3: Deep in the poisonous miasma, the Soul Palace altar appears!

At the bottom of Soul Severing Cliff, a thick, pulpy, sickly green poisonous mist silently churned, completely engulfing Lin Chen's figure.

He leaned against a bone-chilling black giant rock, his fingertips clutching the Snake Saliva Grass.

The crimson veins in the grass's core pulsed faintly under the mist's embrace, like a heart forcibly ripped out, emitting an alluring yet dangerous Yin Qi medicinal power.

Deep within his Dantian, a grain-sized, pitch-black Qi vortex trembled with unprecedented frequency.

That was not merely a pure craving for the Snake Saliva Grass, but a more complex, more intense Throbbing—a greedy desire to seize mixed with an instinctive, deeply ingrained dread!

The source of this dread was not the poisonous grass in his hand, but the cold, dead rock beneath his feet, and the lingering Qi he had briefly touched when his Shadow Erosion Dou Qi had just devoured the rock!

"Cold! Ancient! Evil!"

That Qi was like a poisonous snake lurking deep in the bone marrow; though only a wisp remained, it carried an indifference that looked down upon ants and a malice that could freeze the Soul.

It was of the same origin as the Hall of Souls memories deep within the black stone imprint on his palm, yet it was even deeper, even purer, as if…it was the mark of some higher-level existence!

This bottom of Soul Severing Cliff was definitely not as simple as merely nurturing a Snake Saliva Grass!

Lin Chen's breathing under his hood became unusually slow, his Shadow Erosion Dou Qi spontaneously flowing over his body, greedily sucking in the dense poisonous mist around him like a living thing.

The highly toxic Yin Qi and Death Qi were decomposed and transformed, turning into pure energy that converged into the Qi vortex, nourishing his power and suppressing the chill originating from his Soul.

His gaze, like a hawk's, pierced through layers of churning mist, fixedly locking onto the huge, smooth, ominous black rock bed beneath his feet.

When devouring the rock where the Snake Saliva Grass was rooted, the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, like the most precise probe, had briefly "touched" the structure deep within the rock layer—a huge void existed there!

And that chilling evil Qi was precisely emanating from the depths of that void!

"Opportunity? Or…a burial ground?" Lin Chen whispered, his voice echoing coldly in the dead silent mist.

He slowly crouched down, his left hand's five fingers spread, gently pressing on the cold, smooth rock surface.

His consciousness sank into his Dantian, fully activating the pitch-black Shadow Erosion Qi vortex!

Buzz—!

A devouring will, ten times stronger than when he had previously devoured ordinary rocks, erupted suddenly!

The shadow beneath his palm instantly became like boiling ink, countless extremely fine black tendrils, like the roots of a living organism, madly burrowing into the hard rock!

"Hiss…hiss hiss hiss…"

A dense, teeth-grinding sound of corrosion rang out.

The dark rock, under the erosion of the Shadow Erosion power, quickly became gray, brittle, and then decomposed into the finest dust, completely devoured by the writhing darkness, like snow under a scorching sun!

A fist-sized hole extended downwards at a visible speed.

As the hole deepened, that chilling evil Qi became clearer and clearer!

Cold, dead silent, as if it could freeze the Soul!

At the same time, an indescribably pure and extreme Yin Qi energy also flowed back along the Shadow Erosion tendrils!

Boom!

Lin Chen's entire body trembled violently, the pitch-black Qi vortex in his Dantian, like parched land meeting sweet rain, spun and expanded wildly!

The grain-sized Qi vortex almost instantly enlarged by a circle, bringing with it a low roar as it spun!

Shadow Erosion Dou Qi surged and roared through his Meridians, a sense of power filling him like never before!

The energy emanating from deep within this rock layer, for Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, was even more compatible, even more "nourishing" than poisonous mist, Demonic Beast Death Qi, or negative emotions!

However, the pleasure of surging power did not cloud his mind.

That ever-present evil will, like a persistent disease, surged in along with the pure energy, attempting to erode his mind!

In his mind, the wails of Hall of Souls prisoners, the illusions of ghostly blue flames burning Souls, the sinister laughter of bone scythes tearing flesh…like a lake into which a huge stone had been thrown, suddenly became incredibly clear and violent!

