Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1076 This junior only wishes to borrow a passage to the 9th floor.

The terrifying shockwave shredded everything inside the hall into dust!

Chu Kuanglan took three steps back, and for the first time, fine cracks appeared on his crimson-gold armor.

Zhang Yuan, on the other side, remained standing.

The bluestone beneath his feet had turned into lava, but his feet seemed to be rooted to the ground.

Even more shocking is—

Two distinct auras flowed continuously around him, one on the left and one on the right.

The left half of his body was shimmering with starlight, and his aura was as solid as armor.

The right half of his body was shrouded in chaos, with gray light flickering like flames.

The two forces are not complementary, nor do they circulate perfectly within the meridians. Instead, they coexist in his body in an extremely fragile balance!

Half-step into the Primordial Chaos Realm!

This is a brand new power that he forcibly fused with the star energy and chaos at the moment of life and death!

Chu Kuanglan stared at him for a long time, and for the first time, genuine admiration appeared in his eyes.

He slowly sheathed his sword, making way for the entrance to the stairs leading to the eighth floor, his tone tinged with respect:

“In the past hundred years, you are the first person below the Venerable Realm to withstand this sword strike.”

"He is also the only one who made the Burning Sun Sword Intent submit willingly."

His gaze swept over the two opposing yet coexisting forces on Zhang Yuan's body, and he rarely spoke up to offer advice: "Your 'half-step Hunyuan' is amazing, but it is ultimately just a forced patchwork."

"The Star Qi and Chaos have not truly merged; instead, they are mutually depleting each other."

"If you encounter a truly peerless expert, this will be your fatal weakness."

"However... to be able to take this step is already quite remarkable."

Chu Kuanglan stepped aside to make way.

Zhang Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging blood and qi within him, and clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you for your mercy, senior."

Chu Kuanglan calmly corrected him: "I didn't hold back."

"You caught it yourself."

Zhang Yuan said nothing more and walked step by step up the stairs leading to the eighth floor.

Behind him, Chu Kuanglan's voice came softly.

There is no gatekeeper on the eighth floor.

"There is only one mad dog that is imprisoned."

"When it's in a good mood, it might talk to you. When it's in a bad mood—"

Even I avoid it.

The eighth floor is getting closer.

That was the last line of defense for the Demon Suppression Tower.

Above that is the ninth level, where Venerable Xuanjue is imprisoned.

The eighth floor.

When Zhang Yuan stepped onto the last step, blood was still seeping from his wounds.

Chu Kuanglan's Burning Sun Sword Intent remained in his meridians, like countless tiny branding irons, burning with every breath.

The half-step Primordial Chaos Power that was forcibly fused within his body was like a double-edged sword, with the Star Qi on the left half of his body and the Chaos on the right half constantly tearing at each other.

Like two ferocious beasts fighting for territory, they forcibly maintained a fragile balance with only a sliver of willpower.

He gritted his teeth and slowly used the mental techniques of the "Great Qin Origin Dao Scripture" to calm the restless energy in his meridians.

Then I saw the view from the eighth floor.

There is no main hall here.

The eighth floor was transformed into a desolate wilderness by an indescribable force.

The dark red sky hung so low it seemed almost within reach.

The ground was covered with cracked, scorched earth.

Deep within the crack, dark red magma could be faintly seen surging.

In the center of this wilderness, there was a huge dark shadow.

The first thing Zhang Yuan saw was the iron chain.

Seven thick chains of black iron, each thicker than an arm, extended from the void and disappeared into the body of the dark figure.

Two pierced the collarbone, two locked the legs, one pierced the chest, one strangled the neck, and the last one was deeply embedded between the eyebrows.

On the iron chains flowed eerie blue restrictive runes, which shared the same origin as the demon-sealing runes on the walls of the Demon-Suppressing Tower, but were even more ancient and domineering.

Each time the runes flashed, the dark figure trembled violently, as if countless needles were piercing its soul at the same time.

Then Zhang Yuan got a clear look at the full appearance of the dark figure.

It perched atop the scorched earth, like an ancient, remnant mountain. Its entire body was covered in jet-black scales, each the size of a door panel, the edges of which gleamed with a dark, eerie purple light.

Its head was lowered, and two of the three horns on its forehead were broken off, leaving only the central horn intact. The horn was shrouded in an aura of destruction so thick it was almost impenetrable.

Its eyes were closed, and its breathing was heavy.

With each exhale, the scorched earth within a radius of a hundred feet cracked a little more.

With each inhale, the clouds in the dark red sky pressed down by ten feet.

magic.

Moreover, he was a Primordial Ancient Demon at the peak of the Venerable Realm!

The boundary between primordial mythical beasts and demons was originally blurred.

But some things are born with pure destruction and chaos.

They were feared by all the races of the primordial world and suppressed by the Heavenly Palace at all costs.

The one in front of us is clearly one of them.

Zhang Yuan had seen its name in the documents.

Kuiyan.

An ancient demon from the primordial era, the ancestor of the dark Kui Niu.

Thirty thousand years ago, it wreaked havoc in the region, devouring the lives of hundreds of races, and was finally suppressed on the eighth floor of the Demon Suppression Tower by three elders of the Heavenly Palace.

Legend has it that a single drop of its demonic blood can corrupt a spiritual vein stretching for thousands of miles, and a single roar can shatter the soul of a Saint Realm cultivator.

And now, it kneels here, impaled by seven black iron chains for tens of thousands of years.

Just as Zhang Yuan stopped to observe—

Kuiyan opened his eyes.

What kind of eyes were those?

His left eye was as black as an abyss, without a pupil, only endless nothingness.

His right eye was scarlet like a sea of ​​blood, and the white of his eye was covered with dark purple cracks like a spider web.

Both eyes locked onto Zhang Yuan.

In an instant, Zhang Yuan felt an unprecedented sense of oppression.

That wasn't the aura of a venerable being, nor was it murderous intent; it wasn't anything that could be specifically described.

Rather, it was an overwhelming force of nothingness, almost capable of erasing his existence from the world.

His soul trembled violently in that instant, and the half-step Primordial Chaos Power within his body almost went out of control.

He slammed the Zhenyue Token into the ground, and a burst of chaotic gray light erupted, barely managing to steady himself.

"Human race."

Kuiyan spoke.

Its voice was extremely low.

It's as if deep within the Earth's crust, magma that has been crushed for millions of years has finally found a crack.

Each syllable shattered the scorched earth and cast a fine layer of ash over the dark red sky.

"You possess the aura of primordial chaos."

Its left eye, as black as an abyss, stared intently at Zhang Yuan.

In the void, a barely perceptible fluctuation appeared.

"very good."

Zhang Yuan was tense all over, his right hand gripping the Zhenyue Token tightly, while his left hand had quietly condensed four Star Gang Silver Needles.

His half-step Hunyuan state consumed his source energy with every breath he maintained.

Even though the ancient demon in front of them was suppressed by seven chains, the aura emanating from it was still enough to crush any mid-stage Venerable.

"Senior," Zhang Yuan said slowly, trying to keep his voice steady, "this junior only wishes to use this passage to reach the ninth floor."

Kuiyan remained silent.

It remained silent for a long time, so long that Zhang Yuan thought it had no intention of responding.

Then it laughed.

An expression that Zhang Yuan never expected appeared on that scaly, terrifying face.

It wasn't mockery or contempt, but a deep, indescribable sense of desolation.

"Borrowing passage?"

Kuiyan slowly raised his right arm. (End of Chapter)