582: Chapter 584 No Other Choice

Having figured this much out, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord no longer hesitated.

He slowly closed his eyes, his ten fingers pulling at a wisp of dim yellow light.

At this moment, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord drove his Law of Reincarnation to the extreme.

He saw that light continuously condense and compress within his palm, ultimately transforming into an extremely thin and long thread.

Like a swimming golden snake, it slowly extended toward the depths of the fog.

He intended to use Reincarnation as the guide and the Law as the thread to establish a connection with the Dao of Reincarnation.

Only in this way would it be convenient to carve out a correct path within this fog intertwined with Laws, so as not to get lost within it.

In fact, doing this was indeed effective; the moment that Law thread touched the fog, the thick grayish-white mist before his eyes began to show abnormal movements.

As if triggered by an aura of the same Origin, the fog actually split open slowly from the middle, yielding a narrow and deep passageway for him.

The fog on both sides of the passageway surged like a living thing, as if producing an instinctive resonance on some level.

Seeing this, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord did not hesitate at all, lifting his foot and stepping into the passageway.

The moment his step fell, he felt an unprecedented sense of oppression.

That did not come from some specific threat, but rather from the heavy aura emitted by this place itself.

Like an invisible giant mountain pressing on his shoulders, wrapping around him in layers, it made Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's breathing unconsciously grow a bit heavier.

Facing this abnormality, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord frowned, but his footsteps did not stop.

Yet the further deeper he walked, the heavier that sense of oppression became.

Even within the fog on both sides of the passageway, some hazy outlines began to gradually emerge.

At first, they were merely flickering shadows, like painted skin silhouettes behind a curtain.

As he went deeper, those outlines became clearer and more lively.

Until he finally passed through the last veil of fog, the scene before his eyes made him abruptly halt his steps.

That was a scene so shocking that it left one speechless.

After the fog dispersed, what came into view was a vast circular land.

Yet no matter how one looked at it, it felt like a huge altar deliberately carved out.

On this "altar", countless figures were arranged in a circular array, layered upon layered, gathering toward the center of the circle.

Those figures had various postures; some sat cross-legged with hands forming Seals, their expressions solemn like eternal sculptures.

Some raised their heads toward the sky with arms extended, as if still struggling to support something at the last moment.

Still others curled up and collapsed on the ground with distorted bodies, as if solidified into eternal postures amidst extreme pain.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's gaze slowly swept across those figures, his pupils contracting slightly as an unprecedented tremor surged in his heart.

He saw clearly that those were not sculptures at all, but "flesh soil" transformed from true flesh and blood!

And these "flesh soil" were not all humanoid; some were tall beings with twin wings on their backs, dim golden patterns flowing over their wings.

There were also alien races with scales covering their bodies and a single horn on their heads, their bodies as massive as mountains.

There were also ice-blue alien beasts shaped like dragons coiled like rings, the scales all over their bodies having long lost their luster; even having turned into flesh soil, their past glory was still faintly discernible.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord slowly walked among this array of "flesh soil", his gaze sweeping past them one by one, complicated emotions that were hard to put into words surging in his heart.

He already understood who these living beings of different races actually were in life.

If his guess was not wrong, these were all the sages of various races who stepped forward at the very end to suppress Dao Venerable of Spirit Transformation during that catastrophe that swept through the ancient times.

These beings were at least at the Golden Core level of cultivation.

They came from different races and mastered completely different Laws, yet gathered here at the same moment, choosing the same ending.

That was to use themselves as the array eye, flesh and blood as material, bones as a framework, and Divine Souls as a guide, transforming into an eternal flesh soil altar to suppress some terrifying existence here.

Looking at these scenes, it was as if he could empathize and catch a glimpse of the tragic solemnity and resolute determination of the myriad races' heroic spirits sacrificing themselves in the ancient times.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord stood silently for a long time.

Every piece of flesh soil before his eyes had once been a living existence, each with their own Dao path and attachments.

Yet when the catastrophe befell, they did not choose to survive on their own.

Instead, they chose the same path, at the cost of burning themselves, exchanging it for tens of thousands of years of peace and tranquility afterwards for Xuanxiao Realm.

For this boldness and sacrifice, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord felt admiration from the bottom of his heart.

But that was all.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord indeed admired their choice, yet he could not empathize with it.

If he were to put himself in their shoes, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord knew he would definitely never make the same decision.

He would not abandon his Dao path for some person or some matter, let alone sacrifice his own life.

