Staying in the sect, controlling beasts and cultivating immortals

"You beast! Even in death you want to harm me!" Feng Yin's face was contorted with pain, his eyes bloodshot. He dared not touch the amethyst fragment that was still spewing unstable energy, and he couldn't care less about the Purple Spirit Emperor Sword that he was only halfway through refining.

The poisonous fog surged, and he barely managed to seal the terrible wound on his shoulder, stopping the erosion of the amethyst energy. Then, like a frightened bird, with the pain of his severed arm and a heart full of resentment and fear, he transformed into a foul-smelling green streak of light and fled madly into the depths of the cave without looking back.

The Purple Spirit Emperor Sword, now much dimmer and its phantom spirit barely alive, lost the venomous python's restraints. With a mournful cry, it fell from mid-air and landed diagonally on the cave floor, which was covered with rubble and water stains, with a "clang". The sword trembled slightly, its brilliance dimmed, leaving only a mess and the aftershocks of rampant energy.

Deep within the swamp of despair, the miasma was as thick as solidified grayish-white cotton wool.

Huang Xiren leaned against the wall of a huge, decaying tree hollow that emitted a faint glow, each breath tearing at his lungs with pain. His face was ashen, his breath extremely weak; the backlash from forcibly activating the Blood Slaughter Slash and the corrosive miasma had left him like a candle flickering in the wind. Lin Hao and another cultivator also slumped wearily to the side, their bodies bearing wounds of varying depths.

In the center of the tree hollow, the only relatively clean clothes that the group had left were laid out.

Yu Changsheng lay there, his face ashen, his breath so faint it was almost imperceptible; only the extremely slight rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive. The dark mark on his back glowed even more dimly than before, and its rate of absorbing death energy and resentment had slowed considerably.

Chen Xueqing was placed beside him. She remained unconscious, but the emerald light in her chest had solidified somewhat, like a small, resilient vortex of life. Most strangely, the edge of that light began to touch the extremely faint dark aura emanating from Yu Changsheng's back. There was no fierce conflict, but rather a bizarre stalemate. The emerald green represented the miracle of life law brought about by the sacrifice of the Colorful Star Deer's origin, while the dark purple stemmed from the death power maintained by the Eternal Night Evil Beast's devouring of dead souls. These two diametrically opposed forces, which should have annihilated each other, now formed a delicate, fragile balance between them, as if vying for something, or perhaps jointly maintaining their precarious existence.

Huang Xiren's gaze fell upon the colorful star deer statue he had placed on his lap. The cold stone body, stained with the black blood he had previously spat out, now showed signs of warmth in the white burn marks! Even more incredibly, from the broken horn of the statue, directly opposite Chen Xueqing's heart, tiny, almost invisible wisps of emerald light stubbornly oozed from the broken end, penetrating the air like fireflies returning to their nests, slowly merging into the emerald light cluster at Chen Xueqing's heart!

“Caixing…” Huang Xiren reached out a trembling hand and gently stroked the cold stone statue, tears welling up in his cloudy old eyes. This miraculous spirit deer, even in its stone form, still possessed its last essence and protective will, transcending the barriers of life and death to nourish its master.

It was this force that temporarily maintained Chen Xueqing's peculiar state and even subtly protected Yu Changsheng's fragile heart meridian, which was enveloped by the power of death.

However, this is only temporary.

Huang Xiren could clearly sense that the last remaining spiritual energy within the Colorful Star Deer statue was rapidly fading, like a candle flame about to burn out. The situation within Yu Changsheng was even more perilous—the Eternal Night Evil Beast's power stemmed from devouring death, a power that itself was constantly eroding his very life force, like drinking poison to quench thirst. The fragile balance between the two could be broken at any moment.

Once the balance collapses, either the life rune on Chen Xueqing's chest will be unable to suppress the death energy in Yu Changsheng's body, and the two will be dragged into the abyss of death together; or the power of life will completely repel the darkness, and Yu Changsheng, who is already on the verge of collapse, will be instantly drained of his last bit of life force!
Time has become the sharpest guillotine hanging overhead.

“No amethyst…no amethyst core…” Huang Xiren closed his eyes in anguish, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper were being rubbed. Feng Yin’s betrayal had completely severed their only legitimate path to salvation. In this desolate and treacherous swamp of despair, where could they find a rare treasure to replace the Triangular Abyss Clan’s core amethyst, other than poisonous creatures and deathly aura?
In the depths of despair, a mad idea, like a poisonous vine growing in the darkness, quietly entwined Huang Xiren's nearly withered mind.

