200: Chapter 200 The Void Ghost Ship, the Souls of the Previous Era

The zhou tian star boat tore through the chaotic currents, plunging headlong into a completely different space-time.

The void before still had starlight and turbulent flows, a wild vitality; now, only a dead silence remained.

This place was the Forgotten Route, a perilous land at the edge of the Boundary Sea.

Countless eons ago, several powerful immortal domains had erupted in a world-ending war here, leaving the Star Domain crippled. Laws were shattered, time was blurred, and space was fragile.

Massive star wreckage and bones gnawed by gods and demons floated silently in the darkness. Broken ancient warships, covered in claw marks and sword holes, silently recounted the tragedy of those years.

The air was filled with decay and sorrow, and even the light was tinged with a layer of ashen grey.

"This place is truly unlucky as hell!"

On the deck, Sun Wukong scratched his fur and sniffed hard, his face full of disgust. His Fiery Golden Eyes burst with divine light, piercing through layers of mist to see distorted, unwilling shadows flashing deep within the floating wreckage. The lingering thoughts of those who died in battle had, over eternal ages, become mindless monsters that knew only hatred.

Li Changsheng stood at the ship's railing, his hand resting on a simple ancient wooden sword. His expression was cold, with only his sword-like brows slightly furrowed.

He felt the vast, chaotic Sword Intent filling the void—shattered, mad, and despairing. It was the final thoughts of countless sword immortals at the moment of death, eternally branded into this space-time. To a pure Sword Cultivator like him, it was no different from an ear-piercing elegy composed of infinite static, leaving his mind restless.

The Battle Intent that had just been suppressed by Li Xuan's 'KPI assessment' didn't settle down; instead, it grew more restless due to this oppressive environment, like two volcanoes ready to erupt, waiting for an outlet.

The outlet came quickly.

Without warning, a grey mist so thick it was inseparable surged from all directions, surrounding the massive Heavenly Court Fleet.

This mist was bone-chillingly cold. It was not physical matter, but energy condensed purely from resentment, hatred, and despair.

"Alert!"

The Yuhua Immortal Lord's expression changed as he shouted the order.

The soldiers of the Heavenly Court reacted instantly. The military formations activated, and layers of brilliant immortal light lit up in an attempt to resist this ominous mist.

However, the mist was pervasive, passing directly through the energy shields and invading the soldiers' Sea of Consciousness.

In an instant, countless Heavenly Soldiers and Generals shuddered, their eyes becoming glazed.

The shrill wails of billions of beings seemed to ring in their ears, and terrifying illusions of mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and collapsing stars appeared before them. Extreme negative emotions, like a bursting flood, crashed frantically against their minds.

"Steady your spirits! Guard your hearts!"

A general roared, his voice like a spring thunderclap, attempting to wake the affected soldiers.

Even so, the monolithic momentum of the Heavenly Court army showed obvious fluctuations, and their light dimmed several degrees.

"Jiejiejiejie..."

A grating laugh of grinding bones echoed from deep within the thick fog.

The mist parted to both sides, and a 'ship' of unimaginable size appeared silently directly in front of the Heavenly Court Fleet, blocking their path.

The moment they saw this ship, even the battle-hardened soldiers of the Heavenly Court felt a chill run from their spines straight to their skulls.

This wasn't a ship at all!

It was a mobile graveyard piled high with endless skeletons!

The hull was pieced together from billions of white bones—humanoid, beast-shaped, and even some unheard-of, twisted, and hideous skeletons. In the eye sockets of those skeletons, eerie green soul fires burned, 'staring' dead at the Heavenly Court Fleet.

The ship's mast was an indescribably massive spine, hanging tattered sails sewn from countless dried human skins.

The entire ship had no breath of the living, only soaring resentment and Death Qi, as if it carried all the death and misfortune of the previous era.

This was one of the most terrifying legends of the Forgotten Route—the void ghost ship!

At the bow of the ghost ship stood an exceptionally tall figure.

He was also a skeleton, but his bones had a dark gold luster, as if cast from divine metal. He wore a tattered ancient captain's uniform that still hinted at former glory, one hand resting on a bone long-saber at his waist. In his hollow eye sockets, two clumps of crimson flame jumped violently.

His aura was impressively that of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal! Although he had only recently entered the Grand Unity realm, the pressure condensed from eternal resentment was more eerie and powerful than that of a Dark Lord of the same level!

He was the captain of this ghost ship, a war orphan of the previous era, a convergence of the resentment of countless fallen warriors—Captain Skeleton!

"The... scent... of... the... living..."

Captain Skeleton opened his jawbone, emitting dry and distorted Divine Thought ripples. The crimson soul fire swept over the Heavenly Court Fleet, full of greed and tyranny.

"Be...come... one... of... us..."

As the Divine Thought fell, tens of thousands of 'Wraith Sailors' holding bone sabers and spears roared silently on the ghost ship, turning into streaks of grey light. Like a plague of locusts, they lunged toward the zhou tian star boat.

