Love Burning Amidst the Ashes. - Chapter 26 - The Secret of the Valley Floor

Icy darkness swallowed Xu Qing Feng whole.

His body was like a boulder hurled by some colossal force, tumbling endlessly through weightless vertigo as he plummeted into the abyss. The shrill howl of the wind screamed past his ears, flooding his mouth and nose with the pungent stench of sulfur and rust.

Inside him, utter devastation reached its peak.

The backlash of the Thunder Fiend energy surged through his meridians like molten lava, while the agonizing collapse of his dantian tore at every nerve in his body. Stimulated by the drop of dark green liquid injected by Scarface, the Demonic Seed had completely run rampant. Bone-chilling yin energy fused with chaotic malice, relentlessly eroding his sea of consciousness. The lingering effects of the Blood Boiling Pill flared one final time, desperately squeezing the last traces of his nearly exhausted life force—only to fuel the Demonic Seed’s savage fury even further.

The icy hand of death had already closed around his heart.

Just as his consciousness was about to sink forever, torn apart by endless darkness and unbearable agony—

Buzz!

The mark near his left shoulder, close to his chest, suddenly lit up once more.

A phantom of an ancient Yin-Yang jade pendant emerged from within his body, erupting with an unprecedented gray-white radiance. Cold, chaotic, yet imbued with an indescribable will to protect, the strange aura spread instantly.

The light did not expand outward.

It turned inward.

Like a block of ice dropped into boiling oil, it forcefully suppressed the destructive storm raging within his body.

His consciousness drifted amidst waves of excruciating pain, while the sensation of falling seemed endless. In the final instant before darkness consumed him completely, his unfocused eyes caught a fleeting glimpse deep beneath the cliff.

Below the swirling crimson mist lay a patch of terrain utterly unlike the jagged dark-red cliffs surrounding it.

It was a smooth obsidian wall, polished like a mirror, engraved with enormous, ancient runes whose intricate lines stretched across its surface. Hidden within the blood-colored haze, the runes radiated an aura of timeless desolation.

Strangely, they resonated faintly with the gray-white light emanating from the jade pendant’s phantom on his shoulder.

Then—

BOOM!!

His body slammed violently into a pool of thick, freezing liquid.

The tremendous impact robbed him of all consciousness in an instant. It felt as though every bone in his body had shattered and his organs had been crushed into pulp. The foul liquid rushed into his mouth and nostrils, carrying an overwhelming stench of rust and decay that pierced straight into his mind.

It wasn’t solid rock.

It was… a bottomless pool of dark crimson liquid, saturated with the overwhelming scent of blood.

The frigid water enveloped him instantly, stabbing every scorched wound and ruptured meridian like countless icy needles. The violent contrast in temperature, combined with the suffocating sensation, acted like one final jolt to his dying body, dragging XU QINGFENG back from the edge of complete unconsciousness.

“*Urgh…*”

He choked violently.

Foul blood mixed with shattered fragments of his internal organs and black clotted blood spewed from his mouth and nose.

Pain erupted throughout his body like an awakening volcano, drowning him completely.

A crisp **crack** echoed from his dantian, as if fine jade had shattered beyond repair, flooding his vision with crimson. The black veins of the Demonic Seed on his right arm pulsed even more violently under the icy water, tormenting him with alternating waves of scorching pain and bone-deep frost that nearly drove him insane.

Instinct for survival overpowered everything.

Like a dying beast, XU QINGFENG unleashed the last remnants of his strength, desperately thrashing through the viscous blood-colored water toward the surface. Every movement tore open his shattered wounds, bringing searing agony. Beneath his skin, blue-violet cracks of lightning flickered weakly in the freezing water, like the final embers of a dying flame.

Splash!

At last, his head burst through the sticky crimson surface.

He gasped greedily for air.

Cold air, thick with sulfur and the stench of blood, rushed into his lungs. It brought a faint reminder that he was still alive, yet the acrid smell immediately triggered another fit of violent coughing, sending dark-red foam spraying from his lips.

With immense effort, he forced open eyes clouded by blood and filth.

What greeted him resembled the very depths of hell.

He floated within an enormous blood pool whose bottom could not be seen.

The liquid was as thick as coagulating blood, a nauseating shade of dark crimson. Wisps of reddish mist drifted above its surface, carrying an overpowering odor of blood and decay that threatened to suffocate him. The icy water relentlessly stole away what little warmth remained in his body.

Looking upward, towering crimson cliffs rose on both sides, thousands of feet high, as though cleaved apart by a divine axe. Their nearly vertical walls stretched endlessly into the lead-gray storm clouds above.

