Chapter 289: The End of Lifespan

["The Great Dao Sect?"]

["A prototype of the Grand Pure Heaven?"]

[Your heart skipped a beat. The murmuring whispers by your ear had vanished, yet you were certain that the words you had just heard were no illusion.]

[When you closed your eyes, the fundamental workings of all three hundred layers of the illusion realms flashed through your mind. Faintly, those essences converged into the partial operating prototype of an even more inconceivable grand world.]

["The Grand Pure Heaven? Is that the name of a grand world?"]

[Your thoughts raced. 'These Three Thousand Illusion Realms are tied to the Great Dao Sect, and breaking through three hundred layers is required just to join them? I am a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch, yet it took me two thousand years to break through three hundred layers—and that only qualifies me to become an ordinary disciple of this Great Dao Sect?']

[Your expression grew solemn.]

[Either the threshold for joining the Great Dao Sect was absurdly high,]

[or you had simply broken through the three hundred illusion realms too slowly.]

[Either way, the Great Dao Sect clearly stood at a height far beyond your imagination. Setting everything else aside, just from the profound mysteries of this Dark Chessboard, you deduced that it had to be a treasure above the Void Return Stage.]

[Using a Void Return Stage treasure merely to screen disciples? What staggering wealth and extravagance.]

["The Great Dao Sect..."]

[You had never heard the name. Having read through the entire Book Mountain World on Heavenly Sword Peak, you knew a great deal about the Upper Realm, including accounts of numerous immortal forces.]

[Yet the Great Dao Sect?]

[It was completely unheard of.]

"Breaking through three hundred layers of the illusion realms makes one an ordinary disciple of the Great Dao Sect. Then what about five hundred layers? A thousand? Or even breaking through all three thousand layers?"

[A stir ran through your heart. You did not have much time left in this simulation; at most, you would stop somewhere past the three-hundredth layer.]

[However, you still had the next simulation, and countless more after that. Even if you really were somewhat slow at breaking through the illusion realms, you could simply pile up time to make up for it.]

[What took other cultivators five hundred or a thousand years to finish, you could spend three thousand, five thousand, or ten thousand years to do!]

[Time was the one thing you lacked the least.]

[Thoughts surged through your mind. Although each layer of the illusion realms within the Dark Chessboard manifested differently, their underlying essence was the same.]

[In other words, once you broke through a layer of the illusion realms, starting over in the next simulation would be like "taking an exam with the answer sheet in hand," allowing you to return at top speed to the highest layer you had previously cleared.]

['Just what kind of existence is it...']

[As you pondered to yourself, you also noticed that breaking through the three-hundredth layer had not sent you directly into the three-hundred-and-first.]

[Instead, you had arrived in an empty, barren space.]

[Not far away, a cluster of light hovered in the air.]

[You approached cautiously and looked at the cluster of light. Instantly, a massive torrent of information flooded into your mind.]

["These are the spatiotemporal coordinates of the Great Dao Sect?"]

[You let out a soft breath, a thoughtful look on your face.]

[The vast stream of information from the light cluster coalesced entirely into a precise set of coordinates.]

[Sensing these coordinates, you could clearly perceive the exact location and bearing of the Great Dao Sect.]

[No matter where you were—even in a distant grand world—you could rely on these coordinates to pinpoint the Great Dao Sect's position.]

[Of course, pinpointing the location was one thing; actually reaching it was another matter entirely. The boundless void outside the grand worlds was fraught with countless perils. If one's luck was poor enough to run into a true spirit or immortal beast roaming the cosmos, even a Void Return Stage Venerable could not guarantee survival.]

[Aside from true spirits and immortal beasts, all sorts of bizarre beings inhabited the boundless void, such as Outer Domain Heavenly Demons.]

[Within a grand world, restricted by its laws, an Outer Domain Heavenly Demon could project only a wisp of demonic thought inside. Outside the grand worlds, however, one would have to face an Outer Domain Heavenly Demon in its complete form.]

[Even the weakest Outer Domain Heavenly Demon possessed Void Return Stage strength, and with their uncanny methods, an ordinary Void Return Stage cultivator would be hard-pressed to contend with them.]

["At least I have a goal now."]

[You composed yourself. If you truly chose to ascend to the Upper Realm in the future, you wouldn't be flying around blindly. With the Great Dao Sect's coordinates, you would at least know which way to ascend.]

['Throughout the history of the Human Realm, has any other Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch ever gathered those three strange stones and fused them into this Dark Chessboard? Or does a second Dark Chessboard exist somewhere in the Human Realm?']

[You couldn't help feeling curious.]

[As things stood, this Dark Chessboard had likely been deliberately planted by the Great Dao Sect. In all probability, it wasn't limited to the Human Realm; other grand worlds might have them as well.]

[After all, since its purpose was to screen for disciples, the wider the net, the better. That much was evident from the Great Dao Sect's spatiotemporal coordinates left behind afterward.]

[No matter where they were, those spatiotemporal coordinates could draw genius cultivators from grand worlds across the boundless void to the sect in an endless stream.]

