A pale golden sky, a pitch-black sea.
Where the sea met the sky at the horizon, not a single soul was in sight across the vast expanse.
Only hundreds of cyclones rose and fell across the boundless ocean, gulping down the heaven-and-earth spiritual qi in great breaths.
Luo Chen stood midair, his robes flapping in the wind as he gazed at the spectacle in awe.
"So this is the Golden Sky and Black Sea? Hearing of it a hundred times does not compare to seeing it once—truly magnificent beyond compare!"
Facing the breeze, Cave Master Moyun stroked his beard, equally marveled.
"Who knows what supreme divine abilities the ruins' master employed to lay down such an array, altering the environment of the entire Sunken Sea and continuing to operate autonomously even a thousand years after his demise."
Both of them were renowned artifact refiners, and both possessed impressive attainments in formations.
Before such peerless artistry—an unrivaled grand array capable of stirring celestial phenomena—it was only natural that their emotions surged.
Only Ding Yi showed nothing but impatience.
"Enough, enough. It's fine for Demonic Lord Qingyang to marvel, but Cave Master, you and I have come to look at it several times already. Why put on such an act?"
Cave Master Moyun chuckled. "Familiar sights reveal new wonders each time!"
"Humph."
Ding Yi grunted softly, and before their eyes, summoned a beast from the storage bag at his waist.
The moment the beast plunged into the water, a booming crash resounded, as though a slab of continent had plummeted from the heavens and smashed into the sea.
Had Ding Yi not set up a Sound Isolation Art in advance, rogue cultivators lingering nearby would surely have been drawn over.
Luo Chen looked closer and couldn't help letting out a soft gasp.
"Oh? Is this that Treasure Basin Fish?"
Ding Yi nodded. "You have sharp eyes. It is indeed that Tier 3 mid-stage Dark Cyan Treasure Basin Fish. This is the treasure I prepared to cross the Sunken Sea."
In their view, a giant fish measuring dozens of zhang in length and breadth bobbed on the water's surface, its exposed scales thick with moss.
Undoubtedly, this was the Dark Cyan Treasure Basin Fish that had caused quite a stir at the Feileng City auction back then.
Renowned as a mobile spiritual vein, a portable cave abode!
Yet unlike what Luo Chen had seen before, its back no longer bore rocks, soil, flowers, or trees; instead, a demon beast resembling a turtle or softshell turtle lay sprawled atop it.
The two had merged seamlessly, forming an extraordinarily bizarre sight.
Seeing Luo Chen's surprise, Cave Master Moyun smiled proudly.
"Qingyangzi, what do you think of my craftsmanship?"
"This was your doing?"
Cave Master Moyun smiled complacently. "This method of refining living creatures into artifacts was uncommon even in ancient times. I refined a Zhuyuan beast and the Dark Cyan Treasure Basin Fish together while still alive. This endowed it with all manner of wondrous uses. Most importantly, the Zhuyuan beast possesses Xuan Turtle bloodline, which can resist the void burning wind!"
Luo Chen's eyes brightened; the man's ingenuity was indeed remarkable.
To traverse the Sunken Sea, one had to confront the murky black sea water that corroded everything and the void burning wind.
The former eroded magic power, while the latter destabilized the soul.
Obviously, the Treasure Basin Fish, dubbed a mobile spiritual vein, lacked spiritual qi not in the slightest, and with the Zhuyuan beast shielding it against the void burning wind, cultivators relying on it for transport could maintain their peak condition.
"Ingenious! Truly ingenious!" Luo Chen praised sincerely.
Ding Yi had remained mostly silent, casting spells by the side.
The colossal treasure fish beneath them shrank continuously from dozens of zhang until it was only one zhang in size.
Only then did he free his hands and look toward Luo Chen.
"Ingenious as it may be, the beast suffered severe depletion of vitality during the refinement process. It took me over a decade of nurturing just to barely restore it. Right now, it can carry at most two people. Therefore, Demon Lord, you will have to make your own arrangements."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow, not in the least angered.
"Rest assured, I have made my own preparations and won't hold you back."
"Good then!"
With that, Ding Yi stepped directly onto the shell of the Zhuyuan beast on the fish's back and entered within.
Cave Master Moyun offered Luo Chen an apologetic smile with cupped hands and flew inside as well.
A space of one zhang accommodated two people without feeling cramped.
Luo Chen smiled and patted the storage bag at his waist.
"Come out!"
Black King manifested once more.
The moment he appeared, he glanced around before looking fearfully at the oppressive, black expanse of ocean.
"Master, do we really have to do this?"
