303: The Abyss Rift, a tragedy for heaven and earth

Inside the General's Mansion, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron.

As Meng Tian's words fell, the hall plunged into a dead silence. Only the howling cold wind of the Northern Plains outside the window whimpered, as if narrating a thousand years of sorrow.

Shen Yuanmo's gaze was still fixed on the enormous map.

His sight concentrated on the forbidden zone named "Eternal Night Frozen Earth," specifically on the shocking blood-red cross marked with cinnabar.

After a long while, he slowly spoke, his voice not loud, yet carrying an undeniable power.

“Take me to see it.”

“Lord Divine General, this...” Meng Tian’s face changed drastically, instinctively wanting to dissuade him.

“Around the Demon Abyss Fissure, the Devilish Qi is so dense it cannot be dispersed. If a Late Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator stays there for too long, their Divine Soul will be corroded, and their Dao foundation damaged! It’s too perilous!”

“No matter.”

Shen Yuanmo only replied with two concise words.

Seeing that Shen Yuanmo's will was set, Meng Tian knew further persuasion was useless. He could only sigh helplessly and nod.

“Since that is the case, this subordinate will take Lord to the tallest watchtower in the city.”

A moment later.

The two stood atop the thousand-zhang-tall watchtower in the center of Demon Suppressing City, a structure entirely cast from black profound iron.

The wind here was violent, the biting cold wind like invisible blades, stinging one's cheeks.

Meng Tian stretched out his hand, pointing to the distant northern sky. His voice was somewhat distorted by the wind, yet it conveyed an endless heaviness.

“Lord Divine General, please look.”

Shen Yuanmo followed the direction he pointed.

In the depths of his eyes, a sharp light flickered.

At the distant edge of the sky, the supposedly hazy sky was forcefully torn apart by a hideous wound!

It was a pitch-black fissure spanning the firmament, its length perhaps stretching for thousands of miles, or even further.

It lay across the sky, like a grinning demon's mouth.

Countless visible black Devilish Qi, thick as ink.

Was continuously emanating from that fissure, like twisted tentacles, dyeing the sky for tens of thousands of miles around with a despairing, faded color.

Even from such a distant remove, Shen Yuanmo could clearly feel it.

The chaotic and destructive aura emanating from that fissure, an aura that even the Heavenly Dao of this world loathed and rejected!

That place was the world's festering sore!

It was the ever-flowing poison, the scar upon Heaven and Earth!

“This... is the Demon Abyss Fissure, then...”

Shen Yuanmo murmured softly. Even with his steady Heart-Nature, considerable ripples were stirring in his heart at this moment.

Meng Tian, standing beside him, gazed at the fissure, his eyes interweaving with deep-seated dread and exhaustion.

He explained in a deep voice, “That's right. According to the Meng Family's ancient records, this fissure was left during the ancient era when two supreme existences, beyond this realm's imagination, clashed here and accidentally pierced through the world barrier.”

“One of them seemed to be an ancient Human Race sage.”

“And the other...” Meng Tian's voice dropped considerably, “was a terrifying entity from the other side of the fissure.”

“The opposite side of the fissure connects to an entirely unknown Otherworld (other-dimensional space), filled with destruction and chaos. We call it the 'Ancient Demon Realm,' and the beings there are... Ancient Demons.”

“For thousands of years, my Meng Family has guarded this place for generations, precisely to prevent Ancient Demons from invading our Chiming Realm through this fissure.”

A bitterly extreme smile appeared on Meng Tian's face.

“Normally, the fissure is relatively stable, mostly seeping out low-level demonic creatures, which can be handled by the Great Demon Suppressing Array.”

“But, every hundred years, this fissure enters an active period, which we call the Demon Tide. At that time, the fissure will expand violently, the Devilish Qi concentration will skyrocket, and even powerful Ancient Demons comparable to the Soul Transformation Realm will attempt to force their way through!”

“Every Demon Tide is a bloody battle, a catastrophe for my Demon Suppressing City! Countless ancestors of my Meng Family have perished in the Demon Tides.”

At this point, Meng Tian's eyes dimmed.

“According to calculations, the next centennial Demon Tide is just a few months away. This is why this subordinate has repeatedly sought aid from the imperial court, regardless of the cost.”

“This Demon Tide's scale and intensity will likely far exceed any before! Relying solely on Demon Suppressing City, I fear... the odds are grim.”

Listening to Meng Tian's narration, Shen Yuanmo's gaze, however, never left the pitch-black fissure spanning the sky.

In his eyes, a brilliant golden light, imperceptible to ordinary people, quietly lit up.

The Delusion-Breaking Dharma Eye, operating at full power!

Instantly, the world in his eyes was stripped of its superficiality.

That pitch-black fissure revealed an even more terrifying essence in his vision.

It was not merely a spatial rift, but a poisonous barb deeply rooted in the Origin of the Chiming Realm's world!

The emanating Devilish Qi was slowly but irreversibly eroding and assimilating the surrounding world Laws.

The originally stable spatial structure became fragile under the Devilish Qi's erosion.

The originally orderly Five Elements spiritual energy became chaotic and violent under the Devilish Qi's pollution.

Even the flow of time in that area became distorted and blurred!

This fissure was eroding this world!

Shen Yuanmo's mind suddenly became clear.

If this fissure wasn't resolved from its root, even if they could withstand one Demon Tide after another, it would ultimately be treating the symptoms, not the cause.

Once this fissure completely assimilated the Laws of the entire Northern Plains.

It would completely tear open the world barrier of the Chiming Realm, thoroughly connecting the so-called Ancient Demon Realm with this world!

In an instant, Shen Yuanmo had made his decision.

He turned his head to look at the worried Meng Tian beside him, and calmly said.

“General Meng, I plan to proactively enter the fissure before the Demon Tide arrives, to investigate it thoroughly.”

“What?!”

Meng Tian was struck by lightning, completely stunned. He widened his eyes, almost thinking he had misheard.

“Lord Divine General! You... what did you say?!”

When he saw Shen Yuanmo's calm, unwavering, and utterly serious gaze, he finally confirmed that the other party was not joking!

Meng Tian's face instantly turned pale, and he immediately cried out in a hoarse voice to dissuade him.

“Lord Divine General! You absolutely must not!”

“Inside that fissure, the Devilish Qi is tens of thousands of times denser than outside! Even a Spirit Transformation True Monarch's Dao body wouldn't last for an incense stick's time before being completely demonized!”

“Moreover, the Laws within are chaotic, space is distorted, and Divine Sense is like being stuck in a quagmire. Entering is a dead end! It's simply a place of certain death with no hope of survival!”

“For thousands of years, there haven't been any Soul Transformation ancestors who tried to enter it to find a solution, but without exception, they all perished, not even a single bone was returned!”

Meng Tian's voice was hoarse from excitement, almost shouting, trying to dispel Shen Yuanmo's utterly insane idea.

However, Shen Yuanmo merely looked at him calmly, his gaze unwavering.

What others saw as certain death might not be so for him.

His Chaos Myriad Dao Returning Origin Scripture embraced all rivers and refined all things; mere Devilish Qi was just another form of energy.

He countered Meng Tian, “If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch its cub?”

“General Meng, guard this city well.”

“Wait for my return.”

His words had not yet faded.

Before Meng Tian could utter another word.

Shen Yuanmo's figure had transformed into a brilliant streak of light tearing through the sky, soaring upwards!

Charging fearlessly towards the Demon Abyss Fissure, which represented death and despair!

“Lord Divine General—!!!”

Atop the thousand-zhang watchtower, only Meng Tian's horrified roar remained, torn to shreds by the furious cold wind.