Passerby: Secret Image of Ancient Scrolls

The moment the golden light and the dark, malevolent aura collided violently, the entire cliff face trembled.

Two forces, both originating from the same source of reincarnation but heading in completely opposite directions, tore each other apart violently. The deafening buzzing pierced through the wind and snow, slamming hard into everyone's eardrums, and the entire world trembled slightly.

Just as Ye Zhuo was enveloped in the warmth of the golden light, before he could even open his eyes, he was thrown backward by the opposing air currents, and the shovel in his hand crashed into the snow with a clang.

She instinctively covered her ears with both hands, but the piercing buzzing was unstoppable. A splitting headache swept over her instantly, as if countless cold steel needles were stabbing her temples through her ear canals.

That eerie, malevolent aura, following the aftershocks of the collision between the two forces, seeped into her soul in wisps and strands.

The emotions surging within him seemed to be amplified by this aura, and countless out-of-control thoughts flashed through his mind, momentarily overlapping with the madness in the eyes of those assassins.

"Guard your mind!" Ao Luya's voice trembled as it traveled through the wind and snow.

The shamanic bell in her hand was jolted and fell to the snow. Her face was ashen, and she pressed her hands tightly to her temples, gritting her teeth as she channeled a shamanic incantation, creating a weak barrier around herself. "This malevolent energy can stir up inner demons and obsessions; don't let it find a way in!"

Old Gu was thrown back against the vehicle by the blast wave, sliding down and dropping his entrenching tool. He was old and couldn't withstand the shock to his very soul; his vision blurred, his ears were filled with sharp ringing, and he couldn't even hear his own breathing. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself not to pass out. He knew very well that this was the most crucial moment, and he absolutely couldn't cause Shen Xun any trouble.

Lin Jian, inside the car, was in even worse shape. The car amplified the hum of the shockwave several times over, and she was thrown violently against the car door. Her Instax camera also began to vibrate violently as she rolled onto the floor mat. She curled up on the floor, clutching her head, feeling dizzy and as if something was pulling and churning her mind. That eerie aura seeped in through the cracks in the car window, bringing back the scene of her last meeting with her grandfather. Panic and anxiety surged wildly within her, and she was only held back by the last shred of reason, preventing her from being dragged into madness by this aura.

Even the shadow form of Bai Wuchang was shaken by the clash of the two forces, its shadow form appearing and disappearing intermittently. She used the blood pact to cover Shen Xun's body with all the shadow energy she could mobilize, blocking the scattered shockwaves for him, but it still couldn't stop them. The eerie evil energy followed the connection of the reincarnation mark and drilled into Shen Xun's soul.

Right at the eye of the storm, Shen Xun was bearing the most direct impact.

In the golden pupils, the boundary between golden light and eerie malevolent energy was reflected. The peach wood staff was shaking wildly, but the hand holding the staff did not move.

He activated the golden light waves erupting from the Samsara Mark, which surged forward and pressed down fiercely. The black light at the edge of the thick barrier of malevolent energy sizzled and melted rapidly as it was burned by the golden light.

Just as the golden light was about to break through the barrier, the multicolored halos within the bodies of all the assassins who had collapsed to the ground suddenly surged. That eerie aura, like an enraged venomous snake, used the obsession and madness within the seven bodies to instantly complete its second charge. The previously shattered barrier of malevolent energy suddenly solidified and fiercely counterattacked, forcefully pushing the golden light back. The boundary between the two forces instantly returned to its original point.

The deafening roar exploded again, and Shen Xun felt a sweet taste in his throat as a mouthful of golden-red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"Shen Xun!" Bai Wuchang's voice was anxious. She lashed out with her shadow whip, tearing apart several strands of evil energy that were seeping in through the gaps in the barrier. However, she dared not leave Shen Xun's side for even a moment and could only watch helplessly as the blood pact caused her to experience severe depletion of her source energy.

Shen Xun did not move.

He could clearly sense that this eerie aura was exactly the same as the aura that controlled the primordial spirit. Its greatest strength was its ability to captivate and manipulate the mind, and the more desperate the situation, the fiercer its counterattack.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the stinging pain caused by the depletion of his essence, and once again urged the remaining spiritual blood in his veins. Golden patterns spread up his neck, and the hourglass mark on his left chest spun faster and faster. The golden light, which had been slightly diminishing, surged again.

The golden wave of light transformed into a sharp golden ray, piercing fiercely towards the center of the malevolent energy barrier. His aim wasn't to break the barrier itself, but rather the source of the eerie malevolent energy that connected all the assassins behind it. The moment the golden ray pierced the barrier, the malevolent energy indeed surged violently; the inky black aura twisted and turned wildly, tightly binding the piercing golden ray, attempting to devour and assimilate it.

But then, another change occurred.