"Didn't you devour and digest that Sea-Overturning Demonic Flood Dragon, acquiring the ability to temporarily resist the corrosion of the murky black sea water?"
Black King said in distress, "But you said 'temporarily,' Master! It's a long journey this time. If I run out of strength..."
Luo Chen glared at him in annoyance. "Don't worry. When your strength flags, I will step in. I won't work you to death."
Black King perked up a bit, though he still wriggled his body.
"What about the void burning wind?"
Luo Chen shook his head helplessly. Tapping a finger on his Daoist robe, black armor spread outward, gradually cloaking Black King's massive frame.
"Shrink down a bit!"
"Oh."
Black King obediently shrank his body to around five zhang; any smaller would affect his immediate combat strength.
In this regard, the Treasure Basin Zhuyuan Beast refined alive by Cave Master Moyun truly had its unique merits.
"Demonic Lord Qingyang, are you ready?"
"Coming!"
Luo Chen answered, stepping onto Black King's back to sit cross-legged.
The next moment, one green fish and one black flood dragon swam side by side into the dark, heavy waters.
***
Inside the Zhuyuan shell, Ding Yi peered through an opening, his brows slightly furrowed as he watched the black flood dragon outside.
"I have never heard of a flood dragon molted from a black-scaled giant python possessing the ability to resist the waters of the Sunken Sea. Qingyang is certainly fortunate!"
Standing beside him, Cave Master Moyun watched outside with keen eyes.
After a moment, he shook his head gently.
"Do not worry. An incompletely transformed black flood dragon cannot compare to our Treasure Basin Zhuyuan Beast."
In the eyes of outsiders, Black King indeed appeared incompletely transformed—clearly possessing flood dragon horns, yet lacking dragon claws, his form closer to a serpent or python.
And Cave Master Moyun's words were soon proven true.
After swimming through the sea for less than half a day, Black King began showing signs of fatigue.
Whenever this happened, Luo Chen, seated on his back, would proactively cast a magic power barrier to shield him against the murky black sea water pressing from all sides.
Man and flood dragon took turns defending against the outside environment, ensuring their speed did not drop.
Ding Yi watched for a long time and figured out their rhythm, but still found something strange.
"Then how are they resisting the void burning wind?"
Without hesitation, Cave Master Moyun pointed at the black armor that covered both Luo Chen and the flood dragon.
"It must be the doing of that item."
Aboard Black King's back.
Luo Chen's eyes shone brightly as he constantly surveyed their surroundings.
In these waters, divine sense was suppressed and could not extend very far.
His eyes, nurtured over many years, were instead able to peer through layers of murky black sea water to see much more.
Suddenly.
Luo Chen shuddered as his divine soul grew restless, and Black King beneath him did the same.
Just a moment ago, something like a gentle breeze seemed to brush past.
"Was that the void burning wind?"
Pressing one hand on Black King's back to calm his agitation, Luo Chen touched the burning-hot Xuanchen Armor with the other.
Just now, when that void burning wind blew past, this high-grade magic treasure of his seemed summoned, activating automatically for an instant.
It had triggered so fast it felt like instinct.
Any other secret technique would have failed to withstand this wind so silently.
"A bloodline resonance from the Xuan Turtle clan?"
Luo Chen was deep in thought; only this explanation accounted for what had happened.
If cultivators lacking a Xuan Turtle treasure had encountered that situation, their divine souls would likely have been affected in an instant, causing them to lose control over their magic power and perish in this boundless Sunken Sea!
One could say that this alone was enough to prevent hundreds of millions of cultivators in the world from setting foot in the ancient cultivator ruins on the other side of the Sunken Sea.
In the present cultivation world, the desolate beast Xuan Turtle had long since vanished.
Demon beasts carrying Xuan Turtle bloodlines were scattered far and wide across the world, yet they were steadily dwindling as well.
One could imagine that if these demon beast races failed to flourish in the future, their gradual decline would make it even harder for later generations to enter the ruins.
"Perhaps embarking on this trip was the right choice."
Luo Chen smiled faintly and casually swallowed a supreme-grade True Flame Pill.
Once the pill was refined, vast surges of pure spiritual qi pervaded his qi sea.
Tucked inside his natal magic treasure, the Hunyuan Cauldron, his Golden Core spun rapidly and began absorbing this spiritual qi.
Within the qi sea, his second core, the primal core, remained still, making no move to snatch this pure spiritual qi.
***
The three people and two beasts advanced swiftly toward the depths of the Sunken Sea.
They moved very fast, far outpacing many ill-prepared rogue cultivators.
