The Record of Exterminating Evil from Ashes

The mountain wind howls again, and the night returns to silence.

After the dark figure on the cliff top disappeared, the oppressive atmosphere of the entire Cangshan Mountain slowly dissipated. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth began to flow again, the grass and trees swayed gently in the wind, and the moonlight still shone coldly on the mountains and forests. Everything seemed to have returned to normal, as if the oppressive aura of the demon lord that had just overwhelmed the mountains and rivers was just an illusory nightmare.

Ke Cen Jin stood at the cave entrance, remaining motionless for a long time.

His clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and the night wind was icy cold. The suffocating feeling, the emptiness of being thoroughly exposed, and the powerlessness of having his righteous and evil spiritual energies forcibly sealed were deeply etched into his mind, impossible to erase. It was an absolute crushing on a different level, an insurmountable chasm between mortals and demon lords.

He is now at the peak of physical tempering and his spiritual energy is circulating throughout his body. He is already considered a strong person in ordinary mountains and fields. However, under the gaze of Xuan Ye Zun, he is still like an ant or dust, powerless to resist, and does not even have the right to struggle.

In the past, he only knew that Xuan Ye Zun was the enemy who destroyed the village and the source of a blood feud. His heart was filled with boundless hatred, but he always held onto a sliver of hope. He thought that after two years of arduous cultivation, joining the Exorcising Evil Division, and mastering orthodox Taoist techniques, he would have the means to seek revenge and redemption.

But tonight's distant glimpse shattered all his shallow understanding.

The darkness of this world was far more vast and profound than he had imagined. The foundation of the thousand-year-old demon lord far exceeded all realms he could currently reach. His arduous cultivation, his growth, and his trump cards were nothing more than a child's clumsy struggle in the eyes of the other party, observed, understood, and manipulated at will.

An overwhelming sense of powerlessness swept over him, almost crushing the resilient Dao heart he had forged through months of arduous cultivation.

Cen Jin slowly lowered his palm, his fingertips trembling slightly. It wasn't out of fear of death, but out of fear that he would never be able to protect Wan Tang or avenge the massacre of his family. He would only be able to watch helplessly as fate crushed everything and his loved ones were turned into demons and eternally damned.

The night wind was bleak, ruffling the young man's hair, but it couldn't dispel the melancholy that had accumulated in his heart.

After a long while, he looked down at the dark wooden box that was quietly placed inside the cave.

The wooden box was ancient and dark, its warm, yang energy slowly spreading out, isolating it from all outside noise and hostility, protecting the girl inside as she slept peacefully. It was a sanctuary he had personally carved and polished, his only source of strength in dire straits, and the final destination of all his persistence and obsession.

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His gaze fell on the wooden box, and his Dao heart, which was on the verge of collapse, suddenly became stable again.

He cannot be afraid, cannot retreat, and certainly cannot abandon.

No matter how vast the darkness ahead, no matter how powerful the Demon Lord, as long as Wan Tang remains, as long as the vow in his heart remains unbroken, he will forge ahead relentlessly. A sense of powerlessness is never an excuse to retreat, but rather a spur that propels him to further progress and break through barriers to grow stronger.

Tonight's observation serves as both a warning and a test.

Xuan Ye Zun did not kill him out of pity, but because he utterly disdained him. In the eyes of such a supreme demon lord, this pawn burdened with obsession was still worth observing and playing with, and there was no need to rush to crush him.

Since the other party wants to watch him struggle and see him rush in vain, he will go against the tide, break the deadlock in the desperate situation, and seize a way out of fate.

Cen Jin took a deep breath of the cool mountain air, suppressed all the chaotic emotions in his heart, calmed his mind, and turned back to the stone cave.

He carefully placed the withered branches at the cave entrance back in their place, obscuring the faint light and preventing outsiders from peeping. After doing all this, he sat cross-legged beside the wooden box, his gaze gently falling on the box, and he raised his hand to lightly stroke the rough yet smooth wood grain.

This ancient wooden box was a gift from Xiao Yu, a stroke of good fortune, and the only thing he and Wan Tang had relied on during their two years of seclusion. Previously, he only knew that this wood possessed extreme yang energy to suppress evil and seal demonic energy, but he had never delved into its hidden secrets. Tonight, after being baptized by the Demon Lord's oppressive aura, he keenly sensed that deep within the wooden box lay an extremely ancient, profound, and pure yang essence, far surpassing ordinary evil-suppressing spiritual wood.

Previously, his cultivation was shallow and his perception was limited, so he could not detect the slightest abnormality. Now, with his body tempering complete and his spiritual energy clear, his five senses have reached the pinnacle of mortals, and he has finally captured the secret hidden within the wooden heart.

With a thought, Cen Jin slowly circulated his Azure Ocean Righteous Qi, and a wisp of pure spiritual energy gently covered the surface of the wooden box, slowly penetrating and probing inward.

