“Rushi, wake up.”
Chu Wanyan tried to wake the unconscious Rushi.
The two of them were inside a white ability space.
Chu Wanyan carried the barely-breathing Rushi on his shoulder. His robe was soaked through with bloodstains. He moved forward with heavy, steady steps toward the plain-colored door of the secret chamber in Meifang Tower.
Just as his fingertips touched the cold door ring, a sharp sting suddenly came from his neck—
A black insect the size of a jade egg was crawling out from Rushi’s loose collar. Its mouthparts were deeply embedded in Chu Wanyan’s flesh, and a dark green venom had already seeped through the pinhole-like wound into his body.
“Devouring Spirit Insect?!”
Chu Wanyan’s pupils contracted sharply. He grabbed the insect with his other hand, but the insect poison already spread like a bone-deep parasite through his bloodline.
He gritted his teeth. His spiritual energy exploded outward.
The invisible blade aura of “Dark Ruins・Space Slash” instantly split the insect into two halves.
Black-green insect blood splattered onto the ground, turning into strands of foul black smoke.
But the neck bite had already turned bluish-black, and a numbing sensation surged along his spine up to his head.
He suddenly pressed his hand over the wound and dropped to one knee. His vision spun violently, and his limbs began to tremble uncontrollably.
The secret chamber door was right in front of him. Beyond it were the auras of Bai Taishi, the Crown Prince, and others.
Chu Wanyan stretched out his trembling hand. His fingertips barely touched the door—
At that moment, he heard a faint movement behind him.
He forced himself to turn around.
Rushi, who should have been unconscious, was slowly standing up. His eyes were empty, like a deep abyss. In those lifeless pupils, only a chaotic, dark power reflected.
The young man took out a small black iron dagger from inside his robe. Its blade glinted coldly. Step by step, stiff but steady, he walked toward Chu Wanyan’s back.
“Rushi… you?”
A warning bell rang in Chu Wanyan’s mind. He tried to awaken him, but only felt a sudden, intense pain in his back—
The dagger had brutally pierced through his chest and back, stabbing into his spiritual meridians.
Warm blood surged out instantly, soaking his inner clothing. Chu Wanyan looked at his subordinate in disbelief, whose eyes were dead and still, and blood spilled from his lips.
“Wh… why?”
His final will collapsed under betrayal and pain. Chu Wanyan’s body fell forward heavily, smashing open the tightly closed secret chamber door with a loud crash that shattered the silence inside.
The Crown Prince, Bai Taishi, and Mu Dan all sprang up from their stone seats. What they saw caused their pupils to shrink—
Chu Wanyan lay prone at the threshold. The dagger in his back trembled. Blood flowed from his robe like a river.
Behind him, Rushi stood with empty eyes, surrounded by dense chaotic energy, like a puppet being controlled, standing in a pool of blood.
“Alliance Leader Chu!” Bai Taishi rushed forward like an arrow, kneeling and turning Chu Wanyan over.
His face was as pale as paper. Both the neck bite and back wound were still bleeding, his aura so weak it was almost extinguished.
Seeing this, the Crown Prince instantly drew his short blade and flashed behind Rushi. With a twist of his wrist, he restrained both of his arms and forced him to the ground—
Rushi struggled, and the chaotic energy grew even more violent. His expression turned faintly feral.
“Mu Dan! Quickly use Purifying Mind Technique!”
Bai Taishi pressed Chu Wanyan’s pulse, feeling his rapidly weakening spiritual flow. His voice was urgent like pounding drums.
Mu Dan finally snapped back to reality. Tears blurred her vision instantly.
She stumbled forward and knelt beside Chu Wanyan, trembling as she opened his collar. She placed both hands over his chest, and pure spiritual energy turned into soft white light that slowly seeped into his body.
Bai Taishi turned and rushed to the stone table, grabbing the prepared medical kit.
In swift movements, he took out healing potion, antidote, and a diamond-shaped purification crystal.
He carefully lifted Chu Wanyan’s chin and poured the two potions into his mouth, then poured the remaining liquid over the chest and back wounds. Finally, he crushed the purification crystal—
Golden purification light scattered outward, intertwining with Mu Dan’s energy to suppress the spreading chaotic force.
At that moment, Bai Taishi’s eyes fell on the bluish-black bite mark on Chu Wanyan’s neck, and the insect remains on the ground turned to black smoke.
His expression turned grave.
“It’s the Devouring Spirit Insect!”
“The Devouring Spirit Insect?!” the Crown Prince and Mu Dan both exclaimed.
Mu Dan’s voice trembled:
“How… how could it appear here?”
Her tearful gaze turned toward Rushi, who was still struggling under the Crown Prince’s restraint, emitting beast-like roars.
“Rushi… he…”
The Crown Prince looked at the dense chaotic energy around Rushi, then at Chu Wanyan’s near-death state. His eyes darkened.
“It’s Ling Xi.”
