Assault!
The pink mist completely filled the entire Grotto-Heaven prison, isolating it from the inside and out, making it impossible to see.
Within, only the "hissing" sounds, like a viper flicking its tongue, made by the roiling, colliding mist remained.
And that bizarre heart, suspended in the core of the mist, was throbbing wildly with an increasingly frantic and greedy frequency!
Each beat seemed to announce an unprecedented gamble, or rather...
The beginning of a catastrophe.
Regardless of who the winner of this devouring contest would be.
In the depths of the prison, dark blue runic bronze chains were embedded in flesh and bone; the energy torture of the Unending Sword Tree had never ceased.
Hoolay's lowered head suddenly lifted slightly, its eyelids struggling to open a sliver.
In its withered eye sockets, a faint glimmer of ancient, baleful light actually ignited.
That light pierced through the pervasive pink poisonous mist, stabbing directly at the suspended heart.
"Has it been too long since my last hunt?"
The voice was hoarse, like two rusty pieces of iron grinding against each other, carrying endless fatigue, yet also containing a landslide-like majesty.
"When was Qingqiu's beacon fire last lit? That such a mere fire-spawned abomination dares to set its sights on me."
The heart in the pink mist paused slightly, then its pulsation became even more violent.
The viscous pink energy wrapped around Hoolay, attempting to permeate it, but was obstructed by some invisible force field.
"Hoolay Khan, the Xianzhou people have imprisoned you here, and you suffer the torment of this Unending Sword Tree at every moment."
Carnal's thoughts, cloyingly sweet and bewitching, sounded directly in Hoolay's mind.
"Do you not wish to regain your freedom?"
"This Lord has already controlled the judge of the Unshackling Key. If you and I join forces, we can surely fight our way out."
Hoolay let out a low laugh, as if from the depths of hell.
The runes on the bronze chains flashed wildly due to the laughter, the searing intensifying.
"Heh... A Heliobus helping me for no reason must seek something in return."
Its enormous wolf head shook slightly, causing the bronze chains to rattle.
"I have heard that the Reignbow Arbiter once exchanged a mortal body for the Suihuang Alliance..."
"What you seek, I fear, is something similar?"
Carnal did not hide its desire in the slightest.
The pink mist around the heart itself suddenly expanded, its color becoming even more demonic and profound.
"What I, Carnal, desire, is precisely your body as the Khan of the Denizens of Abundance!"
"And your boundless emotions, which remain unextinguished even after ten thousand years of cruel torture!"
The sound of the heartbeat was like a drum, thud-thud, a hundred times more violent than before.
The pink mist churned like boiling magma, emitting a nauseatingly sweet and decaying mixed odor.
"Lurking for a thousand years, waiting for this very moment!"
There is no sacrificial offering of flesh and blood more nourishing to us than this!"
Carnal spoke hysterically.
"Ridiculous."
Hoolay's response was only two words, yet it carried a contempt that could crush stars.
"Even if Suihuang himself were here, he wouldn't dare claim he could surely devour me."
"Let alone a fire-spawned abomination like you, who hasn't even fully matured."
The pink mist around Carnal suddenly stagnated.
The heart's pulsation also froze for an instant.
"This is..."
An unprecedented, incomprehensible palpitation came from the depths of Hoolay's broken body.
"The 'Crimson Moon' in my chest..."
Hoolay's voice suddenly rose, carrying an indescribable madness and fervor.
Beneath the skin of its withered chest, a demonic, crimson light faintly glowed.
That light grew stronger and stronger, as if a blood-colored moon was slowly rising within its body!
"It once scattered its bloody light across the Xianzhou!"
"Made all Foxians... utterly mad with extreme fear!"
"Thirsting for slaughter... endlessly!"
The crimson light erupted violently, instantly piercing through Hoolay's flesh and skin, dyeing the surrounding pink mist with a layer of blood!
A terrifying pressure spread with the light—it was a mixture of pure, primal, destructive killing intent and the emotion of fear!
"Such emotions... can you... stomach them?"