As the spiritual energy permeated the wood, a warm and profound yang energy instantly returned, vast and pure, carrying a domineering aura that could suppress all evil. Such a foundation was far beyond what ordinary thousand-year-old trees could bear; even the evil-suppressing spiritual materials treasured by the Exorcising Department could hardly match it.

Cen Jin's heart stirred slightly, and he became even more certain of his guess.

Xiao Yu is meticulous and thorough in his actions, and would never casually give away ordinary items. This dark, ancient wood must have an extraordinary origin, perhaps even being an ancient relic of pure Yang energy, specifically designed to suppress Xuan Ye Zun's primordial demonic power. This is precisely why, even when the Demon Lord personally came to investigate, he refrained from making a move. Besides disdain, he was likely also wary of the primordial pure energy hidden within the wooden box, and dared not easily touch it.

Upon realizing this, Cen Jin's fear dissipated, replaced by a sense of certainty and confidence.

He finally understood that Xiao Yu had never simply offered him a bleak path to survival. From the moment he gifted the wood, imparted the magic, and set a two-year time limit, this powerful figure from the Exorcising Evil Division had already paved the safest path for him to lie low, secretly shielding him from countless unknown dangers.

This wooden box, seemingly simple and unadorned, is actually the biggest trump card to protect Wan Tang's life, prevent the demon lord from spying, and suppress her original demon blood.

Cen Jin withdrew his spiritual energy, refraining from rashly probing the core of the wooden object, lest he disturb the ancient power hidden within and suffer the consequences. He only needed to know that this object was enough to protect Wan Tang for two years; that was sufficient.

The night was long, and I couldn't fall asleep.

He simply abandoned all distracting thoughts, sat upright beside the wooden box, and began an even more rigorous period of ascetic training. In his previous cultivation, he had still left room for flexibility, proceeding step by step and steadily. But after the Demon Lord's observation tonight, he completely abandoned any room for relaxation.

Time is his most luxurious and scarcest possession.

Half of the two-year time limit has already passed, and the remaining time will pass in the blink of an eye. He must break through the shackles of body tempering and enter the foundation building realm within a short year to thoroughly solidify his foundation in the Great Dao and possess the strength to pass the three death trials of the Exorcising Evil Division.

From then on, his ascetic practices in the deep mountain cave reached their ultimate state.

In the past, he would have had moments of rest and quiet contemplation, but now Cen Jin truly works tirelessly from dawn till dusk, seizing every minute. As soon as the first light of day appears, he practices breathing exercises to cleanse his meridians and acupoints, refining his physical body and bones. Under the blazing sun, he ventures into the desolate forest to fight, honing his fighting spirit and combat skills against ferocious beasts and demons. When night falls and all is quiet, he sits quietly guarding the box, stabilizing his Dao heart, circulating righteous energy to nourish the wooden box, and doubly suppressing the demonic blood within Wan Tang's body.

Monotony, loneliness, and hardship became the defining characteristics of his life.

In the deep mountains, there is no one to speak of, no smoke of cooking fires, no human warmth, no worldly disturbances; only the sound of the wind, the falling snow, and the chirping of insects keep him company, day after day, month after month. An ordinary youth would have long been unable to endure such extreme solitude, and most would have their Dao heart crumble, their mind become restless, and they would give up halfway. But Cen Jin's character is far more resilient than ordinary people. With a blood feud before him and the safety of his loved ones by his side, he has long regarded loneliness and hardship as commonplace. He purifies his true self in the monotonous and arduous cultivation, and tempers his Dao heart in the extreme trials.

His physique was repeatedly cleansed and reshaped by spiritual energy, his muscles and bones became more refined, his blood and qi became more robust, and his righteous energy became more pure. He pushed the Canglan Heart Method to its limit, mastering all aspects of offense and defense, advance and retreat, and movement. He had a thorough understanding of it all, and it was no longer a rigid formula or move, but an instinctive fighting force that moved at will and followed the flow of the situation.

His cultivation progressed steadily, and his realm became increasingly stable. He was only one thin shackle away from the threshold of Foundation Establishment.

However, Cen Jin was not in a hurry to break through to the next realm.

He knew all too well that without a solid foundation, the path to enlightenment was fraught with difficulty. Countless cultivators, eager to break through and hastily advance, had resulted in a weak foundation and a flawed Dao heart, stagnating their cultivation for life and making further progress impossible. He bore the heavy responsibility of redeeming his blood feud, and his foundation could not afford to be even slightly weak.

He deliberately suppressed the opportunity to break through to the next realm, repeatedly polished and tempered his physical foundation, cleansed the dead corners of his meridians again and again, purified the remaining mundane and impure energy in his body, and tempered every inch of his physical body and every wisp of spiritual energy to the ultimate perfection.