He was Soul-Devouring Demon Lord; in his actions, he had always lived only for himself and fought only for himself.

The choices of those heroic spirits were indeed heroic, but in his eyes, they were ultimately just a past event worth sighing over.

Therefore, the emotional sentiment was quickly reined back into his heart; he withdrew his gaze, stopped lingering, and continued walking toward the core area of that flesh soil array.

As his pace went deeper, an inexplicable feeling grew increasingly intense.

Like a sleeping heart beating slowly beneath his feet, every pulsation made his Divine Soul resonate.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord knew that this was the Dao of Reincarnation! It was the true Dao of Reincarnation!!

Once he obtained it, he could instantly return to his Peak, and even undergo a metamorphosis to step onto a higher level.

Therefore, thinking of this, even with Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's state of mind, it was hard to avoid some surging emotions.

Finally... are we going to see it?!

When Soul-Devouring Demon Lord finally arrived at the exact center of the altar, he noticed an array eye guarded by layered upon layered pieces of flesh soil.

Within that array eye, the dim yellow light flickered like breathing; it was precisely the Dao of Reincarnation he had pursued for countless years.

However, when he calmed his heart to carefully examine this sealing Formation, his expression gradually turned solemn.

His gaze swept from the light of the array eye to the myriad races' flesh soil surrounding it.

Then it extended from the flesh soil to the spider-web-like sealing patterns deep underground, analyzing the structure of the entire Formation layer by layer and deducing them one by one.

The more he deduced, the tighter his brow furrowed, until he finally had to admit a conclusion that made his teeth ache to the extreme.

That was that the Dao of Reincarnation was the array base of this sealing Formation.

That's right, the core of this Formation was not those myriad races' flesh soil.

Although they were huge in number, when all was said and done, they were merely the "framework" and "cornerstones" of this Formation.

What truly supported the operation of the entire Formation and maintained the suppression power was precisely that Dao of Reincarnation embedded within the array eye.

It was precisely because the Dao of Reincarnation circulated and operated endlessly within it that this sealing Formation possessed eternal power, allowing it to firmly suppress that Dao Venerable of Spirit Transformation here.

And the choices of those myriad races' heroic spirits thus had another layer of meaning.

They not only sacrificed their lives, but also staked their chances of Reincarnation together.

At the cost of infinite endless cycles across lifetimes, their wills and Divine Souls were forever trapped within this Formation, becoming a part of the operation of the Law of Reincarnation.

This was intended to exchange their eternal suffering of Reincarnation for the continuous operation of the Formation.

Therefore, wanting to take out the Dao of Reincarnation meant first breaking open this Formation.

And wanting to break open this Formation meant directly facing the Reincarnation world constructed by those myriad races' heroic spirits with flesh, blood, and will.

That was a massive prison gathered from countless wills; even with Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's attainment in the Law of Reincarnation, he might not be able to easily break through.

What was even harder to deal with was that even if he truly succeeded, even if he truly took out the Dao of Reincarnation, this Formation would also collapse along with it.

Without the suppression of the array base, although that Dao Venerable of Spirit Transformation would not directly break free from the Seal, it would also lose a portion of the binding force.

As long as time was given, breaking free was just a matter of time.

Then how was this different from directly releasing the Dao Venerable of Spirit Transformation?

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord stood in place, silent for a very long time.

He thought of those pieces of flesh soil, which were everything constructed by the myriad races' heroic spirits at the cost of eternal Reincarnation.

If he touched the Dao of Reincarnation, it meant that all of this would go down the drain, meaning the sacrifices of those heroic spirits would turn to nothing in his hands.

This Karma was heavy enough to crush any Golden Core True Person, and even a Nascent Soul True Monarch would find it difficult to bear.

Yet he had already walked to this step.

The Reincarnation Barrier trapped six True Monarchs, but that was not a long-term solution after all.

Even if that barrier was blessed to the extreme by him with flesh, blood, and Essence Blood, under the joint efforts of the six Nascent Soul True Monarchs, they would sooner or later break it.

And once they broke free, even if they could not directly step into this sealed land, that lackey of the Heavenly Dao, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei, was still outside.

If he stirred up the power of Heavenly Dao to forcibly open the passageway, it was not an impossible matter.

Therefore, he seemed to have a choice, but in reality, there was no way out.

There was only one path to walk all the way to the dark.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord took a deep breath, his eyes gradually turning firm.

"Releasing the Dao Venerable of Spirit Transformation... actually doesn't matter much either."

