Cang Yaochen transformed into a streak of crimson-gold light, forcibly tearing through the void above the Great Northwest Sea—a realm long regarded by mortals as a forbidden zone. The sea was violently split asunder by his immense divine pressure, forming a deep trench stretching a hundred miles that refused to close for a long time.
His gaze was terrifyingly cold. The serene Buddhist aura that usually surrounded him had long been replaced by an extreme, predatory ferocity. At his chest, the "Covenant of the Buddha" throbbed violently; the tugging sensation, which carried a sharp pain reaching into his very Godhead, caused every pore of his being to radiate murderous intent.
"Kill me..." Jiang Li's voice exploded in his sea of consciousness once more, echoing across the void.
"Wait for me!"
He let out a cold snort, and his True Buddha manifestation abruptly opened its eyes. Dark gold divine fire instantly incinerated the stray thoughts interfering with his mind.
In that moment, the sea ahead collapsed without warning, forming a massive vortex several thousand meters in diameter.
ROAR—!
Accompanied by a savage howl, three deep-sea flood dragons with pitch-black bodies and cyan scales soared into the sky. Each beast was a thousand feet long, exuding a terrifying demonic aura comparable to a Great Circle Mahayana cultivator. They had dominated this forbidden sea for millennia and had never encountered such a blatant provocation.
The three dragons locked down the high, middle, and low paths, their massive claws shredding the air and bringing with them gusts of foul, stinking wind.
Cang Yaochen's speed did not diminish in the slightest. He gripped the void with his right hand, his five fingers snapping shut.
"Begone!"
He brought his fingers together like a blade and slashed horizontally toward the front.
A thousand-foot-wide crescent of golden light swept out. Wherever the light passed, space was sliced open as easily as fragile silk, revealing pitch-black void fissures behind it.
The lead dragon had no way to dodge. Its scales, usually as hard as divine iron, were like paper before the golden light, and it was instantly split down the middle. Scalding demonic blood poured down like a torrential rain, staining a hundred miles of sea crimson in an instant. Cang Yaochen charged straight through the mist of dragon blood; his deep cyan monk robes remained unstained, but his eyes were filled with a crystalline killing intent.
Two hours later, a patch of deathly grey appeared at the edge of the horizon, chilling to the bone.
It was the edge of the Central Continent—The God-Fall Valley.
Even before drawing near, an extremely heavy pressure bore down on him. The air here seemed to have solidified into lead, and the gravity was more than ten times that of the outside world. Looking out, the entire basin was deathly silent. The surrounding mountain ranges were a haunting, pale white—the massive skeletons of ancient gods and demons that had weathered over time, merging with the mountain rock itself.
The bottom of the valley was piled high with thick ash—the residue of burned divine souls. Every step produced a sharp "crunch," and grey poisonous miasmas churned within the valley, shifting into various hideous ghostly faces that relentlessly battered the sanity of any living being.
Cang Yaochen landed at the mouth of the valley. The jade box in his sleeve trembled violently, the "Returning Heart" fragment nearly bursting through the casing.
At the deepest point of the basin, upon a hundred-foot altar constructed from shattered divine statues and broken totems, a figure hovered silently.
It looked like Jiang Li, yet it felt like someone else entirely.
She wore a gown of ink-black silk, its hem resembling flowing black smoke. Her eyes were completely pitch-black, devoid of pupils. Behind her, the phantom image of a massive, ancient mirror stained with dried blood was gradually solidifying. It was the main body of the Mirror of Nether-Probing.
"Buddha... you actually followed me here." The Evil Intent, controlling Jiang Li's body, spoke in a raspy, bizarre voice layered with tens of thousands of overlapping echoes.
Cang Yaochen walked slowly onto the altar. With every step he took, the white-boned earth beneath him shattered, and the golden light radiating from his body forcibly repelled the grey miasma trying to encircle him.
"It is you who owe me; let Jiang Li pay it back! She is a perfect shell for me! Leave, Buddha. Leave her to me, and I shall forgive you all."
Cang Yaochen looked at the familiar yet strange face upon the altar, his lips curling into a cruel and arrogant arc.
"Forgive? Those filthy deeds have nothing to do with us. Release her at once."
He slowly raised his hand, and a golden longsword manifested inch by inch in his grip. Dark purple patterns flickered faintly across the blade.
"Buddha, it is unfair. Clearly, the fault was not mine." The Evil Intent let out a mournful wail before roaring: "If the Heavens decree that I must perish, then I shall strike down the Heavens themselves! Since you want this shell so badly, then take these ten thousand years of vengeful debt back with her!"
BOOM—!
The white-boned altar beneath him collapsed. Cang Yaochen transformed into a bolt of lightning, carrying the power to topple the world as he charged straight toward the resurrecting Evil God!