Guixu of the Eastern Sea

To Qin Sang's surprise, after hearing his story, Liu Li reciprocated by telling the story of her and her master. Perhaps having suppressed it for far too long, and shaken by the sight of that tombstone of an extinct civilization, Liu Li felt the urge to confide in someone for the first time, and only Qin Sang was beside her. Yet Qin Sang was perhaps the most suitable person. Too many entanglements that never should have happened had unfolded between them. From another perspective, Qin Sang knew her better than anyone else, even her master, Bing Yao. After Bing Yao was trapped in Ziwei Palace, nearly every major turning point in Liu Li's life had been accompanied by Qin Sang's shadow—and in every one, he had been deeply involved. Qin Sang listened in silence. Whenever she spoke of her master, a rare softness crept into Liu Li's eyes. Drawing her arms around her knees, she even showed a trace of a young girl's tender demeanor between her brows. It was an old-fashioned tale. A homeless beggar girl from a ruined family, whose natural beauty became a burden instead of a blessing, learning at only a few years of age to smear her face with mud. At her lowest point, she finally encountered her benefactor. Bing Yao descended like a deity from the heavens, took her little hand, pulled her from the mire, and led her into a fantastical and wondrous world. This person made her know what happiness was for the first time. Winter nights, it turned out, could be warm. From then on, Bing Yao was the most important person in her life, both master and mother. Yet good times were fleeting. Her fate was bitter after all. Bing Yao became trapped. Still only in the Qi Refinement stage, Liu Li took upon herself the burden of saving her master. Living under someone else's roof was never pleasant. Back then, Dongyang Bo had not yet bared his fangs, but having long experienced the cold fickleness of the world, she knew he harbored designs of his own. Yet she had no choice. What followed, Qin Sang already knew. Qin Sang quietly listened to her tale to the end. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Liu Li straighten her back, the softness in her expression vanishing without a trace. What he had seen earlier seemed almost an illusion. Qin Sang understood. She did not need comfort! ... After departing, whenever Qin Sang thought of that cultivation world that had buried an entire civilization, he could not help but sigh. With the passage of time, the ripples in their hearts gradually settled, but the sensation of learning a civilization had vanished was etched deeply into their minds. He could not help wondering how many similar civilizations had quietly perished in the boundless storm belt, and how many were still struggling on the brink of extinction. Fortunately, on the entire sea chart, that place was the only anomaly; the rest were ordinary shelters. After another thirteen years of journeying, at last, they were about to reach Zhongzhou! The final shelter was located without incident. It was a reef hidden deep beneath the ocean, riddled with cavities where turbulent currents could not penetrate, making it a safe haven. The divine shuttle slipped into the largest cavity. Qin Sang emerged, joy evident in his expression. All told, thirty-seven years had passed since they entered the storm belt. Even deducting the five years spent healing his incarnation, it had taken thirty-two years. When they first set out, neither of them had imagined the journey alone would take so long. "We'll rest and build our strength, then head straight for Zhongzhou!" Qin Sang patted the sea chart in his hand, high-spirited. Mysterious Zhongzhou was finally about to unveil its secrets! A flicker of anticipation appeared in Liu Li's eyes. She nodded gently, then suddenly recalled something and summoned the Fourfold Tengshe Seal. "I have comprehended the second half of the Tongbao Formula. Let me return the spiritual seal to you." Unable to cultivate peacefully in the storm belt, Qin Sang had focused entirely on cultivating the Fire Seed Golden Lotus, while she meditated on her new Ice Soul Divine Light and refined the spirit treasure. The Fourfold Tengshe Seal had already had an affinity for Liu Li, and she had quickly won its acknowledgment, becoming its master. Through sustained refinement over these years, once she truly mastered the seal, the complete Tongbao Formula had surfaced in her mind. "No rush!" Qin Sang shook his head, stopping her. "We're arriving in Zhongzhou soon. Who knows what unexpected troubles we might encounter while searching for the Buddhist relic? Cultivating the Tongbao Formula is not the work of a day or night. Keeping the spiritual seal in Fairy's hands will allow it to unleash its proper might against unforeseen dangers." Liu Li considered this and put the seal away. "Very well! Once we find the Buddhist relic, I will return it to you." Not only did she harbor no greed whatsoever, she treated this exalted spirit treasure like a hot potato, not wanting to keep it a moment longer than necessary. Zhongzhou lay just ahead. Both grew eager. Once their true essence was restored and their vital energy replenished, they decided to set off at once. *Whoosh!