bookbashuk Chapter 53: Search in Vain, Absorbing Qi
Chapter 53: Search in Vain, Absorbing Qi
With a thought, a warm and thick layer of dark yellow light naturally emanated from Zhen Yuanzi's body.
Although the power of the Earth Book "Classic of Mountains and Seas" has not been fully unleashed, it has already quietly drawn upon the immense power of the primordial earth's veins, slightly solidifying and strengthening the spatial laws within a few feet around him.
It was as if an invisible yet solid barrier, faintly resonating with the ley lines of the primordial continent, had sprung up out of thin air on the edge of a turbid, turbulent, and chaotic sea of blood.
This barrier is not a direct obstruction, but rather a realm of "rejection" and "isolation".
The thick, viscous blood-red aura, the eerie, pungent stench of blood mixed with sweet and putrid smells, and the invisible howls and whispers woven from the resentment of countless remnant souls—enough to erode the primordial spirit of a Taiyi Golden Immortal and incite the inner demons of a Daluo—were mostly gently but firmly repelled, making it difficult for them to get close.
Deep within his dantian, the central apricot-yellow flag, which was intertwined with his life and was a treasure of the earth, moved without wind, slowly rotating in the chaotic dantian.
The dark yellow flag appears simple and calm, but every barely perceptible wave and sway seems to trigger the core laws of the primordial earth, causing strands of extremely pure, heavy, and deep yellow primordial essence to fall down.
These essences of Earth did not dissipate, but rather, as if possessing a spirit, intertwined and condensed outside his Purple Mansion Primordial Spirit, forming an incomparably solid, mysterious yellow halo resembling an imperial canopy.
This halo, inheriting the supreme characteristic of the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner—"impervious to all laws and difficult for all evils to approach"—acts like the most loyal guardian, firmly protecting the clarity and brightness of his Dao heart. It repels all the omnipresent and all-pervasive chaotic will impacts and the seductive whispers of demonic remnants from the Blood Sea environment, making it difficult for it to shake his mind in the slightest.
Furthermore, the twelve-petaled Pure White Lotus, which contained the profound meaning of purifying the origin, did not manifest its enormous form that spanned the heavens and earth, but instead transformed into a warm white light, hovering three inches below his feet in the void.
The lotus platform slowly rotated, casting a cool and holy, purifying glow like flowing moonlight.
The light was not intense, but it possessed a subtle, penetrating power.
Silently cleansing and eliminating those invisible impurities, karmic impurities, and the tyrannical residual will originating from the Chaos God, which, even if they managed to penetrate the first two layers of earth barriers and the protective canopy of the Earth, still tried to infiltrate like maggots clinging to bones, affecting the stability of their Dao heart and attempting to stir up internal and external evil.
The three top-level defenses, layered upon each other and each performing its own function, constitute a near-perfect defense system, demonstrating Zhen Yuanzi's profound knowledge as a top-tier powerhouse.
However, even with such a top-tier defense that could be considered the best in the primordial world and would be the envy of most Great Luo Golden Immortals, it was still impossible to achieve this.
Even with his extremely keen spiritual sense honed through countless lifetimes, Zhen Yuanzi could still clearly feel the heavy, oppressive feeling that came from all directions.
It was not just the physical pressure from the boundless filth of the Blood Sea, but also the repulsion and erosion at the level of laws.
The power of broken laws, invisible to the naked eye yet truly existing, contains negative origins such as "slaughter," "destruction," "filth," and "curse."
Like billions of invisible needles with life, they relentlessly and tirelessly tried to penetrate his protective divine light, assimilate his pure and profound earth magic, and pollute his indestructible innate foundation.
This feeling is like a mortal being in a poisonous swamp; even wearing the best protection, one's skin can still feel the pervasive dampness, coldness, and malice.
His gaze was sharp as lightning, his eyes gleaming with divine light. He dared not be negligent in the slightest, carefully scanning the churning, viscous, and boundless filthy sea ahead, not missing any unusual ripples or energy convergence points.
