Zhi Xuan spread both of his arms wide. Beneath his feet, the Law of Earth and the Law of Water from the Secret Styles of Mountains and Rivers began to manifest. Although he had only grasped the surface of these laws, in a place saturated with the ancient water elements of the whale's remains, the technique received an unexpected surge of power.

  "The Mountain is permanence, the River is change..." Zhi Xuan murmured.

  He swung his hand in a grand, painting-like motion through the air. Instantly, the red sand beneath his feet began to rise, solidifying into towering stone pillars like miniature mountains that blocked the charge of the Bone Guardians. Simultaneously, he summoned the Yin essence from the surroundings, transforming it into a stream of silver river as sharp as thousands of knife blades.

  "Descent of the Ancient God Mountain!"

  Above the sky of Whale Bone Hill, a massive mountain slowly emerged. The stone pillars surrounding Zhi Xuan moved, imprisoning the Bone Guardians and forming a mountain cage that surged upward to meet the descending peak, like a heavenly palm intended to obliterate the vile remains. Zhi Xuan shifted his position in an instant, escaping the crushing pressure just in time.

  BOOOOOMM!

  A violent explosion shook the entire Whale Bone Hill. The collision between the mountain falling from the sky and the stone pillars shooting from the earth created a pressure so heavy that the surrounding space seemed to fold. The Bone Guardians trapped in the middle had no time to let out a roar; their frames, made of ancient bone structures, were instantly pulverized into fine white dust under the weight of the Ancient God technique.

  Zhi Xuan landed on a giant rib that still stood firm, his black-and-white robes fluttering wildly from the blast's aftershock. His face appeared slightly pale; using the Secret Styles of Mountains and Rivers in rapid succession drained his spiritual essence faster than ordinary sword techniques. However, there was no doubt in his eyes, only a cold flash of satisfaction.

  "These Mountain and River Styles... they truly transcend the logic of a practitioner's techniques," Zhi Xuan whispered, rotating the Sky Samsara Wheel to suppress the burning heat in his chest.

  "Of course," Ruo Xianxue replied, her spiritual form hovering beside Zhi Xuan as she gazed at the crater of destruction below them. "You just used the laws of nature to destroy the laws of nature."

  Zhi Xuan did not respond. He felt his storage bag, ensuring the Sky Whale Core Crystal was still pulsing there. With this crystal in hand, the path to Huang Tu was now open, but he knew the journey across the Savage Sea would be the true test of life and death.

  He turned toward the south, where the heat haze and the mist of the Breath of Death began to float on the horizon like an endless purple curtain. The sound of heavy crashing waves, which sounded like the heartbeat of a dying earth, began to reach his ears.

  "The Kun Peng within, the Sky Whale in hand, and the Savage Sea before my eyes," Zhi Xuan muttered, a faint smile full of a gambler's intent appearing on his lips.

  With a single stomp, Zhi Xuan shot forward, leaving Whale Bone Hill behind, which was now silent from the movements of the Bone Guardians. His figure turned into a streak of gray light that split the dawn mist, heading toward the edge of the continent where the tears of giants waited to be sailed.

  A few moments later, Zhi Xuan reached the edge of an incredibly high cliff. Below him stretched an ocean whose water was pitch black and thick, moving sluggishly like mercury. This was the Savage Sea. The purple mist of the Breath of Death hung low over the water’s surface, swallowing visibility until only a few zhang remained.

  Zhi Xuan pulled the Seven-Star Boat from his storage bag. The miniature boat hovered in the air before slowly enlarging into an elegant small vessel, decorated by a star formation that glowed silver at its stern.

  "Core Crystal, show the way," Zhi Xuan said, letting the crystal hover before him.

  Instantly, a clear blue light radiated from the ship's bow, slicing through the deadly purple mist like a hot sword cutting through fat. A path of light formed atop the black water, providing direction amidst the endless chaos. Zhi Xuan leaped onto the boat. Inside his sea of consciousness, the Kun Peng fetus seemed to begin breathing in rhythm with the waves beneath the vessel.

