Chapter 161 Endless Sea Journey, Peril of Returning to the Ruins

Nightmare emerged from seclusion, his aura becoming increasingly restrained, yet giving off an unfathomable feeling, as if a single thought could stir the Void Realm. Su Wanqing sensed the faint spatial fluctuations around him, and her beautiful eyes shone brightly.

“Master, your cultivation has advanced again.”

Nightmare nodded slightly: “Prepare yourself. We depart immediately for the Endless Sea.”

“Yes.” Su Wanqing had no objections and immediately began tidying the Immortal Cave. In truth, there wasn’t much to organize; she mainly used a Secret Technique to temporarily Seal and store the spring source of the Cold Spring, as this item was beneficial to her Cultivation.

A moment later, the two left the Immortal Cave where they had resided for several months. With a wave of his hand, Nightmare completely reinforced and concealed the Restriction at the entrance; perhaps they might use it again someday.

Identifying the east, Nightmare slightly sensed a spatial node, then reached out and slashed—

Rip!

A stable spatial rift large enough for two people instantly appeared. The scene on the other side of the rift was no longer the Red Dragon Mountain Range, but a boundless, deep blue sea. Salty, moist sea wind rushed toward them!

A single, long-distance spatial traversal! They had traveled directly from the southwest of the Central Province to the shore of the Eastern Sea!

Although Su Wanqing had witnessed Nightmare’s various Divine Ability, she couldn’t help but be inwardly shocked at this moment. Such a method was almost comparable to the legendary “Void Traversing” of Void Refining Stage mighty figures!

The two stepped into the rift, and the next moment, they were standing on a coastal reef tens of thousands of miles away. The spatial rift behind them silently closed.

Before them lay a vast, boundless ocean, with surging waves, where the sea and sky merged into one, immensely magnificent. This was the Endless Sea, rumored to be wider than the entire Kyushu Continent combined, hiding countless secrets and dangers in its depths.

Nightmare took out the Sea Chart Jade Slip he had purchased and immersed his Divine Sense into it. The Endless Sea was roughly divided into the Outer Perimeter, Inner Sea, Deep Sea, and the most dangerous Forbidden Ground near the Eye of Guixu. The chart marked many known danger zones, such as the Spiritual Qi-devouring “Silent Spirit Vortex,” the “Bewildering Mist Zone” that could trigger Heart Demon, and the lairs of powerful Sea Beast.

The Eye of Guixu, however, was located in the deepest part of the Sea Chart, marked by only one enormous, terrifying, vortex-like symbol. Large areas around it were blank, with the bright red words “Deadly Ground” annotated beside it. Information about it was extremely scarce, and every fragment was filled with warnings.

“star fixing compass.” Nightmare spoke.

Su Wanqing immediately took out the ancient Compass, which was neither metal nor wood, and injected Magic Power. The pointer on the Compass immediately spun rapidly. The stars and Spatial Runes engraved on it lit up one by one, emitting a faint glow, becoming extremely sensitive to the surrounding spatial fluctuations and energy anomalies.

Nightmare's power resonated slightly with the star fixing compass, roughly confirming the direction. He did not choose to tear space directly to travel, as the space near the Eye of Guixu was extremely unstable, and blind teleportation could easily lead them into an unknown dangerous land.

He summoned a Flying Boat Magic Treasure acquired from some unfortunate opponent. Although it wasn't top-tier, it was fast and easy to control. The two boarded the Flying Boat, transforming into a streak of light, and sailed toward the depths of the Endless Sea.

The initial leg of the journey was relatively smooth. Under the azure sky and blue sea, they occasionally encountered some low-Rank Sea Bird Yao Beast, which, sensing the slight aura Nightmare deliberately emitted, steered far away.

But as they delved deeper, the Endless Sea began to show its ferocious side.

A few days later, the Flying Boat broke into a vast gray mist zone. The mist was thick, not only greatly weakening Divine Sense perception but also containing strange whispers that could directly invade a Cultivator’s Sea of Consciousness and trigger Heart Demon illusions.

“Master, it’s the Bewildering Mist!” Su Wanqing’s face was slightly pale. She quickly guarded her mind and summoned a Heart Calming Jade Pendant, which emitted a soft light to protect her.

