Below the Black Water Mountain flows the Black Water River, and by the Black Water River stands the Black Demon Palace.
The Black Demon Sect, previously classified as a Grade C threat by the Dao Alliance, had now escalated to a full-blown Grade A menace.
I held my breath, watching the hordes of ghastly figures surge towards me.
With no retreat, only a fight offered a chance of survival.
Perhaps no one had anticipated at the outset just how arduous this endeavor would be.
Yet, no matter the difficulty, we refused to surrender.
The arrival of Qing Dai, the appearance of the Fox Clan, and the reinforcements from the Grey family of the Bottomless Pit arrived in succession.
The tide had begun to turn.
We only needed to hold on a little longer, just a bit longer, and victory would be ours.
"Roar!" the ghost slaves of the Black Demon Sect snarled and charged again.
Baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, they sought to tear us apart.
I gripped my long sword tightly and surged forward:
"Die!"
With a guttural cry, I brought down my sword.
One ghost slave was instantly severed.
With a flick of my wrist, I plunged my sword into another lurking specter attempting to ambush me.
Old Mo leaped forward, dispatching a phantom that attacked my flank.
Xia Qiu Xi, with her Qingcheng sword techniques, guarded our rear.
Wailing specters and groaning zombies.
The skinless monsters constantly assailed us with sneak attacks and harassment.
Everyone was at their physical limit, but no one was willing to concede, no one was willing to give up.
No one wanted to fall at this moment.
Encouraging each other, cooperating, we managed to repel the ghost slaves and corpse fiends repeatedly.
The three of us, though not particularly formidable.
Facing such a massive swarm of specters, we would have died a hundred times over and it wouldn't have been enough.
But now, with the addition of three factions.
A large number of demon cultists and specters were drawn in and entangled.
The number of ferocious spirits and corpse fiends surrounding us significantly decreased.
Coupled with the protection from my martial uncle and Aunt Yun Xia, the three of us could barely defend ourselves.
However, amidst this bloody struggle, I was astonished to discover.
I sensed the Yin and Yang energies, seemingly existing in a state of balance.
Initially, I was ill-suited to absorb the Yin energy from the Gathering Yin Pearl.
But my death wish had led me to disregard such concerns.
This caused the two streams of energy to clash and churn within my dantian, causing me immense discomfort.
Yet, as I continued to fight, releasing the Yin and Yang energies.
Gradually, a point of balance was found.
The two energies, one Yin and one Yang, repelled each other yet remained intertwined.
With each release and flow of the dual energies.
It was like the Yin-Yang fish, their heads in each other's tails, entwined.
I was greatly surprised. If I could find this balance, wouldn't that mean I could alleviate my suffering?
Furthermore, if I were to absorb Yin energy from the Gathering Yin Pearl again in the future, wouldn't it be usable by me?
This thought flashed through my mind.
It unlocked a completely new understanding and cognition of the Yin and Yang energies.
I continuously explored, experimenting in the midst of combat.
Through battles fought on the brink of death, I sought to comprehend the equilibrium of the two energies.
Little by little, I astonishingly discovered.
There truly was a balance point between the two energies.
This point was minute, elusive, and difficult to grasp.
But I was certain, I had found it.
I had locked onto its location.
Once again, I released the two energies, controlling their flow rate and nodal points.
Firmly, I secured the balance of the energies within my dantian.
After this release.
The energies flowed smoothly, no longer clashing and battling.
Instead, they began to collapse into the Xuan Dan within my dantian, absorbed bit by bit by the Xuan Dan.
The sense of repulsion, bloating, and throbbing pain within my dantian vanished in that instant.
My entire body trembled, a sense of shock washing over me.
"What in the world is happening? The Xuan Dan is absorbing the Yin and Yang energies on its own?"
I exclaimed in astonishment.
Old Mo, fighting nearby, heard my voice.
But he didn't quite understand and asked:
"What two energies?"
"Nothing.
Let's just hold on a bit longer.
The ghost cavalry over there is about to charge, and our predicament will soon be resolved."
I didn't explain further, instead rallying the others.
Just a little longer, and we would truly be safe.
"Yes, everyone hold firm.
We absolutely cannot lose our lives here!"
Old Mo also declared fiercely, his clothes stained red with blood.
Xia Qiu Xi's lips were also bloodied, having just cleaved a ghost slave.
She panted, saying:
"That's right, how can we fall halfway up the peak before we've even reached the summit…"
As she spoke, a walking corpse lunged at her.
Xia Qiu Xi dodged, Old Mo kicked it, and I followed with a sword strike.
It landed on the walking corpse's head, killing it.
Looking at the two of them, a smile graced my lips.
"Qiu Xi is right; how can we fall halfway up the peak before we've even reached the summit?"
After I said this, the three of us exchanged glances and smiled.
It was the camaraderie forged in the face of death, the trust and recognition between friends and brothers.
At this moment, the neighing of horses resounded.
"Hahahaha…"
The sound was immense.
The three of us turned to look.
Not far away, a single ghost cavalryman had broken through the encirclement of specters.
One rider, in the lead, charged towards us.
And as he broke free, a second, then a third followed closely behind…
"Hahaha! Qing Dai's ghost cavalry has arrived."
I laughed heartily.
Despite my exhaustion and lack of energy, I held onto a sliver of determination, preventing myself from collapsing.
"Old Mo, Qiu Xi, let's cut through together, to divide the battlefield…"
As long as our position connected with the arriving ghost cavalry.
The entire western flank of the Black Demon Sect's ghost and corpse hordes would be directly severed.
At that point, all that awaited these specters and wicked spirits would be annihilation.
The scales of victory would tip decisively in our favor…