Under the crimson light, Hoolay's body seemed no longer withered.
Its gnarled muscles appeared to be refilled with explosive power.
Its fractured bones emitted "kaka" sounds, as if slowly mending.
The energy of the Unending Sword Tree was battered by the red light, emitting a piercing shriek, the runes flashing madly, seemingly trying its utmost to fight against Hoolay!
The heart suspended by Carnal, under the illumination of the red light, its surface's pink luster fluctuated sharply.
It didn't respond for a moment, seemingly rapidly analyzing and assessing this sudden change.
The pink mist no longer actively eroded, but instead slightly contracted, as if encountering some natural enemy.
What permeated the air was no longer sweetness, but a mixture of rust-tinged bloodiness and a fear that made the soul tremble.
A moment of dead silence.
Then, Carnal's thoughts sounded again, this time, however, carrying a morbid excitement and tremor.
"Splendid... Truly splendid!"
The heart's pulsation resumed, even more frenzied than before, revealing a reckless greed.
"It is I who have seen too little! I never imagined that such a world-shocking power was hidden within your broken body!"
"It seems the Denizens of Abundance are indeed masters at controlling emotions!"
The pink mist churned again, but this time, it was no longer a simple, sweet pink.
The edges of the mist were dyed with a faint blood-red, as if contaminated and assimilated by Hoolay's "Crimson Moon."
"Though in the past I disliked eating such overly fierce bloodlust and fear..."
Carnal's thoughts carried a bizarre, chant-like tone.
"But today, for this ultimate nourishment, I'm afraid... I must have a taste!"
Before the words faded, the heart lunged forward violently!
The pink, living mist, stained by the crimson light of the moon, like a giant, twisted mouth, brazenly lunged towards Hoolay's head!
And the "moon" in Hoolay's chest, its light also instantly blazed to the extreme!
The formless storm of fear and the desire for slaughter, transformed into a substantial crimson shockwave, met the pink, greedy giant mouth!
Pink and crimson, two entirely different yet equally terrifying forms of energy, violently collided in the center of the small Grotto-Heaven prison!
There was no earth-shattering roar, only the tooth-aching "hiss" of energy annihilating.
And the sound of space groaning under the strain of being torn by two extreme forces.
Pink mist and crimson light fiercely intertwined, mutually devouring, polluting each other.
The outcome of victory or defeat was, for a time, still unknown.
Outside the Path to the Shackling Prison, shattered jade and broken mechanical components lay scattered.
A few exquisite ingenuity birds hummed softly, shuttling between the fractured paths, deftly connecting the breaks, attempting to rebuild the bridge to the Shackling Prison.
Jing Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, calmly watching the busy ingenuity birds.
Behind him, the strategists of the Seat of Divine Foresight were intently manipulating Jade Abacuses, coordinating the repair work, beads of sweat faintly visible on their temples.
"Click."
With a soft sound, Yanqing paced impatiently, the sword at his waist swaying slightly with his movements.
He gazed at the deep, seemingly man-eating entrance of the Shackling Prison, his brow tightly furrowed.
"General!"
Yanqing's voice carried unconcealable anxiety, "How much longer will it take to repair this passage?"
Jing Yuan did not turn back, his gaze still fixed on the slowly extending path ahead.
"Repairing the passage is not something that can be achieved overnight, Yanqing. Patience is required."
His voice was as steady as ever, as if nothing could disturb his composure.
"But General!"
Yanqing raised his voice, his tone urgent, "Master Diviner and that Mr. Daziel are still inside!
According to the holographic overview, that abomination, after eating the other Heliobi in the Shackling Prison, has already opened the gate of the Unshackling Key and come into contact with those heinous criminals who committed the Ten Unpardonable Evils!
With such dreadful beings gathered in one place, every moment of delay increases the variables! This is a matter of life and death for the Xianzhou, how can I not be anxious!"
Jing Yuan then slowly turned around, looking at his young swordsman.
"Anxiety will not speed up the repair of the passage, nor will it help Fu Xuan and the others escape."
