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Chapter 110: Desperate Situation, Ten Years (End of Chapter)
Chapter 110: Desperate Situation, Ten Years (End of Chapter)
Far to the north, there lies a great abyss. During the harsh winter, even dripping water freezes instantly.
This is the place where a formidable demon lord was once sealed. Five years ago, the demon lord, Xiahou Yuan, fell to Tian Jianzi and was imprisoned here.
Tian Jianzi, compassionate and merciful, spared Xiahou Yuan's life even though his crimes were unforgivable, and he was the leader of countless demon lords across the five realms.
In the eighteenth layer of the great abyss, a frail and thin figure sat, his chest pierced by a black chain that also bound his limbs. The chains were engraved with intricate patterns, isolating him from the world and suppressing his power.
"Big brother Xiahou, I'm sorry!"
"Qing'er, why? Why did you betray me? What could Tian Jianzi offer you? Could he give you a status above all living beings?"
"Big brother Xiahou, that's not true. I'm not the 'Qing'er' you know. The Bai family has long since perished, and I only borrowed their bloodline to get close to you. My real name isn't 'Bai Qing'er' either."
"Do you remember when you were badly wounded and on the verge of death, being pursued by your enemies? I saved you and transformed your muscles and veins."
"Big brother Xiahou, that was all an act. The people who pursued me were doing it for your benefit."
"When you suffered from deviated energy in your cultivation, I used the rare heavenly fruits to save your life."
"That was also a deception. I deliberately deviated my energy path to make you believe that my bloodline was connected to the Bai family, making you think I was their descendant."
"I crowned you the Demon Queen, giving you command over the demon lords of the five realms and placing you above countless lives."
"Big brother Xiahou, you are a demon lord, the source of chaos in this world. Because of you, the demon lords of the five realms united. If you don't die, countless lives will perish!"
In the eighteenth layer of the abyss, Xiahou Yuan sat, his mind flashing with memories of the past.
No one knew that the demon lord, Xiahou Yuan, had an ordinary background, born in a humble village.
When Xiahou Yuan was ten years old, he stumbled upon a cave and obtained a demonic cultivation technique.
However, when he returned to his village, he found that everyone had been slaughtered by a passing demon lord.
From that day on, Xiahou Yuan stood firmly against the demon lords.
Endowed with exceptional talent, Xiahou Yuan cultivated the demonic technique and reached the fourth realm.
During this time, he relentlessly hunted down demon lords across the realms.
But soon, he realized that the demon lords were an endless threat.
Even if he eradicated every demon lord in the world, it would only be a matter of time—fifty or a hundred years—before a new batch emerged.
The path of demonic cultivation, though fraught with dangers, offered a shortcut to power compared to the righteous paths. As long as there were sentient beings, some would be tempted to walk the path of darkness.
And so, Xiahou Yuan conceived a different approach.
If the demon lords could not be eradicated, he would become the strongest among them and establish rules to control their actions, thus minimizing the harm they caused and confining their influence within stable boundaries.
However, Xiahou Yuan overlooked the righteous forces.
As he consolidated the five realms under his command, he became a thorn in the side of the righteous sects, who viewed his growing power as an intolerable threat.
Initially, the demon lords of the five realms were scattered and disorganized, posing little danger to the righteous forces. Even if there were casualties, they were limited to common folk.
But now, with the five realms on the brink of unification under Xiahou Yuan, the situation had become dire.
And so, five years ago, a earth-shattering battle between righteousness and evil took place.
Normally, with Xiahou Yuan's strength, even in defeat, he could have escaped unscathed.
But he had not anticipated the betrayal of 'Qing'er', who had been by his side for decades.
"Qing'er..."
A hint of softness appeared in Xiahou Yuan's lifeless eyes. Even after being betrayed and ending up in his current predicament, he harbored no resentment towards her.
"I wonder, without me, will the world be as Tian Jianzi wishes—peaceful and tranquil?"
Xiahou Yuan's breath grew weaker.
With his qi sea sealed and his primordial spirit suppressed, coupled with his loss of will to live, his life force was rapidly fading.
As he approached complete annihilation, something unexpected happened.
Silently, a consciousness descended.
Lin Yuan was taken aback, immediately feeling the endless pain emanating from his chest and limbs.
"What kind of start is this?"
Lin Yuan took a cautious breath, only to feel the pain intensify manifold.
This left him immobile, even his breathing careful and slow.
Soon, Lin Yuan swiftly skimmed through Xiahou Yuan's memories. "One of the top powerhouses, with the potential to break through to the ninth realm, yet he ended up in this state after losing that great battle five years ago?"
"If it weren't for me, Xiahou Yuan would have died just now."
"Lin Yuan felt the extreme frailty of his physical body.
'But since I'm here, everything will be different. I will face what you, Xiahou Yuan, dared not,' he thought.
