Chapter 1966: Mist Sea, Living Land, Pure Land
Jie Yuan lingered above the Abyss of Nothingness for a very long time before finally departing.
The image dispersed, and the shadow of Jie Yuan in Yun Che's sea of consciousness reopened its demonic pupils.
"In the past, even Ni Xuan and I could not touch the Abyss of Nothingness," Jie Yuan's voice sounded. "But now, as you have seen and felt, its destructive power has become extremely weak."
"So weak that not even gods or demons, perhaps not even you, could be devoured by it."
"More than ninety-nine percent of the chaos energy in the present world has poured into the Abyss. Clearly, this is the root of the qualitative change in the Abyss's aura."
"The mutated Abyss has caused the refined energy of the chaos world to decline by several major realms. This is already a great calamity. But when exactly this qualitative change began, and what hidden disasters it has sown over this long span of time... I cannot discern."
"However, standing above the Abyss, I always felt a vague unease. Falling into it, the deeper I go, the stronger that unease becomes."
That was the perception of a demon emperor's demonic soul.
If even something that made Jie Yuan uneasy—even if only slightly—could be sensed, then for the present world, it was undoubtedly a 'heavenly disaster.'
"However, you also sensed that within the Abyss, there is an extremely powerful suction force. It should be a force field that has existed in the Abyss since ancient times and has not completely collapsed like the devouring force. With this force field present, even if the power of the Abyss has undergone some kind of mutation, it should not be able to invade the present world."
"Let us hope that all of this is just me borrowing trouble."
At this moment, the shadow of Jie Yuan slowly began to fade, and soon completely vanished from Yun Che's sea of consciousness.
Yun Che's sea of consciousness fell into a long silence.
Like the Primordial Divine, Jie Yuan also expressed the hope that everything was just her 'borrowing trouble.'
But less than ten years after Jie Yuan left the chaos, and barely a year after the will of the Primordial Divine had just fallen silent, this 'hidden danger' erupted so impatiently in the present.
He had only seen an extremely small part of this 'hidden danger,' yet he was already powerless to the point of despair.
And the 'great secret' that Jie Yuan could not speak of, Yun Che now understood clearly.
She had sensed the existence of the Primordial Divine's will.
He clearly remembered the extreme shock Jie Yuan displayed when she discovered that both Dark Profound Force and Light Profound Force could coexist within him.
Something that could surpass the cognition of a demon emperor... only the Primordial Divine.
But at that time, no matter what, Jie Yuan dared not associate it with the words 'Primordial Divine.'
However, when no other possibility could be found, and coupled with... the fact that she had detected the fate lock bound upon Xia Qingyue...
No matter how unbelievable it was, she had to understand that the Primordial Divine existed in some form between heaven and earth in this world.
As a demon emperor directly created by the Primordial Divine, she undoubtedly held deep reverence embedded in the roots of her life and soul.
It was impossible for her to have any disrespect or defiance toward the Primordial Divine, nor could she reveal any secrets about her.
In the end, she chose to annihilate all the persistence, hope, and resentment that she and even her entire clan had held for countless years, burying herself and her entire clan forever outside the chaos. Perhaps the existence of the Primordial Divine was the most important reason.
Time silently flowed in an almost terrifying stillness.
One day... two days... three days...
Finally, Yun Che slowly opened his eyes.
The barrier was parted, and Chi Wuyue walked in.
"You're finally awake." Chi Wuyue said with some concern. "If you hadn't woken up soon, I would have forcibly dragged you out."
Yun Che gave a slight smile and said, "Don't worry. I just needed to think through some things."
During these days of mental stillness, his injuries had also healed considerably on their own.
"Think through?" Chi Wuyue's eyes flickered with a strange light. She sat down slowly in front of Yun Che, looking directly into his pupils from an extremely close distance: "Is it really 'thought through'?"
Facing Chi Wuyue's demonic pupils, Yun Che's gaze did not ripple at all. Instead of answering, he said, "Tell me all the information you extracted from Mo Beichen's remnant soul."
"Before that," Chi Wuyue said, "first tell me everything you know about the Abyss. In this situation, there is no longer anything that needs to be hidden."
Regarding the Primordial Divine, and all the truths behind Xia Qingyue, Yun Che had never intended to tell anyone.
Chi Wuyue also knew that he must be hiding some huge secrets, but she had never asked.
Now, as she said, there was no longer anything that needed to be hidden.
She had to synthesize all the information to find the slim path and glimmer of hope.
"Alright." After only an extremely brief hesitation, Yun Che nodded.
Then, following the order in which the Ancestral Will had once recounted to him, he began from the Primordial Divine's transformation of the chaos, separating the world of life and the world of destruction, then through the passage of time... the great war between gods and demons... the collapse of the Abyss's laws... the rebirth of the Primordial...
All the way to the thousandth reincarnation of the Primordial Divine, and everything about Xiao Lingxi and Xia Qingyue.
He told Chi Wuyue everything, holding nothing back.
Before the calamity occurred, he had thought this would be an eternal secret known only to him and He Ling.
Then, he also recounted the memory shadow left to him by Jie Tian Mo Di, without omitting any detail.
Chi Wuyue fell into a long silence... Undoubtedly, even with a mind like hers, facing such world-shaking secrets required a considerable amount of time to accept and digest.
Only today did she finally understand the true reason behind all of Xia Qingyue's inexplicable actions, and only today did she finally comprehend why Yun Che had been in such agony during that period, nearly to the point of soul-shattering.
Yun Che's fate, Xia Qingyue's fate... the one who forged everything was actually the Primordial Divine.
It was actually... Xiao Lingxi.
And tracing back to the root, the reason the Primordial Divine chose to be reborn was because of the anomaly discovered in the Abyss.
