176: Chapter 176 The Mark of the Boundary Sea, the Horn of War

The Pantao Immortal Realm, which had just fallen silent due to the emergence of the lu xian sword, had now returned to Chaos.

No, it should be said that it was even livelier than before.

"Wah—Daddy, bad! Bad Li Yao!"

Li Yao, still nursing, did not know if she had been startled by that terrifying Killing Intent from just now. Her little mouth puckered, and she began to cry earth-shatteringly. Her crying contained the power of the "Purifying World Green Lotus," which was practically a massive-area healing spell.

Wherever her crying reached, the peach trees in the garden frantically absorbed the Life Qi from the sky. Peach blossoms bloomed larger than washbasins, looking almost excessively beautiful.

Ao Qingxue held her in a fluster, unable to coax her no matter what. The little one just kept crying while looking at her father with aggrieved, watery eyes.

On the other side, Li Changsheng looked at Li Xuan longingly. That look practically had the words "I want to play" written all over his face. When Li Xuan truly and mercilessly took away the lu xian sword, the expression on this Great Xia Sword God was as if his beloved candied hawthorn had been snatched away; his whole world turned gray.

He dejectedly squatted to one side, picked up a peach tree branch, and drew circles on the ground, muttering incessantly: "lu xian... Chuo xian... Bad Daddy, stingy ghost..."

Looking at this chaotic scene, the sense of awesomeness that had just risen in Li Xuan's heart from obtaining the treasure was instantly diluted by the atmosphere of daily life.

He shook his head helplessly; raising children was far more tiring than fighting someone for three hundred rounds.

But just as he lifted his foot, preparing to go over and coax his daughter who was crying until she was out of breath, his figure suddenly stiffened.

His gaze instantly turned icy, as if piercing through layers of space, aiming straight at the spot where the black dagger had been crushed by him earlier.

The space there looked perfectly normal.

But under his Immortal King perception (the effect of the trial card had not yet ended) and the observation of his double pupils, what he saw was an entirely different picture.

In that empty space, a wisp of black smoke, thinner than dust and more hidden than a thought, was quietly emerging from the level of Karma.

It was not energy, nor was it any object.

It was more like an "information."

As soon as this wisp of black smoke emerged, it began to rapidly contract and condense.

It made no noise, nor did it let anyone notice.

It was just there, changing on its own in a way that Li Xuan completely could not understand.

In the blink of an eye, that impossibly thin wisp of black Qi turned into a strange, ancient, and evil symbol, filled with the aura of endings and corruption.

That symbol was not any character or pattern he recognized.

Just glancing at it made one feel that their soul, Dao Fruit, and even the meaning of existence were being twisted and polluted, falling into an indescribable abyss.

This thing had a life of its own!

Li Xuan's expression truly darkened for the first time.

He unleashed the Grandmist Chaos power within his body to the maximum, and a large hand formed from magic power tore through the Void Realm, directly grabbing fiercely toward that newly formed black symbol!

He wanted to crush this thing completely and erase it from this world forever!

However, it was too late.

"Shh!"

A sound so small it was almost inaudible.

That black symbol mark seemed to be just a shadow, completely unrestricted by any physical Law or spatial rules.

It flickered gently, actually ignoring Li Xuan's magic power that could seal heaven and earth, and also ignored the thick spatial walls of the Immortal Realm.

It was as if it were in another world, high and mighty, seeing through everything in this world.

Then, it turned into a stream of light that could not be tracked or locked onto, and with an aura of darkness that made even Li Xuan feel flustered, it plunged into the depths of the unknowable Void Realm.

It vanished completely.

Li Xuan's large hand of magic power grabbed at nothing.

Everything around returned to calm.

Li Yao's crying, Li Changsheng's muttering, and the laughter of the concubines... everything was still continuing.

But Li Xuan's world seemed to have been pressed on the mute button.

He slowly retracted his hand, stood in place, and did not move for a long time.

On his face, the previous calmness was gone, and so was the earlier seriousness.

Only deathly silence remained.

Ao Qingxue, who was nearby, noticed her husband's abnormality. She held Li Yao and walked over with some concern.

"Husband, what's wrong? Is there a problem with that sword from earlier?"

Li Xuan slowly shook his head.

His gaze seemed to pass through the roof of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, pass through the sky of the Immortal Realm, and look toward that larger and more dangerous unknown place called the "Boundary Sea."

What was that just now?

It was not an attack, nor even a curse.

If one had to say what it was, it was a... coordinate.

A locator.

A distress signal sent by a dark creature at the Quasi-Immortal Emperor level, before it died completely, using its most core bit of Origin mark as the price!

That mark had recorded Li Xuan's aura.

It had recorded the coordinates of this world.

Even the soaring Killing Intent from when the [lu xian sword] appeared earlier, and the fluctuations in the Luck of the "Little Heavenly Court," had likely been branded into it as well.

Then, it sent this "report" accurately back to its home.

The Boundary Sea.

On the other side of that chaotic sea where even an Immortal King might get lost, what kind of terrifying dark big shot was there?

Li Xuan could not imagine.

But he was very clear about one point.

He had been marked.

Just like a hunter in the forest leaving a tracking mark that only he recognized on a fat rabbit.

This meant that from now on, his "Little Heavenly Court" and his plan for comfortably "farming and developing" were all exposed under the eyes of some dark big shot, who he didn't know what it was, but was definitely extremely dangerous.

When would the other party come? Who would they send? How powerful would they be?

He knew nothing.

And not knowing was the scariest part.

Li Xuan's knuckles turned slightly white from the force.

He had come all the way from the Lower Realm, hacking at heaven and earth, suppressing all enemies, and had never felt such a sense of urgency as he did today.

The enemies he had encountered before, whether it was the Yuhua Immortal Dynasty, the Western Heaven Buddhism, or even the boss behind that Corpse Immortal Sect, were all within a range he could understand and handle.

Couldn't beat them? That didn't exist; he could always sign in for a more awesome trump card from the System.

But this time was different.

The level of that mark had already exceeded his current cognition.

He had a premonition that the next one to come knocking would likely not be some Grand Unity Golden Immortal, or even an ordinary Immortal King.

He looked up at the revitalized pantao mother tree, then looked at the Immortal Maidens not far away, whom he had sealed and who were full of hope for the future, and finally, his gaze fell on the few children who were still playing.

Li Changsheng was still angry, Li Qingyue had already gone over to comfort him, Li Yuanbao was still calculating his little accounts, and Li Yao had finally stopped crying in Ao Qingxue's arms, opening her pair of clean, big eyes and looking at this world curiously.

Peace, tranquility.

But how much longer could this tranquility last?

That black mark that had burrowed into the Void Realm was like a nail driven into the deepest part of Li Xuan's heart.

It was not cold Killing Intent.

It was a declaration of war.

A declaration of war sent from the other side of the Boundary Sea, unilateral, filled with contempt and greed!!

It was also a horn.

A horn declaring that the days of comfortable farming had ended, and that a cruel war of blood and fire was about to descend!

The calmness in Li Xuan's eyes slowly receded.

Replacing it was an unprecedented calmness, along with a trace of ignited, bone-chilling Killing Intent.

Hiding was useless.

Since the enemy would come sooner or later, there was only one choice.

Before the enemy arrived, make himself strong enough!

Strong enough to cut off any claws that dared to reach out, right at the root!

He slowly took a breath, and the warmth of home in the air made the Battle Intent in his heart become even firmer.