  The Seven-Star Boat sliced through the thick water with a soft hiss, each ripple emitting silver light from the star formation engraved on its hull. Around him, the Savage Sea looked like a sleeping world; the black water did not foam, as if its specific gravity rejected all forms of air. However, Zhi Xuan knew that behind this suffocating silence, ancient predators lurked within the unfathomable depths.

  WUNGGG—!

  The Core Crystal at the bow vibrated violently. The blue light it emitted began to interact with the Breath of Death, creating a terrifying visual phenomenon where the purple mist appeared like screaming souls as it was parted by the blue light. The mist did not vanish; instead, it swirled behind the boat, closing the path just traveled like a curtain being re-sewn by darkness.

  "This pressure..." Zhi Xuan hissed, gripping the edge of the boat.

  He felt an unnatural weight pressing down on his shoulders. It wasn't ordinary spiritual pressure, but pressure from the laws of space being eroded by force. In this Savage Sea, the concepts of distance and time seemed to escape a practitioner's logic. The Seven-Star Boat, which could usually travel hundreds of li in an instant, now felt like it was crawling slowly despite the stability of its formations.

  "Don't just rely on that boat, Zhi Xuan!" Ruo Xianxue’s voice sounded sharp, as if warning him of an unseen enemy. "This sea has a will of its own. Look beneath you!"

  Zhi Xuan lowered his gaze toward the thick black water. There, deep within the darkness impenetrable by sunlight, he saw a pair of giant glowing lights moving in the same direction as his boat. The glow was a pale yellow, resembling a moon sunken at the bottom of a well.

  Suddenly, the sea surface in front of the boat began to bulge upward without creating breaking ripples. A massive mound covered in black slime and sharp coral emerged, blocking the light path from the Core Crystal. It was not an island, but part of the back of a monster whose size defied common sense—a Scaleless Water Dragon.

  "GROOOAAAA—!"

  The roar was not heard by mortal ears but exploded within Zhi Xuan’s mind, shaking his soul to the depths of his sea of consciousness. Along with the roar, the Chaos Pearl sealing the Kun Peng fetus within Zhi Xuan pulsed violently. This time, the pulse was so wild that the seals made by Ao Sheng and Xiao Die began to spark with spiritual fire.

  "The breath of a predator..." Zhi Xuan muttered, blood seeping from the corners of his eyes due to the pressure of the resonance. "This fetus... it recognizes a bloodline lower than itself, and it wants to devour it!"

  Zhi Xuan immediately slammed his palm onto the boat's floor, channeling pure essence energy to strengthen the protective formations of the Seven-Star Boat. Inside his sea of consciousness, the golden dragon Ao Sheng coiled tighter around the Chaos Pearl, letting out a majestic dragon roar to suppress the Kun Peng’s aura. Xiao Die flapped her rainbow wings rapidly, scattering light powder that served as a soul vibration dampener.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Outside, the monster began to move. A giant tentacle resembling a dragon's tail, yet smooth and scaleless, shot out of the water, swinging with a force capable of splitting mountains toward the boat. Zhi Xuan had no room to dodge; he sharpened his intent, his sword-killing intent—which had reached the stage of unity—spreading out to slow time for a fraction of a second.

  "Submit to the Ancient Sky race!" Zhi Xuan hissed, thrusting both hands forward, manifesting his Divine Soul with dual eclipse wings.

  WUUUUNG—!

  As the giant tentacle struck, Zhi Xuan’s Divine Soul moved simultaneously. The giant hands of the shadow caught the tail of the Scaleless Water Dragon right in mid-air. The collision created a shockwave that pressed the surface of the Savage Sea into a concave shape, forcing the thick mercury-like water to splash high into the sky like black pillars.

  Zhi Xuan groaned, his arms crossed over his chest trembling violently. Every inch of strength exerted by his Divine Soul drained the blood essence from his Heavenly-Blood Body Law. "The Sword... is Will. Will... is Law!" Instantly, in the right hand of the Divine Soul, a giant sword made of pure Sword Intent manifested. Zhi Xuan swung his hand down in a slashing motion.