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord muttered to himself in a low voice, his voice hoarse.

After all, this was originally what he had planned from the beginning; it was just that he had failed before, and now there were many more uncertainties and risks.

But despite saying this, in his heart he knew clearer than anyone else that the situation was completely different now.

Back then, he hid in the dark; even if he truly released the Dao Venerable of Spirit Transformation, no one could find trouble with him, and he could completely retreat unscathed.

He could continue to hide behind the scenes, sitting back to watch the winds and clouds rise in Xuanxiao Realm.

But now, his background had been exposed before the six True Monarchs, and his schemes had been laid out under everyone's watchful eyes.

If he truly released the Dao Venerable of Spirit Transformation this time, he would be cutting himself off from the entire Xuanxiao Realm.

From the Heavenly Dao above down to the Loose Cultivators below, everyone would regard him as a major enemy.

If he successfully acquired the Dao of Reincarnation, perhaps there would still be a glimmer of survival.

But if he failed...

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord suddenly fell silent.

He stood alone in the center of the altar surrounded by the myriad races' flesh soil, the grayish-white fierce winds howling past his sides, blowing his robes to flutter noisily.

A self-deprecating arc suddenly appeared at the corners of his mouth; within that smile, there was some helplessness, as well as an indescribable sense of absurdity.

He even couldn't help asking himself how on earth he had walked to this step.

Only a short while ago, he was still a high-and-mighty Late Stage Nascent Soul Great True Lord, holding sway over Soul-Devouring Blessed Land and looking down upon the entire Xuanxiao Realm.

Aside from a few beings that made him slightly wary, he could completely act unscrupulously and follow his desires.

Yet only a few days had passed, and he had devolved into this state.

All trump cards exhausted, true body fallen into traps, cultivation heavily damaged, and targeted simultaneously by six True Monarchs.

Truly like a stray dog driven into a dead end.

The disparity was so great that even he couldn't help wanting to laugh.

However, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord quickly raised his head, his gaze falling upon the array base before him, his eyes gradually turning from self-deprecation to resolute determination.

The path was chosen by himself, so even on his knees he had to finish walking it.

"Moreover, this lord hasn't lost yet."

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's voice was hoarse, carrying a nearly paranoid gloominess.

He slowly raised his hand, stimulating his own Law of Reincarnation, and reached out toward that Dao of Reincarnation sleeping within the array eye.

The moment his fingertips touched that light, he felt an extremely wondrous tactile sensation.

Like sticking his fingers into a warm and dense river, carrying a nearly maternal sense of inclusiveness.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's mind condensed slightly, knowing that this was the Origin of Reincarnation affecting him.

However, he did not resist too much, but simply obeyed the feeling in his heart, starting from his comprehension of the Law of Reincarnation as a foundation, attempting to deconstruct the core structure of this sealing Formation.

His perception was like a delicate scalpel, stripping away layer by layer the sealing patterns attached to the surface of the Dao of Reincarnation.

Carefully bypassing the Karma chains connected to the myriad races' flesh soil, like peeling silk from a cocoon in the center of weaving a huge spider web.

At first it was also very smooth; he successfully stripped away the outermost Seal.

It only got harder the further it went; after all, besides the lingering intent of all spirits on each layer, he also had to fight against the Law brands remaining within each piece of flesh soil.

This consumed even more mental energy than fighting a True Monarch head-on, like walking a tightrope on the edge of a ten-thousand-foot cliff, where the slightest carelessness would trigger the backlash of the entire Formation.

Moreover, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord was not in his prime state right now.

However, despite this, his actions did not stop.

No matter what, he was still a Nascent Soul True Monarch; tens of thousands of years of experience and accumulation were enough for him to completely strip away the Seal and unseal the Dao of Reincarnation.

And the facts were indeed so; as the Seal was gradually broken, that streak of Reincarnation mysterious light within it gradually became active.

Like a heart awakening, the frequency of its pulsation became faster and faster, stronger and stronger.

Until finally, when the rune chains bound upon it disintegrated, the Dao of Reincarnation was completely unsealed!

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord felt a burst of joy in his heart, reaching out impatiently toward the Origin of the Dao of Reincarnation.

However, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's spiritual sense reacted even faster than his instinct.

A bone-chilling sense of great terror instantly struck his heart, causing a chill to run down his spine.

In an instant, after perceiving the abnormality, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord wanted to withdraw his hand and retreat, yet it was already too late.

In the arena, an abnormal change suddenly arose.