Chapter 81: A Choice in Crisis

Just as Rod was about to transform the condensed combat energy in his dantian into a cyclone, a sudden burst of icy cold energy erupted from within that liquid, startling Rod.
With the appearance of this energy, chaos ensued throughout his dantian! Under its influence, the cyclone, which was on the verge of forming, suddenly underwent drastic changes and dispersed once again. At this critical moment, the energy even developed a will to resist, engaging in a fierce struggle with Rod’s own combat energy, vying for dominance.
Suddenly, danger surrounded him. Not only was his dantian in chaos due to this energy, but the elements flowing into his body from the outside also became frenzied. Rod could clearly sense that, in addition to pure fire elements, there were also large amounts of dark elements among those entering his body! The influx of these two elements turned his body into a battlefield, with his dantian being the epicenter of the conflict—a great battle had begun.
“Damn it!” As the energy surged, intense pain spread throughout his body. His meridians and dantian were on the verge of collapsing under the force of this tearing energy. His energy became chaotic, and his blood surged; he couldn’t help but open his mouth, spewing out a mouthful of blood.
It was only at this moment that Rod realized this icy energy was nothing other than the dark energy left in his body by the dragon back then—something that had never truly been purified. He then realized just how ridiculous he had been!
How could such an evil and sinister dark energy be easily purified by him? Those were all illusions. Under his apparent control, this energy pretended to be purified but actually lurked in his dantian, blending in with his combat energy, constantly searching for an opportunity to strike back!
Originally, this wouldn’t have been a big deal—the energy alone wouldn’t pose much danger. But the real problem lay with that magical beast core.

This void space is indeed eerie. The magical beasts living here are already irritable under the influence of dark combat energy, and there are even some dark elements hidden within that combat energy, especially in the core. With its immense energy, the dark combat energy there is particularly dense! Previously, when this force surged into his body, he focused entirely on condensing combat energy and didn’t pay attention. Now, it has finally erupted. As the dark forces within the core keep pouring in, the strength of the dark energy grows.

Now that this force has grown stronger, it has finally launched a counterattack, combined with dark elements hundreds of times more concentrated than fire elements, to wage a final battle.

“Calm down, calm down…” Pale-faced and enduring severe pain, Rod took a deep breath and silently reminded himself. He couldn’t panic now; otherwise, everything would be lost. If the dark elements won, there would only be two outcomes: either his meridians would be severed and he would die from going mad, or he would be completely controlled by the dark elements and become part of this void space, losing his sanity and turning into a puppet. So, he absolutely couldn’t rush—he had to stay calm and gradually reclaim the territory he had lost!

Every corner of Tieni was a battlefield, with dark elements from the outside constantly pouring in, even surpassing the fire elements in volume, which gave Rod a real headache.

“First, control the invasion of dark elements!” Exhaling deeply, Rod made a quick decision at this critical moment. He decisively cut off the connection with the external dark elements, severing the bridge of dark elements within his body and blocking their escape route. This made things much better. Although a terrifying amount of dark elements had surged into his body in an instant, it was still less than half, and his fire elements and combat energy still held the upper hand.

As long as he could control the influx and gradually break them apart under his control, he might succeed. With this in mind, Rod didn’t waste time and immediately took action.

Cutting off the connection between the dark elements inside and outside his body wasn’t difficult. After all, his body still belonged to Rod, and his mental strength was indeed strong enough, so he completed this task in a short time. After doing this, the fire elements began to flood in wildly.

In the next moment, his mental energy was divided into four parts. One part prevented further intrusion of dark elements, while the other continued to form a cyclone within his dantian. This process couldn’t be interrupted—Rod wasn’t willing to give up after reaching this point! Success was within reach; giving up now would mean all his efforts were in vain. More importantly, Rod knew he might never get another chance to carry out this procedure if he gave up now, as his cultivation level would remain fixed at that level for life.

This was an unacceptable outcome—at least not for Rod. He still had many things to do, many tasks unfinished. His current strength was far from enough to accomplish them, so he needed to become stronger. Being stuck at this level would be worse than death. In such a case, it was better to take a gamble.

The third part of his mental energy continued to absorb the fire element energy from the core. He needed strong energy as a backing, especially at this moment. Even if there were dark elements involved, he couldn’t afford to worry about them—they were still within his control range.

As for the last part of his mental energy, it began to control the fire elements in his body, starting from the smallest meridians, gradually digesting the dark elements and fighting against them.