Nightmare’s expression remained unchanged. The Nirvana Field expanded slightly, annihilating all invading mist and Demonic Sound into nothingness. The Flying Boat maintained its speed, steadily traversing the dense fog. The Bewildering Mist, which caused countless Cultivators to pale with fear, had no effect on him.

After a few more days, a massive, rotating black vortex suddenly appeared on the sea surface ahead! The vortex was hundreds of miles in diameter, emitting terrifying suction force, frantically devouring all the surrounding seawater, Spiritual Qi, and even light! It was precisely the “Silent Spirit Vortex” marked on the Sea Chart!

The Flying Boat shook violently, being uncontrollably pulled toward the center of the vortex!

Su Wanqing hastily exerted all her strength to urge the Flying Boat, but she could not resist that terrifying natural power at all!

Nightmare let out a cold snort. His power circulated. Instead of directly resisting the suction force, the Nirvana Field cleverly altered the spatial structure around the Flying Boat, making it seem as if it had become part of the vortex. Following the trajectory of the vortex’s edge, it slid out in an unbelievable manner, escaping the range of the suction force!

Su Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Nightmare with increasing reverence.

During their voyage, they also encountered several attacks from powerful Sea Beast. There was a group of “Thunderwing Demon Shark,” equivalent to the Nascent Soul Stage, that rushed forward wielding Thunder; and even a massive “Deep Sea Giant Qiong,” whose aura was comparable to the Early Spirit Transformation Stage, suddenly burst out from the seabed, opening its sky-swallowing maw!

But these threats were insignificant before Nightmare. When the Annihilation Finger Force was pointed out, both the Thunderwing Demon Shark and the Deep Sea Giant Qiong instantly had their Life Force extinguished, sinking to the seabed to become food for other Sea Beast.

The deeper they went, the harsher the environment became. Storms, thunderous squalls, strange magnetic field areas, spatial rifts... various Natural Disaster Perils emerged endlessly. Without Nightmare paving the way with the Nirvana Law and his precise foresight, Su Wanqing alone would likely have long been buried at the bottom of the sea.

At the same time, the pointer of the star fixing compass began to swing violently and erratically, indicating that the space here was unusually active and chaotic.

“We should be approaching the range of influence of the Eye of Guixu.” Nightmare looked at the Sea Chart, comparing it with the star fixing compass’s reaction, and made his judgment.

After traveling for about half a month more, the surrounding scenery began to turn bizarre.

The color of the seawater gradually became deep, almost black. There were no sun, moon, or stars in the sky, which was perpetually shrouded in a layer of gray, distorted halo. Occasionally, huge, shattered mountain peaks or even Palace Remnants floated on the sea or in the air, emitting an ancient, deathly silent aura. Space here became extremely fragile, often tearing open small black rifts without warning, radiating a dangerous aura.

The pointer of the star fixing compass had completely malfunctioned, spinning madly without cease.

However, the faint sensation regarding the “Nine Nether” transmitted by his power became slightly clearer.

Nightmare lowered the speed of the Flying Boat, raising his power to the maximum limit, carefully sensing the subtle changes in every inch of space and energy ahead.

Suddenly, a strong warning was transmitted by his power!

Almost simultaneously, the calm black sea surface ahead suddenly collapsed downward, forming an incomparably huge funnel-shaped vortex! This vortex was tens of thousands of times larger than the "Silent Spirit Vortex" they had previously encountered, as if the entire seawater of the Endless Sea was pouring into it and vanishing!

At the center of the vortex was a bottomless, massive aperture radiating absolute darkness and deathly silence! That was—the Eye of Guixu!

A terrifying suction force suddenly arrived, hundreds of times stronger than any previous instance! The Flying Boat instantly lost control, being violently dragged toward the all-consuming dark aperture like a fallen leaf in a gale!

Even more terrifying, as they drew closer, an indescribable sense of fear, stemming from the Soul's instinct, swept over them! It was the fear of complete annihilation, of absolute nothingness! Even Nightmare’s Nirvana Law stirred slightly. This was not excitement, but a stress response to encountering an equal or even higher level of "ending" power!

Su Wanqing’s face was deathly pale. Before this Great Power of Heaven and Earth and ultimate fear, she felt as insignificant as dust, unable even to circulate her Magic Power.

“Steady your mind!” Nightmare shouted in a low voice. The Nirvana Field fully expanded, struggling to resist the terrifying suction and Spiritual Corrosion. The Flying Boat's descent speed slowed slightly, but it was still irreversibly sliding toward the Eye of Guixu.