"Hmph!" Lin Chen grunted, two points of dark red blood light suddenly illuminating in his eyes!

The fragments of Hall of Souls memories from deep within the black stone imprint now became his only barrier against this mental erosion!

He fought fire with fire, forcibly transforming those bloody and sinful scenes into a mental wall, desperately guarding the last trace of clarity in his spiritual platform!

At the same time, the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi's powerful assimilation and devouring properties for negative energy also spontaneously operated, grinding away the invading fragments of evil will like a millstone.

"Give me…open!" Lin Chen roared, his right palm also slamming onto the rock!

With both palms, the Shadow Erosion devouring power surged!

Rumble!

The massive rock bed beneath his feet let out a low groan, unable to bear the weight.

A deep cave entrance, large enough for one person to pass through, with edges as smooth as a mirror, suddenly appeared beneath Lin Chen's feet!

Thick, almost solid, cold black Qi, mixed with pure Yin Qi energy and a nauseating evil will, erupted from the cave entrance like a volcano that had been suppressed for tens of millions of years!

The Shadow Erosion Dou Qi on Lin Chen's body violently boiled as if encountering a natural enemy, desperately resisting the impact of the black Qi.

He endured the stinging pain and dizziness at the Soul level, and without hesitation, leaped into the bottomless darkness!

After falling only a few feet, his feet landed on solid ground.

Shadow Erosion Dou Qi automatically condensed in his eyes, dispelling the absolute darkness.

What he saw before him made Lin Chen, who was accustomed to the bloody memories of Hall of Souls, gasp in a cold mist!

This was a massive natural cave, with countless sickly white stalactites hanging from the ceiling, like inverted fangs.

In the center of the cave, there was a bizarre altar, three zhang high!

The altar was entirely pitch black, its material neither metal nor stone, and it was bone-chilling to the touch, as if it could freeze the Soul.

The surface of the altar was covered with dense, twisted, and grotesque bas-reliefs—not any known auspicious symbols or totems, but countless struggling, suffering Souls!

They were pierced, twisted, and torn by invisible chains, their hollow eye sockets filled only with eternal despair!

The entire altar exuded a terrifying aura of desecrating life and devouring Souls!

At the base of the altar, nine fist-sized, dull dark purple crystals were embedded, arranged in a twisted nine-pointed star formation.

Although their energy was depleted, one could still feel the lingering, chilling spatial fluctuations within them.

And in the very center of the altar, a millstone-sized, slowly rotating, ink-like mass of darkness floated!

This mass of darkness was not merely a lack of light, but a void of "existence"!

It rotated silently, emitting an ancient will of coldness and evil a hundred times stronger than the lingering Qi in the rock layer outside the cave!

It was like a miniature, sleeping Universe black hole, greedily devouring all light, sound, and even…vitality around it!

The Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, upon encountering this mass of darkness, let out an unprecedented shriek, almost a mixture of greed and fear!

Lin Chen could clearly "feel" that the pitch-black Qi vortex in his Dantian had an instinctive, almost worshipful craving for the core of this mass of darkness!

But at the same time, the Qi vortex was also frantically warning—approach it, devour it, and one might gain unimaginable power, but even more likely…be assimilated by it, becoming a part of this dark altar, becoming one of the countless suffering bas-reliefs!

"Hall of Souls altar…and this…Shadow Source Core?!" Lin Chen's heart pounded in his chest, almost bursting out.

Fragments of memories from the black stone imprint churned, and a vague term flashed in the depths of his consciousness.

This was definitely not an ordinary Hall of Souls outpost!

The antiquity of this altar and the purity of this core far exceeded the scenes of ordinary sub-halls in his imprint!

This was more like…the ruins of some ancient Hall of Souls experiment, or a forgotten place of sacrifice!

Whoosh—!

Just as Lin Chen's mind was greatly shaken, weighing the immense temptation against the fatal risk, an invisible, yet vast and abyssal terrifying Soul Power, like an unseen tide, swept across the entire cave without warning!

This power was pure, scorching, carrying a grand and righteous sense of perceiving all things and purging evil, completely at odds with the gloomy and evil atmosphere within the cave!

Medicine Sage!

Lin Chen's hair stood on end!

Shadow Erosion Dou Qi instantly contracted to its extreme, his entire being seemingly transforming into a part of the cave's shadows, his Qi, heartbeat, body temperature…all vital signs compressed to near nothingness!

He suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing through the cave entrance, as if he saw the black-clothed youth on the cliff face, enveloped by Medicine Old's Soul Power, investigating downwards with a look of surprise and uncertainty!

The scorching Soul Power, like an invisible searchlight, swept through the thick poisonous miasma and complex rock formations.

It passed over the cave entrance where Lin Chen was hiding, swept over the churning miasma below, and even… paused for a moment at the edge of the cave!

Lin Chen felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown under the scorching sun, with nowhere to hide!

The Shadow Erosion Qi vortex in his Dantian spun frantically, devouring any trace of his own escaping aura, and the shadows on his body flowed even more thickly.

He stared intently at the slowly rotating Shadow Source Core at the center of the altar, and a crazy thought exploded in his mind!

The owner of that scorching Soul Power seemed somewhat puzzled, not detecting any clear life aura, but the pure and evil ancient Yin Qi emanating from the depths of the cave aroused his great vigilance and interest.

The Soul Power, like a tentacle, began to cautiously extend and probe into the cave entrance, towards the altar!

Can't wait any longer!

A sharp glint flashed in Lin Chen's eyes!

He no longer hesitated, taking a sudden step forward, his left hand forming a claw, not grasping at the dangerous Shadow Source Core, but striking like lightning towards a dark-purple crystal embedded in a node of the nine-pointed star array on the altar's base, a crystal whose energy was not yet completely exhausted!

At the same time, he aimed his right palm at the rotating Shadow Source Core, and the Shadow Erosion Qi vortex in his Dantian rotated in reverse with unprecedented ferocity!

“Shadow Erosion: Source Devourer!”

A faint but pure thread of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, like the finest silk, accurately shot into the slowly rotating Shadow Source Core!

Buzz—!

The Shadow Source Core, which had been dormant for countless years, seemed to be awakened by this power, which was of the same origin but carried a strong will to devour!

The entire cavern suddenly darkened, and even the pale stalactites on the ceiling instantly lost their luster!

An evil will, a hundred times stronger than before, cold enough to freeze the Soul, like a sleeping ancient Vicious Beast opening its eyes, erupted with a roar!

The rotation of the Source Core suddenly accelerated, and a terrifying suction force appeared out of thin air, directly targeting the invading thread of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, and Lin Chen, the source of the thread!

Furthermore, a vast, chaotic, and dark torrent filled with endless negative emotions surged back along that thread!

“Ugh ah!” Lin Chen felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer, his face instantly turning ashen, and a trace of dark blood oozed from his nose and mouth!

But his left hand, gripping the dark-purple crystal, pulled violently with the help of this terrifying suction force!

Crack!

The dark-purple crystal embedded in the altar's base was actually torn off by him!

A violent spatial fluctuation instantly erupted from the crystal's fracture!

At the same time, that scorching Soul Power, as if burned by a hot iron, abruptly retracted the moment it encountered the terrifying evil will and spatial fluctuations erupting from the altar!

“Such strong Yin Qi! And… spatial fluctuations? There’s something down there!” Xiao Yan’s surprised voice faintly came from above, carrying unprecedented solemnity.

Lin Chen had no time to spare.

He clutched the crystal, which was cold to the touch and seemed to have a purple nebula flowing within, feeling as if his Soul was about to be torn apart by the surging dark torrent and the Shadow Source Core's suction!

He abruptly severed the thread of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, while frantically injecting all the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi in his body into the dark-purple crystal in his hand!

Buzz!

The purple light on the crystal's surface intensified greatly!

An extremely unstable spatial vortex, just large enough for one person, instantly twisted into shape in front of the crystal!

Light and shadow distorted within the vortex, emitting chaotic spatial power!

Lin Chen did not hesitate, using his last bit of strength to throw the Snake Saliva Grass in his hand towards the Shadow Source Core at the center of the altar!

The Snake Saliva Grass fell into the rotating darkness like a mud ox entering the sea, instantly swallowed, only stirring up a faint ripple.

But this small ripple was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil!

Boom—!!!

The entire altar trembled violently!

The Shadow Source Core's rotation suddenly became furious!

Countless dark energy tentacles, like solid vengeful spirits, shot out from the Source Core, wildly lashing out in all directions!

