CHAPTER 678: CHAPTER 108: TRUE VOID BATTLEFIELD

Zhou Yan’s gaze became intense as he looked over and felt countless powerful auras oppressing him, making his soul feel as if it was about to burst uncomfortably.

Before this, Zhou Yan had not feared such oppressive power; no aura had any effect on him, but the oppressive power he felt now was that of pure death.

At that thought, Zhou Yan immediately thought of the Destruction Sword Body’s ability.

It must be the terrifying ability that came with the Destruction Sword Body, invincible in the aspect of oppressive aura.

Zhou Yan’s body trembled slightly, but he still endured it. With these changes, Zhou Yan thought Mu Qingyan must have seen everything and thus would take action against the Blood Tower-like figure in the void.

But when Zhou Yan looked over at Mu Qingyan at that moment, the Netherworld Goddess’s face showed flashes of angry color. She was clearly enraged yet still barely holding back.

"What are you looking at? Do you want to see how you’ll suppress Lillith, who’s like a sister to me, with your despicable methods? Lillith has been loyal to me, accompanying me all these years. Do you still think she is fake, that she intends to harm me?"

Zhou Yan’s heart sank, but he said nothing more.

He no longer looked at Mu Qingyan.

Everything about this place, Zhou Yan had come to misunderstand, so he no longer had any expectations for anyone or anything.

It was a bizarre place, with bizarre environments, bizarre people, and bizarre space-time changes.

How could a person from the past converse with a person from the future? What could be more absurd than all this? Yet this did not seem like an illusion, nor did it seem fake, because Zhou Yan could still sense the existence of the Purple Flame Void between his brows at all times and feel the Parasol Tree Seedling and the golden Xuanyuan Sword Fragment inside his soul’s Dantian.

Thus, Zhou Yan knew that he was real and that everything he experienced was also real.

But why...

Zhou Yan sighed, letting the endless oppressive power of destruction weigh upon him, gradually feeling powerless to resist.

In fact, facing such pressure, even if he resisted with all his might, Zhou Yan could not resist.

This was not a normal world, and the strength of the opposition was not normal either. This pressure was likely the display of power by a being with Divinity.

By that time, Zhou Yan understood that if he wasn’t mistaken, then Mu Qingyan had lost the battle with the Blood Fiend. Both he and Mu Qingyan must have been affected and taken down by the Blood Fiend.

So, everything that was happening now, no matter how bizarre or astonishing, wasn’t surprising anymore.

Zhou Yan’s mentality underwent some changes; previously somewhat chaotic, it was Mu Qingyan’s words that had caused some disarray, leading to some unforeseen developments.

But now, seeing that Mu Qingyan’s behavior was completely abnormal, Zhou Yan had completely cleared his thoughts.

If Mu Qingyan had failed and was trapped here, then Zhou Yan himself could only face everything calmly; now, life and death were in someone else’s hands.

So, Zhou Yan instead began to see everything lightly and started not to care about anything.

Just then, he heard Mu Qingyan speak indifferently, "It’s true that you have done me a favor, but why make things difficult for Lillith? What harm has she done to you? Is it wrong for her to kneel and express gratitude to you?"

Faced with Mu Qingyan’s questioning, Zhou Yan responded coldly, "Say whatever you want, I don’t want to talk to you anymore."

Mu Qingyan laughed coldly and said, "In the end, isn’t it because you don’t want me to leave here? Isn’t it because you’re afraid that if I leave, you’ll be lonely and isolated here? I didn’t expect you to be so hypocritical."

"Did you know the outcome of our fight with the Blood Fiend?"

Suddenly, Zhou Yan asked.

Mu Qingyan was startled, a trace of confusion in her eyes.

"Right, the Blood Fiend and I fought in the Soul Sea, and afterward, the blood mist churned, but what was the outcome?"

Mu Qingyan instinctively tried to recall the answer to this question, but her recollections were hollow and pale, with no answer to be found.

That scene had already become a past memory in Mu Qingyan’s mind, but she could not recall what happened to the Blood Fiend nor whether the Transmission Array of the Ancestor Star had been repaired.

It seemed as if everything in her memory was somewhat thin and hollow.

Mu Qingyan fell silent. Her body gradually emitted a chant-like sound, akin to the Heavenly Dao singing, vibrating her body. Blood-red mist flowed out of her body, slowly being refined. In moments, Mu Qingyan underwent an unknown transformation.

It was as if she had transformed from a dusty mortal woman into an ethereal fairy of the Spirit Realm.

This change was visible to the naked eye.

Around Mu Qingyan, Runes and Great Dao Resonance Anomalies manifested, changing in succession.

"The battle has no outcome because we are still in it. This place is the True Void Battlefield, ’When truth appears true, it may also be false; when nothing turns to something, something returns to nothing.’ This True Void Battlefield, it is actually the True Void Battlefield."

Mu Qingyan suddenly sighed and gently waved a palm towards the void.

A curtain of energy swept out and suddenly turned into a colossal wave, annihilating the tower-like figure.

Peace suddenly fell over Heaven and Earth, as if a mysterious veil had been wiped away from this world, revealing the outline of another desolate realm.

The two still stood under the dim starlight, with a lonely and slightly ruined cabin behind them, and an endless, barren wasteland before them.

The world was vast, yet it was a borderless wilderness.

Lilith had long since vanished, and the Blood Tower in the Void had also disappeared, as if everything that had happened after they walked out of the cabin had been just a refraction of consciousness.

