The City of Crimson Clouds.
“Abyssal Sea Master is on the move! The Abyssal Sea Master is on the move!” Dongbo Xueying had been studying the corpse of the Silent Ice Mountain Master in the underground hall when the urgent message reached him. His expression darkened instantly. “What? The Abyssal Sea Master?”
Without hesitation, he waved his hand, storing the corpse away.
Dongbo Xueying immediately rushed out of the underground hall, heading straight for the Crimson Cloud Pavilion.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Streaks of light flickered across the city as all three thousand-plus cultivators within Crimson Cloud City gathered—none missing, not even those who had claimed to be in “closed-door seclusion.” Upon receiving the news, they abandoned their cultivation without hesitation.
“Whoosh!” Dongbo Xueying entered the Crimson Cloud Pavilion, where a dense crowd of cultivators had already assembled. Some wore solemn expressions, while others burned with fervent anticipation.
“Everyone, look.”
A golden-robed elder holding a wooden staff raised a mirror in his palm. Within it, the scene of the Abyssal Sea unfolded—a towering giant stood within the dark waters, the sea level only reaching his waist. His sheer size made the Abyssal Sea seem like a mere puddle. Glowing golden chains pierced through his colossal body, embedded deep into his flesh, impossible to remove.
“He’s out.” The cultivators stirred uneasily.
Each of the five gathering cities had its own method of monitoring the Abyssal Sea. Crimson Cloud City possessed a peculiar “Demon Mirror” that allowed them to observe the Abyssal Sea from afar at all times. The mirror was kept in the Crimson Cloud Pavilion, where puppets stood guard, watching ceaselessly.
The towering giant—the Abyssal Sea Master—took a step forward. In just two strides, one of his massive feet landed on the shore. The chains covering his body pulsed with arcane runes, forcing his body to shrink. By the time he fully stepped onto land, his size had reduced to a third of his original form.
He walked onward.
His initial steps were terrifyingly vast—after all, the Abyssal Sea spanned a tenth of the Sacred Realm, and at his full size, he could cross it in mere strides. Even reduced to a third of his height, each step still covered an unfathomable distance, surpassing mountains and plains in an instant, outpacing cultivators who would take hours to traverse the same space.
Yet, with each step, his body shrank further—first to a tenth, then a hundredth, then a thousandth of his original size.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!” He sprinted forward, his form continuously diminishing.
But gradually, the rate of shrinkage slowed.
—
Inside the Crimson Cloud Pavilion, the cultivators stared intently at the Demon Mirror, tracking the Abyssal Sea Master’s every move.
The Abyssal Sea Master moved too swiftly to bring any subordinates, traveling alone. Yet, no cultivator dared provoke him—even if he reached the outskirts of Crimson Cloud City, where his power would be drastically suppressed, he could still single-handedly battle the entire city’s forces, with the outcome uncertain.
“Finally, he’s emerged. He’s come out again.”
“This is our greatest crisis—but also our greatest opportunity!”
“Last time, we failed to kill him. This time, we must succeed.”
Many among the gathered cultivators burned with fervor.
The greatest opportunity in the Sacred Realm was slaying the Abyssal Sea Master. The one who contributed most to his death would receive a boon from the mighty Lord.
For those of Hunyuan bloodline, it almost guaranteed an Ultimate Awakening.
Even for Dao-comprehending cultivators, the rewards were staggering—such as a Lord’s assistance in allowing them to establish dominion over a Source World.
In short—
It was enough to drive any cultivator to madness.
“My bloodline originates from the Ancestor—it is the most perfect,” Wu Xiao mused silently. “Even the Lords cannot directly induce my Ultimate Awakening. But for others with lesser bloodlines, it is almost certain. As for me… well, I could always request the assistance of ‘City Lord Luo.’ This Sacred Realm falls under his domain, after all. The final reward would come from him.”
Wu Xiao was filled with anticipation.
Meanwhile, the other cultivators in the hall buzzed with discussion. The weaker ones hoped merely to survive the calamity, while the stronger ones burned with ambition—they feared no danger, only the chance to seize this grand opportunity.
In the history of the Sacred Realm, the Abyssal Sea Master had been slain before.
But killing one only meant another would rise.
This realm was created to temper cultivators, to push the most elite among them to breakthroughs. Even if countless perished, the birth of a single Hunyuan powerhouse would make it all worthwhile. And those who willingly entered this realm had long prepared themselves for such trials.