At the same time, his incomparably powerful divine sense, which had reached the peak of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm and even touched the threshold of the Quasi-Saint realm, was carefully controlled by him. Like the most intricate spider web, it was divided into strands and layers, vibrating and scanning at an extremely high frequency, extending forward to explore that unknown and dangerous domain.
In this chaotic region, where energy and will rage wildly and the laws seem distorted, the exploration of divine sense becomes exceptionally difficult and dangerous.
The blood sea itself was filled with an intensely dense, crimson aura, like a thick fog mixed with lead and mercury, which greatly hindered and weakened the penetrating power and clarity of divine sense.
The countless remnants of resentment mixed within, almost forming a tangible entity, are like piranhas that have smelled blood. They will actively pounce on this foreign "pure" divine consciousness, entangle it, attack it, and pollute it, attempting to tear it apart, devour it, and turn it into part of their own resentment.
Not to mention the chaotic law fields left over from the beginning of creation, belonging to the fallen chaotic demon gods, which are like invisible vortexes and traps. They will distort and refract the feedback of divine consciousness from time to time, creating false information. If one is not careful, it may even attract the lock of some dormant remnants, resulting in unpredictable law backlash.
Zhen Yuanzi had to be completely focused, his mind taut to the extreme, as if exploring a dark labyrinth filled with invisible blades.
Each careful exploration and swift withdrawal of divine sense requires many times more mental effort and precise calculations than in normal prehistoric regions.
Like a seasoned decoder, he carefully discerned and filtered every subtle energy fluctuation and every trace of unusual Daoist rhyme fed back by his divine sense.
In an endless ocean of aura filled with violence, death, resentment, and chaos, they tried to capture a trace of the pure, incomparably sharp, innate killing aura unique to the two innate killing treasures—Yuan Tu and A Bi swords.
Or perhaps they are exploring the unique life traces and Daoist fluctuations that may already exist, subtly resonating with the source of the filthy blood here, representing the future Lord of the Blood Sea, the Styx Ancestor.
In this land, which has existed since the beginning of time, and is extremely yin, turbid, fierce, and violent, his search is destined to be an ultimate test of patience, perseverance, and strength.
The sea of blood was boundless, seemingly without end; as far as the eye could see, there was only suffocating crimson.
The malevolent aura obscured my vision, creating numerous distractions, as if I were blindfolded and wading through a dangerous pool.
Not only does he have to constantly fight against environmental erosion and maintain the stable operation of the three layers of protection, consuming a massive amount of magical power, but he also needs to constantly spare a sliver of his mind to be vigilant against the ferocious demons that may be naturally conceived from the depths of the Blood Sea and are comparable to the Great Luo Immortals, or the sudden attacks of some strange beings dominated by the remnants of powerful Chaos Demon Gods.
Every step of exploration, every extension of divine sense, is like walking on a tightrope above a bottomless abyss, requiring utmost caution and treading on thin ice.
In the primordial era, time was immeasurable. On the edge of this dark and desolate sea of blood, where only eternal crimson and deathly silence intertwined, the concept of time became blurred and meaningless.
Perhaps several months have passed, or perhaps several years have passed.
Zhen Yuanzi had no idea how far he had traveled in this oppressive environment, or how many seemingly identical yet subtly different polluted sea areas he had explored.
His magical power, which was being used to continuously combat environmental erosion and maintain a high level of spiritual exploration, was nearly half depleted, even though his foundation was as deep as the ocean. His mind was also feeling a long-lost fatigue and sluggishness, like that of a mortal after a continuous battle.
The fierce aura of the Yuan Tu and A Bi swords, the blood sea Dao rhyme of the Styx Ancestor, and even the karmic fire fluctuations of the Twelfth Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus that may be associated with the Styx River, were like stones sinking into the sea, leaving no trace. It was as if they did not exist here at all, or were completely covered up and obscured by some more powerful and ancient force.
