All Realms and Worlds: The Lost Home

The mountain wind whipped up pebbles that pelted the cliff edge, and just as it was about to cause a violent commotion, a dark crack suddenly appeared in mid-air.

There was no dazzling light, nor surging energy. The crevice was like a tattered cloth torn open with a knife, with a faint gray mist floating at its edges. As soon as it emerged, the air on the entire mountain seemed to freeze, making one's chest feel tight.

Shen Jianxin's Devouring Sword had only reached halfway when his movement abruptly stopped; Wen Yan gripped his longsword, his eyes filled with undisguised surprise; the worst off was Yao Guang, whose relaxed demeanor vanished instantly, his face turning ashen, and a hint of panic hidden in his eyes that he himself didn't even realize.

"Oh no!"

Yao Guang's voice was hoarse, her gaze fixed on the crack, and she uttered two words: "It's him."

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure slowly walked out from the gap.

The man wore an ordinary long robe, was tall and slender, and had a face that would be easily lost in a crowd. His only distinguishing feature was his eyes, which were frighteningly black yet eerily still—there was no murderous intent, no ferocity, not even a trace of emotional fluctuation. Yet, those eyes made Yao Guang's whole body stiffen, and even her breathing slowed down.

The demon of anger.

The one who gave him power and dragged him into nightmares has truly crossed space and come here to block his way.

The hunters halfway up the mountain also sensed something was wrong. The dark figure that had been heading straight for the summit suddenly stopped, hovering in mid-air, afraid to move. Most of the malice on its body was gone, and it cautiously glanced at the Demon of Wrath—clearly, they had heard of this guy's name.

The Demon of Anger ignored the henchmen, his gaze sweeping over Shen Jianxin and Wen Yan before finally settling on Yao Guang. He frowned slightly, his tone flat yet as heavy as a stone thrown into the hearts of the three: "You have disappointed me greatly."

Yao Guang shuddered, his fists clenching tightly. For years, he had believed that his loss of control and being plagued by inner demons were all tricks of the demon of anger, deliberately set up by this old man to manipulate him. But this lighthearted rebuke shattered his long-held belief.

"You can't even control your own power," the Demon of Wrath's gaze swept over the newly scabbed wound on his chest, his tone carrying a hint of disgust and disappointment, "As the successor of my Lord of Wrath, you can't even suppress the corruption of your own evil energy, instead allowing the inner demon to take advantage of you, how shameful."

Shen Jianxin and Wen Yan exchanged a glance, both seeing a look of surprise in each other's eyes.

Not a conspiracy?

So all of Yao Guang's struggles over the years, and all that mess he made, was because he couldn't control his power?

Yao Guang opened her mouth, as if to say something, but in the end she could only manage a bitter laugh, her voice hoarse: "I always thought... this was all your arrangement."

"My arrangement?" The Demon of Anger sneered, his disdain almost overflowing. "If the successor of the Lord of Anger has to resort to underhanded tactics to control his power, then this power might as well be thrown away."

Just then, the remnants of the Blazing Sun Realm halfway up the mountain recovered.

They could sense the aura of the Demon of Anger, but saw him display no overwhelming power whatsoever. Then, considering the allure of the Earth clues, greed immediately overwhelmed their fear. The leading figure in black let out a low shout, and a dozen or so figures hidden in the shadows instantly emerged, rushing recklessly towards the mountaintop—wanting to seize the clues and capture the three members of Yao Guang, and also to test the strength of this Demon Lord.

Shen Jianxin's eyes turned cold, and he was about to attack with his sword, but Chenmo raised his hand to stop him.

The hand was simply outstretched, without any particular move or energy fluctuation, just like a greeting from an ordinary person.

The Demon of Anger glanced at the swarming minions, a playful smile curving his lips: "They've got some guts. Sensing my presence, they still dare to charge forward. Interesting."

He turned to look at Yao Guang, his playful expression vanishing, and said in a deep voice, "Watch closely, Yao Guang."

"Have you always believed that the power of anger is sustained by rage, driven by inner demons, and that the more ruthless one kills, the stronger the power?"

Yao Guang nodded subconsciously. Over the years, every time he used his power, it was because he was consumed by rage. The fiercer his inner demons were, the more powerful he became, but also the more out of control he became. This had long become a habit of his.

"wrong."

As soon as the Demon of Anger finished speaking, the air around them suddenly changed.

It wasn't the explosive sound of colliding energy, nor the oppressive force of expanding domains; it was just an indescribable distortion, as if it were stirring up all the thoughts in people's hearts.

Those cultivators from the Blazing Sun Realm who rushed forward suddenly froze.

They weren't immobilized or imprisoned; the murderous intent and greed on their faces suddenly vanished. The leading figure in black raised his knife, about to strike, but his arm froze in mid-air. The ferocity on his face disappeared, replaced by a blank expression, muttering, "Why...why did I kill them?"

The cultivators behind them also froze. Some gripped their weapons, while others focused their spells, but they all seemed to have been acupunctured, their eyes vacant and unable to move.

There was no earth-shattering noise, no scene of flying blood and flesh, not even the slightest unnecessary commotion.

The Demon of Anger stood there, without moving an inch, and with just a slight movement of its so-called "power of anger," the attack of more than a dozen people dissipated.

True anger is not rage, but clarity of mind.

The voice of the Demon of Anger was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears: "See through the broken thoughts in your own heart, don't be led by your emotions, and let those who are bound by their obsessions wake up—that is the use of the power of anger."

