Volume 1, Chapter 20: Deep in the Vortex, The Core of Power

Lin Xuan's figure, like a nimble leopard or a bolt of lightning tearing through the dark red mist, darted along the rugged rock wall at the edge of the cavern.

The sounds of slaughter, roars, and crumbling rocks behind him faded quickly, blocked and distorted by the increasingly thick, almost tangible Evil Qi. Before him, as far as the eye could see, only a churning, rolling vortex of dark red Evil Qi remained, like the entrance to the Nine Nether Hell. The vortex was barely a few feet in diameter, yet it emitted a Soul-shuddering suction and destructive fluctuations; it was the most concentrated and violent source of Evil Qi in the entire stone statue army Formation area!

The closer he got, the sharper the warning from his life's instincts became. His skin felt the stinging pain of intertwining burning and freezing sensations, and countless vengeful spirits seemed to be shrieking in the Evil Qi by his ears, attempting to erode his mind. An ordinary Qi Refining Cultivator would likely have had Evil Qi enter their body and suffered Qi Deviation before even reaching the edge of the vortex.

But Lin Xuan's eyes became increasingly calm and sharp.

The Ancient God Body Refining Technique circulated within his body at an unprecedented speed, and the eight hundred wisps of Source Martial Spiritual Energy acted like an imperial guard protecting a throne, tightly shielding his internal organs and limbs, either devouring and transforming the invading violent Evil Qi or guiding it to his skin surface for Body Tempering. His body seemed to be actively adapting to, or even "embracing," this extreme environment. The resonance between the broken metal disk in his chest and the fragments reached its peak, and the faint fluctuations emitted acted like a compass, firmly pointing towards the center of the vortex.

"Brother Lin! Wait for us!" The shouts of Wang Mang and Li Dali came from behind, accompanied by rapid panting. They had exhausted all their strength to barely keep up with Lin Xuan's speed, and were now sweating profusely, their faces pale from resisting the Evil Qi.

Lin Xuan stopped about three feet from the edge of the vortex and looked back. There were several bloody scratches on Wang Mang's body from being scraped by the rock walls, and Li Dali had blood spilling from the corner of his mouth; clearly, forcing themselves to follow had already caused them internal injuries. They had reached their limit.

"Stop!" Lin Xuan's voice was resolute and decisive. "The area ahead is not one you can tread. Stand guard here; if any stone statues pursue from behind, do your best to block them for a moment."

Wang Mang looked at the blood-red vortex that seemed capable of swallowing everything, then at Lin Xuan's calm yet determined eyes. He gritted his teeth and nodded heavily. "Alright! Brother Lin, be careful! We'll be right here!" As he spoke, he turned to face the way they had come, standing like a temple guardian with his muscles tense. Li Dali also quickly swallowed several Medicinal Pills, clutched the poison powder and Talisman in his hands, and stood guard on the other side.

Lin Xuan said no more, focusing all his attention on the vortex ahead. He took a deep breath, and this time, the sound of his inhalation faintly carried the noise of wind and thunder—a sign that his blood energy and Source Martial Spiritual Energy were driven to the extreme. The dark red hue on his skin, stained by the blood Evil Qi Body Tempering, became distinct, almost merging with the surrounding environment.

He stepped forward, entering the outer force field of the Evil Qi vortex.

"Boom—!"

It was as if he had stepped into the center of a torrent! The endless dark red Evil Qi was no longer just eroding him in wisps, but had turned into a violent raging tide, crazily squeezing, scouring, and tearing at his body from all directions! Every inch of his skin felt like it was being scraped by a dull knife, his bones emitted an unbearable "creaking" sound, and the shrieking in his ears turned into a roar of destruction!

Even more terrifying was the horrific suction coming from the center of the vortex, trying to drag him in entirely and grind him into powder!

Lin Xuan let out a low roar, his feet driving into the ground like iron pillars (the ground was actually some exceptionally hard black stone), his waist and back straight as a spear, using the peerless concentration honed in the Martial Dao Extreme Realm to resist the suction. At the same time, a deeper and more domineering method from the Ancient God Body Refining Technique, called the "Miasma Tide Body Refining Art," was forcefully activated by him!

This technique was originally meant to use the periodically fluctuating Evil Qi tide to temper internal organs and bone marrow, and was extremely dangerous. But now, facing this violent and chaotic Evil Qi vortex, Lin Xuan did the opposite, actively guiding the most violent, core wisps of Evil Qi essence within the vortex. Like the most savage blacksmith, he turned them into heavy hammers, fiercely forging deep into his own bones and the core of his internal organs!

"Pfft!" A mouthful of dark red blood spewed from his mouth, instantly evaporated by the Evil Qi. That was the damage caused by his internal organs enduring immense pressure. But his eyes were terrifyingly bright!

He could feel that under this destructive forging, deeper in his bones, strands of even purer and tougher pale golden bone marrow were being squeezed out and born! The vitality of his internal organs, hovering on the edge of destruction and reconstruction, instead erupted with even stronger vigor! The Source Martial Spiritual Energy was like refined iron tempered a thousand times, becoming more condensed, circulating faster, and integrating more tightly with his Physical Body!