This led to the fates of Yun Che and Xia Qingyue that were later interfered with.
The Abyss...
...
With a soft exhale, Chi Wuyue lifted her demonic pupils and murmured softly, "I once had several kinds of guesses. Many of them were so bizarre that I laughed at myself. But I never expected that the truth... is millions of times more bizarre than my boldest conjecture."
"If the Ancestral Will hadn't told you directly, even if a demon emperor or a creation god were still alive, they would have no way of knowing."
After her sigh, her eyes gradually changed, becoming a chill cold.
No matter how bizarre the established facts were, they were no longer that important.
Combining the remnant soul memories of Mo Beichen and everything Yun Che had said, the Abyss pieced together a more complete shape within her demonic soul.
"Mo Beichen's demigod soul was too powerful. Coupled with the severe damage my demonic soul had suffered at the time, I was only able to forcibly extract some information just before it was about to completely dissipate." Chi Wuyue said, "Apart from some of Mo Beichen's recent memories, most of this information consists of basic knowledge about the Abyss world."
Yun Che did not speak, listening intently.
Chi Wuyue began to slowly narrate the Abyss world unfolding within her sea of consciousness:
"In the beginning of time, the life aura and destruction aura of the chaos world were separated by the Primordial Divine, becoming, respectively, the present world where life thrives and the Abyss, which only holds destruction."
"Over the immensely long passage of time, coupled with the impact of the great war between gods and demons, the laws endowed upon the Abyss by the Primordial Divine gradually collapsed. A vast amount of chaos energy from the present world rapidly flowed into the Abyss, and the life aura and destruction aura seemed to undergo a kind of neutralizing mutation."
"In the end, the chaos energy of the present world became extremely thin, and its laws became low-level and fragile. In contrast, the destruction aura of the Abyss world greatly diminished. Gradually, some regions within it evolved into spaces where survival was barely possible."
"However, the Abyss world is ultimately dominated by the aura of destruction. Even with such a large influx of chaos energy, the spaces where survival is barely possible are still extremely few, not even one-thousandth of the Abyss world."
"As a result, the Abyss is divided into three distinct worlds. They are..."
"Mist Sea, Living Land, and Pure Land."
"Mist Sea... Pure Land..." Yun Che furrowed his brow, muttering quietly.
Chi Wuyue continued: "The destructive aura of the Abyss is called 'Abyss Dust' by the Abyss's living beings. Abyss Dust can erode the bodies, lifespans, and even souls of living beings. When the Abyss Dust is too dense, it forms dust mist, which spreads and creates 'Mist Seas.'"
"The Mist Sea is vast beyond measure, occupying more than ninety-nine percent of the Abyss's space. The deeper one goes into the Mist Sea, the more terrifying the Abyss Dust becomes. Even if a demigod ventures deep into it, with their vision and spiritual senses being gradually eroded and eradicated, they can easily become lost, never to escape, until they collapse and die."
"Additionally, within the Mist Sea, there exist 'Abyss Beasts' born from the power of destruction, which feed on Abyss Dust."
What exactly 'Abyss Beasts' were and how terrifying they were, Chi Wuyue had not learned from Mo Beichen's remnant soul.
"The living areas outside the Mist Sea are called 'Living Lands.' These are the places where almost all Abyss creatures, except for the Abyss Beasts, live."
"However, although they are called 'Living Lands,' Abyss Dust still exists there. It is just much thinner than in the Mist Sea. Therefore, these 'Living Lands' are merely places to barely eke out an existence. The presence of Abyss Dust makes the lifespans of Abyss creatures extremely short. They can only train desperately, using higher cultivation to resist the erosion of Abyss Dust."
"Obviously, children born in Abyss Dust, without sufficient protection, are almost certainly doomed to die young."
"Protection?" Yun Che raised an eyebrow.
Chi Wuyue did not explain directly but continued: "Within the Living Lands of the Abyss, there exist places that can almost completely block out Abyss Dust. These are the cores of the Living Lands—the six great Divine Kingdoms."
"Divine Kingdoms..." Yun Che looked up, a strange light trembling in his eyes. "Are the rulers true gods?"
Meeting Yun Che's agitated expression, Chi Wuyue slowly nodded: "The six great Divine Kingdoms of the Abyss are each ruled by a true god."
"That's right—true deities, as you understand them, who existed only in ancient times and should have been eternally extinct!"
"..." Yun Che took a deep breath and asked solemnly, "How many such true gods are there?"
"Except for one kingdom that is guarded by twin gods, the other five are each ruled by a single god, making a total of seven true gods."
"A barrier unfurled by a power at the level of a true god can shelter an entire Divine Kingdom within a vast dustless domain. This supreme protection, exclusive to the Divine Kingdoms, is called 'Divine Grace.'"
"Therefore, those born within a Divine Kingdom, as long as they do not step outside its borders, can be shielded from the erosion of Abyss Dust by the Divine Grace."
"However, the range of Divine Grace cannot be infinite. Entering a Divine Kingdom is a lifelong, unattainable wish for most Abyss creatures. And within the Divine Kingdom, useless people are also driven out."
"Kingdoms and races outside the Divine Kingdoms desperately try to get close to the Divine Kingdom's domain, kneeling to become its vassals, paying a great price each year in exchange for limited Divine Grace."
Chi Wuyue's few brief words fully revealed the brutally harsh living environment and survival rules of the Abyss.
"Then what about the Pure Land? What kind of place is it?" Yun Che asked.
"The Pure Land is the only place in the entire Abyss that requires no interference and is completely free of Abyss Dust." Chi Wuyue paused, then her voice dropped sharply: "It is the most sacred existence in the faith of all beings in the Abyss, the dwelling place of the Abyss Lord—the Abyss Emperor."