Just as Dongbo Xueying and Northriver Emperor had braved the dangers of the Snake Fang Corridor in the Broken Tooth Mountain Range, stepping into the unknown with full resolve.
“His speed is terrifying.”
“His size is beyond comprehension.”
The cultivators watched the Demon Mirror intently.
The Abyssal Sea Master’s wild hair billowed as he sprinted, his speed hundreds of times faster than even the swiftest cultivator. Yet as he ran, his body continued to shrink at an almost imperceptible rate, his speed diminishing slightly as well.
—
On a vast expanse of snow.
A group of cultivators tore through the sky at breakneck speed, abandoning all secrecy in their desperate flight.
“The Abyssal Sea Master is heading straight for us! Faster, we must flee!” The cultivators, a team from Tianwu City—the closest of the five cities to the Abyssal Sea—wore expressions of panic.
“He’s too fast!”
“We can’t outrun him!”
They knew all too well the Abyssal Sea Master’s capabilities. He could sense every cultivator in the Sacred Realm, and his current trajectory left no doubt—he was coming for them.
“Everyone, we don’t have time. Our only chance is to scatter—completely. Split up, go alone. That way, at least some of us might make it back to Tianwu City.”
“Agreed.”
“Scatter, now!”
“Brothers and sisters, may we meet again in Tianwu City.”
“Haha, if we do, we’ll drink together!”
Without hesitation, the cultivators dispersed, each fleeing alone.
Experience had taught them that even splitting into five or six squads was futile—the Abyssal Sea Master could hunt them down one by one with ease. Only by scattering entirely did they stand a chance.
“I hope I can make it back alive,” a black-robed woman whispered as she streaked across the sky.
Then—
“No!” She turned, her eyes widening as a colossal shadow loomed in the distance.
Too fast.
His speed blurred his form into a phantom.
Boom!
Even reduced by a millionfold, his foot was still like a mountain.
The black-robed woman had no time to dodge.
She was crushed instantly, her body reduced to dust.
The gap in power was insurmountable.
To the Abyssal Sea Master, even at his weakest near Tianwu City, he could slaughter thousands of cultivators with ease. Now, at full strength? A single peak-level God Emperor was nothing more than an ant beneath his heel.
Boom!
Boom!
With cold, merciless eyes, the Abyssal Sea Master continued his hunt, stomping one cultivator after another into oblivion.
“After all these years in the Sacred Realm, I finally face a truly inescapable death?” A white-haired elder gazed up at the approaching titan. “Break through. Either I die here, or I ascend.”
In the face of annihilation, his mind raced, every ounce of comprehension clashing in a desperate bid for enlightenment.
But—
Boom!
Another foot descended.
Another cultivator perished.
Each faced death with calm acceptance, some even embracing it as the ultimate trial—hoping that in their final moments, they might grasp the threshold of Hunyuan.
Yet becoming a Hunyuan was no simple feat.
—
The scattered cultivators forced the Abyssal Sea Master to change directions repeatedly, buying precious time. But in less than half an hour, over twenty had already fallen.
By then, the survivors were too far apart—pursuing them would take too long.
With a cold snort, the Abyssal Sea Master abandoned the chase, turning toward another direction where another group of cultivators awaited.
After all, he could sense every living being in the Sacred Realm.
“He’s given up.”
“He’s stopped chasing us.”
The fleeing cultivators, receiving word from Tianwu City, finally exhaled in relief. Their strategies shifted—now, they moved with greater caution.
But even without the Abyssal Sea Master’s pursuit, another deadly trial remained: crossing the vast wilderness alone to return to the city.
Few would make it.
—
Back in the Crimson Cloud Pavilion, the three thousand cultivators watched the Demon Mirror in silence, witnessing each doomed cultivator’s final stand.
They understood.
In their place, they would have done the same—gambling everything on a final breakthrough before death.
Yet becoming Hunyuan was never easy.
The scenes of the Abyssal Sea Master crushing cultivators like insects weighed heavily on them, their eyes simmering with killing intent.
“Judging by his path,” Fengyun Yiyi spoke grimly, “the Abyssal Sea Master’s first target is likely Tianwu City, just as before. And if history repeats itself, his second will be us—Crimson Cloud City.”
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