"You are Invulnerable, which should require the foundation of an Emperor Qi Sword Body, the Supreme Dao of a Destruction Sword Body, the Heart Demon of a Demon Heart Sword Body, and the Evil Suppression of a Thunderflame Sword Body, as well as the Void capabilities of a Void Sword Body. Who are you, exactly? Or are you not Wei Li Zhou Yan, but a monstrous derivation?"

Mu Qingyan’s gaze suddenly sharpened, her boundless murderous intent pressing down on Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan’s heart shuddered, but he remained calm, forcing a bitter smile. "With a Near-God Bloodline and a Heavenly Venerate’s inheritance, achieving this isn’t really a big deal. In truth, I don’t possess the vast abilities you mentioned. However, there’s a Great Power within me, a Sealing guardian, that perhaps shielded me from the influence of the True Void Battlefield."

Mu Qingyan clearly didn’t believe Zhou Yan’s explanation.

Sighing helplessly, Zhou Yan said, "If I had any ill intentions, I would have succeeded long ago, wouldn’t I? Think about everything I’ve done. When have I not been concerned for you and looked after your wellbeing? Besides, although I seem unaffected by the True Void Battlefield, I still fell under its spell for quite a while. My mind was in chaos, utterly incapable of reasoning like a normal person."

Zhou Yan explained.

Seeing that Mu Qingyan had reined in some of her murderous intent but remained extremely vigilant, Zhou Yan shook his head and said, "You might as well check for yourself. After all, if you don’t figure it out, I’ve got no way out. With my abilities, I’m not even qualified to be an ant in front of you."

As he spoke, Zhou Yan opened the side of his being that had been sealed by the Golden Armor man at the point of imminent five declines.

Moreover, Zhou Yan even revealed part of his Soul and Dantian.

Mu Qingyan was skeptical at first, but she eventually did a tentative sensing. At that moment, her expression changed drastically, a look of endless horror in her eyes.

Furthermore, the instant she probed, she felt as if she had been struck by a terrifying impact, her body shook violently, and she stumbled back several steps, nearly vomiting blood.

Zhou Yan sensed the shock she had experienced and was taken aback, understanding that the Golden Armor man was still far stronger than he had thought.

"Mr. Zhou, my apologies for before. You helped me, yet I did not trust you. I am ashamed," said Mu Qingyan, her voice now soft.

At this moment, Zhou Yan immediately felt that Mu Qingyan no longer saw him as an inferior, but rather as an equal.

Suddenly, the status between the two seemed to level out.

"It’s nothing. Given the current environment, I thought we had entered some Ancient Array or a restricted area. I didn’t expect that we would enter the True Void Battlefield. This is my first encounter with it and I don’t even know how to deal with it," Zhou Yan said nonchalantly.

After Mu Qingyan explained the situation of this place, Zhou Yan felt relieved and did not hold Mu Qingyan’s strange behavior against her anymore.

Previously, Mu Qingyan, being an Extraordinary Woman of the Ten Thousand Realms, had behaved in such a way that, though she didn’t explicitly state it, Zhou Yan still felt somewhat disappointed.

Now it seemed it wasn’t that Mu Qingyan’s actions were inadequate but that the True Void Battlefield was terrifyingly powerful.

Fortunately, for some unknown reason, Zhou Yan had avoided the harm of the battlefield; otherwise, he didn’t know what absurd and unimaginable things he might have done.

"The True Void Battlefield, once trapped within, will trigger Space-Time anomalies, with unknown intersecting phenomena occurring. No one knows exactly what will happen, and once one comes to their senses, they are certain to remember nothing.

A dream, upon waking, will still leave some memories, which is a superficial understanding of the ’True Void’ Dao. The true True Void Dao, however, is to make the dream turn into reality, creating the True Void Battlefield."

"That Chen Tianjian, also known as Hou Tianjian, his True Void Dao is still unable to break through illusion, remaining at the level where one cannot create a True Void Battlefield."

"Once one can create a True Void Battlefield, it is a dao even more terrifying than the Soul Sea."

"Other than gathering the Ancient Sword Bodies such as Void, Thunderflame, Emperor Sword, Great Dao, and Demon Heart all in one body to resist, only the guardian Sealing of a Sword Venerate can contend."

"As the Sovereign of the True Void Battlefield, within it, one is naturally invincible. For others who enter the battlefield of the True Void Sovereign, the result is endless torment, and the outcome is naturally too grim for words."

"If, without anyone’s awareness, the True Void Battlefield replicates the outside world and a Cultivator is swapped into the True Void Battlefield at the moment they meditate, then that Cultivator’s life could very likely be dominated."

"So, Mr. Zhou, I truly thank you this time. Otherwise, I fear I would have perished."

Mu Qingyan spoke gratefully.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan couldn’t help but think of something — after Lei Yan King encountered betrayal from Mu Qingyan, she used her methods to kill Lei Yan King’s companions, thinking it was all an illusion... Could it be that Mu Qingyan had consciously entered the True Void Battlefield, unknowingly returned to reality,

Yet she continued to regard reality as the True Void Battlefield, which led to the murder of Lei Yan King’s relatives and friends and the betrayal of Lei Yan King? She thought everything was an illusion, but didn’t realize it was all real? Was it just that reality and illusion had switched places?

Zhou Yan’s heart sank; he was almost certain that this was the case.

So how could one distinguish between the True Void Battlefield and reality? How could he be sure whether he was currently in the True Void Battlefield or in reality?

A bone-chilling coldness surged in Zhou Yan’s heart.

Life is cruel if one lives within another’s illusions — it is a true tragedy.