  CRAAAASSSHHH!

  The energy sword sliced through the monster's tentacle. Dark blue blood with an ancient fishy stench sprayed out. "GRAWWRRRRR!" The Scaleless Water Dragon roared in pain, its massive body writhing beneath the sea surface, creating a black whirlpool that tried to swallow the Seven-Star Boat.

  Zhi Xuan seized this opportunity. He did not wait for the monster to launch a second attack. He withdrew his Divine Soul and touched the Sky Whale Core Crystal with his palm, forcing a resonance between the crystal's blue light and his divine energy, which immediately caused the Seven-Star Boat to bolt forward in a sharp explosion of light.

  The Seven-Star Boat sped like a silver meteor, piercing through the thick Breath of Death mist. Behind it, the Scaleless Water Dragon roared in anger, its giant body creating black tidal waves that threw black water into the sky, but it was unable to catch the incredible speed of the boat now propelled by Zhi Xuan's energy and the Sky Whale Core Crystal.

  Zhi Xuan staggered, his body trembling violently. The forced use of the Divine Soul, combined with the Kun Peng resonance and the pressure of the Savage Sea, had once again drained his recently recovered energy. He clutched his chest, feeling the painful throbbing in his meridians which had become inflamed once more. However, he did not stop. His sapphire eyes remained fixed on the blue light path formed by the Core Crystal, the only signpost in the middle of the mist labyrinth.

  "You are pushing past your limits, Zhi Xuan!" Ruo Xianxue exclaimed, her spiritual aura appearing slightly dimmed. "Wounding an ancient dragon in its own territory is not a wise move!"

  "Enough of your nonsense!" Zhi Xuan replied internally, sweeping Heavenly Jade over his body and hastily absorbing its essence. "If I hadn't done it, we would be a meal! Besides, I didn't kill it, just gave it a small lesson."

  He refocused his concentration, steering the boat to stay on the path of light. Every second felt like centuries, as if the Savage Sea were trying to twist the concept of time itself. The further the boat sped, the thicker the Breath of Death mist became.

  Even the blue light from the Core Crystal seemed to dim, as if struggling to penetrate the endless layers of void. Zhi Xuan felt his soul essence being eroded bit by bit—not from an attack, but from the deadly boredom and isolation.

  "This is the heart of the Breath of Death," Ruo Xianxue whispered, her voice now serious. "It doesn't kill, but it erodes will and direction. Many powerful practitioners die here not because they are killed, but because they lose themselves, circling in the mist until they become part of the mist itself."

  Zhi Xuan clenched his jaw. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Within his mind, he recalled the images of towering mountain ranges and never-ending river flows—the essence of the Secret Styles of Mountains and Rivers. He used those images as an anchor for his soul, refusing to let the boredom and emptiness swallow him.

  He opened his eyes again, his sapphire pupils now radiating an unshakable resolve. "I have a purpose, Ruo Xianxue. I have a promise. This mist will not swallow me."

  The journey through the Savage Sea lasted for several days and nights—or perhaps several weeks; Zhi Xuan no longer knew for certain. The concept of time had lost its meaning. He only clung to the blue light of the Core Crystal and the image of the promise he had carved within his mind. His spiritual essence was constantly drained, but the Heavenly Jade provided by Zhu Qinglan seemed able to sustain him, preventing his essence from running dry.

  Finally, after a span of time that felt infinite, a small change occurred. The thick purple mist began to thin, replaced by a faint orange glow on the horizon. Zhi Xuan felt the pressure on his shoulders ease slightly, and the throbbing of the Chaos Pearl within him began to slow, as if the danger that had threatened him was left far behind.

  "We... have crossed," Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice hoarse from exhaustion, yet a deep relief shone in his eyes.

  The Seven-Star Boat slid out of the mist curtain, piercing the last layer of the Breath of Death. Before Zhi Xuan lay a completely different sight. The dark and thick Savage Sea had changed into an expanse of vast red sandy beaches, illuminated by twin suns hanging low in the sky—one a burning orange, the other a blood red.

