Chapter 581: Exiting Seclusion

Because of the rare materials gifted by the Destroyer Legion Commander for cultivating the first four layers of the *Annihilation Extreme Profound Body*, Dongbo Xueying managed to complete his training in one go.

“Whoosh—”

The Qi Water World was an endless expanse of ocean, with depths exceeding ten thousand miles.

*Swoosh!*

A streak of light shot up from the waters, breaking through the surface and soaring into the sky. Clad entirely in black armor, his face concealed by a soft black mask, it was none other than Dongbo Xueying, who had been in seclusion for two hundred and sixty thousand years. For cultivators, a single session of seclusion lasting a million years was quite normal. Some World Gods even slumbered for hundreds of millions of years to alleviate mental fatigue.

Dongbo Xueying was still young and had no need for such prolonged rest.

“Finally out.” His gaze swept across the vast Qi Water World. When he had first arrived, it had been a barren land of sand and gravel, but now it was an endless sea. The corrosive power of the water was immense, but his black armor had undergone a qualitative transformation. Even the Taihao Force swirling around his body could now block the water’s erosion. Though he hadn’t deliberately cultivated the Taihao Force, after such a long seclusion, his mastery of it had greatly improved—reaching the third revolution of the fourth chapter. Of course, the boost to his strength paled in comparison to the *Annihilation Extreme Profound Body*.

“Causal Perception!”

Dongbo Xueying focused intently.

Though he hadn’t fully mastered the Causal Divine Heart, he had grasped most of it. In his perception, ethereal threads of causality connected him to other beings. The most prominent was the link between himself and his true body—a thick, pitch-black thread, almost tangible. An enemy could exploit this connection to attack his true body while slaying him!

Of course, his true body resided in the Material World, protected by its laws. Even someone as powerful as his master or the Island Master of Spacetime, leveraging the strongest causal oaths, could at most kill a Three Heavens World God within the Material World.

Beyond the link to his true body, the strongest causal connections were with his wife Jing Qiu, his son Dongbo Yu, his daughter Dongbo Qingyao, his younger brother Dongbo Qingshi, and his parents. Even his bond with the Bloodblade Divine Emperor ranked lower.

Within the Three-Headed Divine Mountain, nine Abyssal Monarchs were also connected to him by causality, though these threads were far weaker.

“To think there are nine Abyssal Monarchs inside the Three-Headed Divine Mountain.” Through the causal threads, Dongbo Xueying could easily determine the approximate locations of his enemies, making it far harder for them to track him down.

“White Monarch!” The name echoed in his mind, and one of the causal threads trembled faintly.

That thread connected him to a presence outside the Three-Headed Divine Mountain, still within this layer of the Abyss—a being exuding a faint, blood-chilling aura.

“The White Monarch is still in this layer?” Dongbo Xueying shook his head slightly. “This is troublesome.”

“Never mind him. With causal perception, I can track their general locations. I won’t be at their mercy anymore.” Transforming into a streak of light, he shot toward the massive entrance of the Qi Water World at a speed far surpassing his past capabilities. As for the hiding place of the *Blood Demon Scroll*, he knew it well—but now wasn’t the time to retrieve it.

The White Monarch still posed a significant threat. Dongbo Xueying had no absolute confidence in surviving an encounter with him.

But he had to emerge eventually.

His strength had reached a plateau, and further cultivation would yield only marginal improvements.

*Whoosh.*

Passing through the entrance of the Qi Water World, he entered the Demon Vortex.

“No rush to leave. Let’s follow the resonance first and see what’s calling this fragment.” Flipping his right hand, he revealed a dark-red, razor-sharp fragment adorned with ancient patterns. It trembled faintly, drawn by an invisible force. “Once I leave the Dark Abyss this time, who knows when I’ll return?”

“Inside the Three-Headed Divine Mountain, everyone’s suppressed to slow flight. I’m not in much danger.” But once outside, the White Monarch could likely traverse worlds in an instant to confront him. Then, he’d have to face the White Monarch head-on.