“Correct.” Bai Taishi frowned deeply, fingers pressing on Chu Wanyan’s wound.
“She planted the Devouring Spirit Insect on Rushi, used it to injure the Alliance Leader Chu, and controlled Rushi at the same time—this was her planned trap.”
“Mu Dan, keep purifying him. Do not stop!” Bai Taishi ordered sharply.
Then he took out a transmission stone and infused it with spiritual energy.
“Ding Heng! Come to Meifang Tower immediately! Alliance Leader Chu is critically injured!”
On the other end, Li Xuan was riding in a carriage with Zhao Commander toward Meifang Tower.
At the moment he heard the message, he suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with shock.
Zhao Commander immediately lifted the carriage curtain without a word, grabbed Li Xuan, and leapt out of the carriage. They rushed toward Meifang Tower at full speed.
What would normally take three quarters of an hour was covered in less than two.
The door of the secret chamber was still open. The moment Li Xuan stepped inside, the blood on the ground and Chu Wanyan’s lifeless state stabbed into his vision.
“Quick, use Bone-Marrow Cleansing Technique!” Bai Taishi called out urgently.
“The wounds are on the neck and back. Chaotic energy has invaded the meridians!”
Li Xuan said nothing. In a flash, he knelt beside Chu Wanyan. One hand pressed the neck bite, the other on the back wound. A soft white glow rose around him:
“Return Origin・Bone-Marrow Cleansing!”
Time power flowed from his palms into Chu Wanyan’s body. In just three breaths, the wounds visibly healed and faded, and his pale face regained a hint of color.
But faint chaotic energy still lingered in his body, stubbornly entrenched deep in his meridians.
Li Xuan gently lifted Chu Wanyan into his arms and said to Mu Dan:
“Leave Alliance Leader Chu to me. You go cleanse Rushi.”
Without hesitation, he tilted Chu Wanyan’s chin and kissed him deeply.
Pure cleansing energy flowed through their lips into Chu Wanyan’s body, turning into golden flames that spread around them.
The power was vast and gentle, instantly dispersing the remaining chaotic energy in Chu Wanyan and spreading across the entire chamber.
The Crown Prince, Bai Taishi, and Zhao Commander all felt their bodies wrapped in this cleansing force, their inner stagnant chaos completely purified.
“What is this…” the Crown Prince stared in shock.
Inside the golden light, Li Xuan’s profile was calm yet firm. The power of this large-scale purification had reached “army-grade” level.
“Teacher… am I dreaming? Li Xuan… is a Purification Master?”
Bai Taishi remained silent, but shock and realization flashed in his eyes.
Zhao Commander looked deeply at Li Xuan, thoughtful.
“This is not the time to stare.” Bai Taishi snapped back to focus and approached Rushi.
He checked Rushi’s wrist and found a faint bite mark—Devouring Spirit Insect.
He turned to Li Xuan:
“If Alliance Leader Chu is stable, can you first treat Rushi? He’s also been infected. The poison has reached his heart and must be cleansed immediately.”
Zhao Commander carefully carried Chu Wanyan away for rest.
Li Xuan placed his hand on Rushi’s wrist:
“Return Origin・Bone-Marrow Cleansing!”
But Rushi suddenly opened his eyes.
His expression twisted violently as chaotic energy erupted like a volcano.
“How is this possible?”
Mu Dan turned pale, tears falling as she held Rushi down.
Li Xuan’s expression darkened.
“He has been infected for over twelve hours. The technique cannot revert him to his pre-poison state.”
“Then what do we do?” Mu Dan cried desperately.
Li Xuan looked at her.
“I can force a deeper reversal. But it will also rewind his body and memories. He may forget everything—forget you, forget the alliance, forget himself… or even revert to childhood and become an ordinary person without any ability.”
“Can you accept that?”
Mu Dan trembled. After a long pause, she nodded through tears.
“I accept… as long as he can live.”
Li Xuan placed both hands on Rushi’s chest. The white light surged.
Rushi’s body changed rapidly—his height shrank, features softened, his mature frame regressed into that of a sixteen-year-old boy.
When the light faded, the once feared Rushi was now a clean, delicate teenager lying quietly on the ground.
Silence filled the chamber.
Li Xuan looked at the stunned crowd and thought bitterly:
“Fine. I’ve basically done a live demonstration. No point hiding it anymore.”
Zhao Commander reentered after settling Chu Wanyan and immediately understood what had happened.
Mu Dan reached out trembling, then pulled back, crying uncontrollably.
“Is this… really Rushi?”
Li Xuan withdrew his hand, slightly exhausted:
“His foundation remains, but all combat memory is gone. He’s returned to an undeveloped state.”
Bai Taishi said quietly:
“At least he’s alive.”
“Mu Dan, take him to the side courtyard. Watch him closely. Do not let anything happen again.”
Mu Dan nodded tearfully and left with the others, carrying Rushi away from the chamber.