38: The secret of guarding simplicity, the mother's energy undergoes a startling transformation.

Filth! Tearing! Deadly poison!

Chen Feng felt like a lone boat caught in a deep-sea storm, bobbing and being torn apart in the torrent of filthy and violent Profound Yellow Mother Qi. That pure Origin, wrapped in endless resentment and Evil Qi, was like sugar-coated poison; it was being frantically devoured by the fate disk nirvana mark, yet due to the low assimilation efficiency, the terrifying filth and backlash were being poured entirely into his body, which was on the verge of collapse!

His Dantian was like a purgatory! Under the impact of the filthy Mother Qi, the Star Returning Ruins Dao Foundation groaned and trembled, its cracks deepening! The core ruins abyss imprint flashed madly, like a gluttonous Vicious Beast, desperately tearing at the surging energy, yet only managing to strip away a minuscule amount of pure Mother Qi. More of the filthy Evil Qi, like maggots on bones, frantically eroded his Meridians, flesh, and even his Divine Soul! Even more terrifyingly, that silent Immortal Curse, like a viper awakened, surged with golden light under the stimulation of the filthy energy, its erosion speed suddenly increasing! [Star Returning Ruins Dao Foundation: Cracks intensifying (9%)! Core oscillation (on the verge of disintegration)!]

[fate disk nirvana mark: Devouring... Assimilation efficiency (extremely low)... Pollution backlash intensifying...]

[Immortal Curse erosion: Impacted by polluted Mother Qi! Suppression weakened! Erosion speed increasing (0.5% → 1.5%)! Warning!]

"Haa... haa..." A broken wheezing sound, like a leaking bellows, escaped Chen Feng's throat as his body pressed tightly against the cold black stone wall, convulsing violently. Dark red crystal cracks twisted and spread like living things, oozing wisps of blood mixed with dark gold, grayish-black, and filthy aura. His consciousness was shattered by the tearing of intense pain and pollution, leaving only the desperate, frantic devouring instinct of the fate disk nirvana mark, and... an endless craving for that pure core buried deep underground, wrapped in pollution!

Death was close at hand! Physical Body disintegration, dao foundation collapse, Immortal Curse devouring the soul! A triple death blow!

Just at this moment of no return—

"Sigh..."

A long, vicissitudinous sigh, carrying endless compassion and determination, sounded like a cold wind blowing through the ages at the edge of Chen Feng's consciousness, which was on the verge of annihilation.

Immediately after, a withered, liver-spotted, yet unusually steady and powerful hand gently rested on the back of the hand Chen Feng was pressing tightly against the ancestral hall wall.

It was Zhang Shouzhuo!

The old village chief had appeared silently at Chen Feng's side at some unknown point. His murky eyes were now as clear as deep pools, reflecting Chen Feng's twisted, painful face and the chaotic, violent energy turbulence within his body. There was no fear, no surprise, only a realization that saw through everything and... a heavy sense of responsibility.

"Foolish child... some things cannot be forced..." Zhang Shouzhuo's voice was low and clear, as if carrying a strange rhythm, penetrating the chaotic storm in Chen Feng's mind. "Profound Yellow Mother Qi is the root of heaven and earth, but also the source of all filth... Unless one possesses the blood of this world's guardians, touching it will inevitably result in backlash... The 'shackles' (Immortal Curse) and 'starvation fire' (fate disk nirvana mark) inside you... are only adding fuel to the fire..."

The withered palm resting on the back of Chen Feng's hand suddenly became searing hot! A gentle, mellow, and strange power, carrying the aura of the ancient earth and the sediment of Bloodlines, surged along Chen Feng's arm like a sweet spring into his body, which was on the verge of collapse!

This power was not Spiritual Qi, nor was it brute force, but a kind of... protective will originating from the depths of the Bloodline, coexisting with this land! As soon as it entered Chen Feng's body, it did not confront the violent, filthy Mother Qi or the Immortal Curse. Instead, like the most precise guide, it instantly captured a trace of extremely weak, pure Profound Yellow Mother Qi deep within Chen Feng's Dantian—the one being frantically torn by the fate disk nirvana mark but difficult to assimilate due to the filth wrapping it!

