Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 495 - 495 140 Ominous No Way Back
495: Chapter 140: Ominous, No Way Back 495: Chapter 140: Ominous, No Way Back Zhou Yan’s soul consciousness, before stepping out from the Purple Flame Void, took one more look at the space where the Purple Flame Lotus resided.
There, he gazed deeply into the inner space of the Lotus Flame within the Purple Flame Lotus, watching the pulsing entrance.
The thought of rushing in sprang up several times, yet he suppressed it every time.
He looked again at Gu Xi, who was still lying peacefully within the Crystal Coffin.
A multitude of words flooded his heart, yet he didn’t know which to say.
In the fragments of the True Illusion Realm, Zhou Yan saw many uncertainties that shouldn’t have been seen, and also glimpsed answers to those uncertainties.
But were those answers real or false?
Was Feng Lingqing really in the Heavenly Heart Secret Realm?
And where exactly is the Heavenly Heart Secret Realm?
Was the child truly renamed ‘Zhou Sisi’?
Could Gu Xi really hear his words from outside while lying within the Crystal Coffin?
What terrifying conspiracy had her so panicked?
Was Yanyan really adrift in some unknown space?
Was Lei Yan King truly capable of piercing through the veil of time and calling him Zhou Yan a ‘worthless’ being?
These remained the enduring mysteries in his heart, carrying these mysteries, he gazed again at Gu Xi, lying serenely in the Crystal Coffin.
He didn’t understand why her condition was deemed beyond rescue.
When White Fox Bai Ying was in a state of a residual soul, wasn’t Thunder Origin Sword God able to save her?
Why then, couldn’t Gu Xi be saved?
Zhou Yan didn’t know the reason for this.
He couldn’t comprehend it.
It wasn’t because he wasn’t smart enough; it was that too many crucial threads of reality had been severed at critical moments.
Everything was unexplorable, impossible to derive.
After a long while, his soul consciousness sighed deeply, looking at Gu Xi in the Crystal Coffin and spoke softly, “Xi’er…
every step now is incredibly hard.
But…
even if it takes all I have, I will keep trying.
The happiness I promised you, I will definitely achieve it.
I want you to live well, so later, restored, you can bear a heap of children for me, and we can play together with our kids.
I’ve also decided, for our sons, they’ll take the surname Zhou.
They don’t need any talents; a peaceful life is enough.
And our daughters will take your surname, Gu…”
Zhou Yan gently poured out his heart.
He had always had a sense of crisis, but upon returning here, one could say he was outside the scope of the Yuan Ci Secret Realm, thus his sense of crisis transformed and intensified.
He felt a premonition in his heart, knowing that this might, perhaps, be his last visit here.
He had an ominous premonition deep inside him, different from any other time.
Previous crises and death senses all came with a sliver of hope, but this time, it was an indescribable, complex feeling, a feeling of certain doom.
This feeling, piercing him deeply, made it such that even faced with Gu Xi, despite having a thousand words he was unable to speak, he still spoke.
These words, if not voiced now, might never have another chance to be said.
Having finished, he sighed again, turned, and walked away step by step.
This time, he sensed Gu Xi’s eyes moisten.
His heart trembled with the knowledge that the reality of the True Illusion Realm might be more than ninety percent real.
All the answers to his questions within the realm were likely true as well.
A heavy weight seemed to press on his heart, constantly reminding himself that he must not die here.
Yet, the feeling that he was destined to fall gnawed constantly at his heart, rendering him unable to stir up any more emotion.
It seemed, as time passed, this feeling became ever more terrifying.
“Do all geniuses have such a premonition before their fall?
Or perhaps, it’s only those like me, comparable to having a Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart, who experience this…”
Zhou Yan murmured to himself; his soul consciousness stirred and he appeared in the Purple Flame Void, where Ni Chang Fairy and Zhou Lingyao were.
There, both were still engaged in arduous cultivation.
The process wasn’t particularly ideal; both had been gravely injured during the battle with the Evil King, and all Zhou Yan could do was help them stabilize and strengthen their condition.
They seemed to have recovered well at first, but advancing further was proving to be extraordinarily difficult.
Upon Zhou Yan’s arrival, both sensed his soul presence and opened their eyes simultaneously.
“Zhou Yan, why do you look so pale?
You’re filled with the aura of death?”
“Your soul consciousness is pulsating and fluctuating violently, what has happened?”
Both were startled and exclaimed.
Zhou Yan looked down in contemplation, then laid down a Deceiving Heaven Technique in the area, before saying, “It’s a long story about this matter.”
Zhou Yan then started to discuss with them, and eventually, Ni Chang Fairy’s gaze grew serious, “Since the Deceiving Heaven Technique is feasible, let’s try it once more.
But this time, we must ensure it’s ‘absolute,’ to avoid leaking the Heavenly Mechanism, how about that?”
“Besides, I believe we have no better option.”
Zhou Yan pondered for a long time before he finally agreed.
“However, this way, you two…” Zhou Yan felt a tinge of guilt in his heart.
“We are well aware of our situation, as you have seen.
Even if there’s a loss, if we actually manage to obtain the Yuan Ci Secret Realm, recovery will not be difficult.
With the Yuan Ci Secret Realm in your possession, even for us, it constitutes a significant boost.
Besides, in this lifetime, we have no regrets.
Our daughter has grown up and is capable of independence, so there is nothing we can’t let go of.”
Zhou Lingyao spoke with a smile, patting Zhou Yan on the shoulder as he did.
Zhou Yan nodded, and then he left the Purple Flame Void.