He pointed to the still-operating ingenuity birds ahead: "Look at them, methodical, meticulous. The way of repair, like deploying troops, requires gradual progress to ensure stability."
Jing Yuan walked to Yanqing's side, gently patting his shoulder.
"Steady yourself. The dangers you will face in the future are far more than just this one today. Every trial is a tempering of your character."
He looked towards the Shackling Prison, his eyes deep: "Besides, Fu Xuan is wise and resourceful; advancing or retreating in the enemy's formation naturally relies on her divination. Mr. Daziel is also no ordinary person. With the two of them together, we should have faith in them, in the allies of the Xianzhou."
Yanqing took a deep breath, his tightly clenched fist slowly relaxing.
He looked at Jing Yuan's calm face, and the anxiety in his heart seemed to be infected by that steadfastness, gradually calming down.
"The General is right," Yanqing lowered his head slightly, his tone tinged with shame, "It was Yanqing who was impatient."
Jing Yuan nodded slightly, his gaze returning to the distance, as if piercing through the barrier of space to see a vaster sea of stars.
"The universe is vast, stars scattered like chess pieces,"
He said softly, as if speaking to Yanqing, or perhaps to himself, "There are no regrets in placing a piece; every move is a choice, with far-reaching consequences."
The ingenuity birds continued to hum; the repair work was still ongoing.
Deepest part of the Shackling Prison, the Unshackling Key.
The dead silence seemed to have solidified into tangible frost.
The air here was no longer merely cold, but more like a severe chill capable of freezing the soul; even the thin light seemed to twist and stagnate in this coldness.
Ahead, a Grotto-Heaven prison gate, as enormous as the gaping mouth of an abyss, stood open.
Before the gate, a solitary figure stood motionless, the familiar Ten-Lords Commission judge's uniform appearing particularly jarring at this moment.
Hanya's pupils constricted; the style of that uniform made her heart clench: "That gate... Could it be that Carnal has already succeeded, releasing all the prisoners inside?!"
Sushang had excellent eyesight. She pointed to the motionless figure at the entrance, somewhat puzzled.
"Huh? Isn't that one of your Ten-Lords Commission people? What's he doing standing there motionless?"
Daziel's gaze was sharp, sweeping over the judge's stiff posture, his voice carrying an icy decisiveness.
"No need to ask, just look at his eyes, and you'll understand."
Following his voice, everyone looked over, only to see the judge's face stiff, expressionless, his eyes hollow and devoid of spirit.
"He has been completely controlled by Carnal."
Daziel's tone was firm, without a trace of hesitation, "I'm afraid it was he who personally opened this forbidden gate for Carnal."
Fu Xuan let out a soft "tsk," her fingertips rapidly calculating within her sleeve, the third eye on her brow instantly furrowing, revealing a hint of gravity.
"What a supremely troublesome abomination... However, I just performed a divination."
"The hexagram shows outer Li and inner Kan, precisely the sign of Weiji (Before Completion). This indicates that Carnal has not yet fully succeeded; there is still a chance for this matter to turn around!"
As if her words were an omen, Fu Xuan had not even finished speaking when the controlled judge, like a wound-up puppet, its neck emitting soft "kaka" sounds, stiffly turned its head.
Its hollow, godless eyes precisely locked onto Daziel's group.
The Soul-Reaving Token was slowly raised by him as if by a machine.
A dry, grating voice, devoid of any human emotional fluctuation, sounded, exceptionally chilling in the dead silence.
"Stop! You ants, you may not enter!"
"Lord Carnal is currently feeding. Any existence that dares to disturb will be killed without mercy!"
His gaze, like a cold searchlight, slowly swept over Hanya, Xueyi, and Huohuo.
Deep within those hollow eyes, a twisted "pity" strangely surfaced.
"Hanya, Xueyi, and that timid junior Huohuo... For the sake of our past collegial relationship."
"I advise you, along with those women over there, to quickly abandon resistance and surrender to my Lord."
"In the future, when Lord Carnal purges the entire Xianzhou with supreme depravity and reshapes the universe, I might be able to put in a few good words for you."
