Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

161: Chapter 161: Purification of the Evil Spirit and a Glimmer of HopeSu Muxue stood frozen in place, her mind in a tangle. On one side, her Dao Companion Nangong Xuan was besieged, his life or death unknown, and every second of delay could mean a final farewell; on the other side was the precarious Seal before her, the old man’s anxious pleas, and a catastrophe that could affect living beings for thousands of miles. The Sharp Metal Qi radiating from the sealed ”Golden Essence Evil Spirit” was incredibly violent, and the eerie black thread within it made the Taiyin Star Power in her body feel instinctive repulsion and alarm—that was indeed the power of the dark side!

”Mother!” Lin Mo’s thought came rapidly as the chaos star core flickered, analyzing everything before them with all its might. ”This old man’s aura is pure, and his cultivation is at least at the Nascent Soul Early Stage, but his Origin is severely damaged, likely due to long-term consumption from suppression. The Seal is real, and the dark side erosion at the Golden Essence Evil Spirit’s Core is also real! It’s very dangerous! But... he mentioned the star key... he seems to really know the star key!”

Seeing Su Muxue hesitate, the old man’s face grew even more anxious. While desperately maintaining the nearly collapsing Seal, he said urgently, ”Young lady! I am Baishi, the last Mountain Guardian of the ’Taibai Sword Sect’! What is sealed here is the ’innate golden spirit qi’ generated by heaven and earth. It was originally a supreme treasure of my Sword Sect, but it was eroded by the power of the dark side and turned into an Evil Spirit! For hundreds of years, I have barely suppressed it using this earth vein and the ancestral sword formation, but its power grows stronger by the day. I am already at the end of my rope. If you hadn’t brought the star key here today, causing the Evil Spirit to stir, I’m afraid I... cough!”

He coughed up a mouthful of blood tinged with golden light, his aura weakening further. The Seal’s light flickered violently in response, and the liquid-metal-like Evil Spirit crashed against it even more fiercely.

”The power of the star key is supreme and holy, precisely the bane of this dark side erosion! Young lady, only the star key in your hand can purify it! Otherwise, once it breaks free, it will first devour me, then consume the golden Qi of the earth vein, expanding infinitely until it becomes a forbidden zone! By then, no one will be able to stop it! For the sake of all living beings, please give it a try! I... I am willing to thank you with my lifelong collection and the Taibai Sword Sect Legacy!”

Taibai Sword Sect? Su Muxue seemed to have seen this name in some extremely ancient texts; legend had it that it was an ancient Sect exceptionally skilled in Artifact Refining and the Dao of the sword, long since vanished into the river of history. She hadn’t expected a descendant to still be guarding this place.

”Mother!” Lin Mo said urgently again. ”The fluctuation of the mark on Father’s side has stabilized slightly; he seems to have gained some distance for now, but the situation is still critical! The star Core’s analysis says the old man’s words are over seventy percent credible! Perhaps... perhaps purifying this Evil Spirit will yield a method for dealing with the power of the dark side, or even a clue to save Father! Besides, if the Evil Spirit erupts, we probably won’t escape its range of impact!”

Hearing this, the struggle in Su Muxue’s beautiful eyes deepened. Lin Mo’s analysis tempted her; if there was even a glimmer of hope to save Nangong Xuan, she was willing to seize it. But the risk was equally great—if an accident occurred during the purification process, or if it took too long... just as she hesitated—

”Roar—!”

The sealed Golden Essence Evil Spirit seemed completely enraged by the aura of the star key. It let out an inhuman roar and suddenly condensed into an incredibly sharp drill, carrying massive Sharp Metal Evil Qi and that eerie black thread as it slammed into the already crack-riddled Seal Core!

”Not good!” The old man Baishi’s face changed drastically. His hands rapidly changed mudras, and the last of his Origin essence blood burned, turning into runes that merged into the Seal in a final attempt to resist!

Crack!

A clear sound of shattering rang out, and a crack rapidly spread across the Seal’s light barrier!

Su Muxue’s pupils shrank, and she no longer hesitated! Nangong Xuan was risking his life to win them a chance at survival; she certainly wouldn’t shrink back now! If this place truly became a forbidden zone because she stood by and did nothing, how could her Dao Heart be at peace? And how could she face the potential glimmer of hope for saving Nangong Xuan?

”Senior! What should I do?!” Su Muxue shouted. Her figure blurred as she landed beside the old man. The emerald ”key of living beings” and the dimmed ”sharp metal star key” both floated up, emitting a gentle yet firm light.

Seeing Su Muxue finally agree, the old man Baishi’s eyes erupted with light of wild joy and hope. ”Good! Good! You only need to inject your Divine Thought into the star key, guide its Origin power, and shine it upon the Evil Spirit Core! Especially that black thread! I will do my best to stabilize the Seal and buy you time! Remember, the power of the star key is pure; you must guide it with a gentle heart and not use force, or you might provoke an even more violent backlash from the Evil Spirit!”

Su Muxue nodded solemnly and immediately sat cross-legged, holding her breath and focusing her mind. Taiyin Star Power gently enveloped the two star keys, especially the damaged platinum star key, as her Divine Thought cautiously probed inward.

