285: Chapter 285 The First Sound of the Twin Keys

The scent of contamination, mixed with sulfur and the smell of burning, was so thick it felt like it could stick to the skin.

The monsters' hissing was no longer a vague background noise in the distance, but scraped against the eardrums, mixed with the surging of mucus, the clashing of carapaces, and a kind of deeper, mental buzzing formed by countless tiny malicious intents.

The metal edges of the breach were trembling; every impact brought with it the groaning of the entire wreckage structure.

Old Shi's right shoulder fabric was torn, and beneath it, a wound deep enough to see bone was oozing dark red blood; the flesh at the edges was tinged with an ominous blue-black hue under the erosion of the contamination.

It leaned its back against the cold metal inner wall, panting rapidly; every breath tugged at the sharp pain in the wound and lungs.

The "interface" on its right wrist flickered like a candle in the wind.

The splash of acid just now had almost destroyed half of its face; now, its cheek was still burning, and its vision was somewhat blurred.

Outside the breach, that giant scorpion-like monster, its carapace covered in purple-black crystals, was frantically tearing at the twisted metal at the edge of the breach with its pair of mutated front pincers.

Each tear brought down large pieces of rusted debris, and the breach was slowly widening.

Behind it, more twisted shadows were surging; dark green and blood-red compound eyes flickered in the dim light, like will-o'-the-wisps in a graveyard.

Ling Ye stood in the center of the breach, with his back to Old Shi.

He did not move, only slightly lowering his eyes, seemingly listening intently to something.

The back of his protective suit was slashed open, revealing the newborn skin beneath that shimmered with a jade-like luster, with a freshly healed pink scar running across his shoulder blades.

His right hand hung naturally at his side, his fingertips stained with a few drops of purple-black tainted blood that had not yet fully evaporated, slowly sliding down his knuckles; when they touched the extremely faint, pale golden halo lingering on the surface of his skin, they emitted a slight "hiss" and turned into a few wisps of blue smoke.

Another wave of monsters surged up.

This time, there were a few smaller but exceptionally agile creatures resembling giant, skinned bats.

They did not pounce or bite; instead, from different angles, they opened their mouths filled with dense, sharp teeth and simultaneously sprayed several streams of viscous, dark green, corrosive saliva that emitted a pungent, acrid odor, covering most of the area of the breach!

There was nowhere left to retreat.

Ling Ye finally moved.

He did not look up; just at the moment the acid was about to reach his body, he moved half a step to the left, extremely subtly.

It was this half-step that allowed most of the acid to fly past his body and land on the wall behind him, scorching large black spots that emitted white smoke.

A few drops still splashed onto his left forearm, instantly charring and curling the protective suit; the skin underneath burned, but he ignored it.

At the same time, his right hand, hanging at his side, suddenly clenched and then opened its five fingers!

"Hiss!"

Five extremely condensed, sharp, scalpel-like pale golden Qi bursts erupted silently from his fingertips, precisely piercing the slightly swollen acid gland sacs located at the junction of the lower jaw and neck, which were inevitably exposed when those "bat monsters" sprayed their acid!

"Pfft!"

The gland sacs ruptured, and the acid backflowed.

The few monsters let out shrill, unliving screams, rolling and convulsing frantically in mid-air; their internal bodies were corroded by their own acid, emitting large amounts of thick smoke, and they soon fell to the ground like broken sacks, no longer moving.

But no sooner had this wave of attacks been neutralized than the front pincers of that "giant scorpion monster" broke through the final obstacle and fiercely stabbed into the breach, aiming straight for Ling Ye's waist and abdomen!

The speed was so fast it created afterimages, and the purple-black crystals on its carapace flickered with dangerous energy fluctuations.

Old Shi's pupils constricted sharply; it wanted to pounce, but its legs felt weak, and it only had time to let out a short, sharp cry of surprise.

Ling Ye did not dodge.

