Above the Black Stone Cliff, the lightning had not yet dissipated, like silk torn apart by a giant hand, hanging in strands on the horizon. The wind, carrying a burnt smell, made one's throat dry. Chu Xuan landed on the ground, his white clothes already dyed grayish red. He plopped down on the rubble, panting like a donkey that had just finished grinding: "Old Lei's clone... It was so powerful that it almost tore my skeleton apart."
Su Mei 'er landed beside him, flicked her purple sleeves to shield him from the sandstorm that hit his face, and said with reproach: "You deserve it. Who told you to endure the divine strike? Do you really think you are made of iron?"
"Iron is not worth much. I'm the 'Two Worlds of Ice and Fire' limited edition." Chu Xuan grinned, revealing two small tiger teeth, and turned to wave to the other side. "Sister Ling, thanks. If it weren't for your 'Frost Descent', my head would have moved."
Ling Qingxue drew her sword back into its scabbard, and the blade of the Cold Star still gave off a wisp of white gas, like a lake that had just broken the ice: "Little poor, next time show off your strength, I'll freeze your limbs directly to save you from running around."
The words were cold, but the eyes were soft. Three stand side by side, above and below the cliff, cheers rise and fall --
"Win! The Thunder clone is broken!"
"Two worlds of ice and fire - Long live!"
"Hope Army - Long live!"
The red bear, carrying the bone rod, came running, one eye shining: "Sir, chase or not? Those grandsons of Zhengdao are running like rabbits. Let's take advantage of the victory and kill him without leaving a single piece!"
"Chase the fart." Chu Xuan waved his hand, laughing meaningfully, "Old Lei is more than willing for us to chase after him so that he can be a live target for his thunder array. Don't chase a poor enemy. First clear the battlefield and count the wounded - right, bring Lin Zhou over. He treated me to a good drink. We can't let him really lose his front teeth."
The magic soldiers burst into laughter and dispersed. Ling Qingxue looked in the direction of the retreating troops on the right path, her icy eyes narrowed slightly: "Lei Xiaotian retreated decisively, not like a rout, more like a lure. He must have a fallback plan in three months."
"Don't worry about the back hand. We have more hands." " Su Mei 'er snorted, and a wisp of purple butterfly emerged from her fingertips, flapping its wings and scattering specks of light. "Return to the camp first. The wounded need magic pills to nourish them, and the mining area needs to be re-defended."
Chu Xuan nodded, just as he was about to take a step, suddenly his feet gave way and a sharp, piercing pain came from his dantian, as if someone were drilling with a needle. His face turned pale and he staggered, and Su Meier was quick to hold him up: "What's wrong?"
"It's okay..." Chu Xuan gritted his teeth and looked inwardly into his dantian, but his face became even more ugly - the white light of the spirit body dimmed, and the originally abundant spirit energy was now like a burst balloon, rapidly diffusing. Even more strangely, the dissipated spirit did not return to heaven and earth, but to the earth beneath his feet... Sucked away?
He crouched down, his palms touching the ground, and closed his eyes to sense - a moment later, his pupils constricted: "The magic vein... Drying up!"
"What?" Su Meier and Ling Qingxue both changed color.
Chu Xuan looked up, his voice deep: "The underground spiritual vein, as if someone had opened the gate, the spiritual energy is being forcibly pumped out - direction, the cave of ten Thousand demons!"
...
Outside the cave of Ten Thousand Demons, the wind and snow howled. This is the deepest part of the demon realm, where black fog is always swirling and even the light of the demon moon is swallowed up. At this moment, the hole was glowing with a strange red light, like charcoal fire deep in the throat of a giant beast. Chu Xuan and his two men trudged through the snow, and from a distance they felt the ground trembling slightly beneath their feet, as if something was devouring greedily from the ground.
"The seal is loose." The demonic energy from Su Meier's fingertips seeped into the ground, her face more solemn than ever before. "The demonic energy flows backward, devouring the spiritual energy... If you keep sucking like this, the entire demonic vein will be drained."
Ling Qingxue raised his hand, the Cold Star Sword pointed towards the hole, frost spread, but was corroded into black water at the moment it touched the red light: "Concentration of magic energy... It was ten times higher than recorded."
Chu Xuan crouched down and picked up a wisp of black mist from his fingertips. As soon as the white light of the spirit body touched it, it made a "hissing" corroding sound, like cold water being poured into boiling oil: "Not just demonic energy, but... "Evil energy." He raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through the black mist, his voice cold, "the taste of a gluttonous beast."
"Impossible." Su Mei 'er frowned. "The seal has not been broken. How can the Taotie release its evil energy?"
