Successfully intercepted

Before his words even faded, Gu Yang hesitated no longer.

He raised his right hand, brought his index finger to his mouth, and bit down hard.

"Pfft."

The tip of his finger split open.

But what flowed out was not the dark red blood of a mortal.

Instead, drop by drop, it was pure golden, radiating an astonishing heat—Supreme Yang Essence Blood!

This was the origin blood of the "Desolate Ancient Supreme Yang Physique."

It was the nemesis of all dark and evil entities in this world, and also the most desired... poison for this "Nine Nether Extreme Yin Demon Physique."

"Drip."

The first drop of golden blood fell onto that barely visible crack.

"Sizzle——!!"

It was like a red-hot iron pressed against a block of ice.

That indestructible ten-thousand-year divine ice instantly melted, forming a small hole.

The golden blood meandered down along the crack like a nimble little snake, rapidly seeping into the formation patterns inside the coffin.

The black formation lines originally flowing on the coffin, representing "devouring" and "enslavement," suddenly stagnated the moment they came into contact with this drop of Supreme Yang blood.

Immediately after.

Boom!

A terrifying repulsive force erupted from within the coffin.

That was the backup plan left by the Empress, the instinctual counterattack of the formation.

"Trying to resist?"

Gu Yang coldly snorted. He did not withdraw his hand, but instead increased the output of his essence blood.

The spiritual energy within his body circulated madly. The blood at his fingertip seemed to ignite, turning into a golden bloodline that continuously poured into the crack.

With the invasion of the Supreme Yang blood.

The formation patterns on the coffin began to undergo a drastic change.

The original black began to be eroded by the gold.

The feeling was like golden paint dripping into ink; the two colors madly entangled, slaughtered, and devoured each other.

At the same time.

Tantai Jin inside the coffin seemed to sense something.

Her hands, folded over her abdomen, slightly twitched at the fingers.

Her originally peaceful and serene sleeping face slowly furrowed at the brow, revealing a trace of pain.

That was the backlash brought by the reversal of the formation.

It was also the soul tremor when the "contract" was tampered with.

"Reverse... for me!"

Gu Yang let out a low roar, his face turning slightly pale.

Forcing out so much origin essence blood was a massive drain on him as well.

But the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Because he saw it.

The black formation patterns on the coffin finally collapsed completely, transforming into pure and overbearing golden chains!

Those golden chains did not dissipate; instead, they pierced through the coffin lid and directly sank into Tantai Jin's glabella, limbs, and dantian!

[Reversal of the Slave Contract has taken effect.]

[Ding, successfully intercepted the red fortuitous encounter—Evernight Empress Tantai Jin.]

[Rewarded 300 Destiny Points.]

[Remaining Destiny Points: 420.]

The system's prompt sounded like heavenly music.

Gu Yang breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his finger, the wound healing instantly.

He took a half step back and quietly looked at the woman in the coffin.

Next.

It was just a matter of waiting.

...

...

Darkness.

Deathly silence.

And that nauseating panting sound, mixed with the smell of charred flesh and sulfur.

"Hah... hah..."

A half-severed palm tightly gripped the edge of the black jade staircase.

The nails were cracked, and blood meandered down along the black jade patterns like two desperate red snakes.

"Li Feiyu..."

"Li, Fei, Yu!!"

These three words were forcefully squeezed out from the depths of Mo Bufan's throat, accompanied by bloody froth.

Every sound carried a venomous hatred that could chew through bones.

The current Mo Bufan had long lost the high-spiritedness he previously held as a "Child of Destiny."

His newly grown, proud dark red demonic arm was now covered in bone-deep cracks; it was the tragic result of being swept by the aftershock of the "Bone-Eroding Soul-Melting Light."

No blood flowed from the wounds; there was only gray, dead flesh squirming, emitting bursts of foul stench.

Even more tragic was his face.

His originally handsome and devilish visage now had half its face burned away, exposing ghastly gums and a twitching eyeball, looking exactly like an evil spirit crawling out from purgatory.

"Young Master... save, save some strength..."

Behind him, a mass of blood mist struggled to squirm forward.

Daoist Xueku could no longer maintain his human form.

In order to escape that absolute-kill white light with Mo Bufan, he had self-detonated his left leg and right hand, and burned fifty years of his lifespan to execute a Blood Escape art.

At this moment, he was like a human stick gnawed down to just a torso, relying entirely on his Golden Core stage origin to hang onto his last breath, using spiritual energy to wrap his ruined body and inch along the steps like a maggot.

"That beast... that beast!!"

Daoist Xueku's old tears flowed freely, his eye sockets deeply sunken.

As a dignified Golden Core Perfected Lord, he was a giant in the cultivation world; when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

Not only was he played for a fool by a Foundation Establishment junior, but even his natal magical treasure was melted!

"I will extract his soul and refine his spirit..."

Mo Bufan cursed while mechanically climbing upwards.

The gravity here was astonishingly heavy.

With every step up, it felt like a massive mountain was pressing down on his spine.

His wounds split open, dripping with blood.

But he didn't dare to stop.

Because he couldn't afford to lose anymore.

If he couldn't obtain that final fortuitous encounter, if he returned empty-handed...

In his current state, once he stepped out of the forbidden grounds, he would be torn to shreds by those righteous path cultivators rushing over at the smell of blood!

"Shut up!"

An ancient and furious voice exploded within Mo Bufan's sea of consciousness.

It was the Blood River Demon Venerable, who had been silent all this time.

"Those who achieve great things do not bother with trifles! This little setback is enough to collapse your Dao hearts?"

"Look up! Look at who that is!!"

Mo Bufan's entire body jolted, and he subconsciously lifted his blood-stained head.

The nine hundred and ninety-nine steps had reached their end.

The field of vision suddenly opened up.

"Hiss..."

Mo Bufan gasped, even forgetting the agonizing pain in his body.

Even the half-dead Daoist Xueku widened his cloudy old eyes at this moment, his breathing instantly becoming rapid and greedy.

Upon that void altar, cold mist swirled.

A massive crystal ice coffin hovered in the eternal long night.

And in a corner on one side of the ice coffin, illuminated by the eerie blue phosphor fires, a spirit herb that was pitch-black all over but blooming with a bewitching red flower swayed quietly.

Its petals were like silk and threads, as if condensed from the resentful souls of countless beauties, emitting a strange fragrance that made one's soul tremble.

"Th-that is..."

Daoist Xueku's voice trembled, his eyeballs practically popping out.

"Netherworld Blood Spirit Flower?!"

"Three thousand years old... it's actually a three-thousand-year-old Netherworld Blood Spirit Flower!!"

"Exactly." The Demon Venerable's voice carried a hint of arrogance and temptation. "This flower grows in places of extreme Yin, surviving by absorbing the corpse aura of emperors. It blooms every three thousand years, and bears fruit every three thousand years."

"A supreme-grade Foundation Establishment spirit item with an age of three thousand years!"

"It is the unparalleled main material for forging the 'Netherworld Dao Foundation', and even more so, a holy medicine for healing! As long as you consume it, let alone your severed hands and feet, even if you were left with only a head, it could grow flesh on bare bones and reconstruct your demonic physique!"