The deafening sound of water grew closer, roaring as if just below the cliff. The gray-purple mist ahead had indeed thinned, and the vision had opened up considerably, but in its place was a stillness and coldness that made the soul tremble.
This was not ordinary mist dissipating, but an area formed by a higher, purer power pushing aside and compressing all impurities. The air was filled with visible airflow, like black sand grains drifting slowly—Miasma Fiend Qi!
Wherever these black air currents passed, even the twisted strange trees and resilient poisonous grasses rapidly withered, carbonized, and finally turned to ash. The ground was no longer muddy but a bizarre, glass-like hard shell as if scorched by intense fire, dead and devoid of vitality.
The moment Wang Tiechui's remaining consciousness touched this aura, he completely fell into a coma, his body convulsing violently, and ominous black spots began to appear on his skin. Even with the low-grade spirit stones keeping him alive, he had reached his limit.
Ye Chen's situation was equally dire. His "Miasma Affinity" ability was greatly reduced in front of this pure Miasma Fiend Qi, only managing to slightly slow the erosion. The cold fiendish energy was all-pervasive, penetrating his Qi and Blood defense and directly attacking his meridians and Dantian, fiercely clashing with the residual Star Power and faint Spiritual Energy within him, causing tearing pain.
He stared fixedly ahead. Vaguely visible, this area filled with Miasma Fiend Qi was not wide. At its end lay a bottomless great ravine shrouded in dense water vapor and residual miasma—Dragon Fall Ravine! As long as he could charge through this Miasma Fiend Qi belt, which was no more than a hundred meters wide, he might reach the ravine's edge and find a sliver of hope!
Retreat meant death, staying meant death; only moving forward!
"I'll risk it!" A fierce glint flashed in Ye Chen's eyes as he placed his last hope on the Ascension Token in his embrace and the larger Star Stone remnant. He tightly gripped the Ascension Token in one hand, pressed the Star Stone remnant against his chest with the other, and simultaneously circulated the Basic Body Tempering Art with all his might, urging the wisp of airflow in his Dantian without regard for consequence, and stepped into the black Miasma Fiend Qi!
"Ssss—"
Like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water! The moment of contact, the Qi and Blood barrier on his body let out a mournful cry of being unable to bear the load, instantly eroded and dissolved! The cold fiendish energy acted directly on his skin, causing piercing pain and numbness.
【 Qi and Blood greatly depleted due to erosion by pure Miasma Fiend Qi! 【
【 Physique under immense pressure, Basic Body Tempering Art proficiency passively increased! 【
【 Star Power and Miasma Fiend Qi fiercely clashed! 【
However, it was precisely in this extremely harsh environment that the two items in his embrace also reacted!
The Ascension Token suddenly became scorching hot, emitting a moderate, peaceful, yet supremely majestic faint golden halo that enveloped his entire body. Though thin, this halo tenaciously resisted most of the direct erosion from the Miasma Fiend Qi, like a lone lamp in a storm.
And the Star Stone remnant on his chest, stimulated by the Miasma Fiend Qi and drawn by the Ascension Token, had its residual Star Power completely ignited, transforming into a cool stream that madly poured into his nearly dried meridians, repairing the damage caused by the fiendish energy while engaging in a tug-of-war with it!
Destruction and rebirth unfolded simultaneously within him!
【 Understanding of the Token's properties deepened by resisting Miasma Fiend Qi with the Ascension Token. 【
【 Star Power maximally stimulated, physique tempered at the brink of destruction, strength slightly improved! 【
【 Basic Body Tempering Art proficiency +10! +10! +10!…… 【
The System's notifications flashed by like a waterfall! Under this immense pressure at the brink of life and death, his potential was squeezed to the extreme! Every step he took was heavy as a thousand pounds, dancing with death!
Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters...
Ye Chen's vision began to blur, and in his ears, only his own gasping breaths like bellows and the drum-like beating of his heart could be heard. He gritted his teeth tightly, black blood foam seeping from the corners of his mouth, a sign of his internal organs being eroded by the fiendish energy. But his grip on Wang Tiechui's arm did not loosen in the slightest.
Fifty meters, sixty meters...
The Ascension Token's light began to flicker, and the energy of the Star Stone remnant was also nearing depletion. Yet, the Miasma Fiend Qi ahead seemed to have become even denser.
Just as he was about to despair and give up—
"Wuu—"
A low hiss, filled with malice and greed, suddenly sounded in the rolling black fiendish energy ahead!
Immediately after, a distorted black shadow, completely condensed from pure Miasma Fiend Qi, with an indeterminate form and two points of scarlet light flickering at its center, floated out like a ghost, blocking Ye Chen's path!
【 Encountered a Primary Fiend Spirit born from pure Miasma Fiend Qi and foul energy! 【
【 Warning: Fiend Spirits possess extremely strong mental attack capabilities and the ability to corrupt magic tools and living beings! 【
The Fiend Spirit's scarlet gaze locked onto Ye Chen... no, it locked onto the faint golden halo emanating from the Ascension Token in his embrace! It instinctively felt that the item held immense attraction for it, or rather, immense threat!
