348: Chapter 348: Spiritual Root Self-Destruction

The first night after returning to the Eternal Night Demon Sect.

Su Qinghan sat alone in the small courtyard of the Hehuan Sect residence until late into the night.

The Heart Demon seed in her Sea of Consciousness did not weaken after leaving the Ling Sha Secret Realm; instead, it seemed to have been fed by the illusions of the Ancient Battlefield, growing silently in the shadows.

Every time she closed her eyes, images of the war between immortals and demons would surge like a tide, clearer and more complete than every time before.

She even began to see herself in the illusions.

Su Qinghan's true self, dressed in the white robes of the Supreme Dao Palace, stood before the burning palace gates, gazing at Xiao Ran atop the Nine-Headed Snake Emperor.

Xiao Ran looked down at her, his eyes devoid of expression, as if he were looking at a stranger.

"That is not real."

She repeated to herself, her knuckles white from gripping so tightly.

"That is a Heart Demon illusion; that is not real."

But she could no longer tell the difference.

This was the terrifying thing about the Heart Demon seed.

It did not create lies; it only chose the deepest fears in your heart and magnified them to a point where you could no longer ignore them.

Su Qinghan tried to use her Profound Yin energy to freeze the seed, layering ice over it again and again, but every time, the ice shattered after a few hours.

She tried to use the power of her Dao Heart to purify it, but every attempt at contact triggered an even more violent backlash of illusions.

She even tried to sink her Divine Sense deep into her Sea of Consciousness to confront the seed itself.

It was a black, constantly squirming shadow, pulsing rhythmically like a heart.

Every time she tried to eradicate it, it grew larger with the next pulse.

Three days later, signs of chaos began to appear in Su Qinghan's spiritual power.

When circulating her energy, her Qi would stagnate and knot at her Dantian, like a stream tied with countless dead knots.

Her complexion grew paler, the dark circles under her eyes deepening, and even Xiao Chan noticed.

She carefully brought a bowl of hot soup to her door, asking if she was feeling unwell.

Su Qinghan said she was fine, but after closing the door, she crouched on the ground, her forehead pressed against her knees, her palms drenched in cold sweat.

She drew the short blade and, by the moonlight, looked at the golden pattern on its surface.

The aura of the Ancient Battlefield had almost dissipated, and the golden trace was as dim as a dying slender snake.

If that Heart Demon seed continued to grow, her Dao Heart would be completely shattered within three months.

By then, she would no longer be Su Qinghan, nor would she be Liu Qingyan; she would be nothing but an empty shell controlled by the remnants of vengeful spirits.

She pressed the short blade against her forehead, the chill of the metal making her shiver.

Just then, Su Qinghan seemed to sense something.

She opened her eyes abruptly, sensing that something was watching her from the shadows.

Su Qinghan looked out the window.

The branches of the old locust tree swayed in the night wind, casting dancing shadows onto the window paper.

There was nothing there.

She withdrew her gaze, gripped the short blade tightly, and stood up.

The lights in the Hehuan Sect residence extinguished one by one, and the entire Eternal Night Demon Sect sank into the deep night.

Su Qinghan pushed open the door, and the night wind, carrying the scent of the wilderness, rushed in, blowing her hair into disarray.

She stepped over the threshold.

The Ling Sha Cliff; she had to go again.

Since the Heart Demon seed was activated by the Ling Sha Qi, perhaps it could also be stripped away by the Ling Sha Qi.

She told no one and left no message.

She simply took the short blade and walked along the bluestone path under the moonlight, passing through the Hehuan Sect residence.

Su Qinghan crossed the deserted martial arts arena and the corridor outside the Council Hall, heading toward the desolate cliff behind the Eternal Night Demon Sect.

The night wind howled, her figure appearing exceptionally frail under the moonlight.

In the distance, the eerie blue bead atop the main peak's tower hung silently, its light as cold as an eye that never closed.

In the shadows beneath the bead, a dark green figure stood silently, watching the white figure disappear onto the fork in the road leading to the cliff.

Poison Lady watched for a long time.

Then she turned and walked in another direction.

