Burial of the Divine Abyss

At this moment, standing face to face with a ruthless killing intent that could shatter her soul in an instant.

Bai Ningbing froze completely, forgetting even to breathe.

She stared blankly into Ye Xuan’s deep eyes—those same eyes that once mirrored a sky full of stars, once reflected her shy smile.

But now, they clearly reflected her disheveled figure, hands stained with blood, utterly defeated.

Within them, there was not a trace of the love that once existed, not even a flicker of pity. Even the burning hatred had faded away.

What remained was only endless disgust and absolute coldness, as if she were nothing more than irredeemable trash.

At last, at this very moment, this bone-chilling coldness forced her into a desperate clarity.

The man before her was no longer the gentle youth who, atop the snowy mountain peak, had tenderly brushed the falling snowflakes from her hair and softly called her Ningbing.

During the endless torment at Zangxian Lake—dark and unbearable, as if her bones were being stripped and her flesh peeled away—that Ye Xuan had truly died.

What survived was a demon clawing its way out of the abyss of hell, a Shura consumed by the flames of hatred, ready to burn the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

And the root of all this… was the Nine Heavens Sacred Land, was the conspiracy of that person, and was also the tragic fruit born from her own weakness, cowardice, and helplessness back then.

Two burning tears slowly slid down Bai Ningbing’s cheeks, dripping onto the sword blade stained with her own blood, making a barely audible “tick” sound.

In the end, she slowly loosened her grip on the sword.

She did not choose to die by Ye Xuan’s blade.

It wasn’t because she was afraid of death.

But because in her despair, she suddenly understood a cruel truth: if she rashly died here today, there would be no one left to secretly shield him with their flesh and blood from the deadly arrows aimed at his back.

If that person discovered Ye Xuan was still alive and had gone to the Zangtian Divine Abyss, they would surely unleash the full power of the Sacred Land, setting an inescapable trap to strike him down.

She had to live, even if it meant surviving as a soulless corpse wandering the world. She had to secretly stop all of that!

Even if the final price was to fall into the Avici Hell, shattered to pieces!

Bai Ningbing painfully closed her eyes, nodding deeply, hopelessly, and obediently.

“I… will leave…”

Those two words rasped out from her hoarse throat.

With their utterance, it was as if all life within her was instantly drained away.

She struggled to stand on the deck, her figure swaying.

She did not use any magic to stop the bleeding from the wound on her neck, nor did she wipe away the mottled blood and tears on her face.

She simply stood still in the biting night wind, taking one last, greedy, almost morbid look at Ye Xuan’s cold and merciless face—carved as sharply as if by axe and chisel.

As if she wanted to carve every contour, every strand of hair, deep into the very depths of her soul, to carry with her until death.

“Husband… may your martial fortune flourish. If there is a next life… Ningbing wishes to repay her sins of this life with boundless loyalty.”

She whispered silently in her heart, her words soaked in blood and tears.

Then, she turned away resolutely.

*Click.*

A crystal-clear tear fell in the night wind. Before it could touch the ground, the biting cold energy swirling around the two instantly froze it, shattering it into sparkling shards of ice.

Bai Ningbing’s frail body transformed into a dull, lifeless white stream of light.

She was like a broken puppet whose strings had all been cut, utterly abandoned by the world. Stumbling and lonely, she vanished into the boundless, bottomless sea of dark clouds, disappearing without a trace of breath.

Watching that faint stream of light completely vanish from perception,

Ye Xuan’s face remained expressionless, only a disdainful snort escaping his nose.

*Clang!*

With a flick of his hand, the Sun-Slaying Divine Sword turned into a streak of light, precisely sheathing itself into its ancient scabbard. A crisp, piercing dragon’s roar echoed out, scattering the lingering clouds within a ten-mile radius.

“Do you really think a few cheap tears and some nonsensical lies can make me let go of a blood feud that runs deep? Bai Ningbing, your innocence is infuriating.”

He showed no hesitation, no lingering sentiment.

Without looking back, he turned decisively and swung the wide, pristine white hem of his robe. Like a statue carved from marble, he sat cross-legged once more at the prow of the ship, wind howling fiercely around him.

“The Nine Heavens Sacred Land…”

Ye Xuan slowly closed his eyes, a cruel, bloodthirsty smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

“No matter what traps you’ve laid in the Zangtian Divine Abyss, no matter who ‘that person’ hiding behind the scenes really is…”

“Clean your neck and prepare to meet the arrival of hell!”

