The boat drifted across the slightly choppy river. Tan Tian stood at the bow, his gaze sharp and fixed straight ahead. I leaned quietly against the side, my thoughts a tangled mess.
"Do you think Zhang Qingyuan has already joined forces with Old Hell, providing Hell's power for their use?"
Tan Tian shook his head.
"Although it looks that way, I fear it's not so simple. Long ago, during the war between the Underworld Court and Old Hell, the place sealing the Earth Soul of the Wraithlord became the key battleground. In the end, Emperor God and his allies were forced to the Wraithlord's sealed land, where they fought a prolonged battle against the Ten Judges. The three of them died and passed into the Shadow Realm."
I swallowed hard, and Tan Tian continued speaking.
He was there for that battle, witnessing everything firsthand. Emperor God and his allies fought desperately to free the Earth Soul of the Wraithlord from its seal, but the Ten Judges saw through their plan and sabotaged it, causing them to fail. After their deaths, Tan Tian noticed something strange—the island sealing the Wraithlord also vanished, and only through the combined efforts of the Ten Judges and the Saint of the Underworld was the Earth Soul moved and resealed in Abyssal Hell.
"Back then, I wondered how that island disappeared, and where it went. Now I know. The floating island that once sealed the Wraithlord was the current Isle of Nine Shadows in the Shadow Realm. That island, separated from Hell, was taken to the Shadow Realm by those three. They used it to create the Isle of Nine Shadows, and began experimenting with things they crafted themselves using part of Hell."
I stood up. A river channel appeared to our left, and Tan Tian raised his hand, steering the boat into it.
In the blink of an eye, I stared wide-eyed as the black rocks to our right vanished, and the vast field of red spider lilies to our left disappeared as well. In their place surged a raging sea, its waves rising and falling unpredictably. All around, red lightning struck down, rumbling loudly.
The violent waves made our small boat pitch and toss. I clung tightly to the mast, feeling a layer of purple Corpse Barrier crawl across my skin. Tan Tian stood unshaken at the bow, undisturbed no matter how fiercely the boat rocked.
"Can you tell me, what is your real reason for standing with us?"
I asked again. Tan Tian lied to everyone, but he couldn't fool me, because I know—I know everything. He can't hide it from me.
Tan Tian turned to look at me, his eyes empty of emotion, only coldness there.
"It seems you've noticed."
"I'm neither blind nor foolish."
Tan Tian stared at the restless sea, raising both hands. Suddenly, wing-like structures appeared on both sides of the boat, pressing against the water. Instantly, the boat stopped rocking and became calm.
"It is indeed because of Sylvia Blue. She possesses human emotions."
I swallowed hard, and Tan Tian continued speaking.
In the future world, Ethan Zhang eventually defeated the Wraithlord, but because he himself was of Hell, the world was destroyed, leaving nothing behind except Rachel Lan, who was about to give birth, seeking a way out in that desolate world.
Yet Rachel Lan was about to give birth; two children were coming. Even if she used all her strength and traded her own life for Sylvia Blue's, and her remaining time for Seven's survival, it was still not enough. In that world, the children would die as soon as they were born.