210: Finally returned to the Great Zhou

Li Xingyan only felt the world spin, and the next second he fell heavily onto unfamiliar land.

All around him was an endless wasteland, with withered yellow wild grass trembling in the wind, distant mountain ranges with blurred outlines, and a sky of dull gray-blue.

He sat there blankly on the ground, his eyes empty, the scene of Fire Old's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering replaying in his mind, and the cackling laughter of the Soul Reaping Envoys and Fire Old's final roar still seemed to echo in his ears.

Time seemed to lose its meaning here.

After an unknown duration, the first ray of sunlight pierced through the gloom, stretching his silhouette long, yet he remained in the position he had fallen in, like a weathered stone statue.

Days and nights alternated, stars rotated, the wind on the wasteland changed from biting to gentle, then from gentle to biting; his clothes had long since become tattered from the wind and sun, and his skin was tanned dark and rough, but he never moved.

Until one day, the setting sun dyed the sky a brilliant golden-red, like the light of Fire Old burning his Divine Soul.

Li Xingyan's eyelashes suddenly trembled slightly, and a faint glimmer of light slowly appeared in his empty eyes.

He painstakingly turned his neck to look at the slowly setting sun, his lips moving as if to say something, but only a hoarse gasp escaped him.

After a long while, he finally used all his strength to prop himself up from the ground, little by little, until he stood.

His legs were long numb and stiff; as soon as he stood, he swayed unsteadily, as if he might fall again at any moment.

But he ultimately steadied himself, raised his head, and looked in the direction where the sun was setting. His eyes were no longer empty but held something complex—grief, confusion, and a hint of imperceptible determination.

He took a deep breath; although he only inhaled cold air with the scent of dust, it still brought a trace of vitality to his stiff body.

Then, he took a step, and then another, walking with a faltering gait towards the direction where the sun had disappeared.

His figure appeared particularly thin on the wasteland, yet exceptionally persistent.

As the last afterglow of the setting sun gradually dissipated, his figure slowly merged into the twilight in the distance, leaving only a string of varying footprints among the withered yellow wild grass, silently narrating an unfinished story... Meanwhile.

After a period of urgent travel day and night, Li Xiangyun finally returned to the Misty Swamp.

At this moment, a figure soared through the air above the Misty Swamp, his robes fluttering and stirring up sharp currents of Qi—it was Li Xiangyun, who had rushed back day and night.

He made no attempt to conceal his movements; his speed while flying through the air was extremely fast, and the fluctuations of spiritual Qi around him spread out like surging waves, appearing particularly "unbridled" in this swamp, which Yao Beasts had always considered their territory.

"Roar!"

A deafening roar suddenly erupted, and a giant crocodile, nearly ten zhang long and covered in black-green scales, lunged out of the mud in the depths of the swamp. Its blood-red maw revealed sharp fangs, and the Peak pressure of a fourth-grade Yao Beast pressed down like a tangible force on the figure in the air.

It was clearly enraged by the invading presence; its thick tail, with a sharp whistle that seemed to tear through space, fiercely struck towards Li Xiangyun.

Facing this sudden attack, Li Xiangyun's expression remained unchanged. With a flick of his right hand, a brilliant icy crystal light suddenly illuminated, and the Dao Artifact Sky Crystal Ice Dust Sword was already in his grasp.

The sword body exuded a chilling coldness, yet faintly revealed a strange fluctuation where stillness and vitality intertwined—it was the Yin-Yang Life-Death Sword Intent.

He did not even slow down, his wrist lightly twisted, and the long sword brought forth an arc of light that seemed ordinary but contained the ultimate principles of Dao.

There was no earth-shattering clang, only a crisp "thump."

That fourth-grade Peak giant crocodile, along with its tail capable of shattering boulders, was actually split in half by this one sword, and its massive head fell straight into the mud, its blood staining a large area of the murky water red.

A single sword strike to sever the head!

The power of this sword, seemingly understated, perfectly displayed the extremes of Yin and Yang Life and Death—vitality extinguished in an instant, deathly stillness pervading in a flash.

In the depths of the swamp, countless eyes hidden in the shadows instantly froze. Those Yao Beasts that had been stirring due to Li Xiangyun's presence now felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave; the attacking thoughts they had been brewing instantly vanished.

That giant crocodile was also a overlord in the Misty Swamp, yet it couldn't even withstand a single sword from the opponent. The deterrence brought by such strength was far more effective than any warning.

Immediately, Li Xiangyun collected the giant crocodile's corpse on the ground. The cold Qi on the Sky Crystal Ice Dust Sword flashed and disappeared, and his figure had already transformed into a brilliant sword light, continuing to speed towards the Li family's direction, leaving only a trail that cut through the mist and a dead silent swamp behind him.

On the gnarled branches of a thousand-year-old ancient banyan tree in the depths of the swamp, Bai Ze stood with his hands behind his back, his figure concealed by dense leaves.

When that astonishing sword strike fell just now, his fingers, which were pinching a chess piece, paused slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed across his handsome face.

He looked at the figure that had transformed into sword light and sped away, a look of understanding appearing in his eyes, and he softly sighed with emotion: "This Li family... is indeed full of talented individuals."

"It seems my Misty Swamp should befriend this Li family~"

Bai Ze's fingertips lightly twirled the chess piece, and his figure quietly disappeared into the mist, leaving only a faint, almost imperceptible sigh that dissipated in the swamp's wind.

As the sword light sped through the mist, an ominous premonition suddenly surged in Li Xiangyun's heart.

Just then, his brow suddenly twitched slightly, and a familiar yet faint aura, like a thread, entered his perception—it was Fire Old's spiritual Qi fluctuation, carrying his unique fiery heat, yet mixed with a trace of dimness on the verge of extinguishing.

Li Xiangyun's heart tightened, and he immediately changed direction, rushing towards that wisp of aura.

In just a few breaths, he arrived at an area of turbulent Qi, below which was the swamp where the great battle had taken place not long ago.

Scorched traces remained in the mud, and the air was filled with un-dissipated Nether Qi and the smell of charring from the flames, even the surrounding mist seemed somewhat distorted.

His gaze quickly swept across the battlefield, finally settling on an inconspicuous object in the mud—a dark red ring, its surface covered with scratches, which was the storage ring Li Xingyan habitually wore.

With a flicker of his figure, Li Xiangyun had landed beside the ring and bent down to pick it up.

The moment his fingertips touched the ring, a bone-chilling coldness and the unique deathly stillness of the abyss spread upwards from his fingertips, forming a stark contrast with the faint fire-attribute energy remaining on the ring, almost completely devouring that lingering warmth.

"The aura of the Nine Nether..." Li Xiangyun gripped the ring, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Fire Old's aura abruptly ceased here; all that remained was this ring and the lingering sinister Qi of the netherworld, coupled with that almost solidified sense of death... A terrifying thought formed in his mind: Fire Old had likely met with misfortune.

Indeed, could it not be avoided after all?