212: Chapter 212 Spreading Rumors

Countless gazes shot toward the center of the flames like sharp arrows!

Xuanyuan Zhanxian slowly raised his head.

That face, once sharp-angled with sword-like brows and starry eyes, was now covered in hideous, writhing black-red Evil Qi patterns—they were not dead things, but alive!

Like thousands of venomous snakes slithering beneath his skin, they were devouring every inch of flesh and every wisp of vitality!

These sinister patterns spread across his body like spiderwebs at times, and at others, contracted into eerie totems. Each transformation exuded a heart-palpitating aura, as if a pair of eyes from the abyss were peering at the world through these markings.

His eyes struggled within the Chaos—

The left eye was a crimson red completely swallowed by the Boundless Blood Evil, resembling a Hell of churning lava, burning with a madness that would destroy everything!

The right eye, however, stubbornly forced a sliver of clear light out from the darkness. That light was as faint as a candle in the wind, liable to extinguish at any moment, yet it refused—stubbornly, tenaciously, and unyieldingly—to go out!

It was guarding the final barrier of his consciousness, refusing to yield an inch!

Supporting his violently trembling body, he straightened his spine, inch by inch, stubbornly, slowly, and with his very last ounce of strength.

Every muscle tightening brought tearing, excruciating pain. The veins on his forehead bulged and writhed like earthworms. Sweat, mixed with the black-red mist formed by the Boundless Blood Evil, rolled down his temples, dripping onto the scorched earth with a sizzling, corrosive sound.

"...Li...Cheng...si..."

His broken voice squeezed through his teeth. Every word was stained with blood foam, yet contained an iron-clad will. Like divine iron tempered a thousand times, it forcibly pierced through the barrier of pain, echoing over the Eternal Graveyard!

"Since when...was my life...yours to decide?!"

This sentence—

Was earth-shattering!

Like the first thunderclap after the creation of the world, it split the gloom for ten thousand miles!

The unyielding pride and world-dominating spirit in that voice were like an unsheathed peerless divine sword, instantly dispersing the chill of the Boundless Blood Evil and illuminating this graveyard shrouded in death!

It was as if the Xuanyuan Zhanxian of the past—who pointed his sword at the heavens, sharp and unbridled, arrogant and peerless—had, at this moment, broken free from the shackles of darkness and returned, briefly and brilliantly!

Li Chengsi's pupils constricted, a flash of shock and anger sweeping through his eyes before he barked sternly:

"Xuanyuan Zhanxian! Your consciousness has been eroded by the Boundless Blood Evil; cease your bewitching lies here!"

He waved his hand, his voice shaking the surroundings:

"Everyone, look! This is ironclad proof of demonic bewitchment! He has been controlled by the Boundless Blood Evil and is using the last of his humanity to deceive the world! If he is not removed today, he will surely become a great disaster for the common people in the future!"

"Proof?"

Xuanyuan Zhanxian suddenly raised his head. The Evil Qi patterns on his neck writhed frantically with the movement, emitting a "sizzling" corrosive sound. His eyes, half-clear and half-chaotic, locked onto Li Chengsi, his mouth twisting into a hideous, blood-stained arc:

"You claim, time and again, to be doing this for the sake of the common people...dare you swear an oath upon your Dao Heart—"

His voice suddenly rose, like a final judgment:

"—that there isn't even a shred of selfish intent in your heart to eliminate a rival?!"

An oath upon the Dao Heart!

These four words were like four heavenly swords, crashing into the hearts of everyone present!

Who didn't know?

An oath upon the Dao Heart was as heavy as Mount Tai.

Once sworn, it was witnessed by the Heavenly Dao. Anyone who broke it would have their path of cultivation utterly destroyed, never to make another inch of progress, and their Divine Soul would be crushed by the Heavenly Dao!

Li Chengsi's face instantly darkened like water, black enough to drip ink.

How could he possibly swear such an oath?

This was tantamount to cutting off his own path of cultivation!

His eyes turned cold, killing intent boiling, his voice like ice from the Nine Netherworld:

"At death's door, and you still want to bewitch the masses with lies!"

"Fellow Daoists, this monster's demonic nature is too deep; he is beyond saving!"

"Do it!"

