Northern Region, Great Abyss.
In the harsh winter, like a prison, water droplets turn to ice.
This is the place of suppression for a generation’s great supervillain,
ever since the supervillain Xiahou Yuan was defeated by Tianjian Zi five years ago, he has been sealed here.
Tianjian Zi, out of empathy for the world, even though the great supervillain Xiahou Yuan’s crimes were heinous, being the leader of countless villains in the Five Domains,
still did not bring himself to kill him.
Eighteen layers beneath the Great Abyss, a gaunt figure sat there.
His chest, pierced by black chains, his limbs also bound by those chains.
Every chain was covered with dense patterns, which vaguely isolated heaven and earth, suppressing everything.
“Xiahou, I’m sorry!”
“Qing’er, why, why did you betray me? What’s so good about joining Tianjian Zi? Could he give you a status above all others?”
“Xiahou, that’s not true, I’m not the ‘Qing’er’ you speak of. The descendants of the Bai Family have long since perished. I merely borrowed the Bai Family’s bloodline to get close to you. My real name isn’t ‘Bai Qing’er’.”
“Do you remember when you were hunted, critically wounded, and on the brink of death, it was I who saved you, who performed the Marrow Cleansing for you…”
“Xiahou, that too was a lie. The ones who hunted me did it all for you to see.”
“When your cultivation went awry, I used the fruits of heaven and earth to save your life…”
“That was all fake. I did it on purpose to let you discover that my blood and aura were related to the Bai Family, to make you believe that I was a descendant of the Bai Family…”
“I made you the Demon Queen, granting you the power to command the villains of the Five Domains, above millions of living beings…”
“Xiahou, you are a supervillain, the source of chaos in this world. Because of you, villains from the Five Domains have gathered. If you don’t die, the masses will perish!”
…
Eighteen layers beneath the Great Abyss, Xiahou Yuan sat there, the past events flickering through his mind like a fast-forwarding scene.
No one knew that the supervillain Xiahou Yuan had an ordinary background, born in a regular village.
At the age of ten, he stumbled into a cave and acquired a Demonic Tao heritage.
However, when Xiahou Yuan returned to his village, he found that everyone had been slaughtered by a passing supervillain.
Since then, Xiahou Yuan completely stood against the supervillains.
Xiahou Yuan had exceptional aptitude in cultivation, advancing to the Fourth Realm by solely relying on that Demonic Tao heritage.
During this time, Xiahou Yuan also dedicated himself to hunting down major supervillains.
But soon, Xiahou Yuan realized that supervillains couldn’t be exterminated.
Even if he wiped out all the villains in the world, within fifty to a hundred years,
a new generation of supervillains would emerge.
Because the methods of the Demonic Tao, despite inherent risks, are shortcuts compared to the orthodox Dao’s cultivation practices.
As long as there are living beings, there will be those who can’t control themselves and embark on the path of the Demonic Tao.
Hence, Xiahou Yuan thought of another way.
If supervillains can’t be killed off, then he would become the strongest among them,
and lay down ‘laws’ for all supervillains, thus limiting the harm they cause
to the most stable range possible.
However, Xiahou Yuan overlooked the righteous forces.
As he was unifying the Five Domain Demonic Path, in the eyes of the righteous forces, he became a thorn in their side.
Originally, the Demonic Path of the Five Domains was scattered, posing no great threat to the righteous ones; besides, it was civilians who died, not them.
But now, with the Demonic Path of the Five Domains on the verge of unification, how could they tolerate it?
Thus, the earth-shaking battle between the righteous and the demonic happened five years ago.
Originally,
with the power of Xiahou Yuan,
even if he lost, he should have been able to retreat in one piece.
But he had overlooked ‘Qing’er’, his companion of many decades.
…..
“Qing’er…”
In Xiahou Yuan’s lifeless eyes, a trace of tenderness appeared.
Even though he had been betrayed by ‘Qing’er’, resulting in his current state, Xiahou Yuan never bore any resentment toward ‘Qing’er’.
“Just don’t know, without me, will the world be as Tianjian Zi wished, a land of peace?”
The vitality of Xiahou Yuan grew weaker and weaker.
With his Qi Sea sealed and Primordial Spirit suppressed, on top of losing the will to live, his life force was rapidly fleeing.
As he neared complete obliteration,
suddenly,
a consciousness descended.
Lin Yuan blinked in surprise, immediately feeling endless pain surging from where his chest’s breastbone and limbs were located.
“What kind of start is this?”
Lin Yuan inhaled sharply, only to feel the pain intensifying several fold.
This made Lin Yuan dare not move, his breathing even cautious.
Soon,
Lin Yuan quickly went through Xiahou Yuan’s memories, “One of the top powerhouses in the world, someone most likely to break through to the Ninth Realm, ending up in such a predicament after losing the battle five years ago?”
“If it weren’t for me, Xiahou Yuan would have been dead by now,” Lin Yuan sensed his body’s extreme weakness.
“But since I’m here, everything is different. What you, Xiahou Yuan, dare not face, I will face for you.”
…..
Outside of the Great Abyss.
Over a dozen guards did their round and, finding no anomalies, gathered to chat.
The Northern Region is a land of bitter cold, and the Great Abyss is even more so, a veritable no-man’s-land.
If it weren’t for the duty of guarding Xiahou Yuan, who had been sealed below, who would want to stay in such a place?
In fact, to call it guarding was merely a formality; they were just confirming that Xiahou Yuan imprisoned below hadn’t died.
In the prison of the Great Abyss, outsiders cannot enter, and those inside cannot leave.
“It’s just like Xiahou Yuan to have survived five years without dying,” commented a man with triangular eyes among the guards.
Although they dare not venture to the eighteenth layer underground, they have means to confirm whether Xiahou Yuan is dead or alive,