"To ensure you retain a sliver of clear consciousness, continuing to serve... serve the man by your side, might not be impossible."
Xueyi, hearing these blasphemous words, her placid face showed a flicker of emotion, her puppet body trembling slightly.
"Feng Tianyu! You bastard! Wake up! What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Hanya was also both ashamed and angry, the fingers holding her judge's brush white at the knuckles from the force.
Fu Xuan was first stunned, then her willow-like eyebrows shot up, her pretty face filled with killing intent: "Bah! Who wants to serve this foot-fetish pervert... Wait!"
She was struck as if by lightning, suddenly catching that crucial phrase: "You said... feeding?!"
Fu Xuan whipped her head around, her gaze urgently falling on Hanya, her words rapid as she pressed, "Feng Tianyu is guarding this Grotto-Heaven prison, who is the major criminal imprisoned inside?"
Hanya took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, and laboriously squeezed out that taboo-like name from between her teeth, each word carrying a suffocating weight.
"It is... the war-leader of the Denizen of Abundance, the Khan of Wolves... Hoolay."
"What—?!"
Fu Xuan cried out in shock, her pretty face instantly losing all color!
The other women, including Sushang and Huohuo, also showed drastic changes in expression, simultaneously sucking in a cold breath, feeling a chill shoot from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads!
Hoolay!
This name, in the long river of the Xianzhou Luofu's history, was not just a designation, but a taboo itself, a lingering nightmarish shadow, a terrifying existence capable of making even the most valiant Cloud Knight veterans who had experienced the bloody battles of that era feel a bone-chilling cold!
That was a legendary fiend truly capable of stopping Foxian children from crying at night!
Carnal... that thing that plays with emotions... actually dared to target Hoolay?!
This could no longer be described as audacious; this was simply courting death, actively sticking one's head into the guillotine!
It was utter madness! It was seeking its own demise!
Even Daziel, at this moment, had a rare look of incredulous shock on his face.
He could clearly feel, from the depths of the opened prison, the faint, heart-palpitating aftershocks of two extreme emotional energies violently colliding.
One was Carnal's greedy, twisted desire, carrying a sweet and decaying aura.
And the other...
Was an even more violent, more primal, more pure, terrifying power that seemed to want to destroy all living things in the world!
Naked slaughter and fear!
Mr. Tail's sharp, piercing voice sounded like an alarm.
"That's right! That's right! This is the feeling! I will never mistake it! It's feeding!"
"That emotion... it's too vast! Too terrifying! It's practically an emotional storm eye! It's definitely emanating from Hoolay! This damned fellow! Is it trying to emulate Conflagration from back then, trying to devour Tengxiao?!"
"It's mad! To actually try and devour such a high-level, ferocious existence to complete its own transformation!"
"I can't believe I'm actually witnessing such a world-shaking spectacle... Wait... something's not right..."
Mr. Tail's voice suddenly paused, filled with deep suspicion and disbelief.
"Its aura... Carnal's aura is rapidly weakening... No! It's not weakening! It's being overwhelmed! Forcibly overwhelmed!"
"That wolf's emotions... that wolf's will... are fighting back! It's devouring Carnal in reverse! Is it going to succeed?!"
As these words were spoken, everyone's heart tightened, their faces instantly becoming incomparably ugly, as if they had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
If even a legendary fiend like Hoolay was successfully devoured and fused by Carnal, the power and terror of the resulting monster would be simply unimaginable!
The entire Xianzhou Luofu would likely face a cataclysmic disaster!
Just at this critical moment, when the atmosphere was extremely tense, and everyone's heart felt as if seized by an invisible hand, hanging in their throats.
A low, hoarse voice, as if frozen by ten thousand years of black ice, or like rusty metal grinding, having just broken free from endless darkness and silence, abruptly sounded.
"Hmph... Is this... the taste of rebirth? It's truly... been a long time..."
This voice was not loud, yet it carried a terrifying pressure that seemed to penetrate the soul, reaching the deepest parts of consciousness, causing everyone present, including Daziel, to involuntarily shudder!
