Chapter 1969: Mysterious Abyss Emperor

If Yun Che had heard the title "Abyss Emperor" before, he wouldn't have given it a second thought. There were countless star realms, races, and nations in the world, and naturally, innumerable emperors and rulers, but all were beneath him, the Cloud Emperor.

Now, however, these two short words carried an unparalleled oppressive weight.

"According to the legends of the Abyss," she continued, "the air in the Pure Land is utterly untainted, so pure it can almost cleanse the soul. All sorts of flowers and plants grow throughout the Pure Land, with a myriad of shapes and colors. The sky above the Pure Land is a faint blue, where the shape of every cloud can be clearly seen..."

Yun Che was speechless.

Chi Wuyao's voice became slow and deliberate. "To the beings of the Abyss, the Pure Land is the most sacred place in existence, a supreme holy land they can only gaze upon and long for throughout their lives, yet never dare to dream of attaining."

"Yet, the holy land they revere is, in our world, just an ordinary realm."

The word "Abyss" had now become the most terrifying nightmare in the eyes of all beings in the God Realm. Yet, no one knew that the most ordinary and common things they possessed were the greatest luxuries longed for by the beings of the Abyss.

"Eternal Pure Land"... these were the five words Mo Beichen painfully murmured before his life and soul dispersed, yet they were words that people of the present world could never truly comprehend.

"What kind of person is the Abyss Emperor?" Yun Che asked.

The terrifying Mo Beichen was merely a loyal servant with devout faith in him.

Chi Wuyao's expression immediately became extremely solemn, and the demonic gleam in her eyes deepened. "He is the master of the Abyss, a god above all the gods of the Abyss. He is the creator of the world of life within the Abyss, and his existence permeates the entire history of the Abyss."

"Permeates the entire history of the Abyss?" Yun Che was greatly surprised. "Does that mean the Abyss Emperor has existed since the very beginning of recorded history in the Abyss?"

"Exactly," Chi Wuyao nodded slightly. "The starting point of the Abyss world was when the Abyss Emperor used his immense power and a special profound artifact to open up the first life-sustaining region in the Abyss, gathering the 'survivors' who were also trapped within the Abyss."

"Later, with the collapse of the Abyss's laws and the rapid influx of chaotic energy, the destructive energy in some areas of the Abyss became increasingly diluted. The life-sustaining regions built by the Abyss Emperor grew larger and larger, and the number of survivors increased."

"This continued for a long time until relative stability, reproduction, and inheritance began... eventually leading to the Abyss world as it is today."

Yun Che murmured, "Those survivors..."

"Precisely," Chi Wuyao confirmed. "The earliest inhabitants of the Abyss were the gods and devils from distant eras who had fallen into the Abyss for various reasons!"

"However, the environment of the Abyss back then was far more brutal than it is now; even True Gods and Devil Gods could only barely survive for a short time. Later, the life-sustaining regions gradually expanded, and the destructive energy became increasingly diluted, but no more True Gods or Devil Gods fell in... because by then, the God-Devil War had ended, and there were no longer any True Gods in the current world."

"Now, the True Gods existing within the Abyss are all native beings born in the Abyss. Those True Gods and Devil Gods who founded the Abyss world have long since perished..."

"Except for the Abyss Emperor!"

Yun Che asked in a deep voice, "As the Abyss Emperor's close attendant, Mo Beichen's understanding of him should be the most profound, right?"

Chi Wuyao, however, shook her head. "The Abyss Emperor has no name, or rather, no one has ever known his name."

Yun Che was perplexed.

"In the perception of all beings in the Abyss, and in all Abyss records, no matter how ancient, the Abyss Emperor has always simply been 'Abyss Emperor,' with no other title or name."

"Not to mention the Abyss Knights, even the Four Divine Officials of the Pure Land, who are closest to him, have never known the Abyss Emperor's true name, and no one has ever dared to ask."

"It seems to be a great taboo for the Abyss Emperor."

"Never mind, it's not important," Yun Che said. Indeed, what the Abyss Emperor's name was wasn't important in the slightest. What was certain was that he must be a True God from the ancient Divine Race.

Chi Wuyao slowly continued, "All the gods and devils who fell into the Abyss perished, yet the Abyss Emperor, as the earliest founder of the Abyss world, has survived to this day. Undoubtedly, his power far surpasses that of ordinary gods and devils. His status among the Divine Race back then must have been quite high."

"Later, I will go through the ancient records of high-ranking gods who were cast into the Abyss. There should be very few high-ranking gods who received the Abyss punishment, so it might not be difficult to find clues."

Yun Che suddenly thought of a crucial question. "How long has it been since the Abyss Emperor founded the Abyss world?"

This duration would represent the entire history of the Abyss, and its chronicle should have clear records.

"Three million years," Chi Wuyao replied.

"!" This timeframe completely exceeded Yun Che's expectations.

Because three million years ago, the God-Devil War hadn't even begun!

As the Ancestor God had predicted, the collapse of the Abyss's laws had already begun... and the impact of the God-Devil War greatly accelerated the Abyss's aberrations.

Coincidentally... this was similar to the time when Jie Yuan was ambushed by Mo E and blasted out of the Primal Chaos.

Jie Yuan and her Devil Gods were able to survive outside the Primal Chaos for so long by relying on the independent space created by the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor's Universe Needle.

Even so, powerful as Jie Yuan was, she was ravaged to the point of looking like a fiend. Her Devil Gods were even more greatly diminished; the few survivors not only had twisted devil souls but also had very little of their lifespans remaining.

Yet the Abyss Emperor had managed to survive in the Abyss, even when its destructive energy was extremely dense, all the way to the present...