Before his voice had even faded, several Tai Miao Ancestral Witches Disciples behind him had already activated an ancient and vast aura. This aura, like a Vicious Beast awakening from the primordial wilderness, transformed into an invisible shackle, carrying the might to suppress all things and crush everything, slamming down hard toward the flame cage!

"Who dares!"

"Stop!"

Two clear, resonant shouts exploded simultaneously, like two thunderclaps bursting over the graveyard!

Liushui Qingshang held his jade flute to his lips. A sound wave, like tearing silk, transformed into an invisible blade, slashing toward that vast pressure—wherever the sound blade passed, the Void Realm groaned!

The fenji sword in Jian Tanghuang's hand erupted with sky-high phoenix flames. The scorching heatwaves formed a barrier, blocking the front of the cage—that fire was the fury of the Divine Phoenix, the determination to burn everything to ashes!

Tuoba Ye swung his giant axe through the air, his savage aura sweeping in all directions—this axe blow seemed capable of cleaving the heavens and the earth!

Second Prince Wu Yuanchen's long spear moved like a Dragon, the cold glint of the spear tip piercing the sky—this thrust carried the immortal edge of the Great Wu Dynasty that had lasted for ten thousand years!

Chu Zhanxiao's blood qi surged, his crimson power boiling like lava—this punch was Dragon might, unyielding, and the conviction to fight to the death without retreating!

The five experts connected their auras, forming an unbreakable barrier, and fiercely collided with the suppression force of the Tai Miao Ancestral Witches group!

Boom—!!!

Two world-destroying forces clashed in mid-air, erupting with a deafening roar like thunder from the Nine Heavens!

The turbulent energy overflowed like a tsunami, kicking up dust to fill the sky and unleashing a terrifying energy storm!

Those with weaker cultivation were shaken back repeatedly, vomiting blood, their faces filled with sheer terror.

The iron-hard ground of the Eternal Graveyard cracked under this impact, dense patterns spreading in all directions like spiderwebs!

With one strike—

It was a tie!

Li Chengsi's face was ugly to the extreme, so dark it seemed he wanted to eat someone.

He never imagined—

That the few of them, joining forces, could actually block the pressure of the Tai Miao Ancestral Witches?!

"Li Chengsi!"

Liushui Qingshang's white robes remained motionless in the storm, his voice chilling to the bone, like ten-thousand-year-old ice shattering:

"You have seen it too; he still retains his clarity! To suppress him without allowing him to defend himself—what exactly are you feeling guilty about?"

"That's right!"

Tuoba Ye's voice was like a booming bell, making everyone's eardrums buzz:

"Let him finish speaking! If he has truly fallen into the demonic path, we will personally send him on his way; it is not your place to overstep your authority!"

A stalemate!

A complete stalemate!

In terms of strength, they were evenly matched!

In terms of reason, Xuanyuan Zhanxian's sliver of clarity and his question that struck straight at the heart had already shaken the Foundation of Li Chengsi's grand righteousness of "acting for the sake of the common people"!

Among the watching Cultivators, whispers began to rise, like the buzzing of a swarm of bees:

"Fellow Daoist Xuanyuan was clear and logical just now; he doesn't seem completely fallen into the demonic path..."

"Why does Saint Li not dare to swear an oath upon his Dao Heart? There is something in this..."

"This matter is strange; let's not be used as someone else's tool..."

"If he truly intends to eliminate rivals, then we..."

Listening to the rising and falling discussions behind him, Li Chengsi's face turned from green to white.

He looked at the people standing in battle array before him, at the unbreakable defensive line built by the five experts, and finally at the figure in the flame cage who still straightened his spine amidst the pain—

He knew.

Today's plan had already failed.

He inhaled slowly, suppressing his churning killing intent, his eyes becoming deep and unfathomable, like a bottomless abyss.

"Fine."

"Very well."

He suddenly smiled.

There was not a shred of warmth in this smile, only a chilling cold that made one's spine crawl.

"Since everyone insists on giving him a chance to prove himself, then I, Li Chengsi, am not an unreasonable person."

His gaze turned to Xuanyuan Zhanxian, carrying the scrutiny of a judge, as if looking at a prisoner about to be executed:

"Xuanyuan Zhanxian, you say I have no right to decide for you, and that I harbor selfish motives."

"Then you must prove it to the world—"

His voice suddenly rose, resounding throughout the scene:

"Prove that you can suppress this Boundless Blood Evil!"

