86: Chapter 86 Underground River, Star Fruit Cleanses Marrow

Half an hour later.

Deep underground in the labyrinth on the outskirts of Yunge Pavilion, in dead silence and darkness.

Qi Yang silently shuttled through the gaps in the hard, cold rock strata.

The Formation inside Yunge Pavilion was incomparably complex, with a hidden killing Formation almost every few dozen zhang sufficient to shred someone at Qi Condensation Great Completion.

Yet relying on the abnormal perception of water vapor and Spiritual Qi fluctuations from the Five Poisons Nourishing Spirit Art, Qi Yang stubbornly carved out a completely unscathed straight path.

"The astral magnetic power in this place is getting more and more dense, and even the rocks have been assimilated into a semi-metallic state. The consumption of the Earth Escape Technique is a full three times greater than outside."

Qi Yang calculated inwardly.

Beneath his withered human skin mask, his eyes were shockingly bright.

Just moments ago, he had keenly captured a trace of weak water vapor flow.

In the underground of Yunge Pavilion where the astral magnetic storm raged, being able to have water vapor meant there was a natural space not completely sealed off by the Formation.

Following that wisp of water vapor, Qi Yang dove downward for nearly a hundred zhang.

The rock strata ahead suddenly became moist, and immediately after, a slight sound of flowing water entered his ears.

Qi Yang burst out of the earth, landing steadily on a slippery rock covered in moss.

Appearing before his eyes was an underground dark river several zhang wide.

The water of the dark river presented an eerie pitch-black color, with a layer of faint silver starlight floating on the surface—the product of the extremely dense astral magnetic power liquefying.

There were no traces of any Formation fluctuations here, and even the terrifying spatial oppression overhead was weakened by more than half.

"An excellent place for seclusion."

A sharp glint flashed through Qi Yang's murky old eyes.

He did not rush to Cultivate, but habitually pulled out a large handful of Formation Plates from his Storage Pouch.

Isolation Formations, illusion Formations, defense Formations... He set up a full five layers.

Afterward, following the upper and lower reaches of the dark river, he scattered a large amount of colorless and odorless blood-dissolving powder and tendon-softening powder.

As long as any living creature dared to approach this place, it would definitely turn into a pool of blood in the first instant.

Having finished all this, Qi Yang crossed his legs and sat on a flat rock.

He took a deep breath, flipped his wrist, and a top-grade warm jade box radiating a warm luster appeared in his palm.

Peeling off the Spirit-sealing Talisman and opening the box lid, a fist-sized fruit with silver starlike patterns flowing across its surface lay quietly inside.

star fruit!

This was a rare treasure that even cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage would envy, and it was Qi Yang's only hope to completely wash away the impure Spiritual Power of his Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Roots.

"The heavens gave me the worst cards, so I will forcefully smash out a heaven-reaching Dao with resources!"

A ruthless glint flashed in Qi Yang's eyes, and without the slightest hesitation, he directly stuffed this star fruit into his mouth.

The fruit melted the moment it entered his mouth, turning into a cool bodily fluid that flowed down his throat.

But after merely three breaths, this coolness transformed into a terrifying high temperature capable of boiling rivers and seas!

Boom!

The pure astral magnetic power exploded violently within Qi Yang's Dantian Qi Sea.

This power was completely out of Qi Yang's control; they were like tens of thousands of tiny, invisible files, crazily scraping away the Impurities hidden deep within the Spiritual Power along Qi Yang's Meridians.

"Ugh..."

Qi Yang let out a muffled groan, his entire face suddenly twisting, and the veins on his forehead bulging like earthworms.

Pain!

Pain that penetrated deep into the marrow and tore apart the Soul!

The reason the Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Roots was called a trash Spiritual Root was because when absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, the five attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth would mutually repel and entangle, causing the Spiritual Power to become incomparably impure.

Although Qi Yang had forcefully transformed this Spiritual Power into Poison Wood Spiritual Power using the Five Poisons Nourishing Spirit Art, those Impurities were still deeply rooted and adhered to the walls of the Meridians.

And now, the astral magnetic power of the star fruit was using the most violent method to forcefully scrape off these Impurities along with a layer of skin and flesh from Qi Yang's Meridians!

Qi Yang's body trembled violently, and a thick layer of black, foul-smelling blood scabs seeped out from the surface of his skin.

He clenched his teeth tightly, his mouth filled with the taste of blood, yet he did not let out a single miserable scream.

Having cowered and survived for so many years, he craved power more than anyone else.

What was this bit of pain? As long as he could survive, as long as he could attain longevity, even if his bones were smashed and reassembled, he would never frown a single bit!

Time slowly passed amidst painful torment, and the sound of the dark river's current became the only accompaniment in this dead-silent space.

A full three hours passed.

When the last trace of impure Spiritual Power was completely crushed and squeezed out of his body by the astral magnetic power, the originally dark-green liquid Poison Wood Spiritual Power inside Qi Yang's body suddenly underwent a wonderful transformation.