* The divine shuttle broke through the ocean surface. Liu Li and the incarnation took turns taking the helm as before. At first, all went smoothly. Yet after flying past the halfway mark, Qin Sang sensed that something was amiss. The storm here showed signs of growing fiercer, and distant rumbles of thunder were carried over by the winds. Wind and thunder had gone hand in hand since ancient times. Lightning was not uncommon in the storm belt. They had even encountered a lightning marsh with power rivaling a heavenly tribulation, where bolts struck incessantly upon a single expanse, turning the vast sea into a lake of lightning, silver-white between heaven and earth. Even the hurricanes could not breach that marsh of lightning, and Xiaoxiangzi had marked it as extremely perilous. With no shelter nearby, neither had dared approach; they had paused the shuttle from afar to look for a while before leaving. Yet the thunder here was peculiar. Even across such a distance, they felt an oppressive weight. It seemed... not like true thunder, but one rumble after another that sounded more like the roar of some living creature. "It can't be..." Qin Sang's face darkened slightly. Having journeyed through the storm belt for so many years, they had encountered a ferocious beast only once. He had thought such beasts were exceedingly rare in the storm belt, never expecting trouble to arise just as they were about to reach Zhongzhou. How could there be a ferocious beast near Zhongzhou? There was no precedent of ferocious beasts attacking the North Sea, which had led Qin Sang to deduce that the barrier might not only keep out storms, but also repel ferocious beasts. Had he been proven wrong so quickly? Qin Sang and Liu Li exchanged a startled, uncertain glance. Just as they hesitated, the thunder grew clearer, and that familiar sensation of madness appeared once more after so many years! "A ferocious beast!" Qin Sang ground out the words between his teeth, doubting no longer. At that moment, the thunderous sounds grew more rapid, clearer with each beat, drawing closer and closer! "It has detected us!" Liu Li said solemnly. At a time like this, they could not rely on wishful thinking, assuming the beast was merely passing by like the last time. Qin Sang swiftly calmed himself. His thoughts raced, and he said rapidly, "Stick to the plan—we split up! If we get separated too far, meet at Mount Jiujia after entering Zhongzhou! The Pure Land of the White Lotus will be our backup." With that, he grabbed the Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros horn, recalled his external incarnation, and slipped out of the Ten Directions Earth-Cleaving Divine Shuttle. Their knowledge of Zhongzhou was limited to Xiaoxiangzi's sparse notes, and they did not know where they would ultimately land. Since the location of the Buddhist relic would not be easy to find, Qin Sang could only pick two famous landmarks from the jade slip. Mount Jiujia was not a sect or faction. In Xiaoxiangzi's records, it was one of the sacred grounds of Zhongzhou's Buddhist sects; a mere handful of words conveyed the mountain's grand aura. Such a sacred ground, even if destroyed by some catastrophe, would leave behind legends; with patient inquiry, its location could surely be found. If Mount Jiujia truly had vanished, the Pure Land of the White Lotus served as a backup. Back then, it had been a pinnacle power of the Buddhist path, and legends of it would certainly endure. *Boom...* A hurricane surged head-on. Qin Sang dodged nimbly, glanced back at the shuttle, and nodded in farewell. He then spurred his thunder wings and tore through the air in the exact opposite direction of the beast. Liu Li watched Qin Sang speed away without stopping him or putting on any airs of hesitation. This was the best plan they had previously agreed upon should they encounter a ferocious beast. She was not adept at movement techniques and would only slow Qin Sang down. Having Qin Sang lure the beast away and shake it off while she seized the chance to slip away and wait ahead was the best course. Watching Qin Sang's figure vanish into the depths of darkness, Liu Li suppressed the divine shuttle's ripples and fled the danger zone. Soon, judging by the 'thunder,' she knew the beast was drawing away—Qin Sang had indeed drawn its attention. On the other side, Qin Sang deliberately created a commotion, executing Thunder Escape at full power. Once he confirmed the beast's focus was on him and that it had overlooked Liu Li, he began scanning the shifting storms around him, searching for a place that could aid his escape. Something similar to the wind wall or lightning marsh they had seen before. It did not need to match their terrifying might; Qin Sang only needed hurricanes ferocious enough to mask his aura. All signs indicated that while the beast possessed immense strength, it was insane and acted on instinct alone, leaving flaws to exploit. The storm belt was ever-changing. Such places were rare, but with patient searching, one could certainly be found. Qin Sang was intimately familiar with the storm belt and could read the signs. As a last resort, there was another option: to take this opportunity to test whether the cultivation realm's barrier could repel ferocious beasts. Besides, with a beast roaming near the cultivation realm, had Zhongzhou's factions noticed nothing and made no preparations? Of course, unless backed into a corner, Qin Sang did not wish to do this. If the barrier proved ineffective against the creature, luring a ferocious beast into the cultivation realm would bring about a terrible disaster. Its roar was like thunder. Carried over by the gale into his ears, it gave Qin Sang the illusion that his vital energy and blood were stagnating. This stemmed from a disparity in tiers! 