C1471 Restrained!

Enshrouded by the Shadowflame Blight Array, the swamp was a place of peril.

Clang! Clang!

Inside the fiery red furnace, Zhong Chichen awoke as if from a nightmare. Desperate to escape, he slammed his head against the lid of the furnace.

The furnace bubbled with a seven-colored tainted liquid, emitting thick clouds of smoke like boiling water.

Du Yazi's face drained of color as he hurried to the top of the furnace, standing on the lid to prevent Zhong Chichen's escape.

"How could this be happening?" Tong Rui's face was etched with concern as she watched the Sect Master of the Order of Healing struggle within the furnace. "This has never happened before! He usually opens his eyes and thrashes about for a bit, but he always calms down eventually."

"We've always waited for him to regain consciousness inside the furnace before we'd remove the lid and speak with him."

The Taintborn traitor stepped closer to the furnace, keeping his gaze fixed on Zhong Chichen as he spoke. "I can't understand his urgency. Why is he so desperate to get out of the furnace?"

Tong Rui, whose beauty was preserved by mystical means, looked at Zhong Chichen with eyes brimming with concern and worry.

"This isn't normal," Ye Hen chimed in.

"You won't be able to hold the lid down."

Loong Jie flashed a grin, his towering figure reaching out to place a hand on the lid, gesturing for Du Yazi to step aside. "I think I know what's causing this. Don't be too alarmed."

"But if the lid is lifted, the poison will spill out. What about you?" Du Yazi cautioned.

"Hahaha!" Loong Jie burst into laughter. "Relax! The diluted poison of the Defiled World is nothing to me." He appeared utterly unconcerned, even annoyed by Du Yazi's underestimation. With a sudden surge of strength, he pressed down.

Boom!

A burst of golden light erupted, sending Du Yazi flying. Whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to retreat.

"You've sensed it too, haven't you?" Loong Jie turned to Feng Zhong once more.

"Yes," Feng Zhong nodded. "The demons and spirits within the Rainbow Ocean, all corroded by the miasma, are swarming underground through numerous hidden tunnels. I sense that something formidable is calling to them."

"There must be a high-ranking member of the Terra Fiend Clan who possesses this kind of energy! Wasn't Huangyin the one Yu Yuan mentioned before he vanished?"

Despite being the leader of the Windspeaker, his knowledge of the Terra Fiend and the Bloodbrawlers paled in comparison to that of the old dragon.

So he sought advice with humility.

"Indeed, Huangyin is one of the progenitors of the Terra Fiends. Since Yu Yuan brought him up, there's no doubt about it," Loong Jie said calmly, resting his palm on the furnace lid. Zhong Chichen, unconscious and devoid of spiritual wisdom, struggled in vain to budge the lid.

"My theory is that Yu Yuan's real body entered the Dragon Slaying Stage, putting pressure on Huangyin. As for Huangyin, with his divine powers as a Terra Fiend ancestor, he's likely summoning nearby devils, evil spirits, and various aberrations to battle Yu Yuan."

Loong Jie stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I'm tempted to go down there myself."

Feng Zhong gasped in surprise.

"Ha, just kidding. I'm not actually going down there," Loong Jie said with a slight squint, pausing to consider before offering a serious suggestion. "Don't wait for any updates from Yu Yuan. Inform the Chamber of Commerce immediately about the events in the Rainbow Ocean and what befell Zhong Chichen."

"Senior!" exclaimed Du Yazi, Tong Rui, and Ye Hen in unison.

"Silence!" Loong Jie barked, fixing them with a fierce glare. "You have no idea what's unfolding below! Once President Lyi is briefed, he'll inform the Boulderdawn right away. They're the most adept at handling the remnants of the Terra Fiend and the Bloodbrawlers!"

"I've got it!" Feng Zhong responded promptly.

He quickly summoned his device to reach out to the leader of the Everlands Chamber of Commerce, deep within the Rainbow Ocean.

...

Deep underground, beside the Seven-Colored Lake.

As Yuan Qingxi invoked the Bloodbrawlers' Evil Curse using Du Jing's soul, Yu Yuan's soul began to reel from the agony, growing increasingly disordered.

The Lunar Spirit, Solar Spirit, and dominant soul, interconnected and merging memories, all contained fragments related to Du Jing.

