As his gaze swept past the flocks of birds, Zhao Sheng's expression slowly darkened.
Looking down into the distance, as the sun set, a vast island stretching as far as the eye could see suddenly came into view.
Several black plumes of smoke rose from the island, filling the sky with smoke. The fields and forests that were once ubiquitous inland became desolate and dark. Most of the buildings in the coastal towns had collapsed and been destroyed. The docks were covered with charred ashes and debris from the fire.
On the nearby sea, countless wrecked ships lay half-submerged, half-floating, capsized and overturned, yet there was not a single corpse. However, the fish and sea creatures in the vicinity had recently eaten their fill and looked unusually large.
At this moment, in the dilapidated market town, groups of dejected, ragged people, like walking corpses, were climbing up and down the ruins, crawling in and out, constantly searching for anything useful.
On the dilapidated streets, one can occasionally see rotting corpses being dragged out of the ruins and piled up in a heap of bodies on the street corner, waiting for others to take them away to feed the fish.
Around the streets of the market, tall, armored figures clad in blue armor patrolled back and forth expressionlessly, each one exuding murderous intent as they guarded the slave population within the market.
Beside them followed a group of enormous mutant sea lizards, all with blue scales and purple eyes, six limbs growing from their bellies, and spewing purple poisonous smoke from their mouths. They were none other than the infamous Corrosive Poison Sea Lizards of the Shattered Star Sea.
Only after witnessing this horrific scene firsthand did Zhao Sheng realize that this was a catastrophe, a massacre of the Shattered Star Sea race.
The Shattered Star Sea contains countless islands, and it is very likely that millions of humans have already perished at the hands of billions of ferocious beasts.
If Dragon Head Island suffered such a tragic fate, one can only imagine how terrible the fate of the other conquered islands must have been!
After circling halfway around Dragon Head Island, Tiger Owl suddenly spotted a sea area a hundred miles southwest of the island and swooped down.
At this moment, seeing Zhao Sheng's gloomy face, the Nine-Foolish Immortal seemed to have seen through his thoughts, so he spoke in a calm tone: "You seem very angry. Are you indignant about the deaths of the human race? But do you know how many innocent lives, intelligent races, have died under the human race's butcher's knife every year, every month, every day, and even every hour?"
Human life is life, but what about the lives of billions of beings in the Shattered Star Sea?
Such is the world; the strong prey on the weak. The cycle of karma is inescapable, and retribution is inevitable!
Zhao Sheng looked down at the rapidly approaching sea, staring at the massive shadows swirling beneath the surface. Then he turned to face Master Jiuchi and said expressionlessly, "Those who walk different paths cannot be connected!"
"Hmph, don't forget that you still have the true blood of the Spirit Clan flowing through your veins. You've never belonged to the human race. If I were to expose your identity to those stubborn old humans, guess what your fate would be? Hehe!"
Zhao Sheng turned away, refusing to argue with Jiu Chi. Discussing racial issues with a die-hard follower of the Spirit Clan was utterly pointless. Whether someone is human or not is not determined by bloodline, but by shared beliefs and ideals, or perhaps by the soul's consciousness.
Bang!
The tiger owl folded its wings and suddenly plunged into the sea.
Suddenly, a pale white light shield rose around Tiger Owl's body, isolating the seawater from the outside.
As it rapidly dived into the deep sea, the underwater light grew dimmer, but the surrounding sea creatures became increasingly dense. One after another, larger sea monsters, such as spirit whales, giant pincer crabs, thousand-mountain snails, and sea-covering rays, appeared within Zhao Sheng's divine sense range.
In just a few breaths, Tiger Owl had already dived hundreds of feet underwater. At this point, the light was completely blocked by the seawater, and it should have become so dark that you couldn't even see your fingers.
However, against the dark backdrop, what Zhao Sheng saw was a strange and colorful scene. Groups of beautiful sea spirits, shimmering with various neon lights, floated and drifted around him. Among them, the most eye-catching were the illusory jellyfish that emitted dazzling light. They were extremely large, often tens or hundreds of feet long, and a single one could often illuminate a water area of thousands of feet nearby.
As Zhao Sheng passed through the magnificent and fantastical glowing band, he suddenly sensed a rapid increase in the concentration of spiritual energy around him.
The tiger owl descended at lightning speed, covering a depth of a hundred feet in an instant.
Just then, Zhao Sheng suddenly narrowed his eyes, and a huge, dark blue-black tortoise with a shell as large as an island suddenly appeared in his line of sight.
On the back of this camel-shaped tortoise stood a magnificent, towering crystal palace, its entire body sparkling with dazzling white light.
Thousands of sea monster illusions appeared on the crystal walls surrounding the palace. These illusions were lifelike and were now constantly wandering around, fighting, hunting, playing, and chasing each other.
