Ye Ling stood in the darkness, fumbling around, trying to find a way out of this space.
"This place is so dark, how did I end up here? Why do I always feel like I'm missing so many things?"
Ye Ling walked in the darkness, completely unaware that his body had turned entirely ash-white.
Gradually, Ye Ling's body shifted from ash-white to semi-transparent, and his eyes began to lose their luster. Yet, he paid no attention to what was happening to him, his heart devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"Am I, about to die?"
Ye Ling watched his disappearing hand, his heart utterly calm, and said, "It's fine. After being trapped in this cursed place, I had no hope of survival anyway. It's good to just disappear like this."
"After all, my family is already gone, and I can't achieve revenge on my own. Rather than living a pathetic life, it's better to die like this and reunite with my family."
In this world of darkness, Ye Ling gradually forgot everything about himself, yet he was completely oblivious to the changes happening to his body.
The current Ye Ling had returned to his teenage years, when he was driven to desperation by the Li family father and daughter.
At that time, Ye Ling had lost all hope and jumped into the lake to end his life. If it weren't for a chance encounter that allowed Ye Ling to transmigrate to the East Xuan Continent and find new hope, Ye Ling might have long since become a corpse at the bottom of West Lake.
Gradually, Ye Ling gave up struggling and sat down on the ground. He calmly watched himself disappear and continued to mutter, "It's fine to disappear like this. Life is inherently impermanent. To be freed sooner means not having to endure more suffering."
In truth, Ye Ling felt something was subtly wrong at this moment, sensing that he was losing more and more, and that he was slowly approaching the end of his life.
But at this moment, Ye Ling could no longer muster any emotion of resistance or struggle. He didn't even want to move, only wishing for it to end.
This is the terrifying aspect of the "Heart."
The Heart of Annihilation not only reduces everything to oblivion but, more importantly, it causes everyone affected by it to lose their hearts.
At this moment, Ye Ling had already lost the ability to empathize. He was emotionless and indifferent to life.
Although Ye Ling could still think, he had no motivation to change his current situation.
The current Ye Ling watched himself slowly walk towards death, as if he were a bystander, completely unconcerned with his own life or death.
In the darkness, Ye Ling's body became increasingly ethereal. His body below the neck had almost vanished, and his head gradually turned transparent.
Yet, Ye Ling still made no move. He simply lay on the barren ground, gazing at the surrounding darkness, wanting to merge with it.
Finally...
Ye Ling forgot his name. He forgot who he was and why he was alive.
He lay on the ground, like a lifeless stone, quietly enjoying the deathly stillness brought by the darkness, unmoving.
Everything seemed to be heading towards an end.
Everything seemed to be heading towards a new cycle.
However, just as Ye Ling was on the verge of death, all the scenes of his life suddenly flashed before his eyes.
From Earth to the East Xuan Continent, from building himself up to Emperor on the East Xuan Continent, then returning to Earth, getting caught in a series of storms, until becoming the Primordial Chaos Master, and arriving at the Primordial Realm...
Ye Ling looked at the magnificent life he had experienced, yet his eyes remained devoid of any fluctuation.
For Ye Ling, who had lost his heart, it was like watching a novel, like seeing a phantom life.
"Uninteresting."
Ye Ling gave his life a final evaluation, then closed his eyes, awaiting the end.
"Who says my life is uninteresting? Isn't it at its most exciting moment?"
At this moment, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice echoed in Ye Ling's ears. Ye Ling, who was about to completely vanish, regained some semblance of form.
Ye Ling opened his eyes and sat up, only to see a person identical to him standing before him.
"Who are you?" Ye Ling asked, looking at the person in front of him, but his eyes still showed no emotion.
Seeing Ye Ling's current state, the person shook his head and sighed, "Another me, how could you have fallen to this point? I'm still striving in the void, how can you just lie down here and prepare to welcome death? This isn't like you."
"You are, another me? Why are you here?" Ye Ling asked again, but neither his voice, tone, nor his eyes showed any fluctuation, as if he were a robot.
The inner demon patted its head and said helplessly, "How dare you ask me why I'm here? You are the main body, and I am merely your inner demon. If I die, you'll be fine, but if you die, I'll die with you."
Ye Ling replied, "That's not fair."
Inner demon: "Of course, it's not fair. That's why I've always wanted to devour you, to replace you and walk your path."
Ye Ling: "Then you can do it now. I have no ability to resist."
"You're truly beyond saving," the inner demon sighed heavily. "The methods of the 'Heart' are truly terrifying. To be able to turn you into this state, was your heart taken by the 'Heart'?"
"I would love to devour you, but I'm not in the void right now. It's only because you are about to die that my consciousness has connected with you. All I can do now is chat with you and then wait for death with you."
"Of course, if you have a change of heart and want to struggle, we might survive. In fact, with your abilities, it's not difficult to break free from the influence of the 'Heart'."
Ye Ling: "But why should I struggle? It's meaningless."
Inner demon: "Don't you want to think about Ye You? Or Su Ruoxue? Tian Xing? Bai Lan? You have many people you care about in your life, right? Before you die, you should consider them."
Ye Ling shook his head, "But I don't know the people you mentioned, I don't even recognize you... My dream now is to become a stone and stop thinking completely."
"If you hadn't come to disturb me, I would have already achieved my dream."
"To be, completely, a stone." The inner demon's mouth twitched, then it asked Ye Ling, "Besides becoming a stone, what else do you want?"
"Actually, rotting here would be fine too," Ye Ling replied again. "Or perhaps returning to nothingness completely."
Hearing Ye Ling's terrifying words, the inner demon couldn't help but say, "Brother, don't joke around. I've just had a great opportunity and am about to break through. If you drag me down, all my previous efforts will be in vain."
"When you were dealing with the watchers in the Primordial Chaos, the dangers I experienced were no less than yours."
Ye Ling: "I'm sorry..."
Inner demon: "If you truly feel sorry for me, then struggle a little. How about we try again, and make an effort to live?"
Ye Ling's eyes became even more confused, then he said, "What is struggling... What... is living?"
"You..."
Seeing Ye Ling become even more confused, the inner demon immediately pointed to its chest and said to Ye Ling, "First, dig open your chest, and I'll tell you!"