Shi Hao widened his eyes, once again witnessing the nine skeletal dragons pulling a bronze coffin, bobbing near the dark region before vanishing into the distance.
“Chase!”
That was the only word he uttered as he swiftly pursued them. How had they arrived here? What were they doing?
Yet, the nine skeletal dragons were too fast. They dragged the bronze coffin straight into the abyss of darkness. Faintly, he heard the mournful echoes of dragon roars.
With a sigh, Shi Hao halted at the periphery of the dark region, silently observing. He did not venture inside, for he had long heard that it was a forbidden land.
No living being who had entered had ever returned alive—not a single one.
Why had the bronze coffin and skeletal dragons manifested here? He pondered deeply. What could they possibly achieve by delving so far into the darkness?
“What is this substance?” Shi Hao frowned, staring ahead into the pitch-black void where not even a hand could be seen before one’s eyes.
The sun blazed overhead, yet its light could not penetrate the abyss. It was like a hellish chasm, devouring all illumination. At the very edges, black mist churned and surged like ink-dark waves.
“An ominous aura!”
Shi Hao sensed a familiar scent here—similar to the black mist that had descended from the heavens before Elder Meng Tianzheng vanished, but far more concentrated.
“First corroding the spirit realm, then the material world… How tyrannical…” Shi Hao hesitated, tempted to reach out and experience it firsthand.
But he could not act recklessly. No matter how confident he was, he had to exercise caution when facing this dark substance. After all, not a single person from the three thousand provinces who had touched the black mist had survived.
This included even ancient sect leaders of great age.
Fifteen provinces—such a vast expanse of land—had naturally housed many great sects. None had managed to evacuate in time, swallowed whole, utterly annihilated!
Shi Hao tossed a venomous serpent he had brought from elsewhere into the mist. In an instant, the thick-bodied, horned serpent stiffened, lifelessly collapsing without a sound.
The corpse bore no visible wounds, as if it hadn’t been slain by any treasure technique. This deepened Shi Hao’s frown—the serpent’s death was too bizarre.
He retreated, then summoned the serpent’s corpse with a secret art, intending to examine it closely.
But the black mist surged violently, and a terrifying aura lunged at him. Shi Hao swiftly retreated, sensing a lethal threat that put him on high alert.
“So troublesome!”
When the mist receded, he acted again, finally restraining the serpent before him. Upon closer inspection, his confusion only grew.
There was no sign of sudden violence—its spirit had simply dispersed, cleanly severed.
“Shh—!”
With a flick of his hand, Shi Hao unleashed the Grass Sword Art. A sword qi sliced the serpent in two, revealing that the blood within had turned black—lifeless, devoid of its former vitality.
Beyond that, he found nothing else unusual.
When a wisp of black mist seeped from the serpent’s body and drifted toward him, Shi Hao struck it apart with a palm strike, scattering it into threads.
Yet, like a vengeful specter, the dispersed black qi lunged at him again, seeking to entangle him.
Shi Hao activated the Thunder Emperor’s Treasure Art, unleashing the most yang and domineering technique to cleanse the dark substance. Lightning crackled and thunder roared, pouring down in torrents.
The threads of black mist were obliterated, vanishing as if purified.
But Shi Hao felt no joy. This was merely a single wisp of dark substance. What of the boundless black ocean ahead? How could it be resisted?
It had already spread across fifteen provinces!
Who could withstand such vast, overwhelming darkness? To touch it was to court death.
Soon after, Shi Hao captured a venomous lizard—a savage beast notorious for its cruelty and bloodlust, having once devoured an entire human tribe.
In terms of strength, it was at the True God realm!
“Roar! Release me!” it bellowed, thrashing violently despite its intelligence. It sensed impending doom.
Shi Hao remained impassive, tossing it into the black mist.
The result was shocking—it perished instantly, no different from the serpent.
Pulling it back with a secret art, Shi Hao found the cause identical: a dispersed spirit and altered blood, now silver-gray.
“There’s no way to resist. If this continues, the three thousand provinces will all fall to darkness.” Shi Hao’s worry deepened.
He considered every possibility but found no solution. Such vast darkness could erode the three thousand provinces and the Nine Heavens—there was no countermeasure.
“Hopeless…” Shi Hao sighed heavily.
*Clang!*
A crisp metallic chime echoed from the heart of the darkness. Shi Hao was startled, then saw the nine skeletal dragons pulling the bronze coffin emerge once more.
Following them were rusted iron arrows, some striking the coffin with sharp, resonant tones.
Shi Hao was stunned—were there living beings within this deathly black ocean?
He braced himself, but no pursuers appeared.
The bronze coffin, carried by the skeletal dragons, soared into the distance.
After a brief hesitation, Shi Hao gave chase.
The skeletal dragons were too swift, tearing through the void and vanishing in an instant.
“Where?!”
Ahead lay a barren wasteland, all life having fled. Only one direction showed unstable space—likely the path taken by the dragons and coffin.
Soon, Shi Hao discovered the truth: the nine skeletal dragons and bronze coffin had crashed into a great ravine, lying motionless.
“It actually ventured into the darkness unharmed.” Shi Hao circled them in amazement.
*Boom!*
He lifted the nine dragons and coffin effortlessly—where once he had struggled with their weight, now it was trivial.
This coffin held profound secrets, ones he could not yet decipher.
Attempting to store it in a spatial artifact proved futile.
“I’ll take them to the lower realm for study,” Shi Hao murmured, eyes burning with curiosity.
But he wasn’t ready to leave yet. Setting the coffin down, he erected concealment arrays to mask its presence, ensuring it wouldn’t be discovered or stolen.
Returning to the dark region’s edge, he sought further insights.
After contemplation, he flicked three drops of blood into the darkness. Instantly, the bright crimson darkened to pitch black.
“Horrifying!” Shi Hao’s expression turned grave.
Finally, he took a risk—capturing a wisp of black mist to test its potency firsthand.
Sweat beaded on his brow. Even a single strand was terrifyingly potent, linked to the black ocean. The moment it invaded his body, the darkness behind him surged violently like a tidal wave, black substance rolling forth.
*Clang!*
At the last moment, Shi Hao severed the connection with the Grass Sword Art, narrowly escaping before the black ocean could engulf him.
Truly hopeless. That substance was untouchable. Even at the Dunyi realm, he found it a headache—let alone lesser beings.
It was clear: across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, few could survive its touch. For most, death was instant and inevitable.
“This truly is an apocalyptic calamity!” Shi Hao sighed, overwhelmed.
Fortunately, the dark substance had quieted for now, no longer expanding but churning within the fifteen provinces.
Suddenly, Shi Hao vanished, sensing an approaching presence.
Sure enough, moments later, several streaks of divine light descended from the sky, landing as shadowy figures draped in voluminous battle robes, their true forms concealed.
“Could we have been mistaken?”
“No. Earlier, I glimpsed a bronze coffin pulled by skeletal dragons near this area through my divine mirror.”
Their voices were hushed.
Shi Hao was startled—one of them held a treasure capable of detecting the nine dragons and coffin.
After a fruitless search, one spoke:
“Enough. The time agreed upon with the beings of darkness approaches.”
They took to the skies, skirting the dark region’s edge toward the distance.
Shi Hao’s heart stirred—were there truly living beings within the black mist? And they had contact with the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths?
What would they discuss?
His expression solemn, Shi Hao followed. This matter was too significant—he had to uncover the truth.
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