High above the endless pitch of darkness, a lone figure hovered, his gaze fixed upon the blackened heavens. Meng Meng's eyes reflected the abyss above and below, silent as the void itself. He let out a faint sigh.
One step... two steps…
In an instant, his figure blurred, reappearing two hundred feet away from the island. Beneath him stretched the endless black sea — a sea without ripples, without life, a still mirror of death.
Meng Meng wanted to leave this place, yet he didn't even know where he was. Still, deep inside his heart, a faint instinct whispered that the key to escaping this darkness lay somewhere within the sea itself.
With a flick of his hand, he slapped his bag of holding. A talisman appeared — ancient, weathered, and pulsing faintly with golden light.
"The Nine-Binding Talisman," he muttered. "It can withstand even the strike of a nascent soul cultivator."
His expression softened for a moment.
He knew only a cultivator like Teng Xuwan could possess such a thing — one who could store treasures directly within his own spatial essence, without needing a pouch.
Third step... fourth step…
He moved again, his figure flashing forward through the air until he stood above the still waters. He pressed the talisman to his chest. The chill from the sea below gnawed at his bones, sharper and more sinister than before.
But he had already decided.
Without hesitation, he dove into the black sea.
The moment he entered, darkness swallowed him whole.
Down he went — one hundred feet... two hundred... three hundred... still nothing. Only the silence of death. Yet the chilling sensation grew stronger, tugging at his soul.
There… it's there.
Five hundred... six hundred... a thousand feet down — and then, suddenly, a barrier. His eyes flinched as light pierced through the endless dark.
He was stunned.
Underneath the pitch-black sea lay a realm of light — a world of five-colored brilliance, like a dream hidden within a nightmare. The waters shimmered with hues of jade and gold, crimson and azure, each ripple alive with divine radiance.
Meng Meng's heart pounded. From Teng Xuwan's fragmented memories, he knew this place — a land of legend described only in ancient tablets:
The Five-Colored Majestic Sea — a forbidden domain said to appear only once every thousand years.
"This... this is real?" he whispered, trembling.
He stepped forward, one step... then another... appearing a hundred feet deeper within the radiant sea.
From the fragments of memory, he knew this place shifted its structure every millennium — making it impossible to find. And yet, by sheer chance or fate, he had stumbled upon it.
His luck was beyond belief.
But as he moved further, a faint mist appeared in the distance.
"A mist? Underwater?" he muttered.
Curiosity overcame him. He approached — and immediately froze.
The Mist of Illusion.
One breath inverted the world.
Two breaths shattered the mind.
Three breaths... brought madness.
He held his breath instantly, recalling Teng Xuwan's warnings. But something felt off.
"I was already holding my breath... yet I can breathe here?"
He tried to gather his qi — and to his shock, the spiritual energy responded freely. That was impossible. One could not cultivate without breathing.
Then realization struck him.
"This isn't real… this is an illusion."
If so, there was only one way to escape — through absolute pain.
Without hesitation, he sank into his sea of consciousness. There, amidst the starlit expanse of his inner world, he shattered one of his soul stars.
Pain unlike anything he'd ever known ripped through his being. Blood burst from his lips, his vision fading to black — and then...
He woke.
He was once again beneath the black sea, his body trembling, blood seeping from his mouth. Around him, the water churned.
Two glowing eyes stared back at him from the abyss.
Meng Meng's pupils shrank.
He activated his All-Seeing Vision, and the world turned clear — horrifyingly clear.
Before him stood two colossal giants, each over a thousand feet tall. Their bodies were twisted and decayed, their skin a rotting blue. Their heads grew from their stomachs, and above each was a gaping mouth that breathed death. Upon their backs, faintly glowing, was a tattoo — the shape of a serpent coiling endlessly.
"They…" Meng Meng's voice trembled.
He didn't dare finish his thought.
Gathering every drop of qi, he moved — one step, two steps, ten steps — reappearing a thousand feet above the surface.
The giants roared and lunged upward, their killing intent shaking the sea. Meng Meng's heart raced as he invoked the Swift Step, burning all his qi to flee toward the island.
He barely made it — collapsing on the shore, gasping.
The two giants stopped at the edge of the island. Their twisted faces turned pale with terror. They roared once more, but instead of stepping forward, they retreated into the sea's darkness, vanishing below.
Meng Meng wiped the blood from his mouth, his body trembling.
From Teng Xuwan's memories, he knew — this island held a formation. Perhaps it was that ancient array that frightened the giants away.
He glanced at the mountain behind him but did not dare to move closer.
Finally, he sank to the ground, exhausted.
"I survived this time…" he whispered. His lips curled into a faint, bitter smile. "But next time… it won't be so easy."