Divine Root Bone

Su Qingyao walked briskly ahead, with Zhang Yang close behind. The two followed the map of the Qingyun Sect's inner disciples' residences and headed to the stone chamber area where the twelve missing disciples lived to investigate.

The entire stone chamber is divided into east and west sections. The west side is a newly built residence for cultivators, where disciples come and go in an endless stream, and the yang energy is abundant. The east side is an old stone chamber left over from earlier years, rarely visited, and perpetually permeated with an impenetrable, cold yin energy. The two spread their divine senses and carefully scanned the entire area. They first noticed that the three adjacent stone chambers on the east side were emanating a thick, pungent, and malevolent yin energy. Wisps of black mist seeped outwards from the cracks in the stone doors, and the concentration of evil energy far exceeded that of the other nine stone chambers.

The two did not know who the three disciples who were possessed by evil spirits were. Unexpectedly, the three happened to live in three separate stone chambers next to each other, which made them the first targets for the two to investigate.

Su Qingyao raised her hand and grasped the stone bolt on the stone door of the stone chamber. She turned her head to look at Zhang Yang, who was at the second level of Foundation Establishment, beside her. The two of them had already tacitly prepared to make their move.

Pale golden Dao patterns appeared on Zhang Yang's body, and a layer of spiritual light condensed at his fingertips, ready to be unleashed. His spiritual power was stretched to its limit, and he would immediately suppress any evil spirits within the sect that made the slightest move.

"Squeak—" The heavy stone door was pushed open by Su Qingyao.

A biting, icy chill, carrying a heavy, pungent stench, assaulted the senses. The room was dark and oppressive, with only a sliver of pale light filtering through a narrow crack in the stone ceiling. In the center of the stone chamber, the inner disciple had completely lost his mind, his appearance utterly terrifying.

His eyes were filled with a murky, grayish-black liquid, the whites of his eyes bloodshot, completely devoid of any consciousness. He was frantically slamming his forehead against the hard stone wall, each muffled thud causing the stone chamber to vibrate and tremble. The skin on his forehead was bruised, swollen, and broken, dark red blood trickling down his cheeks. His ten fingernails grew wildly black, scratching the surrounding rock walls with a frenzy, leaving deep and shallow scratches on the stone surface, with debris mixed with blood falling in a rustling sound. Even more horrifying, he was also constantly digging his own arms with his sharp fingernails, layer upon layer of bloody scratches, the blood soaking through his clothes, yet he felt no pain. Wild, guttural growls rolled from his throat, thick black mist swirled around him, his limbs twisting and thrashing uncontrollably. He was like a completely mindless, crazed puppet, and upon sensing the stranger at the door, he roared and charged straight at him.

Seeing his mad and terrifying appearance, Su Qingyao's heart tightened. Just as she was about to activate her spiritual power to block, Zhang Yang, who had been preparing for a long time, took the first step forward. His powerful spiritual energy at the second level of Foundation Establishment surged out, and a gentle yet extremely suppressive wave of spiritual energy swept through the entire stone chamber.

With a muffled hum, the disciple who had been charging wildly froze. The chaotic evil energy within his body was temporarily sluggish by the spiritual energy, and his body went limp and collapsed, fainting on the spot, ceasing his frenzied self-harming and charging behavior.

Zhang Yang crouched down, his gaze falling on the black aura swirling around the disciple, and a sudden sensation arose in his heart. The divine-grade root bone deep within his body felt slightly warm, generating an innate power to suppress filth and evil spirits. This talent was not invincible; it would steadily increase with his cultivation level. At his current Foundation Establishment Level 2, he could only suppress shallowly entrenched evil energy, unable to instantly eradicate deeply entrenched evil. However, it was perfectly suited to deal with the turbid energy that had corrupted ordinary Qi Refining disciples, having a powerful effect of suppression and purification.

He slowly raised his hand, and a faint, warm golden spiritual light, originating from his divine-grade bone structure, flowed from his palm, gently covering the crown of his unconscious disciple's head. The golden light slowly traveled along the disciple's seven orifices and meridians, and wherever it passed, the black mist that entangled flesh and soul melted away, like ice and snow meeting the warm sun. The sinister aura that had been devouring the mind was gradually washed away and peeled away by the spiritual light.

Half an incense stick later, the black aura around the disciple dissipated completely. There were still self-inflicted wounds on his forehead and arms, but his chaotic aura had calmed down, the turbid aura between his brows had dissipated, and his soul had returned to a state of calm and clarity. However, he was still weak. Su Qingyao stepped forward and gave him a recovery pill from the sect. He would recover after a short period of restorative breathing.

After settling the first disciple, the two quickly walked to the second stone chamber next door, pushed open the stone door, and found that the scene inside was exactly the same as the first one.

The disciple inside was also completely controlled by the evil energy. His eyes were cloudy and lifeless. He kept tearing at his clothes and flesh with his fingernails. His shoulders were covered with fresh bloodstains. He repeatedly and frantically rammed into the stone pillars of the stone chamber. A vague and piercing scream came out of his throat. Black mist swirled around his body. He would pounce on any outsiders he sensed.

