The lightning giant roared, its every movement erupting with boundless radiance.
Billions of chains danced through the air, ceaselessly constricting and strangling the Steal Heaven Demon Venerable.
The shockwaves from the two Venerables' battle spread outward ceaselessly, shaking the entire void until it trembled, showing signs that it might not hold.
Small world after small world was caught in the crossfire, rapidly crumbling, unable to last more than a few breaths.
Inside the lightning giant, the Steal Heaven Demon Venerable's expression grew increasingly twisted. The bloodshot veins in his eyes multiplied, and his aura turned more and more savage.
"Eat this!" Steal Heaven suddenly roared, and the lightning giant's mountainous body froze in place.
Its surface began to deform rapidly. With a cascade of crisp metallic clanks, cannon barrels emerged all over its body, extending both upward and downward.
Boom—!
Thousands of cannons fired simultaneously. Beams of light pierced across the void — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, a dazzling spectrum that stunned heaven and earth.
The light beams shot forth, rapidly crossing hundreds and thousands of li. Wherever they passed, they swept aside all resistance. Countless chains controlled by the Limitless Demon Venerable's will were destroyed.
"This attack actually encompasses the Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth paths — each color of light cannon represents a different path. This is bad!" The Limitless Demon Venerable's will quivered.
His painstakingly constructed defensive line was pierced clean through, exposing the two great worlds he had been protecting.
In one world, savage beasts stampeded. In the other, lush green forests stretched endlessly.
They were the Desolate Ancient Great World and the Green Lotus Great World.
The vast majority of the light cannons were intercepted and neutralized, but over a hundred still remained, hurtling mercilessly toward the two worlds.
"What? There are living beings in these two worlds?" The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable's heart jolted violently.
He finally saw it clearly. His twisted, savage expression froze abruptly, and a glimmer of clarity surfaced in his blood-red eyes.
When he had been exploring the void before, every small world he encountered had been utterly dead, devoid of any life.
So the birth and destruction of those small worlds had meant nothing to him.
But the Desolate Ancient Great World and the Green Lotus Great World were home to living beings, and the Steal Heaven Demon Venerable had no wish to become a blood-soaked butcher.
The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable gritted his teeth and strained with all his might to redirect the lightning giant, swinging its cannon barrels around.
All of the light beams swept past the two worlds, narrowly missing them.
Pfft.
The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable spat out a mouthful of blood.
Forcibly redirecting the direction of the attack meant he bore the full backlash of his own killing move.
The lightning giant, which had been mighty and imposing moments ago, was now dim and withered, its luster greatly faded.
The fierce battle between the two Venerables came to an abrupt halt.
The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable gasped for breath, while the Limitless Demon Venerable's will, surrounded by countless chains, wore a contemplative expression.
In moments of crisis, one's true nature is revealed.
"I can open a passage and let you take a look inside," the Limitless Demon Venerable's will said suddenly, after a long pause.
"What?" The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable was taken aback.
But he quickly understood the reason. Blood still stained the corners of the Steal Heaven Demon Venerable's mouth, and his injuries were quite severe — not something that could be healed anytime soon.
He let out a coarse laugh: "Then what are we waiting for?"
The Limitless Demon Venerable's will opened a pathway and led the Steal Heaven Demon Venerable into the ninth layer of the Crazed Demon Cave.
The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable first saw a great mountain of black and white.
"So this is Book Mountain, as recorded in the Biography of Human Ancestor?" The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable dispelled the lightning giant killing move, his expression one of surprise.
The Limitless will smiled: "Book Mountain is one of the core pillars. It is because of it that this Crazed Demon Nine Void Formation can keep growing. Whenever a brilliant Gu Immortal emerges in the world and pushes forward the development of a path, Book Mountain receives this new knowledge, allowing the Crazed Demon Nine Void Formation to adapt with the times and continuously improve."
"In the beginning, the void of the Eighth Layer was actually very small — it didn't even contain a single world. But as the Rule Path, Void Path, Refinement Path, and others developed across the Five Regions, the void here expanded correspondingly."
"First, small worlds appeared, and then more and more of them followed. When the Berserk Savage Demon Venerable left behind the Desolate Ancient Great World, and the Primordial Lotus Immortal Venerable established the Green Lotus Sacred Ground, they greatly advanced the Crazed Demon Nine Void Formation. Given time, living beings will spring up and perish in other small worlds as well, not just in these two."
The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable ventured deeper and came upon ice floes of all sizes and peculiar shapes, floating in the void.
"So these are Truth Ice Floes. No wonder I couldn't find them when I was exploring the River of Time — you had gathered them all and hidden them here." The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable realized with sudden understanding.
Finally, he arrived at the deepest layer of the Crazed Demon Cave.
A look of dejection crossed the Steal Heaven Demon Venerable's face, heavy with disappointment: "There really is no Empty Gate here."
The Limitless Demon Venerable's will had not lied to him.
The Limitless will spoke: "Steal Heaven Demon Venerable, if you don't believe me, you're more than welcome to keep searching. There truly is no Empty Gate here."
"How can I find the Empty Gate? It is my only hope of returning home!" The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable asked earnestly.
The Limitless will shook its head: "If I knew, would we have needed to fight in the first place? Steal Heaven, please go back. What you're looking for isn't here."
The Steal Heaven Demon Venerable stood stunned, speechless for a long time.
"No... perhaps what I'm looking for is exactly this?" Suddenly, the Steal Heaven Demon Venerable let out an eerie laugh.
His expression twisted, his eyes turned blood-red, and the tone and cadence of his voice underwent a dramatic change — becoming hoarse and deep, as though someone else entirely were speaking.
"Not good!" The Limitless's expression changed as well.