Chapter 261: The Truth Behind the Turmoil of the Small Nether Realm

The fourth surge of immortal light erupted at the worst possible moment. Xi Lian was the fastest to react; she chose the best course of action in the blink of an eye.

When Wang Sheng saw immortal light bursting from beneath his master's feet, his first instinct was to dive down and help. However, before he could move, Xi Lian had seized his arm with a firm grip. Mu Wanxuan had no time to react either. By the time she thought about assisting their master, Xi Lian had already grabbed hold of her.

I have to take them both to safety!

Xi Lian unleashed her full power, instantly transforming them into rainbow light and shooting upward at high speed.

Below them, Qing Yanzi and the others instantly vanished. Wang Sheng didn't even have time to shout. The passageway had already been filled with immortal light, swallowing everyone completely. Though it had no hostile aura, it now resembled a savage beast. Even Golden Core Realm cultivators were utterly powerless before it.

The torrent of immortal light surged toward the trio with overwhelming force. At the bottom, the stone chamber trembled violently. Like a dam breaking apart, more and more immortal light poured in through its widening cracks. It had withstood the first three bursts of immortal light, yet it now appeared weak and fragile.

Three seconds into the eruption, just as Qing Yanzi and the others were swallowed, the stone disc at the base collapsed, allowing even more immortal light to flood into the passageway.

Mixed within it was the oppressive might of a Celestial Immortal, making it a vast, unstoppable force.

Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan turned pale. The pressure shattered their Dao Hearts.

Xi Lian let out a piercing shriek as her stunning face shifted into a fox's visage for a split second. Half of her long silver hair had already turned orange. She gave it everything she had, yet the immortal light was rapidly closing in on them.

Master!

Wang Sheng's eyes widened with desperation. Before such power, he was completely helpless.

Boom!

A sharp and violent explosion rang out beside him, and the entire light barrier along the passage shattered. Without hesitation, Xi Lian pushed her movement technique to the limit as she pulled Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan sharply in a new direction and dove downward.

Right before they collided with the immortal light, she twisted their trajectory to the side, plunging them through a gap in the broken light wall and into the Eighteen Levels of Hell. She then tackled Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan to the ground.

A sea of fire spread out before them. They had landed on the sixteenth level, the Volcanic Hell.

Wang Sheng quickly looked around. He caught a fleeting glimpse of several dark shadows and two half-circle stone discs flashing past within the immortal light filling the passage.

Intense wind then rushed from the ruptured barrier. The immortal light, as if discovering a place to vent, began pouring rapidly into the Volcanic Hell.

"It's still not over?" Xi Lian cursed through clenched teeth as she grabbed Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan and leaped upward again. They flickered again and again as she darted toward a nearby volcano that was almost a hundred meters tall. She circled to its far side.

Xi Lian's eyes glowed blood red. She blasted apart the dark rock wall in front of her, creating a three-meter-wide hole, and dragged the two inside.

They had just taken cover when countless streams of immortal light flooded and swept through the Volcanic Hell, tearing everything away. Even the upper half of the volcano soon began to crumble.

What exactly is this immortal light?

Amid Wang Sheng's confusion, heavy breathing reached his ears. He and Mu Wanxuan swiftly grabbed one of Xi Lian's slender arms each.

Her silver-white hair had turned completely red-orange, and her charming eyes now had a savage, violent gleam. Having used far more than a sliver of her power to rescue the pair of martial siblings, her descent into devilry was becoming impossible to contain.

"Big Sister!" Wang Sheng anxiously shouted.

Xi Lian bit her lower lip and fought against the devilish nature surging within her. She grabbed Wang Sheng by the collar and forced out a few strained words.

"The immortal light will only... last a little longer. When it stops, leave immediately. Don't worry about me... If I survive... kill me..."

Mu Wanxuan suddenly looked as if she had heard someone speak. She looked at Wang Sheng. "Pure Yang!"

"What?"

"Pure Yang!" Mu Wanxuan pointed urgently at Wang Sheng's lower abdomen, then pressed her palm to Xi Lian's shoulder. "Female immortal!"

"She's saying Pure Yang Energy can help Big Sister? Might as well give it a try!"

Wang Sheng forced himself to calm down. He placed his hand on Xi Lian's shoulder and began channeling Pure Yang Energy into her. However, he felt as if the energy was slamming into an immovable wall of ice.

"Work with me here, Big Sister! I'm trying to suppress your devilish nature!"

"What makes you think... you're capable..." Xi Lian looked deathly pale. Her control hung by a thread.

With resolve, Wang Sheng replied, "I'll treat a dying horse as if it can still be cured."

After several seconds of struggle, she finally relaxed. Waves of refined Pure Yang Energy streamed into her. Xi Lian trembled slightly, exhaled a deep breath, and rolled her eyes.

"Don't stop. Give me more. Why didn't you use this earlier? Also, you're the horse here! I am a beautiful and adorable immortal fox!"

"What about Master..."

