49: Codename "Kun"

Three days later.

On the shore of the East Sea, Wanghai City.

The salty sea breeze, mixed with the clamor of human voices, assailed him.

This is the largest gathering place for Cultivators in the East Sea, a chaotic mix of Dragons and snakes, with all sorts of people emerging.

Jiang Chen, dressed in black, walked through the crowded streets with an indifferent expression.

He could sense that every aura in this city was tinged with a fervent greed.

The Cultivators on the street, whether they were Qi Refining novices or Foundation Establishment and Golden Core experts, were all discussing the same thing.

“The Ruined Realm!”

“The Ruined Realm Secret Realm, which opens once every ten years, is about to open!”

“Have you heard? Last time, someone found a ‘Dragon King Crystal’ inside and directly exchanged it for three Golden Core Pills!”

Jiang Chen entered the largest tavern in the city and sat down by the window.

He ignored the waiter's eager greetings, his Divine Thought silently spreading out.

A gray mouse dozing on a beam trembled slightly.

It had eight ears and was a Spirit Beast called an “Eight-Eared Mouse,” kept by the tavern owner for eavesdropping on intelligence.

Heart of Beast Mastery activated.

There was no deterrence, no command.

Jiang Chen's Soul transformed into a cold stream of information, directly injected into the Eight-Eared Mouse's mind.

“Tell me everything about the Ruined Realm.”

The next moment, a massive amount of jumbled information flooded Jiang Chen's Sea of Consciousness.

The Ruined Realm, an ancient Dragon Palace ruin, is located in a spatial fault deep within the East Sea.

Every ten years, the spatial fault temporarily stabilizes, forming a massive seawater vortex, which serves as the entrance.

Inside are countless ancient Heaven And Earth Treasures, making it a feast for the East Sea Loose Cultivators.

In the intelligence, one term caught Jiang Chen's attention.

“Patrol Sea Envoy.”

The highest authority of Tingchao Pavilion, the largest sect in the East Sea.

This person’s identity is extremely mysterious; he is in secluded cultivation year-round and never shows his face, only personally emerging when the Ruined Realm opens to preside over the entrance from Tingchao Pavilion’s treasure ship.

The Grave Keeper.

In Jiang Chen's mind, these two identities instantly became equivalent.

It seems the “Warden’s” game has already begun.

He needed an identity to enter the Ruined Realm, one that wouldn't directly attract the Grave Keeper's attention.

Snatching a token was too crude.

With a thought, Jiang Chen's newly evolved Divine Demon Body revealed its ferocity for the first time outside of combat.

He issued a “definition” for himself.

“My identity is that of an ordinary Loose Cultivator Sword Cultivator from the mainland, who traveled here in search of Opportunity.”

“Cultivation level: Golden Core Early Stage.”

Buzz.

An invisible fluctuation flashed within his body.

His aura underwent a fundamental change.

The original sense of being an “anomaly” that transcended the Law and repelled the world was perfectly concealed.

In its place was a sharp and pure Sword Cultivator aura, bearing the characteristics of the mainland's Spiritual Qi.

Even the circulation method of his Formless Life Essence within his body simulated the spiritual power pathways of a Golden Core Sword Cultivator.

This was not a disguise.

At the moment the “definition” took effect, he “was” a Golden Core Sword Cultivator.

Having done all this, Jiang Chen stood up, preparing to purchase a token to enter the Ruined Realm.

Just as he was about to exit the tavern's main door.

A figure blocked his path.

Jiang Chen’s gaze sharpened slightly.

The person was in a sorry state, his aura unstable, and his cultivation had fallen to Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

But Jiang Chen recognized the cracked bronze compass in his hand.

The Heavenly Secret Disc.

“Zhao… Wuliang?”

Jiang Chen calmly uttered the name.

The fish that got away from Qingyun Sect, that Child of Destiny who divined the Heavenly Secret and was the first to discover his identity as an “anomaly.”

He was actually still alive.

Zhao Wuliang looked at Jiang Chen, his face devoid of hatred or anger.

There was only a distorted expression, a mixture of extreme fear and morbid fanaticism.

He abruptly turned to the several Cultivators behind him, who were dressed in sea-blue Daoist robes, and shouted in a near-scream:

“Senior Brother! It’s him!”

“This is the one I told you about, the one who severed the ‘Heavenly Secret’…”

“The anomaly!”

The gazes of those Tingchao Pavilion Cultivators instantly focused on Jiang Chen.

There was no Killing Intent.

