"Heh, it seems I can still defeat this fellow easily enough." Ye Xiu was quite confident in the restraint he'd shown with his Black Flames just now. He realized his own perspective had been narrow; he had always assumed that barriers could only be countered by specific magical artifacts.

"Well, I didn't expect such a violent Shinigami to control the measure of his strikes. I thought every time your Black Flame emerged, it was destined to shatter the heavens and earth." Old Liu, though slightly taxed by battling the Demonic Fox, hadn't suffered any significant harm—it was merely a bit more troublesome. The Fox Spirit Tail's attacks were sharp, but they couldn't match the speed of his Demon-Slaying Sword, and he still had to constantly shift his magical energy to eliminate all the Fox's clones.

After slaying the centipede in one move, Ye Xiu's confidence swelled. Controlling the force of soul energy was indeed a technical feat for him. However, what followed proved much harder to handle. Seeing its companion vanish, the fierce tiger became enraged. It furiously lashed out with its claws, striking Ye Xiu's chest. Ye Xiu hurriedly raised his Gorgeous Blade to block, but the tiger’s strength was so immense that he was forced to his knees: "Damn it, this guy wants to wrestle with brute strength!"

Old Liu moved with ease, weaving between the phantom shapes of the Demonic Fox, yet he didn't forget to mock Ye Xiu: "It seems that last strike was just luck. If you can't neutralize its magical barrier, no matter how hard you try, you will only lose, even if its sheer strength shouldn't surpass yours."

"What exactly should I do?" Ye Xiu didn't grasp such subtle combat methods. He unleashed his brute force, pushing aside the tiger's claws, and leaped backward. But before he could regain his footing, the tiger charged again at high speed, pouncing on him, forcing him back into a contest of pure might.

"Sense it, then strike! That's all," Old Liu said, chuckling, having already annihilated all the Demonic Fox clones. Only the main body remained. With his Demon-Slaying Sword in hand, he countered with a graceful flourish, and the remaining fox vanished without a trace.

Ye Xiu closed his eyes, regulating his breathing. At this moment, he abandoned sight, relying on other senses to locate the tiger's true force. Instantly, the sound of the rolling magma around him became faint, and the tiger's roar faded into nothingness. Between heaven and earth, only the faint sounds of dispersing soul energy remained. Ye Xiu felt a surge of wonder; he had never quieted his mind enough to feel the flow of soul energy like this before.

"A Shinigami needs to do all this!" As he meticulously experienced the soul energy, a figure materialized within his mind, occupying the dominant position of his body. These two souls sensed and shared the surrounding environment together, but at this moment, a drop of clear spring water fell deep into his heart. He felt a ripple emanate from afar within the dark space, its expanding circular wave seeming poised to cross his heart's threshold. Simultaneously, a wave spread out from the depths of his own heart, meeting and superimposing precisely at one point.

"Right here!" Ye Xiu's eyes snapped open, and a broad grin spread across his face. He blocked the tiger’s claw with his blade and unleashed the Black Flame skyward once more. The tiger, being an inanimate construct, hadn't realized its life was hanging by a thread. It tried to lunge at Ye Xiu again at high speed, but before the attack could complete, its entire body was annihilated into dust by the Heaven-Shaking Black Flame.

"Hmph, it was that simple!" Although Ye Xiu succeeded with ease, a sliver of doubt lingered. He had never calmed himself to feel the flow of soul energy. Why did it feel as if two souls were present within him just now? He tried to summon Susu to ask, but for some reason, Susu offered no response. "What's wrong with Susu? Has she entered the Bronze Statue of Dizang King and had her soul energy restricted?"

"Defeating these beasts is no great feat. You should focus on how to get through that door," Old Liu said, turning to point at the door. However, as his hand lightly brushed against the stone gate, the door shimmered and retreated backward by dozens of meters.

"What's going on?" Ye Xiu rubbed his eyes in astonishment. "Did you see that? That stone door actually moved back on its own."

Old Liu was also perplexed. He raised his Demon-Slaying Sword and rushed toward the direction the door had retreated, intending to land a strike, only to find the door retreated another dozen meters before his sword could even approach it.

Ye Xiu flashed to Old Liu’s side. The sight stunned them both. He had assumed the space behind the door was the end of this passage; now it seemed this path had no end at all.

"Rumble... whoosh..." Suddenly, a roaring sound came from behind them. Ye Xiu turned to look—the magma that had been below ground level was now surging toward the central passage like a tidal wave.

"Trouble! Run!" Ye Xiu roared, turning and sprinting at full speed toward where the stone door had vanished.

Old Liu's gaze sharpened as he looked at the fiery magma, finally realizing the truth: "The magical barrier that was tightly controlling the magma before came from these four stone statues. Now that the statues are destroyed, the barrier is naturally gone."

"What are you waiting for? Don't die here, Daoist master!" Ye Xiu continued chasing the stone door, which continued to retreat dozens of meters the instant it sensed being touched. It was impossible to know when this chase would end.

Even with his great strength, Old Liu couldn't withstand the overwhelming incoming magma, so he reluctantly joined Ye Xiu in pursuing the retreating door. They traveled up and down, the magma chasing them fiercely, while the door rapidly receded into the distance. Just as they were exhausted and losing hope, the stone door suddenly opened.

"What is this?" Ye Xiu felt a surge of panic facing the interior of the stone door and stopped dead. "Why is there no trace of Buddhist aura in this Five-Pointed Burial Mound?"

"The Buddhas have long passed into Nirvana; how could there still be a Buddhist aura! Get in quickly, do you want to die standing out here!" Old Liu landed atop his sword and threw himself through the door without hesitation.

"..." Ye Xiu glanced back. He saw the towering, several-zhang-high torrent of magma right above his head. The scorching heat seemed ready to consume him. Although he didn't believe the magma could harm him in the slightest, driven by instinct, he too entered the stone door.

"Clang!" The stone door seemed to sense something, slamming shut tightly the instant Ye Xiu crossed the threshold.

"Old Liu, where are you?" It was pitch black inside the door, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Ye Xiu let out a cold laugh and roared, "You're not dead, are you, esteemed master!"

"If you died, I wouldn't die either," Old Liu's voice was stern, yet tinged with frustration. "It's a pity I forgot to bring a tinderbox."

Just then, Ye Xiu felt a flash of crimson light, and he could suddenly see his Gorgeous Blade in his hand. Instantly, the red glow in his eyes also appeared remarkably bright. He kicked Old Liu: "Get up quickly, what are you doing crawling on the ground like that?"

"You can see me!" Old Liu was shocked again. When he stood up, he also saw a pair of bright red eyes shining beside him. "Why are your eyes emitting red light? I've never seen that before. Could it be from the spectral light of the Mingluo Lifeblood Blade?"

"Bloodlight Gorgeous Blade?" Ye Xiu hesitated slightly, looking at the area illuminated by the light from his eyes, sinking into thought. "This light, what exactly is this light? Why have I never noticed it before?"

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