The place she was going was Xiao Ran's study.

...

When Poison Lady entered Xiao Ran's study, he was sitting behind his desk, flipping through a remnant scroll brought back from the Ling Sha Secret Realm.

The lamp at the corner of the desk flickered with a bean of warm yellow light, outlining the profile of half his face clearly.

Xiao Ran rarely looked at something so intently.

But today was different, because this contained the method to achieve a Breakthrough to the Mahayana Stage.

Although Xiao Ran possessed the law seed of the Mahayana Stage, achieving a Breakthrough to the Mahayana Stage was not such a simple matter.

He had been stuck at the half-step Mahayana Stage for a long time.

At this moment, the door opened.

"She went to the Ling Sha Cliff."

Poison Lady stood at the doorway, not approaching, her voice flat.

"She left at the third quarter of the Hai hour, heading toward the cliff, carrying only a short blade."

Indeed, Poison Lady was Xiao Ran's informant.

Her intentional harassment of Su Qinghan was not out of jealousy, but was tacitly permitted by Xiao Ran.

Poison Lady used her status as another of Xiao Ran's women to pressure Su Qinghan, causing chaos in Su Qinghan's heart.

Poison Lady was also happy to do so.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran's finger, which was turning the page, paused for a moment.

Then he put down the remnant scroll and stood up.

His movements were unhurried, but as he stood up, the Spiritual Pressure in the entire study suddenly trembled, like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

The law seed between his brows glowed slightly, and a layer of invisible Divine Sense ripples spread out from him as the center.

Sweeping past the Council Hall, the martial arts arena, and the white walls and black tiles of the Hehuan Sect residence, it instantly covered the entire territory of the Eternal Night Demon Sect.

The second his Divine Sense touched the direction of the cliff, Xiao Ran's expression changed.

Poison Lady had never seen him wear such an expression.

His pupils constricted, his lips pressed into a tight, straight line, like a hunter hearing the cry of a beast in the distance.

He raised his hand and slashed through the Void Realm; the law seed at his fingertips erupted with purple-gold light, and a crack tore open in the space before him.

"Guard the Sect; do not let anyone approach the cliff."

Before the words had even faded.

His figure had already vanished into the crack.

Poison Lady stood in the empty study, watching the crack heal silently.

The lamp at the corner of the desk flickered once, then returned to calm.

She looked down at her hands, her knuckles slightly pale.

A moment later, she walked out of the study and stood under the corridor, looking toward the Ling Sha Cliff.

There was nothing in the night sky yet, but her eyes told her there would be.

Soon there would be.

...

At this very moment.

Su Qinghan stood on the edge of the cliff.

The night wind rose from the churning dark red mist below, rushing toward her wrapped in intense Ling Sha Qi, blowing the loose hair beside her ears backward.

Her spiritual power was in complete chaos.

Her Dantian felt like a tangled ball of shredded thread; the Profound Yin energy was surging uncontrollably, and her Meridians emitted faint cracking sounds with every impact.

The Heart Demon seed in her Sea of Consciousness had swollen to the size of a fist, its black roots already embedded deep within her Dao Heart.

Every pulse made her consciousness grow a fraction blurrier.

The illusions continued.

The flames of the Supreme Dao Palace, the roar of the Nine-Headed Snake Emperor, and that cold gaze of Xiao Ran standing atop the Snake Emperor.

Her reason screamed that it was fake, but the power of the Heart Demon was too great.

So great that the images were already imprinted directly onto her retinas; the ruins she saw were the same whether her eyes were open or closed.

Su Qinghan looked down at the short blade in her hand; the golden pattern on the blade was almost invisible now.

Only an extremely thin, faintly glowing trace remained, like a dying candle flame.

"This is the last chance."

She said softly, her voice torn apart by the night wind.

Su Qinghan did not hesitate any longer.

She let go of the short blade, allowing it to fall to the ground with a crisp ding.

Then she closed her eyes, formed a seal with her hands in front of her Dantian, and with the last remaining sliver of clarity, mobilized all the spiritual power in her body, reversing it to flood back into her Meridians.

Spiritual Root self-detonation.