Heavenly Jade Saintess

The Demon Ape had a pair of glossy black horns growing from its head, thick and savage. Though it was not especially large, its imposing presence surpassed even that of the Golden-Winged Roc Bird. Its black fur burned like demonic flames. With a spread of its wings, it shot into the sky, unleashing boundless ferocity across the heavens like a hurricane sweeping through. It sent sand and stones flying through the primeval forest below, snapping trees in a scene of utter devastation.

This fellow could actually be considered a Primordial Species descended from the Long-Armed Demon Ape lineage.

The next moment, the Demon Ape and the Golden-Winged Roc Bird met like bitter enemies, their eyes blazing red as they crashed straight into each other.

Rumble—

The depths of the entire primeval forest shook violently. Mountains crumbled, the earth split apart, and ancient trees turned to ash as black demonic winds and golden divine winds collided fiercely.

In only a short while, the entire primordial mountain range was filled with flying sand, rolling stones, and signs of demon beasts battling. Fortunately, the old forest was vast enough. Even after such devastation, once the rain passed and the sky cleared, new grass and trees would grow from the earth.

Jiang Ming had already returned to Madman's side. In a show of sincerity, he had restored his original appearance and stood with the old man atop a mountain peak, gazing from afar at the Desolate Forbidden Land. The most conspicuous sight there was its nine sacred mountains.

As Madman silently grieved, Jiang Ming could not help recalling the events of his previous life—the more than one hundred elite disciples of Shushan.

After that battle, every junior brother and junior sister who had entered the Demon-Locking Tower had died by Jiang Ming's hand.

Every sect relied upon its elite true disciples as its foundation. Those disciples were young and accomplished, the pillars of Shushan. Now that they had all been wiped out, more than half of Shushan's foundation had been destroyed in an instant.

"Awooooo—"

Memories from Jiang Ming's previous life surged wildly. Already in a state of demonic madness, he let out hoarse howls and wept bitterly. His cries boomed like thunder. Had Dao Patterns not spread beneath Madman's feet, this entire mountain peak would have been shaken apart.

"It was all my fault. I'm a beast—disloyal, unfilial, cruel, unjust, good for nothing. An eternal regret."

Jiang Ming wept toward the sky, tears and mucus streaming down his face. "What is the Dao? What is Heaven? How can I let go? Can the dead come back to life? Can time flow backward? Can everything begin again?"

"Can everything begin again?" Madman also began wailing loudly. He grinned foolishly as he shook his head, overcome with grief.

Throughout the entire process, not even Primordial Species dared approach the two of them.

Madman was a regular here. Many Primordial Species in the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, even those at the level of Half-Step Great Ability and above, recognized him. Every so often, the old man would come here and stare at the Desolate Forbidden Land as he wept bitterly.

There had once been powerful members of the Primordial Species who provoked him, only to be shaken to death by his cries and reduced directly to dust. It was terrifying beyond measure.

After repeated bloody lessons, with even Great Ability-level Primordial Species having perished, no Primordial Species dared provoke this deranged human again.

Today, that mad old man had not only come to cry by himself—he had also brought along a newcomer. This fellow did not look like a good person at all. Demonic energy surged around him, baleful aura pierced the heavens, demonic clouds rolled around him, and his vicious aura terrified the beasts. It was as though he might draw his sword and massacre all living things at any moment.

And so, the two of them cried for most of the day. Madman finally stopped crying. Every time he came here, his madness would fade for a brief while. In a daze, he turned to look at Jiang Ming. If not for his lingering memories, he would have nearly slapped Jiang Ming to death upon seeing him like this.

Jiang Ming clearly looked only around twenty-two years old, yet his eyes held endless vicissitudes. They had endured countless hardships and were filled with wild sorrow and despair. A sword mark like a demon lay between his brows. He clearly possessed the Dao Embryo talent of Sword Heart Illumination, yet he was trapped by his own inner demon, unable to free himself.

Then Madman looked at the scene around him: Jiang Ming's demonic energy towered into the sky, demonic clouds rolled as he wailed, and baleful aura shot upward. Madman found it extraordinarily troublesome. Something was seriously wrong with this fellow. Slapping him to death would be a minor matter; releasing the demonic soul imprisoned within his flesh would be the real problem. By then, he might truly unleash a great demon.