He seemed to have been waiting for this very moment.

Just as those deadly pincers were about to touch his body, his left foot remained still, while his right foot retreated half a small step; his body then pivoted on his left foot, rotating half a small circle extremely naturally and with a certain rhythm.

This rotation allowed the pair of pincers to brush almost against his abdomen, the sharp edges slicing through the protective suit, but not harming his skin.

While rotating, his right hand, which he had just retracted, followed the momentum to lift upward; his elbow thrust backward, precisely and viciously striking the ring-shaped joint located at the connection between the "giant scorpion monster's" head and torso—a spot where the carapace was relatively weak and lighter in color, exposed due to its full-force thrust!

"Bang!"

A muffled sound, like a heavy hammer striking rotten wood.

The carapace at that joint cracked like a spiderweb in response, and purple-black tainted blood instantly spurted out from the fissures!

The monster let out a painful, rage-filled roar, and the pincers thrust into the breach faltered.

Now!

Before Ling Ye's rotating body had fully turned back, his left hand had already struck like a viper, fingers joined like a sword, condensing a pale golden light that was even more solid and bone-chillingly cold than before.

Driven by the momentum of his body's rotation, he thrust it diagonally upward, precisely piercing into the carapace crack caused by his elbow strike just moments ago, and thrusting deeply, until more than half of his fingers were buried inside!

"Hiss—!!"

An even more intense corrosive sound, like boiling oil poured onto snow, rang out!

The spot where Ling Ye had thrust his left hand was precisely one of the relatively major nodes of tainted energy flowing within the monster's body.

Pure, high-Order "Order" energy, like the deadliest poison, was injected into the core of the contamination.

"Screeeaaaah—!!!"

The "giant scorpion monster" let out its most shrill and brief scream yet.

Its massive body suddenly stiffened, then began to convulse and twist frantically; the muscles beneath its carapace churned and burst like boiling water, and purple-black blood, shattered internal organs, and out-of-control tainted energy sprayed wildly from its mouthparts, carapace cracks, and every orifice on its body!

Its pair of pincers, still stuck in the breach, hung down limply.

Ling Ye expressionlessly withdrew his left hand, his fingertips trailing a wisp of viscous, smoking black blood.

He did not pause; with a tap of his right foot on the ground, his body had already retreated to its original position, once again back-to-back with Old Shi.

The entire process was fluid, without a single wasted movement—precise, efficient, and cold, as if what he had just killed was not a dangerous monster, but merely brushing dust off his shoulder.

The breach was temporarily blocked by the giant, dying body of the "giant scorpion monster," and the monsters behind were temporarily held back, frantically tearing at and pushing against their companion's corpse, emitting chaotic hisses.

A brief moment of respite.

But Ling Ye knew this would not hold for long.

The number of monsters was too great, and the device that had been providing a weak Purification field had completely extinguished.

The dense scent of contamination from outside was surging in frantically; Old Shi's panting grew heavier and heavier, and the contamination erosion at its wound was clearly worsening.

The light from the "interface" on its wrist had dimmed to the point of almost going out.

He felt the "the key" mark on his chest becoming hotter and hotter during the high-intensity battle just now and the environment of continuous resistance against contamination; an indescribable feeling, mixed with warnings, urging, and a kind of near-"hunger"—a longing for some kind of "complete" state—emanated from deep within the mark.

At the same time, the faint, chaotic, near-exhausted, yet stubbornly persistent energy fluctuation coming from the "interface" on the wrist of Old Shi, who was pressed tightly against his back, was also producing a faint, unstable resonance with "the key".

"Old Shi," Ling Ye's voice rang out, deeper than usual, carrying a hint of unquestionable command, yet exceptionally calm, "Hand, press it against my back. All energy, don't hold back. Think about... merging."

Old Shi froze for a moment, then immediately understood.

