Yet, the Seven Elders could not fathom whose innate presence could be so boundless and endless. Vast darkness swept forth, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. It not only suppressed the brilliant white sun radiating from Emperor Wuzang, casting it into dimness, but even the golden fiery sun of Great Sun Buddha Miao Rulai, which illuminated the void, paled in comparison. The entire Kan Palace Void seemed shrouded by darkness.
This darkness, invisible and intangible, was not evil or bizarre like the dark presence of the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor. On the contrary, it held no evil or strangeness at all. Instead, it was more like a profound stillness, a chilling cold, a sense of mystery, and an air of the unknown.
It was like the dead of night.
A night without a bright moon.
As this thought occurred, the hearts of the Seven Elders suddenly clenched. A figure surfaced in their minds, and they exclaimed in shock, "Could it be him?"
Just as Bei Changqing was about to ask, the words lingering on her lips before she could utter them, she faintly glimpsed a figure in the distant void.
It was a man.
The man wore black robes, his long hair flowing freely. His figure was tall and straight, his countenance cold and stern, like a statue carved from stone, with sharply defined edges.
He appeared, walking through the void, his steps shrinking distances. With each stride, the void beneath his feet dissipated like passing clouds and mist.
It truly was so.
Each step seemed to shatter the void, causing it to crumble.
Moreover.
With each step he took, the darkness enveloping the entire void grew more intense.
With each step, the Dark Flames of the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor grew fainter, the brilliant white sun of Emperor Wuzang dimmed further, and even the golden fiery sun of Miao Rulai was no exception.
He walked forward.
Passing through the Dark Flames cast down by the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor, the flames extinguished one by one beneath his feet.
He walked forward.
Passing through the radiant light emanating from Emperor Wuzang, the brilliant light scattered and dissipated upon his form.
He walked forward.
Passing through the myriad Buddhas bowing towards Miao Rulai in the sky, the countless Buddhas crumbled to dust in succession.
The man was like a sovereign of the dark night, striding through the shattered void, looking down upon all living beings, shaking heaven and earth.
No fire dared to burn him, no light dared to shine upon him, no Buddha dared to save him!
Witnessing this scene, Bei Changqing, hidden within the Desolate Ancient Ruins, was utterly stunned. Her lovely face was filled with shock, her beautiful eyes brimming with disbelief. She murmured, "Heavens! He... who is he?"
Beside her, whether it was the Seven Elders or Senior Master Lin, even the handsome martial man who had silently guarded them without uttering a word, all wore expressions of shock and awe.
"It's him! It really is him!" The voice of the Seven Elders trembled, whether from reverence or excitement.
"Seven Elders! Who is he?"
The Seven Elders took a deep breath but still could not calm their trembling hearts. They spoke slowly, word by word, "De-mon Em-per-or... Xue-he!"
The forceful voice of the Seven Elders struck Bei Changqing's ears like a thunderclap, leaving her mind blank.
"Demon Emperor Xuehe?" Bei Changqing forced down the trembling in her heart and asked again, "Is that... the legendary Great Dao Demon Emperor who, with a single thought, fell into demonhood and caused rivers of blood to flow?"
"It is him!"
"Good heavens!" After confirming it was truly Demon Emperor Xuehe, Bei Changqing could not help but take a deep breath.
Although she had been forced into seclusion for a full ten thousand years in the current era, missing most of it.
Although the place she resided in was isolated from the world, and she seldom concerned herself with worldly affairs.
She was almost always aware of the legendary overlords who dominated the Great Wilderness across ancient and modern times, and she knew the legendary tales behind each of them clearly.
She loved listening to legendary stories.
Among the many legendary overlords of ancient and modern times, two left the deepest impression on her.
One was You Di, and the other was Demon Emperor Xuehe.
Destroying immortal dynasties, burning the Nine Heavens, trampling the Great Wilderness, mastering the Nine Netherworlds... You Di, with his ordinary aptitude, had dominated the world and swept across the eight directions in mere centuries at the end of the ancient era, earning a formidable reputation. Bei Changqing admired him from the bottom of her heart and especially revered him.