Hum!

This protective will wrapped around that trace of pure Mother Qi, skillfully avoiding the entanglement of the Evil Qi, and like a fish returning to the sea, it instantly merged into the core of the fate disk nirvana mark!

Boom—!!!

Like a spark falling into boiling oil! That trace of Profound Yellow Mother Qi, guided and purified by the protective will, was like the purest life essence, precisely injected into the nearly exhausted core of the fate disk nirvana mark!

The fate disk nirvana mark suddenly erupted with unprecedented devouring and assimilation power! It was no longer a blind tearing, but had a clear goal and direction! It no longer attempted to devour the massive, filthy torrent of Mother Qi, but concentrated all its power to frantically assimilate and refine that trace of pure Mother Qi "sacrificed" by the protective will! [fate disk nirvana mark: Obtained pure Profound Yellow Mother Qi (trace amount)... Core energy replenished (0.1%)! Assimilation efficiency briefly increased (10%)!]

At the same time, Zhang Shouzhuo's gentle and mellow protective will, like the most resilient dam, forcibly guided and diverted most of the filthy Mother Qi surging into Chen Feng's body! These filthy energies, like tamed wild horses, followed Zhang Shouzhuo's will and were discharged from the body, wisp by wisp, along the dark red cracks on Chen Feng's skin! [Filthy Mother Qi backlash: Guided and discharged (70%)! Internal pollution pressure suddenly reduced!]

What shocked Chen Feng even more was that Zhang Shouzhuo's protective will actually exerted a wondrous suppression on the triggered Immortal Curse! It was not a direct confrontation, but rather, like the earth embracing all things, it wrapped and soothed the surging golden light of the Immortal Curse in a silent, nourishing way, causing its erosion speed to fall back again, even lower than before! [Immortal Curse erosion: Soothed by protective will! Erosion speed reduced (1.5% → 0.8%)! Resumed stalemate state!]

"Ugh... ah..." A groan mixed with pain and relief escaped Chen Feng's mouth. His body was still trembling, but the torrent of filthy backlash that had almost torn him apart had been forcibly contained and diverted! His nearly collapsed dao foundation and life soul had temporarily stabilized!

However, the price was enormous!

Zhang Shouzhuo's withered body began to tremble violently! His already aged face became even more ashen and withered at a speed visible to the naked eye! The hand resting on the back of Chen Feng's hand instantly lost its luster, like dried tree bark! A thick aura of fading life Origin permeated from him! The gleam in his murky eyes rapidly dimmed, replaced by a profound exhaustion and... relief? [Zhang Shouzhuo status: Life Origin rapidly fading! Protective will overloaded! On the verge of burning out!]

"Old... village chief?!" Chen Feng spoke hoarsely, his chaotic eyes filled with shock and a trace of... complicated emotions. This old man had actually used his own life Origin as a guide to divert the filth for him and sacrifice pure Mother Qi?!

"Do not... be distracted!" Zhang Shouzhuo's voice was weak but unusually firm, carrying an unquestionable majesty. "Guard your mind! Guide that trace of 'True Qi'... to nourish the 'starvation fire' in your body... This is... the only chance!"

His murky gaze pierced through Chen Feng's body, as if seeing that trace of pure Mother Qi injected into the core of the fate disk nirvana mark.

"Profound Yellow... Mother Qi... is the root of this world... but also... the shackles..." Zhang Shouzhuo's voice was intermittent, like a candle in the wind. "Ten thousand years ago... this world... was not so filled with Evil Qi... but... the Immortal-Demon War... heaven collapsed and earth cracked... Profound Yellow Mother Qi was damaged... eroded by filthy resentment... feeding back into heaven and earth... only then did it become this... world of absolute spiritual depletion and filth..."

