At this moment, within the Yuan Dong, other Great Heavenly Demons were also gradually climbing out.
There was the [Heavenly Demon Poison Vine] with countless purple-black tendrils, numerous eyes embedded on them, shedding tears; resembling a giant scorpion, yet having human hands as feet, the [Heavenly Demon Evil]; with ten heads, all simultaneously emitting strange noises, the [Heavenly Demon Mad]; silent and vast, like moss spreading on the ground, consuming mud, rocks, and frost, the [Heavenly Demon Corrosive Thirst]; with countless mouths, telling numerous, contradictory yet seemingly coherent fallacies that could neither be proven nor confirmed, the [Heavenly Demon Lie]...
One by one, the illusions of Great Heavenly Demons that had once caused countless disasters and annihilations in the heavens and the earth were waiting to step into the human world, clustering around the core Ice Prison Demon Crowd, waiting for the [Exalted Great Heavenly Demon · Bitter Silence] to break free.
In just an instant, the vicinity of Broken Blade Mountain turned into a world thick with Demonic Qi, becoming a desolate void. The illusory figures of the True Persons of Divine Repository, fighting fiercely, were nearly invisible, even the sun and moon were being obscured by the dark and profound Demonic Qi.
An Jing was well aware that he must reverse all of this.
"Since the key to everything lies in the memory of Subdue Evil."
He stared at the darkness in front of him, pausing after each word: "Then let’s retrieve your memory."
"There’s no time left. My memory is deep underground, at the Source of Demon Energy, and now there’s no time to delve further."
Subdue Evil stared at these Great Heavenly Demons in the distance, a strange feeling spreading in him, as if, in an extremely distant and long time ago, he had seen a similar scene and witnessed a gathering of numerous Great Heavenly Demons.
But back then, he wasn’t a powerless bystander; he was, he was...
In An Jing’s hands, the silver-white sword hilt silently revealed black mottled rust.
Signs of decay and decline began spreading on the silver-white sword blade, like hesitation and fear climbing upon resolve, like the feeling of guilt eroding pure and firm determination.
The Immortal Sword, immortal and undestroyable, never to be eroded by external forces; the eternally sharp blade, only to become dull due to its own confusion.
From the beginning, Subdue Evil’s enemy...
From the beginning, the real opponent of Subdue Evil...
Endless fragments swirled in his mind, none containing any meaningful information, but a feeling—a hard to describe feeling that made it difficult for Subdue Evil to continue thinking was slowly spreading.
He realized that he was falling into the abyss. Once again.
However, this recollection, this gradual process of decay and corruption, was interrupted.
Interrupted by a young yet straightforward voice with no hesitation.
Subdue Evil was startled from the chaotic wandering.
His Sword Bearer. Another one. Yet different from all the previous Sword Bearers.
An Jing, unaware of Subdue Evil’s wavering, narrowed his eyes and thought of a possibility, speaking clearly and firmly, "We still have one last method, but this method is also the most dangerous, with no way back."
Closing his eyes, An Jing took a deep breath.
He calmly said, "Did you forget? If we teleport back to the Otherworld, then return to Embracing the Void... We can choose any point within a spherical space with a radius of one mile centered on our current position as our landing spot."
"Now, after you’ve been strengthened, the radius of this spherical space has been expanded to five miles."
Subdue Evil fell silent for a moment, then, realizing what An Jing meant, he exclaimed in astonishment: "So you’re saying..."
An Jing lowered his eyes, then looked up, facing the endless darkness: "I want to cut off my own retreat, to fight for a possibility."
Gazing at the pitch-black sky formed by the infinite condensing Heavenly Demon Qi, he revealed a smile: "At this point, I have no choice but to take action; I’ve been waiting, hesitating."
"Now, you are in my hands."
An Jing gripped the sword hilt tightly, issuing a command, or perhaps merely stating a fact.
"You should be unsheathed!"
A blade in hand, a three-foot cyan edge, shaving away all the inequalities of this transient world!
A resolute heart in chest, a fire burning bright, illuminating the darkened world!
Held tightly, driven by a fervent heart, for some reason, it initially hesitated, even beginning to ’rust and decay’ again; the Subdue Evil sword hilt suddenly burst into light, becoming as pristine as new!
He laughed heartily, swinging his arm forward together with An Jing, cleaving open a Great Void Passage!
In the Tianyuan Realm, Chonggang Town, Huo Qing was organizing the warehouse.
He suddenly saw a pitch-black Great Void crack open, and An Jing stepped out wielding his sword.
"Eh? An Jing, you..." Huo Qing widened his eyes in surprise. Although he had long guessed that the other party possessed Divine Skill of the Great Void, he never expected him to demonstrate it to himself—was it unexpected or was there no other choice? What mysterious trouble had An Jing encountered behind him?
All he could see was the immensely thick Demonic Qi behind An Jing, and the faint roars of numerous demons.
—Deep in the wilderness...Around the demon lair?!
Huo Qing received no answers.
Because, in the next instant, An Jing, without any hesitation, cleaved open another Great Void Passage and stepped into it, returning to the origin!
"Five miles underground!"
Within a five-mile radius of silver-white Great Void space-time, An Jing unhesitatingly selected the location under Broken Blade Mountain, deep underground—the Source of Demon Energy!
The next instant, he appeared there.
—Beneath Broken Blade Mountain, deep underground.
Dragon bone remains, positioned at the head wound.
This place used to be an impact cave formed by dried-up underground river veins, beneath the mountain there were naturally formed stalagmites and columns, numerous and dense like a grove, steep and upright like a forest, with mysterious faint lights casting numerous fleeting shadows, the moisture in the ’forest’ condensing into mist quietly flowing across the ground, like seaweeds undulating in the water.
This place had been quiet for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, but now, this deathly silence was broken.
With the Great Void Passage slicing through space-time, a silver-cyan brilliance flashed momentarily, and a man with a sword appeared there.
An Jing and Subdue Evil both saw Subdue Evil’s memories as well as the location of the ’Source of Demon Energy.’
No barriers, no suppression by Demonic Qi, and no harassment by demons, not even the blocking Formation; they effortlessly arrived at this place.
But, they never imagined that the existence of these two things would be so beyond their expectations.
Because, in actuality, they were one and the same.
Reflected in An Jing’s eyes were pieces that he was all too familiar with.
Pieces of Subdue Evil.
Pitch-black, emitting endless, incomparably potent Demonic Qi, denser and more profound than even Bitter Silence and all other Great Heavenly Demon avatars combined...
[Pieces of Subdue Evil]