In the Western Region the Layered Realm Void, the warmth and peace of the Shade-Guarding Clan are completely different. The world is shrouded in gray-black mist all year round, and the mountains are like ancient ferocious beasts crawling in the darkness. Countless dark Crisscrossing Rifts, and the ground is covered with dark red patterns, as if the entire land has been repeatedly soaked in blood.
Deep within the Western Region, a massive cave, almost seamlessly integrated with the entire mountainside, lies hidden in silence.
Dark gray mist billowed out of the cave entrance, and wisps of malevolent thoughts transformed into distorted human faces, emitting silent roars at the cave entrance before disappearing back into the darkness.
Deep within the cave, an altar composed of countless white skeletons floats silently. In the center of the altar, a short and eerie figure sits cross-legged. It is the last one to escape—Desire. At this moment, it no longer has the aged appearance it had when it disguised itself as the Blazing Erosion Clan chief.
Now, it resembles a monster forcibly pieced together from countless evil thoughts. Its body is no bigger than a child's, but its limbs are unusually thick. Its dark red skin is covered with cracks like black lines, and from each crack, wisps of gray-black desire origins constantly seep out.
Its shoulders and back were bulging high, with an enormous fleshy tumor clinging tightly to its back. The entire tumor was interwoven with countless black lock patterns, and its surface was densely covered with countless scarlet eyes. These eyes had no eyelids, and they slowly rotated one by one.
Some gazed into the void, some stared intently at their surroundings, and some even slowly looked at the back of their own heads. With each turn, they emitted a chilling wave of desire. From the depths of the tumor, extremely subtle whispers emanated, as if countless beings were constantly reciting the same sentence.
"Want..." "Get..." "Possess..." "All of it is mine..." On its left shoulder, a distorted human face was also lying.
The face seemed to be both crying and laughing, its eyes also glowing with a scarlet light, its mouth splitting all the way to its ears, constantly emitting a low, hoarse laugh, and its right hand gripped a long, black staff.
The staff's head was not a gemstone, but a constantly pulsating dark red eyeball. Within the eyeball, rings of gray-white soul patterns rotated continuously. With each rotation, a large amount of the source of desire was drawn out and re-infused into its already shattered Fate Soul.
All around the cave, hundreds of gray-black orbs of light floated densely, each containing a wisp of the devoured Fate Soul. These orbs continuously transformed into wisps of gray mist, which were slowly absorbed by the creature. The huge crack on its chest, left by the backlash from the Wordless Heavenly Book, was now healing at an extremely slow pace.
Deep within the crack, faint traces of the Great Dao, remnants of the source of anger and evil, could still be seen. With each step it healed, the desire emanating from its body grew even stronger. As time passed, it slowly opened its bloodshot, crimson eyes, which held no anger.
Only a chilling greed remained. It slowly raised its right hand, covered in black patterns, gazing at the ever-flowing source of desire within its palm. A chilling smile spread across its lips. "Damn outsiders..." Its voice was low and hoarse, as if countless beings were speaking in unison. Every word was filled with agonizing resentment. "If it weren't for you, my million-year plan would never have been ruined!"
Boom—It clenched its fist suddenly. The entire cave shook violently, and the hundreds of Fate Soul floating around it instantly exploded, turning into a surging torrent of gray-black desires that madly poured into its body. The crack on its chest healed considerably, and it slowly stood up.
The enormous fleshy tumor on its back, covered in scarlet eyes, began to wriggle slightly. Dozens of eyes simultaneously turned slowly eastward, as if they had pierced through endless mountains and rivers, and spotted Qin Yu. It extended its scarlet tongue, gently licked the corner of its mouth, and the smile on its face grew increasingly ferocious.
"You brat..." "You've ruined my million-year plan." "Then I'll destroy everything you have." "Your Great Dao." "Your Fate Soul." "Your friends."
"I will take it all, little by little..." The entire cave fell silent once more, its chilling laughter fading into death.
The Western Region were shrouded in darkness. There was neither the raging flames of the Blazing Erosion Clan that burned across the mountains and plains, nor the tranquil Daoist aura of the Shade-Guarding Clan. Instead, there was only an unsettling silence.
The entire world was so quiet that even the wind seemed to have stopped flowing. Qin Yu and Qian Wenwan walked side by side across a gray-black wasteland. The ground beneath their feet was covered with cracks, and the fissures were bottomless. Occasionally, a wisp of gray-red light would appear in the cracks, but it would disappear in an instant, as if something was slowly wriggling underground.
