The great battle thus concluded.
Spectators felt a sense of anticlimax.
"From now on, the Abyss belongs to the Emotion Lord. We must also pledge our loyalty to our new master."
"I heard the Emotion Lord is a bloodthirsty individual, having killed more than half of the creatures in the thirty thousand-plus layers of the Abyss."
"Don't worry, he doesn't kill his own people."
"Phew, that's good to hear."
...
The Abyss had been breached.
Henceforth, the ruler of the Abyss would be the Emotion Lord.
Although he had defeated the man with a fused avatar, the avatar was intrinsically part of the same entity.
At this moment, the Emotion Lord, along with the man, arrived outside the Blue Star.
When the man saw the Nine Rings, he exclaimed, "Did you guys create this Nine Rings?"
He had, of course, seen the Nine Rings of the past, which were much larger.
The current Nine Rings were too small, and he was confident he could destroy it.
Furthermore, this expanse of void was not large, incomparable to the great void of old.
"Yes, Lin Yu of the Blue Star is my eldest brother. He tasked my second brother with merging into the Blue Star and fusing numerous worlds, which slowly formed the Nine Rings."
"Some say the Blue Star might be connected to the lost Heavenly Realm. What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, the man chuckled, "How magnificent is the Heavenly Realm? Looking at the Blue Star, it's impossible for it to be the Heavenly Realm. Perhaps the Blue Star is just somewhat special."
Is that so?
The Emotion Lord did not press further.
The man had been in the Abyss for so long; he knew more about the state of this void than the Emotion Lord himself.
However, how could the Blue Star's ability to infinitely fuse worlds be explained?
"Accompany me to the Blue Star, let's have a cup of tea together."
"Alright!"
The two landed on the Blue Star and found a nice teahouse, enjoying tea leisurely.
As he sipped his tea, the man sighed, "Since that battle back then, it’s been countless years since I've had such a relaxing time."
The Emotion Lord seized the opportunity to ask, "May I know your name, fellow Daoist?"
"My name is Wu Jie. Because I awakened the ancient bloodline: Da Qi Wu, my form mutated. I was originally human, but after awakening the bloodline, I grew these horns." He pointed to a pair of horns on his head.
So that's why, no wonder his clansmen were human, yet he had horns.
The Emotion Lord smiled and said, "Have some tea!"
He poured a cup of tea for the other man.
"Good tea." He took a sip and set down his cup. "Ask whatever you wish. I will tell you all I know."
Hearing this, the Emotion Lord's spirits soared.
He smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, your understanding is truly appreciated. Should you ever need anything in the future, do not hesitate to ask, and I will help in any way I can."
"Then I shall eagerly await."
The Emotion Lord asked, "First question, what is the realm after Da Luo Golden Immortal?"
He actually had a name in mind and wanted to confirm it.
"Do you know the meaning of Da Luo, fellow Daoist?" Wu Jie asked.
The Emotion Lord replied, "Naturally. It means freedom and eternal immortality. At this realm, time leaves no trace on us, and we enjoy eternal life."
"Mm," Wu Jie nodded. "Then, after reaching Da Luo, what do we need to break through further?"
At the Da Luo realm, one could achieve eternal life.
However, they could still be killed.
What was the purpose of life's cultivation?
The Emotion Lord pondered, and suddenly a word came to his mind.
Invincibility!
He said, "Da Luo can enjoy eternal life, but one can still be killed. Could the realm after Da Luo be invincibility?"
If after Da Luo, one could not be killed, that would indeed align with the purpose of sentient beings' cultivation.
From a first-tier mortal body, becoming a god or immortal, although lifespan increased tens of thousands of times, it was only at Da Luo that one attained eternal life.
And after eternal life, one could still be killed.
Then, driven by instinct, further cultivation would be the pursuit of invincibility.
At least, that's what he believed.
He did not want to die.
Or rather, no one wanted to die!
The purpose of cultivation being to not be able to die also seemed to align with the goals of cultivation.
