The Record of Exterminating Evil from Ashes

Crimson light soared to the sky, and all the miasma paid homage.

The entire thousand-mile-long miasma forest trembled violently at this moment, and the pitch-black miasma and mist surged and rose, crawling and converging along the crimson demonic light that had broken through the shackles. Countless demonic figures weaving through the forest, drifting eerie green will-o'-the-wisps, and ancient, turbid evil thoughts all converged on the center of the miasma forest, performing an ancient demonic pilgrimage to the slowly forming figure of the girl.

The rules of heaven and earth have been completely reversed.

The miasma and turbidity that originally eroded the foundation of one's Dao and eroded spiritual energy have now transformed into the purest primordial nourishment, frantically nurturing the awakened ancient demon lord. The entire trial barrier of the mortal world, shrouded in miasma, has been secretly transformed by Xuan Ye Zun into a cradle for the birth of Cen Wantang's demonic essence.

High above, in the void shrouded in black mist, Xuan Ye Zun's indifferent gaze silently surveyed the scene below, the cold smile of calculating intent never fading. He never cared about winning or losing a trial; what he truly desired was to tear apart the two bottom lines that Cen Jin had upheld throughout his life—the inclusiveness of the Great Dao and the bonds of kinship with his siblings.

On one side is the righteous path for all living beings, and on the other is their beloved demon lord.

He wanted to force Cen Jin to make a choice that would be impossible to resolve for all eternity.

In the center of the miasma forest, the scarlet demonic light slowly receded and condensed layer by layer.

A slender, delicate girl stood firmly at the core of the black mist. She appeared to be only a little over ten years old, with clear and innocent features, vaguely resembling the obedient young girl in Cen Jin's memory. However, those clear eyes had long since changed, now containing a desolation, coldness, and violence that had transcended millennia.

She exuded no excess demonic energy around her, yet she was able to suppress all evil spirits in the entire miasma forest, causing countless ferocious demons to submit.

This is the original source of the demon lord, sealed for countless ages. Once freed, he possesses supreme authority that commands the submission of all evil in the world without any need for deliberate hype.

"Brother."

A soft voice rang out, half of it the gentle tenderness of a child, and half the cold emptiness of an ancient demon lord. The two completely different voices intertwined and entwined, eerie and jarring, echoing leisurely through the miasma forest.

Cen Jin stood still, his dark black and white Daoist aura trembling slightly.

He could clearly sense that Wan Tang's soul was now divided into two parts: one half was the pure and kind heart of her childhood sweetheart, and the other half was the destiny of a demon lord, sealed for eternity, nourished by miasma, and born from the game of chess. The two consciousnesses pulled at each other and resisted each other, plunging her into the gap between clarity and violence, causing her to suffer the pain of her very essence being torn apart.

She did not completely fall into demonic ways, but she was no longer a pure human child.

This was precisely Xuan Ye Zun's most insidious scheme.

To prevent her from becoming a complete demon, and to prevent her from returning to her true self, leaving her with a trace of lucidity and a hint of fateful malice, so that when Cen Jin faces his loved ones, he cannot ruthlessly eliminate them, nor can he completely redeem them. He can only watch helplessly as his loved ones become the sharp blade in the game, torn between himself and suffering endless torment.

"Wantang".

Cen Jin responded softly, his steps unwavering. His gentle gaze pierced through the crimson black mist, settling steadily on the girl's slender figure. The evil-suppressing token in his palm was slightly warm, its black and white Daoist aura flowing gently, devoid of any killing intent or hostility, only pure comfort and protection.

  

"Don't let the negative influences get to you; stay true to yourself."

But before he could finish speaking, the situation around him suddenly changed.

Perhaps it was the awakening of the Demon Lord that disturbed the malevolent forces in the miasma forest, or perhaps it was the rules of the game that secretly propelled it, but the thousands of malevolent ghosts that had been scattered and dormant suddenly surged out of the depths of the miasma forest. The dark and twisted ghostly figures densely filled the forest, each with a different shape and a ferocious and terrifying appearance. Some were the vengeful souls of the people who died unjustly in the chaotic world, some were the malevolent spirits that had lingered in the miasma forest for many years, and some were the lingering obsessions of the fallen cultivators of past generations.

Countless malevolent ghosts, their eyes gleaming with a sinister green light, spewed out billowing, foul black gas. A bone-chilling wind swept in all directions, encircling Cen Jin layer upon layer.

