"You are truly insane, Zhi Xuan," Ruo Xianxue’s voice emerged, this time appearing in her spiritual form beside him. "Forcing the use of the Ruthless Heavenly Banner while your meridians were just battered by the void storm... If you weren't the owner of the Heavenly-Blood Body, your soul would have shattered into a thousand pieces."

  Zhi Xuan regulated his ragged breathing, offering no retort to the Great Saint. His hands moved with a slight tremor, pulling out a pouch containing fragments of Heavenly Jade given to him by Zhu Qinglan. Thousands of those crescent-shaped jade pieces instantly filled the room with a pure celestial aura, creating a sharp contrast with the Yin energy seeping from the cave walls.

  "I had no choice," Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice hoarse. "Without showing a strength capable of crushing their spirits, this tribe would only see me as prey. In a place like this, only fear can guarantee peace."

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes, locking a mudra with his remaining strength. He began to draw the pure essence from the Heavenly Jade into his body. Every drop of energy that entered felt like a stream of lava searing his wounded meridians. He moved his fingers slowly, forming a mudra that instantly shattered the thousands of Heavenly Jade pieces.

  The thousands of Heavenly Jade fragments exploded simultaneously, turning into a mist of pure light so dense it filled every corner of the underground cave. The overflowing celestial energy from the pieces clashed with the cold Yin air from the crystal walls, creating a vortex of energy that circled Zhi Xuan’s body like a dragon coiling around its prey.

  During those three suns, the spirit storm outside continued to echo, but this time the barbarian tribe was able to withstand it more easily. Inside the cave, Zhi Xuan unleashed spiritual energy in all directions; his energy had stabilized at the peak of the initial stage of Weaver Transformation, and his previously disrupted meridians had finally healed.

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes in the darkness of the cave, illuminated only by the dim glow of floating jade remnants. His sapphire pupils now emitted a deeper light, no longer trembling with piercing pain. He exhaled a long breath, a gray mist escaping his lips, carrying away the useless dregs of his essence.

  "Peak of the Initial Stage..." Zhi Xuan murmured, clenching his left hand. "The Middle Stage will require at least tens of thousands of Heavenly Jade."

  Zhi Xuan stood up, waving his hand to sweep away the remnants of his meditation. His black-and-white robes rustled softly as he stepped toward the tortoise-shell door. He pushed the stone door made of the tortoise shell with one hand. Its groan was heavy, echoing along the underground corridor until it reached the surface.

  As the tortoise-shell door opened fully, the heat of Sky Skull Hill immediately rushed in, clashing with the lingering cold from inside the cave. At the threshold, Shanhu stood motionless with his bone spear planted in the ground. His rugged face looked weary, but his eyes instantly lit up upon seeing Zhi Xuan emerge with a stride that was no longer wavering.

  "Sky Warrior!" Shanhu exclaimed, immediately dropping to one knee, followed by a dozen warriors guarding the corridor. "Three suns have passed. We have guarded this gate without letting even a single louse pass."

  Zhi Xuan swept his gaze over the warriors. He felt their auras were slightly stronger than before, as if the remnants of energy leaking from his cave over these three days had provided an unintended blessing to their coarse bodies.

  "Rise, Shanhu," Zhi Xuan said flatly. "Your tribe has kept its promise. Now, take me to see the Chieftain. There are matters I must confirm regarding this land before I continue my journey south."

  Shanhu stood up promptly, leading the way up the bone stairs to the surface. In the center square of the settlement, the Chieftain was waiting near the Earth Heart. The blind elder’s face tilted upward, as if his sense of smell could catch the transformation in Zhi Xuan’s aura.

  "You are no longer a cracked sword, Wanderer," the Chieftain whispered, tapping his bird-skull staff on the ground. "You are a storm at rest. What does a figure as high as the sky like you want from a small tribe crawling in bone dust?"

  Zhi Xuan stood directly before the giant crystal altar. "I want to know about the Savage Sea that Shanhu spoke of. How far is it from here, and is there a way to cross it?"

