The Record of Exterminating Evil from Ashes

The black mist flowed back, and the earth groaned.

The stagnant, foul air that had just dissipated was now swept back up by an invisible hand, flowing in reverse. The slightly clearer sunlight was once again swallowed by the thick black curtain, and the entire world instantly returned to darkness and deathly silence. The mud beneath their feet churned, bulged, and collapsed violently, bubbling bubbles bursting one after another, releasing a foul, toxic fumes several times more concentrated than before. The highly corrosive, murky fog fell onto the ground, carving out fine pits.

A vast, ancient, and utterly corrupt demonic aura slowly rose from beneath the bottom of the swamp, deep in silt.

This oppressive aura was unlike Xuan Ye Zun's domineering indifference and overlooking of all living beings; instead, it carried the desolation and deathly stillness of time, the overwhelming power of an ancient evil awakened after a thousand years of slumber. Compared to the recently annihilated Thousand Bone Demon, the two were worlds apart. The Thousand Bone Demon was a mortal malevolent spirit formed from turbid energy, while the creature from the swamp was a true ancient evil that had transcended time and survived the ancient war between good and evil.

Cen Jin's meridians suddenly tightened, and the spiritual energy in his dantian and sea of ​​qi instantly stagnated and circulated.

The dark wooden box close to his body trembled more and more violently, and the warm, pure yang spiritual energy within the box fluctuated, undulated, and was on the verge of dissipating. Cen Wantang's disordered breathing became more and more rapid, and her faint groans of pain emanated from the layers of the wooden box, clearly reaching Cen Jin's ears, making his heart tighten.

The internal and external pressures reached their peak in an instant.

Externally, the ancient demonic power suppressed his body and imprisoned his spiritual energy; internally, the primordial demonic blood resonated restlessly, challenging the seal. Ordinary cultivators facing such a desperate situation would have already had their Dao heart shattered, their spiritual energy dissipated, and be assimilated by the turbid energy, turning into malevolent spirits. But Cen Jin gritted his teeth, his eyes showing no panic, only extreme calmness and determination.

He raised his hand and pressed it firmly against the wooden box, continuously pouring his perfectly formed Foundation Establishment Yang spiritual energy into the box to forcibly reinforce the fragile Yang seal and suppress the restless demonic blood within his sister's body. At the same time, he stepped back, straightened his back, and rapidly circulated the remaining spiritual energy around him, condensing a thick layer of righteous energy in front of him to resist the overwhelming turbid energy flowing against the sky.

"I see……"

Cen Jin suddenly understood and instantly figured out all the doubts.

No wonder the aura of this Desolate Swamp Trial is unusually violent; no wonder so many disciples have perished in previous years, even those who slay the Thousand-Bone Demon might not escape unscathed. The Demon Extermination Bureau's introductory trial seems clear and simple, but in reality, it conceals secrets from millennia past. The true danger of the Myriad Demon Desolate Swamp has never been the Thousand-Bone Demon Lord condensed at the heart of the swamp, but rather this ancient, dormant, and unknown ancient monster buried deep in the abyss.

The Thousand Bone Demon is merely a decoy pawn deliberately released by the demon to deplete the spiritual energy of the disciples attempting the trials and to temper their Dao hearts. When the cultivators are exhausted and relaxed, that is when the demon awakens and hunts.

For thousands of years, countless talented disciples have perished at the bottom of the swamp, most of them probably falling victim to this hidden ancient evil spirit, rather than being defeated by the demons and monsters of the open swamp.

Rumbling--

The earthquake trembled more violently, and the silt in the entire wasteland cracked open layer by layer. Huge, dark, and deep fissures spread in all directions, and the bottomless abyss was pitch black. Endless black mist gushed out from the fissures, carrying a terrifying and overwhelming power that swept across the heavens and the earth.

A pair of scarlet vertical pupils slowly rose from the endless darkness.

  

His gaze was cold, ancient, and bloodthirsty, devoid of any warmth. A mere glance from him froze the surrounding air, causing the righteous energy to tremble violently, as if it would shatter and dissipate at any moment.

Immediately afterwards, an enormous phantom slowly crawled out from the bottom of the abyss.