First, she activated the ”key of living beings.” The emerald light, like warm spring water, showered the violent Evil Spirit. The power full of life and the Sharp Metal Evil Qi of pure destruction were originally antithetical, but under Su Muxue’s exquisite control, the power of life did not use force. Instead, like a mother soothing a crying infant, it gently enveloped and permeated, attempting to calm the violent hostility.

Sure enough, the Evil Spirit’s impact slowed slightly, and the surface fluctuations of the liquid metal seemed to ease for a moment. However, the black thread at its Core seemed provoked, suddenly writhing and emitting an even colder, more foul aura, actually starting to devour the power of life in reverse!

”Now! The sharp metal star key!” Baishi shouted urgently.

Su Muxue understood immediately, her Divine Thought instantly turning to that platinum star key. Although its spiritual light was dim, the Origin Laws of ”ultimate sharpness” and ”shattering all methods” within it remained! She cautiously drew a sliver of the purest platinum power from it, turning it into a glow as fine as a hair yet condensed to the extreme, and shot it with absolute precision at the writhing black thread!

This was not a destructive attack, but more like an incredibly delicate ”surgery”!

Sizzle—!

Like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water, the black thread immediately twisted violently and evaporated upon meeting the platinum glow, letting out a silent, shrill shriek! Pure Sharp Metal power was the natural bane of this dark side filth that attached itself to golden spirit Qi!

It worked!

Su Muxue’s spirits rose, but she dared not relax in the slightest, maintaining the output of both powers with all her might. She used the life force of the key of living beings to soothe and stabilize the main body of the Evil Spirit while using the evil-breaking power of the sharp metal star key to precisely grind down and purify the black thread.

This process was extremely taxing on the mind, requiring delicate control of power. Fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on Su Muxue’s forehead, and her face began to turn pale. Sensing its Core being purified, the Evil Spirit struggled even more fiercely, constantly battering the Seal that the old man was struggling to maintain.

Baishi gritted his teeth, blood starting to seep from all seven orifices. His body trembled slightly, yet he still held on desperately, buying precious time for Su Muxue.

Lin Mo controlled the chaos star core, hovering above Su Muxue’s head and emitting a faint Chaos light to help stabilize her mind and recover her consumption, while closely monitoring every change in the Evil Spirit and the dark side power.

Time passed bit by bit.

Under the continuous purification of the platinum star key, the black thread became thinner and thinner, paler and paler.

Finally, just as Su Muxue was about to exhaust her mental strength—

The black thread let out an extremely faint hiss full of resentment and completely dissipated!

The moment the black thread vanished, the originally violent liquid metal Evil Spirit suddenly stopped its impact. Its platinum body became pure and translucent, no longer carrying any hostility. Instead, it radiated a sense of Innate purity, a gentle yet massive Sharp Metal Law charm. It even seemed to possess a bit of spirituality, fluctuating slightly toward Su Muxue and Baishi, conveying a sense of dependence and gratitude.

Success!

The pressure on the Seal’s light barrier vanished instantly.

Thud!

Baishi could no longer hold himself up and collapsed directly to the ground, gasping for breath, yet his face was filled with a smile of relief and liberation. ”Success... haha... success... Heaven has not forsaken my Taibai Sword Sect... nor this land...”

Su Muxue was also near collapse. She withdrew the star keys, her face pale, but her eyes were incredibly bright. She felt that the pure innate golden spirit qi even provided a slight benefit to her cultivation of the Taiyin Dao.

”Thank... thank you, young lady... for saving my life... for this rebirth...” Baishi struggled to perform a salute.

”Senior, there is no need for such ceremony. I am Su Muxue.” Su Muxue quickly supported him, fed him a healing Medicinal Pill, and asked urgently, ”Senior, since you know of the star keys, do you know how to resolve a dark-gold tracking mark that is like a maggot in the bone and constantly emits coordinates?”

This was her only concern right now!

Hearing this, Baishi’s expression turned solemn. ”A dark-gold tracking mark? It can even absorb the Host’s power to grow and send coordinates? This... this sounds like the ’shadow hunter imprint’ of the dark side ’Seekers’! This mark is extremely vicious. Unless the caster dies or it is forcibly erased by a power far exceeding the caster’s, it is extremely difficult to break!”

Su Muxue’s heart sank instantly.

But the old man’s tone shifted as a look of recollection flashed in his eyes. ”However... according to the ancient records of my Taibai Sword Sect, all things in the world have their counters. The ’shadow hunter imprint’ is supremely yin and evil, with unparalleled tracking abilities, but it fears two types of power most: one is the ’primordial thunder tribulation fluid,’ which is supremely yang and firm and contains the power of Heavenly Dao punishment; the other is... the ’mirage dragon cloud pearl,’ which can confuse the heavenly secrets and mask all perception!”

”primordial thunder tribulation fluid? mirage dragon cloud pearl?” Su Muxue quickly noted these two names. Though the hope was still distant, she finally had a clear direction!

”Unfortunately, both are legendary divine items and are hard to find...” Baishi sighed, then as if remembering something, he suddenly looked at the now-docile mass of innate golden spirit qi, then back at the sharp metal star key in Su Muxue’s hand, his eyes erupting with brilliance again!

”Perhaps... there is another way to temporarily suppress or even, to some extent, utilize that mark!”