*Whoosh!*

Guided by the resonance, Dongbo Xueying advanced steadily through the Demon Vortex.

—

“He’s out.”

A man clad in deep-green armor, with a single horn and dark-yellow eyes—his humanoid form—stood quietly. He was the infamous Luo Demon Monarch, a figure renowned across the Dark Abyss. Having lived for eons, his strength surpassed even that of Ancient Zang Emperor, Nine Suns Palace Master, and the Purple-Robed Witch Emperor.

Luo Demon Monarch’s gaze was calm. “*The Blood Demon Scroll* is one of the Demon Ancestor’s six great legacies. Perhaps it holds the key to forging my own path.”

“He’s emerged?”

On a massive boulder elsewhere, a creature resembling an octopus—Qi Hai Emperor—coiled lazily. Its enormous body bore a single eye on its head, and its voice rumbled low. “Two hundred and sixty thousand years… Counting from his birth, he’s now over three hundred thousand years old. With his talent, he should have reached the Four Heavens World God realm. Hmph, does he think that’s enough to survive? Once I bind him, he’s dead.”

Aside from these two, seven others lurked nearby.

Luo Demon Monarch and Qi Hai Emperor were both near-Ruler level, though the former was far more notorious.

—

Outside the Three-Headed Divine Mountain, atop the clouds, the White Monarch lounged on a cloud-chair beside a cloud-table, sipping wine leisurely. He glanced at the mountain, which now pressed against the world’s membrane. “Dongbo Xueying has finally emerged. A mere two hundred and sixty thousand years—how fleeting.”

To him, a single moment of distraction could span millions of years.

—

Following the Demon Vortex, Dongbo Xueying entered a winding passageway.

The path stretched endlessly.

All the while, he monitored the positions of his enemies via causality. Of the nine Abyssal Monarchs, only Luo Demon Monarch and Qi Hai Emperor warranted caution.

“Why am I drifting closer to Qi Hai Emperor?” Dongbo Xueying frowned. “At least he and Luo Demon Monarch aren’t together.”

*Whoosh!*

His absurdly powerful physique granted him unparalleled speed. Qi Hai Emperor, less adept in swift movement, posed a manageable threat.

*Buzz…*

The dark-red fragment in his storage treasure trembled violently, its resonance growing stronger.

“Almost there.” Dongbo Xueying sensed it.

The winding passage was long.

As he sped forward, he frequently encountered forks, relying on the fragment’s resonance to guide his choices. With each fork, the path narrowed. From an initial width of hundreds of millions of miles, after a hundred forks, the passage had shrunk to a mere half-meter in diameter. Forced to reduce his size, Dongbo Xueying pressed on.

At his level, his body could expand or shrink at will—large enough to coil stars around a finger, or smaller than dust.

“Here.”

He halted at last.

Ahead, embedded diagonally into the passage wall, was another dark-red fragment, nearly identical to his own.

“The passages of the Three-Headed Divine Mountain are indestructible—even I can’t leave a scratch. Yet this fragment pierced through?” Dongbo Xueying was stunned. Retrieving his own fragment, he held it out.

*Swoosh.*

The embedded fragment shot toward him like lightning, merging seamlessly with his own. What had been two broken pieces now formed a complete dark-red talisman. As he probed it, information flooded his mind.

“Hmm?” His expression shifted.

This was unexpected.

“Fortune or misfortune?” he murmured. Glancing back, he sensed Qi Hai Emperor closing in. The other eight Abyssal Monarchs were also approaching, though some had halted near the Demon Vortex—a chaotic space where flight could inadvertently warp spacetime, flinging one into danger.

“Time to go. If they surround me, it’ll be trouble.” Transforming into a streak of light, he retraced his path swiftly. Venturing deeper risked a dead end—the passage only narrowed further. His only option was to retreat the way he’d come.