These scenes are so vivid and realistic, as if a real world is hidden inside the crystal wall, making it hard to believe that they are just illusions.
Zhao Sheng was horrified when he saw this.
When Tiger Owl landed on the square in front of the palace, he found that he and his companions had passed through an invisible barrier.
The palace and square were clean and dry, and the surrounding seawater was isolated by an invisible barrier above.
At that moment, Zhao Sheng's expression changed slightly, and he was secretly shocked, because he was horrified to realize that those illusions of sea beasts were actually the spirits of sea beasts. They had actually been refined alive into the crystal wall by a powerful being.
At the same time, he also faintly sensed a series of extremely subtle yet powerful and strange pressures emanating from the palace. The source was from the depths of the illusionary walls, from the crystal jade pillars as thick as a person's embrace in the palace, from the crystal tiles paving the floor like clear mirrors, and even from the crystal glazed tiles on the palace roof.
Zhao Sheng was only momentarily stunned before being jolted awake by a thunderous shout.
"Halt! Who dares to trespass into the Spirit Palace? State your name immediately!"
Looking up, they saw two bald giants, each over three zhang tall, with blue faces, fangs, and two thick, fleshy whiskers under their jaws that resembled octopus tentacles, striding towards Zhao Sheng and the Nine-Foolish Immortal.
These two giants exuded a powerful aura. Their upper bodies were clad in crimson half-body armor, and they wielded azure halberds. Behind them followed two rows of burly men in blue armor with green scales on their faces and purple eyes. Each of them possessed a formidable aura, no less than that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Tiger Owl was naturally fierce, but upon seeing the two giants appear, it was so frightened that it lay down on the ground, whimpering incessantly.
Jiu Chi jumped down immediately, greeted him with a big smile, and laughed loudly: "Haha! Chief Zhang, it's been decades, and you are still as loyal and dedicated as ever. Wang Jiu is deeply impressed!"
"Oh, so that's who's so reckless! It's you, kid. Little Jiu, we brothers didn't even remember you until you came back. When are you going to pay back the high-grade water spirit stones you owe us?" The two bald giants suddenly raised their halberds and pointed them at Jiu Chi, roaring in a deep voice.
The two of them, one named Zhang Da and the other Zhang Er, were from the ancient alien race of the Sea Giants on the Shattered Star Sea. They were incredibly powerful, comparable to a sixth-order great demon.
The two are twins born of the same mother, and they are born with the extraordinary ability to communicate telepathically. Not only are their actions and expressions completely identical, but even their tone of voice is exactly the same.
"Chief Zhang, please don't be offended. I will return the spirit stones immediately."
Nine-Foolish Immortal's face fell. He quickly took out two clear blue, shimmering, high-grade spirit stones, then gently tossed them, letting them slowly fly to the two giants.
Upon seeing this, the two giants opened their blood-red mouths and sucked in the top-grade spirit stone with great force, swallowing it whole.
"Very good! Little Nine, what brings you to the Spirit Palace this time?"
The two giants licked their lips simultaneously, put down their halberds, and as they spoke, their eyes darted around, glancing at Zhao Sheng with curiosity and surprise in their eyes.
It was obvious that they had already noticed the extraordinary Spirit Clan bloodline in Zhao Sheng.
Nine-Foolish Immortal turned around and pointed to Zhao Sheng, who happened to be standing next to him, and said happily, "Look, I came to the Spirit Palace all for this kid."
"I wonder if the Ancestor is currently in the Spirit Palace? If so, please inform him, Chief Zhang."
"You've come at an inopportune time. Elder Lingyuan just led the sea beast army to Longjin Island a few days ago to reinforce the vanguard legion. I heard that the human race has set up a large formation there, and the vanguard legion is blocked and can't get around it. The two sides have been fighting for almost a month now, and even dozens of great demons have died, yet they still can't take down a mere small island. This is getting a bit tricky!"
Upon hearing this, Master Jiuchi was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Since the Ancestor is not here, then who is in charge of the Spirit Palace now?"
"The Spirit Palace is now jointly managed by three kings. If you wish to have an audience, my brothers and I will go and inform them."
"May I ask, which three kings are you referring to?" Jiu Chi asked tentatively.
"hehe!"
The two giants chuckled, their expressions carrying a profound meaning.
Seeing this, Jiu Chi cursed inwardly and obediently offered up two thousand-year-old coral spirit branches, each as thick as a thigh and over ten feet long.
After accepting the bribe, Zhang Da and Zhang Er transmitted their thoughts to each other, saying, "It is the three kings: Ice King, Heavenly River King, and Star King."
After a moment's thought, Jiu Chi said, "I wish to pay my respects to the Ice King. I would like to ask Brother Zhang to go and inform him."
"Wait!"