  The Chieftain fell silent, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening. "The Savage Sea... it is not merely water, Lord. It is a liquid formed from the fallen tears of giants. The water is so heavy that wood cannot float, and within it dwell scaleless water dragons capable of swallowing islands."

  Zhi Xuan remained silent; he did not need to show that he would not be using a sampan or a boat to cross that savage sea, as he still held the Seven-Star Boat in his possession. He nodded slightly. "Then, are there any other problems that might pose a danger there?"

  The Chieftain coughed dryly, his voice sounding like sand scraping over an old coffin. He moved his staff toward the south, where the horizon appeared to burn with constant steam.

  "The problem is not just what lies within the water, Lord Wanderer," the elder continued in an even lower tone. "But the Breath of Death that blankets its surface. The mist on the Savage Sea does not kill the body, but devours direction. Anyone who enters without a Guiding Star will spin atop the calm waters until their soul withers and becomes part of the mist itself."

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, his divine sense trying to catch the hidden vibrations of the elder's words. "A Guiding Star? Is it a kind of compass or a natural restriction?"

  "It is the Core Crystal of a Sky Whale," said Shanhu, standing behind Zhi Xuan, his voice filled with primal fear. "A giant monster that flies above that sea. Only its light can pierce the Breath of Death. Without it, even if you possessed the wings of a god, you would only fly toward a meaningless direction."

  Ruo Xianxue snorted within Zhi Xuan’s sea of consciousness. "Sky Whale? It seems they are referring to the descendants of the Kun Peng that were left behind. They do not know that you carry a Kun Peng fetus within you, Zhi Xuan."

  Kun Peng. Zhi Xuan paused for a moment, his Divine Sense creeping to the bottom of his Sea of Consciousness where the Chaos Pearl sealing the Kun Peng fetus resided. If the Sky Whale was a descendant of the Kun Peng, then crossing the savage sea would undoubtedly trigger a resonance with the fetus. The risk of the Kun Peng hatching prematurely would tear him apart from the inside.

  Zhi Xuan withdrew his divine sense from the depths of the Chaos Pearl with an unreadable expression. Ruo Xianxue’s warning was no joke; nurturing a Kun Peng fetus within a mortal body was like keeping a sun inside a wooden box. If that resonance occurred in the middle of the Savage Sea, he would not only be facing sea monsters but also an energy rebellion within his own meridians.

  "Sky Whale," Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice as cold as the whistle of a blade. "Where can I find this Core Crystal? Or must I hunt the monster above the horizon?"

  The Chieftain trembled, his skull staff clattering loudly against the crystal floor. "Hunt a Sky Whale? Lord, that is an act that would invite the wrath of heaven and earth! Our tribe does not have the courage to look into its eyes, let alone touch its hide, which is as hard as a stone mountain."

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "However," Shanhu interjected in a hoarse voice, "there is a place... at the end of the worship cliff, two days' journey from here to the south. There lie the remains of a Sky Whale that washed ashore thousands of seasons ago. Its bones have become hills, but its Core Crystal is said to still hold remnants of light, buried beneath piles of red sand."

  Zhi Xuan nodded slowly. "Whale Bone Hill. If that is the only way to pierce the mist of the Breath of Death, then I shall go there."

  "Wait, Lord Warrior!" Shuha shouted, suddenly appearing from behind a bone pillar, his face anxious yet filled with a spark of adventure. "That hill is not empty! Scavengers and hungry spirits gather there. They worship the remains of the Sky Whale as their own god. Going there alone is suicide!"

  Zhi Xuan turned toward Shuha, a look that instantly silenced the barbarian youth. "Suicide is for those who lack a sword in their hearts. For me, it is merely a stopover."

  He then turned back to the Chieftain. "I will depart now. Your tribe's kindness in providing a place for meditation will not be forgotten. If destiny brings me back to this land one day, I will repay it in kind."

  The Chieftain bowed deeply, as did every member of the tribe in the square. In their eyes, Zhi Xuan was no longer just a wanderer, but a sacred figure walking between life and death. "May the Giant Spirit guide your steps, Sky Warrior. Take this beast-hide map; it will show you the safest path to Whale Bone Hill through the valleys."

