Inside the meditation chamber, the air seemed to solidify. Tang Xiaoqi maintained his seated position, unmoving for a long while. Only his heavily heaving chest and the complex lights constantly shifting in his eyes revealed the tremendous storm his heart was experiencing.
Father Xu Zhan's heroic, resolute memory was deeply carved into his soul like a brand. Every scene, every thread of emotion, was extremely clear, extremely heavy. This wasn't observing a piece of history from outside—it was personally experiencing a hundred-year-old scene of despair and sacrifice.
He slowly lowered his head, gazing again at the warm cyan-colored jade pendant in his hand. At this moment, this object that had accompanied his growth and granted him his power source looked different in his eyes. It was no longer merely his mother's relic or inheritance token, but... a lotus seed? A seed transformed from the ancient treasure called the "World-Purifying Green Lotus"!
As this understanding clarified, the jade pendant seemed to produce deeper resonance with him. A more ancient, more vast stream of information—not belonging to any person, but inherent in the "purification source" itself as inherited memory—began naturally flowing and emerging in his heart.
He "saw"... at the beginning of the universe's creation, when chaos was still undefined, within boundless void, an ultimate treasure carrying "purification" and "creation" sources was gestated—the World-Purifying Green Lotus. The Green Lotus swayed, scattering clear radiance, cleansing chaos, differentiating pure from turbid, providing the original "pure" foundation for countless worlds' birth.
However, where there is light, there must be darkness; where there is purification, there must be corruption. Born simultaneously with the World-Purifying Green Lotus, the universe's dark side—that collection of all destruction, chaos, decadence, and negative emotions—also gestated its opposite—the Ultimate Dark Demon Source. The Demon Source instinctively yearned to devour the Green Lotus, to make up for its missing "order" and "creation" characteristics, thereby achieving a terrible yet perfect balance, even... transcendence.
This battle between light and darkness at the source level spanned countless epochs, playing out in different corners of the universe in different forms.
After unknown eons, during a fierce confrontation between Dao and demons that affected countless heavens, the World-Purifying Green Lotus suffered severe damage. Its main body disintegrated; most petals and leaves scattered across the ten thousand worlds as streams of light, becoming the source of various purification divine objects. Its three core seeds of, however, fled into the void, whereabouts unknown.
One of those lotus seeds, after drifting through the void for countless ages, fell into this realm. An ancient cultivator of remarkable talent and profound knowledge of the Xu family obtained it. Sensing the vast purification power and potential danger within the lotus seed, he didn't try to completely refine and claim it for himself. Instead, using his own bloodline as the guide and family fortune as the foundation, he carefully nurtured the lotus seed, letting it slowly release power to bless descendants, while also bearing the responsibility of guardianship to prevent it from falling into evil hands.
This was the true origin of the Xuolan Manor's Xu family's "purification source"! It wasn't a technique the Xu family cultivated themselves, but a living "seed" from antiquity that they had guarded for generations!
The Xu family ancestors set restrictions: only those with pure Xu bloodline and benevolent hearts could draw upon the lotus seed's trace power and transform it for their own use. This was both a blessing and a shackle. The Xu family prospered because of it, yet also constantly faced the risk of being coveted.
And the demonic lord had precisely sensed this seed's, from the same origin yet diametrically opposite source aura as this universe's Ultimate Dark Demon Source. It crossed realms and descended upon this world! Its goal from the start was crystal clear—seize the lotus seed, devour and fuse with it, make up for its deficiency, achieve an unprecedented perfect demonic body! Then it would transcend ordinary demonic paths, become something far more terrifying, even to erode and distort the entire universe's laws!
The massacre at Xuolan Manor a hundred years ago was fundamentally not a ordinary conflict between righteous and evil forces, but a cruel microcosm of the light-versus-darkness contest at the cosmic source level playing out in this remote realm!
The demonic lord used Shadow Serpent Pavilion as its claws, launching a surprise attack, all for this lotus seed! At the final moment, Father Xu Zhan saw through the demonic lord's ultimate goal. He deeply understood that once the lotus seed fell into the demonic lord's hands, it wouldn't just be Xuolan Manor facing ruin—the entire cultivation world, even this world, would face an abyss of irrevocable disaster.
He was powerless to protect the lotus seed in direct confrontation. So he made that insane decision—he actively embraced the demonic seed's erosion, using his own soul and body as the prison cage, sealing the demonic lord's partial core source that had entered his body together with most of the lotus seed's power!
This was a dual seal. On one hand, he endured eternal torment to prevent the demonic lord from immediately obtaining the complete lotus seed. On the other hand, he protected the lotus seed's most core source, preventing it from falling into demonic hands. Simultaneously, he separated a thread of "life force" and "inheritance" from the lotus seed, sealing it into another prepared jade pendant (Child Jade), and handed it to his infant son Xiao Qi.
This was the complete truth.
Heavy, impossibly heavy. This truth far exceeded any of Xiao Qi's previous imaginings. The burden on his shoulders was no longer simple family hatred or sect grievances, but involved a treasure that could affect cosmic balance—its ownership at stake—and a source-level confrontation spanning unknown millions of years!
He also finally understood why his growth seemed both coincidental and yet as if fate had decreed it. The jade pendant (Child Jade) guided him; the purification source transformed him; all hardships and fortunate encounters provided nutrients for this "seed's" maturation. The demonic lord's tolerance wasn't underestimation, but cold " incubating a parasite," waiting for this "vessel" to nurture the lotus seed to its optimal state before harvesting.
"Heh... perfect demonic body... vessel..." Xiao Qi murmured, a cold, bitter arc curving his lips. So from the moment of his birth, he was destined to be drawn into this vortex, becoming the most critical piece in this game of chess.
However, Father Xu Zhan—this man who seemed reduced to a chess piece—used his own life and soul as the price, a path to life for his son within this chess game, planting a seed of reversal!
Xiao Qi slowly stood, gripping the jade pendant in his hand. That warm touch now seemed to carry scorching power.
He understood the source of his power, and also the cost and responsibility that power represented. Generations of the Xu family guarding it, Father sacrificing himself, countless people sacrificed because of this lotus seed... The purification source was never a gift that could be easily accepted.
It was an inheritance, and also a mission.
A mission he must end himself.
The demonic lord wanted to devour the lotus seed and achieve a perfect demonic body? Then let it see—what kind of brilliance this seed, nurtured by the Xu family bloodline for countless years and bred by his, Tang Xiaoqi's, heart of guardianship, would ultimately bloom with!
Purify all heavens, or... burn all demons!
Xiao Qi pushed open the meditation chamber door. Light from outside shone in, falling on his absolutely resolute face. The low morale atmosphere from allied forces' defeat still pervaded, but in his eyes, he saw something entirely different.
What he saw was no longer desperate defense, but an ultimate war that had been destined long ago—one he must end with his own hands.
He strode out, heading toward the command center. Some truths needed to be let those who should know, know. Some strategies absolutely required fundamental adjustment.
The truth of the manor's destruction had been revealed. The cost of the purification source—he would personally demand payment from the demonic lord, with interest!