Love Burning Amidst the Ashes. - Chapter 29 - The Yin-Yang Jade Pendant
**Boom—!!!**
The ripple of resonance between the two jade pieces spread like an invisible tsunami, instantly sweeping across the blood-soaked depths of Soul-Severing Cliff!
The **Yin-Yang Jade Pendant** hidden in Xu Qing Xuan’s arms, along with the birthmark-like mark on Xu Qing Feng’s left shoulder, simultaneously erupted with an unprecedented, dazzling gray-white radiance!
The two lights did not merely flare up. They trembled violently as though they possessed a life of their own, answering and intertwining with each other in perfect resonance. Together, they formed a visible pillar of pale light that distorted the surrounding air before shooting straight toward the dark, rune-covered stone wall ahead!
This pillar of light was not an attack.
It was a declaration.
A **calling forth**.
**Rumble—!!!**
It was as though an ancient primordial beast that had slept for countless ages had finally been awakened!
The smooth, mirror-like stone wall, covered in intricate ancient runes, suddenly underwent a world-shaking transformation beneath the radiance of the two jade pieces!
Every rune deeply carved into the wall seemed to be infused with molten energy. In an instant, they began glowing from within, erupting with a blinding pale-white light!
This was no longer a faint resonance.
It was a complete ignition!
A desolate and boundless aura, as though it had originated from the dawn of the primordial universe, erupted from the center of every burning rune like an invisible storm.
The aura was as heavy as a mountain and as violent as a falling star. Carrying an ancient pressure that seemed capable of crushing everything beneath it, it slammed mercilessly into every living being present!
The air shrieked as it was torn apart. The surface of the thick blood pool was forcibly depressed by the invisible force, sending enormous dark-red waves surging outward. Jagged rocks groaned under the immense pressure as countless fragments tumbled down.
“Gah—!”
The wolf-headed cultivator, who had been advancing with a sinister grin and his blade raised, bore the brunt of the impact!
His protective aura at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm was as fragile as paper before this primordial pressure!
It was as though an invisible siege hammer had struck him head-on. He was sent flying backward and crashed heavily into a massive dark-red boulder dozens of zhang away.
The sturdy rock instantly became covered in spiderweb-like cracks.
The wolf-skull mask covering his face shattered with a sharp **crack**, revealing a scarred face twisted by pain and terror.
His enormous blade slipped from his grasp with a loud clang and fell into the blood pool.
The two bandit cultivators behind him, both in the late stages of Qi Refining, fared even worse. Before they could even react, the terrifying pressure swept them into the thick blood pool like leaves caught in a violent storm, leaving their fate uncertain.
“Puh—!”
Xu Qing Xuan, already at the end of his strength and leaning against a stone stalagmite, was likewise crushed beneath the terrifying pressure.
His body trembled violently as he was overwhelmed by the immense force, and another mouthful of dark-purple blood escaped him.
His vision was completely swallowed by darkness and flashes of blood-red light. The last fragment of consciousness he possessed was on the verge of fading away.
The radiance of the jade pendant in his arms fluctuated violently.
The cracks across its surface seemed to have widened slightly.
“Hng!”
On the other side, Xu Qing Feng was similarly slammed against the cold rock behind him by the overwhelming pressure!
The already violent and conflicting energies within his body were forcibly suppressed, causing an even more intense wave of agony to surge through him.
The black markings of the demonic seed pulsed wildly, desperately attempting to resist this suppression from a far higher level.
The dark-red radiance flickered erratically, yet before that terrifying power, it appeared utterly insignificant.
Xu Qing Feng’s bloodstained left hand gripped the cracks in the rock with all his strength. His knuckles trembled under the strain as a suppressed roar escaped from deep within his throat.
The entire bottom of Soul-Severing Cliff seemed to freeze in time.
There was only the enormous stone wall before them, its pale-white runes burning fiercely like the awakened eye of an ancient god.
Cold and indifferent, it gazed down upon the creatures below as though they were nothing more than insignificant ants, radiating a majesty capable of freezing the very soul.
Yet—
This was only the beginning!