"The seal is not broken, but the 'gate' has been pried loose." Chu Xuan pointed to the center of the red light at the opening of the hole, where a crack as thin as a hair was slowly wriggling, like a greedy mouth. With each wriggling, a large stream of spiritual energy was sucked in and transformed into more intense evil energy to nourish the crack.
"Someone is tampering with the outside." Ling Qingxue's voice was cold. "It can bypass the demonic defenders and reach the Den of Ten Thousand Demons... Heaven's Way Pavilion."
"Nobody else is so idle except that group of mice." Chu Xuan sneered, and with a flip of his palm, the four colors of light flashed through his fingertips. "The gate has been pried loose, then tighten it again - the first account of the three-month period starts here!"
He stepped forward, approaching the hole, but was grabbed by Su Meier: "Don't be rash! The crack can even transform Taotie's evil energy. If you approach, you'll be sucked into a mummy!"
"Don't worry, I'm tough, I can't even gnaw at a mummy." Chu Xuan grinned, but a look of ferocity flashed in his eyes. "But if this crack sucks in any more, the demon world will be mummidied first. In three months, without the need for Lei Xiaotian to act, we will collapse on our own."
He raised his hand, the mark of the covenant was burning hot, and the four colors of light interwove into a tiny but tough thread of light, slowly reaching towards the crack. Every inch the light thread advanced, it was eroded by the evil energy, but it grew again under the nourishment of the spirit. In the tug-of-war, fine beads of sweat oozed from Chu Xuan's forehead and his face turned even paler - he was using the Dao to contract the origin and forcibly "sew" the cracks!
Ling Qingxue and Su Meier looked at each other and raised their hands at the same time - the ice Law and the magic energy injected into the light thread, the three worked together, the crack finally stopped moving, even... Slowly close!
However, just as the crack was about to close completely, a pitch-black finger suddenly emerged from the depths of the crack, its tip bearing the familiar mark of the Heavenly Dao, and it gently tapped
"Junior, the period of three months has just begun."
The fingers dissipated, the crack closed with a crash, leaving behind a wisp of black mist, like a venomous snake, entwined around Chu Xuan's wrist and quickly seeped into his skin. He felt a chill in his wrist, and in the next instant, his entire right arm lost sensation, and his skin was dyed black at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Chu Xuan!" Su Meier exclaimed, demonic energy surging, trying to force out the black mist, but was held down by Ling Qingxue: "Don't touch! It's a mixture of Taotie's evil energy and Heavenly Dao's imprint, and no force can force it out!"
Chu Xuan gritted his teeth, and the white light of his spirit rushed wildly towards his right arm, engaging in a tug-of-war with the black mist. After a moment, the black mist was finally forced to the wrist and turned into a black rune, like a chain, tightly entwined.
"This is... 'Spirit Devourer'." Su Meier's voice was cold. "Within three months, if you can't crack it, your spirit will be devoured bit by bit until -- dead."
Chu Xuan raised his eyes to look at the black runes, but laughed, with sharp teeth: "Three months?" Enough! I dare to catch even Lei Xiaotian, and I'm afraid of a chain?"
He raised his hand, and the four colors of light flashed in his palm like four docile cats, or like four crouching tigers: "Heavenly Dao Pavilion, Taotie, Lei Xiaotian... One by one, I'll take them all!"
The wind, carrying snowflakes, crackled against the rock face of the Black Stone Cliff. Chu Xuan lowered his right arm, and the black "Devouring spirit lock" was like a sleeping snake, clinging to the wrist bone, icy cold. He seemed not to feel the pain, but instead raised his hand and waved to the distance: "Old Mo, come and measure me!"
Mo Dust swept over silently, and a rare trace of solemnity appeared on his expressionless face: "What size?"
"The coffin." Chu Xuan grinned, his teeth sharp and his mouth sharp. "In case I can't win in three months, I'll have to order a more comfortable box in advance - preferably with magic crystals, shiny and not boring to lie in."
"Little poor." Su Mei 'er came, her purple eyes full of anger, with a touch of her finger, the demonic energy turned into purple butterflies, gently landing on the black runes, attempting to analyze the structure. "The Spirit Devouring Lock is of the same origin as the Ten Thousand Demons Cave. It breaks out once every day at Chen and Zi hours, each time for a hundred breaths, devouring one percent of the spirit. Three months of accumulation --
"Exactly one hundred percent, the abacus is very good." Chu Xuan responded, not looking flustered but rather squinting his eyes to look at the runes. "Those grandfathers of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion are good at math."