Wang Sheng nearly collapsed as a rush of blood hit the back of his throat. Forcing himself to stay upright, he steadied his breathing. Still on his knees, he continued pouring Pure Yang Energy into Xi Lian.

Mu Wanxuan reached out from the side and retrieved a phone from within Xi Lian's robes. She unlocked it smoothly and began typing into a note.

Wang Sheng turned to look outside the cave. The multicolored immortal light, as dazzling as an aurora, had completely extinguished the flames in the Volcanic Hell and filled its every corner, driving all the fierce spirits and vengeful ghosts into hiding. The situation was likely the same across the other levels as well.

Wang Sheng did his best to keep calm, but he couldn't suppress his growing anxiety.

Just what exactly is this immortal light? And what happened to Master?

Mu Wanxuan kept typing rapidly, her expression full of worry. Soon, she showed Wang Sheng a line on the screen.

The female immortal said, 'Pure Yang Energy suppresses all devilish nature. You really didn't know that?'

Wang Sheng shook his head. He had never considered using Pure Yang Energy to help suppress Xi Lian's devilish nature. Deep down, previously as an Illusory Core Realm and now Golden Core Realm cultivator, he had always assumed that he had no means of helping someone like her. Even Santong's remnant soul had never mentioned it, likely because he had similar doubts.

Mu Wanxuan quickly typed another line.

The female immortal says that the outburst will soon be under control, but her body is already close to collapsing. She needs my help now.

Master is still alive. He and the others were blasted out of the Eighteen Levels of Hell. Most of them are gravely injured, and the explosion just now has killed four.

Wang Sheng asked, "Ask her what this immortal light really is. What is she trying to suppress?"

Mu Wanxuan tilted her head slightly to listen, then typed out four characters. She bit her lip as her expression darkened.

Wang Sheng looked at the screen. Stunned, he stared at the fading immortal light outside the cave.

That's not the female immortal's power!

On the contrary, it was the immortal light that the female corpse had been struggling to suppress. Traces of her power and aura had simply been mixed into the surges, leading everyone to wrongly believe it came from her.

Had she still been at her peak, the female corpse could have indeed had such power. However, she was merely a remnant soul now. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't have singlehandedly brought the Small Nether Realm into the mortal world.

She wasn't attempting to merge the realms. All this time, she had been trying to stop it—trying to stop the Earth Qi Seal.

Though one of the three great seals upon heaven, earth, and humanity, it was the source of all four eruptions. The Heavenly Court's Celestial Immortals had left it behind to suppress the primal qi of Earth for a thousand years.

The immortal light wasn't deadly. It was simply the purest, most refined form of primal qi!

Mu Wanxuan quickly typed two more lines.

The Earth Qi Seal was supposed to dissolve gradually after ten thousand years. For unknown reasons, though, it suddenly weakened. When the female corpse broke the halls' restrictions, the shock tore the seal apart.

Realizing that something was wrong, she immediately rushed down to the Eighteen Levels of Hell to patch it. Unfortunately, it was already too late. All she could do was try to suppress it.

That was when the immortal light first erupted.

***

Nearly a full minute since the eruption, the immortal light finally dissipated. The roaring wind died down as well.

Moreover, Xi Lian's condition was becoming more stable, with most of her hair now back to silver. Wang Sheng paid a steep price, however. He had used up nearly a third of his enchanted power.

Mu Wanxuan pressed her lips together. Her gaze softened as she looked at Wang Sheng. Still dazed from everything he had just learned, he was caught off guard when she leaned in and gently kissed his cheek.

Wang Sheng, who had just begun to gather his bearings again, froze.

W-what does that mean?

Mu Wanxuan stood up. Softly, she said, "I'll go."

Wang Sheng frowned. "What could we possibly do to help with something like this?"

"I doubt it's that simple," Xi Lian said in a hushed tone. "Considering the female immortal has been calling for you two, it's probably related to your identities as reincarnated immortals. I saw the barrier between the Eighteen Levels of Hell and the main passage collapse. I'll take you both down."

At that moment, a series of furious roars echoed outside. Amid the dense and refined primal qi, more than a dozen terrifying devilish auras surged upward, filling the Volcanic Hell.

Xi Lian immediately spread her arms and pulled Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan close again.

"Keep channeling Pure Yang Energy into me. Let's move." She rushed out of the cave with the two and dove into a nearby gap.

Behind them, more than ten dark figures shot out from the shadows. Drawn by the scent of living souls, fierce spirits and vengeful ghosts charged after them in a frenzy.

Within the vertical passage, the primal qi had grown so dense that it was nearly liquid.

***

Hidden Earth Sect's ancestral grounds, Hua Republic's eastern region.

At the exact moment that immortal light erupted for the fourth time, Shen Qianlin, who had been fast asleep on the second floor of a private residence, suddenly opened her eyes, revealing a gray glow. Forgetting that she was barefoot and still in her nightgown, she immediately rushed straight to the bedroom door.