Mastery of the Chaotic Body (Tribute to Fellow Reader Lord of the Nether Bridge)

As the Weak Water continued to purify, Gu Qingfeng felt his body grow increasingly ethereal, the chaos within him deepening, while his own Dao and the Sin of All gradually approached purity.

The change in the Sin of All was the most noticeable. As the embodiment of the wicked thoughts of all living beings, there was likely nothing in existence more tainted than it.

Even someone as formidable as the Abandoned Heavenly Emperor lost his true self in the face of the Sin of All. Rather than saying he became the Sin of All, it would be more accurate to say the Sin of All became him. From the moment the Sin of All was born, the Abandoned Heavenly Emperor ceased to exist in this world.

Had Gu Qingfeng not possessed the system, he too would have been lost within the Sin of All, assimilated by it—such was its corrupting nature.

The Sin of All was like a double-edged sword, capable of granting immortality, but at the cost of no longer being oneself.

It was essentially a trap, one dug by an ancient ghost for the Abandoned Heavenly Emperor.

But now, as the Weak Water purified, Gu Qingfeng clearly sensed an indescribable transformation taking place within the Sin of All.

It was as if the Sin of All had once been an unfinished product, but now, it was evolving into its complete form—the chaotic and disordered wicked thoughts of all living beings were converging into one!

When this convergence was complete, Gu Qingfeng had a premonition—that would be the Sin of All’s ultimate form.

Time passed minute by minute. Three days later, as the purification continued, the surface of the Weak Water began to recede, its volume visibly diminishing.

The wicked thoughts of all living beings versus the boundless Weak Water.

No matter how powerful the Weak Water was, it was not facing a single individual—it was facing all of existence.

“Not enough. This amount of Weak Water is far from sufficient! To achieve the Sin of All’s complete metamorphosis, I must dive deeper!”

A glint of excitement flashed in Gu Qingfeng’s eyes as he plunged downward like a swift fish.

One zhang! Ten zhang! A hundred zhang!

Sizzle...

The terrifying corrosive force that eroded his skin returned with a vengeance.

“Hmm? My resistance to the Weak Water isn’t enough anymore?”

He ceased his descent and instead swam horizontally, searching for Void Fish.

Now, he swam faster than the Void Fish themselves, and before long, he found another one.

This Void Fish resembled a dragon, nearly a hundred zhang long and almost transparent.

Without hesitation, Gu Qingfeng seized it, forcefully pried open its massive jaws, and—

Whoosh!

Like an arrow, he shot straight into its belly.

Ding!

Host under attack by Void Fish.

Weak Water Resistance +1,000,000 +1,000,000 +1,000,000...

Moments later, a large hand emerged from the Void Fish’s belly, followed by another.

Then, with a brutal tear, the dragon-like Void Fish was ripped in half.

Gu Qingfeng continued his hunt, seeking the next target—he intended to maximize his gains in one go.

Meanwhile, atop the Emperor’s Pass, others finally appeared—the quasi-Emperors he had left behind earlier.

Instead of advancing immediately, these quasi-Emperors sat cross-legged, refining their own Daos under the pressure of the Emperor’s Pass. Their Daos had grown noticeably stronger, as if undergoing a metamorphosis.

This was, in truth, the correct way to traverse the Path of the Emperor—to advance step by step through hardship, seeking opportunities amidst adversity, tempering oneself until reaching the pinnacle.

Unfortunately, this journey would be unlike any other, for Gu Qingfeng and the legion of Emperor Corpses had appeared—all of them anomalies that defied reason.

As time passed, more and more quasi-Emperors ascended the Emperor’s Pass. The first trial had eliminated nearly a hundred, mostly newly ascended quasi-Emperors with unstable foundations and those on the verge of decay.

Some began meditating, while others carved their names onto the stone monument.

After nearly a day, the first among them finally entered the second trial.

Weak Water!

The moment they stepped in, some quasi-Emperors, unable to withstand the terrifying suction of the Weak Water, fell in and perished instantly. Even beings as powerful as quasi-Emperors dissolved into nothingness within moments, as if they had never existed.

This forced the survivors to tread with extreme caution, advancing carefully across the Weak Water.

But caution was futile, for the true horror of the Weak Water lay not just in its suction—the Void Fish were another part of the trial.

Before long, several more quasi-Emperors fell victim to Void Fish attacks.

The weaker ones began banding together, but fear was the death of the Path of the Emperor. Like a plague, once it spread, it was nearly impossible to stop.

The Path of the Emperor was, after all, a solitary journey. Even if they passed the second trial together, they might not survive the trials to come.

Of course, there were those who walked alone, bold and confident as beasts. Yet they did not move swiftly—partly to resist the suction, partly to evade the elusive Void Fish, and partly to cultivate.

The Void Fish were nearly intangible, and even quasi-Emperors struggled to detect them until they were dangerously close. No one dared move too fast, lest they collide with one and dissolve before they could react.

As for cultivation...

On the Path of the Emperors, danger and opportunity walked hand in hand. Just as the pressure of the Emperor's Pass could temper one's body, the Weak Waters also held their own hidden fortunes.

Though none could directly touch the Weak Waters, a mist would rise from its surface—a vapor that carried the same corrosive and purifying properties as the waters themselves, albeit weakened many times over.

The quasi-Emperors could slowly absorb this mist, resisting its dissolving force while gradually refining their own bodies. This was the opportunity the Weak Waters offered.

As the quasi-Emperors advanced cautiously, a sudden, violent disturbance erupted in the Weak Waters ahead!

A terrifying whirlpool formed without warning, as if some monstrous creature were about to emerge.

The abrupt upheaval sent the quasi-Emperors scrambling backward, desperate to avoid being crushed by the surging waves.

The next moment—

Splash!

A colossal, translucent figure burst forth from the Weak Waters, sending countless droplets flying.

"Ahhh—!"

Screams rang out.

Those quasi-Emperors who had been too close and too slow to retreat were struck by the droplets, their bodies instantly dissolving by half. Though they survived, their mangled forms quickly regenerated, their faces pale with shock.

The crowd stared at the monstrous figure, their faces drained of color, ready to flee.

"Run! That's the Voidfish King!"

One sharp-eyed quasi-Emperor recognized the creature.

In their blurred perceptions, it appeared as a golden fish stretching ten thousand zhang in length. Ancient texts recorded that a Voidfish of such size could be called a king—a true overlord of the Weak Waters!

Just as the group prepared to flee for their lives—

Splash!

Another surge of water erupted. This time, a massive hand shot out from the surface, expanding in the wind until it, too, spanned ten thousand zhang. Its fingers clenched tightly, seizing the Voidfish King in an iron grip before dragging it beneath the waves.

"That... that was a human hand!!"

"How is this possible?! The only living beings in the Weak Waters are the Voidfish—how could there be a human hand?"

The quasi-Emperors frantically peered into the depths, watching as the enormous hand retracted, sinking rapidly until... the figure of a person emerged.

The moment they saw him, their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"Gu... Gu the Demon!!!"

"H-he... he's swimming in the Weak Waters?! And he just caught the Voidfish King!"

"How is this even possible?!"