"Enough, stop crying. The dead are gone, while the living must carry on. My condolences."

Madman had never imagined that one day, he would speak such words to comfort someone else.

But at that moment, a white figure suddenly flew out from the center of the nine sacred mountains in the distant Desolate Forbidden Land. She drifted down onto the summit of a sacred mountain closest to their direction.

The woman wore a flowing white dress and moved as gracefully as if dancing. Her long skirt fluttered in the wind, as though she might ride the breeze away at any moment to stand alone in the moon palace above, cold and peerless. She was a beauty beyond compare, capable of toppling kingdoms and cities.

"Nü Yuan?"

Jiang Ming had cried himself into a daze, his heart torn apart as he beat his chest and stamped his feet, his demonic hair flying wildly. The instant that woman appeared, the face of his confidante from his previous life surfaced in his mind.

Her eyes were as clear as autumn waters, her glance enchanting. Her teeth were like white jade, her smile sweet and lovely. Her neck was as elegant as a swan's; she was delicate as a lotus rising from water, pure as a chrysanthemum in late autumn, and lovely as a peach blossom in early spring. Standing at the cliff's edge, she would fall into the boundless Huang Abyss if she took even half a step farther.

"Watch out, Yuan'er! Don't fall!"

Jiang Ming shouted and was about to rush toward the Desolate Forbidden Land.

"Bullshit! She only looks a little like Nü Yuan. She's not even one-tenth as beautiful as our Nü Yuan. Don't act rashly. That's the Desolate Forbidden Land—it'll kill you. We've cried enough. It's time to leave."

A battle raged in Jiang Ming's Sea of Consciousness, and his main consciousness was on the verge of collapse.

He had not expected the Heavenly Jade Saintess to look exactly like Nü Yuan, with even an almost identical temperament.

"That's right, brother. You mustn't act impulsively. You can't enter the Desolate Forbidden Land."

The consciousness of Jiang Ming in this lifetime hurriedly reminded him as well.

As for the outside world—

Madman hurriedly grabbed Jiang Ming's arm. "The Desolate Forbidden Land leaves nothing behind of those who enter but a handful of ash. What are you trying to do? Who is Nü Yuan?"

Naturally, Madman recognized that woman too, and tears had long since begun pouring down his face. She had once been the Heavenly Jade Saintess, the only saintess. Their Heavenly Jade Holy Land had only the Three Heroes of Tianxuan, not a Heavenly Jade Holy Son, because many geniuses had competed for the position of holy son, including Madman and his junior brother Wei Yi.

But what did that have to do with this brat? Even if anyone should be emotional, it ought to be Madman himself. What the hell did it have to do with Jiang Ming?

Considering this brat had accompanied him through one crying session—no, two crying sessions—they were both pitiful people beneath heaven and earth, so neither should make things difficult for the other.

"Wake up. This is no longer your original world. Look at that woman. Though she is so beautiful that it is hard to find even the slightest flaw in her—

"she came from the Desolate Forbidden Land. That kind of beauty simply isn't real, dreamlike and illusory. Everything about her is fake. A beautiful woman is but a skeleton beneath the skin. She is a mirage, luring people into the Desolate Forbidden Land, where all vitality is stripped away and their life source devoured until they become dust and vanish into nothingness. Then we will never return to the Immortal Sword World to see Nü Yuan and Wan'er again.

"Think of our Yuan'er's eyes, so full of heaven and earth's spiritual wisdom. Think of her transcendent, unworldly temperament. Then think of the pleasure of holding her jade-like, icy skin—warm in winter and cool in summer. Are you really going to fall for someone else?"

Jiang Ming exhausted every effort. His silver tongue practically sparked with flames before he finally managed to persuade himself.

The art of self-consolation.

This was no good place. It was time to run. Why had the Heavenly Jade Saintess suddenly appeared? The Marriage Red Thread had been tied by the system, not by Jiang Ming. He would never run into the Desolate Forbidden Land to take responsibility. Not a chance. They were fated to meet but not to be together. They would never meet again.