The place where he had fallen was merely a depression within the boundless abyss beneath Soulbreaker Cliff.

He had no idea how far below the cliff top he now was.

Only the howling wind and the faint echoes of battle drifting from somewhere impossibly far above reminded him that another world still existed.

The valley floor was cloaked in darkness.

Its only light came from pale flashes of lightning slipping through gaps in the heavy storm clouds overhead, and from faint crimson phosphorescence emitted by strange minerals deep beneath the blood pool.

Together they bathed the valley in a ghastly glow, making it seem submerged inside a massive block of coagulated blood.

The ground itself was anything but level.

Jagged rocks protruded everywhere like the fangs of monstrous beasts, emerging from both the blood pool and the shoreline. Many were blanketed in thick dark-green moss, releasing the heavy scent of damp decay.

“*Cough… cough…*”

Xu Qing Feng struggled to breathe.

The freezing water steadily drained his body heat, while blood loss and unbearable pain sent wave after wave of dizziness crashing over him.

He had to reach land.

If he remained in this blood pool, he would either freeze to death, suffocate beneath the nauseating stench, or be utterly destroyed by the chaos raging within his body.

*”That phantom… Why did it resemble the jade pendant Father gave Elder Brother? Could it be…”*

There was no time to think.

Grinding his teeth, he endured pain that seemed capable of tearing his soul apart. Guided only by instinct, he swam toward the nearest massive crimson boulder protruding above the surface.

Each stroke exhausted what little strength he had left.

The icy water seeped into every wound.

The Demonic Seed’s black veins pulsed like a beating war drum, each throb bringing bone-deep cold and an ever-growing thirst for blood. Meanwhile, the relentless agony from his shattered dantian constantly reminded him that the foundation of his cultivation had been destroyed.

Time lost all meaning.

After what felt like an eternity, his fingertips finally touched the slick, freezing edge of the rock.

With every last ounce of strength, he dug his nails deep into its cracks and slowly dragged his body upward, inch by agonizing inch.

At last, he collapsed onto the cold stone.

Like a fish stranded on land, Xu Qing Feng gasped desperately for breath. Every inhale carried the metallic taste of blood and the tearing pain of ruptured organs.

The icy rock greedily absorbed the little warmth left in his body, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.

With great difficulty, he turned his head.

The charred layer covering his right arm had mostly peeled away during the fall and while being washed by the blood pool, revealing raw dark-red flesh beneath.

More horrifying still was the web-like black pattern of the Demonic Seed, writhing like a living creature.

Deep within the markings, threads of dark crimson light pulsed in rhythm with its heartbeat, greedily absorbing the thin demonic aura lingering in the air and the blood qi rising from the pool.

With every breath it consumed, the bone-chilling cold gnawing at his body intensified.

“*Hah… hah…*”

Labored breaths escaped his throat as his consciousness teetered on the brink under the combined assault of agony, freezing cold, and demonic corruption.

The jade box containing the Healing Paste had long since vanished.

The Blood Boiling Pill given to him before the battle had also been lost during his fall.

Now he was gravely wounded, on the verge of death.

His cultivation foundation was shattered.

Poison coursed through his veins.

The Demonic Seed was devouring him at an accelerating pace.

This was true despair.

Hopelessness wrapped itself around his heart like icy poisonous vines.

Then—

Buzz!

The Yin-Yang jade pendant mark on his left shoulder, silent until now, suddenly pulsed once again.

This time, the faint but unmistakable vibration carried a strange resonance, as though something deep within the valley was calling to it.

The sensation pointed directly toward the depths of the blood pool—

toward the smooth obsidian wall.

Xu Qing Feng’s bloodshot eyes narrowed sharply.

He remembered.

The runes he had glimpsed just before falling.

The jade pendant’s resonance.

There was…

something there.

A powerful desire to survive, mixed with a fragile spark of hope toward the unknown, ignited like the first ember upon a frozen wasteland.

Struggling upright, he supported himself with both arms and began crawling toward the depths of the rocky shore, following the jade pendant’s faint guidance toward the smooth stone wall.

The rocks were freezing cold and slick with slimy moss.

Every inch forward consumed the last of his strength, leaving behind a trail of blood, muddy water, and crimson stains.

The chaos inside his body had not subsided.

Without the forced guidance of the **Thunder Fiend Art**, the power of the Thunder Fiend and the Demonic Seed collided even more violently, like two maddened beasts tearing each other apart within his body.