His powerful mental energy immediately showed its advantages. Even divided into four parts, Rod was able to hold on. Though it was somewhat strenuous, it didn’t cause major problems. His resilient body and meridians also demonstrated absolute strength! It was estimated that an ordinary person would have gone mad or had their meridians severed by now. Rod was secretly grateful for these two aspects.

Under his leadership, the horn of counterattack and defense for the fire elements finally sounded. The cyclone in his dantian regained its speed, absorbing both the dark elements and the fire element energy without hesitation. With three forces at war, Rod’s face turned pale, his mental energy exhausted. In just a short while, he began to feel overwhelmed.

“Hold on! Don’t give up! If you give up now, everything will be lost. Do you want to see your comrades disappointed? Do you want to see those dark creatures gloating? After coming to this world and spending these years in pursuit, are you really going to leave like this?” Just as Rod’s consciousness grew blurred and he felt he couldn’t hold on any longer, the voice of the Sword Spirit of Xuanyuan, who had been monitoring the situation, finally rang out in his heart, shouting loudly.

“Give up resisting the invasion of dark elements! If you can’t stop them, merge with them and use them! Break through first—there will be opportunities later!” Then, the Sword Spirit’s roar came again!

Immediately afterward, a cool breeze swept through, spreading throughout his body in an instant! This energy was different from the icy coldness of the dark elements—it brought a sense of coolness and relief! As this energy flowed through his body, Rod seemed to be stimulated in some way; his body trembled, and his previously blurred consciousness suddenly became clear. The next moment, the fire elements also became agitated, growing wildly intense.

“Give it my all!” Following Xuanyuan’s advice, Rod stopped resisting the dark elements from outside and allowed them to flood into his body. He focused all his internal energy toward his dantian, no longer caring about the type of energy involved.

With this withdrawal of mental energy, along with the withdrawal of energy from his meridians, he felt a tremendous sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

“If we’re going to fight, let’s fight!” Concentrating all his mental energy in his dantian, Rod declared firmly. Naturally, he intended to use his dantian as his last battlefield and his last hope. On one hand, he protected his dantian from further pain and danger caused by the conflict between the two elements; on the other hand, he compressed both the dark elements and the fire elements, forcing them to turn into liquid states and contribute to the formation of the vortex.

A fierce wind blew, carrying sand and stones; the situation outside was extremely strange. Rod was surrounded by black and red colors—colors created by the intense elements. With each breath, tiny strands of energy, about the size of hair, entered his body. The situation was truly bizarre.

Fen Tian, observing Rod’s situation, showed signs of concern but was helpless. He could only watch anxiously, his deep roars reflecting his emotions.

“Damn it, shut up!” Feeling that the energies were still clashing, Rod grew anxious. Under normal circumstances, the vortex should have already formed by now. But the presence of those annoying dark elements had ruined everything. He could clearly sense the dark elements rapidly consuming his own energy, turning it into dark energy. Inside his dantian, the fire energy and dark energy were now equal—almost split evenly! Filled with helplessness and anger, Rod didn’t care about anything else. With a loud roar, he forced the two energies to merge and used them to attack the vortex.

Small whirlwinds emerged within the dantian, with the black-and-red gas mass at its center, Xuan Yuan, spinning faster and faster until its true color became indistinguishable. As the rotation accelerated, the centrifugal force increased steadily, and even a whooshing sound could be faintly heard!
“Damn it, will this work? There’s no choice but to go all in—this damned place!!” Feeling Rod’s actions, Xuan Yuan couldn’t help but complain. Rod had allowed the existence of dark elements and given up resistance, charging straight into the cyclone—actually following Xuan Yuan’s final suggestion! Would this risky approach work? Even Xuan Yuan wasn’t sure! He had no idea what consequences success might bring either! It was nothing but a gamble, an absolutely reckless move! If it succeeded, great; if not, death was certain. At least, to date, no one had ever been heard of combining two elements to their own use, nor had anyone been so bold as to allow two elements to form a cyclone together.
Under Rod’s rapid stimulation, the two types of combat energy either reached some kind of agreement or were too fast to clash, resulting in a strange sense of calm within the dantian!
The speed kept increasing until, in the end, the cyclone itself could no longer be seen clearly—only a swirling gust of wind remained!
Boom… Finally, when the speed reached a terrifying level, reaching its limit, and all conditions were favorable, it erupted with a loud noise, and the cyclone slowly took shape! The formation of the cyclone required continuous supply of massive energy, so the external elements became even more frantic and terrifying, creating a truly magnificent and awe-inspiring scene!