Chapter 208

A clearer, more terrifying sense of "hunger and thirst" locked onto them.

For this chaotic sea of blood fragments, powerful souls and blood qi are excellent "supplements." Youquan Zunzhe is too strong and shares a similar aura, so he's not an easy target for now. But those injured ones below, especially that sword cultivator's soul, smell... very tempting.

Several tentacles, thicker than before and marked with dark-gold patterns, split from beneath the giant's skull. Like predatory pythons, they silently and swiftly pierced space, wrapping around the falling Lingxiao and Gu Yusheng's group!

"Damn it!" Youquan Zunzhe exclaimed, both shocked and furious. This fragment dared to snatch "prey" right before his eyes (though this prey was his enemy), and even tried to attack the Xin Ding area, which might still have residual ties to the ritual (where Gu Yusheng's group was). This made him feel his dignity trampled and also sense a real threat—the fragment had lost control and might ruin his final plan.

He had no choice but to divert some of his power, condensing several blood-red spears to shoot at those tentacles, attempting to intercept them.

But the power of the blood sea fragment seemed to have increased significantly; the tentacles were unusually flexible and tough. Most of the blood-red spears were dodged or deflected, with only the one wrapping around Lingxiao slightly hindered.

Gu Yusheng watched as his master was about to be devoured by the tentacles, his eyes nearly bursting with fury, and he was about to charge forward without hesitation.

At this moment—

Another anomaly arose!

The severely damaged, crack-covered Xin Ding suddenly emitted a sound from within—like a sigh from ancient times, heavy and desolate.

Immediately after, the ancient, obscure runes on the ding's surface all lit up without warning! Not blood-light, not black-light, but a deep, heavy, earth-yellow glow, as if carrying endless ages.

This light was not blinding, yet it carried a strange power to suppress everything and calm chaos.

The light spread from the Xin Ding like ripples in water.

Wherever it passed, the violent blood lake miraculously calmed somewhat, the boiling blood plasma becoming viscous and sluggish. Those chaotic energy torrents were also suppressed and smoothed by this heavy force.

Even those approaching blood sea tentacles, upon touching this earth-yellow light, visibly slowed down, their surfaces emitting a "hissing" sound, as if encountering their nemesis.

"This is... Mother Earth's Qi? Sealing power?!" Youquan Zunzhe cried out in shock, his face showing disbelief and a hint of panic for the first time. "Impossible! The earth veins of Qixue Valley have long been corrupted by blood sea aura—how could the Xin Ding still possess such pure sealing power?!"

He seemed to realize something, his eyes snapping toward the Xin Ding as blood vortices spun wildly within them: "Could it be... could the original maker have left a backhand?! No! This is mine! Everything is mine!"

He frantically channeled his power, trying to repress the Xin Ding again and seize the suddenly emerged sealing power.

But the Xin Ding seemed to have triggered some protective mechanism—the earth-yellow light grew brighter, and though the cracks remained, it emitted an awe-inspiring, inviolable aura. The light not only resisted Youquan Zunzhe's corrosion but also gently yet firmly repelled the blood lake's filth, even... opposing the chaotic aura of the blood sea will fragment above.

The giant skull formed by the blood sea fragment let out an angry roar, seemingly extremely repulsed and wary of this earth-yellow light. It abandoned its attack on Lingxiao and Gu Yusheng's group (the tentacles retracted in the light), with more tentacles lashing wildly at the Xin Ding, while opening its invisible maw to try to devour that earth-yellow light.

The Xin Ding teetered on the brink of collapse, its earth-yellow light becoming unstable under the dual assault of the blood sea fragment and Youquan Zunzhe, its range shrinking. Yet it stubbornly held on, propping open a small, relatively "safe" area in this chaotic abyss—just enough to cover Lingxiao's fall site and Gu Yusheng's group nearby.

Gu Yusheng seized the moment to rush to Lingxiao's side, catching his falling body. Lingxiao's breath was like a thread, his face like gold paper, almost devoid of vitality, but a faint warmth remained in his chest.

"Master! Master!" Gu Yusheng hurriedly poured his remaining meager gentle spiritual power into Lingxiao's body, guarding his last pulse.