While heading toward the cyclone entrance Ding Yi spoke of, Luo Chen spotted several unfamiliar Golden Core cultivators swimming slowly through the Sunken Sea using strange magic treasures.
One of them seemed to have run out of magic power; while swimming, he suddenly froze stiff and then sank silently into the boundless seabed.
Some matters could not be kept secret from others.
As more and more people plunged into the Sunken Sea one after another, the methods to counter its dangers naturally spread.
Treasures bearing Xuan Turtle bloodline!
If one searched diligently, a few could always be found.
After all, such traits mostly belonged to turtle and terrapin demon beasts, which happened to be the most suitable materials for refining defensive armaments.
However, those people were clearly being naive.
Treasures with Xuan Turtle bloodlines found in haste were not specially crafted after all; they might allow progress for a time in the Sunken Sea, but going deeper would only grow increasingly perilous.
Unless one possessed something like Luo Chen's Xuanchen Armor!
Even if not custom-made for this purpose, its material was the genuine shed husk of a Tier 4 Xuan Turtle, capable of withstanding the void burning wind in the Sunken Sea's deepest reaches!
Advancing all the way, Luo Chen's group gradually overtook many latecomers, drawing ever closer to the cyclone Ding Yi had sensed.
According to Ding Yi, there were three hundred and sixty cyclones swallowing heaven-and-earth spiritual qi in the Sunken Sea, corresponding to the number of a heavenly circuit.
And the cyclone he had identified was bound to be one of the entrances leading to the spirit medicine garden of the ancient cultivator ruins!
So long as they entered smoothly, they could easily obtain what they desired.
The Taisui, and the Five Elements Lotus Platform!
Luo Chen did not know whether others were privy to this secret, but his heart burned with intense fervor.
And as they drew nearer to their destination, his anticipation only deepened.
On this day!
More than a month had passed since Luo Chen and the others entered the sea. Given their full-speed pace, they had already reached the deepest parts of the Sunken Sea.
Black King's forward momentum suddenly halted.
"Master, what is it?"
Nearby, Ding Yi asked the same question.
"Demonic Lord Qingyang, why did you stop?"
Luo Chen's expression was uncertain and wary as he stood atop Black King's back, gazing into the distance.
"Ahead... there seems to be something?"
"Something?" Ding Yi was puzzled. He stretched out his divine sense as far as possible, but detected nothing!
Cave Master Moyun brought out a mirror-type magic treasure and struck several hand seals into it; murky, misty imagery promptly appeared on its surface.
"There really seems to be something blocking the way ahead?" he asked hesitantly. "How about we get a bit closer to look?"
Ding Yi asked, "Demonic Lord Qingyang, what do you say?"
Luo Chen also hesitated, but with the spirit medicine garden at stake, there was no room for excessive wavering.
"Let us get a little closer then!"
Though he said this, Black King imperceptibly fell behind the giant fish, clearly prompted by Luo Chen's instruction.
Ding Yi failed to notice this and controlled his spirit beast to continue forward.
Closer and closer.
Until two crimson suns leapt into view!
"What is that?" Ding Yi was stunned.
In the murky darkness of the seabed, how could there be crimson suns?
The other two were equally baffled.
Luo Chen drew a deep breath and swiped a finger across his eyes, pushing the Spirit Eye Art to its absolute limit!
Not only that, but the source power born from his recent breakthrough to Desolate Ancient Tier 4 also coated his ocular membranes.
Under this blood-tinted vision, Luo Chen faintly made out an entity.
A colossal monstrosity hundreds of zhang tall stood before a tiny cyclone, repeatedly extending tentacles into it.
It seemed to want to enter?
Right as Luo Chen looked upon it, the creature suddenly stirred.
Two crimson suns locked onto Luo Chen's eyes!
Boom!
In an instant, Luo Chen's mind was violently shaken.
The Lanke Black Chess Piece flashed fiercely, black halos pouring out endlessly, yet it still could not block that inexplicable pressure.
Within his sea of consciousness, Luo Chen plunged into a boundless illusion.
There were multistoried towers looming, eerie ghostly qi churning, countless immortals coming and going, immortal maidens scattering petals, and amidst jade pavilions and grand palaces, an immortal being looked down upon heaven and earth, giving rise to boundless universe.
"Wake up!"
A low roar struck deep into Luo Chen's divine soul like a needle prick.
He snapped awake with a jolt, only to realize that merely a fleeting instant had elapsed.
And in his vision, the blurry scene became increasingly distinct.