Zhang Yang continued to use his Foundation Establishment spiritual energy to stun the opponent, and then activated the supreme yang golden light of his divine-grade root bone to slowly cleanse the evil spirit from the soul. Before long, he resolved the yin and evil influence on the disciple's body.

In the third stone chamber, the disciple was even more deeply corrupted by the evil energy. The black mist around him almost solidified into a black veil. He huddled in a corner of the chamber, constantly scratching his neck, which was a bloody mess. Every now and then, he would suddenly stand up and frantically ram against the stone walls, his mad roars extremely penetrating. As usual, Zhang Yang used his Foundation Establishment spiritual power to first stun the out-of-control disciple, and then released the golden light of his divine bones to gradually purify the turbid energy. It took a little longer than usual to completely dispel the evil energy that had taken hold of his body, allowing his soul to return to stability.

After the three disciples who had been deeply corrupted by evil energy were all treated, and after waiting a short while until they had recovered, the group turned around and headed to the residence of the remaining nine missing inner disciples.

When Zhang Yang and his group arrived at the remaining nine stone chambers on the east side, the scene before them was completely different.

The Qingyun Sect has always taught its disciples to help each other and remain calm in the face of danger. These nine inner disciples sensed the cold and evil aura surrounding them early on. Seeing that their fellow disciples had gone missing one after another, alarm bells rang in their hearts. Knowing that evil spirits are best at sneaking attacks and defeating one by one, they immediately gathered in the largest stone chamber in the center, back to back, on guard, circulating their spiritual power to protect themselves, and sticking together to resist the thin and turbid aura that was wandering around. No one acted alone, and they were lucky enough to avoid being taken advantage of by the evil spirits.

Upon seeing Zhang Yang and Su Qingyao arrive, the nine disciples immediately lowered their guard and gathered around to inquire about the situation. Having heard that three fellow disciples had been controlled by evil energy and nearly died from self-harm, everyone was still shaken. They quickly prepared their magical artifacts and then all reunited.

Not daring to linger in the old stone chamber filled with yin energy, the group made arrangements and set off together towards the location where their senior disciple had encountered trouble.

Halfway there, they bumped into Lin Wanqing, who was waiting there. She recounted in detail how her senior brother had been "possessed by an evil spirit" and had harmed several rogue cultivators. The complete truth was conveyed to Zhang Yang without missing a single word. Even the usually composed Zhang Yang felt a chill run down his spine after hearing it.

He immediately stepped forward and solemnly gave instructions to all his disciples: "That senior brother who is controlled by the evil spirit is highly skilled, and the number of people currently invaded by the evil energy is unknown. We have absolutely no chance of winning if we fight alone. The west side is where the cultivators of the new city gather. There must still be many conscious cultivators left there. We must set off for the west city immediately, gather all the surviving cultivators, count the number of people who can fight, and everyone must stick together and work together to deal with this evil disaster."

The twelve inner disciples nodded in unison, following closely behind Zhang Yang, Su Qingyao, and Lin Wanqing, and hurried towards the gathering place of cultivators in the new city to the west.

As soon as they approached the gate of the hall, ear-piercing roars and the booming sounds of clashing magical artifacts assaulted their senses. The entire temporary gathering hall had already turned into a boiling inferno.

The malevolent, turbid energy spread rapidly through the crowd like an invisible plague. Those tainted by the black energy instantly lost their minds, their eyes clouded with gray, and they frantically lunged at the still-conscious cultivators beside them. Once their skin was touched by the black energy from their fingertips, their souls were instantly invaded by the evil energy, and within moments they became new mad puppets. One to two, two to ten, and more and more cultivators succumbed. Uncontrolled figures rampaged around the hall, their screams, cries of pain, and the sounds of shattering magical artifacts mingling together in a horrifying spectacle.

Those cultivators with slightly higher cultivation levels could barely hold back with their spiritual energy shields, desperately wielding their swords to parry the onrushing madmen. However, those cultivators with only the early stage of Qi Refining cultivation were simply unable to withstand the corrosive evil energy. Often, they would only have their sleeves grazed by the black mist before their eyes rolled back, they lost their minds, and turned to attack their former fellow disciples. The black mist surged like a tide in the hall, everywhere were out-of-control cultivators engaging in self-harm and mutual combat, bloodstains were everywhere, and the tragic scene was comparable to a living hell.

Fortunately, several hundred cultivators who had retained their sanity did not scatter and flee. Following the orders of several high-ranking cultivators, they huddled tightly in the center of the hall, back to back, forming a thick circular defensive line. Layers of spiritual energy protected those within the circle, as they gritted their teeth and resisted the evil puppets attacking from all directions. Outside the defensive line were mindless cultivators who constantly rammed and clawed at the spiritual energy barrier. Black mist seeped into the circle through the gaps in the ramming, making the defensive line teeter on the brink of collapse; the situation was extremely precarious.

Zhang Yang immediately saw the perilous situation in the hall, his brows furrowing tightly, his heart sinking to the bottom—the current situation was far worse than he had anticipated, and the cultivators in the circle alone could not hold out for long.

"Fellow disciples, follow me to their aid!"