  In the distance lay a vast and barren land, covered by strange deep red vegetation and rock formations resembling gaping ancient ruins. The air there was extremely hot and dry, but Zhi Xuan could feel a different spiritual aura—more ancient and unrestrained by the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

  "Huang Tu..." Zhi Xuan whispered. He jumped down from the boat, which immediately shrank back into a miniature and entered his storage bag. "Xiao Die, Ao Sheng, return to the Divine Cauldron. Here, the Kun Peng will not do anything."

  Zhi Xuan set foot on the hot red sand of Huang Tu, the heat seeping through his leather boots. He did not immediately step forward but stood still while letting his Divine Sense spread wide, scanning every inch of the earth that seemed to breathe. The air here was so dry that every breath felt like inhaling fine metal dust.

  Zhi Xuan pulled out the jet-black jade token given to him by Xu Han hundreds of years ago. The object now vibrated violently, emitting a deep red glow that pulsed in sync with the blood sun in the sky. The token pointed toward the northwest, toward the interior of the land filled with mountain ranges that looked like dragon fangs protruding from the earth.

  "He really is waiting for me," Zhi Xuan muttered. He began to walk, each step leaving a trail that was instantly covered again by the mysteriously shifting sand. "To hell with it."

  WHUSH! WHUMP!

  Zhi Xuan let his spiritual energy emanate arrogantly. His shadow seemed to shoot forward hundreds of zhang before his body appeared in that shadow; each footprint created a spiritual wave that swept his surroundings, suppressing the territory with the power of a Weaver Transformation expert capable of weaving the Law of Space for use in a small area.

  Zhi Xuan's footsteps no longer created a crunching sound on the sand but rather a subtle spatial pulse. Every time his shadow elongated and his body shifted, the air behind him popped softly—a sign that he was forcing his will upon the foreign laws of space in this Huang Tu Plain.

  However, after traveling only a few thousand li, Zhi Xuan abruptly stopped. He stood tall atop a high red sand dune, his sapphire eyes narrowing as he looked at the sight before him. In the valley below the dune, he saw a gruesome scene. Hundreds of human and beast skeletons were scattered about, but strangely, the bones were not white.

  They were jet black, shimmering like obsidian under the twin suns. In the middle of that sea of black bones stood a large, weathered wooden gate, from whose peak hung a dozen bronze bells that chimed without any wind.

  "Soul-Calling Bells," Ruo Xianxue's voice sounded from within his soul, her tone now filled with caution. "Be careful, Zhi Xuan. You are in the outer territory of the Black Corpse Sect's influence. Those bells do not ring because of the wind, but because a living entity has crossed their boundary line."

  DING—! DING—! DING—!

  The sound of the bells suddenly turned into a shriek that deafened the internal ears. From behind the red sand mounds, the ground began to crack and explode. Figures with gray, dry skin—refined corpses—crawled out from the earth. Their eyes were hollow, but their hands held glowing iron chains.

  Zhi Xuan did not retreat. Instead, he felt the black jade token in his pocket grow hotter, as if the object were responding to the presence of death energy in this place. He took a deep breath, feeling the spiritual essence in Huang Tu, which was very heavy and full of pressing earth elements.

  "I just crossed the Savage Sea, and now you want to hold me back with these piles of rotten meat?" Zhi Xuan said coldly.

  He stomped his left foot on the earth. Instantly, the coercion around the wooden gate increased thousands of times. The corpses that had just crawled out were instantly shattered into pieces, their steel-hard bodies unable to withstand the weight of the coercion dropped by Zhi Xuan’s will.

  "Who dares disturb the peace of the Guardian Grave?!" a hoarse and shrieking voice echoed from behind the red dust mist.

  An old man in tattered moss-green robes appeared, hovering over a coffin made of ancient, rotting wood. On his forehead was a small skull-shaped tattoo that glowed green. He was a practitioner at the Middle Stage of Soul Transformation.

  Zhi Xuan looked at the old man with a look of disdain. "Just a corpse slave. Move, or you will become part of the bones down there."