366: Home

The purple light was not static; instead, it was like a thick resin, seeping bit by bit into the crevices of Su Ming's bones.

The air on the Heart-Questioning Platform had been compressed to the extreme, letting out a tooth-aching "creak." Su Ming's spine bent like a bow about to snap; the sweat that had just seeped from his pores was instantly evaporated by the high temperature, leaving only a layer of white salt frost on his skin.

And in the deepest part of his Divine Soul, that gamble was undergoing its final settlement.

"Crack."

This crisp sound did not resemble metal breaking, but rather like a child casually peeling off the bark of a century-old dried tree.

Under the violent purple Divine Thought drill of the Criminal Law Peak Elder, the "mortal iron" shell of the xuantian ring—carefully camouflaged by Su Ming with a mixture of Spirit-Washing Water and dust—finally could not hold on any longer.

Fragments fell like black snowflakes, turning into wisps of turbid gray smoke in the air before they even hit the ground.

The purple light in the old woman's eyes flared up, and her withered wooden cane almost touched the surface of the bronze mirror: "Show your true form for this old woman!"

With the peeling of the final layer of camouflage, the ring finally revealed its "true appearance."

There was no ten-thousand-foot golden light of a Divine Artifact's birth as imagined, nor was there a heaven-shaking sea of blood from a demonic tool's Awakening.

It was a ring of an extremely dull color. Its material was neither metal nor wood, presenting a dark brown hue deeply oxidized by time, and the surface of the ring was covered with countless hair-thin scratches—the markings left by time. Only on the inner circle of the ring were a few naturally formed dark spots faintly visible, like age spots on an elderly person's skin.

Ordinary.

One could even say it was ugly.

However, the moment this layer of ordinariness was completely exposed to the air, a sudden change occurred.

"Whoosh—"

An extremely faint yet clear sound of airflow reached the eardrums of everyone present.

Centering on Su Ming's left hand, the air within a three-foot radius suddenly became viscous. The free Spiritual Qi that had been firmly suppressed by the old woman's pressure now seemed like sharks smelling blood; defying the laws of physics, it surged frantically and greedily toward that ugly ring.

The Spiritual Qi formed a visible miniature vortex above the ring.

At the center of the vortex, the Spiritual Qi was mysteriously transformed. Though the amount was small, it became an outrageously pure and gentle Soul Power, feeding back into Su Ming's nearly desiccated Sea of Consciousness like a trickling stream.

"Hmm?"

The old woman's movements came to a sudden halt, and a flash of astonishment crossed her turbid old eyes.

This ring... is protecting its master?

Before she could react, the ring trembled again.

A circle of nearly transparent ripples, like a drop of water falling into a calm lake, rippled out silently.

As the ripples swept through the old woman's domineering purple Divine Thought, a "sizzling" sound erupted, as if a branding iron had been thrust into a snowdrift. Immediately following, an extremely chaotic, cold, and nauseatingly decayed aura erupted from the depths of the ring.

That aura was mixed with resentment, malice, and greed—the residues of obsession left by several previous owners who had died miserable deaths, which Lin Yu had deliberately released at this moment.

The black Evil Qi flickered like a venomous snake's tongue, darting back and forth within the purple cocoon of light, making hissing sounds.

And behind that scalp-numbing Evil Qi, a sigh as faint as a mosquito's buzz was abruptly mixed in.

"...Place of return..."

The voice was that of a woman, ethereal as if separated by eternal ages, carrying an extreme exhaustion and peace after seeing through the vicissitudes of life.

These two diametrically opposed auras—the extremely yin and evil Evil Qi and the extremely pure and clean peaceful sigh—entwined absurdly, creating a sense of impact that caused the Divine Soul to fall into disorder.

"What kind of ghost thing is this?!"

The old woman's face changed drastically. She instinctively wanted to withdraw her Divine Thought, only to find that the ring had generated a bizarre suction, actually attempting to devour her along the path of her Divine Thought!

At this critical juncture.

"Withdraw your hand."

"Stop."

Two voices rang out almost simultaneously.

The former was as gentle as jade, sounding like a spring breeze on the face; wherever it passed, the violent Spiritual Qi turbulence, the cold Evil Qi, and even that purple light cocoon were smoothed out by an invisible hand, instantly solidifying and falling silent. The latter was as cold as ice, carrying an unquestionable legal majesty, as if the words themselves were law, directly "cutting off" the bizarre suction that attempted to counter-invade.

The space on both sides of the Heart-Questioning Platform seemed to be torn open like a fold.

Two figures, one in green and one in black, stood in mid-air.

The person on the left wore a white cloud-patterned Daoist robe, with a refined face and slightly frosted temples. There was no trace of spiritual power fluctuation around him, yet he seemed to merge as one with the heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers. He was precisely the Sect Head of the Cloud Hidden Sect, True Person Yun Miao.

The person on the right wore a black robe of legal decrees, with a cold and solemn face. A dot of cinnabar between her eyebrows was piercingly red, and she was surrounded by visible black chains of legal decrees. She was precisely the Peak Master of the Criminal Law Peak, Cui Yan.

The moment they appeared, the gazes of both were firmly locked onto the ring on Su Ming's finger, which was still breathing in Spiritual Qi and Soul Essence.

"Sect Head... Peak Master..."

The old woman who was originally presiding over the Formation stiffened. She hurriedly put away her cane and, without bothering to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead, stepped forward and reported at a very fast pace: "Seventy percent of this boy's Divine Soul memories have been verified."

She took a deep breath, suppressing the heart palpitations from a moment ago: "First, his memories show that this object was accidentally obtained by him in a mountain stream during his childhood. At that time, the ring was half-buried in silt and was being pecked at by a low-level demonic bird as a shiny object. He drove the bird away and picked it up; it was an accidental treasure find. Second, there are indeed weak and fragmented Legacy intention fluctuations within this ring, and it possesses the strange characteristic of 'spontaneous gathering of Qi and transforming it to nourish Soul Power.' The counter-shock and protection of its master just now are proof. Third..."

The old woman paused, her eyes filled with deep wariness: "The interior of this treasure is a mix of obsession residues and Evil Qi, seemingly left by multiple owners who died violent deaths. However, there is also a wisp of... extremely ancient, pure, and seemingly primordial Divine Soul peaceful Dao-charm. It is a mix of righteous and evil, with a bizarre origin; it is by no means an ordinary Ancient Treasure."

"Conclusion?" Cui Yan spoke coldly, her voice like the clashing of metal.

"The conclusion is..." The old woman lowered her head, "This boy Su Ming has a resilient Heart-Nature. Although he has kept secrets, his general logic is self-consistent, and there is temporarily no suspicion of colluding with the Demonic Path. But this ring... is a source of calamity."

This Sect Head, who was usually mild-mannered and seemed indifferent to everything, now rarely lost his composure.

True Person Yun Miao stared fixedly at that ring, at the slowly rotating Spiritual Qi vortex, and especially at that infinitesimal, barely perceptible Soul Power fluctuation carrying the sense of "peace" emanating from the center of the vortex.

His pupils contracted violently, and his fingers hidden in his sleeves moved frantically, seemingly calculating something. His fingertips even created afterimages due to the extreme speed.

"Sect Head Senior Brother?"