His gaze was fixed on the dim, yet stubbornly swampy, dark mark on Yu Changsheng's back. That was the core of the Eternal Night Evil Beast's power, the thing that was keeping Yu Changsheng alive, and also the fuse that could ignite his death.

“If…if it were the other way around…” Huang Xiren’s breathing became heavy, his eyes struggling between turbidity and madness, “If we use a more powerful force of death to stimulate…to forcibly trigger the counterattack of the life rune on Xueqing’s heart…to put her to death…could she…be reborn?”

This idea is terrifying! It's like playing with fire next to a pot of boiling oil. One wrong move and it'll explode, leading to utter destruction!
But they had no time left. The stone statue of the colorful deer mourned, Yu Changsheng's body temperature dropped in the cold, and the green light on Chen Xueqing's heart flickered. If they continued to wait, only a shared grave awaited them.

"Old Huang... what are you thinking about?" Lin Hao sensed the strange atmosphere and the madness in the old man's eyes, and a strong sense of unease welled up in his heart.

Huang Xiren did not answer. He trembled as he stretched out his withered, calloused hand, a faint yet concentrated earthy-yellow spiritual energy gathering at his fingertips. His gaze lingered between the dark mark on Yu Changsheng's back and the stubborn yet fragile emerald light in Chen Xueqing's heart.

A despairing silence filled the tree hollow, broken only by the eerie groans of an unknown creature emanating from the depths of the swamp, and the heavy, suppressed breathing of the group. Lin Hao stared at Huang Xiren's withered finger, glowing faintly, hovering between the dark mark on Yu Changsheng's back and the emerald light on Chen Xueqing's heart, and his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He understood the almost frantic struggle and desperate resolve in the old man's eyes.

"Old Huang! No!" Lin Hao cried out, ignoring his own injuries as he lunged forward, trying to grab Huang Xiren's wrist. "This is too dangerous! What if..."

"What if?!" Huang Xiren turned his head sharply, his cloudy eyes bloodshot, his voice hoarse but with a chilling calmness, "Lin boy! Open your eyes and look! Look at Changsheng! Look at Xueqing girl! Look at this stone statue!" He stared fiercely at the slightly hot, broken horn of the colorful star deer stone statue in front of him, which was emitting the last rays of light.

“There’s no ‘what if’! Only death! Or… a desperate fight for survival! If we just sit and wait, Changsheng won’t last an hour! How long can that little green light in Xueqing’s heart last? Once Caixing’s last bit of spiritual energy is exhausted and the balance is broken, they’ll both be doomed!” Huang Xiren’s voice echoed in the narrow tree hole, filled with undeniable sorrow and madness. “That old dog Fengyin has run away with a broken arm, and Zijing is out of the question! In this swamp of despair, besides deathly aura and resentful spirits, what else is of any use? The power of the evil beast within Changsheng is sustained by this! This is our last bargaining chip!”

Another cultivator struggled to sit up, looking at Yu Changsheng, whose breath was growing weaker and weaker, and Chen Xueqing, whose light was flickering, and gritted his teeth: "Elder Huang... I'll listen to you! What should we do?"

Huang Xiren took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging blood and dizziness in his mind, and fixed his gaze back on the dim dark mark on Yu Changsheng's back, his voice low and urgent:

"Lin Hao! Your injuries are the least severe. Immediately use your sword energy to carefully draw upon the densest and purest death miasma and vengeful spirit power in the surrounding area! Don't pour it directly into the area; instead, guide it and surround the Longevity Spine Mark! The denser the better! Let it absorb! Let it swell up!"

"Wang Cheng!" He looked at another cultivator, "Keep an eye on Xue Qing! Once the green light on her chest is stimulated by the surging death energy on Chang Sheng's back and suddenly retaliates and erupts, immediately use all your gentle water-attribute spiritual power to protect her heart meridian! Under no circumstances should the power of the law of life go out of control and backfire, causing her to explode first! Remember, it's about protecting her! Not suppressing that green light!"

“I…” Huang Xiren’s eyes were resolute, “I will act as the fuse and buffer! I will use the last bit of my earth elemental essence to forcefully squeeze into the gap where the two forces converge! Once Xueqing’s life force is completely enraged and erupts by the death energy, my earth elemental essence will be the dam, forcing this erupting torrent of life to partly impact and eliminate the out-of-control death energy in Changsheng’s body, and the other part… to be forcibly poured back into Xueqing’s own body to repair her soul-burning injury!”

