47: Chapter 47 To race against the Heavenly Dao, first dismantle its track.

He was indeed running.

Only one thought occupied his mind—this wretched place was far more sinister than what was written in the original story.

That suction force wasn't just ordinary consumption; it felt more like a precise screening process.

Those low-level Yao Beasts were drained instantly, while he and Xia Lengbai, whose spirit power was more profound, felt as if they were being slowly sliced by a dull blade. With every breath, spirit power seeped out through their pores, and even their Dantian began to tremble faintly.

"The third fork on the left!" Shen Xiao roared, dragging Xia Lengbai into a narrow crevice.

Miserable screams echoed from behind—several Yao soldiers who couldn't escape in time were hoisted into the air by that force. Their flesh withered at a visible rate, leaving only a few dry bones that fell to the ground and crumbled into powder.

Xia Lengbai's face turned pale, but she did not panic. She backhanded a wall of ice behind them, temporarily blocking the spread of that suction force.

The two stopped, pressing against the rock wall, while Shen Xiao quickly recalled the records about the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons from the original story in his mind.

He remembered clearly that after the heart of the demon emperor initiated the "Ten Thousand Spirit Blood Sacrifice", energy would be transported through three core ley line nodes.

As long as one of these nodes was destroyed, the completion speed of the Blood Sacrifice would slow down significantly, potentially even causing energy to backflow and backlash against the heart of the demon emperor itself.

"We must be fast." Shen Xiao's voice was very low. "Lin Yun is definitely on his way too. If he gets to the heart of the demon emperor first, both of us will be finished here today."

Xia Lengbai looked at him, her eyes filled with scrutiny. "You have a way?"

"The energy of the Ten Thousand Spirit Blood Sacrifice relies on three ley line nodes to operate. As long as we dismantle one 'track', the heart of the demon emperor won't be able to absorb so much fuel." Shen Xiao quickly drew three points on the rock wall with his finger. "The nearest one is in the northeast, called the Blood Crystal Molten Cave, about two miles away from us."

Xia Lengbai did not ask how he knew this.

She just glanced at the rough map and nodded.

The two didn't waste any more words and, using the dim light of the cave's mineral lamps, crept toward the first node.

Blood Crystal Molten Cave.

The temperature inside the cave was absurdly high, and the air was filled with a mixture of sulfur and rust.

The surrounding rock walls were covered with dark red crystals, looking like solidified blood that had been compressed for millions of years.

Those crystals emitted an eerie red light, illuminating the entire cave like a purgatory.

The most troublesome thing wasn't the environment, but the living creatures.

The Yao Beasts that originally lived in the depths of the cave were all driven mad by the energy of the Blood Sacrifice at this moment.

Their eyes were crimson, turbid saliva drooled from their mouths, and they pounced on any living thing they saw, completely disregarding the gap in strength, like a group of killing machines driven by instinct.

As soon as Shen Xiao stepped into the cave entrance, a Scaled Rhinoceros the size of a bison charged at him.

He dodged to the side and slammed a punch into its ribs. The force of the punch penetrated its body, sending the Scaled Rhinoceros flying, crashing into several blood-colored crystal pillars.

But before it could die, three more crazed Yao Beasts lunged from the shadows toward him and Xia Lengbai.

Shen Xiao was struggling to fight.

He was injured, and much of his spirit power had been drained by the Blood Sacrifice. Every move had to be precise; he couldn't waste a single ounce of strength.

But his fighting style remained violent. Every punch and kick carried a ruthless force, as if he wanted to vent all his frustration on these Yao Beasts.

Xia Lengbai, meanwhile, was calmly setting up frost traps behind him, controlling the Yao Beasts attempting to flank them.

But the problem was that there were more and more crazed Yao Beasts.

One, two, five, ten...

They surged like a tide, knowing no fear, knowing no retreat, only knowing how to tear apart every living thing in front of them.

Shen Xiao fought his way deeper into the cave, but his spirit power consumption was far exceeding expectations.

When he killed the twelfth Yao Beast, he suddenly stumbled, his left knee went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

The wound had torn open.

Blood streamed down his thigh, staining the ground beneath his feet red.

