Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao-Chapter 1335 - 77: Encountering Old Friends

The Netherworld Heavenly Road, much like the heavenly road Zhou Yan once saw, is filled with dense Netherworld Power.

If there were any differences from the past, it lay in the fact that the Netherworld Power on this road was now more concentrated and purer.

And this familiar place had a different scenery.

The road was still the same, but the people on it were no longer those from the past.

Zhou Yan witnessed several summoned individuals by his side bleeding from their seven apertures, suddenly turning into ash and disappearing as Netherworld Power, vanishing unknowingly.

This scene indeed touched Zhou Yan; despite cultivating to this day and witnessing countless brutal realities, the summoned individuals this time were all prodigious talents rising in endless life, filled with great Qi Fortune, possessing extreme potential and immense opportunities.

Yet such lives, in Zhou Yan’s eyes, were still like ants, dying in large numbers constantly.

Even with a heart as hard as iron, even if being unfeeling and merciless, witnessing such a scene inevitably invokes a sense of shared sorrow.

Today he witnessed these summoned individuals dying, then someday, wouldn’t other summoned individuals witness him, Zhou Yan, or his relatives and friends dying?

This is a heavy thought; even if not deliberately thought about, it still gives rise to such feelings.

"Rumble—"

Beside him, Netherworld Power occasionally forms powers resembling Thunder, ravaging and roaring between Heaven and Earth.

The heavenly road beside Zhou Yan was smooth and silent.

Because after several breaths, most summoned individuals here have quietly vanished, disappeared without a trace, completely dissipated.

Among them, most of the summoned individuals wore peaceful smiles when dying, as if they had been immersed in a beautiful illusion world, unable to extricate themselves.

"Perhaps, dying unknowingly is better than living in pain. Departing like this, is fine."

Zhou Yan muttered to himself.

He thought about the encounters in the Elf Secret Realm, whether true or false, at least whether dead or alive, there was indeed no regret deep in Zhou Yan’s heart.

Some things fail because of excessive persistence, but in reality, things destined to be unachievable carry no hope; the so-called remote hope, aside from chance opportunities, is more often a latent arrangement.

Opportunities exist, but the world’s opportunities are not as plentiful as imagined, and coincidences are nearly infinitely close to zero probability.

Therefore, a hope appearing in a series of hopeless occurrences is indeed worth pondering.

Perhaps this is a pessimistic mindset, but it’s because Zhou Yan has seen through many truths that he can truly see himself, see everything clearly, thereby maintaining such a casual and tranquil mind.

And those deceased summoned individuals perhaps have also seen through too much; whether persisting or abandoning, they’ve already exerted enough effort, able to die with a clear conscience, hence dying with closed eyes.

With this contemplation, Zhou Yan’s sense of sorrow, his feeling of shared sorrow, faded, and ultimately he showed a serene smile, looking at the empty heavenly road, he said in his heart: "Taoists, fare well."

This cognitive realization made Zhou Yan much more relaxed, at this realm, beyond cultivation, it’s the constant change of mind.

The change of mind, the cognition, the deep sensations of Seven Emotions and Six Desires, is a key to stepping into a higher realm.

Nowadays Zhou Yan genuinely sees through, trivializes the life and death of summoned individuals around him, so he no longer feels any pressure.

If living, live boldly and passionately.

If dying, die peacefully and quietly.

Everything, Superior Water, Supreme Forget Love.

Zhou Yan continues forward, passing through Netherworld Thunder Power, stepping over Netherworld’s void darkness, traversing one floating Void Ancient Road after another, heading towards a slightly spacious ruin temple.

This ruined temple is situated in the center of a pitch-black ruined mountain range, but due to the mountain’s collapse, the temple resembles a protruding pebble on the remaining walls.

The mountain fractures, forming a miniature hill spanning several thousand meters; the ruined temple lies in the center.

The dense black aura surrounding the temple is profound, chilling winds occasionally blowing past, emitting mournful, lamenting sounds.

All the way, Zhou Yan could no longer see summoned individuals, yet he did not believe all those summoned individuals had died; so awakened summoned individuals most likely had already moved forward, just like Zhou Yan, also proceeding.

Zhou Yan analyzed while entering the temple.

To traverse this hill, there were no other routes—although it seemed like a flat hill, beneath them, the Netherworld road only passed through the temple.

Zhou Yan stepped into the temple, inside stood a damaged Ancient Bronze statue, its upper part missing, leaving only the broken lower part.

And that lower part resembled half a serpent’s body.

The moment Zhou Yan saw the statue, he almost thought of the lady with a human head and serpent body from Snow Peak, but this thought was dismissed instantly.

The temple seemed like an endpoint, a whole new starting point.

Upon exiting the temple, the Netherworld Heavenly Road broadened, forming a Netherworld ruins world.