A true deadly predicament suddenly took shape.

These malevolent spirits of the miasma forest, nourished by inverted rules, are unafraid of pure yang spiritual energy and unfazed by righteous magical artifacts. Ordinary cultivators' exorcising techniques, when used against them, not only fail to harm them but are instead devoured by the turbid energy, which in turn nourishes their ferocity. Even more terrifying is that they understand the weaknesses of the human heart, specifically devouring the obsessions of the Daoist mind, amplifying the confusion, wavering, and compassion in a cultivator's heart.

At this moment, Cen Jin's mind was completely focused on the girl in front of him. He was bound by the bond of his loved ones and the obsession to protect her. This was precisely the moment when he was most easily tempted and corrupted.

Countless malevolent spirits roared and howled, their ferocious aura overwhelming and pressing down on the balance barrier surrounding Cen Jin. The barrier's light screen trembled violently, its patterns cracking, and wisps of dark miasma seeped in, constantly eroding his Dao heart and foundation.

"To slay demons and eliminate evil is the righteous path!"

"With the Demon Lord still alive, the mortal realm will surely be destroyed. You protect one person, but abandon all other souls!"

"The principles of balance are all illusions; good and evil are separate paths, and there is no way they can coexist!"

Countless subtle, seductive demonic sounds pierced his mind, entering his consciousness along with the howls of malevolent ghosts, constantly amplifying the struggles and torments in his heart. The obsession with the old path, the criticism of the world, the pronouncement of fate, and the calculations of the game all transformed into sharp blades of inner demons, attempting to force him to kill his relatives, break free of his bonds, and utterly succumb.

Beyond the miasma forest, all those above and below the Demon-Slaying Mountains held their breath and watched intently.

Hundreds of newly initiated cultivators on the mountainside clenched their fists, their minds tense, staring at the dense, shadowy figures of malevolent ghosts deep within the miasma forest, filled with anxiety yet powerless to offer assistance. They knew all too well that this was Cen Jin's destined tribulation, a test in a game of chess, and that outside interference would only disrupt his resolve and ruin the overall situation.

On the main peak, the elders wore complex and solemn expressions, and none of them uttered a word of mockery. Looking at the solitary figure surrounded by ten thousand ghosts, they finally understood that Cen Jin's path was not about empty talk and tolerance, but about bearing countless infamy, making extreme choices, and shouldering the most difficult karmic shackles in the world.

In the face of despair, Cen Jin's eyes became even clearer.

He had completely seen through the current dead end. Xuan Ye Zun never intended to kill him with the help of evil spirits, but rather used the desperate situation of being surrounded by ten thousand ghosts and the great trend of good versus evil to force him to make a choice. Either kill his sister to prove his Dao and follow the old order of the game, or protect his family and abandon the world, bearing the sins of all living beings. No matter what choice he made, his balanced Dao would completely collapse.

But he never followed the will of Heaven, nor did he conform to the system.

Faced with a sky full of heart-devouring demons and bewitching demonic sounds in his ears, Cen Jin slowly raised his hand and put the evil-suppressing waist token, which was burning hot in his palm, into his sleeve.

He abandoned his magical artifacts, withdrew his spiritual power, and hid his Taoist tablet, shedding all the killing power that relied on external objects.

Since good and evil are reversed here, magic is ineffective, and weapons are useless, he will discard all the shackles of magic, stand on his own two feet, use his true heart as a weapon, and use his Daoist heart to destroy all evil.

He vanquishes evil with his bare hands, not by spiritual power, but by the very essence of the Great Dao.

"My philosophy is balance; I do not cling to killing or violence, nor am I biased towards good or evil."

Cen Jin stood in the center of the myriad ghosts, his posture as upright as a mountain. His tone was calm yet resounding, echoing throughout the miasma forest: "You are transformed by filth and evil, manipulated by the game of chess. Harming people is not your intention, nor is devouring the Dao."

"Today, I will not slay countless falsehoods, but only suppress the fierce and malevolent in this region."

As soon as he finished speaking, the black and white Dao aura around him quietly receded, completely gathering into his physical meridians and the Dao seed in his Qi Sea. There was no earth-shattering burst of spiritual light, no sharp and domineering killing sword energy, only the purest balanced Dao heart, slowly spreading and permeating.

The ferocious demons that were howling and attacking all around suddenly froze and stopped moving.

