After being jilted by the saintess at the beginning, why is she crying?

"The Abyss of Demons? The Demon Suppressing Guard?" Lin Fengmian frowned, his doubts growing stronger.

Cang Yuwei took a deep breath, as if she were accusing something, or as if she were simply stating a sad fact that had been repeated countless times:

"Does the Immortal Master not know? It is said that... deep within the Demon Abyss, a terrifying and peerless demon is sealed."

Every few centuries, the seal loosens, allowing demonic energy to seep out from the cracks.

Without suppression, the demonic energy spreads, causing everything to wither and die, and all living beings to be transformed into demonic puppets.

Her tone became sorrowful and resolute:

"Every ten years, our Phoenix Cry Kingdom selects a group of the most outstanding martial artists to form the Demon Suppression Guard, which consists of a hundred people, and sends them to the Demon Abyss."

They used their own blood and life force to form a blood array at the weakest point of the seal, using their flesh and blood to suppress and weaken the escaping demonic energy.

Although this is almost a drop in the ocean... generation after generation of demon-suppressing guards have gone to their deaths, but only one in ten have returned alive.

But...this is our mission, a responsibility etched into our blood.

She raised her head, her gaze firm and intense, looking directly into Lin Fengmian's eyes:

"Once the seal on the Demon Abyss is completely broken, and demonic energy spreads across this land... there will be no more life! And those legendary hidden immortal sects..."

It is said that they will intervene at the most critical moment of the Demon Abyss's turmoil, using immense magical power to help reinforce the seal and suppress the demonic energy. Our Phoenix Cry Kingdom has waited generations for this day when the immortal sects will intervene.

Lin Fengmian was struck as if by a thunderbolt, and froze on the spot.

It turned out to be the case.

Behind this desolate place lies such a cruel and tragic truth.

Countless images flashed wildly through his mind at that moment—

Gu Qingge's almost obsessive dedication to bloodline inheritance and procreation; at the husband-selection banquet,

The men were selected and priced like commodities;

Zhao Chen's forthrightness and innate superhuman strength;

The entire Phoenix Cry Kingdom is consumed by a fervent worship of the strong and of bloodlines…

Now everything has an answer.

It turns out that Fengming Kingdom was not a matriarchal paradise at all.

Those men who were chosen were not for pleasure or to show off.

They were eventually sent to the Abyss of Demons to suppress the all-consuming demonic energy with their own flesh and blood.

Those passionate young men, whether willingly or forced, embarked on that one-way road, becoming one cold name after another on the list of demon-suppressing guards.

The strong are not meant to be worshipped, but to be sacrificed.

Those legendary demons slumber in the Abyss of Demons.

The warriors on this land have been protecting this land abandoned by the upper realm in this almost moth-to-a-flame way for generations.

Lin Fengmian looked at Cang Yuwei, and remained silent for a long time, seeing the almost stubborn, burning light in her eyes.

He finally spoke, his voice lower than he had expected:

"And what about you? Generation after generation, you go to your deaths, do you think it's worth it?"

Cang Yuwei was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile.

The smile was faint, yet it carried a heavier weight than the grief and indignation he had just displayed.

"Worth it? There's no question of whether it's worth it or not. For our families, for the peace of the Phoenix Cry Kingdom, for the continuation of our bloodline... this is a mission etched into our bones."

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear and firm as a rock.

"From my ancestors to my elder brother, and then to... the next generation of my Cang family. From the moment we, the sons of the Cang family, were chosen as Demon Suppression Guards, not one of us has ever shown fear or retreated."

She paused, her gaze falling on Lin Fengmian, carrying a complex chill: "My nephew Canglan is also one of the candidates I recommended for the Demon Suppression Guard this year."

He was my elder brother's son, someone I personally assessed and recommended, and who was then placed on the candidate list. And you... killed him.

Lin Fengmian suddenly realized something. No wonder the other party had been chasing him like a madman, willing to cross the desert and fight to the death.

It turns out that he killed more than just Canglan.

She was also one of the candidates for the Demon Suppression Guard recommended by the Cang family, and she was the hope that Cang Yuwei held in her heart for protecting her homeland.

He sighed inwardly.

Like Gu Qingge, Cang Yuwei is a woman who is stubborn to the core.

Once a goal is set, one is like a moth drawn to a flame, relentlessly pursuing it, never turning back even after hitting a brick wall.

Yet, strangely enough, it's impossible to hate them; instead, it evokes a profound sense of respect.

This woman is truly alive. She has her own beliefs and her own principles, even if the price is generations of death and bloodshed on the yellow sand.

However... that coward Canglan deserves to die.

Lin Fengmian's lips twitched slightly.

Judging from that guy's bullying behavior in the family and his tendency to try to ambush and escape whenever trouble arises, even if he were really sent to the Abyss of Demons, he would probably be the first deserter.

Such trash would only disgrace the name of the Demon Suppressor Guard if he lived.

Just as his thoughts were turning—

A sudden change has occurred!

The surrounding winds suddenly intensified, as if a million ferocious beasts were roaring in unison! Lin Fengmian turned around abruptly, his pupils contracting sharply!

At the edge of the horizon, a colossal wall of yellow sand, stretching from the sky to the ground, is advancing at a visible speed!

The endless yellow sand churned and boiled in the gale, layer upon layer, like an apocalyptic tide, sweeping towards the location of Lin Fengmian and Cang Yuwei!

The sandstorm was accompanied by a dark, eerie wind that instantly ground even the rocks on the ground into dust!

"Oh no! It's a Soul-Devouring Storm!"

Cang Yuwei screamed in alarm, her delicate brows furrowed, her usually cold and dignified face now deathly pale.

She glanced at the approaching sandstorm wall, and for the first time, a look of near despair appeared in her eyes.

"We're in the eye of the storm... It's over... It's all over! We're going to die here!"

Her voice trembled uncontrollably. She had come out to find the immortal master with a family heirloom passed down through generations, but she never expected to accidentally enter the most dangerous forbidden area of ​​the Phoenix Cry Kingdom.

In the Phoenix Kingdom, oases suitable for human survival are already scarce, and the forbidden lands are not only lacking in water and food.

Not a blade of grass grows there; it is inhabited by all sorts of ferocious wild beasts, and—before us, natural disasters capable of devouring everything.

The Soul-Eating Storm is the most terrifying of all disasters, known as a place where there is no chance of survival.

Even martial artists at the Grandmaster level would find it difficult to escape unscathed if they fell into the eye of the storm.

Lin Fengmian's heart skipped a beat as he gazed at the massive wall of yellow sand that seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky.

The storm was like an ancient behemoth awakening, devouring the heavens and the earth. Standing before it, I felt as insignificant as a tiny boat.

It could be overturned, crushed, or completely devoured at any time.

But he did not hesitate!

He suddenly looked down at the token in his arms, which was still slightly warm.

The meeting point for the Jue Ling Sect is less than two hundred miles ahead!

Two hundred miles is a distance that would normally be covered in a short time by flying on a sword, but under this storm, it is the distance between life and death!