From the opened, abyss-like darkness of the prison, a colossal figure slowly paced out.
It was a wolf-man form, so tall and sturdy it was suffocating.
Though the fur covering its body was still sparse, it was no longer withered and dull as before, but instead exuded a nascent, power-filled luster.
Its gnarled, bulging muscles were filled with an explosive sense of power, its lines ferocious, as if forged from black steel.
Every subtle movement contained a terrifying might capable of tearing apart mountains and rivers.
And what was most terrifying was that the Ten-Lords Commission's special shackles that should have been on its body had, at this moment, vanished without a trace!
It was free! Completely unshackled!
As for the Ten-Lords Commission judge named Feng Tianyu, the moment he saw the wolf-man appear, it was as if all the bones and strength had been instantly sucked from his body.
With a "thud," he fell heavily to his knees, his face for the first time showing an expression other than hollowness—it was an extreme, twisted fear and a despair that reached into his very marrow!
He clutched his head tightly with both hands, letting out a tragic, bloodcurdling scream, like a cuckoo crying blood.
"Red light... Its eyes... are red light!!"
"Lord Carnal... failed? No! This is impossible! This is absolutely impossible! How could Milord fail?!"
That towering giant wolf was, without a doubt, the undying war-leader of the Denizens of Abundance—Hoolay!
Its eyes, burning with crimson flames, indifferently swept over Feng Tianyu, who was means paralyzed on the ground, his spirit broken.
There wasn't even a ripple in its gaze, as if merely looking at an insignificant ant.
Immediately, those crimson pupils, filled with ancient baleful energy and endless killing desire, like two blood-colored searchlights, slowly turned towards Daziel's group.
The air seemed to completely solidify at this moment.
An invisible, heavy, terrifying pressure crashed down, making Huohuo, a Foxian, almost unable to breathe, her face as pale as paper.
Hoolay grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp, saw-like fangs, its low voice tinged with a chilling playfulness, and an undisguised, terrifying "hunger" as if it had starved for millennia.
"Unexpectedly... after this Lord regained this body full of power, the first feast of depravity I'm to spread will actually befall you few interesting prey..."
That blood-red gaze, like a tangible blade, carrying icy scrutiny and mockery, swept over Fu Xuan's tense pretty face, Hanya and Xueyi's guarded figures, Sushang's terrified eyes, and Huohuo, who was trembling behind the others.
Finally, it landed precisely on the stern-faced Daziel.
That gaze carried a pure, undisguised aggression, an ice-sealing coldness, and even more, a hunter's cruel amusement after locking onto its prey, about to begin the hunt.
"Very well."
Hoolay's voice was low and magnetic, yet it exuded a demonic allure.
"Daziel, this Lord has observed you in secret for a long time. The essence contained in this body of yours far exceeds ordinary imagination. The women around you, even if they took turns pleasuring you, I'm afraid their bodies would give out first."
"How about this,"
A bizarre light flashed in Hoolay's crimson eyes, as if carrying endless malice, "You obediently submit to this Lord, become this Lord's foremost general. This Lord can consider turning all the women on this Xianzhou Luofu into your exclusive playthings."
"At that time, the entire Luofu Xianzhou will become your hunting ground, everywhere leaving traces of your conquest, leaving your... liquid, how about it?"
Daziel, upon hearing this, his face remained as cold as frost, his sharp gaze fixed on Hoolay, who exuded a monstrous baleful aura before him.
He retorted without a trace of warmth in his voice: "So, the you right now, is it Carnal, or Hoolay?"
"If it were the original Hoolay, that Denizen of Abundance war-leader who knew only slaughter and destruction, he wouldn't say such base, desire-filled words like rewarding me with all the Xianzhou women."
Deep within Hoolay's crimson eyes, an extremely faint pink glow, like a will-o'-the-wisp, flashed and disappeared, so quickly one might think it was an illusion.
The arc of its grinning mouth widened, carrying an extreme malice and mockery.
"Why don't you... guess?"
___
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