"Prove that you have not fallen into the demonic path!"

"If you cannot prove it..."

Li Chengsi's voice suddenly turned harsh, his killing intent exposed, like an unsheathed butcher's knife:

"At that time, I will be the first to personally clean house and slay the demon!"

"To eliminate future troubles!"

With a few light words, he tossed the hot potato back to Xuanyuan Zhanxian!

Prove it?

How to prove it?

The Boundless Blood Evil was the most evil and vicious, something no one throughout history had ever been able to resist.

This was an almost impossible demand!

Everyone's hearts were in their throats, and their breathing had stopped.

Xuanyuan Zhanxian's body shook violently, his teeth clenched, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth, his nails digging deep into his palms, blood dripping from between his fingers.

He forcibly steadied his figure.

Inch by inch.

He raised those eyes that were struggling between clarity and Chaos, his gaze slowly sweeping over the companions protecting him—Liushui Qingshang, Jian Tanghuang, Tuoba Ye, Second Prince Wu Yuanchen, and Chu Zhanxiao.

In this light, there was gratitude, determination, and...the preparation to face death.

Finally, his gaze locked onto Li Chengsi's face like a sharp blade.

He opened his mouth, blood spilling from the corner of his lips, but he used all his strength to utter two words that rang with the weight of iron:

"...As...you...wish!"

The moment the words fell—

Boom!!!

The black-red Evil Qi between Xuanyuan Zhanxian's brows was like the firmament crushed by the last straw—

It collapsed with a roar!

This was not dissipation!

Not diffusion!

But the most thorough, the most determined, the most insane—outburst!

It was as if the resentment and violence accumulated over eternity had finally found an outlet!

The Evil Qi, black as eternal night, and the red light, blinding as fresh blood, intertwined into a torrent of destruction, gushing out from every acupoint, every inch of bone, and every cell in his body!

His body was visibly swelling and twisting, as if countless living things were frantically scurrying beneath his skin, emitting a teeth-aching "creak-creak" sound—this was bones breaking and regenerating, flesh being devoured and reshaped!

The remaining glimmer of humanity, not even a wisp left, was instantly swallowed by this absolute darkness!

"Aroo—!!!"

A roar tore through the sky!

It shattered the Void Realm for a hundred miles around!

This was no longer a sound that could be heard in the mortal world—it was the roar of a demon from the bottom of the abyss, the wail of stars collapsing, the wild laughter of all the evil suppressed since eternity being released at once!

Carrying the purest malice and desire for destruction toward all living things, it slammed fiercely into the flame cage!

The Boundless Blood Evil Qi condensed into a tangible dark red pillar of blood, thick as a Heavenly Dragon, entwined with the phantoms of countless wailing, suffering Souls, and shot into the sky with an unstoppable, crushing momentum!

The flame barrier of the cage emitted a piercing, mournful cry, swaying violently, the firelight flickering unsteadily—

It was on the verge of completely shattering!

At the critical moment!

Just as everyone thought that all was lost and Xuanyuan Zhanxian was about to completely fall into becoming a demon—

"Hum—"

A low hum.

As if traveling through infinite time and space, coming from the beginning of the creation of the world, carrying the heaviness of Chaos and the mystery of creation, from the deepest part of Xuanyuan Zhanxian's Divine Soul—

It leisurely rippled out.

That leaf of the World Tree, which had been silent in his Sea of Consciousness, long since eroded by the Boundless Blood Evil to the point of being dull and lightless, almost forgotten—

At this moment—

Bloomed with its final, and most brilliant, radiance!

"Puff..."

A faint sound, like a dewdrop shattering.

The leaf burst.

Transforming into trillions of clear, bright specks of light, finer than dust yet brighter than stars.

They were not fire, yet possessed a scorching heat that could purify all filth!

They were not ice, yet carried a bone-chilling cold that could freeze all madness!

Like the Milky Way of the Nine Heavens pouring backward, or like the fountain of life surging forth, this vast and pure Power of Primordial Creation instantly washed over his Sea of Consciousness, which was on the verge of complete demonic transformation!

"Urgh ah—!!!"

The roar Xuanyuan Zhanxian let out changed its tone!

This was no longer a pure beastly roar!

But was mixed with the pain of a tearing Soul and a sliver of—

A tremor of suddenly returning clarity!

His body—

Became the most tragic battlefield!