I made the entire cultivation world cry

Chapter 548 Demonic Energy (Bonus Chapter for 1000 October Tickets)

While Fu Liu was engaged in fierce battle with Jinwu Huo, the two relentlessly pursuing evil cultivators were kept out of the storm.

"Damn it! The tearing force at the core of this storm is too strong; our protective magic items can't hold up!"

The green-robed evil cultivator watched as the magical artifact's light rapidly dimmed amidst the raging winds and thunder, and cursed in exasperation.

"The storm will eventually subside; we'll stay outside!"

The withered claw demon stared grimly at the wind wall that isolated heaven and earth, choosing to lie low for the time being.

Unbeknownst to them, Jiang Yi himself had already manipulated the sword-nurturing gourd, silently rushing into the storm.

The gourd's mouth opened slightly, greedily absorbing the raging lightning and the wind. The sword-nurturing gourd itself was stronger than the fixed-kun boat, and it was not afraid of the storm attack.

These fierce winds and thunder can block the divine sense of others, but they have no effect on Jiang Yi's divine sense. She cultivates the Star Refining Divine Method, drawing power from the stars, which means that the stars are her signal relay stations.

As long as the stars in the sky do not die, she can control the Fu Liu Xi Bing normally within a hundred miles.

A moment later, the gourd suddenly felt lighter and successfully passed through the storm barrier.

While Yu Qianlang and the others were still fighting outside the isolated island, Jiang Yi's main body quickly circled the island, spreading his divine sense to the maximum extent. Combined with the detection ability of the Heart-Piercing Mirror, he covered the entire sea area within the eye of the storm, especially every corner of the isolated island, every inch of land, every crack in the rocks, and even penetrated deep into the earth's veins to sense it.

"Master, where are you?"

However, a few breaths later, Jiang Yi's brows furrowed tightly, and a hint of confusion and seriousness flashed in her eyes.

No!

There was no sign of any living beings around the island, not even any demonic beasts. If they weren't on the island, Jiang Yi really wouldn't know where to look for them.

At this moment, the voice that pierced Jiang's heart resounded in his sea of ​​consciousness.

"There's a hidden entrance at the bottom of the island."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yi immediately submerged into the sea and entered the island through the place Zhu Xin had told her about, leaving Fu Liu outside to continue with Su Lingxian and the others.

With Su Lingxian's keen insight and meticulousness, she would have discovered the entrance sooner or later. Jiang Yi chose not to tell them because she wanted to go to the island first to find out what had happened.

Yu Qianlang and Su Lingxian are indeed good people, upright and decent, but Shen Qianling and the others who came here with Longri Zhenjun may not be so.

Beneath the isolated island, the seawater was separated by an invisible barrier, revealing a slippery and dark passage. Jiang Yi entered the island through the passage, and as soon as he emerged, an indescribable chill seeped into his bones.

Demonic energy!

Jiang Yi felt a sudden alarm bell ring in her heart and immediately activated the Bright Mirror Heart Fire within her body, transforming it into protective energy to safeguard her entire body.

Her inner fire is usually inconspicuous, but it is extremely powerful in combating demonic energy.

She was currently in an artificially excavated underground space. Although the demonic energy was not as overwhelming as the Northern Xuan Demon Tide of yesteryear, it was like a leech, lingering in the air of the cave, carrying a cold, sticky, twisted, and corrosive malice.

As a result, strange, contorted worms and seaweed appeared in the puddles around the cave.

The demonic tide is coming from the Northern Xuan. The entire Mountain and Sea Realm now believes that the first to encounter the demonic tide will be the Western Spirit and the Eastern Continent. With these two continents in front, the Southern Wilderness and the Floating Light Sea behind are still safe.

However, if demonic energy appears here and spreads out, eroding more spiritual energy and cultivators, and develops into a tide, then all cultivators will truly have no way out.

Was it the demonic energy that Master and Mother accidentally brought with them when they landed in Beixuan, or was it the demonic energy that already existed deep within this ruin?

So the Golden Crow Fire envelops the entire island to prevent the demonic energy here from leaking out. Master and the others have stayed here for so many years, is it also to suppress the spread of demonic energy here?
Jiang Yi concealed all her aura, maximized the defensive power of the Clear Mirror Heart Flame, and cautiously explored forward.

