Chapter 85: The Shattered Black Lotus (Please Subscribe)

Amidst the dense mist outside the hall, a faint figure emerged. The first thing that caught the eye was a pair of white boots. Looking up, there stood a man with deep emerald eyes. His features were strikingly handsome, yet his face was deathly pale, his forehead beaded with cold sweat.

“Long’er, you’re just in time! Help me deal with this one,” Liu Ruyi rejoiced inwardly. Both sides were at a stalemate, unable to move. As long as some outside force broke the deadlock, she could escape—whether to turn the tables or to flee, there was hope.

“Long’er, why are you still standing there? Hurry and help!” Seeing Long’er motionless, Liu Ruyi grew anxious. “Don’t be afraid, you have a protective talisman on you.” She assumed Long’er was too intimidated by Li Du’s current state to approach.

Yet Long’er remained rooted in place, terror etched across his bloodless face, as though he’d witnessed something unspeakably dreadful.

Li Du let out a hearty laugh. “Well, come out then.”

From Long’er’s body, a white paper effigy drifted down. Without flame, the paper figure ignited, dissolving into a wisp of green smoke. When the smoke dissipated, a Daoist priest with a pallid face appeared where Long’er had stood—it was Lu Qian.

“It’s you! What have you done to Long’er?” Liu Ruyi’s eyes widened with shock. She hadn’t expected Lu Qian to slip past the guards and arrive here.

“Your son truly is useless—ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.” Lu Qian smiled faintly, then strode calmly toward Li Du.

Long’er was at the late stage of Qi Refinement, much like Lu Qian himself. He possessed far more and stronger magical tools than Lu Qian. Yet, no matter how formidable, how could he compare to someone as cunning and reckless as Lu Qian? It hadn’t taken more than a few exchanges for Long’er to be subdued.

“Stay away from me!” Li Du barked, shrouded in demonic fire that no ordinary person could endure.

“How goes your cultivation of the Threefold Heart-Cleansing Incantation?”

“I have attained perfect mastery!” Lu Qian replied.

He had guessed correctly—Li Du’s demonic flames now were dozens, even hundreds of times fiercer than before. Their sole hope of escape lay in this.

“Good! You are indeed my disciple.” Li Du laughed wildly; his demeanor was manic, but his gaze remained clear—a marvel of Daoist mastery over inner demons. “Hold firmly to your spirit, and I shall send you into the sea of consciousness.”

“Understood!” Lu Qian made no objection. The longer they delayed, the worse their odds.

Let Li Du free his hands—then act.

Suddenly, the scene shifted.

A vast and boundless world of utter darkness unfolded. A black demonic lotus blossomed in the void, its black mist radiating outward like sunlight, suffusing the entire realm.

Upon the lotus stood two figures—a man and a woman. The woman, Liu Ruyi, sat at the very heart of the pitch-black lotus.

Opposite her was a young man in white, elegant and noble. His features bore a resemblance to Li Du.

Black mist surged across the sky, dyeing the world in darkness. Though the two figures’ auras seemed cut from the same cloth, subtle differences remained. Interwoven, only a careful eye could discern the distinction.

Lu Qian entered this world. The white-robed Li Du turned, smiling: “You’re here. I need your help.”

“Yes!” Lu Qian nodded. With a thought, a stream of yin water manifested as a flood dragon, soaring toward the black lotus.

With a thunderous crash, the true water poured down, making the demonic lotus tremble and the black mist swirl. Though some of the blackness was washed away, the core remained untouched.

“How ignorant and fearless!” Liu Ruyi found the sight of a mere Qi Refiner attacking her rather ridiculous. Though she had not yet formed her spiritual foundation, she was a master at the late stage of Spirit Nurturing. How could a mere novice break through the defenses of her demonic lotus? Did they truly think she was helpless just because she could not move?

In a flash, Liu Ruyi’s eyes glowed, and deep within her pupils, a black lotus bloomed. Meeting Lu Qian’s gaze, the lotus imprinted itself directly onto his eyes.

Instantly, Lu Qian was paralyzed, motionless. Within the heart of his consciousness—a shadowy netherworld—a black demonic lotus suddenly appeared, swiftly releasing its black mist until it filled the entire realm.

At once, illusions swarmed Lu Qian’s mind—one moment, he was trapped in a nightmarish underworld; the next, he wandered a paradise of unbridled desire. Negative emotions welled up within him—rage, envy, greed—his face contorted with madness, his consciousness slipping away.

Affected thus, the flood dragon in the netherworld grew listless, hanging its head weakly. Remembering Li Du’s words, Lu Qian hastened to silently recite the Heart-Cleansing Incantation.

A beam of white light blazed within his sea of consciousness, radiant as the sun, driving back the black mist. The demonic lotus persisted, unmoving, refusing to vanish.

Suddenly, the waters surged, the river of the underworld roiled. The flood dragon revived, raising its head with a thunderous roar. The yellow waters boiled, waves rising high.

Lu Qian named this vision the “Flood Dragon Subdues Yellow Springs Diagram.” To subdue is to lie in wait and to suppress. In peace, the dragon lurked in the abyss; when heaven, earth, and fate aligned, it would soar skyward, dominating the underworld.

The dragon’s body was as thick as a millstone, its dusky yellow scales gleamed like metal, dazzling in their brilliance. Fixing its golden eyes on the demonic lotus above, a hint of delight flashed within them. The dragon opened its yawning maw and swallowed the lotus whole.

In an instant, the world spun.

Lu Qian’s sea of consciousness fused with Liu Ruyi’s.

“What… is this?” The white-robed Li Du stared down at the Yellow Springs flood dragon, astonished.

“What kind of monster is that?” Liu Ruyi was shaken to the core. This was no ordinary vision—the dragon seemed almost alive, exuding an overwhelming, sovereign will that claimed the world for itself.

Lu Qian stood upon the boiling waters, the flood dragon at his side, its massive, dusky-yellow head nuzzling his arm. In that moment, both Li Du and Liu Ruyi felt a strange illusion—as if standing before them was not a mere Daoist novice, but a veteran demon cultivator.

“This boy—what strange fortune could he have encountered?” Li Du mused inwardly.

“Palace Master Liu, prepare to meet your end!” Lu Qian declared.

With a roar, the flood dragon charged. Its body was lithe and elegant, yet exuded unyielding might.

With a deafening crash, dragon and demonic lotus collided; true water clashed with demonic energy, echoing across the sea of consciousness. The yellow waters surged, black mist billowed. A crack appeared in the demonic lotus.

“It’s almost broken through!” Li Du thought. If only Lu Qian’s cultivation was a bit higher, they could have ended this in a single stroke.

Again and again, the flood dragon slammed into the black lotus. With each strike, the crack spread wider, yet the lotus barely held together.

“All your efforts are wasted. A mere Qi Refiner—let you batter this for three days and three nights, you’d never break through.” Liu Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief. She could hold out for days—surely the sect would respond by then and rescue her. When that day came, she would flay these two alive.

“Oh? Then tell me, what is this?”

From within the sea of consciousness, an image from the outside world appeared. A pale demon blade slid out from the vertebrae at Long’er’s neck. Blood spurted forth, instantly absorbed by the blade. Long’er let out a shrill, agonized scream—and was reduced to a shriveled corpse.

“No! Long’er!” Liu Ruyi’s eyes reddened, tears of blood threatening to burst forth. Her composure shattered; grief threatened to tear her heart apart. Her gaze toward Lu Qian was murderous.

The demonic blade spat out a mist of blood; a wave of foul, corrupt power pierced the void.

With a devastating crash, the black lotus shattered.