With the vast distance between them, the pair couldn't make out each other's features.
But the one climbing up Abyss Lock Heaven at this moment could only be that young man.
"Haoer..."
Ji Qingqing's eyes welled up with tears. She wanted to climb down Abyss Lock Heaven to greet him, but the head of the clan's pardon had not yet arrived. Descending the island on her own would be considered escaping prison.
She had endured the wait for over a decade and didn't want any last-minute complications.
The two leaned on each other, their eyes fixed on the two figures climbing up.
At the same time, on Abyss Lock Heaven...
Li Hao held the Sky-Watching Mirror and saw two figures standing before the Abyss Monument, which was used to wrap around Abyss Lock Heaven. One of them was his mother, Ji Qingqing.
She was intently focusing on the chain, and the excitement and tears in her eyes only served to quicken his pace.
Sensing Li Hao's increased speed, Ji Yunyue gave a bitter smile. Here on Abyss Lock Heaven, where their powers were sealed and they could only rely on their physical bodies, Li Hao's movement technique was even faster than hers.
As the two sped up, Li Hao suddenly felt a strange sensation wash over him.
As if in response to some instinct, he lowered his head to look.
The abyss beneath his feet was pitch-black, devoid of any light. But as he continued to stare, a crimson glow suddenly seemed to emerge from the depths.
Li Hao was momentarily stunned, blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
Before he could focus again, a terrifying shockwave suddenly rippled out from the abyss.
Boom!
The entire abyss trembled, causing the cliffs near the Wild Sea to shake, and the three Abyss Lock Heavens to vibrate violently.
At the same time, the nearby Wild Sea seemed to be affected by the shockwave, as the previously calm sea suddenly churned with furious waves.
"What?"
Ji Yunyue halted, tightening her grip on the chain as she looked on in astonishment.
Crimson light emerged from the abyss, growing more intense by the second. Suddenly, a massive tentacle shot out and coiled around the Abyss Lock Heaven they were climbing.
The tentacle seemed to be a thousand feet long. When it wrapped around the lock, its immense weight caused the entire Prisoner's Island to lurch dangerously.
The violent tremors startled everyone on Prisoner's Island.
Some were deep in slumber, others were on their last breath, and a few were engrossed in secretly practicing their martial arts techniques. But this intense shaking disrupted them all.
Prisoner's Island shook like a small boat in a storm.
"What's going on?!"
"Is Prisoner's Island going to collapse?!"
"Look, the island is falling!"
The over ten convicts on Prisoner's Island were shocked. Their originally dim and lifeless eyes widened, and they rushed out of their respective caves to the edge of the island.
When they saw the crimson tentacle coiled around one of the Abyss Lock Heavens, dragging it downward, they were filled with dread.
"What is that?"
"A demon? How is that possible!"
"Its size, its aura... Heavens, is there really such a demon guarding this abyss?"
"Could it be that someone tried to escape and angered this guardian demon?"
These convicts had been imprisoned here for varying lengths of time and knew very little about Prisoner's Island. This turn of events was beyond anything they had ever heard of.
It was said that the abyss was a pit punched out by the ancestor with a single punch, its depths unknowable.
But now, a demon had actually crawled out from within?
An old man, ragged and skinny like a beggar, crawled to the edge of Prisoner's Island. Looking at the crimson tentacle, his eyes widened in shock, and then he burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha! Has the Ji Clan now imprisoned their saintly geniuses here too?"
"They deserve to be destroyed, the Ji Clan deserves annihilation..."
His voice rang out in crazed laughter, his face streaked with tears.
Many of the convicts recognized this old man as 'Old Madman,' a prisoner who had been locked up here for an extremely long time. He spent his days acting crazy and speaking gibberish that no one bothered to understand.
Before the Abyss Monument, Ji Qingqing and Ning Ma were nearly shaken off Prisoner's Island by the sudden shockwave.
They quickly grabbed hold of the monument to steady themselves, only to see Prisoner's Island rapidly descending while the island itself was tilting. The island's natural buoyancy was trying to keep it afloat, but the tentacle pulling on the lock was dragging it down.
"What is that thing?"
Ji Qingqing also noticed the crimson tentacle coiled around the chain. Its size was so immense that it could be seen clearly from thousands of miles away.
Her face was filled with shock. Never in the long history of this abyss had she heard of such a terrifying demon dwelling within it.
Ning Ma's face mirrored Ji Qingqing's, her own expression one of horror as she paled.
At this moment, on another Abyss Lock Heaven, Li Tiangang and Ji Yunqing were also startled by the sudden shockwave. They nearly lost their grip on the chain and fell.
When they saw the tentacle coiled around the distant Abyss Lock Heaven, Ji Yunqing's pupils contracted, and she exclaimed in horror, "What is that thing?"
She had never heard of anything like this and found it unimaginable.
"Is it the guardian monster of this place?" Li Tiangang asked, his face also drained of color.
Ji Yunqing didn't respond, her eyes reflecting a hint of fear. She could sense the power of the Grand Dao emanating from the tentacle, and it was beyond the capability of the Ji Clan to tame such a high-level demon.
"Run!"
On the Abyss Lock Heaven, Li Hao saw the movement of the tentacle and was filled with dread. He immediately burst into action, dragging Ji Yunyue with him as he rushed forward.
Ji Yunyue also reacted, her face turning pale. The tentacle had coiled around the end of the chain, cutting off their escape route. Their only option was to flee toward Prisoner's Island.
She unleashed her full speed, employing the Ji Clan's movement technique to keep up with Li Hao.