Wu Jie heard this and chuckled, "Hahaha, fellow Daoist, you are indeed intelligent. You are correct. Da Luo can shed the marks time carves on the tree of life, while the realm beyond Da Luo allows one's true spirit to be imprinted on the void. As long as the void exists, the being is immortal!"
Hiss!
The Emotion Lord gasped.
What a terrifying realm.
After all, what was the void?
It was the foundation of all existence. Deconstructing the void revealed lines of rules, the very basis of this world.
If the void ceased to exist, then this world would also cease to exist.
If everything ceased to exist, all beings would perish.
This would become a land of nothingness, no, a place even more void than nothingness.
In a void, there is no matter, but rules exist.
If the void were to vanish, to be destroyed, then even the rules would cease to exist, and all beings would lose their power.
Because the power they cultivated came from the rules of the void.
If the rules disappeared, then everything would naturally dissipate.
"Fellow Daoist, what is this realm called?"
Wu Jie's expression showed longing. "This realm has many names: Indestructible Realm, Immortal Realm, Void Realm, Ultimate Realm."
"Any of these names will do, but we commonly refer to it as the Hunyuan Realm!"
"Hunyuan Realm: the true spirit is entrusted to the void. As long as the void is intact, one can revive infinitely."
"I have pursued this realm for too many years, yet found nothing."
"This realm is too difficult. Even in the previous era, within the inner ring great worlds, there were only three Hunyuan Realm experts: the Heavenly Emperor, the King of Hell, and the Saint King."
He spoke with a look of longing.
After all, there were countless Da Luo experts, but only three Hunyuan Realm beings.
However, if these three Hunyuan Realm beings could die and come back to life, why was there a great war?
And where did those three Hunyuan Realm existences go?
They wouldn't die, but they hadn't appeared for so many years.
Were they sealed?
Or did they leave the void?
He had been to the Underworld. His permanent clone, the Heavenly Son of the Underworld, was in the Underworld. However, rumors in the Underworld said the King of Hell had been gone for a long time.
And the clone of the Heavenly Son of the Underworld, who possessed immense talent and cultivated at an astonishing speed, was considered by the Lord of the Underworld to have the potential to rule the Underworld.
This indicated that the King of Hell was not in the Underworld.
The Human Realm of the past had shattered into countless fragments, becoming individual worlds that merged into the boundless void, and the Saint King's whereabouts were unknown.
The Heavenly Realm had not even shown a trace.
Let alone the Heavenly Emperor, who had vanished without a trace, his whereabouts unknown.
The Emotion Lord pondered for a while and then asked, "Were you involved in that battle back then?"
"Of course. Looking at my tattered armor, you should know, shouldn't you?" He gestured to his armor.
"Could you briefly recount that battle, fellow Daoist?" he asked.
Wu Jie sighed.
"Back then, my entire clan was annihilated by a single finger. I didn't know who it was, but I remembered the aura. If I saw them again, I would surely recognize them!"
"Later, that finger tried to strike me down, but for some reason, perhaps due to the ongoing great battle, I narrowly escaped death."
"Afterward, the Heavenly Emperor summoned a vast army of powerful beings, and I led one of the armies to attack the invading outer ring demons."
"The outer ring is vastly larger than the Nine Rings. Even the Heavenly Emperor did not know its size. There are too many secrets there."
"In that battle, I fought valiantly, and in the end, I dragged a demon of the same cultivation level into the bottomless abyss. I killed it there!"
"Afterward, I fell into a deep slumber."
"When I awoke, the abyss where I slept had become the first layer. I never expected that during my slumber, the abyss would grow, from the first layer to over seven hundred layers. This was my first awakening."
"Until I met you, the abyss had grown to over thirty thousand layers."
So that's how it is!
The Emotion Lord's heart stirred. He sent his avatar to explore the Abyss.
If his guess was correct, this Abyss might be a treasure.
Could this be the legacy inherited by the Blue Star's void?
A treasure akin to a world, capable of absorbing negative emotions and growing on its own.