Every clash widened the cracks in his dantian, bringing pain that seemed capable of ripping his soul apart.

Meanwhile, the frigid poison injected by Scarface continued spreading through his bloodstream, filling his body with creeping numbness and a cold that penetrated deep into his bones.

He crawled for what felt like an eternity.

With every painful inch, the jade pendant’s pulse grew stronger.

At the end of the rocky path, near the edge of the blood pool, the smooth obsidian wall finally revealed itself in its entirety.

Embedded within the jagged crimson cliff, it resembled an enormous slab of polished black obsidian, utterly out of place amid the rough and weathered surroundings. Its surface was not perfectly smooth but was instead covered with countless ancient runes of unimaginable complexity. Their bold, intricate strokes had been carved deep into the stone. Though countless ages of erosion had passed, every symbol remained remarkably clear, radiating an ancient, solemn aura that seemed to have endured since time immemorial.

Now, beneath the dim light, the runes faintly shimmered in response to the pulse of the jade pendant on **Xu Qing Feng’s** left shoulder. A pale gray-white glow—identical to the pendant’s own radiance—flowed quietly through the carvings, as though silently answering its call.

What caused **Xu Qing Feng’s** pupils to contract even more was what lay beneath the stone wall.

At its base, just above the surface of the thick blood pool, was a narrow crack barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

Its edges were unnaturally smooth.

It was unmistakably man-made.

A faint yet incomparably pure ancient aura drifted slowly from within the crevice, carrying traces of dust and aged metal.

**The entrance to an ancient cultivator’s cave abode?!**

The jade pendant suddenly pulsed violently, pointing directly toward the narrow opening.

Hope instantly overwhelmed despair.

A savage determination ignited in **Xu Qing Feng’s** eyes.

His instinct to survive eclipsed every other thought.

Grinding his teeth until fresh blood seeped from his gums, he summoned every last shred of strength left within him and crawled toward the crack.

Closer…

Even closer…

Just as his fingertips were about to reach the entrance—

**Hiss!**

A thread of dark-green smoke, so fine it was nearly invisible, suddenly burst from the center of the Demonic Seed’s black markings on his right arm.

It was the lingering remnant of the bizarre plant poison injected by Scarface.

As though provoked by something, the sinister toxin suddenly became violently active. It surged backward through his meridians like a living venomous serpent, rushing straight toward his sea of consciousness.

A crushing wave of dizziness and nausea struck him like a hammer.

Everything before **Xu Qing Feng’s** eyes turned black.

His body stiffened.

The arm reaching toward the crack fell limply to the ground.

His consciousness was instantly engulfed by the poison’s freezing corruption and chaotic influence.

The fragile balance within his body finally collapsed.

The suppressed Thunder Fiend power erupted violently.

“Urghhh—!”

A howl of agony burst from the depths of his throat.

The blue-violet lightning fissures beneath his skin blazed with blinding brilliance, splitting across his body like cracks in molten earth.

The Demonic Seed’s black markings on his right arm shone with dazzling crimson light, pulsing frantically as they greedily devoured the erupting lightning energy.

The cracking of his dantian echoed clearly within his body.

The shadow of death descended once more.

**No…**

**I can’t die here!**

Blood vessels bulged around **Xu Qing Feng’s** bloodshot eyes as he nearly shattered his bloodstained teeth.

With the last fragment of clarity remaining, he drove his bloodied fingers deep into the slippery cracks along the edge of the stone.

The cold, solid touch beneath his fingertips became the final anchor for his fading mind.

At the very instant his consciousness was about to be completely consumed—

The corner of his eye caught something hidden just inside the entrance.

There, growing stubbornly within the narrow gap between the polished stone wall and the rough natural rock, stood a strange plant.

It was no taller than half a foot.

Its entire body was a profound violet-black, as though forged from solidified lightning itself.

Three slender leaves twisted like bolts of lightning, their edges covered in delicate silver-white lightning veins formed naturally over time.

At the very top of the plant hung a single fruit no larger than a longan.

The fruit itself resembled a miniature lightning bolt.

Its surface was covered with flowing silver lightning patterns, while deep within its core shimmered an indescribably dark violet hue—a chaotic darkness so profound it seemed capable of devouring all light.

An indescribable fragrance drifted from the fruit.

It carried the pure essence of lightning intertwined with a mysterious primordial aura.

Against all odds, the fragrance pierced through the overwhelming stench of blood and sulfur, reaching **Xu Qing Feng’S** nose.

The instant he inhaled its scent, his collapsing sea of consciousness became startlingly clear.