As he spoke, the sea giant on the left turned and walked towards the Spirit Palace, while the giant on the right, accompanied by the Spirit Palace guards, looked at Zhao Sheng and Jiu Chi.
A short while later,
The giant turned back, followed by a delicate and charming woman.
The graceful woman approached and respectfully curtsied to Zhao Sheng and his companion, saying, "My lords, the King invites you!"
Seeing Zhao Sheng and the woman disappear into the palace walls, the two sea giants exchanged a glance and simultaneously transmitted their thoughts to the blue-armored guard beside them.
Before long, two guards in blue armor suddenly flew out from the ranks, turning into two streaks of blue light and disappearing into the majestic Spirit Palace.
...
On the other side, Zhao Sheng and his companion, led by the woman, passed through a series of wide and tall crystal corridors. On both sides of the corridors were tall side halls with their doors tightly closed. Each side hall door was three or four zhang wide and five or six zhang high, its surface gleaming with white light, displaying countless strange runes that shone with spiritual light, while also faintly exuding a breathtaking and awe-inspiring aura.
Zhao Sheng walked along with an outwardly calm expression, but inwardly he was extremely surprised.
Walking along the crystal corridor, he initially felt a profound sense of desolation, rarely encountering any living beings. But as he continued, he suddenly felt as if countless invisible eyes were appearing all around him.
These eyes are invisible and intangible, and even divine sense cannot detect them.
But under the watchful eyes of these invisible, cold gazes, Zhao Sheng suddenly felt his blood become more active than ever before, as if it were slowly "boiling."
At the same time, an indescribable and mysterious aura suddenly gathered from every corner of the palace, and in an instant, it rushed in from all directions, entering Zhao Sheng's limbs and bones, and merging into his blood and marrow.
In an instant, his heart began to pound violently, and the blood in his body circulated throughout his body at ten times the normal speed.
Stimulated by this, Zhao Sheng's face turned red, and the Xuan Yuan Heavy Water Technique automatically activated, with countless pure spiritual energies surging into his dantian out of thin air, causing the spiritual energy vortex to spin up several times in an instant.
The profound spiritual energy within the meridians flowed through the limbs and bones at an unprecedented speed, subtly aligning with blood circulation, circulating through the meridians again and again.
Master Jiuchi noticed Zhao Sheng's unusual behavior, glanced at him, and his expression changed, his eyes filled with jealousy and envy.
Only members of the Spirit Clan themselves knew that Zhao Sheng had passed a crucial test and gained the recognition of the remnant souls of the Spirit Clan's ancestors.
Therefore, he also received the blessings and protection of his ancestors. As long as he was in the Spirit Palace, his cultivation speed was several times faster than in the outside world, and the higher the purity of his bloodline, the faster his cultivation speed would be.
In other words, if Zhao Sheng joins the Spirit Clan, he will most likely be able to trigger fluctuations in the clan's protective artifact and be qualified to be given a three-character true name.
Although the change came very suddenly, Zhao Sheng quickly adapted and immediately noticed the jealous and envious gaze beside him.
Zhao Sheng pretended not to notice anything and continued walking with a calm expression.
After walking for about half a cup of tea's time, the three entered a side hall whose main structure was built of crimson coral.
As soon as Fang Yi stepped into the side hall, a bone-chilling cold immediately hit him.
Zhao Sheng shivered and subconsciously circulated his spiritual power. A blue light shield instantly appeared on his body, keeping the chill out of his body.
At first glance, everything in sight is crystal white. Thick, sharp icicles can be seen everywhere on the ceiling and floor of the room. Rows of snow-white ice chairs are neatly arranged in two rows from the outside in. At the deepest part of the palace is a thick and solid white jade ice bed that is three zhang long and wide and more than one zhang high.
On the white jade ice bed lay a huge ice figure, radiating a chilling aura and crystalline in appearance, with a blurry humanoid shadow curled up inside its chest and abdomen.
Upon seeing this person, Master Jiu immediately bowed and proclaimed, "Lingying Wang Jiu greets Ice King! I have brought the person back and have come to report."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a cold voice suddenly rang out in the hall, "Wang Jiu, so this is that naughty little fellow!"
The voice sounded incredibly cold, yet it carried a strong personal emotion.
The Ice Man slowly sat up straight, and an invisible pressure suddenly pressed down on Zhao Sheng, causing frost to form on his mouth and nose, and his blood to almost freeze.
Zhao Sheng grunted, his spiritual energy rapidly circulating within his body. His protective shield instantly thickened by 30%, becoming perfectly round and solid, barely managing to withstand the Ice King's oppressive aura.
"Yes, it's this little guy. What's his name again? What did he call you?"
Jiu Chi stammered halfway through his sentence, then turned to look at him.
"Does a name matter? You can call me Zhao Chonghe!"