Chapter 50: The Fleeting Mirror (Part Two)

"Boom..."

In the blink of an eye, Chen Xian leaped a distance of a hundred meters, appearing outside the cave mouth. Only then did the sound of the ground shattering echo from within the cavern.

Standing on the snow-covered ground outside the cave, Chen Xian frowned deeply, unable to relax at all.

This was because the murmuring sound had not vanished; it still persisted.

"What is this?"

"Could this be the power of pollution acquired by the God-Worship Cult?"

"These people have already been killed and eliminated, so why hasn't this power disappeared?"

Chen Xian pondered inwardly.

Suddenly, a shocking thought surged into his mind:

"Perhaps this power does not dissipate even after the members of the God-Worship Cult perish."

"If that is the case, then even though these cultists are dead, the places where their corpses lie—and even their corpses themselves—will possess the power of pollution."

This realization sent a chill down Chen Xian's spine.

If this were true,

Then the members of the God-Worship Cult, whether in life or in death, posed an extreme danger to everyone else.

If anyone accidentally strayed into the place where a cultist's corpse lay, they would likely be polluted and transformed into a member of the cult.

Such murmuring sounds were presumably the manifestation of that eerie and insidious power of pollution.

At this thought, Chen Xian's expression changed abruptly.

In his mind, the murmuring sound had not vanished because he had moved away from the cave; it had merely grown slightly fainter.

This slightly weakened power of pollution seemingly was not enough to cause physical mutation in Chen Xian.

However, the relentless, continuous whispering echoing in his mind still stirred a sense of irritation within him.

This was utterly abnormal.

His cultivation had already touched upon the realm of the spirit. Such a change could only mean that this power of pollution, while unable to mutate his physical body, was influencing his spirit and even his mind.

"Boom..."

At that moment, thinking of the terrifying nature of the God-Worship Cult's pollution, especially its ability to warp the mind, Chen Xian lost his initial calmness.

His entire body's vital blood erupted, blazing like a scorching furnace. The surging life force circulated at a furious speed within him, and a terrifying wave of heat burst forth from his body.

The white snow within a radius of three to four meters around Chen Xian instantly melted from the heat wave, exposing the brown soil beneath the snow.

The biting cold wind, carrying flurries of white snow, howled past, yet it could not approach Chen Xian's vicinity.

It was as if an invisible wall existed around him, completely sealing out the bitter chill.

For a moment, the snow around Chen Xian continued to melt, and the exposed muddy ground expanded outward.

The sound of flowing water rang beneath Chen Xian's feet, only to be instantly vaporized by the heat wave, turning into swirling mists that hung in the surrounding air.

If anyone were to look from the outside at this moment, they would see a patch of the snow-wrapped mountain range shrouded in mist, with streams of water murmuring gently.

With his vital blood erupting and heat waves rolling, Chen Xian could clearly sense that the murmuring sound he heard was not entering his ears from the outside world.

Instead, it arose from the depths of his heart, pouring directly into his mind.

Yet, this mighty surge of vital blood failed to expel the horrifying murmuring sound.

That torrent of life force seemed to exist on a completely different plane from the power of pollution; they could neither touch nor interfere with one another.

This realization made Chen Xian's expression shift drastically, and his heart sank even further.

"To suffer a degree of pollution merely from hearing the sound, this..."

This situation rendered Chen Xian's expression extremely grave.

"The pollution power of the God-Worship Cult is extraordinarily powerful. How does the official authority usually handle it? Could it be that they simply ignore it like this?"

"No, pollution of this magnitude is terrifying. To prevent harm to others, the authorities must have other methods to deal with it."

After a second thought, Chen Xian concluded that the authorities must possess their own ways to eradicate this power of pollution.

Otherwise, if such pollution were left unchecked, wouldn't it breed even greater catastrophes?

"Since vital blood cannot interfere with this power of pollution, perhaps I can try using divine intent?"

Seeing that his physical life force was unable to eliminate the murmuring, Chen Xian immediately thought of this power related to the spirit.

With a slight shift of his mind, the Mountain-Embracing Divine Intent erupted suddenly from the depths of his heart, flooding his entire body.

Chen Xian bent his knees slightly, rooting himself firmly into the earth, and curved his arms as if embracing a massive mountain in his arms.

