Shen Mingyue’s fingertips dug deep into the grooves of the Bronze Cauldron. Blood seeping from beneath her nails traced the lines of the metal, merging with the dark, rusted surface to create a haunting, purplish-black hue under the moonlight. Beneath her skin, silver veins pulsed like living creatures, casting an eerie, blinding light as if countless tiny silver snakes were writhing in her flesh; every twitch brought a sharp, bone-deep agony. She recited the incantations passed down by the Elder, every syllable vibrating with soul-piercing power, while the white mist of her breath crystallized into frost that clung to her pale lashes. As the final rune escaped her lips, the altar shook violently. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground, oozing a black, viscous liquid that smelled of acrid rot. The purple fluid atop the Bronze Cauldron erupted like boiling magma, swirling into a distorted, demonic face in the air. Its fangs dripped with corrosive venom, hissing as it struck the stone and sent up plumes of acrid smoke, accompanied by a deafening roar that sounded like the wails of a thousand tortured souls.
"Watch out for the backlash!" the Elder’s warning was drowned out by the piercing shriek of grinding metal. Shen Mingyue felt a scalding force erupt from the depths of her bloodline, surging through her meridians like a thousand fire-snakes. The tearing pain caused by each surge nearly cost her consciousness. She gritted her teeth until her gums bled, the taste of iron filli…
Chapter 125