  Zhi Xuan accepted the rough hide scroll, storing it in his storage bag without a word. He glanced at Shanhu for a moment, giving a small nod as a form of recognition for the man's loyalty in guarding his cave door.

  WUSH!

  Without waiting for the dawn to rise higher, Zhi Xuan’s body faded into a gray shadow that shot out of the giant jawbone gate. His speed was now far more stable and terrifying. Every footstep atop the bone dust created a ripple of energy that propelled him forward thousands of zhang in the blink of an eye.

  "You truly intend to take that risk?" Ruo Xianxue’s voice echoed again as Zhi Xuan crossed the barren bone fields. "The Kun Peng blood resonance is no trivial matter. If that fetus reacts to the presence of a Sky Whale, it will suck every drop of your life essence to hatch."

  "If I do not pierce through the Savage Sea, I will never reach Huang Tu," Zhi Xuan replied internally while maintaining his speed. "And if I do not reach Huang Tu, the promise to Xu Han will be void. I would rather be destroyed by a Kun Peng energy explosion than rot in this bone land out of fear."

  Ruo Xianxue chuckled softly, a tone containing hidden admiration. "Stubborn as always. Very well, I will help you suppress the fetus's vibrations with the Ancient Devil Monument, but don't expect me to hold it back if you truly face the ruler of that sea head-on."

  The two-day journey Shanhu described was covered by Zhi Xuan in only half a day. As dusk approached, the scenery before him began to change. The ground, previously dominated by small bone fragments, was replaced by a sight both gruesome and magnificent.

  Before him, the skeleton of a creature whose size surpassed human imagination stretched as far as the eye could see. Its spine formed a range of hills that pierced the clouds, while its curved ribs created dark, rigid forests. The Yin aura here was so dense that the air felt thick and purple-hued.

  "Whale Bone Hill," Zhi Xuan hissed as he landed on a fossilized fin fragment.

  He sharpened his divine sense, scanning an area of hundreds of li. Shuha was right; this place was not empty. In the crevices of the giant bones, he felt thousands of bloodthirsty presences—creatures born from the decay of the Sky Whale's energy over thousands of years.

  However, Zhi Xuan’s attention was soon diverted by something deeper. At the center of the bone hill, buried deep beneath the surface, he felt a faint pulse of light carrying the resonance mentioned by the chieftain. That was the Core Crystal he sought.

  Zhi Xuan did not immediately charge toward the center of the pulse. He stood motionless, letting his robes flutter in the wind that carried an ancient fishy scent and the essence of death. His sapphire eyes flashed, catching the movement of thousands of small shadows crawling in the gaps of the giant spine—scavengers whose bodies had mutated into sharp, breathing coral.

  Zhi Xuan did not immediately draw his sword, yet his presence, like a drawn blade, had triggered a chain reaction throughout Whale Bone Hill. The creatures crawling between the bones—the scavengers with rigid, coral-like bodies—began to emit a harrowing grinding sound. They were entities devoid of consciousness, their forms fused with the decaying Yin energy.

  WUUUUNG—!

  A low vibration began to ripple from beneath Zhi Xuan’s feet. Within his sea of consciousness, the Chaos Pearl sealing the Kun Peng fetus pulsed once. The pulse was subtle, but it was enough to make Zhi Xuan’s face turn pale for a moment.

  "This resonance..." Zhi Xuan hissed, clutching his chest. "Just at the outskirts, and this fetus is already starting to struggle."

  Zhi Xuan looked at the Divine Cauldron floating near his Devil Life Tree. "Ao Sheng and Xiao Die come from the same bloodlines from the era of the ten sacred beasts. At the very least, the Heavenly Moth and the Ancient Golden Dragon will suppress the Kun Peng fetus."

  Zhi Xuan stomped his foot, and the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk domain appeared behind him, unfolding and spinning in six glowing colors. On either side, two gates appeared: the Path of Ghosts and the Path of Devas. The Path of Ghosts opened, forming a vortex from which faceless ghostly silhouettes shot toward the scavengers.

  CRAAK—! BRAK—!