Zhang Yang let out a low shout, activating all the light golden Dao patterns of the second level of Foundation Establishment around his body. A faint golden light of divine bones rose from his body. The twelve inner disciples, Su Qingyao, and Lin Wanqing followed closely behind. The group, holding magic weapons, quickly broke through the low-level evil puppets wandering around the perimeter and rushed straight into the defensive circle formed by the central cultivators.

The surviving cultivators in the circle relaxed a little when they saw another batch of combat power arriving to provide support. They quickly made room for Zhang Yang and his group to join the defensive line. The group stood side by side and worked together to resist the endless stream of evil puppets coming from all sides.

But in just a short moment, everyone felt the utter despair of the situation.

The hundreds of sober cultivators present, though seemingly numerous, were actually at a complete disadvantage. Most of those who came to West City to participate in the martial arts trial were low-level cultivators from various small sects and independent cultivators, whose cultivation levels were generally low.

Even the weakest ants, when gathered together, can devour a tiger.

Countless cultivators corrupted by the evil energy charged forward, forming a dense, overwhelming encirclement outside the defensive line. These fallen warriors had lost all sense of pain and were tireless, driven solely by their instincts fueled by the evil spirits to rampage through the frenzied slaughter. Even those with only the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining cultivation were no match for the sheer number of them. Each attack was fierce and resolute, their claws and magical artifacts slashing and clawing wildly and haphazardly.

The defensive line was fraught with danger; a slight misstep could result in scratches, contamination with evil energy, or a fatal blow from a random attack. In less than half an incense stick's time, nearly thirty of the hundreds of cultivators who had been holding their ground together had been wounded or killed, their blood staining the bluestone floor of the hall, creating a suffocating atmosphere.

Only Zhang Yang, with his Foundation Establishment Level 2 cultivation, appeared exceptionally powerful at this moment.

His inner energy was profound and refined, far surpassing that of other cultivators of the same level. Every punch and palm strike he unleashed carried a powerful and domineering spiritual energy shockwave. The evil puppets that encountered his attacks were all sent flying backward, their spiritual energy shattered, and they were temporarily paralyzed. The golden light of suppression that came with his divine-grade physique surrounded his body, and any black mist that came within three feet of him would automatically dissolve and dissipate, making it almost impossible for anyone to get close to him.

The surviving cultivators around them were all shocked and filled with awe as they watched Zhang Yang's overwhelming combat power.

They knew perfectly well that Zhang Yang was the strongest fighter among everyone present at that moment!

Even Zhang Yang, the strongest among them, could only passively defend and struggle to cope, unable to completely eliminate the chaos. The rest of the group felt an endless sense of powerlessness.

In cultivation, each realm is a different world; a difference of even one realm is like heaven and earth. Moreover, Zhang Yang is at the Foundation Establishment stage, crushing all the Qi Refining cultivators present. Even a Foundation Establishment Level 2 expert was held back by this endless sea of ​​evil spirits. How long could this group of low-level cultivators hold out, banding together to defend themselves?

While continuously repelling the attacking puppets, Zhang Yang was also focused and rapidly thinking of a countermeasure.

Fighting and defending like this is nothing short of a slow death!

The evil energy continued to spread, growing increasingly concentrated, and more and more cultivators would fall victim. What worried him even more was that the evil spirit controlling his senior brother in the distance had not yet shown itself, undoubtedly lying in wait and gathering its strength. Once it arrived at this battlefield, the already crumbling defenses would collapse instantly, and everyone would be doomed!

Lin Wanqing's cultivation level was low, and she was unaware that her current senior brother was not being controlled, but rather a demon in disguise; therefore, the information she gave Zhang Yang and his group was also wrong, and Zhang Yang still thought he was being controlled.

Just as the situation was on the verge of complete collapse, three knowledgeable rogue cultivators in the defensive circle hurriedly shouted a message.

"Brother! Holding out like this isn't working! Let's retreat!"

"To the old alley in the east! To Lord Shi's mansion!"

"The old alleys of Dongcheng are traditional residential courtyards with high walls and enclosed courtyards, making them excellent fortifications! Unlike this open hall, which is vulnerable from all sides and impossible to defend!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present turned their gaze to Zhang Yang, awaiting his decision.

Zhang Yang's eyes flashed rapidly as he quickly weighed the pros and cons.

With an endless horde of evil spirits ahead and a lurking, supreme evil behind, holding out in the west city would mean certain death. Retreating to the old alleys of the east city and relying on the sealed mansion to hold out for reinforcements is the only way to survive!

"Everyone, listen up! Evacuate the West City Hall and retreat at full speed to Lord Shi's mansion in the East City Old Alley!"

Zhang Yang made a decisive decision and sternly issued a retreat order.

Exhausted and terrified, the group immediately responded and assembled, following closely behind Zhang Yang and his group, fighting as they retreated rapidly towards the East City Old Alley.

Everyone thought that the old alley in Dongcheng was the only hope for survival in this desperate situation.

Unbeknownst to them, that seemingly ordinary old residential street concealed a sinister and terrifying danger far more sinister than the chaos of the western city. What awaited them was not a path to survival, but a deeper, bottomless abyss.