Beyond the Great Abyss, over a dozen sentinels patrolled the area. Having found nothing amiss, they gathered together to chat and pass the time.
The northern realm was already a bitter and freezing place, and the Great Abyss was even more so, earning the name of a forbidden zone for life.
If it weren't for the need to guard the powerful demon lord, Xiahou Yuan, sealed beneath them, who would choose to stay in such a place?
In truth, their duty was more of a formality, as they were there to ensure that the prison holding Xiahou Yuan remained intact and that he had not escaped.
The Prison of the Great Abyss was impenetrable, with no way for those inside to get out and no way for those outside to enter.
'As expected of Xiahou Yuan, he's still alive even after five years,' one of the sentinels remarked, impressed.
Though they dared not venture to the eighteenth layer of the abyss where Xiahou Yuan was sealed, they had their ways of confirming his status.
This was a precaution left by Tian Jianzi when he sealed Xiahou Yuan in this place.
'I heard that five years ago, the battle between Xiahou Yuan and Tian Jianzi was earth-shattering. In the end, Tian Jianzi used the ultimate technique of the Celestial Sword Sect to crush Xiahou Yuan's demonic true body,' another sentinel whispered, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Stationed in this desolate and freezing land, their only entertainment was discussing the legendary demon lord imprisoned beneath their very feet.
'I've heard a different tale,' a third sentinel interjected. 'They say that 'Qing'er', who was by Xiahou Yuan's side, was actually Tian Jianzi's childhood sweetheart. It was her betrayal that led to Xiahou Yuan's defeat and imprisonment.' 'No way,' one of the sentinels scoffed.
'Who is Tian Jianzi? He's the embodiment of righteousness, leading the way for all that is good. How could he resort to such schemes?' 'Indeed, I find it hard to believe as well. Even after defeating Xiahou Yuan, Tian Jianzi chose not to kill him but instead sealed him here, allowing him to live a miserable existence,' another sentinel agreed.
'Facing such an evil and violent demon lord, Senior Tian Jianzi still had a heart of compassion and sought to reform him. How could he ever employ such despicable tactics?' a fervent admirer of Tian Jianzi among the sentinels argued.
'Compassion?' 'Mercy?'
'What nonsense!' In the eighteenth layer of the abyss, a sneer played on Lin Yuan's face.
The reason Tian Jianzi hadn't killed Xiahou Yuan was purely out of concern for the demon lord's mastery over a particular demonic art— The Art of Parasitic Soul Transference.
This demonic art was similar to the art of body snatching.
Upon the death of the physical body, the primordial spirit would flee and seek out a suitable host to parasitize.
As the primordial spirit was a manifestation of spiritual and soul power, it was not tangible, making it incredibly difficult to restrain or counter.
In the battle five years ago, if Tian Jianzi had killed Xiahou Yuan, it would have been nearly impossible to stop the fleeing primordial spirit.
And if they let Xiahou Yuan's primordial spirit escape, it would render their victory meaningless, as he would eventually regain his full power and return for revenge in a few decades or even a century.
Thus, Tian Jianzi devised a plan.
He sealed Xiahou Yuan's physical body, trapping his primordial spirit within, and then imprisoned his body in the Great Abyss.
The plan was to slowly wear Xiahou Yuan down until he perished.
This method proved effective, as just five years had passed, and Xiahou Yuan was already on the brink.
If not for Lin Yuan's arrival, he would likely be dead by now.
'Qing'er,' Lin Yuan muttered to himself as he sifted through Xiahou Yuan's memories, identifying the one responsible for his current predicament.
In truth, even with 'Qing'er's' betrayal, Xiahou Yuan, with his vast array of skills, could have likely escaped.
At most, he would have had to pay a greater price for his freedom.
However, at that time, Xiahou Yuan had lost all hope, and 'Qing'er's' betrayal had shattered his spirit, leaving him unable to muster any resistance.
'Foolish,' Lin Yuan thought.
'Such a powerful being, brought low by trivial emotions.' Lin Yuan furrowed his brow.
In his prime, Xiahou Yuan had been a peak Ninth Realm expert.
And a Ninth Realm cultivator was roughly equivalent to a Fourth-Stage Evolver in the Main World.
If Xiahou Yuan had a stronger will to survive back then, he wouldn't have been suppressed in this place, and Lin Yuan wouldn't be in his current situation.
'Never mind,' Lin Yuan thought, shaking his head.
He began to ponder his next steps.
The Great Abyss was an incredibly mysterious place, a forbidden zone not just for ordinary people but also for powerful cultivators.
The deeper one ventured, the more their powers were suppressed. The eighteenth layer of the abyss was enough to reduce even Seventh and Eighth Realm experts to mere mortals.
Of course, None of this posed a problem for Lin Yuan.
The true challenge for him were the six black chains binding Xiahou Yuan's body.
