Chapter Forty-Two: Returning to the Sheath
The dark core of the aberrant seed swelled madly within Lin Mo’s sea of consciousness, its cold, devouring will piercing his soul like billions of icy needles. The gray-white shell of the Void had encased his body, his meridians transformed by the torrent of primal nothingness into chilling channels for nourishment—this vessel was becoming the perfect cocoon to nurture the “Evil Eye of the Void.”
“Get... out...!”
Lin Mo’s remaining will howled inside the shell, but it was like a trapped beast crashing against an unyielding iron cage. The aberrant seed responded by forcibly injecting a “future”: he saw himself as a cold, gray shadow; with a mere gesture, mountains faded into silence, stars turned to dust, and all beings vanished like grains of sand. There was no pain, no love or hate, only the eternal, icy “wholeness.” This was the seduction of the Void—obliterate the self in exchange for the supreme power of nothingness.
Suddenly—a searing “anchor point” pierced the darkness!
Su Li’s battered body collided with the edge of the dark-gold sphere’s fissure; the fragments of the Celestial Scripture on her chest blazed up! That dark-gold light pierced the shell of the Void like a scorching brand, stamping fiercely onto Lin Mo’s dying consciousness!
—The greed when she seized the sword beneath the blood moon, the terror as her spirit collapsed in Ghost Cry Ravine, the trembling as she knotted ropes in the crevice... countless shards of memory belonging to “Su Li,” infused with the same origin as the Celestial Scripture, became a venom-laced dagger, plunging deep into the illusory “wholeness” woven by the aberrant seed!
“Ah!”
A crack split the illusion! Lin Mo’s will seized this clarity born of agony and tore wildly at the aberrant seed’s mental threads. The shell of the Void shrieked as it cracked, its gray-white light flickering violently!
The true killing blow came from the forgotten “sword.”
The No-Return Sword, transformed into a jet-black stream of light, hovered at the depths of the fissure in the dark-gold sphere. Its tip did not point to the core of the Immortal Refining Furnace, but to a twisted “brand” at the source of the torrent—a curse mark that Haotian himself had driven into the spine of the Celestial Lord, triggering a backlash of power. After millennia of refinement, the curse mark had merged with the primal nothingness, becoming the cornerstone of the furnace’s operation.
“Worldly ties... must... be severed!”
The sword spirit’s last intent ignited the sword’s remains! The No-Return Sword crashed ferociously into the curse mark!
Boom—!!!
At the instant the curse mark shattered, the torrent of primal energy surged like a beheaded serpent, biting back with insane ferocity! The core of the Immortal Refining Furnace wailed as it cracked, the runes across the surface of the dark-gold sphere exploding in succession! This backlash traveled along the link between the aberrant seed and the torrent, flooding in reverse!
“Screech—”
The aberrant seed’s greedy devouring became a deadly shackle! The shell of the Void trembled violently in the backlash, web-like fractures spreading across its surface! For the first time, the emerald core revealed... fear! It tried to sever the connection, only to find itself welded fast to Lin Mo’s meridians and the primal nothingness of the furnace’s heart!
“Now!”
Lin Mo’s will became a roaring hurricane, guided by the fragments of the Celestial Scripture, crashing fiercely into the cracked emerald core of the aberrant seed!
Seizing—counter-seizing!
This was no longer a battle of wills, but a war for primal essence!
—The void power drawn by the aberrant seed was forcibly redirected by Lin Mo into his wrist! The shell of the Void covering his right arm peeled away inch by inch, revealing the arm bone beneath, tempered by sword intent and etched with jet-black sword patterns!
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The light of the fragments in Su Li’s chest suddenly dimmed; the last trace of Celestial power turned into chains, binding the surging torrent and hammering it into Lin Mo’s dantian!
The shattered remains of the No-Return Sword, scattered by the curse mark’s explosion, sent a speck of jet-black starlight—imbued with the true meaning of annihilation—piercing through space and nailing itself into Lin Mo’s brow!
Three forces collided within Lin Mo’s nearly shattered vessel!
Snap!
The shell of the Void broke apart completely!