Its body was covered in ancient, jet-black scales, each scale bearing the mottled marks of antiquity, riddled with fine cracks, and gleaming with a deathly, eerie light. Its head was grotesque and menacing, its horns curved and sharp, its mouth gaping wide, its fangs gleaming white. Layers of ancient, malevolent energy swirled around it, unlike the chilling aura of the Xuan Ye Demon Realm, possessing instead a more domineering, desolate, and ancient presence.

Its body, once it was entrenched in the heart of the swamp, completely sealed off the entire space, its oppressive aura suppressing all directions and creating an extreme sense of pressure that made people kneel and submit.

Ancient abyssal dragon.

The ancient monsters of the desolate marshland, which have been dormant for thousands of years, have been fully awakened today.

The abyss dragon slowly raised its head, its scarlet vertical pupils locking onto Cen Jin. Its gaze swept over the demon core in Cen Jin's palm, finally settling on the trembling, dark wooden box on his chest. For the first time, those demonic eyes, dormant for a thousand years, surged with intense emotion, filled with greed and fanaticism.

It could sense that the wooden box contained a wisp of the purest demon lord's original bloodline in the world.

For this ancient, surviving demon, the original demon blood of Xuan Ye Zun is the most supreme tonic in the world. Just a trace of it can break the shackles of a thousand years, escape the confinement of the desolate swamp, reshape its true form, completely roam the world, and escape the fate of sleeping and dormant.

The previous agitation and resonance were not only because Cen Wantang's demon blood sensed the same evil energy from the outside world, but also because this ancient abyss dragon, across the ten-thousand-foot-deep mud, remotely drew and awakened the demon blood, waiting for an opportunity to seize its prey.

"A human cultivator... demon blood in his arms... a divinely ordained opportunity..."

A hoarse, obscure, ancient murmur echoed through the desolate swamp. The voice was rough and unnatural, as if it hadn't been uttered for a thousand years, carrying the decay of time and dust, directly resonating in Cen Jin's sea of ​​consciousness, disturbing his mind and foundation.

It was not a sound that reached the ear, but a voice transmitted through the soul.

This abyssal dragon has already awakened its intelligence, and its cultivation level far surpasses that of ordinary Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators. It is the true trump card hidden in the introductory trial.

Cen Jin's sea of ​​consciousness trembled slightly, his mind went blank for a moment, and his Dao heart almost collapsed. He immediately calmed his mind and recited the true words of the Canglan Heart Method. His righteous energy washed over his sea of ​​consciousness, forcibly dispelling the interference of his soul, and his eyes regained their clear and cold sharpness.

"This is the trial ground of my Exorcising Evil Division, sealed for a thousand years. How dare you venture out and cause chaos?" Cen Jin spoke in a deep voice, his tone steady, facing the behemoth without the slightest hesitation.

The Abyss Dragon lowered its massive head slightly, its scarlet pupils gleaming with a mocking coldness. Its enormous body moved slowly, layer upon layer of oppressive force, completely sealing off all of Cen Jin's escape routes.

"How dare a mere ant at the Foundation Establishment stage presume to speak of righteous principles and rules?"

"For a thousand years, countless cultivators have perished in my belly. The Exorcising Department knows of my existence, yet it has never eradicated me, leaving me here to guard the trials and select disciples. You possess supreme demon blood and are bound by the ties between good and evil, making you a once-in-a-millennium variable. Today, you will become the nourishment for me to break through my shackles."

As soon as he finished speaking, the abyssal dragon stopped talking and suddenly swept out with its massive tail.

The tail wind, carrying millennia of malevolent energy and boundless turbidity, tore through the air and crashed down with overwhelming force. There were no fancy moves, just the domineering brute power of an ancient demon, enough to instantly crush the body and spiritual energy of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Cen Jin's pupils contracted sharply, his mind tense to the extreme.

He knew very well that he could not withstand this attack. He had already exhausted more than half of his spiritual energy by killing the Thousand Bone Demon, and now that his spiritual energy reserves were not at their peak, the difference in combat power between him and the Ancient Abyss Dragon was enormous.

But he had no way out behind him, a dead end in front of him, and his only concern was his embrace.