In his spare time, he would gently open the wooden box and gaze briefly at his sleeping sister.

Months passed, and Cen Wantang still rarely awoke. Her skin was fair and smooth, and her features became increasingly delicate and lively, making her look no different from an ordinary child. Only Cen Jin could sense that the demonic blood dormant deep within her meridians was still slowly accumulating power, like a sleeping beast patiently waiting for the seal to break and for it to fully awaken.

Fortunately, with the dual suppression of the ancient wooden box and the Zheng Yang barrier, the demon blood remained docile and dormant, never becoming agitated in the slightest. Wan Tang's humanity and mind remained intact.

On this afternoon, the Cangshan Mountains were warm and fragrant with the scent of grass and trees. Cicadas chirped crisply in the forest, and the vitality of midsummer filled the mountains and fields.

After half a day of fighting in the desolate forest, Cen Jin was covered in a light sweat, his aura was steady, and the spiritual energy around him flowed smoothly and flawlessly. He returned to the stone cave to rest, and habitually raised his hand to stroke the wooden box. The moment his fingertips touched the wood, he suddenly noticed a subtle abnormality.

The wooden box, which is usually warm and stable, now exudes a faint, slightly cool aura from its corners.

The yin energy was extremely faint and subtle, mixed in with the heavy yang energy, making it very difficult to detect. If he hadn't been guarding it closely day and night and had extremely keen senses, he would have missed it.

Cen Jin's mind tightened suddenly, and he instantly concealed all his aura, focusing his attention on probing.

Upon closer inspection, he was astonished to discover that the wisp of yin energy was not an external intrusion, but rather slowly seeping from the deepest part of the wooden box, close to Wan Tang's body. It wasn't a rampage of demonic blood, nor a collapse of the barrier, but rather a slight loss of spiritual energy within the wooden box itself.

This ancient, dark wooden box, though possessing profound inner strength and unparalleled power to suppress evil, is not an indestructible artifact. Day and night, it suppresses the demon lord's original demonic blood, continuously consuming its own pure yang spiritual power. Over time, signs of spiritual power depletion have quietly begun to appear.

Cen Jin's heart sank.

He had never imagined that his only source of protection would be the first to turn into a hidden danger.

At the current rate of depletion, the positive yang spiritual energy in the wooden box will be completely exhausted in less than six months. At that time, the double seal will collapse, and the demon blood dormant in Wan Tang's body will go berserk instantly, and her demonic nature will be fully awakened, leaving no room for redemption.

The remaining year of peaceful time was suddenly compressed by half.

Time suddenly became of the essence.

Cen Jin squatted beside the wooden box, his fingertips stroking the cool surface of the box repeatedly. All the tenderness in his eyes had faded, leaving only a deep solemnity and a resolute determination. He was not flustered or anxious. Years of hardship had honed his composure in the face of adversity. Panic was useless; the only way was to confront the crisis head-on and break through the impasse.

The wooden box's spiritual energy was depleted, marking his final countdown.

Within six months, he must break through the Foundation Establishment stage, stabilize his Dao heart, and perfect his cultivation, so that he will have the strength to pass through the three death trials of the Exorcising Evil Division, enter the mountain gate on time, seek the orthodox Dao methods, continue Wan Tang's seal, and suppress the awakening of the demon blood.

If the deadline is missed, all the hard work, all the perseverance, and all the obsessions will be reduced to nothing.

He gazed deeply at his sleeping sister in the box, and murmured softly, his voice firm and each word carrying immense weight: "Wantang, wait for me for another six months. Your brother will definitely take you out of these mountains and break free from your fate."

As soon as he finished speaking, he slowly closed the box, stood up at the cave entrance, and looked out at the distant horizon where the sea of ​​clouds was churning.

There was no trace of youthful naiveté in his eyes, only a deep and austere composure born from life-and-death experiences and a profound understanding of darkness.

Just as he was determined to rush to the Foundation Establishment stage and prepare for the trial with all his might, a faint and eerie flapping sound quietly rose from the deep forest outside the stone cave.

The sound was faint, hidden among the sounds of wind and cicadas in the forest, unnoticed by ordinary people, yet it precisely reached Cen Jin's ears.

The next instant, a tiny, jet-black butterfly emerged slowly from the depths of the dense forest. Its wings were thin and its body was entirely black, without a single blemish. It hovered silently in mid-air above the cave entrance, neither advancing nor retreating, gazing silently at the boy inside the cave.

The butterfly shadow was surrounded by an extremely familiar, chilling aura of the demon lord.

This is not a wild spirit from the mountains; it is the Soul-Peeping Black Butterfly, the exclusive spy of Xuan Ye Zun, the most secretive informant of the demon realm.

The silent surveillance never ceased; it simply shifted to a more covert method, lurking day and night to monitor his every move.