The violently clashing Thunder Fiend energy within his body seemed intimidated by a force of far higher authority, pausing for the briefest instant.

Even the Demonic Seed’s black markings weakened their pulsation for a single heartbeat.

**Lightning Pattern Fruit?!**

A legendary name flashed through **Xu Qing Feng’s** chaotic thoughts.

It was a mythical spiritual fruit passed down only through whispered tales among the lowest battle slaves of the Thunder Prison Sect.

Legend claimed it grew only in lands where thunder and fiendish lightning raged at their most violent.

It contained the purest origin of lightning, a supreme treasure capable of suppressing the backlash of lightning cultivation techniques while tempering the body itself.

Yet…

The fruit before him seemed different.

That chaotic dark-violet core radiated a terrifying primordial aura, as though it had existed since the birth of heaven and earth.

The poison ravaging his body and the storm raging within him left no time for hesitation.

This was his only chance.

Savage determination exploded within **Xu Qing Feng’s** eyes.

His desire to survive overwhelmed every trace of reason.

He thrust out his barely functioning left hand.

His fingers curved like claws as they seized the strange Lightning Pattern Fruit.

**Pop!**

The fruit came free instantly.

Unexpectedly, it felt warm and smooth in his palm instead of violently crackling with power.

The silver lightning veins flowed gently across its surface, sending tiny tingling currents through his hand.

Without the slightest hesitation, **Xu Qing Feng** stuffed the mud-covered, bloodstained Lightning Pattern Fruit into his mouth together with several of its violet-black leaves.

He did not even have time to chew.

He swallowed everything whole.

**BOOM—!!**

The instant the fruit entered his stomach, an unimaginably vast torrent of pure lightning essence exploded inside him.

Interwoven within it was a strand of ancient primordial chaos.

At that exact moment, the three lightning talismans he had glimpsed during his fall suddenly found their destination.

In the blink of an eye, they shot directly into his abdomen.

“AAAAAHHHH—!!”

**Xu Qing Feng’s** body arched violently as though struck by an invisible giant hammer.

Every blue-violet lightning fissure covering his skin erupted into blinding brilliance.

Countless tiny silver-white lightning serpents burst wildly from his mouth, nose, and pores, wrapping around his convulsing body.

It felt as though every organ, every bone, every muscle, and every cell had been thrown into the deepest reaches of a heavenly sea of lightning.

Each cell screamed.

Tore apart.

Then reformed.

The agony far surpassed the backlash of the **Thunder Fiend Art**.

It felt as though the overwhelming origin lightning would tear his body apart and reduce him to charred ash.

Yet amid the devastating storm, that mysterious strand of primordial chaos quietly spread throughout his body.

Unlike the lightning, it did not destroy.

Instead, it resembled the primordial essence of the earth itself—ancient, boundless, and nurturing all creation.

Wherever it passed, the raging lightning was forcefully embraced and brought under control.

Though still overwhelmingly violent, it was no longer a force of senseless destruction.

Instead, it was guided toward his shattered meridians and fractured dantian, washing over the places suffering the greatest damage.

Even more astonishingly, when the primordial aura fused with the lightning essence, it displayed overwhelming power against the sinister poison left by Scarface.

The dark-green venom hissed violently as though meeting its natural nemesis.

Bathed in primordial lightning, it rapidly dissolved into nothingness.

The dantian wall, which had been on the verge of total collapse, finally stopped breaking apart.

The lightning infused with primordial chaos seemed to bind the shattered fragments together with invisible adhesive.

Although still covered with countless cracks and dangerously unstable, it was spared complete destruction.

The Demonic Seed’s black markings on his right arm reacted immediately upon sensing the primordial lightning.

As though encountering its greatest enemy, their pulsing became weak and frantic.

The flowing crimson glow was forcibly suppressed.

Even the black markings themselves shrank slightly, trembling with restrained fury.

The pain still crashed over **Xu Qing Feng** like endless tidal waves.

Yet amidst the torment where destruction and rebirth intertwined, a faint spark of life slowly emerged inside his nearly exhausted body.

Curled upon the freezing stone, his body continued convulsing uncontrollably.

Tiny silver-white lightning serpents constantly escaped from his mouth and nose.

But between waves of unbearable pain, the bloodshot eyes of **Xu Qing Feng** held unmistakable relief—the gratitude of one who had survived death itself.

His gaze remained fixed upon the narrow crack only a few steps away—

the entrance leading into the unknown cave abode of an ancient cultivator.

The jade pendant’s pulse continued clearly…

Pointing toward the depths beyond the crack.