Today, he felt that this world was too frightening.
Since he could not bear it, he should bear it no more.
Yao had said long ago that this world was not as important as he thought, and the things he cared about were not that important either.
The more he cared, the more he had to lose.
Zhou Yan stared at the extinguished Purple Flame, and suddenly laughed, his laugh full of self-mockery, immense sadness, and poignant desolation.
"Father King loved and cherished you wholeheartedly, yet now, after cursing you just once, you close this door and refuse to see Father King again? You care about Father King, and Father King also cares about his own parents, yet you can be so crazed, so utterly mad!
Yes, in making choices, I chose to guard my mother and forsake rescuing you from your pain, but you won’t perish for now, while my mother, after losing this object, cannot live! Are you disappointed because of this? Perhaps, that drop of Blood Shadow influenced you, but that doesn’t change the fact that you made all these decisions!"
"Now, because of one sentence, have you given up everything? Have you forsaken all the efforts I, Father King, have made for you?"
Zhou Yan roared angrily.
His voice echoed back and forth in the Purple Flame Void.
"Father King, Yanyan simply doesn’t want to leave this gate open, to prevent any further harm to Father King.
If she could choose, Yanyan would rather have not been born, than cause father pain."
"Father King, Yanyan remembers many things, but she has forgotten even more. Yanyan is not a good daughter, always causing you and mother great pain, so..."
Yanyan’s voice came through the Void, matured quite a bit, yet still tinged with innocence.
She was still that lonely and helpless little girl, yet burdened with a maturity that did not belong to her.
Zhou Yan’s heart ached, those words from Yanyan making him think of the unborn baby in Feng Lingqing’s belly who chose suicide.
He couldn’t help but give a feeble smile and muttered to himself, "Yes, is being Zhou Yan’s daughter such a pain? Then what do I, Zhou Yan, need descendants for!"
"Father King, Yanyan never regrets and feels she is the happiest daughter in the world, but only blames her own tough fate for suppressing her parents’ growth, blames only her lack of cherishment...
Father King, that scenario has already broken, no need to worry anymore. Whatever you wish to do, Father King, go do it."
Yanyan’s voice had faded away.
Zhou Yan was still dazed in the Purple Flame Void.
By now, he understood that even if he hadn’t scolded Yanyan, she would have left anyway.
But Yanyan was about to leave, and he had scolded her, and so harshly.
At this moment, this contradiction and pain finally made him understand the agony once felt by his father, Zhou Wangchen.
Sometimes, drinking was not to numb or escape, but a form of self-torture.
In that torment, self-punishment, self-numbing.
Zhou Yan did not gather another split body, but instead drank gulp by gulp, though it did not suppress the sadness in his heart.
The split body stood in the Void, silently watching those who still survived like Gongcheng Diewu, Zhou Taiting and others, and grimly said, "Now, you all should be satisfied! Alright, you all hope I don’t gather the Sword Soul, all think I’m useless, a damned hybrid!
But I, Zhou Yan, am not useless! Not incapable of gathering the Sword Soul! I, Zhou Yan, have thousands of ways to gather the Sword Soul, each one of which can succeed!"
Zhou Yan laughed, a laugh so desolate.
The Sacrificial Heaven Ancient City had crumbled, collapsed, the Heavenly Destiny plan aborted, and the one-armed woman besides sighing helplessly had no choice but to lament.
Zhou Yuntian died, hit by that strike, vanishing in a trace of dust and smoke that everyone could see.
Ji Tianxu, too, died, similarly affected, not even leaving a trace of Tribulation Ash.
When they died, their gazes were calm, as if they were relieved.
That was indeed the reason Yanyan mentioned the scenario had broken.
In the Sacrificial Heaven Ancient City, Blood Water Lake had dried up, exposing the original ground, resembling a road to the underworld with the water of the underworld floating there.
Blood water transformed into spring water, flowing anew.
The Heavenly Destiny Tea Tree had completely withered, decayed, turning into whisps of life essence, seeping back into the bodies of those dried bones.
The bones, like dead wood in spring, had formed dead bodies of cultivators.
These bodies were reformed completly, not just bones, but piled up like mountains, as if in peaceful sleep instead of death.
But even though the bodies were reintegrated, their souls had long perished.
"Failed," Jia Yongheng was the first to sigh in the Void.
"Thousands of years of planning failed. But this plan should not have existed in the first place." Qian Xi murmured, seemingly finally understanding something at this time.
"They can all temporarily leave the Sword Burial Ancestor Star now, , also preventing Nine Origin Reincarnation from descending, it seems interference is impossible," Elder Ling sighed in lament.
"Yes, it failed, all of you still alive here can live now."
The one-armed woman in white also spoke words of reluctance, but heavy.
By her side, the man in colorful clothes sighed, turning into flowing light, intending to leave first, apparently not planning to bother even with Zhou Yan gathering the Sword Soul.
"Did I say you could leave? Watch me gather the Sword Soul first then go!"
Zhou Yan’s voice was cold, merciless, but conveyed an absolute determination.
As if he would eliminate anyone who would not listen to him.
The man in colorful clothes shuddered, looking at Zhou Yan somewhat inexplicably, then after meeting Zhou Yan’s gaze, his own gaze narrowed, ultimately stopping.