**ROAAAR—!!!!!!**
A terrifying roar, a hundred times clearer and a thousand times more violent than before, suddenly erupted from the narrow crack at the base of the stone wall!
It was like a volcano that had accumulated its fury for ten thousand years finally exploding.
This roar was no longer deep or muffled.
It was filled with rage, agitation, and an endless ferocity born from being awakened after an eternity of slumber!
The sound wave was no longer invisible.
It transformed into visible, dark-red rings of force that distorted the air as they swept violently across the entire valley floor like ripples of destruction.
**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**
Several enormous dark-red boulders near the crack, each as large as a house, instantly shattered beneath the terrifying sonic force.
Fragments of stone were hurled in every direction.
The surface of the blood pool was forcibly driven downward by several feet, forming an enormous circular depression. Along its edges, the blood churned and bubbled violently as though boiling.
The stench of blood and sulfur filling the air was suddenly overwhelmed by an even stronger, scorching smell of sulfur and molten rock—an oppressive heat that seemed capable of burning straight into the soul.
**Crack! Crack-crack!**
The surface of the stone wall, covered in blazing pale-white runes, began to fracture.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly outward from the narrow fissure at its center.
With every new fracture, an even hotter and more violent aura surged from within.
The crack twisted.
It widened.
It was as though some colossal creature was violently struggling inside, desperately trying to break free from the prison that had restrained it for ten thousand years.
“It… it’s really here! The one recorded in the ancient texts… the **Twin-Headed Flame Lizard**! This damn thing actually exists! Old Scar betrayed me!!”
The wolf-headed cultivator had just struggled out from beneath the rubble. His shattered mask had left his face exposed, and it was now filled with overwhelming terror—so intense that it completely overshadowed the pain of his injuries.
He stared at the rapidly widening crack and the scorching sulfurous fumes pouring from within. There was no longer even a trace of greed in his eyes.
Only sheer horror remained.
His cultivation at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm was as insignificant as dust before the terrifying aura of the creature that was about to break free!
What jade pendant?
What key?
What bounty from the **Thunder Prison Sect**?
Before absolute power and death, all of it was worthless!
**Run!**
He had to escape immediately!
The farther away from this place, the better!
His instinct for survival overwhelmed everything else.
The wolf-headed cultivator had no time to retrieve his fallen great blade, no time to check on his two subordinates whose fates were unknown, and certainly no time to worry about the two people behind the rocks who had caused all of this!
He suddenly bit down on the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence, forcibly activating a secret technique.
The tattered leather armor covering his body erupted with a faint blood-red glow. His speed instantly surged.
Dragging his heavily injured body, he transformed into a miserable blood-colored afterimage and fled without looking back.
He sprinted toward the darkness on the opposite side of the blood pool, desperately putting as much distance as possible between himself and the stone wall.
Every step sent splashes of blood flying, leaving behind a trail of frantic footprints.
At that very moment, the trembling of the stone wall reached its absolute peak!
**RUMBLE—!!!!!!**
Accompanied by a deafening explosion that seemed capable of splitting the heavens and shattering the earth, the narrow crack at the bottom of the wall finally collapsed and expanded completely!
Amid a storm of flying rubble and scorching sulfurous waves, an enormous, irregular opening several zhang tall suddenly appeared!
Deep within the opening was not the cold darkness one might have expected.
Instead, dazzling golden-red light churned violently within.
It looked like the entrance to the furnace at the very heart of the earth!
Then—
A massive, sinister shadow radiating terrifying heat and savage violence slowly emerged from the furnace-like opening.
The first thing to appear was—
**Two heads!**
Two enormous, grotesque heads, each as large as a small house, covered in thick, dark-golden scales!
Their heads resembled those of giant lizards, yet they possessed the majesty of dragons and the ferocity of demonic beasts.
Within their enormous eye sockets burned two clusters of golden-red flames like molten lava.
Their pupils were two vertical black slits, resembling cracks leading into an abyss.
Two enormous horns, curved like blades, protruded viciously from the tops of their heads. They were as red as heated iron, with dark-red magma flowing along their surfaces.