'Could it be at the Deity Transformation stage?' Qin Sang thought in shock. Last time, through a fleeting glimpse behind the barrier of the wind wall, they had had no chance to directly gauge the creature's strength, so he could not tell which of the two beasts was stronger. "Roar! Roar!" Sensing enticing blood and flesh, the beast's roars grew hurried. Qin Sang dared not pause for an instant, pushing his movement technique to its limit. Judging by its cries, while the beast was fast, it was not yet despair-inducing. For Qin Sang, that was undeniably good news. Calm and composed, his gaze darted swiftly; the seemingly chaotic tempest held decipherable patterns in his eyes. Gradually, Qin Sang picked up something unusual in the beast's roars. Amidst its mad bellowing, there seemed to be a thread of hesitation. Qin Sang realized something. In his current flight path, he was still being forced closer to Zhongzhou. Could it truly be as he had guessed—that the cultivation realm's barrier could repel ferocious beasts, filling them with fear or aversion? The beast was not moving as fast as expected because it was reluctant to draw near the cultivation world. Qin Sang's heart stirred, and he immediately adjusted his course, heading straight for Zhongzhou! ... At an unknown location within the storm belt. An islet stood here, stranded and solitary, encircled on all sides by raging hurricanes. In the sky above the islet, runes flickered from time to time, forming a sturdy, mystical barrier. The island was brightly lit, and several figures were seated cross-legged upon it, all clad in Daoist robes with ethereal, transcendent airs. Everyone sat encircling a square cauldron. Inside the cauldron lay a fist-sized, blackened object, occasionally flickering with red sparks. A curious fragrance drifted outward with curling wisps of smoke. The smoke scattered upon entering the storm belt, the scent becoming almost imperceptible, yet it seeped deep into the tempest. If any being possessed exceptionally keen senses, it would be drawn in by that fragrance. "With the Buddhist Vajra Demon-Subduing Array added this time, we shouldn't suffer as miserable a defeat as last time, should we?" A Daoist wearing a free-and-easy kerchief, his long beard hanging to his knees, stared at the square cauldron while twirling an antique square-holed bronze coin, suddenly voicing his sighs. His words stirred unpleasant memories in the others. Their expressions varied, tinged faintly with dread. A person beside him sighed. "Setting aside the precious time wasted waiting here for the beast to take the bait, the creature is so ferocious that no matter what means the few of us employ, we cannot possibly subdue it. The only difference is how quickly we are routed. I truly cannot understand why the Grand Supreme Elder had us undertake such a thankless task." "Indeed! Either the Grand Supreme Elder takes action in person, or we proclaim it to the Daoist sects and unite the factions—only then would there be a sliver of hope. Yet the Grand Supreme Elder..." Someone chimed in. When speaking of the Grand Supreme Elder, their tone was exceedingly respectful, yet secretly tinged with complaint. "Mind your words!" The only purple-robed old man among them opened his eyes, purple lightning faintly flickering within his pupils, radiating natural majesty without anger. Startled, the speaker fell as silent as a cicada in winter. The long-bearded Daoist did not fear the purple-robed elder. His lips curled upward, and he smiled at the group. "It is said that the ferocious beasts originally dwelt in the mythical Guixu of the Eastern Sea, yet now they have abandoned their nests and wander everywhere. This has never occurred in the past." Pausing, he continued in a distant tone, "'Hundreds of millions of li to the east lies a great chasm, in truth a bottomless abyss, named Guixu. The waters of the eight expanses and the nine wild realms, and the torrents of the Heavenly River, all pour into it, yet it neither increases nor diminishes. Poured into without filling, drawn from without exhausting...' Do none of you junior brothers wonder what cataclysm has taken place in the Guixu of the Eastern Sea?" "Which of us has ever visited Guixu? Opinions abound regarding the Guixu of the Eastern Sea and the nest of ferocious beasts, with none agreeing. This junior sister has only one wish—that the upheaval does not spread to Zhongzhou." A Daoist nun spoke with deep feeling, worry lingering in her expression. "First come the ferocious beasts; what horrors will follow after them? Perilous! How perilous!" "At least the barrier remains firm, capable of driving off the ferocious beasts and keeping them from drawing close. If the day truly comes when the barrier collapses and Zhongzhou is destroyed, we will likely have long since ascended or passed on." The long-bearded Daoist was rather optimistic. "Capturing a ferocious beast might bring myth into reality; how could that not be a great fortune? The Grand Supreme Elder commanded us to hunt the beast with profound purpose in mind. When the time comes, the Grand Supreme Elder will surely step in." Just then, an urgent ringing sounded from the purple-robed elder's waist. *Dong, dong, dong...* The ringing pounded like drums, interrupting the group's dispute. Everyone's eyes were instantly drawn toward it, their expressions turning dead serious. The purple-robed elder took down the bell. Entirely black, the bell was carved with cloud and thunder patterns; with each vibration, faint mist billowed from its surface before dissolving back into the bell in a continuous cycle. This treasure possessed an early-warning function. "The beast approaches!" The purple-robed elder rose to his feet and barked, "Form the array!"