The ancient ironwood flying ship rumbled low and violent, like a primordial beast fully awakened, brutally tearing through the layers of obstructing darkness.

Trailing a long black tail of smoke, the ship surged forward with relentless killing intent, deathly silence, and apocalyptic resolve, charging straight toward the most dangerous forbidden zone in Central Divine Continent—the Zangtian Divine Abyss!

Five days later.

The weathered thousand-year-old ironwood flying ship beneath Ye Xuan’s feet tore through the void like a streak of black lightning. Above the vast sea of clouds at the boundary between the Desolate Ancient Realm and Central Divine Continent, it let out a heavy roar as its speed gradually slowed.

Ahead, the world had changed.

Where once the sky was clear and blue, now it was swallowed by endless decay and deathly silence.

The sea of clouds no longer rolled like white waves but glowed a sickening dark red, as if soaked in the blood of countless living beings.

Deep within this suffocating chaos, a colossal gate soared tens of thousands of feet high, forged from countless ancient divine demon bones and bound by the patterns of the Great Dao. It loomed like a primeval beast’s gaping abyssal maw, flickering faintly among the mottled shards of space.

This was the infamous and deadliest forbidden zone known across three thousand Dao Prefectures: the Zangtian Divine Abyss.

The spiritual energy here was violently turbulent, mixed with a desolate killing aura capable of easily corroding even the souls of mighty beings.

Visible to the naked eye, black void rifts twisted like venomous snakes, tearing open silently in the void, swallowing the surrounding light.

Just standing here, one could hear the agonizing howls and wails of ancient divine demons, so piercing that those with weaker minds would instantly lose control, descend into madness, and explode from within.

However, before this deadly abyss that could chill one’s soul to the core, there was far from silence.

As far as the eye could see, the void surrounding the portal blazed with radiant treasures shooting into the sky, countless streaks of auspicious light weaving a scene befitting the grandest of gatherings in the cultivation world!

Countless colossal ships of extravagant design and terrifying aura encircled the Shenyuan entrance like stars revolving around the moon.

To the left in the void, the Nine-Dragon Golden War Chariot of the Great Xuan Dynasty crushed the horizon. Nine pureblooded flood dragons pulled the chariot, atop which stood heavily armored royal guards. Their grim military presence manifested as tangible crimson killing intent, soaring straight into the clouds.

To the right among the clouds, jade flying boats from the Nine Heavens Sacred Land drifted, accompanied by ethereal melodies. Daoist priestesses bathed in rosy light, their flowing robes fluttering, every gesture radiating the aloof grace of celestial beings.

Deeper in the shadows, a massive white-bone warship forged from the skeletons of ancient demonic beasts loomed. Descendants of powerful demon clans unleashed their bloodthirsty aura without concealment, their slit pupils gleaming with greedy ferocity.

These were the top elites of the Three Thousand Dao Prefectures, peerless prodigies nurtured with all the resources of their respective factions.

Their eyes burned with arrogant ambition. Some had already begun small-scale magical bombardments to seize better positions closer to the entrance, causing dazzling and deadly blood-red explosions to erupt continuously in the void.

Amidst this grand spectacle of rival heroes encircling the portal, bathed in myriad colors of treasure light, Ye Xuan’s snow-white flying boat appeared as small and shabby as a loach swimming among dragons—almost laughable.

Many prodigies cast disdainful, mocking glances at this dilapidated vessel, their contempt unmasked.

Yet, facing these scornful stares, Ye Xuan quietly sat cross-legged at the ship’s battered bow.

His pure white robes fluttered wildly in the ferocious gale, his black hair whipping about recklessly. No trace of spiritual energy emanated from him, only a faint, almost imperceptible swirl of black demonic aura twisted eerily at the hem of his clothes.

His eyes were gently closed, brows etched with an unmelting frost that had lasted for ten thousand years.

“Husband… is this the Tomb Heaven Divine Abyss? Such a terrifying formation…”

Ying’er, hiding behind Ye Xuan, clutched his broad robe tightly, her face pale as paper.

Though the little girl possessed some cultivation, she had never witnessed such a cataclysmic spectacle.

The oppressive aura inadvertently radiated by the surrounding prodigies weighed down on her so heavily that she could barely breathe, instinctively seeking shelter under Ye Xuan’s protection.