This is a mad plan that risks everyone's lives and cultivation! It uses even stronger death energy to stimulate the power of the Eternal Night Evil Beast, thus "provoking" the miracle of life law within Chen Xueqing caused by the remnant antler of the Colorful Star Deer, triggering its most intense "counterattack." Then, this torrent of life energy containing the power of law is used to impact the death energy within Yu Changsheng's body, guiding some of it back to repair Chen Xueqing herself. Huang Xiren must act as the "diversion channel" and "buffer" forcibly diverting and guiding the raging energy torrent; the danger of this task is self-evident!

Lin Hao and Wang Cheng exchanged a glance, both seeing the horror in each other's eyes, but even more so, a resolute agreement. There was no other choice!
"Understood!" Lin Hao nodded emphatically, forcing himself to stand up. He walked to the edge of the tree hollow, closed his eyes, and focused his mind. The longsword in his hand trembled slightly, and a supple yet alluring sword aura slowly seeped out, cautiously probing into the thick, grayish-white miasma. The surrounding stillness seemed to be stirred. Wisps of visible, venomous black death energy and grayish-white lingering resentment, like attracted ghosts, began to slowly converge towards Lin Hao's sword aura. They were then carefully drawn, like a murky stream, towards the dim, dark mark on Yu Changsheng's back.

hum...

Like a ferocious beast parched by rain, the Dark Mark, sensing the abundant aura of death, instantly came alive! Though its light remained dim, its suction suddenly increased several times over! It greedily devoured the tainted energy drawn in by Lin Hao. Beneath the skin surrounding the mark, dark purple patterns began to spread and swell as if alive, and an even colder, more sinister aura emanated from Yu Changsheng. His already weak life force, enveloped by this dense death energy, appeared even more precarious, like a spark in a storm, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

At the same time, the quiet emerald light in Chen Xueqing's heart seemed to be strongly stimulated by something extremely repulsive, and suddenly contracted! Immediately afterwards, the light suddenly became bright and sharp! Like a sleeping beast whose scales have been touched, it let out a silent but soul-shaking roar of anger!
The emerald light was no longer gentle; instead, it transformed into countless needle-like spikes, carrying a powerful will of the laws of life and a kind of blasphemous rage, fiercely piercing the expanding, sinister, deathly mark on Yu Changsheng's back! A portion of the light instinctively recoiled, desperately protecting Chen Xueqing's core meridian. However, the force of this counterattack was too ferocious. Even with Wang Cheng's prior preparation of water-attribute spiritual energy gently enveloping and guiding it, Chen Xueqing still let out a painful groan in her unconscious state, her body convulsing violently, and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth once more.

"Now!!" Huang Xiren's eyes widened, his hair and beard stood on end, and he let out a low growl that was not human! His finger, which was gathering the last of the yellowish-brown light, was like a red-hot iron, and he fiercely pointed it at the core point where the dark mark on Yu Changsheng's back and the green light energy on Chen Xueqing's heart clashed!
Swish——!!!
Like boiling oil poured onto snow, or like thunder exploding! Three completely different forces—the raging death energy, the furious life law, and the heavy earth element—collided violently at this point!

Huang Xiren's body shuddered violently, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer! His withered fingers instantly became a bloody mess, his skin charred and carbonized, and a yellowish-brown light flickered wildly, attempting to create a crack in the destructive energy storm. Blood instantly spilled from his seven orifices, his old face contorted to the extreme, yet he let out a beast-like roar: "Open for me!!!"

His earth elemental power did not attempt to block either side, but rather, like the most resilient wedge, it forcefully squeezed out a barely perceptible "channel" between the raging life force and the rampant death energy! And by utilizing the earth element's heavy and bearing properties, it forcibly "bent" the life torrent that erupted from Chen Xueqing's heart and was piercing Yu Changsheng's dark mark at an angle!
boom! !

Most of the sharp, needle-like torrents of life, carrying the instinctive rejection of death and the will to purify, swept fiercely across the dark energy core on Yu Changsheng's back, which was swollen and somewhat "bloated" from absorbing too much death energy, following the angle that had been forcibly pried open!
Sizzle—!!!
Like a red-hot iron block plunged into ice water! The dark purple patterns around the dark mark instantly emitted thick black smoke and emitted a piercing corrosive sound! The expanding mass of dark energy, mixed with dense death energy, was frantically dissolved and retreated under the impact of the torrent containing the laws of life, as if encountering its nemesis! Yu Changsheng's body shuddered violently, and a large mouthful of viscous black blood, heavy with death energy, spurted out, splashing onto the clothes beneath him, making a sizzling corrosive sound! (End of this chapter)