  The sounds of crushing bones and tearing coral-flesh filled the air. The ghostly army from the Reincarnation Disk swept through the creatures' ranks without mercy. Simultaneously, from the Path of Devas gate, a pure golden light radiated, burning away the purple mist of decay that blanketed the area, clearing a path for Zhi Xuan to step forward untouched by the aura of death.

  Zhi Xuan shot forward, every footstep atop the Sky Whale bones triggering shockwaves that collapsed the surrounding rock-coral formations. However, the closer he got to the center of the hill, the more the vibration within his sea of consciousness went wild. The Chaos Pearl began to crack slowly, releasing an ancient aura ravenous for energy.

  "Ao Sheng! Xiao Die! Now!" Zhi Xuan roared internally.

  From within the Divine Cauldron, a small Golden Dragon and a Heavenly Moth with wings shimmering with rainbow light shot out. Both creatures dove to the bottom of Zhi Xuan’s sea of consciousness, positioning themselves beneath the Devil Life Tree where the Chaos Pearl was sealed by Ancient Devil runes. Ao Sheng immediately revealed his form, coiling like a Golden Dragon around the Chaos Pearl. Meanwhile, Xiao Die spread her wings and covered the pearl.

  With the help of both the ancient beast and the ancient insect, the turmoil of the Kun Peng fetus within Zhi Xuan began to slow, held back by the pressure of two other sacred beast bloodlines. Zhi Xuan took this opportunity to dive down into a large hole resembling the eye socket of the Sky Whale.

  At the bottom of the hole, he landed on an expanse of hot red sand. In the middle of the sand sat a round, full-moon-shaped object the size of an adult man's fist, emitting a clear sky-blue light—the Sky Whale Core Crystal.

  Zhi Xuan stepped closer, each footfall on the red sand producing a hissing sound as if the heat of the earth were trying to pierce his spiritual essence protection. The Core Crystal before him pulsed with an ancient rhythm, emitting a cool blue light that contrasted with the pitch darkness enveloping the giant bone cavity.

  "Be careful, Zhi Xuan," Ruo Xianxue’s voice sounded sharper, her spiritual aura tensing beside Zhi Xuan’s body. "That object is not merely a crystal. It is a vessel for the remnants of the will of a beast that once sailed the celestial oceans. When you touch it, you are not just touching a light source; you are touching memories capable of swallowing your sanity."

  Zhi Xuan did not flinch. He reached out his jet-black left hand, where the thousands of Slaughter Seals dimmed for a moment, allowing his sense of touch to reach the smooth surface of the crystal. As his fingers made contact with the cold surface, an explosion of raw information and emotion instantly battered his mind.

  "GRAWWRRR—!"

  A roar that came not from sound, but from soul vibrations, echoed inside his head. Zhi Xuan saw an endless ocean, a collapsing sky, and the eternal loneliness of a giant stranded in a foreign land. The crystal tried to pull his soul, dragging him into a vortex of past memories that were melancholic yet deadly.

  "Die!" Zhi Xuan hissed, his sword intent exploding from within his mind, severing every strand of vision that tried to entwine his consciousness. "You are merely the remnants left behind. Do not hope to swallow my will!"

  He gripped the Core Crystal tightly. Instantly, the clear blue light radiated violently, piercing between his fingers and illuminating the entire eye socket of the Sky Whale. The light was so powerful that it broke through the piles of red sand and shot into the sky, forming a pillar of blue light that split the darkness of Whale Bone Hill.

  However, Zhi Xuan’s success in grasping the crystal triggered the fury of the remaining inhabitants of Whale Bone Hill. From the darkness of the bone cavities emerged figures larger than ordinary scavengers. They were the Bone Guardians—giant corpses whose bodies had fused with the Sky Whale's bones, now rising because they felt their sacred treasure had been plundered.

  DUM! DUM! DUM!

  The red sand floor shook. Figures ten zhang tall, made of arrangements of sharp bones, crawled out from the cave walls. Their eyes had no eyeballs, but rather black holes emitting the purple fire of decay. Zhi Xuan tucked the Core Crystal into his storage bag, his eyes sharpening once more as he faced the surrounding Bone Guardians.