120: Ghost Seal acquired, storm is coming.

Crisis descends!

The terrifying Soul General at the Golden Core Peak stage, carrying monstrous resentment and icy killing intent, charged straight into the cave! Simultaneously, the space on the left violently twisted and collapsed, generating powerful spatial turbulence that threatened to swallow everything!

In a flash of lightning, thoughts raced through Lin Xuan's mind.

"System! Analyze the core weakness of the Soul General and the pattern of the spatial collapse at maximum power!"

[Analyzing! The Soul General's core is located in the Soul Fire on its brow, but its Soul Body is solidified, making it difficult for conventional attacks to penetrate instantly! The spatial collapse is a chain reaction and will affect this location in three breaths! Suggestion: Use intense light (Blazing Sun/Thunder) to blind the Soul General's senses, utilize its lunging inertia, and escape using the power of the spatial turbulence! Success Rate: 61.3%!]

They could only seek victory through peril!

"Feiyan! Close your eyes!" Lin Xuan roared, wrapping his arm around Qu Feiyan's waist. The remaining Qi and blood in his body, combined with a trace of thunder source crystal marrow power he had just refined, erupted! He transformed into a miniature, crimson-gold sun; the ultimate Yang Qi and blood mixed with the Evil-Repelling Golden Thunder suddenly burst forth with dazzling light!

"Roar—!"

The Soul General was caught off guard. Its sickly green Soul Fire, struck by the sudden ultimate Yang Thunder Light, let out a painful shriek, and its pouncing movement instantly stalled!

Now was the time!

Lin Xuan stomped his foot. Instead of retreating, he rushed toward the direction the Soul General had lunged, narrowly skimming past the edge of its Soul Body like a swimming fish! Simultaneously, he utilized the airflow created by the Soul General missing its target and the suction generated by the spatial collapse behind him, pushing his speed to the extreme. Holding Qu Feiyan, he shot out of the recess like an arrow released from a bow, frantically fleeing toward the light path indicator deeper into the Boardwalk!

"Rumble!!!"

A massive sound came from behind. The recess, along with a large section of the Boardwalk, was completely swallowed and annihilated by the spatial turbulence. The Soul General's roar was torn to shreds by the turbulence.

A narrow escape from death!

Qu Feiyan nestled in Lin Xuan's arms, feeling the violent rise and fall of his chest and his strong heartbeat. The danger of that moment and Lin Xuan's decisive courage caused her heart to flutter. Beyond the lingering fear, she felt an inexplicable sense of security and reliance. She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his neck.

Lin Xuan had no time for tenderness. The System alerted him that the end of the light path was less than three *li* away. He swallowed several Medicinal Pills, forcefully suppressing his churning Qi and blood, and his speed increased rather than decreased.

Along this final section of the Boardwalk, the vengeful spirits seemed much sparser, but the spatial distortions were more frequent and bizarre. Lin Xuan focused completely, relying on the System's warnings to weave through the twisted gaps.

Finally, after a nearly right-angled turn on the Boardwalk, the area ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a massive platform jutting out from the cliff face. At the platform's edge stood an ancient altar built from countless pale skeletons! The altar was circular, engraved in the center with a complex Nether-Script Formation. Suspended at the core of the Formation was a palm-sized, jet-black square jade Seal engraved with a pattern of ten thousand ghosts paying homage—the nether ghost seal!

The nether ghost seal floated silently, emitting a faint, dark glow. An aura of solemn majesty and dread, capable of controlling life and death and commanding the netherworld, spread out, preventing any vengeful spirit from daring to approach the platform.

[Target confirmed: nether ghost seal (Sealed State). A faint connection is detected between it and the deep Laws of the entire Nether Abyss, containing a massive Nether Origin. Warning: Forcibly collecting it may trigger an unknown backlash or alert deep-seated entities.]

Lin Xuan and Qu Feiyan landed on the edge of the platform, cautiously observing the altar. Faint black mist swirled around the altar, emitting an ominous aura.

"That's it..." Qu Feiyan looked at the nether ghost seal, her beautiful eyes shining brightly.

Lin Xuan did not rush forward. "System, scan the altar's defensive mechanisms and a safe collection plan."

[Scanning... The altar possesses ancient Soul Power Seals and Karma Restrictions. Forcible breaking will trigger a counterattack and potentially contaminate the collector's Divine Soul. Detected that the host possesses the sin-severing sword (containing the Thunder Emperor's undying Battle Intent and perception of 'The Ruin' characteristic). You can attempt to use the severing sword's aura to simulate the authority of 'Judgment' and 'Purification,' deceive the Seal, and safely collect it. Success Rate: 78.5%.]

Lin Xuan's gaze sharpened, and he pulled out the rusty sin-severing sword. When he injected spiritual power into the sword, it trembled slightly, and a desolate, vast, undying Battle Intent, holding the power of Execution, spread out. Although faint, it carried a glorious righteousness that transcended the netherworld.