This was a form of self-torture, walking on the edge of life and death. But the improvements it brought were also enormous.

Step by step, like a lone boat going against the current, he pushed against the raging tide of Evil Qi that could shred steel, slowly but firmly moving towards the center of the vortex.

Three feet of distance felt like a chasm.

Each step was accompanied by the groaning of bones and the roaring of blood energy. Blood began to seep from his seven orifices, his skin cracking and healing repeatedly, over and over, making him look like a bloody person.

Behind him, Wang Mang and Li Dali watched with trepidation, but dared not make a sound to disturb him, only staring dead-eyed at the path behind, guarding against any potential pursuers.

Time seemed to be stretched countless times in the painful torment.

Finally, when his consciousness became somewhat blurred from the excruciating pain, Lin Xuan stepped into the core area of the vortex!

The Evil Qi here was no longer violent, but condensed into a viscous, almost liquid, dark red "paste" that slowly rotated. At the center, it was not empty; instead, a fist-sized, irregular, pitch-black crystal stone that emitted a deep, dark red luster was suspended there!

Inside the crystal, countless tiny blood-colored lightning bolts seemed to be darting, and there was even a miniature, constantly changing phantom of an ancient Formation flowing! A vast, immense, and extremely pure source of Evil Qi, along with a desolate, ancient, and majestic will, was emanating from this crystal, maintaining the operation of the entire stone statue army Formation, and even faintly echoing with the blood-colored eyes deep in the cavern!

"The Core of Power"—or more accurately, the "miasma source formation core"!

Found it!

A brilliant light exploded in Lin Xuan's eyes. He had no doubt that as long as he destroyed or took away this crystal, the external stone statue army Formation would inevitably lose its energy supply and, at the very least, fall into paralysis or have its power greatly reduced.

But, the moment his gaze locked onto the crystal, an unexpected change occurred!

The phantom of the Formation inside the crystal suddenly enlarged, projecting a blood-colored light curtain that blocked the way before the crystal. On the light curtain, a blurry yet majestic phantom of a giant appeared. The giant's face could not be seen; one could only sense it standing tall, seemingly holding the outline of a giant axe.

A clearer, more majestic, yet less cold and more scrutinizing grand voice resonated directly in the depths of Lin Xuan's mind—not from the eyes deep within, but originating from the residual will of the crystal itself:

"Latecomer... to be able to withstand the Evil Qi vortex and reach this core... your physique and will have gained initial approval."

"However, to control the 'miasma source formation core' and temporarily stop the army Formation, you must undergo the 'Trial of Power'."

"Receive one strike of my 'Mountain Opening Concept', and if you do not retreat, do not collapse, and do not regret, only then will you have the qualifications."

As the voice fell, the giant phantom in the blood-colored light curtain slowly raised the outline of the giant axe in its hand. There was no earth-shattering Aura eruption, nor was there any vast energy fluctuation.

But a "will" and "truth of power" that were pure to the extreme, condensed to the extreme, and seemed capable of splitting mountains and severing rivers, surged like an invisible tsunami, crossing the light curtain and crashing down towards Lin Xuan!

This was not a physical attack, nor was it an energy impact; it acted directly on the mental and willful level, questioning his understanding of the essence of "power" and crushing his conviction in his own path!

At this moment, Lin Xuan seemed to see a giant axe reaching from heaven to earth, hacking down from Chaos, separating the clear from the turbid, and defining Yin and Yang! What was contained in that axe was the resolution to break shackles and open up a new world, the violence aesthetics of pure power taken to the extreme!

"Mountain Opening Concept"!

This was precisely one of the supreme Profound Truths of power usage for ancient Body Cultivators!

Lin Xuan groaned, his Sea of Consciousness shaken violently, his Soul feeling as if it were about to be split in two by this pure "Concept of Power"! His Martial Dao path, although it also pursued the extreme of power, was more about technique, control, and the transformation and adaptation of "Martial Dao Spiritualization." Facing this most primitive, barbaric, yet closest-to-the-source-of-power truth impact, the Foundation of his path was faintly shaken!

Retreat? No! His path was one of Fusion and transcendence!

Collapse? No! The loneliness of the hundred-year Martial Dao Tower had long since honed his will to be harder than steel!

Regret? Never!

"Roar—!"

Lin Xuan let out a silent roar (sound could not travel in the Evil Qi vortex), the dark golden light in his eyes intertwining with the blood-colored Evil Qi, almost burning up! He no longer passively endured, but actively met it head-on!

He took all his understanding of power from a hundred years of Martial Dao cultivation—from the most basic "Mountain Crushing Force," to the "Mountain Crushing" Concept of the fragmentary "Three Mountain-Shaking Forms," to the Evil Qi tempering of the "Ancient God Body Refining Technique," and even his own exploration of the essence of power through "Martial Dao Spiritualization"—and fused everything into one furnace, turning it into a vast, unyielding, indomitable will that sought to prove the Dao through power and break all shackles, fiercely colliding with the "Mountain Opening Concept" pressing down!