The multicolored halos emanating from the assassins were blindingly bright; they were actively sacrificing their souls and life force to power that eerie aura. The already ferocious malevolent energy surged several times over under the influence of these puppet sacrifices. The inky black aura surged back like a tidal wave, not only crushing the piercing golden light but also forcing the golden light waves to retreat repeatedly, even dimming the golden light surrounding Shen Xun.

Shen Xun groaned, crimson blood once more spilling from his mouth and nose. His hand, gripping the peachwood staff, trembled slightly. This power, sharing the same origin, understood the weaknesses of the power of reincarnation all too well. It was using the assassin's obsession to pry open his emotions, to stir up the weariness and loneliness of his centuries of reincarnation, attempting to dismantle his power from within. What chilled him even more was that, in the instant the murderous aura surged, he clearly sensed the ancient-robed figure hidden deep within it, staring coldly at the reincarnation mark on his chest through layers of barriers, without any attempt at concealment.

He wants this mark.

This counterattack intensified the shockwaves around it.

Ye Zhuo was so shocked that he landed hard on his backside in the snow, tiny beads of blood seeping from his ears, and his vision blurred. Ao Luya's spiritual energy barrier shattered instantly, and she staggered to her knees, spitting out a mouthful of blood into the snow. The white deer pawed at the ground in agitation, desperately protecting Ao Luya with its body, letting out a low growl towards the direction of the evil energy barrier, but was forced back by the shockwave.

Everyone was pushed to their limits, experiencing not only physical exhaustion but also mental and spiritual torment.

That malevolent aura is all-pervasive; if one's mind wavers even slightly, one will be dragged into an irreversible state of madness, turning into a puppet just like those assassins.

Even when forced to this point, Shen Xun's gaze remained unwavering.

He looked at the surging malevolent energy before him, at his companions behind him who were desperately trying to maintain their composure, and at the gradually dissipating shadow of the White Impermanence. Hundreds of years of perseverance erupted at this moment.

He has guarded the path of reincarnation for hundreds of years, seen more ferocious evil spirits than this, and endured more dangerous backlashes than this. He has never retreated even a step, and there is no way he will retreat today.

Shen Xun closed his eyes and poured all the essence of his reincarnation accumulated over hundreds of years into the peach wood staff. The snake eye at the top of the staff suddenly lit up, echoing the hourglass mark on his left chest. Golden light spread along the staff, and even the wind and snow around him turned into a golden hurricane.

This time, he set the stage by recklessly overdrawing his resources.

"Reincarnation suppresses evil, and all evil returns to silence."

The eight words that fell from his lips instantly pierced through the collision of golden light and murderous aura.

The next instant, the golden light that had been forced back suddenly burst forth with a light several times stronger than before, merging into every snowflake. With the power to purify everything, it swept fiercely towards the barrier of malevolent energy and towards every wisp of eerie aura.

This time, the counterattack of the malevolent energy was no longer effective.

The moment the golden hurricane swept in, the multicolored halos that had surged with life force from the sacrifice crumbled and shattered like thin paper scorched by fire. The core power supporting the barrier of malevolent energy was broken one by one by the golden hurricane, and the originally thick, ink-like barrier instantly developed countless cracks. The eerie energy within began to scatter and wander wildly, trying to retreat, but it was trapped by the omnipresent golden light and had nowhere to escape.

Shen Xun thrust his hand holding the peachwood staff forward with a sudden burst of golden light, which, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly shattered the crumbling barrier of malevolent energy. The golden light swept across the sky, devouring, crushing, and purifying all the remaining eerie malevolent energy and multicolored halos, leaving not a trace behind.

As the last wisp of black light was swallowed by the golden light, the deafening buzzing finally dissipated, the stagnant wind and snow began to fall again, and the tremors at the cliff edge ceased. The world seemed to fall silent instantly, leaving only the howling of the wind and snow, and the heavy, relieved breathing of the people.

Those mad, undying assassins were now all limp on the snow. The inky black and scarlet in their eyes had completely faded, and the clear whites of their eyes had returned. The pain that had been shielded by the murderous aura and the obsession that had been forcibly amplified were now backfiring on them.

The golden light slowly faded, the hourglass mark on Shen Xun's left chest gradually dimmed, and the shimmering gold in the whites of his eyes faded away, returning to his golden pupils.

He swayed, barely managing to stay upright only by using the peach wood cane in his hand to support himself on the snow.

The crimson blood around his mouth and nose had congealed, and he felt completely drained, needing immense strength even to lift a hand.

Ye Zhuo and the others watched his swaying figure and were about to rush forward when they saw Shen Xun suddenly tighten his grip on the peach wood staff. Another mouthful of bright red blood spilled from his throat, and his already pale face turned completely devoid of color.

The fundamental source of reincarnation, which had remained unshaken for hundreds of years, developed a crack in the well of reincarnation during these three tug-of-wars.

Once the guardians of reincarnation fall, the evil forces that have been unable to restrain themselves will have no more scruples.

The entire Yin-Yang barrier will instantly shatter into pieces.

The human world is hell.