If we retreat, the wooden box will be broken, the late-blooming crabapple will be stolen, and we will be doomed; if we fight, there is still a glimmer of hope.

At the critical moment, Cen Jin advanced instead of retreating, his body suddenly lowering and his footwork becoming extremely fluid, perfectly embodying the "Gentleness" technique of the Canglan Heart Sutra. His movements were like flowing clouds in the wind or fish swimming in the bottom of a swamp, rapidly dodging along the cracked muddy ground, barely avoiding the crushing force of the dragon's tail.

boom!

The giant tail landed, causing the earth to shake violently.

The entire swamp collapsed with a deafening roar, sending countless plumes of black mud soaring into the sky, mingling with millennia-old poisonous energy that sprayed everywhere. The hard underground rock layers shattered completely, instantly forming a massive crater from which black mist gushed forth incessantly.

Having missed its target, the Abyss Dragon's ferocity surged, its crimson eyes growing even more bloodthirsty. It coiled its body into the air, its malevolent aura condensing into countless black poisonous blades, densely packed and overwhelming, sealing off the entire airspace and eliminating any possibility of evasion, as it descended upon Cen Jin from all directions.

The sky was filled with poisonous blades containing ancient toxins; touching them would cause immediate decay and death, and even those with righteous energy could not withstand them for long.

Cen Jin felt extremely heavy-hearted, yet he remained calm and composed.

He quickly adjusted his breathing, exhausting his remaining spiritual energy and condensing it all around his body, causing layers of righteous energy to overlap and double in thickness. At the same time, he tightly gripped the demon core in his palm. The remaining demonic energy within the demon core shared the same origin as the abyssal dragon's evil energy, which could be used temporarily to buffer and weaken the power of the opponent's attack.

This is the only way to break the deadlock in this desperate situation.

"Use evil to subdue evil, use righteousness to calm the mind!"

Cen Jin let out a low shout, and the spiritual energy and the power of the demon core instantly merged. Two completely opposite forces, one righteous and one evil, flowed, balanced, and clashed around him, bursting out a strange shockwave screen.

A barrage of poisonous blades bombarded the light barrier, causing it to explode with a deafening roar.

The forces of good and evil clashed violently, generating a massive energy storm that swept across the entire desolate swamp. Cen Jin stood at the center of the storm, his body trembling violently, his blood surging wildly, and a tearing pain shooting through his meridians. A trickle of blood instantly spilled from the corner of his mouth.

He used his own Dao heart, physical body, and spiritual energy as a battlefield, forcibly controlling the two extreme powers of good and evil, and enduring unimaginable backlash pain.

But he gritted his teeth and refused to retreat even a step. Despite the surging of his blood and the stinging pain in his meridians, he still stabilized the light barrier, protecting the wooden box in his arms and preventing even a trace of evil energy from infiltrating it.

Upon seeing this, a hint of surprise flashed in the crimson eyes of the abyss dragon, which then turned into cold cruelty.

"Overestimating one's abilities. Good and evil are contradictory; forcibly fusing them will only lead to the collapse of one's Dao heart and self-destruction."

It once again unleashed its primal malevolent energy, drawing all the black energy of the entire desolate swamp to its body. Its massive form surged with power, and it spewed out a jet-black, imposing pillar of malevolent energy, striking the center of the light barrier with all its might, attempting to crush the stubborn youth in one fell swoop.

The evil pillar was devastating, tearing apart the trembling light curtain layer by layer.

Cen Jin's spiritual energy was completely depleted, his meridians were in unbearable pain, his vision was turning black, and his protective light barrier was on the verge of shattering. His life and death hung in the balance.

At this critical moment, the dark wooden box on his chest suddenly burst forth with a dazzling white-gold light.

The wooden box, which had been passively suppressing the demon blood, seemed to sense its master's dire situation and Wan Tang's imminent death. The ancient yang power, dormant for thousands of years, was fully awakened. Pure, vast, and domineering yang energy soared into the sky, instantly sweeping across the entire desolate swamp and suppressing all yin and evil energy.

The golden light is vast and boundless, purifying all evil.