Just then, a frenzied Yao Bear hiding in the shadows lunged out like a moving mountain, pouncing toward Shen Xiao's back with a foul wind.

The Yao Bear was covered in jet-black mane, its two fangs gleaming like daggers, and its sharp claws were capable of tearing through metal and stone.

Shen Xiao seemed not to notice the danger behind him.

He was facing away from the Yao Bear, head bowed, panting heavily, as if he were completely exhausted.

Xia Lengbai stood several feet away, having just condensed an ice spike in her hand. She was about to strike, but her movement paused for an extremely brief moment.

What was she thinking?

If Shen Xiao died, the Symbiotic Shackles would automatically lift, and she would be free.

She wouldn't have to be tied to this inexplicably appearing man, nor would she be controlled by his strange methods.

She could leave the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons alone, perhaps find a remote place to live in seclusion, or perhaps...

But then, another thought splashed over her like cold water.

The prerequisite for the Symbiotic Shackles to lift was Shen Xiao's death, but the Child of Destiny mark on her was still there—that was something marked by the Heavenly Dao.

If Shen Xiao died, that mark would reactivate, and the gaze of the Heavenly Dao would fall upon her once again.

By then, what she would face wouldn't be a "controllable trouble" like Shen Xiao, but the crushing weight of Lin Yun and the entire heavenly dao chessboard.

Furthermore, after Shen Xiao died, how could she fight against Lin Yun alone?

She stood there, the knuckles of her hand gripping the ice spike turning slightly white.

Less than two breaths of time had passed.

Xia Lengbai gritted her teeth, and the hesitation in her eyes was finally replaced by a cold determination.

She raised her hand abruptly, an ice lotus bloomed in her palm, and a thick layer of ice armor instantly covered Shen Xiao's back.

"Clang..."

The Yao Bear's sharp claws scraped against the ice armor, emitting a piercing metallic clashing sound. Ice shards flew everywhere, but the claw ultimately did not land on Shen Xiao.

Immediately after, Xia Lengbai's figure appeared above the Yao Bear like a ghost, and the ice spike in her hand precisely pierced through its skull.

The Yao Bear's massive body crashed to the ground, twitched twice, and then stopped moving.

Shen Xiao slowly straightened up, looked back at the bear corpse on the ground, then glanced at Xia Lengbai, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Thanks."

Xia Lengbai retracted the ice spike, her expression cold. "Next time you feign a weakness, remember to tell me in advance."

"If I told you, would it still be a feigned weakness?" Shen Xiao shrugged and turned to walk toward the blood crystal node deep in the cave.

That node was a huge blood-colored crystal, as thick as two people could embrace. It connected the cave ceiling and the floor like a blood vessel, its surface flowing with dark red light, constantly transporting energy deep into the cave.

Shen Xiao did not hesitate. He took a deep breath, condensed his spirit power into a long blade in his palm, and slashed fiercely at the blood-colored crystal.

The first slash created a fine crack.

The second slash sent debris flying.

The third slash caused the entire crystal to emit a piercing cracking sound. Cracks spread like a spiderweb, and the dark red light suddenly dimmed.

Immediately after, an energy backflow erupted from the shattered node, instantly blasting away several nearby Yao Beasts.

The first node, destroyed.

Shen Xiao slid down against the rock wall, gasping for air. Sweat and blood mixed together, and he looked utterly disheveled.

Xia Lengbai stood by, watching his half-dead state. She was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke. "You did that on purpose just now?"

Shen Xiao looked up at her, his eyes innocent. "What on purpose?"

"Feigning a weakness." Xia Lengbai's gaze stared at him like a knife. "You wanted to test me."

Shen Xiao neither denied nor admitted it. He just smiled, took out a Medicinal Pill from his bosom, threw it into his mouth, and chewed slowly.

Xia Lengbai did not ask further, but something indescribable appeared in her eyes.

The two rested for a moment. Shen Xiao suddenly took out a palm-sized Jade Slip from his Storage Pouch and tossed it to Xia Lengbai.

"What is this?"

"Just listen."

Xia Lengbai frowned and injected a wisp of spirit power into the Jade Slip.