["Let's take a look at the three-hundred-and-first layer..."]

[With a flicker of thought, the surrounding space began to shift, rapidly forming the workings of a brand-new world.]

[At the same time, the low whispers that had filled your ears vanished completely.]

["So those indistinct murmurs only appear when approaching the end of a particular stage of the illusion realms?"]

[You had a good grasp of the pattern now.]

[At the same time, you began to observe this layer of the illusion realms.]

[Breaking through this layer was much easier than the three-hundredth. Without those intermittent whispers, you naturally felt much more at ease.]

["At the shortest, a few years; at the longest, several decades or a century, and I'll be able to break through."]

[After immersing yourself in observation for over half a day, you reached this conclusion.]

[Year 2,500. You were 2,517 years old.]

[The white-haired demon came to see you once again.]

["Fellow Daoist Qingyuan, do you have any other questions?"]

[The white-haired demon looked at you. Under your agreement, in two hundred years you would give up resisting and help the Purgatory Demon Sovereign occupy this realm.]

[That was also why the Purgatory demons had refrained from invading the Human Realm for four hundred years. Your strength was simply too great; without seven or eight Fifth Tier Late Stage demon monarchs, there was no dealing with you at all.]

["I do indeed have one more request."]

[In a calm voice, you slowly said, "I want the Demon Sovereign to swear a great heart demon oath that within two hundred years, his true body will not descend upon the Human Realm."]

[By your estimate of your own lifespan, you had about a hundred years left to live.]

[In a hundred years, when you passed away in meditation from old age, it would trigger a phenomenon across heaven and earth in the Human Realm, which the Purgatory Demon Sovereign would notice in turn.]

[Judging by the strength the Purgatory Demon Sovereign displayed in the previous simulation, the Human Realm would be occupied within a few years at most, and the Purgatory Demon Sovereign would personally descend upon the Human Realm.]

[And right after that, he would be obliterated by a single slash of sword light from the Sword Lord, whether dead or alive unknown.]

[That was why you needed the Purgatory Demon Sovereign to swear this great heart demon oath, delaying his descent into the Human Realm by a hundred years.]

[This was so your golden talent, Dead But Not Stiff, could smoothly possess a body for a full century.]

["His true body may not descend upon the Human Realm within two hundred years?"]

[The white-haired demon frowned. Your demand made no sense at all. The Demon Sovereign had already agreed to wait two hundred years before invading; what need was there to swear a great heart demon oath?]

[A great heart demon oath was not limited to human cultivators. Any living being that stepped onto the path of cultivation would be bound and restricted by a great heart demon oath.]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign was a Void Return demon sovereign residing in the Demon Abyss Realm, with a slim hope of taking one step further. The odds that he would violate a great heart demon oath were exceedingly low.]

["Yes. I have a dao companion who is about to pass away in meditation. Before she dies, she does not wish to see any aura of the Demon Abyss Realm..."]

[You spoke, casually making up an excuse.]

[The white-haired demon fell silent, clearly communicating with the Purgatory Demon Sovereign.]

[In the vast Demon Abyss Realm.]

[Towering like a mountain, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign looked down at the white-haired demon. "Have this Sovereign swear a great heart demon oath? Not to descend in my true body upon the Human Realm within two hundred years?"]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign frowned, unable to see the point of this great heart demon oath.]

[Once again, he peered through the spatial rift into the Human Realm, confirming that the plane was fairly stable and would not collapse within two hundred years.]

["Demon Sovereign, why not just agree to it? It's only two hundred years anyway."]

[After pondering for a moment, the white-haired demon offered the suggestion. He couldn't figure out how this great heart demon oath would restrict the Purgatory Demon Sovereign either. Even without the oath, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign wouldn't forcibly attack the Human Realm within the next two hundred years.]

[Having already waited four hundred years, why would he choose to pay a brutal price to launch a forced assault in the final two hundred?]

["Fine, but the details must be properly filled in."]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign nodded. As a powerhouse of the Demon Abyss Realm, he knew the binding force of a great heart demon oath all too well and would leave no loopholes to exploit.]

[For instance, this two-hundred-year period had to refer specifically to Human Realm time, rather than the much longer timescale of the Demon Abyss Realm.]

["However, does that Heavenly Monarch Qingyuan dare enter the Demon Abyss Realm to hear this Sovereign swear the heart demon oath?"]

[A trace of mockery surfaced on the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's face. Even if it meant splitting off only a wisp of divine sense, as a creature of the Human Realm, would he dare enter the Demon Abyss Realm?]

[The Human Realm, Heavenly Sword Peak.]

["Then I shall split off a strand of divine sense and follow Fellow Daoist White Demon into the Demon Abyss Realm."]

[You spoke.]

[You possessed a Second Primordial Spirit, and the divine sense you split off belonged to that Second Primordial Spirit. Even if something went wrong, you could completely abandon the Second Primordial Spirit at once without affecting your main primordial spirit.]

[Moreover, after breaking through the three-hundredth layer of the illusion realms, your soul willpower had risen further. Together with your many talents, you wouldn't be entirely defenseless upon entering the Demon Abyss Realm.]