Each of these Wraith Sailors possessed strength comparable to a True Immortal or even a Golden Immortal!

"Perfect timing! Just perfect!"

Seeing the Grand Unity Golden Immortal-level Captain Skeleton, Sun Wukong was so excited his fur stood on end, and Battle Intent boiled in his Fiery Golden Eyes!

He had been holding back a belly full of anger with nowhere to vent. This death-seeking skeleton frame in front of him was the perfect first stepping stone to establish his prestige!

"My appetizer is here! Boys, watch me closely!"

Sun Wukong roared, and the ruyi jingu bang on his shoulder shook violently, instantly becoming gargantuan. He was about to perform a somersault out of the divine boat and charge into the enemy ranks to smash that arrogant captain into bone meal with a single strike!

Just as he was about to move, a hand lightly rested on his shoulder.

The hand was as warm as jade and seemed to have no strength at all, yet it caused Sun Wukong's violent power that could stir heaven and earth to freeze instantly, leaving him unable to move.

"Great Sage, do not be in a hurry."

Li Xuan's calm voice rang out.

Sun Wukong was stunned and looked back. Li Xuan had risen from his imperial throne at some point and arrived by his side.

"Heavenly Emperor?" Sun Wukong asked in confusion. "Why stop me? That skeleton frame is so arrogant, let me go and smash him to pieces with one strike to clear the way for the army!"

"There is no need for you," Li Changsheng's voice came coldly from the other side. "Against these remnant souls, my sword is faster."

The wooden sword in his arms had already unsheathed an inch, and a pure and sharp Sword Intent was building up, ready to turn into a heaven-shaking rainbow at any moment to cleave the ghost ship and its captain in two.

"Smash them? Cleave them?"

Li Xuan shook his head, his deep gaze piercing through the layers of resentment to land on the ghost ship. There was no killing intent in his eyes; instead, there was a trace of pity.

"They are not enemies, just a group of poor wretches forgotten in time."

Li Xuan said slowly, "They are the souls of the previous era who died in war. Their resentment remains, bound by the chaotic Laws of this place, never to be liberated for all eternity. Using brute force to shatter them will only deepen their resentment and cause them to sink forever."

Sun Wukong scratched his head in half-understanding. To him, anyone who came knocking was an enemy. Regardless of whether they were poor wretches, he would just kill them with one strike.

Li Changsheng looked thoughtful, and the Sword Intent in his hand slowly calmed down.

He understood Li Xuan's meaning. These wraiths had lost themselves and only had the instinct of hatred left. Killing them with a sword was like cutting the air; it was meaningless.

"Then... what should we do?" The Yuhua Immortal Lord frowned.

The attacks of these wraiths were bizarre, and ordinary immortal techniques and Divine Abilities had little effect. The military formation's defense was being constantly eroded; if this continued, there would surely be casualties.

Li Xuan didn't answer. He turned and looked toward the royal bedchamber inside the divine boat.

His gaze seemed to pierce through layers of palace buildings to see deep within the bedchamber, where on a baby bed made of ten-thousand-year warm jade, a perfectly carved infant was sleeping soundly.

That was his Twelfth Son, Li Lunhui.

Since birth, this child had been sleeping, doing nothing but eating and sleeping, completely indifferent to the outside world.

But his innate 'Samsara Holy Body' was exactly the strongest method to deal with the situation at hand.

"Combat is not always about fighting and killing."

Li Xuan's voice rang out on the deck, as if speaking to Sun Wukong and Li Changsheng, yet also as if teaching all the Heavenly Court soldiers.

"Sometimes, salvation has more power than slaughter."

After saying that, he slowly raised his right hand.

He pressed his index and middle fingers together, lightly gesturing in the void before him.

Not a single bit of magic power leaked from his fingertips, yet it triggered the supreme Laws in the unseen. Mysterious golden divine characters flowed from his fingertips, slowly combining in the air to construct an ancient and complex talisman seal.

The core of that talisman seal was the two characters for 'Samsara,' constantly rotating.

It was precisely the supreme Divine Ability Li Xuan had obtained when signing in at the Underworld—the Great Samsara Technique!

Only this time, he was not going to perform it personally.

"Go."

Li Xuan flicked his finger, and that golden Samsara talisman seal turned into a soft streak of light. It didn't fly toward the void ghost ship outside but instead silently sank into the interior of the divine boat, flying toward the bedchamber where Li Lunhui was located.

What he wanted to do was not to act on behalf of his son, but to use this Divine Ability as a guide to gently pluck his innate Origin power.

This battlefield forgotten for eons, these souls sunken for eons, would become the first 'whetstone' for his Twelfth Son, Li Lunhui, to show his existence to the world.

The talisman seal passed through layers of palace walls, finally hovering above the sleeping Li Lunhui's forehead, and then pressed down into it.