"However," Chi Wuyao mused, "this timeframe can only be taken as a reference. What if it doesn't perfectly align with the three million years as we perceive it?"

"Why?"

"Because within the Abyss, there exists a peculiar phenomenon known as the Time Dark Tide."

"Time Dark Tide?" These four words were completely new to Yun Che.

If it were a "Space Dark Tide," he might have been able to imagine some general idea. But concerning time... that was a realm Yun Che had never been able to touch.

Chi Wuyao explained, "The flow of time is eternally smooth and uniform, unaffected by any external force. This should also be one of the fundamental laws bestowed upon the world by the Ancestor God during creation."

"However, perhaps because it deviated from the laws bestowed by the Ancestor God, the wheel of time in the Abyss does not rotate steadily. It sometimes speeds up, sometimes slows down, much like tides that ebb and flow."

"Simply put, the flow rate of time in the Abyss cyclically alternates between being too fast and too slow."

Yun Che paused in thought for a moment, then said, "If that's the case, then three million years in the Abyss wouldn't be exactly the same as three million years in our world. But since it's cyclically faster and slower, the overall difference shouldn't be too great."

"Furthermore, regardless of how fast or slow time flows, the beings within it wouldn't have a direct perception of it. So, this doesn't seem to be..."

"You mean it doesn't seem to be worth caring about, right?" Chi Wuyao said.

Yun Che didn't nod. He frowned, waiting for her to continue.

He had entered the Heavenly Profound Pearl twice. The time flow rate inside was much slower than outside, but while he was there, he didn't experience any unusual spiritual perception.

"On the contrary," Chi Wuyao said, "recalling the ancient God-Devil War, the entire world underwent drastic changes, and countless spaces collapsed, yet the operation of the wheel of time showed not the slightest deviation."

"Because time is one of the most fundamental orders of the world."

"If I didn't possess the Nirvana Devil Soul, my understanding of the Abyss's 'Time Dark Tide' would probably be the same as yours. However, the very words 'Time Dark Tide' caused my Nirvana Devil Soul to feel a significant dread. This is because if even a world's wheel of time begins to fall into chaos, it means... its entire order is on the verge of collapse."

Yun Che was stunned into silence.

"Furthermore, the Time Dark Tide in the Abyss is becoming increasingly severe. Initially, the Time Dark Tide cycled once every few millennia, and the degrees of slowing down and speeding up were very small. Afterward, the cycle period has been shortening with each iteration, and the amplitude of its 'ebb and flow' has also been intensifying."

"The last cycle period of the Time Dark Tide was a mere century, and the amplitude of its fluctuation reached a terrifying tenfold."

"...I see," Yun Che murmured. "The escalating Time Dark Tide made the Abyss Emperor realize that the order of the Abyss world was on the verge of collapse, which is why he is desperately searching for a way back to this world."

Chi Wuyao continued, "But as you said, no matter how abnormal the flow of time is, the beings within it won't perceive it directly. Therefore, very few are aware of the concept of the 'Time Dark Tide,' and even fewer truly realize the disaster it signifies, even if they know of its existence."

After a long silence, Yun Che asked, "Anything else?"

Chi Wuyao replied, "Most of what I extracted from Mo Beichen was basic information about the Abyss world. There's no other information about the Abyss Emperor."

"However, regarding Mo Beichen, you might want to hear about his story," Chi Wuyao's tone softened. "His personal story isn't important in itself, but his life is the epitome of many Abyss beings."

Without waiting for Yun Che's reply, Chi Wuyao began narrating, "Mo Beichen was born into a medium-sized family in a godless nation. His father was an elder-level figure in their clan. Although his background was far superior to that of ordinary beings, because godless nations lacked divine grace and protection, he was born amidst the thin Abyss dust and was only able to grow up under the elders' careful protection."

"The cruel environment fostered cruel laws of survival. From a young age, he displayed extremely high talent, which earned him him the best resources and protection, while his siblings... one by one, were abandoned and perished in the Abyss dust."

"By the time he was a hundred years old, less than thirty percent of his clansmen from his generation remained."

"Later, he grew strong enough to resist the erosion of the Abyss dust on his own. Carrying the hopes of his entire clan, he set the lofty goal of becoming an Abyss Knight of the Pure Land."

"To temper himself, he had ventured into the Sand Abyss and entered the Mist Sea. Once he was strong enough, he bid farewell to his family, his wife, and his two daughters, and followed an Abyss Knight who recommended him to the Pure Land."

"The trials and assessments to become an Abyss Knight were quite brutal. He persevered through five years of trials and finally became an official Abyss Knight."

"However, when he returned gloriously to his hometown, his family had mistakenly believed three years prior that he had died in the Pure Land trials and had thus abandoned protection for his wife and children."

"His wife's cultivation was only at the Divine King Realm; she could barely protect herself, let alone their two daughters. Both daughters were just twenty years of age, and their cultivation was even weaker. During the three years without protection, they were plagued by severe illness due to the Abyss dust's erosion, and their lives withered. Half a month before his return, both perished."

"After burying their two daughters, his wife, utterly disheartened, took her own life."

"Mo Beichen returned, full of joy and supreme glory, only to be met with a nightmarish tragedy. He hadn't even had the chance to tell his wife and daughters that he had become a noble Abyss Knight."

"Hmph," Yun Che sneered, "how truly pathetic and tragic."

"Even a person capable of becoming an Abyss Knight had such a miserable life. One can only imagine what kind of purgatory the surviving beings in the Abyss struggle through... or perhaps, they've already grown accustomed to it."

"In this attempt to step into the current world, Mo Beichen voluntarily became a pioneer, and he was prepared to die."

"Because among all previous 'pioneers,' more than half perished in failure, and the few survivors were all flung back into the Abyss."