Mei Ruoxue and Shi Ran also drew near, warily scanning their surroundings. Outside the earth-yellow light lay the violent blood lake, the blood sea fragment frantically attacking the Xin Ding, and the seemingly mad Youquan Zunzhe. Inside the light, though temporarily safe, everyone could see the Xin Ding couldn't hold out much longer.

"This ding... what on earth is going on?" Mei Ruoxue stared at the ding emitting earth-yellow light, bewildered.

Gu Yusheng's mind raced, recalling old legends about Qixue Valley and the Xin Ding, plus the fragments his master Lingxiao had once mentioned. A vague guess formed in his mind.

"Perhaps... the original forging of this Xin Ding wasn't for today's evil formation. It might be an ancient treasure used to seal earth veins or some evil object, only later discovered by the Youquan Sect, corrupted and transformed by evil arts into the ritual's core." Gu Yusheng said quickly, "Our attack accidentally triggered the residual, uncorrupted original sealing power deep within it. This power opposes blood sea aura, so it's automatically resisting."

"So we blundered into activating its 'self-rescue' program?" Mei Ruoxue raised an eyebrow.

"You could put it that way. But now it's struggling alone and will eventually be exhausted." Gu Yusheng looked at the increasingly frenzied blood sea fragment and Youquan Zunzhe outside the light, his heart heavy.

"What do we do? Wait to die?" Shi Ran gripped her short blade tightly.

Gu Yusheng looked at his dying master in his arms, then at the Xin Ding whose light flickered under dual assault, and resolve flashed in his eyes.

"There's still one way." He spoke slowly, his voice hoarse yet firm: "Since this Xin Ding possesses sealing power that opposes blood sea, and both the blood sea fragment and Youquan Lao Mo want to devour and destroy it... then we... will lend the Xin Ding a hand."

"How? With our meager cultivation, charging out is suicide." Mei Ruoxue gave a bitter smile.

"Not by charging out." Gu Yusheng's gaze fell on the ding's body, on those ancient runes flickering uncertainly. "It's... resonance. Using our own cultivated, relatively 'orthodox' spiritual power to attempt resonance and strengthen that sealing force. Especially me—I cultivate the Gu family's balanced, peaceful method, which might help somewhat."

He looked at Mei Ruoxue and Shi Ran: "The Xun Tian Si's cultivation methods should also lean toward purity. We three will pour our remaining spiritual power into the Xin Ding without regard for cost, attempting to activate more of the original runes—even if only briefly strengthening the seal, perhaps creating an opportunity..."

"What opportunity?"

"A... chance for this chaotic energy to temporarily 'balance' or even 'self-destruct'." Gu Yusheng's eyes deepened, "If the Xin Ding's sealing power strengthens, the blood sea fragment and Youquan Lao Mo will inevitably intensify their attacks. When the three forces reach a fragile balance point, any extra disturbance could trigger an unpredictable collapse. What we seek is that moment of collapse—the possible... escape fissure, or, a mutual annihilation gap."

This is an even more maddening and slim plan. Placing hope on a sliver of possibility within chaos.

Mei Ruoxue and Shi Ran fell silent for a moment.

"Let's do it!" Mei Ruoxue gritted her teeth, "Anyway, whether sideways or upright, we're likely dead—might as well fight!"

Shi Ran nodded heavily.

The three no longer hesitated, each sitting cross-legged, placing their palms on the ground (within the earth-yellow light's range), and pouring their remaining, relatively pure and peaceful spiritual power unreservedly toward the Xin Ding stubbornly resisting in the blood lake below.

Gu Yusheng even guided out the last trace of reverse energy from the auxiliary ding, carefully attempting to touch and merge into that earth-yellow sealing light.

Time passed, second by second, amidst the frenzied attacks and stubborn resistance.

After receiving three weak but similar-natured streams of spiritual power, the Xin Ding's earth-yellow light truly brightened slightly, and its spread stabilized somewhat. On the ding's body, several originally dim ancient runes faintly lit up.

Youquan Zunzhe and the blood sea fragment immediately sensed the change, their attacks becoming even more violent.

The cavern trembled, the rock walls cracked on a large scale, and the entire Qixue Valley seemed to be wailing.

Just as the three forces reached a certain extreme, the Xin Ding's light was again suppressed to the point of teetering, and Gu Yusheng's group was about to exhaust their spiritual power—

Suddenly!

From deep within the Xin Ding, that desolate sigh sounded again.

