Lu Zhou, Jie Jin'an, and Ying Long arrived at the abyss near Dunzang's Pillar of Destruction.

Back then, Lu Zhou's battle with Tu Wei had opened the abyss. To make an opening, one would need the force of collisions between two divine emperors. Which divine emperor would have nothing better to do than to fight here?

Ying Long had the help of the Great Abyss Land's Pillar of Destruction and the Feather tribe to absorb the power from the abyss previously. Previously, when the Unholy One fell into the abyss, the opening had been filled up by the Feather tribe. If they wanted to open it up again, they would have to destroy their home. How could the Feather tribe do something like that?

Upon seeing this, Ying Long's expression fell. He said, "It's still in the Unknown Land. Won't I still die when the sky collapses?"

Lu Zhou did not think much of it. He thought Ying Long was being short-sighted. He said, "That's not true. Although it's also the Unknown Land, the abyss is below the earth, and the entrance is narrow. The Great Void falling won't affect the abyss."

"Wouldn't that mean I'd be trapped inside, unable to come out?" Ying Long asked.

"I promise you that if the sky collapses, I'll dig a hole so you can come out," Lu Zhou said.

"Those are your words. I don't trust you," Ying Long said.

Lu Zhou repeated his trick again. He said, "This is my Hourglass of Time. You should understand its importance. Hold on to it for now."

Then, Lu Zhou tossed the Hourglass of Time over.

In fact, the Hourglass of Time was very useful during the battle so Lu Zhou was slightly reluctant to hand it over to Ying Long. However, he had to pay a price to obtain Ying Long's divine soul pearl. If he could afford to pay the price, then he would not obtain what he wanted. It was as simple as that.

Ying Long stared at the Hourglass of Time for a moment before he said, "I don't want this. I want the Great Abyss Land's Heaven Suppressing Pestle."

"The Heaven Suppressing Pestle?" Lu Zhou took back the Hourglass of Time and brought out the Heaven Suppressing Pestle.

At this time, the Heaven Suppressing Pestle was not much use to Lu Zhou. If it were very useful, Emperor Yu would not have handed it over to him so easily. Moreover, he had no intention of repairing the Pillars of Destruction. He did not understand why Ying Long wanted the Heaven Suppressing Pestle so he asked, "Why do you want this?"

Ying Long laughed before he said, "You're the Unholy One who reigns supreme in the world. To think that there are things you don't know. This Heaven Suppressing Pestle…"

Ying Long stopped speaking abruptly. Then, he said, "Go investigate it yourself. One of its uses is that it can help one to absorb the power of the abyss."

Jie Jin'an said with a smile, "Brother Lu might not know, but I do. Basically, this Heaven Suppressing Pestle is a major sacred relic that constructs the laws of the world. Without it, we'll be finished. It's indeed a good thing to ask for. You can also use it to absorb the power of the abyss."

Ying Long: "..."

Lu Zhou handed the Heaven Suppressing Pestle to Ying Long and reached out with his other hand as he said, "Divine soul pearl…"

Ying Long said, "I can give it to you, but when are you going to return it to me? Without it, my cultivation will be greatly weakened. At that time, it'll be difficult for me to survive in the abyss."

"At least a month; at most a year," Lu Zhou said straightforwardly.

Ying Long thought about it for a moment before he said, "If you don't come back…"

Lu Zhou interjected, "The Heaven Suppressing Pestle is with you. How can I not come back? Without the Heaven Suppressing Pestles, everyone will die, right? If I don't come back, you can throw it into the abyss as revenge."

Ying Long originally had this thought, but when he heard Lu Zhou say it so easily, he hesitated. He thought to himself suspiciously, 'This old demon doesn't seem to care about his life at all… After all, since he returned, it's clear that he's mastered a resurrection technique…'

Ying Long said again, "I'm still worried…"

"Then what do you think we should do?" Lu Zhou asked.

Ying Long pointed at Jie Jin'an and said, "Let him stay in the abyss with me…"

Jie Jin'an: "..."

Lu Zhou said without hesitation, "No. Change to another condition."

"..."

Jie Jin'an was so touched that he almost cried. 'Brother Lu is so good to me! These past 100,000 years haven't been easy on me after all!'

Ying Long frowned. Then, he said, "I know you have a rare weapon in your hand. Leave it here."

"Rare weapon?" Lu Zhou waved his hand, bringing out a round black stone. He had obtained it from the system. He did not expect Ying Long to know about it. This meant that it came from the time when the Unholy One was still around. Unnamed had many forms, and it was difficult to identify its true form so not many people knew about it. Moreover, the Unholy One did not like using swords.

Until today, the Evil Sky Pavilion only had two void-grade items. One was Unnamed, and the other was the Heavenly Void that Ling Guang the Fire Deity left behind.

