Chapter 37: Righteousness Prevails Over Evil

Three days. With the Grim Reaper’s scythe hanging high above, seventy-two hours felt as long as a century.

In the west of the city lay the abandoned site of the "Black Stone" lead-zinc mine.

The massive quarry yawned like a grotesque wound upon the earth. Its walls were steep and jagged, the exposed rock layers shimmering in sickly, dark crimson and foul, murky green. The air was thick with the suffocating stench of sulfur, rust, and an indescribable, rotting decay reminiscent of putrefying flesh. The wind howled and swirled through the hollow pit, sounding like the desperate wails of countless miners who had died unjustly.

At the bottom of the pit, a relatively flat area had been cleared. A vast, twisted, and malevolent formation was drawn across the ground in a viscous, dark-red liquid that emitted a pungent, cloying odor. At the heart of this array sat a pair of pitch-black, light-absorbing beast-head statues—the infamous Yin-Yang Blood-Evil Heads! The Yin head faced the deepest, darkest fissure of the mine, its hollow sockets swirling with a dark crimson glow; the Yang head faced a specific direction outside the pit, the darkness within its sockets swirling like a vortex.

At each node of the formation stood a black bone banner carved with incantations. They rattled and snapped in the windless air. Qu Tiankui, his form as withered as a ghost, hunched at the center of the array. His hair was a disheveled mess, and he chanted in a voice as raspy and distorted as an incantation from hell. In his hands, he clutched a black clay jar that pulsed with faint, rhythmic tremors. As his chanting quickened, the tremors grew violent.

"The time... has come!" Qu Tiankui snapped his head up, his eyes erupting with a frantic, malevolent light as he stared at Bai Shi, who stood at the edge of the formation, pale-faced yet gripped by a sickly excitement. "Boss Bai! The sacrifice!"

Bai Shi shuddered, his fear drowned out by a thirst for destruction. Trembling, he stepped forward, drew a bone dagger, and prepared to strike.

At that critical moment!

"Qu Tiankui! Your end has arrived!"

A cold, sharp shout exploded like a thunderclap above the quarry! The sound echoed in layers throughout the desolate pit.

Qu Tiankui and Bai Shi jerked their heads upward!

Standing at the edge of the pit was Yang Rui, and he stood alone. His face was pale from previous injuries, but he stood tall, his gaze as sharp as cold lightning, seemingly containing the power of a tempest. In his hands, he cradled an ancient compass—the Yang family’s ancestral Star-Fixing Disc. Its face cast a warm, steady glow in the dim light.

"Yang Rui?! How did you find this place?!" Bai Shi shrieked, paralyzed with terror.

Qu Tiankui’s clouded eyes flashed with shock, instantly replaced by a deeper malice and madness. "You brat! You seek death! It is perfect—I shall use your soul to fuel the formation! Let you taste the agony of a thousand evils devouring your spirit!" His withered hands moved rapidly, slapping the clay jar.

Yang Rui’s eyes narrowed, devoid of fear. He took a deep breath, focusing all his mental energy on the Star-Fixing Disc. The needle on its face began to vibrate, emitting a low hum audible only to him, as if resonating with and repelling the filthy, immense blood-evil energy deep within the quarry.

"Heavenly Dipper lead the way, earthly veins return to order! Where the stars are fixed, all evil shall be hidden!" Yang Rui shouted, stepping out a ritual path. He formed an arcane hand seal and struck the center of the Star-Fixing Disc!

"Hum—!"

The disc erupted in a brilliant, clear light! A visible, pure, and concentrated beam of silver light, like the first ray of dawn, shot from the disc. It did not aim for the heart of the formation, but struck with surgical precision at an inconspicuous node near the pit wall—the energy hub that fueled the entire Yin-Yang Blood-Evil Array by drawing upon the earth’s resentful energies!

Having already gained a profound insight into how this formation manipulated external malevolent forces through the Star-Fixing Disc and his family's secret arts, Yang Rui knew exactly where to strike.

"Sizzle—!!!"

The silver beam pierced the node like a red-hot iron into ice! Thick, foul-smelling black smoke erupted from the base of the formation. The entire array shuddered to a halt! The seven bone banners shook violently, their incantations flickering out. The hissing from the Yin-Yang Blood-Evil Heads turned shrill and pained!

"Pfft!" Rebounding from the forced disruption of the formation’s energy, Qu Tiankui was struck as if by a giant hammer, spitting out a mouthful of black blood! His attempt to strike the clay jar was brutally interrupted.

"Impossible! How could you know..." Qu Tiankui was struck with absolute horror; the weakness of the dark formation he had spent his life mastering had been seen through at a single glance!

"Evil cannot triumph over righteousness! Your methods were transparent to me from the start!" Yang Rui’s voice was icy as he shifted his hand seals. The light from the Star-Fixing Disc intensified, the beam strengthening and pinning the hub node down like a nail through a venomous snake’s neck.

A desperate madness flickered in Qu Tiankui’s eyes. "Ah—! Then let us all die together!" Knowing he was doomed, he used his final strength to bite his tongue, spraying a mouthful of foul blood mixed with his own life essence onto the clay jar! He intended to force the detonation of the sacrificial blood within, triggering the most violent blood-evil energy hidden deep in the mine to drag Yang Rui to his grave.

The clay jar vibrated violently, spiderweb-like cracks of blood-red light appearing on its surface! A destructive aura prepared to erupt!

Yang Rui’s pupils constricted! At the last second, he bit his own middle finger, and a drop of scalding, pure-yang blood fell onto the center of the Star-Fixing Disc!

"By my essence! Awaken the stars and suppress the evil! Seal!"

The Star-Fixing Disc absorbed his blood, and the clear light was instantly suffused with a faint golden glow! The power of the beam surged, becoming as tangible as solid steel. It not only pinned the formation hub but also spun off a needle-thin ray of golden light, striking the about-to-explode clay jar like lightning!

"Pfft!"

The golden light struck first, piercing the jar with absolute precision.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a dull, deflating hiss. The violent blood-red light on the jar faded and dissipated like a popped balloon. The jar shattered, and the viscous, dark-red, pulsating mass inside was exposed; it withered rapidly, turning black and losing all vitality.

The sacrificial blood... had been sealed and purified by the power of the Star-Fixing Disc, fueled by Yang Rui’s own life essence!

"No—!!!" Qu Tiankui let out a harrowing, desperate scream filled with endless malice! His final madness was completely snuffed out. Deprived of the sacrificial catalyst and the control of the formation’s hub, the massive, filthy energy accumulated by the Yin-Yang Blood-Evil Array instantly spun out of control, turning back upon its master!

"Urgh—!!!"

Qu Tiankui’s withered body was gripped and torn by an invisible, gargantuan hand! Black veins beneath his skin spread and bulged violently! He swelled and twisted as if being inflated until, with a dull thud, he exploded into a cloud of foul, viscous, black-red blood mist. Along with his evil soul, he was utterly annihilated within the runaway blood-evil energy.