As his Soul Consciousness retreated, Zhou Yan’s soul body immediately became lively again.
The next moment, he chose a quiet place, laid out a Netherworld Rune Ancient Array, and took out nearly everything he had, including items from the Purple Flame Void—except for the Crystal Coffin, the Purple Flame Lotus, and the Thunder Flame Soul Liquid—all of which he placed into the Qiankun Ring.
Then, he was ready to cast the Deceiving Heaven Technique.
However, a thought crossed his mind, and he took off the Soul Token from his body, placing it on the ground within the Netherworld Ancient Array.
After pondering for a moment, he also took out the Holy Artifact, resembling a sickle, left behind by the Evil King after death, and placed it beside the Soul Token.
He stared at the two items, seemingly making some kind of determination, but his gaze did not reveal it.
Immediately after, he swiftly set up the Deceiving Heaven Technique around himself.
In the next instant, within the Deceiving Heaven Technique, Zhou Yan’s soul split with one swift sword strike, dividing into two.
This pain was indescribable and unimaginable.
At that moment, one half of Zhou Yan’s shattered soul quickly fled into the Purple Flame Void.
Meanwhile, the soul power of Ni Chang Fairy and Zhou Lingyao, like the most precious Soul Spring, formed waterfalls that cascaded down from the Void, pouring onto the other half of Zhou Yan’s shattered soul in the outside world.
The shattered portion of Zhou Yan’s soul in the outside world was immediately restored to its complete form, as if nothing had ever changed.
On the other hand, the half of Zhou Yan’s soul that had fled into the Purple Flame Void began to devour a large quantity of Origin Energy to heal his soul wounds, while also using this energy to help Ni Chang Fairy and Zhou Lingyao recover.
Under the self-sacrificial protection and assistance of the two Great Saints’ souls, Zhou Yan’s soul was successfully split in two—a part still alive within the Purple Flame Void, while the other seemed to be enduring a hard cultivation within the Deceiving Heaven Array in the outside world.
This was the method of defying fate, relying on half of his own soul, which did not belong to this world and was inherited from his Master; Zhou Yan must defy fate, otherwise, he felt he had no chance of survival.
Especially after having slain the eight genius Cultivators under Ji Wu’s command, this feeling was particularly strong.
And now, Zhou Yan’s external soul, which carried a small portion of the soul abilities of Ni Chang Fairy and the first generation Emperor Qi Sword Body Lee Jidao, had greatly increased in strength.
Furthermore, with a portion of his soul stored within the Purple Flame Void, he was engaged in adventure in the form of an ‘avatar.’ Even if he were to fall, he would have the chance to be revived.
This was the contingency he had left for himself; he had no other choice.
If not for the desperate protection and help from the two Great Saints’ souls, Zhou Yan splitting his soul here would have almost certainly resulted in severe damage.
Even if he managed to split off another soul, the remaining part would have no combat power in the short term and wouldn’t even be able to seize the Yuan Ci Secret Realm.
Now that this problem was solved, Ni Chang Fairy and Zhou Lingyao were also dragged into a very dangerous gamble.
Should any peril arise, Ni Chang Fairy and Zhou Lingyao would surely be greatly affected.
But since a decision had been made, this path must be followed through to the end.
Zhou Yan wrapped up the Deceiving Heaven Ancient Array, as if he had derived something within it, and stood up calmly.
He hung the Soul Token back onto his body and then stored the sickle-like Holy Artifact that had fallen from the Evil King after his death into the Qiankun Ring.
He seemed puzzled, contemplating, “With the map in hand, I can locate the Secret Realm Soul of the Yuan Ci Secret Realm later on.
It’s unfortunate, though, that even shielding all of Heaven’s mechanisms using the Deceiving Heaven Array can’t help me sense anything—instead, it seems to have invited inexplicable danger.
How can the Yuan Ci Secret Realm be so difficult to approach?
What is this unknown danger?”
He muttered to himself; his voice was quiet, audible only to him.
But who knows, he might be speaking to someone else.
Zhou Yan speculated that perhaps a Great Power could perceive part of the situation in this world.
Although it seemed like his words would not be heard by anyone without consequence, it would be a powerful misdirection if heard by others, a ‘misdirection’ to the prior inexplicable shielding of Heaven’s mechanisms.
This was crucial.
Even though Zhou Yan considered the possibility of being spied upon to be minuscule, almost nonexistent, he still opted to bluff.
What he didn’t know was that this scene was precisely what happened.
…
On the light screen, the previous scenes of Zhou Yan’s ‘hard cultivation’ and ‘speech’ appeared.
The Netherworld Palace Master nodded slightly, looking at the Netherworld Goddess beside him, “Qingyan, you were right in your judgment.
He indeed possesses a heaven-defying Deceiving Heaven Technique.
This must be the inheritance from Ni Chang Fairy.
This indicates that Ni Chang Fairy might not be dead, and she is still by his side as his ace up the sleeve.”
“If we can determine the capabilities of the spatial Supreme Treasure on him, then this judgment is very likely.
If Ni Chang is not dead, we must consider whether the Evil King could be controlled by him.
Of course, the likelihood is tiny, but the possibility that the Evil King has seen through the key and lies in wait as the ultimate predator should be considered.
Against such a possibility, how should we respond?
Moreover, I’m worried that once we take action, the Thunder Origin Sword God will interfere, complicating matters even further.”
The Netherworld Goddess’ beautiful eyes sparkled with a brightness comparable to stars, her intelligence frightening.
“Things can’t possibly be this complicated.”
The Netherworld Palace Master furrowed his brows, his ghoulish face turning incredibly solemn.