Ling Qingxue raised her hand, and the Cold Star Sword pointed at the dark rune. Frost spread, but it was deflated at the moment of touch, and the blade made a "om" wail: "It cannot be broken by external force; it must be disintegrated from within."
"Inside?" Chu Xuan raised his eyebrows and suddenly laughed, "That's simple. I'll treat it as alchemy - a hundred breaths a day, just like the fire to train the spirit body. In three months, who will swallow whom?"
He raised his hand, and the four colors of light flashed in his palm like four docile cats, gently rubbing against the black runes: "Let's see."
...
That night, the Magic Palace and the Elixir Room. Chu Xuan, barefoot and cross-legged, suspended above the Magic Crystal Cauldrons, his right arm hanging down, black runes burst out at the hour of Zi - black mist gushed out, transformed into tiny chains, climbing along the meridians, and wherever it passed, the white light of the spirit body quickly dimmed, as if stained with ink.
Chu Xuan remained motionless, even closing his eyes, his mind sinking into his dantian, using himself as a furnace and the spirit devouring lock as fire, and began an unprecedented "alchemy" --
As soon as the black mist chain touched the dantian, it was surrounded by four colors of light. The ice law froze its edge, the fire law burned its hair, the demonic power tore its body, and the spiritual energy filled its void. The two sides engaged in a tug-like struggle. With each collision, Chu Xuan's meridians felt as if cut by a knife, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his white robe.
But he gritted his teeth, his mind as iron, and silently recited the general outline of "All Spirits Dao Qi" : "With the heart as the furnace, with the spirit as the fire, refine all things in heaven and earth, dissolve one's own shackles..."
Gradually, the black mist chains were worn down bit by bit by the four colors of light, turning into tiny black grains, sinking to the bottom of the dantian, wrapped in the white light of the spirit body, slowly assimilated...
After a hundred breaths, the black mist faded away, the runes fell silent again, but Chu Xuan seemed to be fished out of water, soaked through, his face as pale as paper, but his eyes shone with an unprecedented sharpness --
"One percent, it's mine."
He raised his hand, and a streak of black light flashed in his palm, but it was no longer cold, but gentle like a cat, and gently rubbed against his fingertips: "Day One, success."
...
At dawn the next day, Black Stone Cliff. Chu Xuan sat cross-legged on the top of the cliff, facing the rising purple moon, and once again endured the burst of the Spirit Devouring Lock. This time, instead of passively defending, he actively led the black mist into the meridians, using the four colors of light as hammers and the dantian as anvils to repeatedly refine --
The chains of the black mist struggled wildly, turning into sharp fine needles that pierced the meridians all the way, causing Chu Xuan to twitch all over in pain, but with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "The more you struggle, the more it proves that you are afraid!"
He moved his mind, and suddenly the four colors of light tightened and turned into a huge light hammer, crashing down on the black mist --
"Clang!"
As if struck by metal and iron, the black mist was crushed to pieces and transformed into countless tiny grains, which were sucked into the mouth of the spirit body, the White Whale, and assimilated instantly. Chu Xuan's face turned from pale to red, and his breath was even more solid than before!
"Two percent, it's mine too."
He opened his eyes and looked into the dark mist of Ten Thousand Demons in the distance, his eyes sharp like swords: "Heavenly Dao Pavilion, Taotie, Thunder Roar Heaven - the chains you give, I will make my own swords one by one!"
...
Day 3, Day 4, Day 5... Twice a day, each time Chu Xuan used himself as a furnace to gradually refine, assimilate and absorb the Spirit Devouring lock. Gradually, the black runes began to fade, from deep black to dark purple, and then from dark purple to deep red, like a tamed snake, no longer gnawing wildly, but docile coiled around his wrist, occasionally flashing red, but no longer causing pain.
Meanwhile, his spirit body, through repeated tempering, became increasingly solid and brilliant, even taking on a hint of pitch-black luster, like cold iron refined in ice and fire, with a restrained sharpness but even more lethal.
On the night of the seventh day, outside the Den of Ten Thousand Demons. Chu Xuan sat cross-legged in front of the seal crack, his right arm hanging down, the black runes shrank to the size of a fingernail, like a cinnabar mole, quiet and docile. He raised his hand, touched it with the tip of his finger, and the four colors of light interwove and gently pressed on the crack --
"Close the gate and stop stealing."
The crack trembled slightly, as if it understood his threat, and the red light dimmed instantly, even... Half an inch back!
Chu Xuan rose, looking towards the distant black stone cliff, towards the approaching storm, his back was drawn very long by the magic moon, like a sword just drawn from its scabies, sharp yet with the stubbornness and passion of a young man, making it impossible to ignore.