["Alright..."]

[The white-haired demon nodded.]

[With a flicker of thought, you had your Second Primordial Spirit split off a wisp of divine sense and attach it to a jade slip.]

[The white-haired demon gave you a deep look, picked up the jade slip, and left Heavenly Sword Peak.]

[Before long, the white-haired demon carried your divine sense through the spatial rift and arrived in the Demon Abyss Realm.]

[A spatial rift was essentially a two-way passage; only because the Demon Abyss Realm was far stronger than the Human Realm had no Human Realm cultivator ever dared enter it until now.]

[Whoosh—]

[As your divine sense attached to the jade slip was carried into the Demon Abyss Realm, you observed the surroundings.]

[Before long, the white-haired demon brought you before a towering figure.]

[Two massive, twisting black horns grew from his head. With every breath he took, black currents surged from his nostrils, whipping up terrifying storms across tens of millions of li.]

["The Purgatory Demon Sovereign?"]

[You gazed at him from afar.]

[Just then, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign spoke first, his voice booming like thunder, "I, Sovereign Purgatory, swear today..."]

[Once you confirmed that the great heart demon oath sworn by the Purgatory Demon Sovereign matched your requirements, and that you had not fallen into some sort of illusion, you decisively dispersed that strand of divine sense.]

["That's more or less settled."]

[On Heavenly Sword Peak, you directly sealed your Second Primordial Spirit to eliminate any hidden risks, then turned your gaze once more toward the end of the Deep Sea.]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign's willingness to swear the great heart demon oath put you much more at ease. Of course, that was also because the oath you requested placed virtually no real demands or restrictions on him.]

[Merely refraining from descending upon the Human Realm in his true body within two hundred years—and specifically stipulating two hundred years of Human Realm time? Whether he swore it or not, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign lost nothing at all.]

['I'm saving you here, you know?']

[You thought to yourself. Without the restraint of this great heart demon oath, the moment the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's true body descended upon the Human Realm would be the moment he faced a single sword strike from the Sword Lord.]

[In the sixth simulation, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's towering demonic body had crumbled into nothingness under that single strike, even his soul dissipating.]

[Although you didn't know whether he had truly died in the end, or if he possessed other life-saving methods—such as hiding a Second Primordial Spirit somewhere in the Demon Abyss Realm—]

[crippling injuries were an absolute certainty.]

[A powerful physical body inevitably consumed countless resources; there was no telling how many ages the Purgatory Demon Sovereign had spent refining the true body that descended upon the Human Realm.]

[Twenty years later, you broke through the three-hundred-and-first layer of the illusion realms.]

[Ever since learning that this Dark Chessboard was connected to the Great Dao Sect of the Upper Realm, your interest in the layers of illusion realms inside had soared.]

["The three-hundred-and-second layer..."]

[You plunged into the next layer of the illusion realms once again.]

[Year 2,550. You were 2,567 years old.]

[You halted your cultivation, walked out of your cave abode, and entered Li Yan's cave abode.]

["Master, Yan'er is about to leave..."]

[On the surface, Li Yan showed nothing unusual at all, still in the prime of her grace and peerless in beauty.]

[Yet you could clearly sense that this female Heavenly Monarch was nearing the very limit of her lifespan.]

[For a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch, even with lifespan-extending treasures maxed out, the maximum lifespan without choosing to fall into slumber was only two thousand five hundred years.]

[You estimated that you could live to two thousand six hundred years old because, across several simulations, your cultivation realm was high enough, and you had started this simulation already at the Deity Transformation Stage. That let you slow the passage of time on your primordial spirit and physical body to some degree, granting you several extra decades to a century of life.]

[Even so, that was already the limit.]

["Leaving is for the best."]

[You stroked Li Yan's head and let out a sigh.]

[Passing away in meditation from old age was always better than dying at the hands of those demon monarchs from the Demon Abyss Realm.]

["Being able to stay with Master across two lifetimes... Yan'er is already deeply content..."]

[Li Yan leaned into your embrace, her face filled with happiness.]

[Compared to her previous life, when she had stopped short of the Deity Transformation Stage, in this life Li Yan had accompanied you for a full two thousand five hundred years.]

[Half a year later, Li Yan passed away in meditation.]

[You did not preserve Li Yan's physical body; instead, you cremated it and scattered her ashes across the Human Realm.]

[The physical body of a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch was equivalent to a Rank 5 natural treasure, something those demonic creatures from the Demon Abyss Realm loved to devour.]

[At the same time, you copied Li Yan's memories into a jade slip, intending to use it in the next simulation.]

[In this simulation, not only had Li Yan stepped into the Deity Transformation Stage, her musical mastery had also reached the Fifth Tier Low Grade Peak.]

[She had been only a hair's breadth away from stepping into the Fifth Tier Middle Grade.]

[After seeing Li Yan off, you stood atop Heavenly Sword Peak with your hands clasped behind your back, looking down over the Human Realm.]

[After Li Yan passed away in meditation, you did not have much lifespan left either—roughly fifty more years to live.]