Shui Hanyi and Molojia advanced along the route from four years ago, only to find that everything had changed.
"Why has it become like this? This valley... when did it become so vast and boundless, like... like an undeveloped ancient ruin... No, more mysterious and terrifying than ancient ruins, filled with divine beasts..."
Shui Hanyi, with his messy, grey-streaked long hair and wrinkled face, had transformed into the appearance of a seventy or eighty-year-old man.
He trembled slightly, unable to suppress the shock in his heart. His appearance continued to age rapidly, scaring him so much that he quickly reined in his thoughts and managed to calm himself down, halting the transformation.
Molojia glanced at Shui Hanyi, his heart undisturbed, as if he hadn't noticed.
Initially, like Shui Hanyi, he too had been shaken by the changes here, rapidly aging.
But he quickly regained his composure.
Molojia collected himself, his resolve growing firmer. He realized that as long as he maintained this state of being free from distractions, he would not be eroded by the mysterious energy in the valley, which caused aging.
He managed to maintain his appearance at fifty or sixty years old, having lost ten years of his life, just barely controlling it to prevent further aging.
However, he had no idea how to recover his original appearance. He could only feel fortunate that he was doing better than Shui Hanyi.
As for the subordinates they had brought with them, only a little over ten remained.
The rest had either aged into dry corpses and died, or had been detected and devoured by divine beasts.
Shui Hanyi couldn't save so many disciples. Molojia disdained to save them. As long as his own safety and strength were guaranteed, that was what mattered. If he succeeded, how difficult would it be to acquire thousands of subordinates?
"The Heavenly Chasm of Life and Death is certainly not comparable to ordinary places. This place must hide the secret to becoming a god, otherwise, how could there be so many divine beasts? Perhaps Bai Yanshu discovered something, which caused these changes. Could it be that he opened the legendary passage to the divine realm..."
As Molojia spoke, he suddenly stopped, staring intently ahead.
In the ethereal mist, he seemed to sense something.
It was a powerful energy, emanating from afar. The more he perceived it, the more distinct it became. Deeper than the ocean, vaster than the sky, carrying a majestic vitality, unimaginable... It strongly attracted Molojia.
His heart suddenly pounded, and he shot forward like lightning.
Shui Hanyi was startled and shouted, "Molojia, what are you doing? Where are you going!?"
But Molojia didn't look back at all, let alone answer him. In a blink of an eye, he was just a black dot. Only then did Shui Hanyi realize that he must have discovered something and quickly followed.
The remaining subordinates followed closely, not daring to stay behind.
Finally, after flying for over half an hour, having consumed nearly half of his spiritual power, Molojia's pupils contracted, and he finally saw it.
The clouds slowly parted, and a pillar of light suddenly shone down, slanting directly towards the ground.
Even from a great distance, the beam of light was clearly visible!
It was like a luminous bridge connecting heaven and earth, radiating a shockingly powerful energy, hidden behind a mountain peak. Above, colorful auspicious clouds and mist drifted, filled with sacredness and etherealness, as if one could ascend to another world by following this luminous bridge.
"What... what is this? Light... or a passage?" Molojia himself was unsure.
Shui Hanyi, who followed, was also shocked and gasped.
"The Path to Heaven! This is the Path to Heaven!"
Shui Hanyi trembled all over, his excited heart almost leaping out. A faint red glow appeared on his aged face, and he exclaimed, "So this is it! There is indeed a method to becoming a god within the Heavenly Chasm of Life and Death. By following this Path to Heaven, one can become a god and reach the divine realm!" Kuai Shu Ge.
Molojia's body shook: "How do you know? What is the Path to Heaven?"
Even he didn't know, so why had Shui Hanyi heard of it?
Was he lying to him!?
But Shui Hanyi was so excited that he didn't even look at Molojia. He stared intently at the golden luminous bridge ahead, walking forward with fascination. As he walked, he muttered, "It must be. I saw it in ancient texts passed down in the sacred land. I originally thought it was a legend, but I didn't expect it to be real!"
"There really is a Path to Heaven in this world, how wonderful... how wonderful!"
"This old man can finally become a god, Hahahaha..."
Shui Hanyi acted as if he had gone mad, laughing as he walked, his pace quickening.
His mind was unstable, and the mysterious power invaded him again, causing him to age rapidly, changing at a visible speed.
The corners of his eyes drooped, his facial skin sagged, his hair and beard became whiter and lost their luster, and his body began to waste away. His vitality drained rapidly, and he became incomparably old.
But Shui Hanyi paid no attention to his own transformation. With trembling hands, he took out a bottle of pills from his storage ring and swallowed them all.
He seemed to recover slightly and stumbled towards the golden luminous bridge.
"Sect Leader!"
The remaining three elders of the Taichu Sacred Land behind him shouted: "Don't go! It's too dangerous! Sect Leader, come back quickly!"
"Elders, that thing will absorb your life and make you die faster, hurry back!"
But no matter how much they shouted to Shui Hanyi, he turned a deaf ear.
Molojia had no interest in caring about the lives and deaths of the Taichu Sacred Land's people. He stood there for a while, until his excitement gradually subsided and his eyes became indifferent, his heart undisturbed, before he walked forward step by step.
"Not good, it seems I've lost another four or five years." He touched his withered face and said expressionlessly.
He had to go and see the luminous bridge.
Shui Hanyi was already beyond saving, surely doomed. He had to ensure his own safety. Regardless of whether the luminous bridge was the Path to Heaven, he had to go and see it. The opportunity to become a god was right before him, and he would be the one to succeed in the end.
Once he had endless lifespan, why would he care about this little bit?
Seeing that the Demon Lord had already left, the remaining eight demonic sect experts hesitated for a moment before continuing.
They were similar to Shui Hanyi, all having lost decades of their lives, with white hair and weakened energy. The youngest among them looked to be in their seventies or eighties, while the others were all withered and near death.
Following the Demon Lord Molojia was their only hope. Otherwise, even if they retreated, they would likely die on the way.
Might as well take a gamble!
Not long after, Molojia caught up with the staggering Shui Hanyi.
The further they walked, the older Shui Hanyi became.
He was like a dried corpse, his eye sockets deeply sunken, his eyes cloudy and vacant, yet he stared fixedly at the increasingly majestic luminous bridge, his greed and excitement evident.
A phoenix cry came from the clouds. Shui Hanyi's neck stiffened, and he shakily looked up, his voice filled with excitement: "Phoenix... it's the divine bird Phoenix! If this isn't the divine realm, how could there be so many divine beasts?"
Perhaps it was truly the path to the divine realm?
At this moment, even Molojia was stunned.
Not just the phoenix, but the figures of various divine beasts could be seen in the clouds: Baize, Kunpeng, Jinwu, Zhuque, Baihu... He had only seen their likenesses in ancient texts, and this was the first time he had seen them in reality.
"The Path to Heaven!"
Molojia shouted, and could no longer control himself. His body moved like lightning, leaving the near-death Shui Hanyi behind as he rushed forward.
He flew at full speed, immortal spiritual energy washing over him. The ground was rugged and strewn with rocks, covered in pits of all sizes, as well as cracks. Some were a zhang wide, others several zhang wide, like abysses. He passed them without hesitation.
As he was finally about to reach the golden luminous bridge, Molojia suddenly stopped.
He saw a person sitting cross-legged in front of the luminous bridge.