A dark mist filled the entire room, burning Qin Yun's eyes as it seeped into his pores. It filled his flesh with destructive substances and corrupted his body at the cellular level. Fortunately, he managed to resist most of the encroachment on his core, relying on the golden characters spread over his skin and qi centre.

  However, such measures were only temporary. Sooner or later, the cult would discover what had happened within this closed-off chamber, and they would come after him. He held no delusion that he could hide this from them. Still, he remained unconcerned, as he had ways around this. His first concern was the unconscious man at his feet.

  While still breathing, the green-robed elder was much paler than before, his aura almost nonexistent. Without his deep cultivation and the deep green lotus blooming within his core, the man would have long been an unfortunate victim of his own poison. In fact, the corruption spread much farther than he had hoped, reaching halfway up his arms and slowly making its way toward his heart. Once it reached, the man would surely perish. Furthermore, the surrounding poisonous mist certainly didn't help the matter.

  With no second to lose, Qin Yun sat in a lotus position and began meditating. This was a gamble, as he was now defenceless, but he reckoned this was the best way to counter this mist. In fact, this was an opportunity—an opportunity he couldn’t miss for fear of something that might happen.

  He took a deep breath, releasing most of the darkish mist within himself and letting it flow toward his core. At the same time, he brought forth the mysterious black box, slowly floating before him, then opened a channel toward its depths, waking the slumbering crystal egg within.

  As soon as the passage was opened, Qin Yun felt its presence clearly, almost as if they possessed a connection. Its image appeared in his mind, showing that it had grown slightly since the last time it had emerged.

  How can it do that? Qin Yun thought as he frowned. There should be no flow of time within. How can it continue to grow without me noticing?

  Still, those questions would remain unanswered—at least for now. He had more pressing matters to address. The dark green mist was continuously corroding everything in the room. Even the few formations meant to preserve everything in their optimal states were buckling under its corrosion. Sooner or later, nothing would remain—not even his corpse. He had to act fast.

  Just as an ocean of gas filled his being, Qin Yun also unleashed his tribulation qi, flooding his system and creating a stalemate between the two. War raged as the two battled, with Qin Yun's body as the battlefield, creating injury upon injury, whether to his muscles or to his organs.

  Qin Yun couldn't help but suffer as his every cell was torn apart by the poison, only to be repaired by the continuous flow of qi, strengthening his flesh in the process. Everything was as it should be—everything but one. The slight trace of dark grey within the poison was what made it so dreadful.

  It didn't simply destroy, but also latch on to him, trying to turn him into something he wasn't. No matter how hard the tribulation qi repaired the damage, a trace of corruption would remain, continuously eating away at him, only so that it could corrupt him to his core. The only silver lining was that it couldn't enter his core as the tribulation qi remained ever-vigilant, keeping a careful watch.

  Qin Yun remained in this state for more than an hour, continuously fighting against the pain but also reaping the benefits. At the same time, the room was now devoid of poison, all being absorbed by him.

  His skin was now pale, as white as a sheet. Black veins bulged upon his flesh, reminiscent of the unconscious man next to him. If not for Qin Yun's high tolerance to pain, he would be swimming in and out of consciousness, probably too distraught to think clearly, not much better than the cult's elder. Yet, he remained lucid. Struggling all this time against the invader.

  The two forces were in equilibrium, yet the balance would soon fall. No matter how pure and potent it was, Qin Yun's qi was limited. Sooner or later, he would run out, and the poison would run rampant. Furthermore, that moment was fast approaching.

  This should be enough, Qin Yun thought, finally opening his eyes to the clear room devoid of green mist.

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  Still, the remains of its existence were plain to see. Qin Yun's black robes were in complete shambles, half-eaten through. The elder's were better, as they possessed certain defensive qualities. The wooden furniture and most other decorative objects had been reduced to ash, filling the newly formed divots on the stone floor.

  Only the large bookcase, which took up most of the back wall, remained, its defensive formation still pulsing with power, albeit weakly. The runes were half eroded, barely able to sustain themselves. As such, more than a third of the documents and leather-bound books were gone, destroyed.

  Qin Yun couldn't help but feel a single tinge of guilt and sadness as he looked upon the desolate scenery, even more than when he witnessed the aftermath of the recent battle. It may seem cruel, but to him, these books were much more valuable than those who perished in the conflict. They possessed the knowledge he sought, an entire lifetime of research into poison—but more importantly—the grey corruption.

  He rose to his feet, only to feel a sudden vertigo. The balance held within, between his qi and the corruption, was a strenuous undertaking, ready to collapse at any moment. Still, he couldn't help but wish to approach the bookcase and rescue the unintended victims of this poisonous corrosion.

