On Captive Heaven Island.
After toppling the second Abyssal Monument, the group rushed towards the last remaining one.
"If we still can't stop it, then we'll have to overturn this last monument as well!"
Someone said in despair.
They would rather be reduced to ashes by the blazing sun's holy fire and enter the river of oblivion than be completely erased by the Demon Saint.
When Ji Qingqing heard their words, her body trembled, and she quickly got up and rushed towards the last Abyssal Monument.
She would protect this last monument with her life!
As she ran, she glanced at the abyss outside the island and saw the huge Abyssal Monument falling straight down, covering that figure.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and when she saw the little red flower floating in the air, her heart felt like it was being torn apart, a searing pain that drilled into her soul.
She covered her mouth to hold back her sorrow and continued rushing towards the final Abyssal Monument.
The divine soul guarding this monument merged with her, unsheathing its sword to block in front of the stele.
The crowd glared at her angrily, but for the moment, they didn't argue. Suddenly, the Captive Heaven Island beneath their feet took off like a bird unburdened of a heavy weight, tilting at such a rapid pace that those on the island almost fell off.
With only one remaining chain holding it, the island stood upright, startling those on it. They quickly sought nearby boulders to hold onto to avoid sliding off.
As the island completely tilted, the boulders that had been on it began to roll and tumble downwards.
The loosened boulders fell, crashing onto the chains and into the abyss.
Li Tiangang and Ji Yunqing, who had been climbing desperately, saw the rolling boulders above and quickly dodged into the gaps between the chains to avoid being swept away.
When most of the boulders had fallen, the group looked up and saw that the Demon Saint's tentacles had all retracted and were surrounding the Abyssal Monument they had thrown earlier.
"That's great!"
"That Demon Saint's target is actually him. Looks like the old madman was right. That dead Wen Renji is instinctively tracking the sage's aura. She said that person is a Dao seed; he must have a natural sage bone!"
"A sage bone... My Ji family rarely sees them. What a pity."
"What a pity? Weren't you the one pushing the hardest just now? And now you've changed your tune."
"And you didn't push? I was just lending a little help."
"Alright, we're not even out of danger yet, and you're already trying to shift the blame? Are you that afraid of being held responsible by the family?"
"It's all that Wen Renji's fault anyway."
"Speaking of which, is that Dao seed also a criminal? How did he end up here?"
"What are you thinking? Even if a Dao seed makes a mistake, others will take the blame for them. I don't think he made a mistake; he must be here for something. He's probably here to pick someone up?"
The group argued as they held onto various boulders, their eyes turning to Ji Qingqing.
Undoubtedly, the person the Dao seed had come to pick up was her.
When Ji Qingqing had been exiled here earlier, she had heard that her crime was marrying a foreigner. Now it seemed that the Dao seed was her son?
These criminals were all old foxes, and they immediately guessed the general situation, but they couldn't help but be amazed. Was the Dao seed mixed-race? Could mixed-race people also become Dao seeds? When did the Ji family become so incompetent? It looked like they really couldn't do without them...
"Never mind that for now. Quick, hold this Abyssal Monument steady and don't let it fall!"
Suddenly, someone shouted in alarm.
The Abyssal Monument was slightly loose. Originally, the three Abyssal Monuments had been stabilized by the pulling force of the chains, but now that only one remained, it was a bit unstable.
The faces of the others changed upon hearing this, and they quickly climbed towards the Abyssal Monument to press it down into the island.
Ji Qingqing had been worried that they would overturn this monument as well, but now, seeing that Wen Renji wasn't attacking and that they were frantically guarding it instead, she felt a sense of irony.
However, this scene also secretly relieved her. She turned her head and looked towards the chains, spotting Li Tiangang several thousand meters away.
The couple's eyes met, and Li Tiangang's face lit up with excitement as he shouted, "Qingqing!"
But Ji Qingqing's heart was filled with sorrow, and she crawled towards the front of the chain, saying, "Tiangang..."
After the chain had risen vertically from the abyss, the suction force in the Demon Saint's mouth weakened, and Li Tiangang's face was filled with joy and excitement. He climbed faster and rushed to the top of the chain, hugging Ji Qingqing tightly.
After a deep embrace, he quickly looked around and asked anxiously, "Where's Hao'er?"
"Hao'er... he... he fell into the abyss."
Ji Qingqing's eyes were red and wet, and she was already crying uncontrollably.
"What?"
Li Tiangang suspected that the wind had interfered, and he hadn't heard correctly.
