Helping each other with countless me.

Chapter 581 Cave
Amidst the receding blood-red light, Mo Yuan's face was pale, and black energy swirled around his severed arm, slowly wriggling and regenerating, but at a much slower pace than usual.

The intense pain and loss of strength left him weak and listless, but what pained him even more was the destruction of his years of hard-earned wealth and the death of his beloved daughter.

"Li Zhongren, Liu Ruyan, Special Operations Bureau"

He gritted his teeth and growled, his eyes filled with endless resentment, but soon, that resentment was replaced by a cold, calculating glint in his eyes.

"Do you think it's so easy to take advantage of me?"

He sneered inwardly.

That severed arm was a trap he deliberately left behind!

As the founder of the Northern Darkness Devouring Technique, he knew better than anyone the drawbacks of this technique: the karma and resentment that accumulated with each devouring, enough to drive someone mad.

To this end, he took a different approach and created the "Northern Darkness Rumination Technique," which can force out the most filthy and stubborn karmic resentment that is difficult to completely remove in daily life, and temporarily store it in a certain part of the body. At critical moments, it can be used as a one-time weapon of mass destruction, or it can be turned into a treasure to refine evil magic weapons.

Within that severed arm lay the most terrifying and purest karmic poison, accumulated over the years from devouring countless living beings!
Once it erupts, it is enough to pollute a pure land, and even more so to erode the soul, dragging people into endless madness and bloodlust, ultimately turning them into monsters who only know destruction.

"Having been poisoned by my 'Ten Thousand Resentments Devouring the Heart Poison,' let's see how long you can last!"

A hint of pleasure flashed in Mo Yuan's eyes.

"Even if you can suppress it temporarily, you will inevitably lose yourself and become a ferocious demon who only knows how to kill. At that time... Hmph!"

Without further hesitation, he took a deep breath and increased his speed by another three points.

I can't stay in Youzhou any longer. I must find a place to heal my wounds immediately, then flee a thousand miles away to lie low until my injuries are healed, master those secret techniques, and then return with the force of thunder to take my revenge!
A strange change suddenly occurred in the valley!
Just as Mo Yuan's severed arm turned to dust, an invisible and intangible yet suffocatingly intense evil and resentment erupted!

Liu Ruyan, who was the first to be hit, let out a muffled groan. She was fully focused on using the black flames to repair the horrific wound on her abdomen and to seal the strange ghost hand energy. She had no idea that this sudden double impact on both the mental and physical levels would happen.

It wasn't a direct physical attack, but a torrent of poison formed from countless twisted resentments, mad roars, and desperate curses. It rushed into her sea of ​​consciousness instantly, following the connection between her and the remaining energy of that ghostly hand!

"Ugh—!"

Liu Ruyan's body trembled violently, veins bulged on her face and arms, and her originally cold eyes were instantly filled with bloodshot veins, with a crazy dark red spreading deep in her pupils.

She felt as if her consciousness had been thrown into a meat grinder, with countless negative emotions and chaotic memories frantically assaulting her reason.

"Oh no. It's karma. It's resentment."

She instantly understood Mo Yuan's vicious contingency plan, which was even more terrifying than a direct attack. It aimed to fundamentally undermine her will and corrupt her soul!
Without the slightest hesitation, Liu Ruyan used the last bit of her clarity to frantically urge the black flames to ignite.

The pitch-black flames were no longer used for attack or defense, but suddenly contracted inward, forming an incredibly dense, completely isolated black cocoon that enveloped her entirely. She was trying to completely isolate herself from the outside world and seal the terrible toxin inside her body to fight it alone.

However, the karmic poison was too intense and erupted too suddenly. Although Liu Ruyan reacted extremely quickly, a small portion of the highly concentrated resentful poison still spread out from the initial outbreak center.

"Puff! Puff!"

The Secret Service agents who were on guard or treating the wounded didn't even have time to scream before they were struck in the soul by an invisible hammer. Their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground, completely losing consciousness. Their faces quickly turned ashen, as if their life force was being eroded by that evil thought.

The entire valley fell into a deathly silence in an instant.

Only Li Zhongren remained standing in the same spot. The karmic impact that would have instantly collapsed an ordinary cultivator was nothing more than a gentle breeze to him.

He looked at the massive black flame cocoon that trembled violently, its surface occasionally bulging with hideous human faces and emanating an ominous aura, and then at his fallen colleagues all around him, and sighed helplessly.

"This is really... a constant stream of trouble."

