Everything came together. Backed by a physical body tempered to Peak Core Formation level, his extremely pure Yin-Yang Golden Core, and his refined Dragon's Will, his output pushed to the absolute peak of the Golden Core realm. His golden-violet dragon grew, roaring as it tore through the lightning.
The two clashing dragons destroyed everything nearby, reducing the stone platform to shards. Finally, Su Ming's attack pushed through, tearing the crimson dragon avatar apart.
The white-hot dragon avatar fractured.
First the claws, then the serpentine neck, and finally the golden eyes. The ancient Crimson Dragon Soul let out a final scream as its physical avatar shattered into countless fragments of red light.
Su Ming fell to one knee, his sword support sinking into the ground. His breathing was heavy, his face pale. His Qi reserves were completely exhausted, the dantian empty and cold. Every breath he took felt like ash in his throat, his chest trembling from the physical shock of the meridian vacuum. He could barely lift his head.
But it was not over.
From the swirling cloud of red fragments, a dense, dark crimson light shot out. The final remnant soul of the dragon fled toward Su Ming's head.
"The vessel is mine!" it screamed, its voice echoing directly in his mind as it penetrated his temple.
The dragon soul plunged into his sea of consciousness, intending to crush his weakened mind and claim his body by force.
But the moment it entered, the silver light in Su Ming's eyes flared.
Deep within his soul sea, the Twilight Nether Lantern lit up brightly.
The white flame on its wick flared with a blinding, absolute brilliance. The dragon soul's ego had barely begun to orient itself when the white flame lanced out, wrapping around the intruder like a net of fire.
"What is this... What is this flame?!" the dragon soul shrieked in terror.
*Sizzle.*
The white flame did not burn the pure draconic soul essence. It burned the evil ego.
Right before Su Ming's inner sight, the dragon's memories, its ancient name, its malice, and its consciousness were vaporized into thin invisible smoke. The screaming stopped instantly, leaving only a massive, silent pool of pure soul energy hovering in his soul sea.
The dragon's ego was gone completely. Only its enormous, purified soul essence remained.
Su Ming sat cross-legged on the trembling, ruined platform. The cavern around him was still breaking, the magma lakes erupting. With his Qi completely exhausted, he closed his eyes, using the lantern's pure suppression to stabilize the enormous soul essence as it began to merge with his own soul sea.
***
On the trembling platform, Su Ming finished merging the purified dragon soul essence under the influence of the Twilight Nether Lantern. The dense spiritual energy surrounding the area flooded his depleted pathways, passively refilling his cultivation base from Qi Condensation directly to Late Golden Core. He opened his eyes, feeling the dense, stabilized power.
The stone platform beneath him cracked. He stood up, looking at the collapsing chamber. Instead of panicking, he immediately began to move.
Across the chamber, Su Ming swept the dragon soul's stash of bones, scales, refining materials, and precious Yang herbs into his storage bags. Gathering the high-quality thunder and flame crystals from the walls, he filled a bunch of storage rings and pouches to the brim.
'Harvest complete,' Su Ming headed toward the entrance. But the exit pathway was gone, collapsed into a chaotic void of magma and spatial turbulence.
The three dragon keys were useless. Before he could search for an exit, the space itself began to tear.
*Rumble!*
Spatial tears lanced through the air like black lightning. A jagged crack ripped open, and two bloodied figures tumbled out of the void, crashing onto the stone floor. Su Ming did not know who they were.
The old man, his robes tattered and stained, coughed weakly, his lips moving as he muttered a semi-conscious, desperate plea, "Save... protect... her..." as he collapsed back into unconsciousness.
Su Ming did not move immediately, his Essence Sight scanning them with cold caution. The elder's ruptured pathways showed residual traces of a power far deeper than any Golden Core realm cultivator—likely a Nascent Soul cultivator or higher, though severely damaged.
The young lady beside him was in an even worse state, her internal cultivation was a mangled mess. Yet, beneath the blood, a hidden light radiated from her meridians.
'Some sort of Special Constitution...', he thought.
Even in her tattered, dirt-streaked green robes, the fabric was woven from high-grade spiritual silk, and a cracked jade pendant at her waist bore a complex, mysterious insignia.
Su Ming's brow twitched. Having read a good amount of "Heavenly Scriptures", he recognized the trope. A dying protector and a princess fleeing a fallen dynasty.
