Laughing wildly, yet tears streamed down my face.
Wiping away the tears, he chuckled sinisterly and said, "Well then, it saves me the trouble of doing it myself."
Tang Ningxin frowned and said, "What have you gone through? Why does something feel off? You used to be carefree and rebellious, but you didn’t have this madness..."
"Madness?"
Tang Yanzhang interrupted the azure-clad Divine Maiden’s words, his eyes wide open, "Madness is just right. How else can one aspire to the pinnacle of Sword Dao? How else can one carve a bloody path through this sky-piercing Thorn Forest?"
With that, he formed a sword with his fingers, and with a flick, the sound rang like a heavenly bell crashing through clouds, dispersing like waves.
Tang Yanzhang touched the flying sword, gazing at it with a mix of laughter and tears. Suddenly, he said, "Tang Ningxin, tell our clan not to worry; I will delve into the Sea of Suffering myself. The fate of the Formless Ancient Race, I will take it upon myself.
My feelings for the clan are not less than yours...
As for the one who killed the Primordial Ancestor, you should be able to guess who it is, and I can guess too.
I honed my skills originally to face the Primordial Ancestor in battle. Now that the Primordial Ancestor is dead, let it be him instead."
With that, he swung his sword, dispersing the surrounding mirage mist.
The sky was clear for miles, the sunset bathing the ravine.
"Such a place of concealment, there’s no need to linger." Tang Yanzhang smiled faintly, looking around at the clan members gathered, and proclaimed, "It’s time to return home."
...
...
Several years later...
In a soul threshold deep in the original Sea Race region, a dragon’s claw suddenly emerged, slowly reaching outward, spreading poisonous mist wherever it went, as all surrounding life was sacrificed.
Gradually, the massive poisonous dragon’s head emerged, muttering, "Though I was blocked a little, luckily, I was just one step away. At last, I’ve emerged, hehe..."
Then, it muttered to itself, ’Big brother is powerful. To emerge will take him a long time, so let the third brother come out first to help. After all, among so many cultivators, there must be a fool to stand in front.
The third brother is perfect for such a task.
As for the human who killed the fourth brother, there’s time... before the world tips over, we’ll surely meet.’
...
...
Time flew by, and in an instant, more than fifty years had passed.
In the Vast Sea of the low-level Cultivation Profound Realm, besides the Celestial Calamity Beasts, two Celestial Demon Dragons had appeared, creating chaos.
This news, though concealed, was no secret to the upper-level cultivators.
For a time, winds rose and clouds surged.
The Sword Alliance, Five Blessed Lands, Seven Great Bandits, and other forces dispatched cultivators to the low-level Cultivation Profound Land to slay the demon dragons.
It’s not purely for the benefit of the Human Race, but because everyone knows... if the Celestial Demons are left unchecked, the world’s end will arrive more quickly, and if the Celestial Demons grow strong, eventually, almost everyone could become their feed.
...
...
At Wangsheng Cliff.
A figure swept by, and when the figure was revealed, who else could it be but Song Yan?
These years, he did three things.
First, he found Ling Xiaoxiao, An Li, Yu Xuanwei, Wang Susu, and others to live a peaceful life, leaving behind some self-defense techniques while sharing his insights on shadow puppets with Wang Susu.
Second, hidden his identity, he roamed the soul threshold, biding his time to seize the Evil Treasures within.
If Celestial Demons or deities appeared, or if the competition was fierce and the waters deep, he’d rather give up than linger.
Over these decades, he successfully acquired nine Evil Treasures with great efficiency and strengthened his "Hundred Forms Demon Shadow" by adding the shadow puppets of sixty-nine Divine Infant mid-late stage experts, making it a trump card, though not matching the Profound Dragon Sword.
Third, he gathered information.
There was no news of Po Xu Yuzhuang or Su Yao.
As for the Formless Ancient Race...
He already knew Tang Yanzhang had become a Sword Alliance consecrator, and the Formless Ancient Race had returned to their Ancestral Vein Secret Realm, having acquired powerful illusion techniques. Hence, he temporarily refrained from delving further.
Of course, that was merely incidental; the most important matter was the news of the Celestial Demon Dragons.
He arrived at one of the closest points to the Sea of Suffering because he knew clearly that two Celestial Demon Dragons had appeared in the low-level Cultivation Profound Realm, one male and one female; the male was brutish and strong, the female cunning and sly, precisely fitting the descriptions of the "big brother and second sister" by the Yin Yang Profound Dragon.
Since the Celestial Demon Dragons had successfully climbed out of the Sea of Suffering, then he... could safely venture into the Sea of Suffering.
Though uncertainties surely remain, what in this world is ever certain?
He had minimized the risks as much as possible, and besides the Profound Dragon Sword, prepared nine Evil Treasures.
Gazing at the newly risen sun, Song Yan executed Sword Control and Rainbow Transformation, leaving Wangsheng Cliff, heading afar...
The spatial barrier where heaven and earth meet the Sea of Suffering is fragile here.
A ripple spread out.
In the next moment, the original natural scenery faded away, the world turned black below and white above, an ancient and boundless aura rushed forward, each sea breeze carrying an obsession capable of dissipating the cause and effect for Purple Mansion cultivators.
This scene first appeared after the annihilation of the Nanwu Sword Sect.
Since then, he had become entangled with this place but never truly set foot in it.
Over the many years, his understanding of the Sea of Suffering had deepened immeasurably from what was once "a laughably named Celestial Sword Visualization Map."
The Sea of Suffering has at least three layers.
The first layer, the Obsession Layer;
The second layer, the Rotting Thought Layer;
The third layer, below the Rotting Thought Layer, which is the deepest part of what Ling Handeng called Sword Village.
Only from this layer can one reach the next world. As for how to go, every Celestial Demon and every deity must strive with all their might...
Due to the structure of the Sea of Suffering, it is, in fact, a closed region for this world.