But Ji Qingqing was crying so hard that she couldn't speak.
Finally, Li Tiangang reacted, his body trembling. He felt as if all the blood in his body had suddenly ignited to its extreme, and then it froze to the soles of his feet.
His head buzzed, and he felt a bit dazed, as if he couldn't even hear his wife's crying.
Fallen into the abyss?
Li Tiangang's neck stiffened, and he turned his head with difficulty, looking at the other end of the chain, the twisting body of the Demon Saint with the blood lotus, and the bottomless abyss.
That child... was dead?
Dead?!
His mind buzzed, unable to accept this devastating truth. Before coming here, he had already decided that no matter how Hao'er treated him, he would endure it. Even if he had to apologize, bow his head, or go further than that, he would do it to bring Hao'er back.
He wanted to make amends for his shortcomings as a father.
He didn't want his father to die with regrets.
Despite their previous conflicts and his disapproval of Hao'er's behavior, his dissatisfaction never overshadowed the fact that he considered Hao'er his son and wanted to guide him to become a better person.
But now... he was gone?
Li Tiangang's mind went numb, and after a long while, hot tears welled up in his eyes.
He thought back to the scenes in the courtyard.
Hao'er painting in the courtyard with a bright smile.
Hao'er chatting leisurely with his second uncle.
Hao'er lounging lazily in the rocking chair.
Time and again, he had watched these moments with a frown on his face.
But now, he would never see them again.
Not even the playful shadow of that child!
"This can't be real, it can't be, right, Qingqing?"
Li Tiangang's voice was hoarse and trembling. He had witnessed the deaths of tens of thousands of warriors in Yanbei, seen Li Fu and Yu Xuan perish before his eyes, and felt the depths of anguish, but he had never shed a tear. He remembered his father's words: "A man on the battlefield sheds blood, not tears!"
But now, he wept.
Hearing this, Ji Qingqing could only sob, unable to respond.
"You mean Hao'er..."
At this moment, Ji Yunqing, who was beside them, realized what had happened. His pupils dilated, and he trembled as if in an earthquake, his eyes wide with shock. "Could it be Le Ping?!''
Upon hearing this name, Ji Qingqing's heart sank further into grief. "Le Ping was the name I gave him. Tiangang, did you tell him? It's my fault... I'm the one who killed him..."
Ji Yunqing stood there, stunned and bewildered.
That child had fallen into the abyss?
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could the child who had shocked the entire Ji family at the Tianjiao War, defeated all the geniuses, confronted the Sage Bone with his own flesh and blood, broken the Dao Domain, and forged an undefeated myth, how could he possibly die here?
A rising star, snuffed out before reaching its brightest moment?
"How could this happen? It's because of the chains, this..."
Ji Yunqing looked up and immediately understood what had transpired when he saw the now-tilted Captive Heaven Island. His pupils contracted, and he suddenly realized the truth.
He felt a rush of blood to his face, and his heart sank with sorrow. "Why didn't they overturn your Abyssal Monument? Why did they choose his?!!''
His angry roar echoed across the island, and the faces of those who had pushed the monument earlier paled. If they could choose again, they would consider pushing this monument first, but at that time, the situation had been too urgent to think of anything else.
"I would rather it be us falling down there than that child! He's just a child!''
Ji Yunqing's sorrowful roar echoed. This was no exaggeration—the child was undoubtedly the most outstanding genius of the Ji family in tens of thousands of years. With his Three Unyielding Defeats of the Dao Domain and his legendary achievements, he was favored by a Sage, and yet, he had perished.
Ji Yunqing couldn't accept that the beacon of hope for the Ji family had been extinguished.
"You should all die! You deserve to die!!''
Ji Yunqing's eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, and his sorrow gave rise to a murderous intent that shook the heavens. He glared at the people on the island with rage.
Their faces changed, and even the old man in the Dao Domain looked grim. Ji Yunqing was also at the Taiping Dao Realm, and even if the old man burned his divine soul, he wouldn't be a match for Ji Yunqing, especially in his weakened state.
Upon hearing Ji Yunqing's furious roar, Li Tiangang's body trembled as he, too, realized the reason.
Looking at the lone chain that now stood vertically against the sky, he felt his heart tremble, and he had an indescribable urge to vomit blood.
Did this mean that he had indirectly caused Li Hao's death?
If he hadn't come here, they wouldn't have been on this chain, and the two chains that had been toppled wouldn't have included Li Hao's!