Lin Mo plummeted from midair into the filthy lake of blood, viscous blood and the black smoke of resentment howling as they wrapped around him. But in the next moment—
“Buzz!”
The sword patterns on his exposed right arm flared bright! The lingering annihilation sword intent swept outward, reducing all blood filth within three feet to drifting ash!
Starlight swirled in his brow, forcibly suppressing the wild void power within.
In his dantian, the fragments of the Celestial Scripture spun madly, forming a gray-white vortex that ground up and devoured the primal energy flooding from the furnace’s heart and the shattered emerald core fragments of the aberrant seed!
“Ugh...” He tried to push himself up, but the sword patterns on his right arm flickered, the starlight in his brow bit with icy pain. Void essence and sword intent battled inside him, every breath dragging out blood and shards of ice.
Deep in the blood lake, the fissure in the dark-gold sphere was slowly knitting itself together, the core’s roar fading into an unwilling hum. Yet a faint force seeped from the fissure, entwining Su Li’s battered body in the lake, dragging her steadily toward the depths—the Immortal Refining Furnace meant to reclaim the last fragment of the “Celestial”!
Lin Mo’s blood-red pupils contracted sharply.
He saw, in the final moment as Su Li’s battered body slipped into the fissure, her sole remaining right hand—her ring finger curled ever so faintly.
Just as she had gripped his sleeve in Ghost Cry Ravine years ago.
“Never!”
A hoarse roar crushed the pain! Lin Mo’s right hand plunged fiercely into the blood lake’s mire!
No longer sword technique, but instinct!
The jet-black sword patterns on his arm writhed like living serpents, piercing the earth through his fingertips! A concentrated surge of annihilation sword energy ripped through the blood lake, overtaking the dragging force and slashing it apart!
Rip!
The force was severed with a cry!
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Su Li’s battered body fell toward the surface of the lake. But the price of Lin Mo’s strike was the instant dimming of his sword patterns, the starlight in his brow searing with explosive pain, the dantian vortex nearly collapsing! He staggered to his knees, the blood streaming from his seven apertures crystallizing into black-red ice.
The furnace’s hum rose sharply, the fissure mending ever faster, a terrifying suction locking onto Su Li—it intended to devour this “key” before sealing shut!
Lin Mo stared at her falling form, the last flicker of “human” emotion in his eyes froze solid.
He slowly raised his left hand, fingers spread, aiming at Su Li drifting in the blood lake—
“Celestial Void... Return to Source!”
The gray-white vortex in his dantian, on the verge of collapse, reversed wildly at his roar! The unrefined void essence, mixed with fragments of the aberrant seed, became a filthy gray-green torrent, surging from his palm and instantly enveloping Su Li!
This was not salvation.
It was refinement!
Using the furnace’s core as fire, the aberrant seed’s fragments as crucible, the Celestial Scripture’s remnants as catalyst—her battered body and the dark-gold shards were forged into a single swirling seed, patterned with gray, gold, and green...
A Chaos Dao Seed.
The instant the Dao Seed formed, it flew of its own accord into Lin Mo’s palm.
Warm. Heavy.
It held Su Li’s shattered soul, the lingering strength of the Celestial Scripture, the aberrant seed’s corruption, and... a faint, yet tenacious will to survive.
Above, the fissure closed entirely. The Immortal Refining Furnace fell into dead silence.
Lin Mo clenched the Dao Seed, wavering as he stood.
The blood lake beneath his feet dried and cracked; the abyssal fog overhead cleared, exposing a sliver of pale daylight.
He stepped from the ruins toward the light, his right arm’s sword patterns faded, the starlight in his brow hidden.
Only his left palm held the pulsing Chaos Dao Seed, like a heart embedded in flesh.
>(Foreshadowing: Can Su Li’s shattered soul revive within the Dao Seed? Is the furnace’s silence its end or a dormant slumber? Did the No-Return Sword spirit perish with the curse mark? Will the three forces within Lin Mo guide him toward “human,” “sword,” or “void”? Outside the Immortal Burial Abyss, Haotian and the Celestial Surveillance Division, sensing the furnace’s upheaval, turn their gaze upon this land of death...)
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