“It’s fine. I can feel it, the time until destiny fully forms is getting shorter. I probably won’t have to wait long before I go to the Outer Heavens. Then I can head straight for the Primordial Demon Cave,” Xu Zimo said with a light smile, gazing toward the distant horizon.
“Although we can’t break the Demon-Sealing Lock yet, we can try to find the Void Spirit Monkey first. If we remove the outer seal, we might be able to connect with the Primordial Demon Cave.”
“Understood. Master, are we heading to the Void Valley next?” Paimon asked.
“We’ll leave once we finish cleaning up things here with the Lan Clan,” Xu Zimo replied with a nod.
With all seven Lan Clan ancestors devoured by Paimon, their upper ranks were basically wiped out.
Now, the only survivors were a few servants and younger members with weak cultivation.
“What should we do with these people?” the God Emperor asked.
“I won’t ask. I won’t interfere. Handle it yourself,” Xu Zimo replied calmly.
“I understand,” the God Emperor nodded slowly after thinking it over.
After dealing with the ancestors, Xu Zimo noticed Lan Ke’er had vanished.
He flew down to the Lan estate.
Some of the Lan Clan were hiding, while others fell to their knees, trembling when they saw him, not even daring to look up.
“The path to power is always stained with blood. Anyone who becomes strong walks over mountains of corpses. I’m sorry... I truly didn’t want to destroy your Lan Clan,” Xu Zimo said quietly. “It’s a shame your family held onto your beliefs for tens of thousands of years. Demon-slaying was your mission, your reason to exist.”
Xu Zimo walked into the inner courtyard of the Lan estate again.
The Demon-Slaying Trees that once lined the path had withered, hanging lifeless by the roadside.
The courtyard was deserted, no trace of the Lan Clan’s younger generation.
Inside, Lan Ke’er’s maid Little Yun was nervously waiting.
“M-Mister Xu,” she greeted nervously.
“Where’s Ke’er?” Xu Zimo asked.
“My lady told me to give this to you,” Little Yun said, handing him a silk handkerchief.
It was made of fine silkworm silk and had an embroidered image on it.
The picture showed the day Xu Zimo and Lan Ke’er first met, Ke’er holding a sword to his neck in a narrow alley.
Xu Zimo gave a soft chuckle and flipped the handkerchief over. On the back, several words were written:
The world has no clear lines. Today, we part. The Mortal Dust Palace, the dream of yesterday, ends in Bluesky City.
Xu Zimo quietly put the handkerchief away, closed his eyes, and stayed silent for a while. Then he asked, “She went to the Mortal Dust Palace?”
“I don’t know,” Little Yun said fearfully. “Miss just said not to come looking for her.”
“If she doesn’t want me to find her, why tell me where she went?” Xu Zimo smiled faintly. “She just doesn’t know how to face me right now. Forget it. I’ll let her calm down. I won’t go to the Mortal Dust Palace, for now.”
“Then… may I go?” Little Yun asked cautiously.
“You’re her maid. I won’t trouble you,” Xu Zimo said with a nod.
As Little Yun left, Xu Zimo sat alone on the inner courtyard’s tower.
He poured a few cups of wine and leaned back in the chair.
The Lan Clan was gone. Bluesky City was in ruins.
The remaining residents had started leaving their homes. Xu Zimo didn’t destroy the city himself.
He fell into a deep sleep, as if the outside world had nothing to do with him.
No one dared disturb him. When he awoke, the sky was already turning dark.
Paimon and the God Emperor were speaking in the pavilion below. When they saw Xu Zimo coming down, both stood up.
“Everything’s been handled,” the God Emperor said.
“We’ll go to the Void Valley tomorrow,” Xu Zimo replied.
They both nodded.
...
As one of the Ten Forbidden Grounds, the Void Valley was a strange place.
What made it strange was that reaching it relied entirely on luck.
With good luck, even an average cultivator could survive inside. With bad luck, even a Grand Emperor might die.
The most dangerous thing inside the Void Valley was the Void Turbulence.
First, we have to understand the rules of this universe.
There are Nine Grand Daos. The tenth transforms into one, and one represents perfection.
In other words, the world we live in is never completely sealed. There’s always a sliver of hope.
At the same time, because the Grand Dao is incomplete, nothing in this world can be perfect.
Everything has two sides. Even the Primordial Heartlands are not flawless.
Legend says that during the formation of this continent, one region remained incomplete.
That space is chaotic with unstable currents. If a being enters and avoids those currents, they might survive.
But if caught in the Void Turbulence, they might be instantly torn to pieces.
Even with luck, they could be sucked into another space. What lies beyond that space, no one knows.
Almost no one has ever come back.
It’s said that the Vast Emperor once emerged from that space using incredible power, but after returning, he said nothing and simply ascended to the Outer Heavens.
Not everything in the Void Valley is dangerous, though.
There grows a type of tree called the Void Tree.
It’s said that wood from the Void Tree, called Void Wood, can be used to travel between spaces, even to comprehend the true meaning of void.
Void Wood has many uses and is highly sought after.
Because of this, many people risk entering the Void Valley to collect it.
...
The next morning, Xu Zimo and his two companions left Bluesky City, heading for the Void Valley.
It lies at the border between the Skyluan Region and the Ninelands Region.
According to the Sword Immortal Jiang Yun, the Void Spirit Monkeys live in the Void Valley. They aren’t afraid of the Void Turbulence.
They are rare, and few people have ever seen them.
Since the God Emperor wanted to return to his homeland, his powers had just been restored and he had many things to do, Xu Zimo didn’t stop him.
So he and Paimon went together to the Void Valley.
The morning sun shone on Bluesky City’s walls as it always did, but the city was now abandoned.
Xu Zimo summoned the Darksky Tiger and slowly made his way toward the Void Valley.
One man. One tiger. A curved blade. An empty city.
“All living beings are like grass and trees. Only you are my green mountain,” Xu Zimo sighed softly.
...
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Continent, at the location of the Supreme Primal Sacred Ground...
The appearance of a young man completely disrupted the peace of this powerful place, an empire of two emperors, at the heart of the Eastern Continent.