Perhaps the time is not yet ripe? The River Styx has not yet fully formed? Or perhaps the killing sword is hidden deep within the Blood Sea, beyond our reach at this moment?
A trace of doubt began to emerge deep within his Dao heart.
Continuing to explore blindly here will be extremely costly and yield little reward; it is not the act of a wise person.
He frowned slightly, already having the thought of retreating. He prepared to temporarily withdraw from this uncomfortable Netherworld Blood Sea and find a relatively safe place on the outskirts to meditate and recover his depleted mana and tired mind before making further plans.
Just as his thoughts raced, his magical power subtly adjusted, and his protective divine light receded slightly inward, preparing to use his Earth-Shrinking Divine Power to escape the area—
suddenly!
A strange fluctuation, extremely subtle and weak, yet completely different from all the blood sea auras he had sensed before, was like a dark flash of lightning in the darkness.
It was like a tiny bubble accidentally exhaled by a giant beast in the deep sea, which suddenly swept past the very edge of the wisp of divine consciousness that he was extending outward and preparing to retract!
This aura was neither the pure, innate killing intent of Yuan Tu Abi that he had been searching for, nor the foul blood origin that he had imagined the Styx Ancestor might possess, which originated from the same source as the Blood Sea.
It is more ancient and more chaotic and unknown, full of a primordial ferocity originating from the pre-primordial era, and a terrifying artistic conception that seems to devour heaven and earth, melt all things, and return to chaos!
This aura even contained a faint, yet undeniably real, trace of the savage, brutal, and authoritative power of the laws unique to the Chaos Demon God!
This unusual fluctuation was fleeting, so faint as to be almost negligible. If Zhen Yuanzi had not possessed an exceptionally keen sense, and had not been in a state of not completely relaxing his probing even though he was considering retreating, with his spiritual perception in a mysterious state of being outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense, he would have almost missed it.
But it did exist, and it was completely out of place with the surrounding sea of blood, which was filled with resentment, death, and filth.
It was as if a completely different "ingredient" had accidentally surfaced in the "boiling soup" of a sea of blood. Although it was instantly covered up, its momentary unusualness was enough to attract the attention of the most elite predators.
Zhen Yuanzi immediately stopped all his preparations for retreat. The Xuanhuang divine light around him, which had been slightly restrained, suddenly stabilized and even became more condensed.
The light in his eyes, which had been somewhat dull due to exhaustion and fatigue, was instantly replaced by a sharp, sword-like vigilance and a deep, ocean-like inquisitiveness.
He forcibly suppressed the slightly restless magical power within his body and the signs of fatigue emanating from the depths of his mind.
The divine sense that was originally about to spread out was instantly highly gathered and concentrated, like pulling back a large net, turning into an invisible but extremely sensitive "probe".
With even greater focus and care, they pinpointed the general direction from which the unusual fluctuation had originated—a terrifying area where the sea of blood was deeper and darker, the malevolent energy almost solidified, and even space itself appeared distorted and blurred.
"What is this?" An intense sense of doubt and vigilance rose in his heart.
In this Netherworld Blood Sea, besides the River Styx and the two killing swords that were not yet born as expected, could there be other unknown ferocious objects or treasures that might even be more closely related to the origin of the Chaos Demon God who fell here?
The antiquity and chaos of this aura far surpassed the blood sea he was currently perceiving; it was more like... some kind of dormant, incomplete, but extremely powerful chaotic remnant!
His gaze, like two divine lamps piercing through the darkness, was fixed on the even darker area deep within the sea of blood, an area that seemed capable of swallowing even light.
What was originally thought to be a search for a known target has now been unexpectedly introduced into the mix.
It seems that the secrets hidden within this journey to the Netherworld Blood Sea are far deeper, more complex, and... more dangerous than he initially imagined.