Chapter 841: with translation of chapter title

The water curtain barrier in the Dongxing Sea Region rippled, and Yan Buji staggered and fell into the boundless trench. The mutated Dao Mark in his left eye throbbed erratically, as if a living thing were burrowing beneath his skin.

The once torrent-like magical power now resembled a leaking sack, disintegrating with each step. Looking down, his chest skin was covered with spider‑web‑like azure‑blue patterns that writhed as if alive, devouring his cultivation.

"Strange, strange, why is my Martial Dao cultivation no longer flowing smoothly?" Yan Buji gritted his teeth and drove his Immortal Essence to keep sinking.

"Lord Demon King…" Yan Buji bowed and said, his voice hoarse and unrecognizable. In the shadows of the trench, two crimson points slowly lit up.

The black robe fluttered without wind as the Demon King stepped out from the darkness. He twirled a bronze bell on his fingertip, its clapper a piece of vivid green antler. "Three days ago the Qi of the Nan Ting Mountain Region collapsed; I have been wondering…" the bell spun in his palm, "When will you, you scoundrel, come seeking rescue."

Yan Buji's throat churned as he swallowed blood‑foam tinged with golden sand: "The Human Yuan Great Pill within me…"

"Look up."

A cold hand suddenly clamped his chin; the Demon King's scarlet pupils reflected Yan Buji's disintegrating cultivation. The once dense magical power now flickered like a candle in a storm, torn apart by the azure‑blue patterns. More oddly, the mutated Dao Mark in his left eye emitted a faint cyan glow, subtly countering the golden patterns.

"Interesting." the Demon King chuckled, and as he released his grip a drop of Yan Buji's blood clung to his fingertip. The blood bead rolled on his finger, separating into two distinct colors, azure and cyan, entwining each other, "The Dao's Qi backfires, the mutated Dao Mark protects its master… exquisite."

Yan Buji forced himself to endure the dizziness: "Please, sir, point me to a way out."

"A way out?" The Demon King slipped a turtle shell from his sleeve, etched with the locations of the eight populated towers of the Nan Ting Mountain Region. He tossed it casually; the shell hovered, projecting three‑dimensional light, "That girl destroyed the Dao's foundation, yet she does not know the Slashing Sword is a double‑edged blade."

In the light a phantom bronze sword appeared, its pommel carved with a lifelike deer head. The Demon King suddenly pointed both fingers like a blade, tracing a virtual slash toward Yan Buji's left eye. The mutated Dao Mark instantly burst with cyan light, forming a strange rune in the air.

"Do you know why all cultivators covet the mutated Dao Mark?" the Demon King seized the blue light, kneading it like dough into a small sphere, "It is the thing closest to the Dao Ancestor's primal power." He flung the blue sphere at the turtle shell; the Slashing Sword in the light suddenly quivered violently, its blade displaying the same golden pattern as Yan Buji's chest.

Yan Buji's pupils narrowed sharply: "This is…"

"Resonance." Another violet‑gold gourd slipped from the Demon King's sleeve, the very one Jian Fan had taken from the Xuanli Dao Master. He pulled the stopper; a few lingering threads of Qi‑golden filaments drifted out, "The Human Yuan Great Pill extracts the singing deer's bloodline, the Slashing Sword severs the Dao's shackles, and your mutated Dao Mark…" the golden threads were suddenly devoured by cyan light, "can reconnect the heavenly laws."

From the trench's depths came the sound of chains grinding, and Yan Buji finally noticed twelve bronze coffins floating in the darkness. Each coffin bore a star map, and one lid trembled slightly.

"I give you two choices." the Demon King suddenly pressed his hand against Yan Buji's celestial spirit seal, "First, use the mutated Dao Mark to forcibly suppress the backlash, but you will become a half‑human, half‑mutated monster." A sting radiated from his palm, and Yan Buji saw the blue light in his left eye seeping into his skin, "Second, go find the Slashing Sword and use the singing deer's essence within it to reforge the Dao Foundation."