Within the depths of the abyss, a colossal crimson shadow gradually emerged, resembling a blood lotus.
The tendrils, each thousands of feet long, extended from behind the blood lotus, and in the center of this macabre flower was an enormous face—a breathtakingly beautiful woman with eyes tightly shut and skin as pale as snow.
The woman's red lips were gently closed, her serene eyes peaceful in slumber, yet despite her exquisite appearance, there was an underlying sense of dread emanating from her.
As the blood lotus rose, the giant face, spanning thousands of feet in diameter, loomed closer. Even with its stunning beauty, it evoked a chilling sense of terror.
More and more tendrils shot out from behind the blood lotus, coiling around the chains and dragging the high-flying Prisoner's Island straight down.
"That's the Demon Saint recorded in the ancestor's notes, Wen Ren Ji!"
Upon seeing the blood lotus face, some of the elderly convicts on Prisoner's Island froze in disbelief.
"Blood lotus, demonic face, purple soul-seizing eyes. One glance can steal your soul, two can take your Dao heart, and with three, those who have heard the Dao will fall!"
"This... This is a Demon Saint!!"
Several of the elderly convicts felt as if they were going insane, their breaths coming in short gasps.
On the two Abyss Lock Heavens, Ji Yunqing and Ji Yunyue simultaneously recognized Wen Ren Ji, their faces twisting in horror as their souls trembled with fear.
This was a Demon Saint, an existence comparable to the progenitor!
"According to the legends, the progenitor suppressed many Demon Saints, and this Wen Ren Ji was supposed to have been slain by the progenitor. How could she be here?"
"Quick, run!"
Ji Yunyue and Ji Yunqing were both terrified to their core, their hearts shattering. Even though they had reached the Great Perfection Realm, in the face of this Demon Saint, they felt no different than helpless children. A mere breath from the creature would likely be enough to end their lives.
"It's a Demon Saint, run!"
Ji Yunyue cried out to Li Hao in alarm.
Li Hao's heart twitched, and he understood why he had felt such a sense of dread earlier—a feeling so intense it had nearly paralyzed his entire body.
The two continued their desperate sprint forward.
The Abyss Lock Heavens chains rattled and shook from the force of the tendrils' pull, but the chains themselves proved to be incredibly resilient and did not break.
At that moment, the exquisitely beautiful woman within the blood lotus slightly parted her lips, revealing a perfect crimson maw filled with countless sharp spikes leading into a black abyss.
A powerful suction force emanated from within, and Li Hao and Ji Yunyue felt as if countless silken threads were wrapping around their bodies, making their upward climb exceedingly difficult.
The convicts on Prisoner's Island witnessed this terrifying scene, their souls scattering in fear.
"It... It's going to devour the entire island!"
"Quick, push over the Abyss Monument! I'd rather ascend to the heavens than die in its mouth! I've heard that if you're killed by a Demon Saint, you won't even have a chance at reincarnation!"
Panic spread among the convicts, and they rushed towards the various Abyss Monuments on the island.
The old man known as Old Madman lay on the ground, laughing hysterically. "It's no use, it's no use! This Wen Ren Ji used to be the progenitor's demonic pet, but she attempted to assassinate the progenitor during his ascension and was suppressed by him."
"There must be a Saint Bone on someone here, and the aura of the progenitor is stimulating it, causing this Demon Saint to awaken from the depths of the abyss."
"Hahaha, who would've thought that the progenitor would bury such a powerful Demon Saint here? This entire Wild Sea is her graveyard..."
In the midst of the chaos, no one paid attention to his words. Over a dozen people scattered and rushed towards the three Abyss Monuments.
Upon hearing their words, Ji Qingqing's expression changed, and she angrily shouted, "Stop! Who dares?!"
She unleashed her spirit soul and stood in mid-air, radiating a powerful divine light that blocked the convicts attempting to topple the Abyss Monument.
While the Abyss Lock Heaven chains couldn't be cut, the Abyss Monument was buried on Prisoner's Island and could be moved. Without the chains to hold it down, even if Prisoner's Island rose into the sky and they were burned to death by the fierce sun's holy fire, there would still be a slim chance of reincarnation.
"Get out of the way! Don't block us!"
Someone roared in anger and charged towards Ji Qingqing.
But Ji Qingqing's body glowed with divine light, and a frost-like longsword appeared in her hand. With a single slash, a sword beam as vibrant as a rainbow tore through the air and ripped into the attacker, tearing a gaping wound and forcing them to retreat.
In her youth, Ji Qingqing had been a prideful genius of the Ji family, though not of the very top caliber. Now, with age and years of cultivation, she had reached the realm of profound mastery even before her imprisonment less than two years ago.
Additionally, as she had only been on Prisoner's Island for a short time, her power had barely diminished. In this moment of anger, she unleashed a formidable display of power.
The other convicts saw the divine might exuded by Ji Qingqing, and their faces paled with fear. "Are you trying to get us all killed?!"
"Yes! If you want to die, don't drag us down with you! We still want to reincarnate as humans!"
The convicts shouted angrily.
However, Ji Qingqing paid them no heed. Her spirit soul soared above the island, and upon seeing the convicts rushing towards the other two Abyss Monuments, her eyes narrowed with killing intent. She manipulated her divine sword, slashing at them and forcing them to retreat.
"As long as I'm here, no one will dare move!"
Ji Qingqing stood with her back against the Abyss Monument, her body enveloped in divine flames like a descending goddess. "I will not be reasoned with!" she declared angrily.
"You... You're beyond reasoning!"
The convicts were both frightened and furious at being obstructed by Ji Qingqing.