151: Soul thread grafting, online reverse purification

Before the ashes of the mummified corpse had even settled on the ground, a new change froze the air once more.

Gaara’s emerald green pupils were completely consumed by a pure, unadulterated ink-black color. His small body stood rooted to the spot, but his mouth stretched into a bizarre, unsettling grin that was utterly out of place for his age, his expression, and the entire human species.

An ancient, hoarse voice, filled with an abhorrence for all things, squeezed out from his tender throat.

“A new…body…”

Goosebumps instantly pricked up on Qian’s arms. She instinctively shuffled back half a step, muttering to Zi Luo, “No, what’s going on? Has the system been hacked? This little kid’s art style suddenly jumped from ‘autistic child’ to ‘End-of-Days Demon Lord.’ Isn’t that a bit too big of a leap?”

Zi Luo’s red aiming reticle was already locked onto “Gaara.” Her tone was like reading a system error report: “Warning, target’s mental firewall has been breached. Unknown malicious program is acquiring supreme administrator privileges. Preliminary assessment, host has been possessed. Suggest…formatting?”

“Format your head!” Qian nearly jumped up. “That’s a person! A living one!”

As one of them felt their scalp crawl and the other considered physical exorcism, that pure “evil” essence had already begun to familiarize itself with its new body. It seemed very interested in the other violent will within Gaara’s body, and Chakra began to boil chaotically within Gaara’s possessed form.

Golden sand and black sand iron uncontrollably spewed out from the gourd, like two groups of fans who disliked each other, fiercely clashing around Gaara. At times, they collided and exploded, and at other times, they wildly attacked the surrounding walls, turning the entire underground cavern upside down.

In this mental world, young Gaara was curled up in a black-stained desert of ruins. The isolation of being treated as a monster in childhood, the heart-piercing stab when Yashamaru betrayed him—all the hatred and despair he had forcibly suppressed were now infinitely magnified, transforming into countless black chains that bound him tightly.

A colossal black shadow, composed of pure malice, was slowly, pleasurably devouring his last vestiges of light.

Shukaku’s consciousness was firmly suppressed by this higher-level malice, able only to let out unwilling roars, but powerless.

“Something must be done!” Qian formed hand seals, and wind blades condensed at her fingertips.

Zi Luo’s mechanical gauntlet also began to charge, preparing for high-precision neural node strikes.

“Don’t move.”

Tang Yan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was like a basin of cold water, extinguishing their impulsiveness. He stood in front of the two, his expression more solemn than ever, yet a faint, almost imperceptible curve still played on his lips.

“This is his final exam. The invigilator is a bit strict, but the exam is open-book. If you rush in now, it’s equivalent to helping him cheat, and his results will be canceled.”

“What time is it that you’re still joking?!” Qian exclaimed, anxious.

Tang Yan offered no further explanation. He simply flipped his wrist, and a puppet, completely different in style from the gourd behind Gaara, appeared out of thin air beside him.

It was a puppet resembling a six-year-old child, dressed in plain cloth, carrying a medicine box. Its joints were precise Zhuge Liang-style wooden ox and flowing horse bearings. It was the medical assistance puppet—Pharmacist - Diligence.

The next second, under the shocked gazes of Qian and Zi Luo, Pharmacist - Diligence’s small hands, with a “clang,” simultaneously extended gleaming surgical knives from the tips of all ten fingers.

But the targets of these surgical knives were not the possessed Gaara.

Instead, they were Tang Yan himself.

Pharmacist - Diligence flashed to Tang Yan’s side and, without hesitation, aimed the two sharpest surgical knives at Tang Yan’s temples, steadily plunging them in!

“Are you crazy?!” Qian shrieked, losing her voice.

This wasn’t treatment; this was suicide!

However, Tang Yan’s body merely trembled slightly, with no hint of pain on his face. He closed his eyes, let out a low growl, and activated an extremely dangerous, almost lost mental secret technique of the Tang Clan.

“Soul Thread Graft!”

This was not self-harm, but the highest precision “port access.”

Using Pharmacist - Diligence’s precise medical structure as a transit station, and Tang Clan’s secret method as the connection protocol, he forcibly built a bridge with a wisp of his own mental power, connecting it to Gaara’s chaotic mental world, which had already turned into a storm.