  With a swipe of his hand, a vortex appeared, slicing apart the lingering formation. This gave rise to the countless pages and scrolls, lifting them from their resting places to fly straight into the hovering black box, finally reaching their safe harbour after the storm.

  He quickly glanced toward the two massive stone doors, only to see that the formation keeping them shut was also on its last leg, ready to break at any moment. Once it did, he wouldn't be able to hide anymore. Anyone with a divine sense could probe the depths of this chamber and discover him. Time was of the essence.

  He sat back down on the floor, closing his eyes, and saw that the stalemate was about to collapse. The pain he felt was slowly mounting, and soon, he would become unable to bear it. His only option was to take drastic measures.

  A few days ago, he had sealed away the crystal egg in its own dimension, deep within the black box. But today, he would let it loose again, allowing it to run rampant and gorge itself on what seemed to be its favourite food. With but a thought, the connection between them was reestablished.

  In a mere instant, the egg sprung to life like a voracious being with unending hunger, swallowing everything that crossed its path, whether it was the dark green poison laced with grey or the golden characters keeping it at bay. All were mere prey before it.

  As they had done some time prior, the conflict ceased almost immediately, and the two energies turned to face this newcomer with little success. Despite seemingly being the apex of what they were, respectively, they couldn't contend against the deep void, swallowing all, and had no choice but to join forces, somehow beginning to fuse with each other against a common enemy.

  The process was as Qin Yun expected, as was the pain. It all happened much the same as last time, though this time it wasn't an accident but of Qin Yun's own volition. Given time, he could have successfully driven the corruption out, but in his current condition, time was but a luxury. His priority was to leave this place, leaving as little evidence as possible.

  After another hour, both energies were on the verge of collapse, unable to drive back the void. On the other side, the egg shone with resplendent light, almost gleefully, like a child savouring its favourite treat. Yet to the two energies, it seemed more like a reaper, seeking to strip away everything that made them what they were, so much so that they had discarded a small piece of themselves in the futile effort to resist it.

  This small piece was now imprinted onto Qin Yun's lotus seed. Just another greyish line replacing a gold one on the countless characters glowing on the seed. This change might seem trivial, but to Qin Yun, this was an experiment: a path among the many he could walk if given the chance. Just one of many possibilities.

  When the struggle was over and the grey corruption all but gone, all that remained was the vortex sucking everything away. With another thought, Qin Yun sought to cut away the connection, yet was denied. He could feel the unending thirst from beyond, slowly encroaching on his inner world, unwilling to let go of its hold on this succulent meal. Fortunately, this wasn't outside of Qin Yun's expectations.

  Unafraid of the repercussions, he created a sword with his fingers. Although invisible to the eye, its sharp presence was unmistakable. Then, with steel-like resolve, Qin Yun thrust that sword straight into his qi centre, aiming for the conduit siphoning his qi away.

  With his mastery over intent, Qin Yun could fully dictate what he wished to cut, allowing him to bypass his flesh, only for the vortex to bear the brunt of his sword's sharpness. The typhoon raged, as if in defiance, yet reality split, shattering its hold on this plane, only to vanish soon after, its passage through the dimensions severed, leaving the insatiable egg isolated within the black box, unable to free itself.

  As soon as the conduit collapsed, Qin Yun forcefully severed the black box's connection to the outside world, then couldn't help but vomit a massive amount of blood, panting as he supported himself with his hands on the cold stone floor.

  He had suffered significant internal injuries, not from his sword intent, but from the conduit's collapse. It created something akin to shrapnel as it vanished, mauling most of his internal organs. Fortunately, qi alone was enough to sustain their processes until they healed on their own. What concerned him more was the strain this had posed on his core and the effect it would have on the seed within. He couldn't afford for it to collapse, lest he needed to start over from the beginning.

  After a moment to catch his breath, Qin Yun finally rose, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. The worst had passed, yet there was still more to come. He was still deep within hostile territory, trapped within a cage of his own making, with the only man able to grant him freedom still unconscious on the floor.

  He looked toward the doors, only to see them on the verge of breaking. Once they did, Qin Yun held no illusion that swarms of angry cultists wouldn't flood into here, most likely led by the white-bearded elder who had left not so long ago. His only chance was to find another exit, something they wouldn't expect.

  With a devious smile, Qin Yun picked up the limp body, slinging it onto his shoulder before approaching the opposite wall, the one where the bookcase used to be—the one that was now empty. After slightly deliberating, weighing his options and determining this to be the best, Qin Yun clenched his fist and punched.