**Two heads.**
**A Flame Lizard.**
The two enormous heads slowly turned.
Four molten eyes swept across the chaotic valley floor, where waves of blood surged violently.
Their gazes eventually settled upon Xu Qing Xuan, who lay barely conscious beside the rock closest to the entrance, and Xu Qing Feng, who was struggling to keep himself upright behind the rocks on the other side, his eyes filled with intertwining lightning and chaotic energy.
The rage of having been awakened by insignificant ants.
The fury of having its territory invaded.
And…
The instinctive hatred and killing intent toward the faint traces of the two forces that had triggered the resonance of the seal—the jade pendant and the mark.
All of it ignited the primordial beast’s boundless fury in an instant!
**ROOOAAAR—!!!!!!!!!**
Both heads simultaneously opened mouths large enough to swallow an entire house!
Thick, molten saliva burning with golden-red flames poured down like waterfalls. Wherever it landed on the rocks around the entrance, the stone was instantly melted and vaporized.
A sulfurous breath far more terrifying and scorching than before began to gather within both enormous mouths.
The surrounding air warped beneath the extreme heat, causing even the light itself to blur and distort.
A terrifying pressure, almost tangible like a flood of molten lava, instantly locked onto the two heavily wounded brothers.
The shadow of death descended upon them.
Never had death felt so clear.
Never had it felt so scorching.
Compared to the great blade of the peak Qi Refining cultivator, this was terrifying beyond comparison—more than a hundred times worse!
Xu Qing Xuan leaned against the cold stone stalagmite.
His spiritual sea throbbed with unbearable pain. His vision was blurred, and his body felt as though every bone had been shattered, leaving him completely unable to move.
All he could vaguely see were those two enormous molten eyes burning like the gates of hell.
He could feel the terrifying heat, a heat powerful enough to incinerate even the soul.
The radiance of the jade pendant against his chest flickered beneath the Flame Lizard’s overwhelming pressure, as though it could extinguish at any moment.
Despair coiled around the last fragment of his consciousness like a cold venomous serpent.
“Brother…!”
On the other side, Xu Qing Feng struggled to raise his battered body, supporting himself with his bloodstained left hand.
Agonizing pain tore through every nerve.
The cracks within his dantian groaned beneath the primordial pressure, while the black markings of the demonic seed pulsed restlessly amid the scorching heat.
But when he saw his elder brother’s dying state…
When he saw the two apocalyptic beasts that had locked their gazes upon them…
Something buried deep within his bloodline suddenly erupted.
A savage nature infused with violent lightning-aspected killing aura and chaotic energy exploded within his chest like a volcano!
It overwhelmed his fear.
It overwhelmed his pain.
**We cannot die here!**
**I absolutely cannot let Brother die here!**
His eyes were bloodshot.
Within his pupils, silver-white lightning and chaotic purple radiance intertwined and surged wildly as he stared straight at the two Flame Lizard beasts gathering their destructive breath.
His bloodstained left hand suddenly clenched.
The newly formed silver-white lightning patterns beneath his skin lit up once again.
Although faint, they carried a terrifying determination—the resolve to fight to the bitter end, even if it meant perishing together with his enemy.
A strand of dark-purple chaotic aura coiled around the lightning.
Inside the mouths of the Twin-Headed Flame Lizard, the golden-red radiance grew brighter and brighter.
The destructive breath was about to erupt!
At the bottom of Soul-Severing Cliff, the blood pool churned violently as scorching waves surged toward the heavens.
The two heavily wounded brothers stood like two withered leaves caught in a raging storm, facing the awakened primordial beast head-on.
The radiance of the jade pendant swayed within the waves of heat like the final flickering candle flame.
A desperate battle between two sides separated by an overwhelming gulf in power was about to begin!
The air seemed to freeze.
There was nothing left but the deep, muffled rumbling of destructive energy gathering within the Flame Lizard’s throats.
It trembled the very soul.
Like the tolling of a bell from hell—
it slowly rang out through the abyss of blood and sulfur.