Those two crimson suns were no suns at all; they were clearly the monster's eyes—or on closer inspection, not even eyes, but two living creatures.
Blood Lanterns!
Yes, Blood Lanterns—a kind of Tier 3 Great Demon King Luo Chen had once slain.
Only compared to that formidable demon king, the two Blood Lanterns in this monster's eyes were vastly larger, reaching Tier 4!
Moreover, its arms were not arms at all, but the tentacles of giant squids.
Dwelling upon the floor of the Sunken Sea, the monster stood like a tall tower. Blood Lanterns nested in its eye sockets, and countless giant squid tentacles blanketed its body, serving as its hair.
When Luo Chen awoke from the illusion, the monster seemed somewhat surprised.
The hair behind its back drifted out, transforming into a flailing mass of tentacles that clawed toward Luo Chen and the others.
Yet even before it made this move, Luo Chen had already roared at the top of his lungs:
"Run!"
Without the slightest hesitation, he was already the first to flee.
Black King was too slow, so Luo Chen stuffed him directly into a spirit beast pouch. Braving the seabed environment that corroded magic power and churned with void burning wind, Luo Chen fled almost heedlessly.
Behind him, Ding Yi and Cave Master Moyun also sensed that something was terribly wrong and fled madly.
Yet their reactions were ultimately a beat too slow.
That mass of tentacles caught the slower-moving Treasure Basin Fish and dragged it straight back.
With the Treasure Basin Fish snatched away, Ding Yi's face went deathly pale in an instant.
Fortunately, Cave Master Moyun took out a pearl, conjuring a light barrier to envelop the two of them.
"I will block the void burning wind! Shield me with your magic power barrier and run at top speed!"
Working in seamless coordination, the two cooperated instantly and accelerated their flight.
Seeing the mass of tentacles returning for them, the two fled with every ounce of strength they could muster, while Cave Master Moyun hurled several glowing red beads behind them in rapid succession.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Violent detonations caused the surging sea water to boil.
Struck first by the exploding red beads and then eroded by the seawater, the tentacles finally slowed down.
Seizing this opportunity, Ding Yi pinched a hand seal, and a chunk of flesh on his body suddenly exploded.
"Flee!"
The next moment, pervasive red light enveloped him and Cave Master Moyun. Like an arrow loosed from a bow, it cleaved through torrents of seawater, hurtling toward an unknown direction.
Yet it was not truly unknown, for in that direction, a pathfinder still led the way.
Watching Luo Chen's retreating back as his wings vibrated, Ding Yi gritted his teeth; this fellow was running entirely too fast!
Beside him, Cave Master Moyun said in a low voice, "We need to find an entrance and get inside immediately. This Guiyuan Pearl of mine contains very little Xuan Turtle bloodline and can only serve as a backup; it takes time to store up power."
Ding Yi naturally understood this.
Just at that moment, Luo Chen's figure ahead came to an abrupt halt.
A modestly sized cyclone was rising from the seabed.
This was its origin point, so its size was relatively small; rising upward, the cyclone grew ever larger, making one wonder how magnificent it must appear on the ocean surface.
Luo Chen glanced back at the two, then leaped inside without hesitation.
Ding Yi and Cave Master Moyun did not hesitate either; rushing over, their red light flashed, and they vanished within.
Only after the three had vanished without a trace did several tentacles drift leisurely over.
They circled the cyclone once before retracting unwillingly.
***
Winds almost visible to the naked eye battered Luo Chen from head to toe.
Luo Chen was entirely covered in the protective qi armor of the Xuanchen Armor, yet his divine soul still felt extraordinarily restless.
Suddenly, the pressure eased.
Thud!
Luo Chen's feet landed on solid ground.
The next moment, two figures arrived right behind him.
Crack!
Cave Master Moyun frowned down at the Guiyuan Pearl in his hand. It had shattered.
Beside his ears came Luo Chen's bewildered and alarmed inquiry, "What on earth was that monster?"
Slumped on the ground, having shrunk almost an entire size, Ding Yi panted heavily, his expression hideous.
"What else could it be? The desolate beast rumored to roam the Northern Sea—the Ghost Immortal Tower!"
Ghost Immortal Tower?
Luo Chen started. Wasn't that the name of the second layer of his Mirror Flower, Water Moon illusion, originating from what the white-robed cultivator of the Yuan Demon Sect had said?
Cave Master Moyun's expression was grim. "Legs like elephant feet, a body like a crimson pavilion. When seated or standing, ghost shadows swarm; when striding, mountains and seas topple. That was indeed the legendary desolate beast—the Ghost Immortal Tower!"
Chapter 655