The two had been traveling in the Western Region for a full half hour. Along the way, there were no living beings, no tribes, not even a single dilapidated building. Qin Yu slowly stopped, looked around, and his brows furrowed. "Strange." His divine sense continuously spread in all directions, covering a radius of millions of miles.
Emptiness. Qin Yu slowly spoke. "Could it be..." "This Desire Clan, from beginning to end, has only had one person?" Upon hearing this, Qian Wenwan also slowly stopped. She looked at the desolate land in front of her, and a few solemn thoughts also appeared in her eyes. After a moment of silence, she gently shook her head.
"Desire Clan truly possesses a complete race like the Joy Clan, Love Clan, Wrath Clan, and Hatred Clan..." "Then he wouldn't have needed to seize the body of the Blazing Erosion Clan's patriarch in the first place." She slowly gazed into the distance, her voice gradually lowering. "To be able to endure for millions of years," "Even willingly concealing their identity, constantly residing in another's body," "is enough to prove," "Desire," "has probably never truly had a race of its own." Qin Yu nodded slowly.
His eyes grew even more wary. "The more this is the case," he said, "The more we mustn't let our guard down." He slowly scanned every shadow around them. "Perhaps..." "He is right now..." "lurking in the shadows..." "watching us." Upon hearing this, Qian Wenwan's expression hardened slightly. Without hesitation, she gently raised her right hand.
Clang—A warm, white sword light, as gentle as the morning sun, slowly appeared. The Compassionate Joy Divine Sword returned to her palm. She slowly gripped the hilt with her five fingers. The auspicious pattern on the center of the sword's spine, resembling a smiling face, gently lit up. The emerald green leaf-shaped hilt slowly circulated the Dao of Life, and the entire divine sword exuded a warm yet sharp aura.
Qian Wenwan let out a soft breath, her gaze sweeping over her surroundings. She was now fully on high alert. At the same time, deep within the Western Region, in the enormous cave hidden among the mountains, a creature slowly opened its eyes. The massive fleshy tumor on its back, covered with countless scarlet eyes, began to rotate slowly.
Dozens of eyes looked eastward almost simultaneously, and then, its mouth, which was split to the roots of its ears, slowly lifted up. "It's here..." It slowly stood up. The crack in its chest, which had not yet fully healed, still ached faintly. The cracks left by the source of anger and evil were still constantly eroding its Fate Soul. It slowly raised its hand and gently pressed it against its chest.
The dark gray source of desire continued to repair its wounds, though the recovery speed was much slower than before. Its chilling voice slowly echoed throughout the cave. "Hmph..." "I didn't expect it to come so quickly." It slowly raised its head, a cold killing intent flashing in its eyes. "If I had known this would happen..." "When you first stepped into this realm..." "I should have personally annihilated you all."
As its voice fell, a blurry scene suddenly appeared deep within the cave. It was the scene when Qin Yu, Qian Wenwan, Yuan Weizhi had just stepped into the inner world of the Layered Realm Void Great Emperor. At that time, the three of them had just passed through the spatial rift and had not yet had time to observe their surroundings. In the distance, atop a dark mountain peak.
A figure completely blended into the darkness stood there silently, devoid of any aura or even any fluctuation of existence. Only the dozens of scarlet eyes atop the massive tumor on its back stared unblinkingly at the three. For a moment, it did not attack, but merely observed quietly until the three went in different directions.
It slowly revealed a sinister smile. "Three more outsiders have arrived." "Perfect..." "Let them find the Seven Emotions Origin for me." "After they open the Wordless Heavenly Book for me," "I will personally take everything back." The image slowly faded away, and it slowly closed its eyes.
His lips twitched slightly. "What a pity..." "I ultimately underestimated that kid." "And I never expected that the Myriad Dao Source Root would choose him." It slowly raised the jet-black magic wand, and the dark red eyeball at the top of the wand suddenly opened slowly. Deep within the eyeball, gray-black patterns of desire swirled continuously.
It slowly grinned, revealing an extremely sinister smile. "Now that you've come to my territory..." "Then..." "Enjoy the gifts I've prepared for you." It slowly raised its wand, and the entire cave suddenly began to shake violently. The dark red eyeball on the wand suddenly burst forth with countless gray-black light threads.
As he slowly formed hand seals, he uttered an ancient and obscure incantation. With each syllable, a gray-black ripple appeared between heaven and earth. These ripples did not spread; instead, they seeped into the entire land of the Western Region. In an instant, countless black lines that had slumbered underground for millions of years lit up simultaneously. Streams of desire power, imperceptible to the naked eye, began to silently cover the entire Western Region like a spider web.