Stepping up those cold, solid steps of the dark ice altar, Xiao Qi and Third Senior Sister walked step by step toward the apex. The surrounding standing cold ice guardians, like the most loyal sculptures, silently watched them. Those cold "gazes" no longer held hostility, only an ancient recognition from their origin.
The closer they drew to that rotatingmysteriousblack water sphere at the apex, the clearer that vast, weighty, world-bearing will became. The jade pendant at his chest vibrated more intensely, as if trying to break free and embrace that water sphere.
Finally, the two stepped onto the smooth platform at the altar's apex, standing before that house-sizedmysteriousblack water sphere. Viewing it up close revealed even more of its extraordinariness. The sphere's surface was smooth as mirror, reflecting their two figures, yet also seemed able to reflect the essence of souls. The interior wasn't pure darkness, but had countless minute, star-like points of light slowly revolving, being born and dying, evolving water's flexibility, ice's steadfastness, and earth-like stillness and defense.
The final piece of the Four Symbols Soul Crystals, also the most core one—the complete origin of the Black Tortoise Soul Crystal, was right before them!
Xiao Qi took a deep breath, calming his excited heart. He extended his hand, preparing to attempt communicating with this water sphere and channel its soul crystal origin.
However, just as his fingertip was about to touch that seemingly calm water sphere surface, suddenmutation occurred!
No earth-shaking roar, no violent energy eruption. Thatmysteriousblack water sphere's surface merely rippled like a lake with a stone dropped in. Then, an irresistible, gentle yet vast suction suddenly came, instantly pulling Xiao Qi's heart-mind, even his entire consciousness, inside!
"Xiao Qi!" Third Senior Sister only saw Xiao Qi's body suddenly stiffen, his gaze instantly losing focus, as if his divine soul had left his body. She couldn't help crying out. She tried to step forward but was gently pushed away by an invisible, soft force, unable to approach the water sphere at all. She could only anxiously guard nearby, gripping her sword tight, alert for any possible changes.
...
Xiao Qi felt as if he had fallen into an endless dark sea. Up, down, left, right—all was that deep, weighty, seemingly containing infinite mysteriesmysteriouscolor ofwater. There was no sound, no light, only pure, encompassing everything "water"will.
Just as helook around in a daze, the surrounding scenery suddenly transformed!
He discovered he was no longer in the ice cavern, but standing on familiar land—the outside of Qingxu Temple's mountain gate!
However, the Qingxu Temple before his eyes was not the mist-shrouded, immortal-aura-present place from memory, but a scene of flames of war across the heavens,tragic battlefield of broken walls! The mountain-protecting great formation had shattered. Countless Shadow Snake Pavilion cultivators shrouded in demonic qi surged toward the mountain gate like a tide. Battle cries, explosions, dying screams were deafening.
Senior Brother Mu Qingfeng, drenched in blood, his Taoist robe torn, still waved his sword, desperately defending the tottering mountain gate. His left arm was already gone, his face pale as paper, yet his gaze remained firm. Third Senior Sister Liu Yun (in the illusion) was not far from him, sword light flashing, but already at her last strength, several deep wounds visible to the bone on her body, aura wilting. Second Senior Brother Luo Feng lay in a pool of blood, life or death unknown. More Qingxu Temple disciples had fallen beneath the demon cultivators' blades, their blood staining the mountain gate's stone steps crimson.
And above in the sky, the Temple Master was fiercely battling a terrifying figure with overwhelming aura, shrouded in demonic energy, clearly at a disadvantage, in grave danger.
Extinction disaster! Right before their eyes!
Just then, a seductive voice, as if sounding directly within his soul's depths, rang in Xiao Qi's ear (consciousness):
"Did you see it? This is the place you wish to protect? How fragile, how fragile... Your persistence, your efforts, before absolute power, are meaningless..."
"Give up... As long as you're willing to abandon them and leave alone... I can grant you even stronger power, enough to let you wander freely between heaven and earth, power for eternal life... Why sacrifice your life and Dao path for these ants destined for destruction?"
Accompanying this seductive voice, Xiao Qi felt a pure, massive power seemingly opening to him. If he nodded, if he generated the thought to "flee alone," this power could immediately be his, letting him instantly escape thistragic battlefield, flying far away.
This was a trial! The trial from the Azure Dragon Saint's will!
Azure Dragon governs protection and defense. For its inheritors, the most important thing isn't strength, but a "heart of protection" that will never give up or stray, no matter what desperate situation they face!