“Don’t worry,” Tang Yan’s voice echoed directly in Qian and Zi Luo’s minds, an aftershock of the mental connection. “I’m just giving him remote technical support. This kid’s mind network has been infected by a virus. I’m going in to help him clean it up.”

As his voice faded, Tang Yan’s consciousness had already sunk into an endless darkness.

This was Gaara’s mental world.

Black sand submerged everything within sight; ruins were everywhere, and the air was filled with wails of despair and hatred.

In the center of the ruins, tiny Gaara was bound by countless black chains, and the colossal black shadow, composed of pure malice, was devouring his existence bite by bite, as if savoring a gourmet dessert.

The black shadow seemed to sense the intruder. On its featureless face, a mocking Uzumaki appeared.

“Another one coming to die? Good, this body’s soul is too thin. With you, perhaps it will be even more delicious…”

Facing this BOSS, which was practically a source of mental pollution, Tang Yan made a move that it could not comprehend.

He did not launch an attack, nor did he even look at the huge black shadow.

He simply stepped through the wailing ruins, went straight to the small Gaara bound by chains, and sat down cross-legged in front of him.

“Hey, kid,” Tang Yan’s voice rang out in this darkness, “Do you remember the ‘Contemplation’ I taught you? Now, use your heart, and truly see.”

With that, he ignored the increasingly massive malicious black shadow behind him and began to recite to himself.

“Mystic Heaven Treasure Record, the constant of the Heavenly Dao, Xuantian Skill…”

What he recited was precisely the incantation for the Tang Clan’s most basic internal cultivation method, “Xuantian Skill.”

This was originally a balanced and peaceful inner family mantra, but under the blessing of Tang Yan’s “unyielding thunder” will, every character that came out of his mouth seemed to be infused with a soul.

One golden character after another appeared out of thin air in Gaara’s mental world. They carried a faint lightning glow, like morning stars dispelling eternal night—solemn, majestic, yet containing an indomitable dominance.

The golden characters grew more numerous, converging into a warm river, washing away the black chains that bound Gaara. The chains made a “sizzle” sound as they were purified, rapidly dissolving.

The huge malicious black shadow let out a roar of shock and fury.

“What is this?! Get out! This is my Matsuri!”

It tried to use a larger darkness to swallow those golden characters, but those characters, seemingly gentle, were indestructible. They did not attack, did not defend; they simply existed, preventing the darkness from approaching.

This was a higher-dimensional power, a power derived from “Dao” and “Will.”

The magnified fear and hatred, in this golden light, rapidly receded like winter snow meeting the scorching sun. Gaara, from endless despair, found a sliver of clarity.

He looked up and saw the back that was shielding him from all darkness.

Though blurry, that resolute will was clearer than ever.

So… I’m not alone.

So, this is what it feels like to be protected.

An unprecedented courage surged from the deepest part of his heart. He no longer feared, no longer hated; he actively urged the beast within him, which he had always considered a curse.

“Shukaku!”

“Awooo—!” The long-suppressed Shukaku let out an excited roar, and golden Chakra erupted from Gaara’s body.

Inside and out!

The golden characters purified from the outside, and Shukaku’s power clashed from within.

“No—!”

The “evil” essence let out an unwilling shriek. It felt like it was being squeezed into a soda can that was being compressed furiously from both ends. It hadn’t expected this seemingly fragile youth to hide such a resilient spark deep within his heart, nor had it expected that an external force could directly connect to its Wi-Fi and perform a reverse purification!

Under the pincer attack from inside and out, its massive body was forcibly “squeezed” out of Gaara’s mental world!

In the real world, Gaara’s body suddenly arched, letting out a painful grunt.

The next moment, a visibly dense, extremely concentrated black mist, like being sprayed by a high-pressure water gun, shot out fiercely from the crown of his head!

The black mist swirled and twisted in mid-air, emitting a silent shriek, seemingly still wanting to find a new host.

The ink-black color in Gaara’s eyes instantly faded, returning to their original emerald green, and then his body went limp, falling backward.

Qian, quick-eyed and quick-handed, rushed forward and caught him.

And the “evil” essence that had been squeezed out coalesced into a blurry humanoid shape in the air, venomously scanning everyone present.

“You… all must die…”