He pointed his fingers like a sword and swiftly unleashed several faint yet incredibly pure sword intents, imbued with the meaning of salvation and purification, into the bodies of the fallen team members. This temporarily protected their heart meridians and souls, dispelled the surface erosion, and saved their lives, but deeper recovery would still require time.

Having done all this, Li Zhongren didn't linger any longer. He stepped out and stood before the giant black flame cocoon that was constantly trembling and even beginning to emit corrosive black energy.

"It's not suitable to stay here for long."

He stretched out his hand, and a vast yet restrained spiritual energy surged forth. It did not forcibly destroy the black flames, but gently enveloped and compressed them along with Liu Ruyan inside.

In the end, the enormous cocoon of black flames transformed into a pitch-black sphere about one meter in diameter, which was steadily supported by Li Zhongren's spiritual energy.

The next moment, he transformed into a dazzling streak of light, carrying the dangerous "black flame ball" into the sky. He sped towards the uninhabited mountainous region northwest of Youzhou City at an astonishing speed, leaving a long, magnificent trail across the night sky. Anyone who saw it would be awestruck. Unfortunately, below lay only endless desolate mountains and wilderness.

His target was clear: a group of abandoned caves whose geological records show depths exceeding several thousand meters.

That group of caves is located northwest of Youzhou City, about two hundred kilometers away.

With his Qi Refining Level 4 and the full power to manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to aid his flight, his escape technique was surprisingly not much worse than Mo Yuan's Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique.

More than 200 kilometers in less than a minute.

If you convert that to speed, it's roughly Mach 10.

In fact, halfway there, Li Zhongren had already sent a message to the Great Xia Empire authorities using the token he carried. Otherwise, the speed of Mach 10, and the lack of radar evasion capabilities like the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique, would have been enough to make the authorities think that something was wrong.

"boom!!"

At the entrance of the cave, Li Zhongren rushed in without stopping, like a missile.

It smashed through countless rocks along the way.

As he descended, the surrounding light quickly disappeared, and the temperature plummeted. Only the spiritual light emanating from his body and the glow of the black ball in his hand illuminated the dark rock wall.

Finally, he arrived at the heart of a huge cavern thousands of meters underground.

This place is empty, desolate, and isolated from the world.

Li Zhongren placed the black flame ball in the center of the cave, while he himself hovered in front of it. He took a deep breath, his eyes becoming extremely focused.

With a flick of the fingers, a sword is formed, its intent soaring to the heavens!
It was not his own original power, but rather the spiritual energy of the surrounding world that he drew upon with his overwhelming will, gathering at his fingertips and transforming into a giant sword phantom purely composed of energy and rules!

"break!"

He let out a low shout, and the phantom of the giant sword crashed down!

It's not a physical chop, but a tearing apart of the rules!
Tsk-!
The incredibly sturdy black flame cocoon, capable of withstanding even a blow from a Core Formation cultivator, was forcibly cleaved open with a massive gap by this single sword strike! "Boom!!!"

In that instant, it was as if the gates of hell had been opened!
An endless, pitch-black torrent of pure karma, resentment, and vicious curses erupted from it, accompanied by countless twisted wails and roars, rushing wildly in all directions, attempting to pollute and corrode everything it could reach!
Li Zhongren was well-prepared, and his whole body radiated sword intent.

"Sever karma!"

He whispered, his movements as swift as lightning, his sword fingers flying.

Each wisp of karmic-slaying sword intent, purifying evil spirits and liberating the souls of the dead, was like the most precise scalpel, accurately slashing at the surging torrents of karma.

Where the sword light passed, the black mist vanished, the resentment dissipated, and the roars subsided.

However, the amount of this toxin was simply too large and too pure.

Despite Li Zhongren's best efforts, a small amount still escaped.

The surrounding rock walls were stained and immediately turned black, softened, and corroded at a visible speed, making a sizzling sound, as if they were being soaked in strong acid. The entire cave was filled with a nauseating smell of decay and despair.

This is precisely why he had to come to this desolate abyss; if this force were allowed to spread freely in the outside world, it would be enough to cause a terrible ecological disaster.

After an unknown amount of time, the surging torrent of karma gradually weakened and eventually disappeared. The leaked toxins had been largely cleared by Li Zhongren, but the walls of the cave had long since become a mess, as if they had been scorched by demonic fire.

The black flame cocoon shattered completely, revealing the figure within.

Liu Ruyan was suspended in mid-air, but her appearance had changed drastically!
The original uniform was torn in many places, revealing the fair skin underneath, which had strange dark patterns.