With every word he spoke, his breath weakened, and his flame of life flickered even more faintly.

"My... Zhang lineage... are not natives of this world... we are... the ancient... Profound Yellow Sect... Dao-protecting descendants... following ancestral teachings... guarding this place for generations... using Bloodlines... as a guide... to maintain the Mother Qi... so it would not... completely... sink into oblivion..." He gasped with difficulty, a bitter yet proud smile appearing on his face. "However... the Bloodline... is about to end... the Evil Qi... grows deeper by the day... this world... will eventually... return to... deathly silence..."

"Today... meeting you... an anomaly... possessing... the foundation to bear... Mother Qi... perhaps... it is heaven's will..." Zhang Shouzhuo's gaze suddenly became sharp as a knife, staring fixedly at Chen Feng. "Beneath the ancestral hall... is the Mother Qi... core... node... sealed... by ancestral artifacts... and our clan's... Bloodline... The 'True'... you seek... is... there..."

He violently coughed up a mouthful of blood containing dense earthy-yellow light spots, his breath instantly wilting to the extreme!

"But... to obtain the 'True'... one must... break... the shell of Evil Qi... must... bear... our clan's... Karma... must... use life... as a guide..." Zhang Shouzhuo's voice was like a mosquito's buzz, yet every word was like a hammer, striking Chen Feng's heart. "The... shackles... and... starvation fire... inside your body... may be... the key... but... the price... I fear... is not... what you... can bear..."

Before he could finish speaking!

Hum—!!!

The entire ancestral hall suddenly shook violently! It was as if a sleeping giant beast had been completely awakened!

The temperature of the black stone wall that Chen Feng's palm was pressing against suddenly rose! Deep within the wall, that filthy Profound Yellow Mother Qi, which had been stirred up and forcibly suppressed and diverted by Zhang Shouzhuo, now, having lost the continuous guidance of the protective will, erupted in an unprecedented, violent counterattack like an enraged primordial Vicious Beast! A torrent far more terrifying and filthy than before, carrying endless resentment and the anger of the earth, slammed fiercely into Chen Feng's palm! At the same time, deep in the foundations of the ancestral hall, the sealed Mother Qi core node seemed to sense the fate disk nirvana mark's craving for pure Mother Qi, as well as the rapid exhaustion of Zhang Shouzhuo's Bloodline, and began to pulsate and struggle violently! A purer, yet also more violent aura of Mother Qi, mixed with the fluctuations of the shattering Seal, penetrated the layers of Evil Qi and burst through the wall!

Rumble!!!

With Chen Feng's palm as the center, the incredibly hard black stone wall was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks! Blinding earthy-yellow light mixed with filthy black Qi gushed out from the cracks! A powerful, irresistible force of repulsion and destruction slammed fiercely into Chen Feng and the already burnt-out Zhang Shouzhuo!

"Pfft—!"

"Pfft—!"

Chen Feng and Zhang Shouzhuo simultaneously spat out large mouthfuls of blood (Chen Feng's was dark gold and filthy, Zhang Shouzhuo's was earthy yellow with light). Both of them were hit hard as if by an invisible giant hammer, their bodies flying backward uncontrollably, crashing heavily onto the cold muddy ground of the ancestral hall's backyard!

Chen Feng's vision went completely black, his consciousness sinking into the intense pain and backlash. In his last remaining perception, he only "heard" Zhang Shouzhuo's extremely weak, yet carrying endless sorrow and a trace of relief, thought:

"The calamity... begins... Shouzhuo's... duty... is fulfilled... Guest from a foreign land... this world's... future... is entrusted... to... you..."

Immediately after, that gentle and mellow protective will that had been sustaining his life, like a candle in the wind, completely... extinguished.

In the backyard of the ancestral hall, deathly silence permeated. Only the filthy light gushing from the cracks in the wall, and the even more violent, clearer pulsating sound of Mother Qi deep within the earth, like the drums of doomsday, throbbed in the murky night.