The Counter-Frequency

The air in Empress Xianxia's private chamber was thick with the weight of momentous decision. The luminous star-map, still glowing faintly, cast long shadows as Xianxia and Long Hu finalized their delicate plan. The gamble was immense: to pierce the Aureate Citadel's flawless façade by resonating with its deepest, most suppressed sorrow, without unleashing a tide of chaos that would only feed the Devourers.

"The operation must be swift and precise," Xianxia stated, her voice a low, decisive murmur. "Any prolonged spiritual disturbance will alert Regulus and risk an uncontrollable surge of despair. Your unique essence is our only instrument."

Under the cloak of the Aureate Citadel's meticulously maintained spiritual night, Xianxia and Long Hu, accompanied by Master Tian and two cloaked Imperial Guards, made their way towards the Grand Conclave Hall. The vast, echoing space, usually filled with ceremonial light, was now a silent, imposing cavern. At its center, the colossal Heart of Purity pulsed with its steady, serene rhythm, oblivious to the hidden truth it anchored.

Long Hu felt the immense pressure as they approached. This wasn't merely a spiritual artifact; it was the heart of a realm's enforced emotional silence, a direct conduit for the Devourers. He knelt before the Heart of Purity, its immense power pressing down on him. He took a deep, centering breath, trying to calm the frantic beating of his own heart.

"Ready, Apprentice?" Xianxia's voice, a soft whisper next to him, was an anchor. He met her gaze. Her eyes, luminous in the dim light, held a quiet intensity, a deep trust that defied their shared, complex past. He nodded, a silent vow passing between them.

He extended his hands, laying them gently on the cool, crystalline surface of the Heart of Purity. He closed his eyes, pushing his unique sense inward. He felt the vast, controlled harmony, the layers of meticulously ordered spiritual energy, the unwavering devotion to purity. And beneath it all, the resonant hum of the spiritual shunt, feeding on the profound, denied grief of the past schism.

He channeled his own essence, not aggressively, but with an almost surgical precision, introducing the counter-frequency. It was a resonance of raw, unfiltered truth, a frequency tuned to the original sorrow, the echoes of betrayal and loss that the realm had so vigorously suppressed. The process was agonizing. He felt the immense spiritual resistance of the Heart of Purity, fighting his subtle intrusion, trying to maintain its perfect, enforced peace. He felt sharp pangs of collective anguish, of unmourned dead, of fractured bonds, threatening to overwhelm his senses. His breath hitched, a tremor running through his body.

The Heart of Purity pulsed erratically, its serene light flickering wildly, sending ripples of disquiet through the vast hall. A faint, almost imperceptible groan, like the deep sigh of ancient sorrow, seemed to emanate from the very stone of the Citadel.

Suddenly, from somewhere deep within the Citadel, a powerful spiritual probe shot towards them, sharp and incisive. Lord Regulus had sensed the disturbance in his realm's perfect harmony.

Xianxia was ready. Her own aura flared, creating a silent, impenetrable shield around Long Hu. She met Regulus's distant probe with a cold, unwavering defiance, shattering his attempt at intrusion. Her gaze, fixed on Long Hu, was resolute, her presence a powerful anchor in his moment of extreme vulnerability. Her thoughts were singular: *He will not be stopped. This truth will be known.*

Long Hu pushed one last, desperate surge of his unique essence. The Heart of Purity shuddered violently. A wave of profound, poignant grief, pure and undeniable, washed over the hall. It was not chaotic despair, but a quiet, collective sorrow, finally allowed to breathe. The spectral faces of the unmourned, fleetingly visible to Long Hu's heightened senses, flickered and then dissolved, finding a moment of peace. The spiritual shunt, reliant on the suppression, faltered, its insidious siphon abruptly severing.

He collapsed back, utterly drained, his hands falling from the crystal. He had done it. He had introduced the truth.

Xianxia caught him, her arms strong around him, supporting his exhausted frame. She looked at the Heart of Purity, now glowing with a more honest, though slightly melancholic, light. It was purer, yet no longer perfectly serene. It vibrated with acknowledged sorrow.

"The shunt is severed," Xianxia whispered, her voice a mix of relief and profound awe as she held him. "You have silenced a monster's feast, Apprentice." Her gaze lingered on his face, pale and beautiful in the dim light, a complex mix of admiration, fierce protectiveness, and a deepening, undeniable bond.

They retreated, leaving the now-vulnerable Heart of Purity in the silent hall. The true effect of their daring act on Lord Regulus and his realm was yet to be seen, but the Devourers had just lost a vast, sophisticated feeding ground. Long Hu, exhausted but triumphant, was more deeply bound to the Immortal Empress than ever before, their shared destiny now etched into the very spiritual fabric of a once-perfect realm.