The stance he assumed was precisely the Mountain-Embracing Posture he had recently created based on his Mountain-Embracing Divine Intent.

The moment he assumed the Mountain-Embracing Posture, Chen Xian's figure seemed to stand as tall as the earth itself, resembling an immemorial divine mountain that had weathered countless ages of wind and snow.

The Mountain-Embracing Posture used the momentum of embracing a sacred mountain to channel the Mountain-Embracing Divine Intent, borrowing the heavy and steadfast power of the mountain to temper the physique, strengthen the flesh, and fortify the tendons and bones.

Of course, the Mountain-Embracing Posture at this stage was merely formed in its infancy.

It could not yet compare to the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Classic. In his future training, Chen Xian would still practice the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Classic.

As for the Mountain-Embracing Posture, it was adopted at this exact moment purely to mobilize the Mountain-Embracing Divine Intent.

The Mountain-Embracing Posture and the Mountain-Embracing Seal created by Chen Xian would remain incomparable to the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Classic for a long time to come.

Even if he were to become a Spirit-Seeing martial artist, it was not guaranteed that the Mountain-Embracing Posture could rival the Dragon-Tiger Posture.

After all, the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Classic was a Spirit-Seeing inheritance passed down for over a millennium.

More than one Spirit-Seeing martial artist had refined it over the ages. Under the continuous improvements of these masters, the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Classic was by no means comparable to ordinary inheritances.

Divine intent surged within Chen Xian's consciousness like a torrential flood.

"Indeed, divine intent is effective."

Feeling the murmuring sound grow much fainter, Chen Xian's eyes brightened.

Although he had never previously experienced the potency of this pollution, he had faintly sensed from the initial sounds that this power of pollution was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Such a power of pollution was something ordinary people could never resist; even Manifested-Force and Concealed-Force martial artists were completely helpless against it.

To resist this power of pollution required, at the very least, a Transformation-Force martial artist.

Only Transformation-Force martial artists who had enlightened their divine intent would possess the ability to resist it.

Such individuals were few and far between, both in the Great Xuan and across the entire Profound Star.

One could easily imagine that if the unknown entity were truly to descend, ninety-nine percent of all living beings on Profound Star would be instantly polluted, their minds warped to become worshippers of the cult.

Even Transformation-Force martial artists—and perhaps those surpassing them—would likely have little resistance once the entity descended upon Profound Star.

After all, merely the trace of pollution lingering within this cave was already this troublesome.

And this was only a negligible fragment of power projected across endless galaxies.

One could only guess how overwhelmingly powerful the pollution would be once the unknown entity arrived in full.

A sense of deep worry inevitably rose in Chen Xian's heart.

This power of pollution was simply too formidable. If there were no solution, the entire Profound Star would face an unprecedented catastrophe.

Yet, the divine intent possessed by martial artists could not be employed on a massive scale.

"Hah?"

"Sunshades!"

Chen Xian suddenly recalled the eyewear issued by the official authorities, and a wave of comprehension struck him.

"Of course. The authorities aren't helpless; they have already taken action long ago."

"The initial source of the God-Worship Cult's power came from gazing into the galaxy, whereupon the power of pollution followed their line of sight."

"Sunshades—this is the method the authorities devised to counter this power, a method that is actually effective for ordinary people."

At last, Chen Xian's doubts found their answers.

Why Chen Qiqi stammered and refused to speak clearly, why the authorities broadcasted news of a solar storm on a massive scale, and why sunshades flooded the market—

All of these pieces connected together in this instant.

Chen Qiqi did not speak of it because she did not know he was already a martial artist.

To ordinary people, mentioning such truths would only incite greater panic.

The same reasoning applied to the authorities releasing news under the pretext of a solar storm.

This time, the official announcement was targeted not only at the God-Worship Cult but equally at that unknown existence.

"Phew..."

Having figured it all out, Chen Xian breathed a sigh of relief.

With the defense of his divine intent, the murmuring sound was reduced to nearly nothing, and the faint irritation in his heart gradually dissipated.

However, right at that moment, a flash of horror struck Chen Xian's heart.

The murmuring sound, which had been on the verge of vanishing, erupted violently once more. This surge of pollution was now exceptionally clear and distinct.

It rampaged wildly inside Chen Xian's body, drilling aggressively toward his consciousness.

