Chapter 867: Chapter 38: Dark God Domain
Beyond the endless Star River, amidst the pitch-black Heavenly Road.
The crystalline waters along the way make one’s heart tremble, yet exude a natural fragrance that fills the air.
Above the pitch-black sky, mist lingers, auspicious glows are hidden, and the shimmering twilight appears and disappears, like an Immortal Land in the night.
After Zhou Yan appeared in this stretch of sky, he felt as if he had been shattered, an unspeakable agony enveloping him.
That powerful sensation ebbed away like the tide, leaving behind a torment worse than death.
Behind the elevation to the Infinite Realm lies endless agony and torment, an unending destruction of the body.
For any Cultivator, it would be near impossible to endure, yet Zhou Yan persisted, forcibly cooperating with the Demon Heart Sword Body, elevating his Realm to the Nine Heavens Sword Venerate.
This is undoubtedly a miraculous legend.
However, once that strength departed, all soul levels within Zhou Yan crumbled, leaving nothing but an empty husk save for one remaining white strand amidst three others.
Even then, if there had been a single miscalculation, he would have been forever trapped by the Jiang family, truly captured, imprisoned or even faced death at their hands.
Now, though he arrived safely in this Unknown Land, Zhou Yan doesn’t feel any disappointment—because after all his efforts, he finally saved those he cared about, not all, but he did his best.
"Husband, you really didn’t need to do this. Now, Yu Ning is no more than... a fading... remnant soul. I am deeply touched by what you’ve done, but Yu Ning is still worried."
Riding the Throne with Jiang Yuning, Zhou Yan gently embraced her. As he sensed Zhou Yan catching his breath, Jiang Yuning sighed and spoke.
Jiang Yuning lost her Three Souls, and Zhou Yan once considered placing her within his Soul Sea, but couldn’t do it. Meanwhile, Zhou Ying, Xiong Ba, and Ping’er were still recuperating there due to being suppressed and imprisoned, and thus did not appear outside the Void.
"Ning’er, no need to say such words. To be together, even for a second, is happiness, isn’t it? I will do my utmost to save you. If I am utterly powerless, I will stay with you until you depart."
Zhou Yan gently caressed Jiang Yuning’s smooth yet faintly dimmed beautiful forehead, his voice so tender.
But as his hand moved slightly, crimson blood flowed freely from Zhou Yan’s arm, vivid and dripping, an intrusive sight in the dark and cold space.
The Throne had no destination, traversing the deserted land of the Star River plains, seemingly endless, while Zhou Yan’s condition worsened.
To exceed the body’s limit for Combat Power, then at all costs devour "Immortal Power" that cannot be digested, this is self-destruction.
In this world, any path to power without principles exacts a heavy toll.
Now, with that strength constantly dissipating, Zhou Yan’s body became like a withered leaf in a raging wind, as if he could collapse at any moment.
"Husband, why, why do this? Ning’er is already very happy, for even in a daily soulless state, her heart vividly remembers her husband’s figure, giving her the motivation to endure."
Jiang Yuning’s eyes welled up with tears, yet she didn’t know what to do.
For the first time, she showed such helplessness because she herself had lost her Three Souls, her Life Soul drained, even if she deeply cared for Zhou Yan’s situation, she was powerless, her resources exhausted.
So only tears could convey this profound worry.
"It’s okay, the physical body is just a shell, the Soul merely the foundation for Transcendence. Even if these are gone, they can be restored, but losing you, my life would never be at peace. Even if I cultivated to the Nine Heavens Sword Venerate, what would it matter?
I’ve come to realize I don’t have the time to wait, nor can I challenge the rules as I did before to marry the Holy Daughter, because the strong never adhere to rules with us. So, at any cost, I must save you from the Bitter Sea."
"By staying with me, perhaps in our escape we encounter the suppression of Plane’s endless rules or the rules of the Great Domain and meet our end, but even then, we would face death together, a kind of happiness.
Being with the one you love, regardless of hardship, it’s not bitter, fatigue isn’t tiring, and pain is not painful."
Zhou Yan said softly.
His arm cracked open, revealing stark White Bones. His blood overflowed onto Jiang Yuning, but Zhou Yan didn’t care, or think he sullied the Holy Daughter’s sacred body.
At this moment, Holy Daughter Jiang Yuning could feel the gentle affection and warmth from Zhou Yan after his transformation, her body and mind warmed, but her eyes were filled with more bittersweet tears of happiness.
"I... I could recognize you in an instant, and it was like a Returning Light, my lost Three Souls were extracted by some unknown figure, the essence of my Soul completely destroyed. The Wanling Clan took the Life Soul I developed anew, and those from the Sacrificial Heaven Domain duplicated another me, using it for some supreme unknown plan. And husband... you are actually, actually a failed experiment, your past... the memories of Lei Yan King are merely simulated Mechanical Clan’s Supreme Treasure, poured in frequencies of memory. It’s all just a part of a test..."
Jiang Yuning said trembling.
Zhou Yan’s body slightly shuddered.