It did not speak, only gritted its teeth, used its still-functional left hand to grope for and grab its own right hand, which had almost lost all sensation and whose light was dim, and then, using its last ounce of strength, pressed the location of the "interface" on that wrist hard against Ling Ye's back.

The touch was cold, carrying the hardness of bone beneath the skin.

The next second—

"Boom!!!"

A deafening sound without a noise, yet it felt as if it exploded deep within the Soul!

Ling Ye felt his back, at the point of contact, suddenly transform into a cold, violent black hole that seemed capable of devouring everything!

No, not a black hole, but a vortex!

A vortex of energy that was crazily rotating, absorbing, and assimilating!

All the miscellaneous and chaotic "Order" energy remaining in Old Shi's body—along with that converted from the last of his life force, which he had desperately squeezed out—surged into this vortex like a burst dam, unreservedly, uncontrollably, and madly, and then... collided with the torrent of vast, cold, and pure pale gold energy erupting from "the key" imprint within him, which had long been primed and stimulated to its extreme, much like a stellar core!

The two currents of energy—one strong and one weak, one pure and one mixed, one active and one passive—occurred within Ling Ye's body, at the point of contact on his back, engaging in the most direct, intense, and instinctive collision, blending, assimilation, and amplification!

"Ugh—!"

Ling Ye let out a muffled groan, his body snapping straight like a stiff bow pulled to its limit!

The bones throughout his entire body were groaning under the unbearable burden, and his Meridians sent waves of tearing pain.

His vision was instantly filled with pure golden light, and his ears were left with nothing but the roar of the surging energy tide.

He felt as if his body had turned into an energy container about to burst, or like a Mortal holding a thunderbolt scepter, about to be backlashed and torn apart by power he could not control.

Old Shi's experience was even worse.

He felt as if his consciousness had been forcibly dragged out and cast into a golden, violent ocean composed purely of cold, majestic, and unquestionable "Order" Law.

He could not "see" or "hear," leaving only the most primitive perception of "existence," along with the immense fear of being swept up, assimilated, and becoming a part of that vast will.

Yet, his last lingering shred of consciousness clung desperately to the core of Ling Ye's own will—cold, tenacious, and unyielding—which acted like a stabilizing needle, firmly anchored in the center of the energy storm.

This will, like the most stubborn reef in the darkness, remained unmoved no matter how the energy tide battered it, and even turned the tables, forcibly guiding, restraining, and taming this new, violent power generated by the resonance of the "Dual Keys"—a power that was unprecedented, having undergone Fusion, and possessing both the high-level defining power of "the key" and the energy conversion and amplification characteristics of the "interface"!

In the real world, this process lasted less than two seconds.

But for Ling Ye and Old Shi, it felt like enduring a long, drawn-out torture.

The moment the golden light in Ling Ye's eyes slightly receded and his vision returned, what he "saw" was no longer specific scenery, but an incredibly clear, three-dimensional, and dynamic "world model" marked by various energies, life forces, pollution concentrations, material structures, and even spatial stability.

The pollution core, energy flow, and structural weaknesses of every monster outside the breach were as distinct as lamps in the night, revealed down to the finest detail.

The pollution particles in the air were like dancing dust; he could even "perceive" every moment they were repelled, subjected to Purification, and annihilated by the thick, slowly rotating pale gold halo emanating from his body, which had become substantial.

Power.

Unprecedented power.

Along with a sense of control over his power, the surrounding environment, and his own state that was unprecedented and so clear it was heart-stopping.

Under the pressure of a life-and-death crisis and the forced blending of his powerful will, "the key" and the "interface" had, for the first time, been temporarily and incompletely fused together in this rough, violent, yet exceptionally "effective" manner.

He slowly raised his hand; even without deliberate effort, his fingertips naturally shimmered with condensed energy light, like liquid gold.

Then, he looked outside the breach at the dense swarm of monsters, which had just torn apart the "Giant Scorpion Monster" carcass and were preparing to surge in again, all radiating various fluctuations of malice.

