The matter came to a close for the time being.
Having recognized his true heart, Su Changsheng immersed himself in cultivation, unable to pull himself away.
Although Heaven's Rift outside was growing ever worse, and survival in the Heavenly River's outer regions was becoming increasingly difficult, thanks to his protection and the Purification Power of the Heavenly River Water, there were no major problems as long as one did not descend to the land or interact with the Black Sea.
As for lifespan, however, the Black Sea's power had already begun drawing away the lives of ordinary members of the Demon Race. Even beings above Great Yao were beginning to lose their remaining years, while those at Su Changsheng's level were losing lifespan more than three times as fast as before.
Fortunately, as Ice Heaven, the second of the Thirty-Three Heavens, became more complete, and as he embedded his own rule mythology into Everlasting Heaven, his various measures, including drawing upon the rules of heaven and earth to protect himself, kept his rate of lifespan loss essentially stable.
At around five times the normal rate.
In other words, with his current lifespan of nearly two thousand years, he could still live for roughly four hundred years if he simply remained in seclusion within his own kingdom.
But that was merely the most ideal theoretical state, and it was essentially impossible.
First, Heaven's Rift would grow increasingly severe. As the world gradually approached death, it would inevitably draw on the vitality of all living things through the Black Sea even more frantically. Second, he could not remain within his Yao Emperor Kingdom forever, never fight, or never set foot on land.
Thus, even four hundred years of life was far too short, with no room for squandering.
Perhaps this was also