"How is this possible?!"

Chen Xian gasped in shock, finding it hard to believe.

Hadn't this power of pollution been suppressed by his divine intent?!

Why would it suddenly erupt?

Chen Xian's consciousness trembled violently, and an extreme sense of overwhelming terror surged into his heart, making it feel as though a catastrophic doom was imminent.

Dark clouds gathered within his mind, and dread closed in.

"No, if this continues, I will be polluted as well!"

At this thought, Chen Xian hastily drove his divine intent, and his vital blood erupted even more fiercely, even beginning to burn.

A human's essence, vital energy, and spirit are fundamentally one. A strong body with abundant life force naturally strengthens the spirit.

At this moment, Chen Xian could no longer afford to worry about the depletion of his life force; he directly ignited his vital blood to feed and nourish his divine intent.

For others, burning vital blood would inevitably harm the body and cause permanent damage to their life force.

Recovering from such damage would require restarting their cultivation from scratch.

However, for Chen Xian, this was not an unbearable trial.

Possessing transcendent power, increasing his vital blood was a relatively easy feat for him.

"Boom..."

The rolling torrent of life force circulated within his body like a great river rushing into the sea.

Refining essence to transform qi, refining qi to transform spirit—

The burning vital blood continuously nourished the newly sprouted Mountain-Embracing Divine Intent, causing it to surge and grow immensely stronger in the blink of an eye.

Yet, even with divine intent strengthened to this degree, it still proved entirely ineffective.

The power of pollution did not stall; it forcefully pressed on, attempting to breach his sea of consciousness.

Chen Xian felt anxious beyond measure. The terrifying nature of the pollution far exceeded his imagination.

"What is this?"

Suddenly, a suction force emanated from the depths of his sea of consciousness, directly swallowing the power of pollution whole.

This left Chen Xian dumbfounded, his heart leaping wildly.

Feeling his body intently, Chen Xian discovered no abnormalities or injuries whatsoever.

The intrusion of the pollution into his sea of consciousness had not triggered any mental distortion either.

This bewildered and baffled Chen Xian.

These changes had occurred so swiftly that he was completely caught off guard.

From the rampage of the pollution to the appearance of the suction force in his consciousness, and finally to the swallowing of the pollution—

It had truly been a series of twists and turns.

"What on earth is this!"

Chen Xian was intensely curious about the abrupt suction force that had appeared within his sea of consciousness.

"Has the power of pollution just disappeared like that?"

Filled with astonishment, Chen Xian pondered endlessly over the true nature of this sudden suction force.

Suddenly, a new mutation occurred. From within his body, wisps of wondrous power emerged out of thin air.

No!

They should be described as welling up from his sea of consciousness, surging straight toward the Mountain-Embracing Divine Intent.

In a fraction of a second, they fused completely with his divine intent.

Chen Xian could distinctly feel it—

That nascent divine intent was actually growing stronger.

This was not the temporary boost caused by the burning of vital blood,

It was permanent growth.

His divine intent was continuously enhancing itself.

This transformation was simply baffling and unimaginable.

"This... What in the world is this?"

Chen Xian was struck by a profound sense of shock.

One had to know that divine intent was the will of heaven and man; it was related not only to a person's mental state but also to their profound comprehension of the external world.

Therefore, wanting to strengthen one's divine intent

Required not only the practice of visualization meditation techniques but also a continuous perception of the laws and intent of heaven and earth.

Yet all these established rules were broken at this very moment.

"Could it be..."

"Is it because of the suction force within the sea of consciousness?"

Chen Xian thought to himself. Aside from this, he simply could not imagine what else could cause such a tremendous transformation.

Suddenly, a flash of spiritual inspiration struck him, and Chen Xian's own divine intent rapidly sank downward, plunging directly into his sea of consciousness.

A beam of mirror light flashed across the sea of consciousness, captured instantly by his divine intent before vanishing without a trace.

Sacred,

Vast,

Immemorial,

Boundless,

Majestic...

None of these descriptors were sufficient to capture the essence of that beam of mirror light.

That stream of mirror light seemed to resemble a vast universe, containing everything within the world,

Embracing all things, lacking nothing.

What manner of mirror light was this? Chen Xian found himself utterly incapable of describing it in words.