This time, clearer.

At the same time, all the lit ancient runes on the ding's surface suddenly contracted inward, then...

BOOM!

Not an explosive blast.

But a return and release.

The earth-yellow light no longer spread outward to resist; instead, like a tide, it rolled back onto the ding's body, then, following the ancient meridians connecting the ding to the earth—those buried under the blood lake—it surged madly into the deep earth veins of Qixue Valley!

It was... drawing upon the remnant, unpolluted power of the earth veins! Or rather, it was performing its final "return to position" and "sealing"!

The entire Qixue Valley shook violently. Not the previous energy impacts, but a true great earth pulse!

The blood lake began to backflow! Not upward, but seeping and flowing back into the depths of the earth! As if the earth had opened countless mouths, frantically sucking in this filthy blood plasma.

The blood meridians connecting the Xin Ding and auxiliary ding were completely severed and dissipated.

The four supporting cauldrons (including the one taken by Gu Yusheng and his companions) had their light completely extinguished, falling like scrap iron into the dry lakebed or cracked rock fissures.

Master Youquan let out a roar of unwillingness, feeling his connection to the blood lake and the ritual forcibly severed; his Nascent Soul cultivation began to destabilize, suffering severe backlash. Worse still, the sealing power drawn from deep within the earth, which had been triggered, seemed to begin targeting the vast sea of blood qi within his body!

Likewise, the fragment of the blood sea will above let out a terrified roar. The sealing power of the earth's pulse was its natural enemy. Having lost the blood lake's "anchor" and supply, its incomplete form began to destabilize, its massive head twisting and dissipating, attempting to retreat into the similarly destabilizing, shrinking twisted fissure.

Now!

Gu Yusheng summoned his last strength, cradling Lingxiao, and shouted at Meiruoxue and Shirán: "Go! Shifting earth veins mean there must be a way out! Follow the direction of the sealing power's回流!"

Yellowish light回流ed along the earth veins, temporarily forming a relatively "calm" downward passage across the dry, chaotic lakebed and cracked rock walls; at its end, faint daylight and water vapor could be sensed—possibly a fissure connecting to an underground dark river or the outside of the valley!

The three hesitated not, rushing forward with all their strength along the passage about to be re-covered by blood and falling rocks.

Behind them came Master Youquan's frenzied roar, the blood sea fragment's unwilling howl, the final mournful cry of the Heart Cauldron's collapse, and the earth's total convergence with the thunderous boom of sealing...

After an unknown time running through the dark, rugged passage, just as Gu Yusheng's consciousness was about to blur, the path ahead suddenly opened up.

Cold, fresh air blew upon their faces.

Moonlight fell upon their blood-streaked, exhausted faces.

They burst out of the Valley of Weeping Blood, collapsing onto the edge of a subterranean dark river rushing and roaring midway down the cliff.

Looking back, they saw the vast mountain hollow where the Valley of Weeping Blood had been slowly sinking and collapsing, raising clouds of dust to the heavens. The blood-light soaring from the valley and its evil aura were being suppressed and swallowed by a surge of heavy, earth-yellow light; finally, all phenomena vanished in the thunderous sound of collapse, leaving only a dead silence, as if the ruins had been flattened by immense force.

The Valley of Weeping Blood, together with its evil formation, the Heart Cauldron, and that unfinished horrifying ritual, as well as Master Youquan and the fragment of the blood sea will... seemed to have been completely buried and sealed deep within the earth.

Moonlight clear and cold, the dark river roared.

Gu Yusheng knelt by the river, tightly holding his master Lingxiao, whose breath was weak but seemed to have stabilized slightly, gazing at the dead ruins, silent for a long time.

Meiruoxue and Shirán sat slumped to one side, the exhaustion and pain of surviving the catastrophe washing over them, making them not even want to move a finger.

Is it over?

Perhaps.

But Gu Yusheng knows that while some things have been buried, some secrets may have just been uncovered. The primordial sealing power unleashed by the Heart Cauldron's final explosion, Master Youquan's unfinished words, the terror of the blood sea will... and his master's injuries in his arms—all require long time and more answers.

He clenched his fists, then slowly relaxed them.

At least, they are still alive.

That is enough.

As for the future...

He lifted his head, gazing toward the distant horizon where the sky showed fish-belly white.

The sky, it will soon be dawn.