The surging dark torrent also rushed in like a bursting dam!

The entire cavern groaned under the strain!

Lin Chen, using the chaotic and violent energy impact, suddenly fell backward, his figure instantly disappearing into the twisted spatial vortex!

Just as he vanished!

A scorching white flame, as bright as the scorching sun, like a sword of judgment tearing through the darkness, carrying terrifying high temperatures that could burn everything to ashes, suddenly pierced through the cave entrance and fiercely struck the raging Shadow Source Core!

“Bone Chilling Flame?! Master!” Xiao Yan’s shocked cry rang out.

Boom!!!!

A deafening explosion roared within the cavern!

The scorching white flame and the pitch-black Source Core energy violently collided and annihilated each other!

The entire Soul Severing Cliff seemed to be shaking violently!

A terrifying shockwave, mixed with shattered rocks and chaotic energy, shot up through the cave entrance!

The spatial vortex instantly collapsed and dissipated under the violent energy impact.

When the bone-white flame slowly receded, revealing Old Yao's illusory and incredibly solemn figure, the cavern was already in ruins.

The altar was covered in cracks, the nine-pointed star array was completely dim, and more than half of the dark-purple crystals on the base were shattered.

Although the Shadow Source Core was temporarily suppressed by the Bone Chilling Flame and had shrunk in size, its core darkness still swirled thickly, exuding a chilling evil and ancient aura.

Old Yao floated above the altar, his illusory fingers picking up a trace of cold, slippery Dou Qi lingering in the air, then looked at the clear mark on the altar's base where a crystal had been violently torn away, and the faint, sinister aura of Snake Saliva Grass that had not yet dissipated around the Source Core.

For the first time, a deep surprise and a hint of… disbelief appeared in his ancient eyes.

“The spatial stone was forcibly activated and taken away… the Snake Saliva Grass was used as bait and thrown into the Source Core to cause chaos… and this strange, cold Dou Qi residue… What ruthless and decisive methods!

What a… little rat hiding in the shadows!” Old Yao's voice was low, carrying an unprecedented chill, “Xiao Yan, it seems you’ve provoked… something extraordinary!”

Xiao Yan clung to the edge of the cave entrance, looking at the terrifying scene of the altar below and Old Yao's solemn expression, his face pale, his palms digging into the rock, his fingernails cracking and bleeding, yet he was oblivious.

His eyes burned with rage, and deeper within, there was a cold gloom.

That mysterious person hiding in the shadows not only stole his Snake Saliva Grass but also seemed to have taken something even more terrifying from this deadly place!

And the chaos the other party ignited before leaving almost dragged him and his master into an abyss of no return!

This debt, he, Xiao Yan, had noted down!

A hundred miles away from Soul Severing Cliff, deep within a barren stone forest.

The air twisted violently like water, and a disheveled figure was harshly “spit” out from it, crashing heavily onto the jagged strange rocks.

“Pfft!” Lin Chen spat out a mouthful of dark, clotted blood mixed with internal organ fragments, his whole body aching as if his bones had come apart.

He struggled to sit up, looking down at his left palm—the dark-purple spatial crystal was already covered in spiderweb-like cracks, its luster dim, clearly completely ruined.

But he survived.

He opened his right hand, and a wisp of pure, dark-green energy, carrying the unique fishysweetness and cold aura of Snake Saliva Grass, was being slowly refined, enveloped by Shadow Erosion Dou Qi.

This was the most core essence he had forcibly stripped from the Snake Saliva Grass before spatial teleportation.

Feeling the chaotic yet much more surging Shadow Erosion Dou Qi within him, and the cold, slippery black crystal core in his embrace (an associated energy crystal forcibly stripped from the spatial stone) that continuously emitted a pure, cold aura, and then recalling the terror of the altar and Old Yao's final, all-consuming bone-white flame…

Lin Chen wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, and beneath his hood, the blood-stained corner of his mouth slowly curved into a cold and maniacal arc.

Risk? Huge. Reward? Equally astonishing!

The path of shadows was inherently a dance with death!

And that enraged latent Dragon, he must be furious at this moment, right?

“Xiao Yan, Old Yao… The game has just begun.” His hoarse voice drifted through the barren stone forest, carrying the sweet scent of blood and shadows.