The Demon with Holy Radiance

’If his suspicion was correct, the Five Great Celestial Sects still exist here. This place is like a shadow of the Origin Realm from when it was whole... No! An afterimage would be a more fitting description.

It was as if these were all images from the past, visible only under special conditions.

Beyond the Xianyuan Forbidden Artifact, he might be able to trace things back to their very origin and find something even more important!

That might be the greatest secret of the Xian Origin Land!’

The people who called themselves members of the Golden Sword Sect had run off. There were no proper buildings in sight, and he couldn’t find a single trace of the so-called sect.

Yang An was now like a headless chicken, forced to simply try his luck.

He picked a random direction and sped off.

Not long after, he crossed a vast forest and came to a halt.

The world around him grew unstable. His consciousness wavered between clarity and a hazy blur. He felt as if this world was on the verge of collapse, inching closer and closer to its breaking point.

HRRGH... HRRGH... HRRGH...

Just then, an almost imperceptible sound came from nearby.

He walked to the base of a large tree and, amidst the dead silence, listened intently for something.

It sounded like a gasp for air—the exhausted wheezing of a dying person, as if they could breathe their last at any moment.

He could only hear the sound, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

’It seems I’m on the wrong wavelength again.’

’Bow Lady...’

Yang An called out to the Bow Lady in his mind.

"Kiddo, you’re about to hit your limit. If you keep this up, your soul could be permanently damaged."

To his surprise, the Bow Lady responded, her voice laced with worry as she addressed Yang An.

A Cultivator’s Immortality applied only to the physical body; the soul had a limit to how much pain it could endure. Once the physical body was completely destroyed, the soul would become incredibly fragile, left with no means of protection.

This was also true for some Cultivation and Techniques that exacted a toll on the soul; the resulting spiritual and mental torment was far more intense than any physical pain.

This was also why the Bow Lady could so easily devour the souls of enemies after Yang An had destroyed their physical bodies.

Yang An was no exception. If the pain was inflicted for too long and pushed him past his limit, his soul would suffer permanent damage. Not only would he likely be condemned to an eternity of excruciating torment, but there could be other, unspeakable consequences.

Hearing the Bow Lady’s words, Yang An took careful stock of his current condition, doing his best to steady his mind and consciousness.

The unstable world around him slowly began to sharpen and come into focus again.

’This must be the limit Fu Ming was talking about—the limit to entering this deeper world.’

As a Zombie God, he was able to reach this world-layer, Lower Hu, but that didn’t mean he could linger here for long.

But with the sound so close, he was desperate to understand everything about this place. He didn’t want to give up. Who knew how long it would be before he could return?

"Push it a little further. I think I can still take it. If things go south, I’ll have to count on you to get me back to the Gray Scale."

He trusted the Bow Lady completely, which was why he could say such a thing.

The Bow Lady fell silent, but she did as Yang An asked, silently making a slight adjustment to the pain she was inflicting upon him.

The world before Yang An’s eyes grew unstable once more, shifting from clear to hazy. But then, a blurry human figure gradually materialized in front of him.