The illusion was incredibly realistic—the scenes of sworn siblings dying, Senior Brothers and Sisters drenched in blood, the Temple Master's precarious situation, and that "path to survival" and "power" within easy reach... All this was frantically impacting Xiao Qi's heart and spirit, tempting him to make the "wise" choice.
Xiao Qi watched Senior Brother's still-straight back after losing his arm, watched Third Senior Sister's unyielding determination in her sword light, watched countless disciples no one retreating despite knowing death was certain... Past moments at Qingxu Temple—Master's teachings, Senior Brothers and Sisters' care, the bonds between sworn siblings—flashed through his mind like a carousel.
His gaze, from initial shock and pain, gradually became calm, then... incomparably firm!
Without the slightest hesitation!
He sharply raised his head, gazing toward the direction from which the seductive voice came. His eyes sharp as blades, his heart sent out a silent yet decisive roar:
"Get lost!"
"My path, Tang Xiaoqi's path, is the path of protection! Power is for protecting, not for abandoning! Qingxu Temple is my home, Senior Brothers and Sisters are my family! Even if I die and my Dao crumbles, my soul scatters, I will never abandon them!"
"If there's a battle to fight, then fight! Even if ahead lies an abyss, even if it's a certain-death situation, I will share weal and woe with my sworn siblings, with my home!"
This firm belief, this unquestionable heart of protection, erupted from his soul's depths like the most brilliant light!
"Hum—!"
The entiretragic illusion, like a reflection with a stone thrown in, violently wavered, then... shattered with a roar!
The flames before his eyes, demonic shadows, broken walls, blood-drenched sworn siblings... all things retreated like the tide.
Xiao Qi's consciousness returned. He still stood atop that dark ice altar, his fingertip only an inch from thatmysteriousblack water sphere. That heartbreaking trial had seemingly lasted only a moment.
Third Senior Sister had been watching him anxiously. Seeing his eyes clear, she finally relaxed: "Xiao Qi, are you alright? Just now..."
Xiao Qi shook his head, giving her a reassuring look, then gazed again at themysteriousblack water sphere before him.
This time, the water sphere was no longer calm. Those revolving star-like points of light within suddenly brightened, emitting a gentle, joyfulwill. An incomparably close, incomparably compatible sense of summoning came from the water sphere's depths.
Simultaneously, a gentle, weighty, carrying boundless approval and entrustment ancientintention, like spring wind and rain, quietly merged into Xiao Qi's heart and spirit:
"Good... heart of protection... unbreakable... only then... Azure Dragon's true meaning..."
"Later protector... bearing Four Symbols... maintaining balance... protecting this realm's... heavy responsibility... is entrusted to you..."
Accompanying this finalintention, that house-sizedmysteriousblack water sphere began slowly contracting, condensing, finally transforming into a perfectly condensed stream ofmysteriousblack light. Like a homesick bird, it actively, without obstruction, dove into the jade pendant at Xiao Qi's chest!
"RUMBLE!!!"
As if the universe first opened, as if heaven and earth reshaped! Xiao Qi felt a beyond-description, vast as star sea, weighty as earth massive power instantly fill his limbs and bones, meridians and dantian! His Golden Core rotated at unprecedented speed, swelling, the Four Symbols patterns on its surface becoming incomparably clear and solidified!
Late Golden Core! Peak of Late Golden Core!
His cultivation, under this complete Black Tortoise Soul Crystal origin's integration, broke through consecutively like a broken dam, directly reaching Golden Core's peak! Only one step away from glimpsing the Nascent Soul great path!
And above behind him, the Four Symbol Saints' phantasms appeared again—Azure Dragon coiling, Vermillion Bird soaring, White Tiger howling at mountains, Azure Dragon guarding the sea! The four phantasms no longer acted independently but formed a perfect, stable, endlessly cycling whole, emitting primordial ancient, supreme authority governing the four poles! Four Symbols aligned, origins initially fused!
Xiao Qi slowly opened his eyes. In his gaze seemedsun moon and stars revolving, mountains and rivers rising and falling, eventually returning to a bottomless calm. He felt that unprecedented powerful strength within his body and that even more firm, clearer belief in protection from his soul's depths.
The Four Symbols Soul Crystals were finally... all gathered!
He turned, looking at Third Senior Sister whose face showed joy and shock, revealing a relieved yet full-of-fight spirit smile.
"Senior Sister, we... succeeded."