The originally viscous and murky Spiritual Power had now surprisingly become as crystal-clear as colored glaze, radiating an emerald luster.

Although his cultivation Realm still remained at the Qi Condensation 11th Layer and did not directly Breakthrough to the Qi Condensation 12th Layer Great Perfection, Qi Yang could clearly feel that the power contained within his Qi Sea was a full three times more terrifying than before!

If the previous Poison Wood Spiritual Power was an iron blade, then the current Spiritual Power was a peerless divine weapon that could sever hair at a blow.

The concealment, explosive power, and burden on the Meridians of his poisonous techniques had all reached a perfect balance.

"Hoo..."

Qi Yang slowly exhaled a foul breath, abruptly opening his eyes.

Two substantive emerald-green flashes of light vanished in a flash within the dark underground river, and the air ahead even emitted an unbearable sizzling corrosive sound.

"Marrow cleansing and Spiritual Power purification, this star fruit truly lives up to its reputation."

Feeling the boundless power within his body, Qi Yang smiled with satisfaction.

Now, even if he faced a top Prodigy at the Qi Condensation 12th Layer Great Perfection, he would dare to take them on head-on, and could even poison them to death within ten moves!

Just as Qi Yang was preparing to circulate his Cultivation Technique to thoroughly consolidate the newly transformed Spiritual Power:

Rumble!

A violent vibration suddenly came from the hard bronze floor tiles overhead.

Immediately following, a sharp Sword Qi fluctuation mixed with a deafening roar of a Yao Beast penetrated the thick rock strata, directly transmitting into the underground dark river.

"Hmm? Someone is fighting above? And this Sword Qi..."

Qi Yang furrowed his brow slightly; this Sword Qi revealed an unbending arrogance that he was all too familiar with.

"Su Qinghan?"

Qi Yang immediately put away the Formation Plates and circulated his breath-concealing technique to the extreme.

His entire person was like a weightless falling leaf, floating upward along the gaps in the rock strata toward the source of the vibration above.

The first underground layer of Yunge Pavilion, an ancient weapon treasury hidden deep within the labyrinth.

Qi Yang pressed against the back of a bronze floor tile beneath the weapon treasury, taking in the scene above through a fissure thinner than a hair.

This weapon treasury was extremely large, and the surrounding walls were hung with various broken Magical Artifacts.

Although having undergone the erosion of time, most Magical Artifacts had lost all their spirituality, one could still see the past glory of this place.

At this moment, in the center of the weapon treasury, Su Qinghan's moon-white long dress fluttered and rustled in the wind.

Holding a long sword, her exquisitely beautiful face was filled with solemnity as she stared fixedly at an altar ahead.

Atop the altar was embedded a long sword that was icy-blue throughout, with a ferocious beast's head carved on its crossguard.

Hovering directly above that long sword was an illusory Yao Beast remnant Soul!

That was a Vicious Beast shaped like a frost giant wolf. Although only a remnant Soul remained, the coercion emanating from its body solidly reached the level of the Qi Condensation 12th Layer!

The Yao Beast remnant Soul's crimson pupils stared fixedly at Su Qinghan, exhaling icy-cold breath from its mouth.

"A Yao Beast remnant Soul sealed inside a Tier 2 Intermediate Magical Artifact? This lass has quite a lot of nerve, daring to touch even such a thing."

Qi Yang hid underground and shook his head inwardly.

A Tier 2 Intermediate Magical Artifact, the hanpo sword; a treasure of this level inevitably had a powerful protective mechanism.

Although Su Qinghan had previously broken through to the Qi Condensation 11th Layer, facing a Qi Condensation 12th Layer Yao Beast remnant Soul was no different from walking a tightrope.

If she was the slightest bit careless, she would be backlashed by the beast Soul, resulting in her Soul and Divine Soul being utterly destroyed.

"It seems I have to clean up her mess again."

Qi Yang sighed inwardly.

He was just about to mobilize the newly purified Poison Wood Spiritual Power within his body to secretly deal a vicious blow to that beast Soul.

But the next moment, Su Qinghan's action forcefully made Qi Yang stop his hand.

Facing the roaring, pouncing frost giant wolf remnant Soul, Su Qinghan not only did not retreat half a step, she didn't even prop up her Protective Aura.

She slowly closed those pretty phoenix eyes, compressing all her perception and all her Spiritual Power into the long sword in her hand.

"A sword wielder would rather seek straightness than ask through crookedness!"

Su Qinghan abruptly opened her eyes, and two dazzling Sword Qi gleams erupted from the depths of her eyes.

Under the terrifying coercion of the Qi Condensation 12th Layer beast Soul, not only did she not collapse, she instead entered a profound and mysterious state of Epiphany.

Hum!

An intangible, sharp Aura soared into the sky from Su Qinghan's body.

This Aura even pushed away the surrounding astral magnetic power, condensing a faint, substantive-like white halo on her long sword.

The embryonic form of Sword Intent!