There was no roar, no charging up.

He simply, casually, pressed his hand into the air toward the area outside the breach crowded with monsters.

"Hum—!"

An invisible pale gold energy field, carrying an absolute will of "Purification" and "erasure," erupted from the center of his pressed palm, spreading instantly like ripples caused by a boulder thrown into a calm lake, or like an air cannon fired by an invisible giant hammer!

Wherever the energy field swept—

The dozen monsters at the very front were like pencil drawings erased by an eraser; silently, starting from their heads, they were reduced inch by inch into the finest, glowing, pure energy dust, leaving not even a trace of ash or a drop of filthy blood behind.

Those slightly further back seemed as if they had been thrown into the hottest furnace, instantly vaporized and evaporated, leaving behind only a small patch of distorted, scorching air.

Those even further away had their carapaces, flesh, and bones stripped away as if by the most precise dissection spell; their structures collapsed, their pollution energy was forcibly extracted and annihilated, and their broken bodies fell powerlessly, rapidly withering and weathering away.

With just a single "press," all the monsters within a fan-shaped area nearly a hundred meters ahead of the breach, spanning an angle of over 120 degrees—regardless of their size, strength, or form—were completely, cleanly, and thoroughly "erased."

The ground was left with a layer of crystalline, pale gold, smooth surface that looked as if it had been instantly vitrified by high heat.

Dead silence.

Absolute dead silence.

Even the faint sound of wind and the hissing of energy turbulence in the distant ruins seemed to have vanished at this moment.

There was only the pale gold halo on Ling Ye—slowly rotating, gradually receding, yet still emitting heart-stopping fluctuations—and behind him, Old Shi, who was almost collapsed on the ground, leaning against his calf, eyes tightly shut, face as pale as paper, yet with a strange arc of relief at the corners of his mouth.

And further away, those monsters that had just been surging crazily but now stood as if frozen in place; for the first time, their eerie green and blood-red compound eyes clearly reflected the emotion known as "fear."

Then came the rising and falling, sharp, panic-filled hisses, and... the backs of those fleeing frantically in all directions, scrambling to escape.

The monster tide retreated.

Not because of the deaths of their companions, but because they sensed a certain absolute power of a higher Order, one capable of fundamentally "defining" them and even "erasing" their existence.

Ling Ye slowly lowered his hand; the pale gold halo on his body dimmed slightly more, but did not disappear completely.

He looked down at the nearly exhausted Old Shi, reached out to help him up and lean against the wall, and then crushed an "energy crystal," guiding the energy to slowly flow into his body.

After doing this, he raised his head and looked toward the northeast.

The darkness there remained deep, writhing, and radiating endless malice.

But at this moment, within his "perception," the edge of that darkness seemed slightly more "clear," and he could even vaguely "see" some deeper pollution structures within the darkness—huge, twisted, and constantly changing, resembling "veins" or "organs."

The preliminary and rough Fusion of "the key" and the "interface" brought not just power, but seemingly also... a deeper, albeit vague, "insight" into the essence of the "abyssal eye" pollution.

He stood in silence until Old Shi's breathing stabilized a little, then he spoke, his voice hoarse from the battle but still steady:

"Can you walk?"

Old Shi managed to open his eyes and nodded, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just nodded again.

"Let's go."

Ling Ye bent down, draped one of Old Shi's arms over his shoulder, and helped him stand up.

"While they are still afraid, and while this power hasn't dissipated yet. To the Star Gate."

The two supported each other and stepped out of the breach in the ruins, which had just witnessed a bloody battle, walking onto the pale gold ground that had been "Purified" until it was smooth as a mirror, and once again took steps toward the northeast, toward that writhing, boiling dark abyss.

Behind them, in the shadows of the ruins, the hissing of the monsters had completely turned into fearful whimpers, gradually fading away.