On the way to Gui Ming Palace, Ash and Death Mad remained silent, as if their earlier harmony was just a masquerade ball’s performance; now that the masks were off, they naturally returned to their own positions.

They were observers and victims, conspirators and pawns, future hearts and past bodies; perhaps even a king and his steed.

Ash didn’t know why he wanted to establish a good relationship with Death Mad. Perhaps it was because Death Mad cared about Sonia, and as Sonia’s fan boyfriend, shared interests can close distances invisibly; or perhaps it was because when he, like a piece of floating debris, stepped into Shattered Lake Prison, it was Death Mad who appeared before him, like a blazing sun dispelling his confusion and loneliness.

So even though Death Mad told him "We will replace you," Ash believed there was still room for negotiation, and they might still coexist. It wasn’t arrogance, but because besides seeing Death Mad’s blatant malice, he could also sense that faint kindness.

Until now, Ash believed that Death Mad genuinely cared about Sonia. Although it could also be explained by the theory that "Death Mad just wants her future vessel to develop well," he didn’t like to think that way... In this world, there is always love without reason, and sudden encounters.

But precisely because her kindness was unreserved, her malice was also unrestrained.

Because she hated Vishi, and because "Silent Rain" suited Vishi, she destroyed this Wonder, completely disregarding how much this Wonder benefited Ash and the others, as if waiting to appreciate Ash’s fury to please her spiteful heart.

Only then did Ash realize that although Death Mad seemed communicative, she was actually the same kind of person as the Youmo. Not in terms of moral standards, but they were all ’solipsists’.

They walked against the flow of time, witnessing countless worlds perish, laying to rest countless glorious civilizations in the endless wanderings that had no end in sight. Life, to them, was like bubbles in the ocean, destined to vanish without them doing anything... All the beauties in the world would eventually disappear with the smoke and rain. The only thing they could hold onto was themselves.

Sounds a lot like Vishi... Perhaps it’s not that everyone becomes like this if they live long enough, but only by being like this can they live long. For these people, the only justice they believe in is their own will; to follow their will, they dare to trample all the laws of the world.

The desire of love is to live, the desire of evil is to die.

Now, even the Sword Maiden shows signs of this, but even the most self-centered Silver Lamp is still troubled by the countless Senluo beings that died because of her. Although Vishi is an incurable solipsist, at least Ash can hold chains to restrain her actions, and inject emotions to color her soul, like a prison keeping Vishi confined in his embrace. He knew he would never be able to reshape Vishi’s moral compass in his lifetime, but at least Vishi started to care about his views.

He would become Vishi’s second chain.

Even so, Vishi would occasionally utter remarks that challenged his bottom line. Ash didn’t know if she was speaking carelessly or testing him, but whenever she did, Ash would immediately punish her harshly. Initially, the educational effect was good; Vishi was consciously cautious with her words, but recently she became unrestrained again, actively provoking Ash with the air of a Ghost Prophet, only to plead pitifully after being punished—a unique form of interaction seemed to develop between them.

But Death Mad had no such chains; she was an unrestrained Demon King, doing whatever she wanted. Ash didn’t want to waste precious Hell time, so he chose to remain silent.

Because if he continued to communicate with Death Mad, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t draw his sword and battle her to the end. Sometimes it’s like that; friends in a different time and place, enemies that never rest.

"We’ve arrived," Death Mad suddenly said.

A faint light appeared ahead in the deep sea. Ash thought it was the light source inside Gui Ming Palace, but as he rushed through, with a splash, he broke through the water surface, with moist air hitting his face.

He raised his head, his vision unobstructed as he looked through the 6,000-meter-deep sea hole above, clearly seeing the inverted heavenly curtain of the external world. It was as if they had arrived at the bottom of a 6,000-meter-deep abyss, but the abyss was not within lofty mountains but in the depths of millions of tons of seawater, the walls formed by waterfalls of black seawater... Ash landed on the ground, cautiously treading on the wet and soft sea mud, as if fearing to awaken the standing sea around him.

This was the only island in the Dead Blue Hell... if it could still be called an island without being above the sea surface.

"Gui Ming Palace is finished," Death Mad said calmly.

Ash looked up, seeing the palace built on the trench ahead—not so much a palace as a gigantic fortress—reduced to ruins, more dilapidated than any palace he had seen along the way.

Death Mad had mentioned Gui Ming Palace’s core Defense Wonder, "Gui Ming Sea Current," which integrated the defense barrier with the sea, claiming that as long as the Dead Blue Hell wasn’t exhausted, it couldn’t be breached. But now it seemed, there was no need to evaporate the sea; merely isolating Gui Ming Palace from contact with sea water was sufficient to dismantle it—compared to evaporating the ocean, creating an island in the 6,000-meter-deep sea was indeed much simpler.

"Merely isolating Gui Ming Palace from sea water has no significance, because Gui Ming Palace could still connect to sea water from the seabed, yet it was still dismantled." Death Mad said calmly, pointing to the thick vines in the sea mud: "The colossal Wonder of vegetation hollowed out Gui Ming Palace from below; whether soaring to the sky or delving underground, the ’Gui Ming Sea Current’ completely severed its connection with the sea."