The rock passage beneath his feet bore obvious signs of human excavation, and some blurry rune marks remained on the stone walls. Although most of them were blurred by the erosion of time and dampness, Jiang Yi could still recognize that they were remnants left after some ancient protective formation was forcefully broken.

The further you go in, the more open the space becomes. The passage gradually extends into a cave hollowed out of the mountain, where strange luminescent moss hangs from the ceiling, emitting a cold, eerie blue light that barely illuminates a part of the area.

The demonic energy here was even more concentrated, to the point that the seaweed-like plants hanging from the cave ceiling wriggled like living venomous snakes upon discovering Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi frowned. The Bright Mirror Heart Flame kept her mind clear and prevented her from being corrupted by demonic energy, which would affect her mind and emotions.

Inside the cave stand several collapsed stone platforms and scattered with some weathered and broken stone pillars.

In the central area, a huge, bottomless rift can be seen, from which demonic energy overflows. The edges and surrounding area of ​​the rift bear charred marks left by violent magical collisions, indicating that a fierce conflict had once taken place here.

"This is……"

Jiang Yi walked to a stone pillar with a clean break. She reached out her hand, and although decades had passed, the sharp and cold sword energy at the break was still clearly discernible.

"This is my mother's Nine Tribulations Sword Qi!"

Jiang Yi carefully examined the surrounding traces and even found her master's whip marks. After a moment of mental deduction, she finally determined that her mother and master had fought here.

Jiang Yi turned to look at the crack in the center of the stone platform and jumped down without hesitation.

The crevice is not vertical, but rather a downward-sloping rock passage.

The deeper he went, the more intense the cold, viscous demonic energy became. The Bright Mirror Heart Flame circulated around Jiang Yi, scorching the demonic energy that tried to approach, making a sizzling sound.

On the walls of the passage, where moss might have once covered the area, now grow twisted, strangely colored plants that greedily suck up demonic energy, with black liquid seemingly flowing slowly through the veins of their leaves.

The crevices in the rocks were crawling with countless strangely shaped black beetles, making rustling sounds and showing hostility towards the intruders, but they dared not approach due to the oppressive power of the Mirror Heart Fire.

Jiang Yi focused her divine sense intently and cautiously explored inwards. Soon, she arrived at a relatively flat area, and her gaze sharpened.

Two cultivators, a man and a woman, were sitting back-to-back on a stone platform, both unconscious.

The male cultivator had a resolute face, while the female cultivator's face resembled Yu Qianlang's by five or six points. The two had clearly been through a fierce battle, their bodies covered in wounds. The most conspicuous wounds still retained icy, bone-chilling sword energy, freezing most of their bodies and forming a thick layer of frost.

A small golden bell, shimmering with spiritual light, hung above their heads. The bell cast a thin but sturdy copper bell-shaped light barrier, isolating them from the dense demonic energy around them.

Jiang Yi also saw more than a dozen silver mist insects on the two of them, running around their wounds and devouring the power that had frozen them.

Since the two were still alive, Jiang Yi did not go forward. Instead, she looked past them and continued along the passage toward the core area where the demonic energy was most concentrated.

At the end of the passage, the view suddenly opened up.

A huge, ancient stone gate, exuding the aura of time, stands in the mountain wall. The gate is tightly closed, but thick, black smoke-like demonic energy seeps out from the cracks, as if the source of the demonic energy is connected behind the gate.

Before that stone door sat a figure, causing Jiang Yi's pupils to suddenly contract.

Xuan Hui!

Jiang Yi immediately rushed over, but was blocked by the Golden Crow Fire that suddenly appeared on the ground.

Xuan Hui was also unconscious, and the Golden Crow Flame on his body had dimmed and lost its light, like a candle flickering in the wind.

He sat atop the central array eye of a complex formation, his head bowed, his long hair disheveled and obscuring his face. The remaining primal power within him was continuously flowing into the vast array of the entire island through the array eye beneath him, especially the seal on the stone door!

Jiang Yi looked up at the stone gate again. Xuan Hui was using all his strength to seal the demonic energy behind the gate, but his strength was so depleted that the demonic energy leaked out.

　see you tomorrow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)