Holding the severing sword, he walked step by step toward the altar. When the swirling black mist sensed the sword's aura, it violently churned and retreated to the sides, as if encountering a natural enemy.

Arriving at the center of the altar, Lin Xuan took a deep breath and slowly pointed the severing sword at the floating nether ghost seal.

"Buzz—!"

The nether ghost seal seemed to sense the threat. Its dark glow intensified, and the pattern of ten thousand ghosts seemed to come alive, letting out silent roars! A bone-chilling Soul Power impact fiercely slammed into Lin Xuan!

Lin Xuan groaned, his Sea of Consciousness shaking, but the hand holding the sword was steady as a rock! The Battle Intent on the severing sword grew more solid. Crimson-gold Qi and blood, along with faint traces of thunder, circulated along the blade, firmly resisting the Soul Power impact!

"Suppress!" Lin Xuan shouted, using his own will to communicate with the sword's Battle Intent, transforming it into an invisible brand that covered the nether ghost seal!

The nether ghost seal trembled violently, its dark light flickering, seemingly struggling. However, the aura of the sin-severing sword held an Innate restraint over it; the meaning of "Judgment" and "Purification" caused the spiritual essence within it to feel instinctive fear.

After a moment, the nether ghost seal's resistance gradually weakened, and its dark light receded. Finally, it transformed into a streak of black light and voluntarily flew into a specially prepared jade box by Lin Xuan. As the jade box closed, all strange phenomena instantly vanished.

[Successfully collected the "nether ghost seal" (Sealed State). Received Luck enhancement. The host's affinity with the Nether Law has slightly increased.]

[Warning: The nether ghost seal has been collected, alarming certain deep-seated entities in the Nether Abyss. It is recommended to leave immediately!]

"It's ours! Let's go!" Lin Xuan put away the jade box, pulled Qu Feiyan without hesitation, and turned to return the way they came.

However, right at this moment, an anomaly occurred again!

The entire Hundred Ghosts Night Parade Boardwalk suddenly began to shake violently! Countless vengeful spirits let out terrified shrieks, as if some horrifying entity was awakening. From the depths of the Boardwalk, a deep roar, filled with fury and greed, echoed as if from the Nine Hells! A terrifying pressure, far surpassing the Nascent Soul Stage, surged up like a tide from the bottom of the Abyss!

"This is bad! The old monster at the bottom of the Nether Abyss has been alerted!" Qu Feiyan's face turned pale.

With unknown terror ahead and spatial collapse and unstable Boardwalk behind, they were practically in a desperate situation!

Lin Xuan's expression was utterly solemn. His mind raced, and the System frantically calculated escape routes, but the success rate for all conventional methods was pitifully low!

Just at this critical moment—

A stream of light, cool as the moon yet carrying resolute Sword Intent, broke through the layers of gray mist at an incredible speed, suddenly appearing on the platform like the Milky Way descending from the Nine Heavens! The light faded, revealing a figure of peerless beauty: black hair like a waterfall, icy eyes like stars, holding the frost silence sword—who else but Su Wanqing!

"Lin Xuan! Over here!"

She had clearly forced her way here, relying on her special connection with Lin Xuan and the frost silence sword's mastery over Taiyin Power. Her face was pale and her aura slightly chaotic, showing that her journey here had been anything but easy, yet her eyes were incredibly resolute.

Without any further explanation, she fiercely slashed the frost silence sword down onto the seemingly indestructible rock face beside the platform!

"Crack!"

The rock face cracked immediately, revealing a hidden opening that only one person could pass through, emitting faint spatial fluctuations! The inside of the opening was dark, and its destination unknown.

"Hurry! This ancient Spatial Fissure is extremely unstable and won't hold up for long!" Su Wanqing urged.

A path out of despair!

Lin Xuan didn't hesitate at all. He pushed the still-dazed Qu Feiyan toward the opening: "Senior Sister, you go first!"

Qu Feiyan gave Su Wanqing a deep look, gritted her teeth, and was the first to slip into the opening.

Lin Xuan followed closely. The moment he stepped into the opening, he looked back at Su Wanqing, who stood alone on the platform facing the terrifying pressure of the Abyss, and stretched out his hand: "Wanqing!"

A trace of warmth flashed in Su Wanqing's icy eyes, but she did not take his hand. Instead, she swung the frost silence sword again, sending a majestic Taiyin Sword Aura slashing toward the powerful Soul Shadows pursuing them, while simultaneously shouting, "Go! I'll cover the retreat!"

She intended to resist the terrifying pursuit alone to buy them time!

Lin Xuan felt extreme anxiety. Just as he was about to force his way back, a powerful spatial suction inside the opening pulled him, causing him to fall backward involuntarily. In the moment before his vision was swallowed by darkness, the last thing he saw was Su Wanqing's resolute and beautiful back, being engulfed by the endless gloom and the roaring tide of souls... "Wanqing—!"