There was no technique, no tricks, only the collision of the purest will and conviction!

"Hum—!!!"

In Lin Xuan's Sea of Consciousness, it was as if a thunderclap exploded! Two torrents of will collided fiercely! He felt as if his Divine Soul was about to be torn apart, countless fragments of insight regarding power dancing, shattering, and reorganizing in the collision!

The pain was indescribable!

But his back remained straight! His eyes were sharp as knives!

He did not retreat a single step!

He did not know how long had passed; perhaps it was an instant, perhaps an eternity.

The "Mountain Opening Concept" that had been pressing down slowly dissipated. The giant phantom on the blood-colored light curtain seemed to... nod slightly at Lin Xuan?

"Will is acceptable... understanding of power... although biased, it is tenacious..."

"Allow you... to temporarily control the Formation core... for one incense stick of time..."

The grand voice gradually faded away, and the blood-colored light curtain and giant phantom dissipated along with it. The pitch-black and dark red "miasma source formation core" trembled slightly, voluntarily detached from its original position, and slowly floated in front of Lin Xuan.

Success!

Lin Xuan endured the dizziness of his Divine Soul being almost exhausted, reached out, and grasped the still-warm crystal in his palm. Instantly, a stream of information poured in: he had obtained permission to temporarily control this Formation core, and could use his consciousness to control it to stop supplying energy to the external stone statue army Formation, with a duration of—one incense stick of time!

Without hesitation, Lin Xuan immediately concentrated his remaining consciousness and issued a "stop energy supply" command to the Formation core.

Hum!

The blood-colored lightning and the phantom of the Formation inside the Formation core suddenly paused for an instant. Immediately after, the violently rotating Evil Qi vortex outside also paused abruptly, and then, as if it had lost its power source, its rotation speed slowed down rapidly, and its concentration began to drop.

Almost at the same time, in the main battlefield of the cavern.

The stone statue army Formation that was closing in step by step and almost forcing Han Feiyu and the others into a desperate situation—the red light in all the stone statues' eyes dimmed simultaneously! Their heavy footsteps paused abruptly, their uniform movements became chaotic, and the blood-colored faint light flowing on their surfaces dimmed drastically, like rusted machines, their operations becoming incomparably arduous and sluggish. Even a few stone statues that had already been severely damaged froze in place, the red light in their eyes completely extinguished.

"What's going on?" Han Feiyu, who was fighting desperately and almost exhausted, was stunned.

"The stone statues... stopped? No, it's that they slowed down! They've weakened!" Sun Miao keenly sensed the change.

"It's Lin Xuan! He succeeded!" Su Qingyue's beautiful eyes lit up, and she looked towards the vortex, a hint of color appearing on her pale face.

"An opportunity! Counterattack! Destroy them!" Han Feiyu reacted extremely quickly. Although his body was in excruciating pain and weak from the backlash of the Medicinal Pills, his eyes erupted with ecstasy and viciousness. He forcibly raised his remaining Spiritual Qi and swung his sword again towards the nearest quasi-Foundation Establishment stone statue whose movements were stiff and whose light was dim!

This time, the stone statue's defensive power was greatly reduced, the stone shield was easily sliced open, and its body was torn apart by the Sword Qi!

"Kill them!" Surviving the desperate situation, the survivors erupted with their final courage, and various attacks poured onto the slow-moving, weakened stone statue army Formation.

The battle situation reversed instantly!

And deep in the vortex, Lin Xuan, holding the "miasma source formation core," felt the changes outside and finally breathed a sigh of relief. One incense stick of time was enough for Han Feiyu and the others to deal with those stone statues that had lost most of their power.

However, his mind was not completely relaxed.

Because, deep in the cavern, those two huge eyes like blood-colored "lanterns" had never moved away. At this moment, the coldness in those eyes seemed to have faded a little, and in its place was a deeper, more complex sense of inquiry, firmly locked onto him—this tiny figure who held the Formation core and had passed the "Trial of Power."

The real gaze had only just begun.

(End of Volume 1, Chapter 20)

[Next Chapter Preview]: Core obtained, trial turning point! Lin Xuan successfully obtained the "miasma source formation core," temporarily paralyzing the stone statue army Formation and winning a breathing space for the team. Han Feiyu and the others took the opportunity to counterattack, and the crisis was temporarily resolved. However, Lin Xuan's act of passing the "Trial of Power" seemed to have aroused deeper attention from that ancient existence in the Forbidden Ground. After one incense stick of time, the Formation core will become ineffective; what should they do next? Should the team continue to go deeper and face that unknown existence, or find another way out? What new clues will the Formation core and the metal disk in Lin Xuan's hands bring? Next Chapter: Ancient Gaze, Choice of the Path Ahead! Lin Xuan: "A victory of one incense stick of time may bring about a deeper vortex."