In front of the teleportation array, glamorous colors were soaring up to the sky, tearing irregular gaps through which one could see the night sky of the other world.
A brand-new, single teleportation cabin was ready.
Li Yao was in the superlative height of the Core Formation Stage, and his combat ability was close to the Nascent Soul Stage or a demon emperor. To teleport him back to the Heaven's Origin Sector was equivalent to teleporting a super-heavy devilish warship. Therefore, thorough protection was required.
Otherwise, accidents might happen during the journey even if the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector were right next to each other. If anything went wrong, he might be torn into shreds by the storms in the four-dimensional space and end up like the fourteen demon emperors three months ago.
Wearing a carefully-mended combat suit of the federal army, Li Yao bade everybody farewell one by one.
"President Li—"
Han Tuhu stared at him with complicated feelings. He craved to go back home with him, but he was more sacred that his current appearance would be misunderstood by his compatriots and his family. After struggling for a long time, he sighed and said, "Please. Hand over the letters to our family. Let them know that we are still alive."
Li Yao clenched his fists. All the letters had been carefully stored in his Cosmos Ring. "Rest assured. I certainly will!"
"Safe journey!" The Fire Ant King was standing next to Jin Xinyue and Suo Chaolong in a trance. "I hope that we will hear the news of peace soon instead of seeing the billions of soldiers of the Star Glory Federation."
Pausing for a moment, the Fire Ant King's eyes were focused again. His eyeballs were covered in a thin, icy shell, which made him appear a little bit cold. "If the Star Glory Federation really makes up its mind to take the opportunity to occupy the Blood Demon Sector, the demon race will not wait to be captured. We will not wash our neck and wait to be beheaded, either.
"The Demon God Virus is still spreading in the Blood Demon Sector. The epidemic area is expanding. The coalition army of demons is the only factor that is stopping it from going out of control.
"If the federal army invades, we will have to mobilize our forces to resist. Then, the plague will certainly get out of control, and the entire Blood Demon Sector might be infected.
"If the Blood Demon Sector becomes a paradise for the walking dead, will the Heaven's Origin Sector be far away?"
Li Yao nodded again. "I will try my best to prevent such a dreadful future from coming true!"
He walked to the teleportation array one step after another. Jin Tuyi was the only one in front of him now.
Jin Tuyi today was much older than a few days ago. His feathers had turned bright gray, and his back was somewhat hunched.
Li Yao had complicated feelings seeing that the guy who used to be at the top of the sector had ended up like this.
Jin Tuyi was definitely not a good guy. If anything, he was a great villain. If the original Red Tide Plan had worked out, tens of millions of citizens in the capital city of the Star Glory Federation would have been killed.
He was a truly ambitious schemer.
However, Li Yao did not know if he should hate the guy. Also, it seemed that the guy would not be influenced at all no matter how he was hated.
Pondering for a long time, Li Yao simply said, "I'm going home. Any last reminder, Senior Jin?"
Jin Tuyi smiled. He extended his wings from which feathers were falling and pointed at his temples softly. "I don't have much to tell you now. Recently, I've been maintaining my brain carefully. I cannot use too much of my computational ability. Many things are obscure to me now."
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. "Maintaining your brain?"
Was there any value in maintaining Jin Tuyi's brain?
"Exactly," Jin Tuyi replied calmly. "I want my brain to function normally and to keep the basic intelligence when I plead guilty in the court of law.
"If the No. 1 war criminal in the tribunal is an utter moron who pees and shits himself in the room, it will be a humiliation for both the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, won't it?
"However, I have a feeling that I won't be able to persist for long. Hehe. So, you'd better be fast and solve the whole thing as soon as possible so that I can be sent to the tribunal earlier. Do not let me evade the trial in such an awkward way!"
Li Yao nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Senior Jin. I will certainly send you to the tribunal while you can still walk and end the war!"
After the declaration, he strode to the teleportation cabin without looking back.
"Wait!"
Jin Tuyi suddenly stopped him and walked forward with him.
The commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons, the master of the Blood Demon Sector, stared at Li Yao with eyes that seemed to be piercing into his soul. He said, "This might not be a 'reminder', but I do have something that I want to say to you."
Li Yao stopped and listened attentively.
"From what I've seen, you've been considering, debating, and making quite a fuss about who the Children of the Nether World are and who Abyss is lately, right?"
Li Yao nodded. "That's right. Sorting through all the intelligence, Jin Xinyue and I have made a list of hundreds of names that could possibly be the Children of the Nether World. As for Abyss, we have determined almost twenty suspects and calculated their danger degree according to how suspicious they are. After I am back in the Heaven's Origin Sector, I will be highly vigilant if I run into anybody whose name is on the list."
