imprint, not to strike outward but to slash deep into the raging energy vortex within Lin Yifan's right arm.

Hiss!

Like a hot knife cutting butter!

The raging multicolored spirit crystal energy torrent was forcefully cut and combed by this unparalleled sword intent.

One portion of the energy was forcefully compressed and tamed by the sword intent, rushing into Lin Yifan's nearly exhausted dantian Qi Sea like countless rivers returning to the sea; the other portion was wildly absorbed and devoured by that greedy dark golden vine core.

Even more astonishing, the imprint white light of the Dawnbreak Sword actually formed a subtle, tension‑filled balance with the dark will of the dark golden vine core.

The white light, like the wall of a furnace, restrains the internal frenzy; while the dark core, in its extreme consumption, instinctively curtails its destructive impulse and begins to grow and metamorphose wildly.

Lin Yifan's right arm became a terrifying yet temporarily stable energy conversion furnace.