I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

The moment Ao carried the totem pole into the cave.

All the demonic beasts lurking in the shadows raised their heads at the same time, and hundreds of eerie pupils lit up in the darkness, like dense phosphorescence.

Not a single monster pounced on them.

They are afraid.

It is not fear or arrogance.

This human, covered in blood, radiated the spiritual light of the Seeking the Law stage, but his aura was extremely weak.

The real terror comes from the giant serpent coiled in the center of the cave.

The twisted body occupied nearly half of the cave space, with large patches of dark green scales peeling off to reveal the purplish-black rotting flesh beneath.

The tumors were several times more numerous than when Ao had seen them last time, densely covering the snake's body.

Some have already cracked open, revealing deformed limbs that are not yet fully formed, where new life is born and then decays, in an endless cycle.

The giant serpent's numerous vertical pupils all turned towards Ao.

There was no emotion, not even murderous intent, in those pupils.

There was only a chilling emptiness, as if death itself was watching.

Ao Jiang planted the totem pole into the ground, the base of the stone pillar smashed into the rock layer, and cracks spread outwards.

The spiritual patterns on the pillar appeared exceptionally faint in this abyss filled with turbid air, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

But he didn't care anymore.

He had already died in the flames of Qingxi Town.

A flash of inspiration gathered in his pupils, and his arrogant gaze pierced through the giant serpent's twisted and deformed body, revealing the truth deep within—

A heart of stone.

The enormous, grayish-red stone core was buried deep within the giant serpent's chest cavity, like a seed encased in rotting flesh.

The deathly, turbid energy surged from the heart of the stone, flowing along the giant snake's blood vessels to its entire body, and seeping out from the gaps in its scales, permeating the entire cave.

This one is more than ten times larger than the stone heart he found in the spider demon's lair.

The stone heart was beating, and each beat caused the cave to tremble slightly.

"I see."

Ao finally understood that this giant serpent—a monster created by the blood sacrifice of more than a dozen great demons—was not the real enemy.

The root of the stagnant and turbid air lies in that heart of stone.

Those great demons who were sacrificed with their blood were forged into the bodies of giant serpents, and their demonic souls were imprisoned in the heart of stone, tormented day and night, never to be reborn.

Their pain, resentment, and despair become the fuel that drives this death force, cycling endlessly and never running dry.

The giant serpent discovered Ao.

It slowly stretched its upper and lower jaws to their limits, revealing the purplish-black, constantly writhing abyss deep within its throat.

The foul air spewed out of that giant mouth, like the poisonous smoke spewed out during a volcanic eruption, instantly filling the entire cave.

Ao did not dodge, nor did he even resist.

The foul air rushed at him like sharks smelling blood, seeping into his eyes, ears, nose, and even every pore.

A cold, slippery, and nauseating power surged into the meridians, violently colliding with the remaining spiritual energy within the body.

His pupils began to dilate, and purplish-black lines spread from his neck to his face, winding upwards like vines.

Arrogantly, he was swept away by that force and dragged toward the gaping maw of the abyss.

The corrosive, turbid air was eroding the skin and muscles, and even began to erode the bones, causing waves of intense pain to wash over you.

But the corners of his mouth turned up slightly in the darkness.

The spark of inspiration lies locked deep within, like a ember buried beneath ashes, waiting.

The giant serpent suddenly snapped its jaws shut, swallowing the human who was about to die whole.

Darkness swallowed everything.

In the final moment before falling into the abyss, Ao's eyes suddenly opened, shining like the rising sun.

"Now, the real battle begins."

……

Several days later.

At the entrance to the abyss, hundreds of totem walkers stood solemnly.

Xuan stood at the front of the group, his white hair disheveled by the wind, his gaze fixed on the churning turbid air deep in the abyss.

Beside him stood Qi, Meng, and Feng, all the powerful cultivators in the Seeking the Law stage from the four major divisions.

With the addition of elite troops drawn from various departments, this team represents the sharpest edge the Xia family has possessed in decades.

"The foul air is still rising, and it's happening very fast. Something below is expanding rapidly."

The wind's spiritual senses probed into the abyss, its brow furrowing.