As this realization struck him, his mind buzzed once more, and he felt as if his Dao heart was being incinerated.
Had he, himself, sent Li Hao to his death?!
And all he had wanted was to come and apologize...
Why did it have to turn out this way?
Li Tiangang stood there, his eyes vacant and unable to speak.
...
...
In the abyss.
When Li Hao was struck by the falling Abyssal Monument, the force of its descent caused even his flesh to ache.
As he neared the abyss and the Demon Saint, Li Hao struggled to push the monument off himself. He wiped the blood from his face and quickly climbed to the other side of the monument, simultaneously activating the Sage's imprint within him.
At this moment, only this Sage's imprint could save him.
As he touched the imprint with his consciousness, it glowed with a silvery light, but only for a moment before fading back to its original state.
Li Hao's expression changed, and he tried again, only for the same result.
The boy, consumed by despair, howled madly as he threw another punch.
The tendril was knocked away, but it struck the Abyssal Monument, sending Li Hao falling into the Demon Saint's gaping maw filled with the blood lotus.
In an instant, Li Hao unleashed a thousand punches, each one landing on the tendril.
His flesh tore and his body ached from the force of the tendril's sweep. If not for his resilient body, comparable to a nine-cast divine weapon, and his enhanced state, a single sweep would have reduced him to ashes.
The gaping maw seemed like an endless abyss as Li Hao fell for what felt like an eternity before landing on a sticky, dark surface.
His flesh and blood exploded, leaving only tendons wrapped around his bones, resembling a corpse waiting for death in the depths of the abyss.
The giant maw closed, shutting out the last ray of light.
But just seconds later, Li Hao felt his body falling again, this time with a sense of weightlessness.
To be precise, it was the Demon Saint's body that was plummeting.
He felt himself floating, but the descent soon ended, and he crashed heavily into the sticky substance.
Then, he felt vibrations and heard the sound of something large falling. Soon, a substantial amount of liquid dripped down onto him.
"Have I reached the bottom of the abyss?" Li Hao wondered. At this moment, he felt strangely calm, setting aside his anger.
More liquid poured in, soaking his broken body, and Li Hao felt his flesh burning and stinging.
"Is this how I'm going to end? Digested?" he thought bitterly.
Li Hao's mouth twitched as he gazed into the pitch-black darkness, feeling the absurdity of his journey through this world. "Was I just meant to suffer?"
"I didn't even get to bid farewell to Feng Laoda," he thought sadly. "I didn't get to teach Qianqian her sword techniques or guide Yuan Zhao without his parents by his side. I hope no one bullies him now."
His mind wandered as his body burned with increasing intensity.
Suddenly, a large piece of soft flesh fell on him, followed by a deluge of liquid.
The surroundings shook violently, as if the world were collapsing, and large pieces of soft flesh and hard bones rained down on him.
A torrent of putrid, blood-like liquid surrounded Li Hao, filling his lungs and almost causing him to choke.
The blood carried a strong corrosive power, and Li Hao's body burned as if immersed in boiling hot fire.
His flesh and blood were torn apart, but his skeletal structure, comparable to a nine-cast divine weapon, remained intact, protecting his consciousness and soul.
Amidst the excruciating torture, Li Hao looked around and was shocked to discover that the Demon Saint that had devoured him seemed to be... dead? The towering blood lotus petals were falling powerlessly, breaking apart and splashing hundreds of zhang high waves of blood.
The blood waves crashed down on Li Hao, submerging him once more.
Li Hao struggled to swim upwards, only to witness the decaying remains of other Demon Saints falling, lacking their previous softness and destructive power.
Li Hao's body swayed in the blood waves, his bones slowly eroding.
As he beheld the collapsing body of the Demon Saint, Li Hao found it hard to believe.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and his pupils dilated.
Could it be that... when he desperately threw those hundreds of punches at the tendril, he had accidentally triggered the 1% fatal attribute?!
Li Hao was stunned by this realization.
Had he... killed the Demon Saint?!
He was bewildered, but at this point, he didn't care about the reason. His once hopeless and dark heart now burned with a strong desire to survive.
He struggled desperately in the blood lake, trying to climb out, but the Demon Saint's law still lingered, preventing him from channeling his energy or exerting his strength.
He could only rely on his physical body to swim in the blood lake.
However, the Demon Saint's blood seemed to have a strong corrosive effect, and his flesh and blood continued to fall away, exposing his white bones, which were also being corroded and damaged.