Jin Tuyi smiled. "After only several days, a great list with hundreds of names has been produced. That's my daughter! So, you both believe that the Children of the Nether World and Abyss will be your greatest enemies on your trip to the Heaven's Origin Sector?"
Li Yao was dazed. "Are they not?"
The mist in Jin Tuyi's eyes was suddenly gone. His pupils were as clear as water, reflecting the beautiful auroras in the sky, which made him appear decades younger and seemed to have turned him into the Jin Tuyi three months ago!
"Do you know why I did not participate in the discussion of the list? My lack of computational ability was just part of the reason. More importantly, I didn't think that the Children of the Nether World and Abyss will necessarily be your biggest enemies.
"Or rather, it is pointless to waste time on who Abyss is.
"Elder Nether Spring's purpose is to trigger the bloody hatred between the two Sectors in a short amount of time, thereby raising a world war.
"Not just the Children of the Nether World and Abyss can achieve that.
"Remember what I spoke to you when we met for the first time? Even if the assault of the Imperium of True Human Beings is confirmed, the Heaven's Origin Sector might not give up the war against the Blood Demon Sector. If anything, it will be even more desperate and will try to occupy the Blood Demon Sector at any cost so that all the demons will be sent to the mines as slaves.
"Perhaps, in the eyes of the leadership of the federation, this is the best solution to the threat of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
"Hehe. If that's the case, does it really matter who Abyss is?
"Maybe, everybody has an Abyss deep inside their heart. Grief, fury, hatred, greed, arrogance… When their soul is consumed by the dark side of their emotions, anybody can become Abyss.
"Ding Lingdang can. Fiend Blade Peng Hai can. Speaker Jiang Hailiu can. Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao can. Director Lu Zui can. Supervisor Guo Chunfeng can. I, Jin Tuyi, the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons, can. Of course, you, Vulture Li Yao, can."
His countenance greatly changed, Li Yao replied subconsciously, "I am not Abyss. Definitely not!"
Jin Tuyi smiled. "It's true that you are definitely not the Abyss that Elder Nether Spring created, but are you really certain that you will not turn into another Abyss under any circumstances?"
Li Yao's body shook violently as if somebody poured cold water on his head.
Jin Tuyi's eyes seemed to be pouring the tremendous auroras they swallowed into Li Yao body. He said calmly, "Do you understand now? Maybe, when you are back in the Heaven's Origin Sector, your real enemy will not be the Abyss that Elder Nether Spring created but the countless Abysses created by anger, greed, ambitions, arrogance, and hatred.
"The former Abyss will be easy to deal with, but the latter Abysses are invisible and ubiquitous. How are you going to deal with them?"
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. "Are you suggesting that I must find a way to eliminate the hatred between the two Sectors, Senior Jin?"
Jin Tuyi coughed and waved his hands. "You've got it wrong, young man. It is neither possible nor necessary to eliminate hatred.
"In the short term, the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector have fought for centuries. In the long term, mankind has been at war with the demon race for forty thousand years since they split apart. How can the hatred be eliminated in one day?"
Li Yao was silent.
Jin Tuyi sighed. "I am not asking you to eliminate hatred. I am just hoping that you, and everybody that can determine our future, will not be devoured by hatred and fall into the abyss of darkness where you will make insane decisions that you won't even have the chance to regret later."
He paused in a self-mocking smile and continued. "The words sound a bit ironic when they come from the mouth of a crazy warlord, don't they?"
Jin Tuyi's back was hunched again as he staggered to leave.
"Senior Jin!" Li Yao felt that his head was in a mess. Raising his voice, he asked, "On many occasions, I cannot even chop off the dark emotions, such as anger, greed, hatred, and bloodthirst, in my own heart. How can I stop other people?"
Jin Tuyi waved his hands casually without looking back. "Don't be silly, young man. Kindness and evilness are the two sides of one's soul. How can you chop off the evil side completely? Will a man still be a man without evilness? Learn to live in peace with your dark side!"
Wind was blowing on the Nine Voids. In the middle of the sandstorm, the auroras were flickering. Li Yao found it almost impossible to see his own fingers. Very soon, Jin Tuyi's back disappeared in the dust.
Calming himself down, Li Yao stepped into the teleportation cabin and closed the cabin cover heard. He took a long breath and wiped his face.
A mysterious, dangerous path might still have been awaiting him, but no matter what would happen, he was going home!