These six black chains, two piercing through the chest and clavicle, and four securing the limbs.
The chains were forged from millennium spirit-gold from the deep sea, and even a powerful Ninth Realm cultivator would find it challenging to cause any damage to them.
Etched onto the surface of the spirit-gold were the inherited secret engravings of the Celestial Sword Sect.
Just these six black chains alone were enough to suppress Lin Yuan completely.
The slightest movement brought forth endless pain.
In addition to the chains, Lin Yuan's physical body and primordial spirit were also sealed by layer upon layer of secret techniques.
The reason Tian Jianzi dared to seal Xiahou Yuan beneath the Great Abyss was that he was certain there was no possibility of escape.
"With so many sealing methods, it's true that Xiahou Yuan couldn't break free."
Lin Yuan sighed.
But he wasn't Xiahou Yuan, and after a moment of thought, Lin Yuan immediately came up with several ideas.
First, he needed to reduce the suppression of his physical body and primordial spirit by the six black chains as much as possible.
Only then would he have a chance to regain his strength, and as long as he returned to the Fourth Stage, even if he wasn't at the twelfth level, escaping the Great Abyss would be more than enough.
"Within the Swallowing Heaven Evolution Path, there is a 'devouring' technique that can turn all kinds of foreign energy in the world into one's own use."
"Using the Tai Chi principle, I will slowly devour the essence of the deep sea spirit-gold within these black chains."
"Once the deep sea spirit-gold becomes waste iron, the secret engravings imprinted on it will naturally become like rootless water and will no longer be able to suppress me."
Lin Yuan nodded slightly.
The Swallowing Heaven Evolution Path was an evolution path from the Seven Star Cave World that surpassed the Sixth Stage.
It was extremely bizarre and could influence the heart and mind of the evolver.
But one had to admit that this evolution path was indeed powerful, as it could still function effectively even in Lin Yuan's current desperate situation.
"Let's begin."
Lin Yuan closed his eyes, slowly circulating the qi and blood within his body, enduring the immense pain while gradually eroding the six black chains.
"Using the most basic method of circulating qi and blood indeed did not trigger a backlash from the primordial spirit seal."
Lin Yuan calmed himself.
His physical body and primordial spirit were both sealed by numerous secret techniques, and any slight use of strength would result in a backlash.
However, at the moment, merely circulating the basic qi and blood did not seem to meet the 'requirements' for triggering the backlash.
After all, the circulation of basic qi and blood was too common; as long as a person was alive and breathing, their qi and blood would be slowly circulating.
Initially, Tian Jianzi's intention was to grind Xiahou Yuan to death, so he naturally left a way out.
Outside the Great Abyss.
Two sentinels were slowly approaching the entrance.
One of the sentinels was a middle-aged man with a full beard, while the other was a young man in his early twenties, his face still bearing a hint of youthfulness.
"Is this the Great Abyss? It's terrifying."
The younger sentinel, Zhao Si, was a cultivator at the Second Realm, and his expression was solemn as he spoke, as if he were bearing an immense burden.
They hadn't even entered the Great Abyss yet, merely approaching it, and Zhao Si already felt his qi and blood sinking, as if he were an ordinary person, struggling with each step under the tremendous pressure.
One could only imagine.
The pressure that Xiahou Yuan, sealed at the deepest level of the Great Abyss, was enduring every moment.
"Keep your voice down."
The bearded middle-aged man beside him whispered.
For some reason, the closer they got to the entrance of the Great Abyss, the more they felt a mental pressure in addition to the physical pressure.
Perhaps it was because the legendary demon lord was imprisoned within.
A person's reputation casts a long shadow.
Even after five years.
Even though they knew that the legendary demon lord was no longer in his prime.
Even though they could now trample that legendary demon lord underfoot.
The deep-seated fear and dread that emanated from their souls remained.
It was as if a sheep that had seen a tiger would still dare not approach, even if that tiger was on its last breath.
Moments later.
The two men arrived at the entrance to the Great Abyss.
They cautiously gazed at the black stone lantern sitting before the entrance.
Within the lantern, a cluster of flames burned slowly.
"Xiahou Yuan is still alive."
The bearded middle-aged man spoke.
This lantern was left by Tian Jianzi, and it could constantly sense Xiahou Yuan's life force in the eighteenth layer of the abyss.
If Xiahou Yuan were truly dead, his primordial spirit extinguished, the flames within the lantern would go out.
But the flames still burned, indicating that Xiahou Yuan lived.
"He's still alive."
Zhao Si, beside him, shrunk back slightly.
He couldn't imagine how Xiahou Yuan had managed to survive for so long in the deepest part of the Great Abyss without any food or supplies.
"Let's go."
The bearded middle-aged man confirmed the status of the lantern and immediately turned to leave with Zhao Si.
And so, in the blink of an eye, ten years passed.
(End of Chapter)
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