309: Chapter 309: The Giant Turtle, the Mysterious Girl

The scene of the Inverted Sea was far more eerie than Chu Sheng had imagined.

He hovered in mid-air, with surging seawater beneath his feet and the pitch-black Void Realm above his head.

Countless water spouts rose from the sea surface like inverted waterfalls, leading into that bottomless darkness.

Chu Sheng remained silent for a long time.

He looked down at the water spouts, then looked up at the Void Realm above, his expression growing increasingly grim.

"Oh no..." he muttered to himself, "This is a Formation within a Formation."

He had previously thought the Formation trapping him was set by someone in the Tongxuan Realm, but the scene before him told him he was wrong.

That Formation was merely an outer shell.

The true Formation was inside the Inverted Sea.

It was a chain Formation, an outer layer enclosing an inner one, each layer more complex than the last.

The cultivation of the one who set the Formation was far beyond the Tongxuan Realm.

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Chu Sheng's back.

But he had no way back.

He could only continue to explore.

He activated the sea-suppressing cauldron and flew toward the end of those water spouts.

The surrounding Void Realm was pitch black, so dark that even his Divine Sense could not probe outward.

He did not know how long he had been flying; perhaps a few hours, perhaps several days.

Time became blurred here, as if it had been stretched out or compressed.

Suddenly, light appeared ahead.

Chu Sheng increased his speed and flew toward that light.

The light drew closer and grew brighter.

He saw an island.

An island floating in the Void Realm, like a pearl forgotten in the sky.

The island was not large, spanning several miles, its surface covered in a layer of pale blue light.

Chu Sheng landed on the island; his feet felt light as he stepped on the ground, as if walking on cotton.

His Divine Sense swept over it, and he recognized this type of Materials.

Light Water.

A Tier 5 Materials, extremely lightweight with immense buoyancy, often used to craft flying Magic Treasure.

But he had never seen such a large piece of Light Water.

The entire Inverted Sea was made of Light Water.

Chu Sheng's mouth twitched.

He thought to himself: "If I could take this back, how much would it be worth?"

But he did not take action.

His gaze fell upon the center of the island.

There were ruins there.

Not ordinary ruins, but the remains of a palace.

Broken walls, collapsed stone pillars, and shattered rubble.

Murals were carved onto the walls; although eroded by time, some outlines were still visible.

Chu Sheng walked closer to examine them carefully.

The mural depicted a Dragon.

The giant Dragon circled in the clouds, with surging sea waves beneath its body.

Its eyes were golden, like two burning flames.

A few lines of characters were carved on the edge of the mural in ancient seal script, and Chu Sheng could barely recognize a few.

"Dragon... Palace... Former... Site..."

He recognized those characters, and his heart skipped a beat.

Dragon Palace.

He remembered Madam Huayue saying that there was a very old Dragon in the Western Regions, one who had lived longer than Greed and was the nominal Demon Venerable of the Western Regions.

Could this Dragon Palace be related to that old Dragon?

He did not know.

But he had a premonition that this Dragon Palace site held a secret even greater than the Inverted Sea.

Just as he was about to continue exploring, the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook.

It was not an earthquake; the entire island was moving.

Chu Sheng's expression changed.

He quickly flew up, hovering in mid-air, looking down at the island.

The island began to flip over.

It was not a slow flip, but a sudden, violent one.

The entire island rotated downward like a turtle flipped onto its back.

Only then did Chu Sheng see the full appearance of the island.

It was not an island, but a giant turtle.

The giant turtle's shell was covered in Light Water, disguised as an island.

Its head extended from the shell, larger than Chu Sheng's body, with dark green eyes like two lanterns.

Its aura was very powerful, between Dao Completion and Tongxuan, a half-step into Divine Ability.

Chu Sheng did not hesitate; he turned and ran.

In his current state, he could not defeat the giant turtle.

Moreover, there was no need for him to fight a turtle.

He activated Fuyao Ninety Thousand Miles, his figure turning into a streak of dark golden light as he flew into the distance.

The giant turtle did not chase him; it only let out a low hiss and then slowly sank into the darkness of the Void Realm.

Chu Sheng flew a long distance before stopping to look back.

The giant turtle was gone, leaving only that pitch-black Void Realm.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then looked down and saw a scene that surprised him.

Below lay the ground of the Void Realm.

It was not water or stone, but a gray-white surface resembling a dried-up riverbed.

A person was lying on the ground.

A young girl, wearing tattered clothes, lay motionless on the gray-white ground.

Chu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then descended.

He walked up to the girl, crouched down, and reached out to check her breathing.

She was still breathing.

He nudged her shoulder.

"Hey, wake up."

The girl's eyelids flickered, and then she slowly opened them.

Upon seeing Chu Sheng, she was stunned for a moment, then suddenly sat up.

"Save... save me..." her voice was very weak, like a candle flame in the wind.

Chu Sheng frowned.

His Divine Sense swept over her body, and he discovered something strange.

Her bone age was not very old.

Yet, her body was permeated with a thick Death Qi.

Death Qi usually referred to old Cultivators whose Lifespan was nearing its end; a young girl should not have such heavy Death Qi on her.

Chu Sheng looked at her without speaking.

The girl seemed to notice his hesitation and hurriedly grabbed his sleeve, her voice laced with a sob.

"Please... save me... I know the way out... I can take you out..."

Chu Sheng's gaze lingered on her face for a moment.

He thought for a moment, then said something.

"First, tell me, what is the deal with the Death Qi on you?"

The girl's pupils constricted sharply.

She lowered her head and remained silent for a long time.

Then she raised her head to look at Chu Sheng, a complex light flashing in her eyes.

"I... I am not human." Her voice was very soft, so soft that it was almost inaudible.

Chu Sheng did not speak, waiting for her to continue.