"Wuu—!"
The Fiend Spirit let out a sharp mental shock, like an invisible awl, fiercely stabbing into Ye Chen's mind!
Ye Chen grunted, blood instantly gushing from his seven orifices, his consciousness blank as if struck by a heavy hammer, and his body swayed, about to fall.
【 Spiritual Sense injured by the Fiend Spirit's mental attack! 【
【 Ascension Token autonomously protected its master, partially offsetting the mental shock! 【
It was the Ascension Token! At that critical moment, another warm current surged from the token, protecting his consciousness from dissipating!
And at the moment Ye Chen's consciousness blurred and his body stiffened, the Fiend Spirit transformed into a black stream of light, carrying dense foulness and the aura of death, lunging straight for his face! It wanted to devour this living being and seize that which it craved and feared!
Just as the black stream of light was about to engulf Ye Chen—
"Roar!!!"
A roar, as if from the primeval ancient times, filled with boundless ferocity and battle intent, exploded from Ye Chen's side!
Wang Tiechui, who had been unconscious, had opened his eyes at some point! But in those eyes, the usual simple and honest and purity were gone, replaced by a chaotic, primal, and all-shredding battle intent!The terrifying wound on his chest, under the erosion of black spots and fiendish energy, was actually emitting a strange dark red glow!
A wild, heavy aura, as if it could crush the void, erupted from his body like a dormant volcano!
It was the Chaos Battle Body! At this moment of life and death, stimulated by the Fiend Spirit's extreme foul energy and the threat to his life, a trace of his sealed ancient bloodline, for the first time, uncontrollably and passively awakened!
Wang Tiechui violently broke free from Ye Chen's arm, like a rampaging ancient fierce beast. Without dodging, he instead met the lunging Fiend Spirit with a punch!
No spiritual power brilliance, no exquisite techniques, only the purest, most savage strength! Where the fist passed, the air let out a sound of unbearable sonic boom, and even the surrounding dense Miasma Fiend Qi was forcibly pushed aside!
"Bang!!!"
The fist of chaotic battle intent, and the body of the foul Fiend Spirit, collided fiercely!
There was no earth-shattering roar, only a teeth-grinding sound of erosion and annihilation, like a hot knife cutting through butter!
The Fiend Spirit let out an extremely shrill, fear-filled shriek. Its body, condensed from Miasma Fiend Qi, before Wang Tiechui's fist imbued with Chaos Aura, melted and dispersed rapidly like ice and snow in the sun! The two scarlet points of light within let out a cry of unwillingness before completely extinguishing.
【 Teammate Wang Tiechui activated unknown bloodline power, destroying the Primary Fiend Spirit! 【
【 Gained a trace of pure soul energy, mental power slightly recovered. 【
One punch! Just one punch! The Fiend Spirit that had brought Ye Chen to despair was directly scattered by Wang Tiechui, who was in a terrible state and only unleashed his power instinctively!
However, after delivering this earth-shattering punch, the chaotic battle intent in Wang Tiechui's eyes rapidly receded, his body went limp, and he fell straight backward, his aura becoming even weaker than before, as if that punch had drained all his life force.
"Tiechui!" Ye Chen, enduring the severe pain in his mind, quickly supported him.
The path ahead was clear! The final obstacle had been swept away by Wang Tiechui's incomprehensible burst of power!
Ye Chen looked back at the faint sounds of pursuers from behind, then at the gasping Wang Tiechui in his arms and the dimming Ascension Token in his hand.
Without the slightest hesitation, he used his last bit of strength, dragging Wang Tiechui, and stumbled through the last few dozen meters of the Miasma Fiend Qi zone!
"Plop!"
The two fell heavily onto the hard, cold rock. Behind them was the deadly Miasma Fiend Qi zone, and before them, a boundless abyss shrouded in clouds and mist, with the sound of water roaring—Dragon Fall Ravine.
A biting mountain wind, carrying dense water vapor, billowed up from the abyss, blowing onto Ye Chen's face with bone-chilling coldness, yet also dispelling some of the lingering deathly stillness.
He lay on the cliff edge, looking down into the churning clouds and bottomless depths, only the deafening roar of water continuously reaching his ears.
A dead end? Or... a way to live?
Ye Chen laboriously turned over, lying on his back, gasping for air, looking at the gray sky. He tightly clutched the Ascension Token, its light almost extinguished, and felt the faint pulse of Wang Tiechui in his arms.
From being abandoned by his family, to activating the System, obtaining the Ascension Token, meeting Wang Tiechui, killing Zhao Hu in return, and now being forced to this perilous abyss... in just a few days, it felt like a lifetime.
He slowly raised his hand, looking at the ancient token in his palm, the fatigue in his eyes gone, replaced by a rock-solid determination.
"Ascension Token... Azure Profound Dao Sect..."
He whispered to himself, a cold curve mixed with blood foam and dirt pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"This immortal path, I, Ye Chen, will walk it!"
His voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable power, scattering in the howling wind of Dragon Fall Ravine.