When Ying Long saw Unnamed, his eyes lit up. He said, "This is it! Leave this and the Heaven Suppressing Pestle behind, and I'll give you my divine soul pearl."

Jie Jin'an protested immediately. "You're pushing your luck. Without this, Brother Lu's strength would decrease significantly. What if we encounter a strong enemy?"

Ying Long retorted, "Does the Unholy One need to rely on a weapon to fight?"

"Of course! It's just like how Ming Xin has the Scales of Justice. Just thinking about the scales gives me a headache," Jie Jin'an said.

"That has nothing to do with me. Moreover, it's pointless for you to pull Ming Xin into this."

"..."

'How unreasonable!'

Just as Jie Jin'an was about to continue, Lu Zhou said, handing Unnamed to Ying Long, "Alright. I'll leave it here with you."

After putting Unnamed and the Heaven Suppressing Pestle away, Ying Long felt much more confident and happier. He flashed to the top of the abyss. The wind began to rage before he finally spat out his divine soul pearl.

A streak of white light flew toward Lu Zhou immediately. After catching it, he sized it up.

Ying Long said, "I'll wait for your return."

After saying that, Ying Long dove into the abyss.

Jie Jin'an, who finally regained his senses, said, "Hey, it's very dangerous down there. You have to be careful. Otherwise, you won't get what you want."

"I don't need your help."

Ying Long swooped down toward the rebounding force at the upper part of the abyss. After struggling with it briefly, it successfully entered the abyss.

Jie Jin'an said, filled with praise, "Without a powerful cultivation, one's power would be absorbed. Otherwise, human cultivators would have long entered the abyss. How could they leave it for a fierce beast?"

"Let's return to the Evil Sky Pavilion first."

"Alright."

Just as the duo turned around, Lu Zhou suddenly said, "Wait a moment."

"What's the matter?"

"My mounts."

Lu Zhou recited the mantra for the Heavenly Writing's power of speech, which had recently been upgraded to the great law of speech, and summoned his mounts back to the Evil Sky Pavilion.

Jie Jin'an said, "Back then, you raised quite a few mounts at Grand Mystic Mountain. It seems like your hobby didn't change…"

"These mounts are all extraordinary, and they will become spiritual beasts in the future."

"I believe in your eyesight," Jie Jin'an said with a nod.

"Let's go."

The duo made their way toward the runic passage near Dunzang's Pillar of Destruction. During their journey, they discovered the Unknown Land was much quieter than before.

Jie Jin'an said, "The nine domains will be in danger as well. We have to come up with a plan as soon as possible."

Lu Zhou recalled Si Wuya's plan and thought that it was about time to implement it.

When the duo arrived at the runic passage, Lu Zhou sensed movements from one of his talismans.

After lighting it up, a projection of Jiang Aijian appeared. He said immediately with a hint of anxiety, "Senior Ji, hurry up and return to the Evil Sky Pavilion."

"What's the matter?"

"It's not good. I think we have foreign visitors."

"Foreign visitors?"

"You'll know when you return."

Lu Zhou and Jie Jin'an did not waste time and stepped into the runic passage immediately. With a flash of light, they disappeared into thin air.

…

15 minutes later, Lu Zhou and Jie Jin'an arrived at the back mountain of the Evil Sky Pavilion.

Jiang Aijian was already waiting by the runic passage. When he saw Lu Zhou and Jie Jin'an, he did not greet them and quickly said, "Senior Ji, look to the east."

Lu Zhou and Jie Jin'an looked to the east at the same time.

Something dark covered the sky in the east and was slowly approaching. It looked like a mass of dark clouds that heralded a violent storm.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly. "A heavenly phenomenon?"

Jie Jin'an shook his head. "It doesn't look like it…"

"I've received news from Great Yan's imperial family. They've dispatched a large number of cultivators to investigate…"

"Could it be an invasion before the sky collapses?" Jie Jin'an asked.

"It should have come from the Endless Ocean, not the Great Void or the Unknown Land."

At this moment, a low cry rang from the eastern horizon. The sound was very clear and loud.

Cultivators from all over Great Yan flew to the east immediately.

In front of the dark mass, the human cultivators were like ants.

Not counting the Evil Sky Pavilion, the biggest sect in Great Yan was the Yun, Tian, and Luo Sects.

When the cultivators from the three sects arrived, they were shocked.

"What the hell is this?"

"It… It's not dark clouds… It's a, a fierce beast!"

"Fierce beast?"

Everyone looked up at the dark mass that gradually covered the sky of Great Yan. Darkness slowly crept up on Great Yan as it continued to move.

Another low cry rang in the air, causing the cultivators of Great Yan to tremble in fear.

"Retreat!"

All of the cultivators of Great Yan retreated. No one dared to act rashly at this moment.