63: Whispers of the soul, crimson light in the dark night

Snake-People Clan Royal City, Queen's Bedchamber.

Time flowed through his fingertips like fine sand in an hourglass.

Li Ao sat cross-legged before the cold jade bed, his eyes tightly shut, fine beads of sweat seeping from his temples and tracing the contours of his resolute face.

His Soul Power was engaged in a silent yet perilous tug-of-war with the stubborn grey-black mist within Medusa's Sea of Consciousness.

Medusa's Sea of Consciousness, that originally magnificent and vast colorful starry sky, was now largely enveloped by a chilling darkness.

However, compared to the beginning, a small clear area had been cleared at the edges, where faint colorful light flickered precariously like a candle in the wind, yet stubbornly persistent.

Li Ao manipulated that slender thread of silver-grey energy, imbued with the Origin of Annihilation Rule, like the most patient craftsman, meticulously peeling away and annihilating the 'toxins' attached to her Soul Origin.

This process not only consumed a tremendous amount of energy but also required enduring the painful tremors unconsciously transmitted by Medusa's Soul, as if countless fine needles were simultaneously pricking his senses.

Just as he was fully focused on removing a more central point of corrosion, an extremely blurry, fragmented image, accompanied by intense emotional fluctuations, surged into his consciousness through the Soul connection:

...A river of scorching magma...A green lotus bud swaying in the flames...A resolute figure, without hesitation, plunging towards that destructive energy core...Heart-wrenching pain and the daze of consciousness peeling away...And, a complex imprint deeply embedded in the depths of the Soul, one that even this bone-gnawing pain and the passage of time had not completely erased...That imprint seemed to faintly overlap with a certain youth carrying a black ruler...These were fragments of Medusa's memory from when she devoured the Green Lotus Core Flame for evolution! And...Xiao Yan?

Li Ao's mind trembled slightly, but he immediately forced down this ripple and continued to focus on the purification at hand.

These were Medusa's most primal memories and emotions from the depths of her Soul, unconsciously surfacing when her Soul was injured and its defenses were at their weakest.

He had no intention of prying, but since he sensed it, that complex imprint concerning Xiao Yan did explain some subtle feelings in the original work.

"Past events are like smoke; what good is obsession?"

Li Ao thought indifferently.

His Dao was to cut down all obstacles in his path, aiming directly for the Peak; matters of love and affection were merely dust along the way.

He composed himself and completely annihilated the last trace of grey-black mist that had invaded the core.

"Ugh..."

On the cold jade bed, Medusa let out an extremely faint moan, her long, thick eyelashes trembled violently a few times, and finally, she struggled to open a sliver of her eyes.

Her colorful pupils were dim and lifeless, filled with weakness and confusion, but the tenacious will belonging to Queen Medusa had already begun to re-condense within them.

She looked at Li Ao, who was close at hand, observing the unconcealed fatigue on his face, and an almost imperceptible ripple flashed in her eyes; her red lips moved slightly, but no sound emerged.

"Concentrate your mind, calm your Qi, and guide the medicinal power to repair your Origin."

Li Ao withdrew his hand from her forehead, his voice hoarse from overexertion yet still steady, "The most dangerous moment has passed; the rest is up to you."

Medusa slowly closed her eyes as instructed, beginning to guide the medicinal power of the 'returning purple spirit pill' within her body, along with Li Ao's residual Qi and vitality, to nourish her injured Soul and Physical Body.

Li Ao let out a slight sigh of relief, just about to regulate his breathing and recover his greatly depleted Soul Power, when suddenly, he abruptly opened his eyes, and a bone-chilling glint of cold light instantly erupted from his dark iron-colored pupils!

"Things that don't know their place!"

He sensed it!

On the outskirts of the Royal City, several figures, exceptionally well-hidden yet carrying the unique chilling and deathly aura of the Hall of Souls, were stealthily breaching the outer defenses of the Snake-People Clan like venomous snakes in the dark night, rapidly approaching the bedchamber!

They seemed to be holding strange Magical Artifacts specifically targeting the Soul and space!

They had indeed come!

And their timing was so precise!

Killing intent boiled in Li Ao's eyes.

His Soul Power was currently nearly halved, indeed leaving him in a relatively weak state.

But these Hall of Souls scoundrels had clearly miscalculated!

He glanced at Medusa, who was at a critical stage of healing; he couldn't let her be disturbed in any way.

