There, at the edge of the lake, a massive crack had split open in the earth, rapidly spreading, racing wildly toward the water!

This was the largest lake in the entire Poisonous Beast World — if it collapsed, hundreds of miles around would be swallowed into a vast ocean!

In the blink of an eye, the lake water came surging forth violently. Before Ziqing could even give the order, the Big Dopey Bear reacted first, turning and bolting away with mother and son on its back.

Behind them came the deafening sound of the earth splitting apart, water roaring — heaven only knew how catastrophic the scene truly was. Ziqing didn’t dare even glance back. Soon, the surrounding poisonous beasts were all fleeing too — it seemed the Poisonous Beast World itself was on the verge of ruin!

And in Xuanlong Palace, everyone was startled to see blood trickling from Jun Beiyue’s pale lips!

“Blood!”

Imperial Physician Gu cried out in shock, and instantly everyone’s eyes shifted from his heart-pulse to his lips.

Fresh blood dripped steadily down. His brows were furrowed tight, as though he were straining with all his might against something.

Even the two Meng Clan elders were left dumbstruck, pausing involuntarily — even with whatever malicious intent they held, in a moment like this, neither dared make a reckless move.

“What exactly is going on!”

“Aren’t you two supposed to be able to save him? Why hasn’t the seal been broken yet!”

Prince Baxian was furious — if not for the King of Nanzhao’s standing, he would already have hurled the word “useless” at them.

“This…”

“This… Prince Yao is… he’s just too strange!”

The two Meng Clan elders stammered, unable to offer any explanation.

It wasn’t that they were putting on an act — they were genuinely just as baffled. No matter how hard they worked their seals, it seemed their barrier was simply too weak, shattered by Jun Beiyue in an instant every time!

What he had truly been contending with, all along, was that Five Elements Seal.

Although they couldn’t form the Five Elements Seal themselves, the two of them were, after all, elders of the Meng Clan, well versed in its underlying principles!

By rights, after all this time, Jun Beiyue’s original vital energy and life essence should have grown strong enough to break through the Five Elements Seal!

But then why was he struggling so hard, struggling so much that he was coughing up blood?

Sha Qiuzi, with no time to worry about anything else, rushed forward to check Jun Beiyue’s pulse.

But the moment he did, he could hardly believe the pulse reading he was getting!

Yet, disbelief aside, the result was cause for celebration — he couldn’t help crying out, “The pulse! The pulse! It’s normal! His vital energy has recovered!”

“Really?!”

Several voices cried out at once, impossible to tell whose was whose!

Imperial Physician Gu rushed forward and quickly checked Jun Beiyue’s pulse himself, arriving at exactly the same result as Sha Qiuzi.

“He’s recovered, he’s recovered! Everything’s back to normal!”

“Finally, he’s recovered!”

Though no one could explain the blood on his lips, judging by the pulse alone, everything seemed to be normal again.

“What’s going on, what’s happening!”

“Say something! What exactly is going on?”

…

Prince Baxian, Situ Haonan, and the others were all nearly frantic — at this point, whoever could give them an answer would be their savior.

“Judging by the pulse, everything is normal. But this blood…”

Not only Sha Qiuzi, but Imperial Physician Gu shook his head as well.

“Did the Five Elements Seal break?” Prince Baxian immediately turned to look at the two Meng Clan elders.

At this point, the two elders no longer dared to lie — they couldn’t offer any real explanation, and there was no way to keep up the pretense any longer. If not for the heavy guard stationed outside, they would have fled long ago!

Second Elder Meng nodded at once and told the truth. “Almost there, almost there! It seems… it seems Prince Yao has been struggling to break through the seal on his own this whole time! We… we can’t do anything more!”

In truth, it had always been Jun Beiyue’s own effort all along!

In reality, he had regained consciousness long, long ago, but his body simply hadn’t recovered — he had no strength left at all, not even enough to open his mouth or his eyes!

And yet he could clearly feel some force within him straining to erupt!

It wasn’t until Imperial Physician Gu had brought in the two Meng Clan elders, and he had listened to their account, piecing it together with his own condition, that Jun Beiyue finally understood what was happening!

It was just that this Five Elements Seal on his body was extraordinarily solid, seemingly entangled with some other force as well!

Once the dormant power within him erupted, it seemed he would need to break through not just the seal, but something else alongside it!

His eyes remained shut tight, his lips pressed firmly together, as the dormant power grew steadily stronger, struggling more and more violently, leaving him utterly unable to control it!

His brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and to those around him, there was no way to tell whether he could sense what was happening around him, or whether he was about to wake.

Prince Yao’s furrowed brow — what did it mean?

Sha Qiuzi took several deep breaths, forcing himself to stay calm, and carefully checked Jun Beiyue’s pulse once more.

Seeing Sha Qiuzi remain composed, everyone else gradually calmed down as well — no matter what, his vital energy and life essence had recovered, and his pulse was normal again, so surely nothing too serious could happen.

Sha Qiuzi remained deeply focused, and everyone around him held their breath, not daring to make a sound, afraid of disturbing him.

Meanwhile, up on the roof, Baili Weisheng’s face had gone deathly pale — not just his face, but every visible inch of his skin had turned an ashen white.

Only the index finger inserted into the porcelain vial remained blood-red, so drenched in blood it no longer even looked like a finger.

And yet, even so, a bright, radiant smile still lingered on his lips as he stared unblinking at Jun Beiyue — or more precisely, at Jun Beiyue’s heart.

Beneath that smile lurked a trace of something sinister and utterly ruthless.

In his eyes, Jun Beiyue was no longer even a person — he was simply a seal!

Very soon, very soon now, he would finally be able to open it!

Perhaps it was from losing too much blood, or from being too utterly absorbed in the moment, but Baili Weisheng, usually so sharp and perceptive, failed to notice that someone was approaching Xuanlong Palace, not far behind the very roof he was on.

Few in this world possessed the skill to get this close to Xuanlong Palace.

The one approaching was none other than Xuanyuan Lige.

These past few days, Fifth Elder Meng had laid a Five Elements Seal on his body, sealing away all of his own vital energy and life essence. Now, all of his strength came from that Five Elements Seal — one could say he was living entirely on its power!

Though he had felt some discomfort at first, the Five Elements Seal proved more than sufficient to support all the strength he needed.

Full adaptation, full recovery would still take a few more days of rest, but he couldn’t wait that long. Once his martial strength had recovered to about eighty percent, he brought Fifth Elder Meng into the palace with him!

Following Fifth Elder Meng’s sense of direction, they made their way straight to Xuanlong Palace!

“Is this the place?” Xuanyuan Lige said in a low voice. With his body’s recovery, he looked far more spirited now, the weakness and haggardness of before replaced by a firmer, colder edge.

“It should be inside.” Fifth Elder Meng answered, lost in thought — the closer they got, the stronger a barrier master’s sense of perception would grow, and something about the presence of the two people inside didn’t quite feel like disciples of a few senior clansmen. It felt more like…

Just as Fifth Elder Meng puzzled over this, Xuanyuan Lige grabbed his hand and said quietly, “Onto the roof.”