However.
Admiration was admiration, reverence was reverence.
Apart from admiration and reverence, Bei Changqing held more dislike and contempt for You Di.
The reason was simple: legend said You Di was licentious by nature, fickle and faithless, entangled in ambiguous relationships with many Great Dao Madams across heaven and earth.
This was the main reason Bei Changqing disliked You Di.
If not for the inexplicable karmic connection she shared with You Di, given Bei Changqing's temperament, no matter how much she revered him inwardly, she would not have ventured into the Great Wilderness to seek him.
That was her feeling towards You Di.
As for the legendary Demon Emperor Xuehe, Bei Changqing's heart held only reverence—boundless reverence. Back when she heard the legendary tale of Demon Emperor Xuehe, she felt he was the true, indomitable hero among men throughout the ages. She had even told many people that if she were to seek a heavenly destined Dao companion in the future, she must find one like Demon Emperor Xuehe, a Dao companion like him.
As everyone knew.
Demon Emperor Xuehe fell into demonhood with a single thought for a woman—a woman he loved, the master of Langya Sacred Land, the only one in ancient and modern times to ascend to the peerless dual throne of Immortal and Demon Sovereign: Cang Yan.
Back then.
Demon Emperor Xuehe was not yet a Demon Emperor, but merely a disciple of the Tai Xu Grotto.
Cang Yan was not yet the master of Langya, but a disciple of the Langya Paradise.
At that time, both received the Heavenly Mandate, obtaining the Heart of the Immortal Dao Sovereign Authority.
Xuehe went into seclusion to fuse with it, and Cang Yan also chose seclusion for fusion.
The difference was.
Back then, most of the elders of Langya Paradise had perished in the Desolate Ancient Era. The remaining disciples had also departed, leaving only Cang Yan and a handful of disciples struggling to hold on.
Upon learning that Cang Yan had obtained the Sovereign Authority Mandate, experts from the Thirty-Six Paradises and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands besieged Langya Paradise, seeking to seize Cang Yan's Sovereign Heart.
In the end.
Cang Yan was reduced to ashes.
When this news reached Xuehe's ears, he broke his seclusion directly. With a single thought, he fell into demonhood. From the Thirty-Six Paradises, he slaughtered his way to the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands. Every expert who participated in the siege of Langya Paradise was slaughtered without exception, until the Great Wilderness ran with rivers of blood.
When the elders of his sect, the Tai Xu Grotto, came out to stop him, he returned all his cultivation to the Tai Xu Grotto, ceasing to be a disciple of Tai Xu thereafter.
If the Immortal Dao could not tolerate him, he would fall into demonhood with a single thought.
If the Heavenly Mandate could not tolerate him, he would shatter the Heart of the Immortal Dao Heavenly Mandate that everyone dreamed of.
He said, whoever forced his beloved woman to her death, he would demand blood debt repaid in blood.
If he couldn't kill them now, he would kill them later. If he couldn't kill them in this life, he would kill them in the next, until all who had forced Cang Yan to her death were slain.
He said this, and he did exactly that.
The various great powers who had forced Cang Yan to her death back then lived in constant fear, for no one had imagined that Xuehe, after personally shattering a Heavenly Mandate Sovereign Authority of the Immortal Dao and falling into the demonic path, would actually ascend to the Heavenly Mandate Sovereign Authority of the demonic path. He abandoned the Great Dao Immortal Sovereign to become the Great Dao Demon Emperor who struck terror into hearts.
For the woman he loved.
He did not hesitate to abandon all his cultivation, falling into demonhood with a single thought.
He did not hesitate to shatter the Heavenly Mandate Sovereign Authority, defying the fate ordained by heaven.
He did not hesitate to slaughter until the Great Wilderness ran with rivers of blood, making enemies of all realms under heaven.
It wasn't just Bei Changqing. One might ask, which woman across all realms under heaven would not wish to find a man as indomitable as Demon Emperor Xuehe!