The demonic claw covered the sky, its demonic might like a prison! Void Nightmare's long-planned fatal strike, seizing the moment when the altar was collapsing and Xiao Qi's mind was agitated by his father's dissipation, suddenly erupted! That giant claw condensed from pure demonic energy not only contained the power to tear space but also carried a powerful suction force, its target directly that remaining Purification Essence and Tang Xiao Qi so close at hand!
It wanted to kill two birds with one stone, both taking back part of the essence and capturing this "container" with the core lotus seed and infinite potential!
"Xiao Qi!!"
Mu Qingfeng, Liu Yun, and others' eyes were about to split, wanting to rush up the altar to rescue, but the chaotic energy from the collapsing altar and the terrifying pressure from the demonic claw formed an insurmountable barrier, blocking them dead outside!
The Flaming Sun Sect and Mysterious Mechanism Holy Land people retreated even more frantically, fearing being swept into this destructive collision.
Facing this certain-kill strike, Xiao Qi's pupils suddenly contracted, the shadow of death instantly covering his whole body. He had just experienced the dual shock of essence infusion and his father's passing. Though his power had increased, his mind was in its most unstable moment. Wanting to completely avoid or resist this Nascent Soul-level demonic soul's rage-filled strike was almost impossible!
However, at this critical juncture, the Crimson Flame Sword in his hand carrying his father's final protective sword intent, as if sensing its master's extreme crisis and the provocation of that same-sourced demonic energy, autonomously burst forth with unprecedented dark golden light!
"Zheng—!"
The sword cry shook the heavens! A condensed to the extreme, not scorching hot but carrying heavy, protective, and unyielding will dark golden sword radiance, like a hidden dragon emerging from the abyss, rushed up from the Crimson Flame Sword, bravely slashing toward that grabbing demonic claw!
This sword was not actively channeled by Xiao Qi, but the protective sword intent imprint left by Xu Zhan within the Crimson Flame Sword, upon sensing demonic energy and crisis, spontaneously protecting its master!
"Boom!!!"
The dark golden sword radiance and the pitch-black demonic claw fiercely collided! The violent energy shockwave exploded ring-like, shaking the already precarious altar's ninth layer, causing stone fragments to fly!
Though the sword radiance was strong, it was ultimately water without a source, only blocking the demonic claw for an instant before shattering with a boom. But that instant of resistance bought Xiao Qi precious breathing room!
He forcefully suppressed the grief and shock in his heart, the "Concentration Art" circulating madly, his spirit platform instantly recovering clarity. He didn't choose to retreat, because there was no path behind! Nor did he try to hard-resist that continuing-to-grab demonic claw, because he knew he lacked the strength!
His gaze, like the calmest hunter, pierced through the violent energy turbulence, locked dead on that remaining Purification Essence that was violently fluctuating due to the demonic claw's appearance!
An incredibly bold yet in that flash determined to be the only path to survival thought, rose in his mind!
This core inheritance, this Purification Essence, its true meaning was never for someone to "absorb" and "possess"! His father Xu Zhan used himself to seal it, this altar suppressed it for eons, its purpose was "protection" and "balance"!
What he needed to do was not plunder, but... inherit this "protection" duty!
Thinking this, he no longer tried to grab that essence, but mobilized all the Purification Power within him that had become incomparably vast and pure after merging with the newly gained essence, along with the jade pendant at his chest, and that faint connection just established through resonance with the entire altar sealing system!
His hands formed an ancient, not any attack or defense spell hand seal. It was a... intent imprint representing "maintenance," "balance," and "protection" that he naturally comprehended during the resonance with the altar!
He pushed this imprint, along with all his protective conviction, toward that remaining essence, his mouth emitting a Dao-oath-like low shout, the voice not loud but clearly echoing in the collapsing starry sky:
"With my blood, I inherit your will! Source of purifying the world, foundation of protecting the Dao! Not for my own use, only to maintain balance!"
This was not a plundering incantation, but a protective oath!
At the moment his oath was uttered, a change occurred!
That originally restless and dim-lighted remaining Purification Essence, as if understanding this oath, feeling the purest protective will from that same-sourced bloodline, suddenly stopped its restlessness, blooming with the final and most pure purification radiance!
This radiance didn't spread outward, but like rivers returning to the sea, actively and submissively... surged toward the jade pendant at Xiao Qi's chest!
No, not just surging! That light source itself, at the moment the light reached its peak, suddenly contracted and condensed, no longer a scattered energy mass, but transformed into a fingernail-sized, completely pure and flawless, seeming to have a starry sky circulating within... white jade imprint!
This imprint, like possessing spirituality, gently flashed, then branded onto the surface of the jade pendant at Xiao Qi's chest that was emitting same-sourced fluctuations, perfectly merging with it!
In an instant, the jade pendant's radiance turned inward, becoming even more ancient and deep, but the Purification Essence power contained within seemed to have a living source, becoming even vaster and endlessly cycling! Xiao Qi could clearly feel that he had established an unbreakable, transcending bloodline connection with this jade pendant, with that newborn imprint, with the entire collapsing altar's represented "protection" duty!
He couldn't like absorbing ordinary energy, take this vast essence power into his Golden Core to improve cultivation, but he could... relying on this connection, within certain limits, borrow its power! This inheritance chose him as "guardian," not "owner"!
Also at the same moment the imprint formed and merged with the jade pendant—
"No—!!!"
The demon Void Nightmare let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar filled with ultimate anger and unwillingness! It sensed that the remaining essence, the thing it had plotted for eons and was determined to obtain, had completely left its perception, left this sealing space about to collapse, and bound together with that kid! It had lost the last chance!
That grabbing demonic claw, because of the essence's complete disappearance and the burst of pure light when the imprint formed, had its power suddenly decrease and speed slow by an instant.
Just that instant!
Brilliant light exploded from Xiao Qi's eyes. The "Wandering Dragon Nine Turns" beneath his feet executed to the extreme, his figure like a ghost rapidly retreating backward, while the Crimson Flame Sword in his hand swung out once more. This time, it was a strike condensing all his power, drawing a thread of Purification Power from the jade pendant, and infused with his father's protective sword intent!
The dark golden sword radiance collided again with that greatly weakened demonic claw!
"Boom!"
Xiao Qi used the force to fly backward, spraying blood from his mouth, his internal organs injured, but successfully breaking away from the demonic claw's main coverage area, falling toward the altar below like a meteor!
"Big Brother! Catch me!" he shouted urgently in mid-air.
Mu Qingfeng had long been prepared, his sword radiance transforming into a soft lifting force, steadily catching Xiao Qi and pulling him into Qingxu Temple's defensive formation.
"Let's go! This place cannot be stayed!" Mu Qingfeng didn't linger to fight, glanced at the thoroughly collapsed, demonic energy surging altar core and the demon phantom roaring unwillingly, decisively ordering retreat.
Qingxu Temple's people protected Xiao Qi, transforming into several streams of light, rushing toward the already extremely unstable starry sky entrance they came from.
The Flaming Sun Sect and Mysterious Mechanism Holy Land people seeing this also woke as if from a dream, each using their methods to frantically flee.
The inheritance now "had an owner," the altar had collapsed, the demon was about to emerge. If they didn't run now, everyone would die here!
The starry sky was collapsing, the altar was being destroyed, the demon's roar and the seal breaking rumbles intertwined into a symphony of destruction.
And in this catastrophe, that true core inheritance was not absorbed by anyone, but in a way transcending ordinary cognition, chose its... guardian. An imprint branded on a jade pendant, a heavy responsibility, and a source of power that could be borrowed to protect the righteous path.