"It's not inflation."

Xuan's voice was flat, as calm as the suffocating breath before a storm, "It's swallowing."

He offered no further explanation and stepped into the abyss first.

Hundreds of people charged in, their spiritual light forming a long, winding dragon in the darkness, forcing back the layers of turbid air.

The rock beneath our feet became increasingly slippery, and the stench of decay in the air grew stronger, as if we had entered the stomach and intestines of some giant beast.

When they arrived at the cave, everyone stopped at the same time.

The giant snake was several times larger than the intelligence reports suggested, its body had swelled to nearly a hundred feet, almost filling the entire cave.

The giant snake was feeding, and it lost control!

Its massive jaws snapped shut on a fleeing demon wolf, swallowing it whole. The wolf's mournful howls echoed a few times deep in its throat before fading away.

More monsters huddled in the corners of the cave, trembling with fear.

Their will to struggle has been crushed.

The thick, turbid air, almost tangible, covered the giant snake and slowly undulated with its breath.

In the deep black turbid waves, countless phantoms could be vaguely seen struggling, twisting, and tearing at each other.

Xuan stared at the giant snake's chest cavity, where the stone heart was still beating.

It was more intense and more violent than before.

With each contraction, stale air surges out like a tide;

With each expansion, an invisible hand drags one monster after another toward that gigantic maw.

"Form ranks!"

Eight totem poles were carried out from the procession, with several tribal elders in the stage of seeking the Dharma each guarding one pole. Spiritual light surged in, and spiritual patterns lit up one by one.

Shining light burst forth from the top of the totem pole, weaving into a giant net of light on the cave ceiling.

The power of heaven and earth was drawn in, and a huge spiritual field was taking shape.

Xuan stood in the center of the altar, his hands clasped together loosely.

Spiritual flames rose from his body and then sublimated further, transforming into a nearly transparent, extremely pure spiritual energy field.

Beyond seeking the Dharma, at the pinnacle of enlightenment—

A sacred site!

This was not his own power; the faith and will that the entire Xia family had accumulated over decades descended upon them at this moment.

The giant snake sensed the danger, even though it had lost its mind and become a monstrous beast that only knew how to devour.

But the instinct of a living being still drove its massive body to begin wriggling, trying to break free from the suppression of the spiritual field.

One by one, the tumors burst open, revealing countless deformed limbs—tiger claws, wolf heads, spider legs, bear paws—that frantically scratched at the ground, trying to escape.

But the spirit field has already locked it firmly.

"Everyone—"

Xuan's voice echoed in the spiritual field, each word resonating with the power of heaven and earth.

"In the name of the Tree God!"

"Give me a hand!"

Xuan raised his right hand and aimed it at the beating heart deep inside the giant snake's chest cavity.

Clench your fist and strike out with a bang.

In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent.

Pure, ethereal light pierced through the giant serpent's body—the turbid air evaporated, the demonic soul dissipated, and the tumor burst open.

The giant snake let out a deafening wail, its body convulsed violently a few times, and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The totem walkers relaxed their shoulders, and the fingers that had been gripping their weapons loosened a little.

The foul air receded from the snake's body like the tide going out, revealing the extremely broken body beneath.

Its scales had all peeled off, its flesh was dry and blackened, and its bones were exposed, like a rotting corpse abandoned in the wilderness for many years.

The abyss returned to deathly silence.

Many people finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Xuan lowered his arm, the spiritual light slowly receded, and the spiritual field dissipated.

He was about to speak—

A strange creaking sound came from the snake carcass.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

Like a withered branch being broken, or like broken bones being rejoined.

Everyone's expression changed at the same time.

The snake carcass moved.

It was completely dead—its stone heart was shattered, devoid of any sign of life.

But it became active again.

The enormous snake head slowly flipped, twisting at an impossible angle to face forward, revealing the face hidden beneath—

It's not the face of a snake.

are people.

proud.

His facial features emerged from beneath the scales of the snake's head; his pupils held neither spiritual light nor turbidity.

There was only a void of gray and white.

"By the Tree God."

Please forgive me...

"In the end... I still desecrated life."