The jet-black pillar of evil energy spewed out by the abyss dragon instantly melted, disintegrated, and annihilated upon encountering the golden light. The black mist that filled the sky completely dissipated, and the terrifying demonic power was suppressed, stripped away, and shattered layer by layer.

The abyssal dragon's body trembled violently, letting out a shrill and painful roar. Its scales shattered and fell off layer by layer, and its thousand-year-old malevolent energy rapidly dissipated. Its scarlet pupils dimmed instantly, and its face was filled with extreme fear and terror.

"The ancient sacred tree of pure yang...you actually possess such an item!!"

Having lived through ancient times, it knows the domineering nature of the Divine Wood of Yang, which is the ultimate nemesis of all evil spirits. Even an ancient and vengeful creature like itself is filled with fear.

The wooden box continued to glow with golden light, protecting Cen Jin and blocking all attacks. At the same time, strands of warm spiritual energy flowed into Cen Jin's body, repairing his damaged meridians, replenishing his depleted spiritual energy, and stabilizing his turbulent Dao heart.

A desperate situation was instantly reversed.

Cen Jin's spirits lifted, seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. With the help of the positive energy awakened by the wooden box, he soared into the air, gathering pure and righteous energy in his palm. He then combined all the essence of the Canglan Heart Method and transformed it into a dazzling palm of light that pierced through heaven and earth, which slammed down on the head of the Abyss Dragon!

"Suppress!"

A sharp shout reverberated throughout the desolate marshland.

The palm strike landed, unmatched.

The abyssal dragon was powerless to resist the righteous power empowered by the ancient divine tree. Its massive body was instantly slammed to the bottom of the swamp, crashing heavily into a deep pit of silt. Its malevolent aura shattered completely, its enormous body convulsed continuously, and its intelligence was on the verge of collapse.

In just a few breaths, the ancient abyssal dragon that had ravaged the land for thousands of years was completely suppressed.

The fierce winds in the desolate swamp suddenly stopped, the black fog completely dissipated, and the long-awaited warm sun shone down on the earth, restoring clarity to the entire world once again.

Cen Jin landed slowly, his body swaying slightly, utterly exhausted, yet he still steadily protected the wooden box in his arms. The light on the wooden box gradually faded, returning to its warm and ancient state, but the yang energy on its surface was noticeably weaker, clearly indicating that forcibly unsealing the ancient power had depleted a large amount of its original essence.

He looked down at the wooden box, his eyes filled with lingering fear and gratitude.

If it weren't for the ancient trump card hidden in the wooden box, he would surely be buried in the desolate swamp today, along with his sister. This ancient wood given to him by Xiao Yu has always been his greatest life-saving trump card.

With the crisis over, Cen Jin took a short break to recover and stabilize his condition.

In this life-or-death battle, he not only turned the tide and suppressed the ancient evil spirits, but also, under the clash of righteous and evil forces and the baptism of the positive yang power of the wooden box, he completely solidified his foundation-building realm. His Dao heart became more resilient and clear, breaking through the barriers between righteous and evil in his heart. His understanding of the Great Dao of Exterminating Evil far surpassed that of ordinary beginner disciples.

Just as he was about to get up and leave for the second trial, the remnant soul of the Abyss Dragon, on the verge of collapse, suddenly let out a low and eerie laugh from the depths of the swamp.

"Hahaha... So what if you suppress me... You think this is the end?"

"Lord Xuan Ye has been laying the groundwork for a thousand years... The trials of the Exorcising Evil Division, the conflict between good and evil, your path to redemption... all are part of his carefully laid plans..."

"You protect demons, slay evil, embark on the righteous path, and brave death trials... Every step you take helps him awaken the sleeping... true form of the Demon Lord!"

The lingering sound dissipated, completely annihilated.

Cen Jin's body suddenly stiffened, his whole body turned ice-cold, and a tidal wave surged in his heart.

Meanwhile, far away in the endless darkness of the Nine Heavens Demon Realm, in the Xuan Ye Venerable God Palace, which had been silent for thousands of years, a pitch-black jade coffin that had been sealed for countless ages suddenly trembled slightly. The coffin lid loosened, and a wisp of extremely terrifying primordial demonic energy quietly overflowed into the world.