"What does this mean...?"

Bai Ying's slender fingers gently traced the mottled engravings on the bronze door. The patterns beneath her fingertips were cool and ancient, as if bearing the weight of millions of years.

Her brow furrowed, her amber eyes fixed on the eight ancient characters on the door: "Bloodline as the key, Dao heart as the guide."

In the dim light, the writing gleamed with an eerie bluish light, as if some dormant force was silently scrutinizing her.

The oppressive aura from all around surged in like a tidal wave, and every breath felt like swallowing a sharp blade, causing a burning pain in my lungs.

Bai Ying could feel her spiritual power rapidly draining away. The stinging pain in her meridians forced her to grit her teeth, and cold sweat slid down her pale cheeks, dripping onto the cold ground.

Behind him, Yan Jiuyou remained, like a lurking venomous snake, patiently waiting for its prey to break down on its own.

If she cannot open this door, she will be completely trapped here and become this old monster's prey.

There's no turning back for her.

"We can't delay any longer..." Bai Ying murmured to herself, a resolute glint in her eyes.

"Blood ties are the key... Does the test require blood?"

She tried to cut her palm, and a bead of crimson blood dripped from her fingertip into the groove of the door lock. In an instant, the patterns on the bronze door lit up with a blinding blood-red light, and the entire door emitted a low hum, as if some dormant mechanism had been awakened. However, the door remained motionless, showing no sign of opening.

Bai Ying staggered back two steps, leaning against the cold stone wall, panting, her chest heaving violently.

The fragmented runes on the wall flickered in the blood-red light, their distorted strokes resembling ancient incantations, yet also like secrets deliberately erased. Suddenly, her eyes widened. These runes… she felt she'd seen them somewhere before!

A strange sense of familiarity welled up inside her, but she couldn't remember it no matter what she did.

Bai Ying forced herself to stand up, her fingertips trembling as she traced the patterns on the wall.

With each rune she drew, a ray of golden light seeped into her meridians, bringing a slight stinging sensation.

She tried to circulate her cultivation technique according to the runes, but the incomplete technique could not form a complete cycle. Instead, it made her spiritual energy even more disordered. A sweet, metallic taste rose in her throat, but she swallowed it back down.

Outside the bronze gate, Yan Jiuyou's chilling voice, accompanied by a creepy chuckle, drifted over: "Little girl, why aren't you running anymore? Are you done for too? If you hand over your magic weapon, I promise I'll let you go."

Bai Ying ignored him and took out the corroded jade pendant, which emitted a faint light in her palm.

This was her last trump card. She gritted her teeth, channeled all her spiritual power into the jade pendant, and tried to forcefully break open the strange bronze door with her corrosive power.

However, when the bone-corroding black mist touched the bronze door, it vanished without a trace, leaving not even the slightest scratch.

Even more terrifying, the bronze door suddenly retaliated, and a violent force poured back through the jade pendant, shaking her internal organs so much that they almost shifted, and she spat out a mouthful of blood!

"Cough cough... How could this happen?" Bai Ying clutched her chest, a hint of despair flashing in her eyes. This jade pendant could corrode even a mountain, but what exactly was this bronze door made of?

Hearing the commotion inside, Yan Jiuyou let out a sinister laugh: "Little girl, it seems you're not going to make it. In that case, I'll wait a little longer until you're dead, then I'll figure out a way to get in."

Bai Ying's heart sank to the bottom; she knew she didn't have much time left.

The pressure here was too intense. Even with the healing jade pendant repairing her body, she was collapsing faster than she was being repaired.

She forced herself to calm down and looked at the runes again. She had a strong feeling that the key to opening the door must be related to these runes!

Bai Ying forced herself to stand up and examined the patterns on the wall inch by inch until her gaze fell on a line of almost completely erased small characters at the bottom of the runes. The characters were so faint as to be almost transparent, as if they had been deliberately wiped away, and could not be noticed at all without careful observation.

Bai Ying's pupils suddenly contracted as a strong sense of familiarity swept over her.

This is a secret text passed down from the Bai family!

She once meditated and pondered under the stone tablet at the Bai family's ancestral land, and accidentally had a sudden enlightenment about a passage of obscure and difficult text. At the time, she did not understand its meaning, but now... she finally understands!

That text is the second half that follows this rune!

This is the real key!

So, the Bai family's ancestors have been here before?

Or perhaps, this door was left behind by the Bai family's ancestors...

Bai Ying's fingertips trembled slightly, the ancient aura remaining on the bronze door resonating so clearly with the blood in her veins.

No wonder her blood wasn't rejected just now; this door was originally prepared for the Bai family bloodline.

Bai Ying recalled how Ruan Xinrou and Yan Chiling had tricked her into a cave, a cave that could only be opened by one's own bloodline.

That cave was probably a resource left to the Bai family by their ancestors...

Bai Ying connected the text she had comprehended to the incomplete runes. The moment the complete technique appeared in her mind, an unprecedented sense of danger swept over her entire body.

This technique operates in an extremely unpredictable manner, requiring spiritual energy to flow in reverse through three critical acupoints; the slightest mistake will result in the severing of all meridians and death.

If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't even have the courage to try.

But Bai Ying just stared intently at the four blood-red characters "Dao Xin Wei Yin" on the door, a resolute curve appearing on her blood-stained lips.

"Since you want a Dao Heart..." She suddenly sat cross-legged, letting the violent pressure cut her skin, leaving fine, bloody scratches. "Then I will give you a Dao Heart!"

His hands formed various hand seals, and the spiritual energy within his body suddenly reversed.

In an instant, she seemed to hear the sound of her meridians breaking inch by inch, and blood gushed from all seven orifices. At this moment, the runes on the bronze door came to life, transforming into thousands of golden rays that surged into her brow.

"Click—"

The crisp click of the mechanism was particularly jarring in the deathly silence. Through her blurred vision, Bai Ying saw a sliver of blue light leaking from the crack in the door that had been sealed for a thousand years. Her bloodied fingers dug into the ground, and with her last strength, she gave a bitter laugh.

I see.

This door never sought perfect techniques, but rather a madman willing to die for the Dao.

The old demon, who was not far away, clearly sensed something was amiss, and for the first time, his voice held hesitation: "Little girl, what have you done?"

Bai Ying did not answer. Her hand trembled as she reached out and pushed open the blood-stained door.