After shaking off the Soul-Devouring Demon Bats' entanglement, the "Dawn" squad continued forward along the narrow, winding underground passage. The demonic energy in the air grew increasingly thick and viscous, like an invisible mire, constantly trying to erode everyone's protective spiritual light. The passage walls' rocks also gradually transformed from gray-brown to an ominous dark purple, surface covered with twisted, blood vessel-like pulsating demonic patterns.
The rabbit spirited on Xiao Qi's shoulder. Its two long ears tightly pressed against the back of its head. Ruby eyes vigilantly scanned surroundings. Its throat emitted low rumbling sounds, clearly sensing tremendous threat.
"Careful. We may be extremely close to the core area." Xiao Qi low-spoke warning. The jade pendant at his chest transmitted clearer and clearer tremors—that was the increasingly strong resonance between the lotus seed's main body and the Child Jade, guiding direction while also bringing heavy pressure.
After about another half hour, the passage ahead suddenly opened into a vast underground space. This space wasn't naturally formed. The walls were smooth, inscribed with countless complex, eerie demonic runes emanating faint black light, constituting a massive formation's foundation. At the space's center wasn't solid ground, but a bottomless, huge pit. From the pit's edge, eight massive, pitch-black "chains" extended from the surrounding rock walls, like giant pythons reaching into the pit's depths.
But what chilled everyone most wasn't the artificially carved traces and those eight demonic-energy-permeated "chains," but the suffocating "deathly stillness" and "extraction" sensation filling the entire space.
"This is... an earth vein?!" Crown Prince Ao Qin's dragon pupils contracted, voice carrying disbelief and shock.
Everyone followed his gaze. Those "chains" reaching into the pit weren't metal, but eight giant earth vein tributaries forcibly corrupted and twisted from their original nature! What should have radiated thick, gentle earth's vital spiritual vein, now entirely pitch-black like ink. Their surface writhed with viscous demonic energy, like necrotic blood vessels, constantly extracting pure yet mixed with despair, pain, resentment, and other negative emotions' dark energy from the earth's depths, pouring along the "chains" into that bottomless pit!
That pit was like an abyss, greedily devouring this corrupted land's vitality. Faintly, countless dying creatures' wails, plants withering's mournful sounds, mountains-rivers-shattering sobbing could be heard—these sounds mixed together, forming a soul-piercing tragic background.
The entire space was a massive... sacrifice formation! Using demon-corrupted earth veins as energy conduits, extracting the entire region's, even broader area's, land vitality to nourish some existence in the pit's depths!
"The demonic lord... it's using this entire world's nutrients to nourish itself, accelerating the perfect demonic body's condensation!" Mu Xue's cool voice carried a chill. Her ice-crystal staff trembled slightly, sensing this extreme evil and plunder.
"Scoundrels!" Zhao Tiezhu's eyes turned blood-red. As a body cultivator, he was most sensitive to life qi-blood. Now he could clearly "hear" the earth groaning in pain under the demon-corrupted vein extraction. "It's killing this land!"
Xiao Qi's face was iron-green. He finally understood why, the closer they approached the core area, the outside demons seemed not infinite. The demonic lord concentrated most plundered energy here! It wanted not only to devour the lotus seed and them father-son, but to squeeze dry this world's last vitality!
Intense anger and a sense of responsibility as the purification source bearer surged in his heart. He couldn't watch this land that gave him life be so trampled and plundered!
"Let me try purifying a small section!" Xiao Qi said heavily. Before anyone could dissuade him, he stepped toward one of the demon-corrupted earth vein "chains" slightly closer.
He operated his cultivation technique. The jade pendant at his chest blazed. Pure purification power surged like a tide toward his palm. He extended his hand, toward that continuously pulsating, dark-energy-transporting demon-corrupted earth vein.
Hiss—!
Purification light contacted dense demonic energy, immediately triggering intense reaction. Where green light reached, demonic energy churned and melted like meeting its nemesis. The vein surface's pitch-black color seemed to lighten slightly. A faint yet pure earth's vitality struggled to emerge from that purified vein segment, like parched land meeting timely rain.
It worked!
However, this effect lasted less than three breaths!
BOOM—!
As if triggering some terrifying switch, the entire demon-corrupted earth vein violently shuddered. Even more vast, pure demonic energy counter-attacked from the vein's depths, like a black flood, instantly drowning and devouring the purification light Xiao Qi released! That vein segment that had just shown a thread of vitality rapidly darkened again, even blacker than before!
A powerful recoil force struck Xiao Qi through invisible connection!
"Ptooey!" Xiao Qi groaned. His form stumbled backward. A thread of blood seeped from his mouth. He felt his purification power, before this vein connected to the vast earth and dominated by the demonic lord's will, was like a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood—not only unable to shake its foundation, but suffered violent backlash.
"Xiao Qi!" Liu Yun stepped forward to support him.
"No good..." Xiao Qi wiped blood from his mouth. His gaze was extremely grave. "The earth vein connects to this entire region's geomancy. The demonic lord's will and power are deeply rooted. Unless we sever the source of its vitality extraction, or possess power to purify the entire vein instantly, sporadic purification like this is meaningless. Instead, it alerts the enemy."
He looked up at those eight demon-corrupted earth veins constantly transporting dark energy to the pit, then at that bottomless pit emanating unsettling suction. His heart understood.
The problem's root wasn't in these polluted veins themselves, but in the pit's depths—the demonic lord's true body, greedily devouring all this! And the perfect demonic body it was condensing!
Without resolving that source, purifying earth vein tributaries was futile. The demonic lord could corrupt more anytime.
"We must go down." Xiao Qi pointed at the dark pit, voice. "The real battlefield is below. Only by stopping the demonic lord can we truly sever this vitality plunder, save this land."
Everyone's gaze fell on that abyss seemingly able to devour all light. There emanated even more terrifying, more essential evil aura than the demon-corrupted earth veins.
Knowing the tiger is on the mountain, yet proceeding anyway.
The "Dawn" squad had no retreat.