The voice of a middle-aged man came from the Jade Slip, his tone steady and carrying the coldness peculiar to those in high positions:

"...This person, Shen Xiao, must be eliminated as soon as possible. But Xia Lengbai has already been defiled by the Devil Head. Even if she is rescued, she is no longer pure. The Sect's reputation cannot be ruined by a Saintess who has lost her chastity."

Another voice replied, the tone even colder: "The Grand Elder's meaning is that after she is rescued, her cultivation should be crippled directly, her memories wiped, and she should be sent to the Forbidden Ground in the back mountain to be imprisoned. Publicly, say that she perished together with the Devil Head and died for the country. This way, it can preserve the Sect's reputation and inspire the Disciple's shared hatred for the enemy."

"Hmm... let's do that. Act quickly; we cannot let other Sects make a joke of us."

The conversation in the Jade Slip ended there.

Xia Lengbai held the Jade Slip, standing motionless in place.

Her expression did not change at all. There was no anger, no pain, not even a trace of fluctuation.

But her fingers were trembling slightly, as if she were holding something scalding hot.

After a long while, she suddenly chuckled softly.

The laughter was very light, carrying an indescribable irony.

"Pure and unsullied? As expected of my Sect."

She crushed the Jade Slip casually, and the fragments spilled from between her fingers like a light snowfall.

Shen Xiao leaned against the rock wall, watching her reaction. He did not offer comfort, nor did he say anything sentimental.

"Let's go." He stood up, brushed the dust off his body. "The second node, the River of Blood Qi."

The two didn't say another word, silently passing through the shattered Blood Crystal Molten Cave, and continued to advance toward the depths of the cave.

Having walked less than two miles, Shen Xiao suddenly stopped.

On the ground ahead lay a massive Yao Beast corpse.

The Yao Beast was covered in silver-white scales, its body like a small mountain. One could tell at a glance that it was at least at the Yao King level.

But its state of death was very strange. It wasn't the withered state caused by being drained by the Blood Sacrifice, but rather, there was a fist-sized hole in its heart, with neat edges, as if it had been pierced through by a Sharp Weapon in one strike.

Shen Xiao squatted down, checked the wound, and his face sank bit by bit.

"It's Lin Yun."

Xia Lengbai frowned. "He is also in the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons?"

"He is not only here, but he is also actively hunting." Shen Xiao stood up, his gaze grave. "He is not passively accepting the Legacy—he is using the heart of the demon emperor as a furnace to refine the Yao power of those powerful Yao Beasts and convert it into his own strength. This is faster than the growth speed preset by the Heavenly Dao."

Xia Lengbai's eyes also became grave.

Lin Yun was more dangerous than they had imagined.

He was not the type of Child of Destiny who waited for Opportunity to fall on his head, but a hunter who would actively strike and use all resources to accelerate his growth.

The two quickened their pace.

When they finally arrived at the second node, the "River of Blood Qi", Shen Xiao suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis, and the hairs on his back stood up one by one.

He did not hesitate, abruptly pressed down on Xia Lengbai's head, and the two rolled to the side simultaneously.

The next second, a blood-colored Sword Qi, condensed to the extreme, swept across the position where they had just been standing. With a scorching aura, it sliced a bottomless crevice into the rock wall a hundred meters behind.

The rock wall split, rubble tumbled down, emitting a dull roar.

Shen Xiao knelt on one knee, looked up, and gazed in the direction from which the Sword Qi had come.

On the other side of the blood river, a slender figure slowly walked out from the dark red mist.

Lin Yun stood on the edge of the blood river, half of his face covered in eerie demon patterns. Those patterns looked like living things, slightly wriggling under his skin.

His eyes carried a trace of scarlet light, and a composed smile hung on the corners of his mouth, as if he were looking at two prey that had already fallen into a trap.

"Thank you," he spoke, his voice gentle, as if he were chatting with an old friend. "For helping me clear out the small fry along the way."

Shen Xiao did not panic.

His previous rolling movement had allowed him to adjust his center of gravity upon landing. At this moment, his body posture was not one of defense, but a starting stance ready to explode into a counterattack at any moment.