As a result of Yuan Qingxi employing the Evil Curse crafted by Du Jing, all three of Yu Yuan's souls were sent into turmoil.

At that moment, Huangyin, encircling the Seven-Colored Lake, had amassed tens of thousands of demons, ghosts, and otherworldly spirits, with even more rapidly converging on the location.

Huangyin appeared to be in deep contemplation, chanting in an ancient demonic tongue, seemingly needing to maintain the incantation.

Only through persistent chanting could he summon the hidden demons and ghosts from within a thousand miles and organize them into a strategic array.

Should his chanting be disrupted, the nefarious array would fail to materialize, rendering all his efforts futile.

"Master, master..."

Inside the Crucible of Evil, Yu Yiyi repeatedly called out to Yu Yuan in a soft voice.

She, too, sensed that when Yuan Qingxi enacted the Evil Curse through Du Jing, Yu Yuan's three souls became entangled, causing his memories to weave together chaotically.

Consequently, Yu Yuan struggled to distinguish between his past and present, unable to discern his identity in his second and third lives.

The experiences of Hong Qi and Yu Yuan, once scrambled, left him confused about his true identity, to the point where he didn't even know whether he was dead or alive...

The Bloodbrawlers' sinister spell was infamous for its oddity in that era, having ensnared numerous formidable individuals.

Those who had endured it even once had their memories so disordered that they often lost their sanity, unable to recognize themselves.

Yu Yuan, however, possessed memories spanning three lifetimes!

Even though the memories from his first life had never surfaced and remained uninvolved, the mental backlash from the disrupted memories of his second and third lives far exceeded that of other cultivators.

"It's pointless. You are merely the artifact soul of the Crucible of Evil. What effect could your cries possibly have?"

Yuan Qingxi, observing Yu Yuan's soul in disarray and recognizing the effectiveness of the Evil Curse, allowed himself to relax. While reciting the spell, he could still afford to split his focus, observing the situation and engaging in conversation with Yu Yiyi.

Indeed, even as he spoke with Yu Yiyi, he remained vigilant, closely monitoring both White Bone and the God of Ghosts.

The only thing he feared was White Bone launching a second attack, using the Evil Curse bound by Du Jing's ghostly spirit to shatter the curse woven from the threads of karma and memory. He knew White Bone possessed such power. It was only when he noticed White Bone's indifferent demeanor, showing no intention of striking, that he truly relaxed. "Huangyin, there's no need to hold back. The demon beneath you can afford to be more daring."

"Oh," came the response.

The Terra Fiend Ancestor, head bowed, emitted another sound from within his chest, a sound that did not interfere with his incantations. The previously slick tentacles of the corpulent demon suddenly stiffened, turning into spear-like projections of grayish-black, shimmering with a cold, metallic sheen, as though capable of piercing through anything.

Like bolts of lightning, the rigid tentacles thrust toward Yu Yuan, who stood motionless before the Dragon Slaying Stage.

Whoosh!

In its gray fox form, the Terra Fiend, with eyes burning with purple flames, displayed a complex spell, seemingly hastening the disarray of Yu Yuan's spirit. The gray fox's furry fist, still clenched, swung through the air toward Yu Yuan's chest.

Thud!

A small indentation appeared instantly on Yu Yuan's chest. The spear-like tentacles of the demon seized the chance to pierce Yu Yuan's waist, thighs, neck, and arms.

In that moment, Yu Yuan seemed to be skewered by a thousand swords, yet he felt no pain. His face and eyes were clouded with bewilderment.

"Master!"

Yu Yiyi burst forth from the Crucible of Evil. With a mental summons, the ice blade, transformed by the Frost Queen, appeared in her grasp. She wielded the ice blade with all her might, attempting to sever the demon's tentacles one by one.

But more slimy tentacles emerged from the swollen demon, entwining with her mid-flight. As the tentacles closed in, her maneuvering space shrank. She was so occupied with fending off the tentacles that she couldn't rescue Yu Yuan.

The gray fox let out a faint snort and continued to hammer down with its tiny fists from a distance.

Yu Yiyi, clutching the ice blade, was suddenly struck hard. Her frail and graceful form was sent reeling backward in a tumultuous retreat.

She was swiftly ensnared by the slimy tentacles, quickly becoming engulfed within their grasp.

​