Chapter 709 - 283: Void

In his mind, the Purple Light that had been dormant for so long was now jumping about with unusual activity. Its radiance flared brilliantly, as if drawn by some powerful force, and it threatened to burst out of his body!

"Hm?"

Chen Qing was startled.

When he had entered the Grotto Heaven before, the Purple Light had occasionally reacted, but it had never been as restless and agitated as it was today.

He was alarmed. ’What in the world is happening?’

Chen Qing immediately reined in his Cultivation Technique, interrupting his Cultivation. The Primordial Qi Vortex that had gathered around him slowly dissipated.

His gaze followed the direction of the Purple Light’s reaction. Not far ahead, in the Grotto Heaven Core Region, stood a towering mountain that appeared entirely black.

The mountain was made of some unknown type of rock. Its entire body was a dark red color, and it emanated an ancient, scorching aura.

The mountain’s surface was completely barren, devoid of any vegetation. There were only countless intersecting cracks, with a faint red glow flowing within them.

Just as Chen Qing stared at the mountain, trying to discern something—

"HUMMM!"

The entire crimson mountain suddenly trembled!

Like a disturbed swarm of bees, countless streams of eerie blue flames erupted from the cracks in the mountain, transforming into turbulent currents that swept overwhelmingly toward Chen Qing!

These eerie blue flames were no ordinary fire. They possessed no searing heat; instead, they radiated a bone-chilling cold that pierced straight to the depths of one’s Divine Soul!

’It’s the God-Eroding Nether Fire!’

The thought flashed through Chen Qing’s mind; he had read about this fire in ancient texts.

It was a peculiar flame that specifically attacked Divine Sense and burned the Sea of Will. In a mild case of exposure, one’s Divine Sense would be damaged, leading to a coma. In a severe case, one’s consciousness would be annihilated and memories erased, turning them into a walking corpse!

His footwork shifted rapidly, and his figure drifted backward as he attempted to evade the deadly, turbulent flames.

However, the God-Eroding Nether Fire seemed to have locked onto him. It was astonishingly fast, and its assault grew increasingly dense, pursuing him relentlessly as if it were part of his own shadow.

The eerie blue flames traced countless bizarre trajectories through the air, sealing off all his escape routes.

Finally, a wisp of the eerie fire grazed past his Body-Protecting True Astral. The True Astral was rendered completely useless; the flame passed right through it and instantly sank into his Sea of Will through his brow!

"AHHH—!"

Chen Qing felt an indescribable, excruciating pain erupt from the very depths of his soul!

After the eerie blue flame burst into his Sea of Will, it began to rampage wildly!

The speck of purple light, long dormant in the depths of his Sea of Will, was not suppressed by the invasion of the God-Eroding Nether Fire. Instead, it suddenly erupted with a brilliant purple radiance!

The Purple Light and the eerie flame violently intertwined and clashed!

At first, the eerie flame had the upper hand, but the Purple Light was incredibly resilient. During the struggle, it even seemed to be absorbing the flame’s power.

Gradually, the rampaging eerie flame was no longer just destructive. Instead, under the guidance of the Purple Light, it transformed into a ferocious tempering force, forging and refining his Sea of Will over and over again!

The pain remained, but through the devastating searing, Chen Qing could clearly feel his Sea of Will solidifying and toughening at an astonishing rate!

His originally ethereal and scattered spirit was being forcibly compressed and purified, becoming so focused it seemed on the verge of becoming tangible.

Amidst this tempering of ice and fire, Chen Qing’s consciousness blurred, and he drifted into a bizarre, kaleidoscopic world.

In the haze, he saw that a blurry figure had appeared at some point atop the distant crimson mountain.

The figure was shrouded in endless divine light, its face, form, and clothing all indistinct. He could only vaguely perceive its outline.

He saw the figure standing on the peak. With a casual wave of its hand, the very sky and earth seemed to warp, the clouds rolling back as if the entire mountain was about to crumble beneath its palm!

’Who is this person?’

’Is it an Intention left behind by some great power from the Celestial Treasure Upper Sect?’

’Or is it a manifestation of the spirituality born from this Grotto Heaven Blessed Land itself?’

’Or... is it related to the Purple Light in my mind?’

Countless questions flashed through Chen Qing’s seething mind, but he could find no answers.

The next moment, he saw the blurry figure raise its hand, seemingly at random, and give a gentle wave in Chen Qing’s direction.

There was no sound, no earth-shattering fluctuation of aura.

At the same time, a stream of utterly pure golden light was born from the wave of the figure’s hand.

Before Chen Qing could even react, it silently sank into his brow and merged directly into the depths of his Sea of Will.

"VMMMM—!"

As the golden light entered the sea, it didn’t cause a violent conflict. Instead, it was like a drop of sweet rain falling on parched earth.

BOOM!

Within the golden light, an ancient word containing endless principles of the Dao seemed to traverse space and time, fiercely branding itself onto the deepest part of Chen Qing’s Heart and Spirit: Void!

At the same time, a vast and ancient Daoist verse surfaced in Chen Qing’s mind, branding itself directly into the depths of his consciousness.

"The Void is the boundless cosmos, the beginning of all phenomena. To hold a mountain in a mustard seed, to hide the river of stars within an inch. Let the spirit roam the Void, let intention pierce the universe. Condense emptiness into substance, refine the spirit and return to nothingness..."

As the verse flowed through him, the stream of golden light that had merged into his Sea of Will also dissolved.

VMM! VMM!

The intense impact snapped Chen Qing back to his senses, and the vision before him instantly vanished.

He gasped for breath, his entire body soaked in a cold sweat.

However, the crisis was not over!

The trance had only lasted for a moment. More of the God-Eroding Nether Fire was surging toward him again like a violent tide!

Just then, a figure in plain white silently appeared before Chen Qing.

The woman was dressed in a long gown the color of moonlight on water, its hem drifting as if stirred by an unfelt wind.

She was tall and slender, with a graceful and alluring figure.