I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

They had all experienced that nightmare.

They were seized by the golden hand, trapped in the Goddess Palace, and had their life force drained from them every day. They never wanted to experience that despair again.

But they didn't want Qin Yuan to face it alone.

When Su Yao brought the tea into Qin Yuan's room, Qin Yuan was standing by the window, the moonlight casting a long shadow of his white hair.

"What are you thinking about?" Su Yao placed the tea on the table.

"I was thinking about those seventeen worlds." Qin Yuan turned around. "The Old Man of Ten Thousand Paths said that the demonic energy was spreading very quickly, polluting seventeen worlds within three days. Such a speed doesn't seem like a natural leak."

Su Yao frowned slightly: "You mean, someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes?"

"Even if the leader of the Heavenly Mystery Sect didn't die after I severely injured him, it's impossible for him to recover in such a short time." Qin Yuan's fingers tapped lightly on the window frame. "So either he found some external force, or... someone else is helping him."

"The Primordial Chaos Realm," Su Yao said.

"The Primordial Chaos Realm," Qin Yuan repeated.

The two looked at each other and saw seriousness in each other's eyes.

"If it really is related to the seal..." Su Yao walked to Qin Yuan's side, reached out and held his hand, "Promise me, this time you won't bear it alone again."

Qin Yuan looked down at Su Yao's fingers, which were slender and fair, with calluses from years of wielding a sword at the base of her thumb. This woman, who had followed him since the outer sect of the Tianxuan Sect, never uttered sweet words; she always said the same thing—"Don't bear this alone."

He took her hand in his own.

"No, I won't," Qin Yuan said. "Before, it was because I couldn't find you all. Now that you're all here, I'd be crazy to go alone."

Su Yao was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled. This blockhead, when did he learn to say things like that?

Silent all night.

The next morning, in the square in front of the Guixu Palace, Qin Yuan and the seven women stood side by side. The old man Wandao, despite his injuries, stood by to see them off.

"Dao Ancestor." The old man of ten thousand paths cupped his hands. "I will remain to guard the Guixu Palace. If there is any unusual activity, I will immediately send a message."

"Hmm." Qin Yuan nodded, then raised his right hand, his fingers forming a knife-like shape, and slashed down at the void in front of him.

Without a flash of swords or a sound, space was torn open like a thin sheet of paper, revealing a chaotic crack within. On the other side of the crack lay one of the seventeen worlds being eroded by demonic energy—the Xuanhuang Great World.

Qin Yuan stepped into the crevice first, followed closely by the seven women.

The space closed, leaving only Elder Wandao before the Guixu Hall. He gazed at the vanished crack, a trace of worry appearing on his aged face.

Demonic energy, seal, chaotic primordial realm... these words combined reminded him of that legendary event.

That legend about the ancient demon god.

The Great World of Xuanhuang.

The moment Qin Yuan stepped out of the spatial rift, a strong stench of blood assaulted his senses.

The sky was a hazy gray, not the gray of an overcast day, but a deathly gray tinged with demonic pollution. The sun was still in the sky, but its rays seemed filtered through something, making them cold and devoid of warmth.

On the land, the once lush green vegetation had all withered and died, the river water had turned black, and some unrecognizable skeletons floated on it. The distant city was silent; not a sound of any living person could be heard.

"This is..." Yueyao covered her mouth.

Qin Yuan squatted down and picked up a bit of soil from the ground with his fingers. The soil was black, and when he smelled it, a rotten smell assaulted his nostrils.

"The demonic energy has already seeped into the earth's veins." He stood up, clapped his fingers, and said, "This world is beyond saving."

Before the words were finished, a hoarse roar suddenly echoed from the distant city. Immediately afterward, countless dark figures surged out from the breach in the city wall, rushing towards the crowd like a tidal wave.

Those were once human beings.

But their skin has now turned bluish-black, their eyes are rolled back, black saliva is dripping from the corners of their mouths, and their limbs are twisting at angles that do not conform to human anatomy, making their running posture more like that of wild beasts than humans.

"Demonic beings," Qin Yuan said calmly.

Yan Lingji had already rushed out.

The flames in her hands transformed into a fire dragon tens of meters long, roaring as it rushed towards the wave of demonic creatures. The flames of the Heavenly Fire Holy Body had a natural advantage over these monsters corrupted by demonic energy. Wherever the fire dragon passed, the demonic creatures didn't even have time to scream before turning into ashes.

But there are too many.

Yan Lingji's attack cleared out the demonic creatures within a radius of nearly a hundred feet, but even more dark shadows surged in from all directions, densely packed and overwhelming. Among these demonic creatures were also some enormous monsters, similarly corrupted by demonic energy, with bloodshot eyes and an aura several times stronger than ordinary demonic creatures.

Mu Hongyi drew her sword.

With the activation of the Limitless Sword Body, a sword light streaked across the sky, cleanly cleaving the three giant beasts charging at the forefront in two. The sword light's momentum did not diminish, carving a hundred-foot-long trench in the ground, turning all the demonic creatures within into dust.

Jian Wushuang and Bing Ji attacked simultaneously. Jian Wushuang's sword was so fast that its trajectory was invisible; with each strike, dozens of sword energies flew out, precisely piercing the heads of the demonized creatures. Bing Ji's ice-based techniques froze the earth, sealing swarms of demonized creatures in place. Her crimson spear swept across, sending shards of ice and corpses flying everywhere.

The seven women worked together seamlessly, giving Qin Yuan no chance to even make a move.

But he wasn't idle either.

He stood in the center of the battlefield, closed his eyes, and spread his divine sense, covering the entire city. His divine sense swept over every inch of the city, every corpse, and every wisp of residual demonic energy.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"Found it."

Qin Yuan's figure vanished from his original spot and reappeared in an abandoned mansion in the center of the city. In the mansion's main hall, a large pit had been dug in the ground, revealing a broken black altar covered with twisted runes.

Qin Yuan recognized these runes.

The altar runes of the Heavenly Secrets Cult.

The altar was shattered, but at its center remained a palm-sized black crystal, within which was sealed an extremely dense wisp of demonic energy. It was this wisp of demonic energy that corrupted the entire city and then spread throughout the entire Xuanhuang Great World.

Qin Yuan reached out and picked up the black crystal. It was icy cold to the touch, and a chilling intent crept into his body through his fingers, attempting to erode his soul.

He snorted coldly, and the chaotic power within his body circulated, crushing that sinister intent into nothingness.

"It's not the method of the Heavenly Mystery Sect." Qin Yuan examined the crystal, his gaze growing increasingly solemn. "Although the patterns on the altar are the same, the crafting techniques are much more ancient, at least from the ancient times."

He carefully put away the crystal, then turned and walked out of the mansion.

The battle outside was nearing its end. The seven women had cleared out most of the demonized creatures, and the remaining scattered monsters no longer posed a threat. Yan Lingji set fire to the street, burning all the corpses to ashes. Black smoke rose from the flames—the burning demonic energy.