Quiet.
A deathly silence.
On the Soul-Weeping Island, the newly forged seal, like a three-colored glazed tile, slowly rotated in mid-air. The pure white of Order, the emerald green of life, and the deep blue of Grief intertwined with each other, forming a delicate yet solid balance, suppressing the terrifying will that was stirring in the abyss beneath the earth once again.
Not far away, the purple Soul-Weaving Cocoon shone with a restrained radiance, no longer exuding any demonic energy. Instead, it emanated an increasingly powerful and pure life force, as if it were nurturing a deity about to be reborn from the ashes.
Everything seemed to have returned to calm.
However, for Xiao Han, beneath this calm lay purgatory.
"Well..."
A muffled groan, suppressed to the extreme, escaped from his throat. His right arm, the section corroded by the power of Asura to a charred skeleton, was throbbing with excruciating pain. It wasn't just pain; it felt as if some strange force was greedily gnawing at his life essence through his bone marrow, attempting to completely rewrite him from the inside out.
Just as his consciousness was about to collapse, a figure appeared silently in front of him.
It wasn't teleportation, nor was it walking.
The figure seemed to have seeped out from the cracks in the laws of this world. The surrounding black mist quietly dissipated, revealing no longer a skeletal skeleton, but a humanoid body constructed from pure, dark, and constantly flowing law runes. He stood there like a black hole that devoured everything, from which even light could not escape, and the pressure he exuded was hundreds or thousands of times stronger than before.
He is Ferryman.
Or rather, it's something that has shed its disguise...
Congratulations, passerby.
His voice was no longer the hollow sound of bones grinding together, but a resonance containing the sounds of the Great Dao, resounding directly in the depths of Xiao Han's soul, carrying a hint of condescending admiration.
"Not only were you not consumed by the Asura Will, but you also used yourself as a furnace to fuse three completely different powers, creating a 'key' even more perfect than I had envisioned." His dark body leaned forward slightly, as if admiring a masterpiece. "I have waited here for endless years, and you are the only one who has passed the final test."
Xiao Han struggled to raise his head, his golden Void-Piercing Divine Eyes fixed on the other person, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth. "What... exactly are you?"
"Me?" The being of law chuckled softly, a sound filled with ancient vicissitudes and mockery. "I am not a guide, but its 'jailer.' Bound by an ancient contract, I stand guard here."
He extended a finger made of laws, pointing it towards the abyss beneath the earth, and casually revealed a shocking secret.
"My mission is not to guard it forever, but to find a 'new master' who can bear it, control it, and ultimately release it."
The jailer's voice suddenly became fanatical and booming. "Godslaying, then establish new ones! This is my true mission!"
He confirmed Xiao Han's most terrifying guess. "You guessed right. The energy source of the Firmament Sacred Domain of the Divine Court is the 'Yang Heart' of the Asura Ancestor. And what is sealed here is the 'Yin Heart' containing the Ancestor's purest and most violent will! The two hearts share the same origin, originally one, calling to each other across endless time and space, waiting for the day they will reunite!"
Xiao Han's heart sank into an abyss.
"Now is the time for you to collect your reward." The jailer's voice was full of temptation. "Abandon your futile resistance and let me guide this 'Yin Heart' to perfectly merge with your [Eternal Night Emperor Body]. At that time, you will become the new Lord of Asura, possessing supreme power enough to challenge Pseudo-God, and even replace them."
"In return, I will personally ensure that your two companions recover in their most perfect condition. The power they gain will far surpass that of Martial Venerable, making them your most powerful divine generals."
The Grieving Goddess's warning echoed in my ears—"Beware the Ferryman..."
Xiao Han laughed, though the pain aggravated his wounds and nearly made him faint, his laughter was filled with endless coldness and contempt.
"Make me... a world-destroying demon more terrifying than Pseudo-God? A puppet controlled by power?" He stared at the jailer, his eyes filled with a murderous intent that seemed to freeze even the laws of nature. "Get out!"
"Heh, naive passerby." The jailer was unfazed by his anger, instead shaking his head with a hint of pity in his voice. "Do you think you still have a choice?"
"When you forcibly reforged that three-colored seal with your own soul imprint, you had already made your choice."
"You have become the one and only vessel chosen by 'Yin Heart'!"
Before he could finish speaking, the jailer's mind stirred slightly.
"Click... click..."
A sickening cracking sound rang out, originating from Xiao Han's charred right arm!
He looked down in horror, only to see that the stark white bones were beginning to "repair" themselves. But what grew was not flesh and blood, but a dark red crystal that shimmered with an eerie light! On the surface of the crystal, strange demonic patterns of the same origin as the Yin Heart of the earth rapidly spread and lit up, emitting a terrifying aura that could make even the stars tremble.
He is being forcibly assimilated!
"Buzz--!"
The Soul-Weaving Cocoon in mid-air sensed the erosion of this power and, as if under great threat, began to tremble violently. The three-colored seal, which had just stabilized, also began to flicker erratically and became extremely unstable.
"Submit, or be destroyed."
The jailer issued his final ultimatum, his voice icy and devoid of any emotion.
"By submitting and merging, you will gain everything you desire: revenge, protection, and even domination. You will be the new god."
"If you continue to resist, your soul will be utterly crushed by the Asura Will, and this perfect imperial body will become a mindless walking corpse that knows only slaughter. And your companions, and this fragile seal, will all be buried with you for your foolish persistence."
The shadow of death has never felt so real.
Just as Xiao Han's will was about to be overwhelmed by the immense power of Asura, a weak and desperate thought from the depths of his consciousness suddenly let out a sharp cry of alarm!
It's Mei'er!
"No! Xiao Han, I remember now!" Her voice was filled with the ecstasy and urgency of uncovering a shocking secret. "From the deepest fragments of the queen's remnant soul's memories, I saw... I saw... This seal has more than three layers! There's also an 'ultimate insurance'! A secret from the ancient times that even this jailer doesn't know about!"
"It's right there... right beneath this Soul Spring!"
This message, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the darkness, instantly struck Xiao Han's consciousness, which was on the verge of collapse!
"A stubborn resistance."
The jailer seemed to sense something and snorted coldly. The crystallization on Xiao Han's arm suddenly accelerated, spreading rapidly along his shoulder towards his heart!
The excruciating pain and the roar of the Asura Will, like billions of steel needles, frantically assaulted his sea of consciousness.
"Ahhh--!"
Xiao Han let out a roar that sounded inhuman. He forcibly squeezed out the last bit of his divine soul power, ignoring the two lines of bloody tears streaming from his eyes, and pushed the [Void-Piercing Divine Eyes] to an unprecedented extreme!