Unbeknownst to Su Ming, she was indeed a "princess". She was the sole heir of Medicine Valley, the most renowned medical sanctuary of the Jade Spirit World. She and her protector had crossed the boundary between worlds, fleeing a catastrophe that had swallowed everything they had ever held dear.
But even a crippled master and a young lady with a special constitution were high-value resources. If they survived, he could recruit them to White Lotus Peak, which desperately needed strength.
'You two better compensate me for this in the future,' Su Ming muttered reluctantly.
Neither was in any condition to swallow solid pills, and the Nine-Life Restoration Elixir was the highest-quality healing medicine he possessed. Pulling three precious drops from his storage ring, he fed one drop to the old man to stabilize him, and dropped the remaining two into the young lady's mouth since her condition was far more critical. Once their life force stabilized, he scanned the crumbling chamber, searching for a route out.
His chest tightened. He had spent a month in the secret realm. He had already missed his promised return, leaving Lin Yao alone against the other peaks in the Sect Tournament. The thought of failing his first disciple and not being able to keep his promise burned hotter than any violent yang energy he encountered in this secret realm.
He had to escape.
As he searched, his Essence Sight caught an almost silent hum. The small pool glowed with rich crimson—not lava, but concentrated liquid Yang Qi.
The dragon soul had used this pool to sustain its failing spirit, surrounding it with Yang herbs. Yet, disembodied souls were inherently incompatible with pure Yang energy—which would burn away a spirit—and even the damaged dragon soul could not overcome this restriction.
In fact, Su Ming's Essence Sight could see all the collapsing energy of the secret realm converging at the bottom of the pool. Plunging in, he dived to the bottom and closed his hand around a small, heavy crystal seed.
The moment his fingers gripped the Thunder Fire Seed, it dissolved into a streak of crimson and silver light, shooting straight into him. The seed entered his Soul Sea, immediately thrashing with violent energy that threatened to rupture his mind.
But right above it, the Twilight Nether Lantern flared. An ancient, cold, brilliant white light cascaded down, instantly locking the seed in place directly below the lantern and suppressing its chaotic aura entirely.
The final spatial anchors of the chamber shattered. Su Ming did not hesitate; leaping out, he used his storage bags to vacuum up the entire pool of concentrated liquid Yang Qi and the surrounding Yang-rich spiritual soil, leaving the basin completely dry and barren.
Scooping the two back into his arms, Su Ming focused his mind on the suppressed seed in his Soul Sea. He only cared that it bridged the void. His desperate intent to return to his disciple poured into his core, driving his Late Golden Core Qi and Dominating will directly into the seed's locked spatial energy. Under the lantern's controlled suppression, the seed flared in response. A silver rift tore open the air ahead of him, gripping the two tightly, Su Ming directly leaped into the tearing rift.
***
Almost twenty miles away from the entrance of the secret realm, in the foggy valley, Lin Fan's life was a nightmare. Fleeing the Wangs with his dantian shattered and vital yang roots damaged, his dual cultivation technique was useless.
Back in the dungeon, the Cauldron Art forcibly merged his dragon orb's treasure-hunting talent, the red draconic aura from the sword, and the necrotic death Qi of the death seed to save his life, birthing a Pseudo Death Dragon Physique. Regaining his power at Foundation Establishment, his Desolate Sword Technique had evolved too, with its backlashes vanishing completely.
Now wanted as a demonic cultivator, he fled. His treasure-hunting talent guided him here. Resting in the shade, he muttered, "Truly, the heavens have not abandoned me..."
Just as he spoke, a silver portal tore open the space high in the sky above him.
Su Ming tumbled out of the rift, descending from the heavens to stand steadily in the air with the two unconscious cultivators in his arms. The sudden spatial eruption in the sky made Lin Fan freeze, his hand drawing his blade as he looked up.
His eyes widened in shock. Su Ming stood in the air, his white robe pristine. The radiating pressure was unmistakable; he had reached the Late Golden Core Realm.
In his arms was the young woman, her skin white as jade. Jealousy pierced Lin Fan's heart as he recognized the pure spiritual pressure on him.
As if a sudden realization struck him, Lin Fan gritted his teeth. "Su Ming... You stole my fated path again! What was rightfully mine by the heavens... you took it all!"
Su Ming did not even realise Lin Fan was so close to him. Summoning his flying boat, he boarded it with the two cultivators and shot into the sky, towards the Heavenly Clod Sect, leaving Lin Fan alone in the valley.
***