Yan Buji trembled all over: "I choose…"

"Hold on." the Demon King suddenly leaned close, his breath smelling of deep sea, "Why do you think she could destroy the Dao's foundation?" He lifted a corner of his black robe, revealing a star‑map scar at his chest identical to those on the bronze coffins, "In ancient times the twelve warriors shared the singing deer king, yet they did not know the most vital deer heart blood had long been swapped."

Her?

Who is she?

Yan Buji felt as if struck by lightning: "Sir…"

"What I want you to do is simple." a drop of lapis‑blue blood bead appeared on the Demon King's fingertip, within it tiny deer silhouettes fluttered, "Find the Slashing Sword and place this blood drop on the deer head of its pommel." The blood bead turned into a tattoo, seared onto the inner side of Yan Buji's right wrist, "Then you will know the next step."

The coral reef suddenly sank, revealing a vortex passage. Yan Buji felt his disintegrating magical power temporarily stabilize, though the mutated Dao Mark in his left eye burned even more. He gritted his teeth and leapt toward the vortex, and finally heard the Demon King's ominous whisper:

"Tell that girl that the pristine ice of the Beichuan Ice Region has begun to melt."

Tell whom?

Nan Ting Mountain Region·Profound Exchange Dao Ruins

When Yan Buji stepped out of the teleportation array, he was nearly knocked down by the oncoming foul wind. The once prosperous Dui Dao realm had become ruins, its broken walls overgrown with verdant antler grass. More oddly, the dewdrops on those leaves all reflected the cyan glow of his left eye.

"Slashing Sword…" he pressed the blood mark on his wrist, which was pulsing faintly. Following the sensation through the collapsed archway, he was suddenly drawn to the glittering crystal fragments scattered on the ground—remnants of cultivators' Golden Cores, each bearing azure‑blue patterns.

From ahead came the sound of metal striking stone. Yan Buji held his breath and approached, seeing three cultivators cloaked in star‑patterned capes excavating the ruins. The compass needles in their hands spun wildly, finally pointing toward the deep fissure.

"The Dao Master calculated correctly, the Slashing Sword is indeed…"

The speaker suddenly fell silent. The blue light in Yan Buji's left eye surged uncontrollably, the mutated Dao Mark spreading across his brow into strange patterns. The three men turned in shock, and beneath their capes were snarling faces covered in golden markings!

They too had taken the Human Yuan Great Pill, but their deep cultivation prevented immediate disintegration.

"Mutant!" the leading cultivator brandished a jade measuring rod, "You are…"

Cyan light surged like tide, and Yan Buji felt everything within his left eye's sight turn into lines. The jade rod's trajectory was clearly visible, and he instinctively reached out to grab!

Under the influence of the mutated Dao Mark, the jade rod twisted and deformed, turning into dripping bronze liquid.

"How is that possible?!" the cultivator staggered back several steps, "This is a gift personally bestowed by the sect master…"

Yan Buji was stunned himself. Looking down at his hands, the cyan patterns interwove with the azure‑blue ones beneath his skin, each collision sparking tiny arcs of electricity. He suddenly realized the Demon King's words "Resonance"!

The mutated Dao Mark is assimilating the backlash of the Human Yuan Great Pill!

The remaining two cultivators acted together, their Accumulation Devices turning into streaks of light that assaulted him. Yan Buji's spirit surged, pouring all remaining magical power in his body into his left eye. The mutated Dao Mark blossomed like a lotus; wherever the cyan light shone, the Accumulation Devices shattered into primal spiritual energy.

"This is Dao Realm power!" the cultivator shouted in terror, "What on earth are you…"

Before the words finished, the golden pattern on his chest suddenly flared, draining the person into a shrunken sack.

Yan Buji gasped, knelt down, and found the blood mark on his wrist scorching hot; the Slashing Sword lay within ten zhang underground!

With bare hands he tore open the scorched earth, his nails curling out blood without his noticing. The moment his fingertip touched the icy surface, a column of azure light rose from the ruins. Yan Buji stared fixedly at the spatial distortion ahead, calculating it carefully.