He raised a finger, and the frozen cultivators suddenly began to retreat. The bewilderment on their faces slowly turned into panic, not out of fear of being killed, but out of fear of the filth in their own hearts.

"When you use anger, you are being led by your emotions. You rely on your inner demons to amplify your anger. You may look fierce, but you are just a puppet of power."

The Demon of Anger looked at Yao Guang, his tone softening slightly, "I gave you power so that you could see people's true nature and control yourself, not so that you could be used as a tool by your inner demons. Your ability to generate inner demons has nothing to do with me; it's because you yourself dare not face this power—daring not to face the clarity behind the power, nor daring not to face the mistakes you've made."

Yao Guang watched as the cultivators scrambled away, his mind reeling as if it had exploded.

He always thought that anger was meant for destruction, but he never imagined that its most fundamental aspect was clarity.

Over the years, he has relied on anger to drive his power, thinking that it is control. To put it bluntly, it is escapism—escaping the sin of killing people and the difficulty of wielding power, which gave his inner demons an opportunity to take hold.

"They...they just ran away like that?" Wen Yan scratched his head, his tone full of disbelief.

A dozen or so people, including two half-step Great Powers, were terrified out of their wits by a single word and gesture from the Demon of Anger. If this were told to others, probably no one would believe it.

Shen Jianxin sheathed the Devouring Sword, his gaze falling on the Wrathful Demon. He remained vigilant, but with a hint of scrutiny. This Wrathful Demon was nothing like the ruthless killers of legend.

The Demon of Anger ignored the two of them, her gaze still fixed on Yao Guang. She posed a question in a calm tone, yet it made all three of them anxious: "Now, do you know how to use this power?"

Yao Guang took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart. She raised her head, the confusion in her eyes gone, replaced by clarity: "I understand. Not through anger, but through my own heart. See myself clearly, and see others clearly, without being swayed by emotions."

"You're not completely stupid." The Demon of Anger's brows relaxed, then quickly furrowed again. "But you have to pay the debts you owe yourself. I can help you uproot the demons in your heart, but I can't cultivate for you."

He raised his hand and waved it, and a faint gray mist drifted out, gently entering Yao Guang's brow.

Yao Guang shuddered, feeling as if the cloud of gloom that had been hanging over his mind for years had instantly dissipated completely. The scenes of carnage that had woken him in the middle of the night, the whispers of the inner demons that had always tempted him, were all gone. What remained was an unprecedented sense of clarity and lucidity.

He looked down at his hands, hands that had once been stained with blood and controlled by his inner demons, but now they were quiet and still, without even a tremor.

"Thanks." Yao Guang bowed to Chen Mo, her tone sincere and genuine.

"Don't thank me." The Demon of Anger waved his hand, his tone returning to its previous indifference. "I just don't want my successor to be a useless piece of trash who can't even control his power."

He turned to look at the still-open spatial rift, his tone becoming heavier: "The remnants of the hunters have escaped. Before long, news of your clues to returning home will spread throughout the heavens. Your path ahead will not be easy."

Shen Jianxin stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said earnestly, "Since you know about returning home, could you please give us some directions?"

The Demon of Anger glanced at him, then at Wen Yan, before finally settling on the Earth artifacts in the hands of the three, and said indifferently, "I can't help you on your journey home. But I can tell you that the Anchor Point Fragments aren't only found in Kunlun Ruins."

As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of the three people lit up—they had thought there was only one clue, but they didn't expect there to be other hope.

Without saying anything more, the Demon of Anger turned and walked towards the spatial rift: "I should go. The balance of the heavens does not allow me to stay any longer."

He stopped at the edge of the crevice, glanced back at Yaoguang, and said, "Remember, clarity is more powerful than anger. Don't disappoint me again."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the gap. The dark opening slowly closed and finally vanished into thin air without leaving a trace.

The mountaintop returned to silence, with only the three of them remaining, along with a wisp of pale gray mist floating in the air.

Yao Guang stood there, stunned for a long time. The clarity in her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and the melancholy on her face dissipated.

Wen Yan was the first to break the silence, clicking her tongue: "This Demon of Anger is so different from the legends, isn't he? He didn't kill anyone, didn't make any threats, he's more like a schoolteacher."

"Even demons have their own rules, and mortals aren't necessarily clean either." Shen Jianxin looked at Yao Guang, a slight smile playing on his lips. "But you, you've completely rid yourself of your inner demons now."

Yao Guang raised her head, smiled—not with the self-deprecation of before, but with genuine relief, relaxed yet resolute: "Yes, I'm completely free."

He clenched the one-yuan coin in his hand, his tone resolute: "Since the anchor fragments aren't only found in Kunlun Ruins, let's go there first, and find the rest later."

"Okay." Shen Jianxin nodded. "Let's rest here for the night, get some rest, and set off first thing tomorrow morning."

"All set." Wen Yan shook her wrist, the bell jingling. "Perfect, I want to see what treasures are hidden in Kunlun Ruins."

As soon as Wen Yan finished speaking, Yao Guang suddenly frowned and asked a question.

"But what exactly is this Kunlun Ruins? Could it be a fragment of Earth?"

He clutched the coin, a hint of doubt in his eyes. After all, Kunlun Ruins was a legendary holy land on Earth, so how could it appear in the myriad worlds?

Shen Jianxin leaned against the bluestone and spoke slowly.

"There is also a Kunlun Ruins in the primordial wilderness, perhaps it's just a similar name."

There was a hint of uncertainty in his tone. After all, the world is so vast that it's not uncommon for places to share the same name, but this coincidence was just too much of a coincidence.