Only a cold curiosity, like a dissector observing a rare specimen.

The leader was a Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator, with a handsome face, but a non-human indifference in the depths of his eyes.

He ignored the frenzied Zhao Wuliang and instead cupped his hands slightly towards Jiang Chen.

“I am Lin Xuan of Tingchao Pavilion.”

His voice was gentle, yet as devoid of warmth as ice.

“Your Excellency, you must be Fellow Daoist Jiang Chen, the one from ‘beyond the heavens’ whom Junior Brother Zhao spoke of.”

Jiang Chen looked at him, saying nothing.

Under the Eye of Insight, Lin Xuan’s fate line was clearly visible, tightly connected to a vast will beneath the East Sea.

He was the Grave Keeper.

And Zhao Wuliang, this Child of Destiny who should have been crushed by him, had become the guiding dog.

Lin Xuan seemed not to notice Jiang Chen’s indifference and began to explain on his own.

“After being ‘guided’ by Your Excellency, Junior Brother Zhao’s cultivation was completely Waste, he barely escaped with his life and drifted to the East Sea.”

“To survive, he ‘offered’ all information about Your Excellency to our Tingchao Pavilion.”

“An ‘anomaly’ who can sever the Heavenly Secret and not enter the long river of fate… My master is very interested in Your Excellency.”

My master.

The Patrol Sea Envoy.

Jiang Chen understood instantly.

Zhao Wuliang, this failed Child of Destiny, abandoned by the Heavenly Dao, had turned to the Heavenly Dao’s watchdog.

He used information about himself to gain a chance to live and a place in the Grave Keeper organization.

“So, what do you want to do?”

Jiang Chen finally spoke, his voice calm.

“Kill me, clear the bug?”

“No, no, no.”

Lin Xuan smiled and shook his head, a hint of playfulness in his smile.

“Directly clearing is too wasteful.”

“Your Excellency’s existence is an invaluable research sample for us. We are very curious to see how far a complete ‘anomaly’ can go in this ‘cage’.”

His words were strikingly similar to the Warden Dao Wu’s remarks.

A lofty, observer's mentality.

Lin Xuan extended his hand, making a “please” gesture.

“The Ruined Realm is about to open, and Your Excellency must have come for this as well.”

“How about accompanying us? With our Tingchao Pavilion leading the way for Your Excellency, it should save a lot of trouble. My master, Patrol Sea Envoy, also wishes to personally meet Your Excellency.”

It was an invitation in name.

In reality, it was surveillance and a test.

Several thoughts flashed through Jiang Chen's mind instantly.

Refuse, then fight his way out?

He could do it. But it would immediately expose him and lead to an all-out war with the Grave Keeper forces before entering the Ruined Realm.

It did not align with maximizing his interests.

“Alright.”

Jiang Chen nodded, agreeing decisively.

He needed a guide to find the exact location of the “Kun.”

He also needed to observe up close what these “Grave Keepers” truly were.

Seeing Jiang Chen agree, the smile on Lin Xuan’s face deepened.

“Fellow Daoist, you’re straightforward!”

And so, Jiang Chen joined the Tingchao Pavilion's team.

He formed an extremely bizarre traveling relationship with his former prey, Zhao Wuliang.

Zhao Wuliang kept his head down, not daring to meet Jiang Chen's gaze, his body trembling slightly from fear and excitement.

He was both afraid of Jiang Chen, the monster who could casually crush him.

And excited that he had latched onto the thicker thigh of the “Grave Keeper” and could personally witness the end of this “anomaly.”

Half a day later.

Deep in the East Sea.

A massive building ship, crafted from millennium profound iron, hovered above the sea.

In front of the building ship, the sea surface had collapsed, forming a gigantic vortex more than a thousand miles in diameter.

The vortex was deep and bottomless, as if leading to the Nine Nether Hell.

At the very center of the vortex, the outline of a shattered crystal palace, shimmering with colorful light, could vaguely be seen.

The Ruined Realm had arrived.

Jiang Chen stood at the bow, facing the ancient water vapor that assailed him.

His Divine Demon Body, at this moment, emitted a slight tremor.

He could feel it.

At the deepest part of this vortex, beneath that shattered Dragon Palace.

An incredibly ancient, vast, and terrifying will, filled with the most primal desire for “devouring,” was slowly awakening as the space opened.

Like a giant beast that had slept for eons, opening its hungry eyes.

Code name: “Kun.”

The Warden’s first “collection.”

And also the first sustenance for his Divine Demon Body’s advancement.