Once leaving the temple, Zhou Yan walked on firm ground of the heavenly road, then turned back, but the temple was nowhere to be seen, all around was just like the ground on the hill, a piece of land.

The heavenly road seemingly was no longer just a heavenly road.

Zhou Yan pondered, stepping forward one step at a time. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The netherworld and thunder in the world, the violent aura remains unchanged, just as before. But as Zhou Yan moved forward, this time he sensed a familiar aura drifting in the void.

"Is this the aura of the Giant Bone Sky Demon?"

Zhou Yan sensed this aura, and his figure instinctively moved, appearing directly several kilometers away.

On a slightly elevated hill, Zhou Yan looked into the distance, his gaze suddenly tightening.

In the distant regions, also a land of ruins, but the gigantic, stable Giant Bone Sky Demon flickering with netherworld aura stood like a giant between heaven and earth, roaring and launching a destructive attack on the summoned ones in the distance.

The huge bone claw struck through the air, it was a storm of destruction, a thunderstorm of the netherworld, an irresistible and terrifying killing intent.

If the Giant Bone Sky Demon encountered outside the Blood River was just a manifestation of the Path of Incompletion, then the current Giant Bone Sky Demon is the truly complete Giant Bone Sky Demon, not only ferocious and powerful but also nearly immortal and indestructible, unable to be defeated.

Only then did Zhou Yan understand that the netherworld thunder in the world was, in fact, the angry roar of the Giant Bone Sky Demon!

Zhou Yan did not hesitate, nor did he intend to evade these Giant Bone Sky Demons, instead accelerating directly towards them.

Just as he drew near, Zhou Yan heard a familiar cold shout and a cry of surprise.

"Ancestor Dragon Slash!"

A sword light crossed the sky, carving traces of Dao rhyme, the netherworld power was utterly collapsing, the terrible killing intent directly inflicted heavy damage on a massive Giant Bone Sky Demon, the huge arm bone was instantly severed with a "puchi" sound.

"Uncle Gucheng, be careful!"

The cry rang out, a figure was nearly pierced through, as a lethal tooth from the Giant Bone Sky Demon shot toward his forehead.

"Shhh—"

A burst of Thunder Light flashed from the figure in black, and astonishingly, the figure split into two from the middle; the Giant Bone Sky Demon’s deadly strike missed!

"Ancestral Dragon Slaughter, Flame Nirvana."

At this moment, Zhou Yan moved, fiery wings appeared behind him, his figure stepped into the void, and the Xuanyuan Sword in his hand unleashed the immortal profound meaning of a Nirvana Slash Path.

"Puchi—"

The Giant Bone Sky Demon trembled all over and was instantly shattered by Zhou Yan’s sudden strike, killed in an instant.

However, after the Giant Bone Sky Demon shattered completely, endless netherworld particles coalesced together, finally forming a figure that Zhou Yan was extremely familiar with—Gongcheng Qingyang.

"Uncle Qingyang."

A sorrowful voice came, followed by a fragrant figure appearing beside the young man in white.

However, the young man in white opened his eyes, his pupils unfocused, but the expression of release on his face was particularly free, particularly sunny.

"Zhou... Zhou Yan, I’m sorry, and thank you... thank you."

At that moment, the young man in white spoke the words buried in his heart.

These words carried too many meanings and were filled with too much emotion.

Zhou Yan understood all of it.

"Go in peace."

Zhou Yan sighed softly, speaking in a gentle tone.

Gongcheng Qingyang smiled, finally breaking into pieces all over again, turning once more into netherworld particles, dispersing into the vast heaven and earth.

"Uncle—"

The beautiful and pleasant voice sounded, yet it carried an overwhelming sorrow that tore the heart apart.

"Saint Master—"

At this time, the black-robed young man who had been fiercely fighting earlier had regained his senses and, seeing Zhou Yan, shivered all over and immediately came to his side.

"Uncle—"

At this moment, another young man was moved, unable to hold back his tears, trembling as he approached Zhou Yan.

"Qing Wan, this is Uncle Zhou Yan."

This young man called out to Zhou Yan and then spoke to the beautiful woman in green beside him.

Only then did the woman notice Zhou Yan, her endless sorrow finally slightly receding, after which she unexpectedly knelt facing Zhou Yan.

"Uncle Zhou Yan."

Zhou Yan casually waved out an energy, the energy of life soul energy dispersing onto these three people, washing away all the fatigue from their bodies.

"Zhou Gucheng, Zhou Zheng, Qing Wan, I didn’t expect to meet you here. All these years, you’ve worked hard."

Zhou Yan was somewhat wistful and a bit melancholy.

He had long known that on the Netherworld Heavenly Road, he would encounter many familiar faces; after all, he understood very well who could walk to the end of this road.