Those seductive and demonic sounds that erode the Dao heart, and those delusional obsessions that distort right and wrong, instantly lose all power before the ultimate clarity of the Dao of the true mind. Countless ferocious forces and endless turbid evils no longer rage wildly, but instead give rise to instinctive submission and fear.

This is the Great Dao of Balance that transcends good and evil, the only balancing force throughout eternity.

Ordinary cultivators slay evil by using righteousness to overcome evil and killing to stop killing. Ultimately, it is a struggle between opposing forces, and they cannot eradicate all evil thoughts in the world or eliminate all ferocity in humanity.

Cen Jin's method of suppressing evil with his bare hands is to transform turbidity with the Dao and settle evil with the heart. He does not kill or attack, nor is he violent or fierce. He directly soothes the fierce obsession of the evil ghosts and dissolves their innate instinct to devour the Dao.

He walked slowly forward, moving barehanded among the thousands of malevolent spirits.

The hideous ghostly figure brushed past him, a bone-chilling wind sweeping over him, yet not a single evil spirit dared to approach within three feet. Any malevolent ghost that came near his body instantly shed its ferocious form, its violent aura subsided, and the dark ghostly figure gradually faded and dissipated, transforming into pure, turbid air of heaven and earth, returning to the mountains and forests, no longer causing evil.

Travel along the way, transform along the way, and stay safe along the way.

The countless malevolent spirits swarming around him, layer upon layer, were all dissolved and subdued as he moved through them with his bare hands. There was no bloodshed, no explosion of spiritual energy, only the silent passage of the Great Dao to deliver all evil, and a clear mind to calm the storm.

In a short while, the noisy and violent miasma forest became deathly silent and peaceful.

The countless malevolent ghosts that had blotted out the sky had completely vanished without a trace, the bone-corroding winds that had raged in all directions had all subsided, and the turbid and dark forest air had been mostly cleansed by the balancing Daoist energy, revealing a glimpse of clear heaven and earth.

Barehanded, he subdued ten thousand ghosts; with his true heart, he pacified the miasma-ridden forest

Outside the miasma forest, everyone was dumbfounded and deeply shocked.

They had anticipated fierce battles, depleted Dao power, and near-death experiences during the New Year, but they had never seen such a method of slaying evil. Without moves, without forms, without blades, without sharp edges, relying solely on a clear Dao heart and a body balanced with the Great Dao, it could save all evil and suppress all malevolent forces.

The gap between the old and new paths was now widened to an insurmountable chasm. The old path used killing to quell chaos, but the more they killed, the more chaotic things became; the new path used compassion to guide evil, and peace was restored without a fight.

High above, Xuan Ye Zun's smile finally froze slightly.

He calculated the biases of people's hearts, the shackles of fate, and the reversal of good and evil, but he did not foresee that Cen Jin's Great Dao of Balance had already transcended the constraints of conquest, and that he could use his true heart to transform all evil and suppress a thousand evils with his own body.

However, in a game of chess, one never gives up halfway.

With all the demons gone and the dire situation beginning to ease, the true final test has only just begun.

In the center of the miasma forest, the crimson eerie light surged once more.

Cen Wantang stood quietly at the core of the black mist, her youthful eyes completely losing their last trace of clarity, the coldness and domineering nature of the ancient demon lord completely taking over her soul. There was no longer any human warmth around her, replaced by an unparalleled pressure that surpassed all evil. All the turbid air of the entire miasma forest gathered around her, nourishing her increasingly perfect demon lord essence.

She slowly raised her hand, and at her slender, fair fingertips, a wisp of extreme scarlet demonic power, powerful enough to tear apart mountains and destroy cities, condensed.

Those eyes, once brimming with dependence and tenderness, were now only filled with indifference and coldness. They stared straight at her brother before her, and she uttered a chilling, heartless sentence:

"Anyone who stands in my way to enlightenment... regardless of whether they are my closest relatives, may be killed."

Before he could finish speaking, a sky full of scarlet demonic power burst through the air, heading straight for Cen Jin's heart.

Even more terrifying is that deep within Cen Jin's Qi Sea, the flawed Dao Seed, which had been peacefully existing and breaking free from the game, began to flow uncontrollably in reverse under the impact of this close relative's demonic power, and the incomplete cracks faintly reappeared—the bond of brother and sister coexisting was actually a double-edged sword that destroyed each other.