Zhang Chen's consciousness pushed open the wooden door blocking his path. He saw sunlight again, but no brand-new road.
"This..."
Having gleaned a few clues from the final chapter of the lower volume of the Body Devouring Heart Sutra during his battle with Xing Shi, Zhang Chen had devoted all his consciousness to comprehending the forced Devouring Path once the battle ended. Yet when he pushed open the door leading to the final Devouring Path, there was no path before him at all.
Beyond the wooden door lay a bottomless abyss.
Traveling the Devouring Path was unlike the real world, where one could leap tens of millions of meters in a single bound. It was entirely a process of learning and deepening one's understanding, with no shortcuts to be found. Every step had to firmly plant one's foot upon the earth, establishing a solid foundation.
The abyss before him had no visible end, and he could not even see how far away the opposite shore was. Zhang Chen had no idea how he was supposed to cross it.
Yet upon seeing everything before him, and sensing the faint touch of death as he looked down into the abyss, Zhang Chen roughly understood what the final chapter concerned.
"Void of Death? But now isn't the time for me to abandon my life and explore the final Devouring Path."
Zhang Chen's true body, seated cross-legged within the Mount Fangcun world, gradually opened his eyes as his consciousness returned. The exhaustion and burden on his soul brought about by wearing the white mask and stimulating all his potential had completely vanished as his Devouring Path advanced further.
"I never expected the final chapter to be related to the Void of Death... What a pity. Now isn't the time. Everyone is still fighting bitterly.