Nor could he let these rats disturb the peace of the Royal City.

Li Ao slowly stood up, the slightly languid aura around him due to exhaustion was replaced at this moment by an even more ferocious, more pure killing intent!

That was not the fluctuation of Dou Qi, but the surging Qi and blood condensed by the 'Black Iron Hegemon Body', like a primeval Vicious Beast, mixed with the Saber Intent that had annihilated countless foes, and that wisp of...the lingering charm of the Annihilation Rule!

He did not draw his long saber, but merely joined his fingers like a saber, dark golden light flowing at his fingertips, as if they were the sharpest divine weapons in the world.

His figure vanished from its spot like a ghost, and the next moment, he had already appeared at the highest point of the bedchamber's roof, bathed in the cold moonlight, like a god of slaughter guarding his territory, indifferently looking down at the several dark figures moving through the shadows and closing in.

"Since you've come, leave your lives behind."

The cold voice, like a death god's invitation, clearly entered the ears of the Hall of Souls assassins.

The figures of the assassins suddenly stiffened, and they looked up in horror, meeting those demonic eyes that shimmered with dark gold and silver-grey under the moonlight!

He discovered them?!

And, the aura on him...why did it feel even more terrifying than the intelligence suggested?!

Didn't they say he was greatly depleted?!

A strong sense of unease rose in the heart of the leading deacon with emerald green pupils, but the arrow was on the string and had to be loosed!

He let out a sharp cry: "Attack! Soul-Locking Net! Soul-Shattering Cone! Kill!"

A grey net woven from countless wailing Soul phantoms expanded with the wind, carrying a strange power that could imprison Souls, and enveloped Li Ao on the rooftop!

At the same time, three cone-shaped Magical Artifacts, flashing with cold, dark blue light and specifically designed to destroy Souls, shot silently towards Li Ao's glabella, back, and Qi Sea from three tricky angles, like venomous fangs!

A single strike to kill!

Ruthless!

Facing this encirclement, which would make even a fully intact Dou Huang flustered, Li Ao merely indifferently raised his right hand, with fingers joined like a saber.

He didn't even look at the descending Soul-Locking Net or the incoming Soul-Shattering Cones.

He simply made a gesture towards the Void Realm, towards the direction where the Hall of Souls assassins were located.

A gentle slash.

The movement was slow and unhurried, with a casual elegance.

"Whoosh—!"

A faint, dark golden thread, almost blending with the night, appeared out of thin air.

The thread swept across the Soul-Locking Net.

The large net, woven from countless Souls and capable of trapping a Dou Huang's Soul, seemed to have met its nemesis; the wailing Soul phantoms instantly solidified, then silently annihilated, the entire net breaking in the middle and dissipating into pure Soul particles.

The thread swept across the Soul-Shattering Cones.

The three malicious Soul Magical Artifacts vaporized silently before the thread, without even stirring a ripple, as if they had never existed.

The thread's momentum was undiminished; it instantly traversed the spatial distance and swept across the bodies of the Hall of Souls assassins.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The assassins remained in their charging or spell-casting postures, frozen in place.

The horror, ferocity on their faces, and their emerald green pupils, were all solidified.

The next moment.

"Puff..."

Like a gentle breeze blowing over a sand dune.

The bodies of the assassins, along with their black robes, silently turned into the finest dust, scattering with the wind, leaving no trace.

Only the lingering traces of the terrifying essence of life being cut off and returning to Stillness, proved their past existence.

The dark night returned to silence.

The moonlight shone down, illuminating the figure in green on the rooftop, unstained by dust.

Li Ao slowly withdrew his fingers, as if he had only done a trivial thing.

He didn't even look in the direction where the assassins had been annihilated, his gaze once again turned towards the bedchamber, and sensing that Medusa's aura was steadily recovering, the cold glint in his eyes gradually receded.

He sat down cross-legged and began to regulate his breathing, recovering his depleted power.

Outside the Royal City, the crisis was resolved.

But Li Ao knew this was only the beginning.

The Hall of Souls would never give up, and the spatial rift on the Cloud Mist Sect's side was also a huge hidden danger.

He needed to help Medusa recover as soon as possible, and then, with a stronger stance, face the even more turbulent storm that was about to come!

The night was deep, but the killing intent had not gone far; it merely lurked deeper, awaiting the next opportunity to erupt.