Two small yet sharp, dark red horns sprouted from his forehead, and his eyes transformed into pure, vertical pupils burning with black flames, filled with wildness and a bloodlust.

Her fingernails turned pitch black and sharp. Behind her, a scorpion-like tail formed from pure black flames swayed slowly, emanating an extremely dangerous aura. The flames swirling around her were no longer pure black flames, but strange flames mixed with dark red and murky green, sizzling and corroding the surrounding air.

Although she still retains her human form, she possesses an eerie, dangerous, and sexy beauty, like a queen emerging from the abyss. However, her consciousness is clearly dominated by her mad karma and bloodlust.

"Roar--!"

She let out a shriek that was completely unlike any human's, filled with violence and a destructive desire, and her gaze instantly locked onto the only living being in the room—Li Zhongren!

"call out!"

Without any further ado, the mutated Liu Ruyan made her move!

So fast that it was just a blur, the corrosive mutated black flames and the mental spike attack arrived at the same time!

Li Zhongren's eyes narrowed, and he dodged to the side.

The spiritual spikes struck his incredibly resilient spiritual barrier, creating ripples, but to no avail.

But as the corrosive black flames brushed past the hem of his clothes, his psionic shield was quickly melted and disintegrated!
"trouble!"

Li Zhongren sighed inwardly. The enemy before him was no weaker than Liu Ruyan before, especially with his mutated black flames and strange mental attacks, which were extremely troublesome.

His intention was to save lives, not to kill.

Each sword strike must precisely target the karmic poison and resentment attacking the opponent, without harming Liu Ruyan's own soul foundation.

This is as difficult as performing micro-sculpting surgery with a giant axe.

Not to mention, his own cultivation level is actually only on par with Liu Ruyan's. His soul is strong enough, but he can't use that power. If he tries to use it forcibly, his body will be reduced to ashes, and his soul will probably be expelled from this world.
Therefore, he is actually at a disadvantage right now. It's fortunate that Liu Ruyan's mutation is manifested in her mind and has no effect on him. If it were someone else, they would probably be dead in the Northwest by now.

Of course, he could also simply relax his mind and let Liu Ruyan invade, but if he did that, Liu Ruyan's consciousness would most likely collapse completely, like a sandcastle swept by a hurricane, and even if he were to save her, she would just be an idiot.

Therefore, he could only choose the most foolish and time-consuming method—to use the intent of the Karma-Slaying Sword to gradually wear down and purify the karmic poison entrenched deep within Liu Ruyan's soul.

This is a tough, protracted battle.

In this cavern thousands of meters underground, sword light clashed with evil fire, and the power of purification and the power of resentment eroded each other.

Li Zhongren's figure flashed like a ghost, each finger strike perfectly dispelling a gust of poisonous fire or severing a trace of resentment that was trying to corrupt his mind.

The mutated Liu Ruyan's attacks were frenzied and violent, with corrosive black flames constantly scorching the cave and mental screams echoing endlessly.

Time passes little by little.

One day and one night passed.

Li Zhongren's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, a rare occurrence, and his breathing was slightly disordered.

Maintaining high-precision output and control places extremely high demands on his physical body.
He was just a Qi Refining Level 4 baby, although this baby could fly at Mach 10.
Fortunately, things have finally started to calm down a bit with Liu Ruyan.
Although the madness in his eyes remained, his attacks were no longer as chaotic as they had been at the beginning; sometimes there was even a very brief pause.

Li Zhongren seized an opportunity, suddenly closing in, ignoring the sharp claws reaching for her heart and the sweeping fiery tail, and precisely pointed a finger at Liu Ruyan's brow!
"net!"

Vast and pure sword intent of severing karma, like a torrent of final judgment, instantly surged into Liu Ruyan's sea of ​​consciousness!
“Ahhhhh——!”

Liu Ruyan let out a shrill scream, her body convulsing violently. The mutated features around her began to fade rapidly: her curved horns shattered, her vertical pupils returned to normal, her claws retracted, her fiery tail dissipated, and the filthy flames returned to their pure blackness.

Finally, all the abnormalities completely disappeared.

Liu Ruyan closed her eyes, her body went limp, and she fell from the sky.

Li Zhongren reached out and caught her, checked her pulse and consciousness, and finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

The poison of karma has finally been completely eradicated.

However, the problem now is...
Looking at Liu Ruyan in his arms, Li Zhongren scratched the corner of his mouth with one hand.

All of their clothes were destroyed in battle.

Therefore, he can now see clearly what he should and shouldn't see.

I wonder what will happen when Liu Ruyan wakes up.
(End of this chapter)