Chapter 362

Chapter 362: Past Life?

Whether or not it could be called a combined technique, neither Zhang Yang nor Bing Yuyan had time to consider.

Because they had been plunged into a freezing, desolate place…

A graveyard.

The sky loomed low and heavy with mist. The faint outline of the Daybreak Sun hovered above, but its light failed to pierce the thick gloom.

Before them stretched endless ancient tombs.

Every stone marker weathered with age, each evoking a deep, instinctual fear with a single glance.

Their eyes met.

Their voices rang out together:

“Chaos Demon’s Graveyard!”

If the Abyss of the Buried Immortals ranked first among the dangers of the Falling Star Mountain Range, the Chaos Demon’s Graveyard was undoubtedly second, perhaps even more terrifying.

Everyone who had ever emerged alive from this cursed ground had descended into madness. No one could clearly describe the horrors within. Those who survived either died shortly after or went insane.

Most importantly, there were no exceptions.

Not even saints.

Not even those who entered deliberately or by accident ever returned unscathed.

The Chaos Demon’s Graveyard lay only three to five thousand miles from the Heavenly Reaching Mountain, far closer than the Spirit Saint Stone veins.

Yet once within its bounds, all contact with the outside world ceased.

The faint glow of the Daybreak Sun beyond the haze only deepened the sense of despair, that same deathly mist could effortlessly slay saints, rendering flight and escape impossible.

A hundred-mile void surrounded the graveyard, a wasteland no sane being dared to approach.

“Tiger Howl Wind warned us again and again,” Bing Yuyan seethed, her anger barely restrained. “The Falling Star Mountain Range holds over a dozen forbidden zones where saints are butchered like playthings. And now? We’ve been teleported straight into the Chaos Demon’s Graveyard! This trap ensures that even if we survive, we’ll leave here mad!” Her gaze sharpened. “Do you still hesitate? Shouldn’t we confirm Yue Guilong’s betrayal?”

Zhang Yang continued to frown. “That conclusion still feels too hasty.”

“Think carefully!” Her cold smile sliced through the gloom. “Who else but the Cold Moon Dynasty? They’re desperate, no saints left to scheme, yet fearing our success in the mine, they throw us into this hell!”

“Those who survive this place lose their minds,” she went on. “Madness would strip our deepest hatreds bare, hatred against the Supreme Emperor, against the Taixu Dynasty itself. This reeks of the Cold Moon Dynasty’s saints!”

Fury radiated from her. In her eyes, Zhang Yang had already sacrificed too much, delivering a heavy blow to the Taixu Dynasty and dragging Yue Guilong’s Cold Moon Dynasty from the mire. Even looming threats paled in comparison to the hope he had ignited. Such betrayal was beyond endurance.

Zhang Yang gently squeezed her entwined hand, their fingers had unconsciously laced together during the fall. “We’ll uncover the truth in time,” he murmured. “Right now, our priority is escape.”

Bing Yuyan glanced down. She subtly loosened her grip, yet his steady hold remained. Rather than withdraw, her fingers closed again around his.

The storm within her slowly calmed.

Regaining her composure, she took a deep breath. “The graveyard’s influence… that fear I felt upon entering.”

“—Might be the place’s own dark trickery,” Zhang Yang finished for her, his voice calm as still waters. Fearless and unwavering, he stood untouched by the creeping dread.

“Still your thoughts,” he advised. “Let clarity reign.”

She nodded. These were not ordinary mortals. Once centered again, their heightened senses picked up subtle shifts, the very air seemed to hum with agitation, an invisible current gnawing at their resolve.

In fleeting moments, even their breaths seemed to stir unrest within, keeping their hearts from settling.

This grave-filled realm amplified fear.

And that fear easily pushed minds toward madness, making escape all the more difficult.

Yet Zhang Yang and Bing Yuyan began to show signs of perfect harmony.

One held overwhelming power.

The other possessed unwavering clarity of mind.

Once Bing Yuyan confirmed the direction of the Heavenly Reaching Mountain, they advanced.

Their fingers remained tightly interlaced, their minds clear of distractions.

But they had walked less than a hundred meters before a tomb ahead caught their attention, it had burst open, exposing everything within.

Both their hearts tensed.

The Chaos Demon’s Graveyard was unimaginably dangerous. No one knew which era these tombs came from, nor what they contained. All that was known was: Do not look.

To look was to invite calamity.

They tightened their grip on each other’s hands.

Fixing their eyes forward, they forced themselves not to glance at the exposed tomb and kept walking.

Yet as they passed the cracked tomb, a voice echoed silently in their hearts, an irresistible call, urging them to look.

Through their bond in the Realm of Thunder, both sensed a surge of alarm and resisted.

Even Zhang Yang prepared to unleash the Slaughter Sacred Thunder to block the influence.

But to their dismay, it was ineffective.

As they continued forward, the once calm lake of their hearts began to ripple. Their shared connection magnified the disturbance, forming an even stronger compulsion to look.

“Change direction.”

The invisible agitation was too much for Zhang Yang to endure.

He made the decision to dodge.

Bing Yuyan clenched her teeth and turned with him.

But to their shock, the cracked tomb still lay ahead of them.

Though they had turned around, they now faced it directly, as if the act of turning had brought them back before it.

A chill ran down their spines. A deep unease gripped them.

Was the tomb itself toying with them? Or was it the graveyard’s twisted will at work?

There was no time to question.

They had looked.

What met their eyes was… a world in ruins.

Not a crumbling world, but complete annihilation.

Unlike the fragmented world within Zhang Yang’s bloodline, this was a scene of absolute destruction.

Nothing remained.

The sun, the moon, the stars.

The sky and the earth.

Mountains, forests, oceans.

Flowers, trees, beasts, and spirits.

All had perished.

The entire world had become a mass of formless mush.

Yet from within that chaos surged an endless tide of emotion; resentment, hatred, agitation, cruelty, and killing intent.

It crashed toward them, seeking to consume and destroy the inner worlds of their minds.

In an instant, both their eyes turned blood-red, their faces contorted as an indescribable hatred and killing intent surged within them. A crushing urge to destroy everything and exact revenge on the world overwhelmed their hearts.

At that moment, the Slaughter Sacred Thunder cultivated by Zhang Yang trembled violently, repelling the darkness—a darkness entirely unlike the yearning for life.

From deep within Bing Yuyan erupted a domineering sword energy, quelling the chaos with her formidable will.

In a flash, they returned to normal.

They didn’t need to speak. Still holding hands, they advanced in unison, eager to get away.

But after only two steps, Bing Yuyan suddenly trembled. Her red lips parted as she violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Zhang Yang turned, alarmed. His expression froze as he saw her pupils, within them, the vision of that apocalyptic world had reappeared. Amidst the destruction hovered a hazy, celestial-like figure.

That figure slowly turned.

Its face, half celestial, half demonic wore an eerie expression of both laughter and sorrow.

What stunned Zhang Yang even more was its resemblance to Bing Yuyan.

It wasn’t just similar, it was her. As if the figure and Bing Yuyan were one and the same.

A past life?