His power frantically ran calculations, searching for a glimmer of hope. At the same time, Nightmare’s gaze sharply scanned the distorted and fragmented space at the edge of the Eye of Guixu.

Just as the Flying Boat was about to be completely sucked into the absolute darkness, Nightmare's power finally captured an extremely faint, dark purple Spatial Fluctuation occasionally flashing on the side of the Eye of Guixu, distorted by the extreme power!

The aura of that rift was the same Origin as the one seen in Jiang Yunshan’s Divination visualization!

“It’s there!”

A sharp light burst forth from Nightmare’s eyes. Without hesitation, he gave up resisting the suction force. Instead, he fiercely urged the Flying Boat, using the immense suction force to actively shoot toward the area where the dark purple fluctuation flashed, like an arrow released from a bowstring!

Simultaneously, his comprehension of the Law of Space within his power circulated to the extreme, and he violently tore his hands to both sides!

“Open for This Sovereign!”

Riiiip—!

A spatial rift, larger and more stable than any before, its edges flashing with Annihilation Black Light, was forcefully torn open by him using Immense Magic Power!

Beyond the rift was not normal space, but a bizarre, kaleidoscopic passage filled with chaotic Spatial Turbulence and dark purple Bizarre Energy!

“Go!”

Nightmare wrapped his arm around Su Wanqing, who was barely able to move, abruptly abandoned the boat, transformed into a streak of light, and rushed into that extremely dangerous spatial rift!

The very next second after they rushed in, the Flying Boat was completely swallowed by the absolute darkness of the Eye of Guixu, annihilated without a trace. The spatial rift Nightmare had torn open was also rapidly smoothed and closed by the surrounding terrifying power.

The Endless Sea returned to “calm,” leaving only the eternally rotating, all-consuming Eye of Guixu, as if nothing had happened... After a violent Spatial Shock that caused the world to spin and felt as if their Divine Soul was being ripped apart.

Nightmare and Su Wanqing suddenly tumbled out of a rift that appeared abruptly, falling heavily onto hard, cold ground.

Nightmare stabilized his posture immediately, the Nirvana Field instantly spreading out as he vigilantly scanned his surroundings.

Su Wanqing, however, couldn't help but retch a few times, her face pale. The chaotic Spatial Transmission she had just experienced made her extremely uncomfortable.

What met their eyes was a world of absolute gloom and deathly silence.

There was no sky here, no earth, only endless, deep darkness that seemed to have solidified. Underfoot was cold, hard ground, like Black Glaze, extending to the edge of their vision. The air was filled with suffocatingly pure Yin Qi and Death Qi, bone-chillingly cold, yet strangely having a certain nourishing effect on the Divine Soul.

In the distance, they could vaguely see the outlines of some gigantic, twisted, mountain-like black shadows, standing silently in the darkness, emitting an aura of ancient desolation. Further away, there seemed to be the Phantom of a Yellow River flowing silently and turbidly, with a broken Stone Bridge spanning it... His power vibrated and hummed here, transmitting an incredibly clear and intense resonance! The old wound on his left shoulder, which had long been suppressed, purified, and nearly vanished, also transmitted a faint, yet more Origin-based, tremor of the same source!

The aura here shared the same Origin as the Malicious Thought from his old injury, but it was older, purer, and vaster!

This place was precisely—the Nine Nether Forbidden Ground!

They had actually found this place and forcibly broken in!

“Master, this place...” Su Wanqing felt the extremely pure Yin Death Qi around her, which made her feel uneasy, yet she also sensed that the Magic Power in her body seemed to become slightly more condensed. Especially having Cultivated the Supreme Art of Forgetting Emotion, she felt a strange adaptability to this environment.

“This place is the Nine Nether,” Nightmare said gravely, his power carefully sensing. “Be careful. This is definitely not a benevolent place; there must be extremely dangerous entities here.”

Before his voice faded, two massive, ghastly green “lanterns” suddenly lit up in the endless darkness ahead!

They were not lanterns, but a pair of gigantic, cold, and ruthless eyes filled with extreme loathing for living beings!

A low, hoarse roar, seemingly from before the ages, echoed through this silent world like a scraping steel blade:

“Living... beings...?”

“Dare... to... defile... the... Nine... Nether...”

“Die...”