Bai Qianshuang is very worried about you.

"Origin Surge!"

Pale-gray energy plunged into the black sea, dissolving all the toxic gases in its path until they vanished into particles.

Though Ye Chuan hadn’t fully mastered the power of Origin Magic, the sheer decomposing force of these techniques alone was terrifying—capable of breaking down any defense and forcibly dismantling an opponent’s body!

"Hmm?" Ye Chuan suddenly sensed something and glanced downward.

The sea erupted violently as a towering wave of putrid black water surged skyward, and a colossal octopus demon-beast burst forth from the depths.

Its body was covered in rough, dark-purple skin, riddled with festering tumors and razor-sharp barbs. Every inch of its flesh squirmed as if countless maggots writhed beneath its hide.

Eight massive tentacles lashed out like monstrous serpents, each dozens of feet long and densely packed with pigeon egg-sized compound eyes. Those eyes glowed with an eerie green light, locking onto Ye Chuan with predatory focus.

"A demonic sea paired with a kraken—a match made in hell." Ye Chuan studied the beast before him.

Its massive form radiated undisguised bloodlust, its cultivation having reached the Half-Step Dao Comprehension realm!

"Just the outskirts already have Half-Step Dao Comprehension creatures? No wonder even true Dao Comprehension experts dare not tread recklessly here."

The octopus demon roared and swung its eight tentacles, summoning a storm of demonic energy that crashed down like a collapsing mountain!

Ye Chuan remained unfazed. His body erupted with neon brilliance as dozens of buffs layered over him. In an instant, he teleported behind the beast and swung his spirit sword, severing one tentacle clean off!

"Let’s test some skills."

The demon shrieked in agony as its remaining seven tentacles lashed out wildly. Ye Chuan flickered between them with teleportation, his blade flashing—four more tentacles fell to the sea.

Terror gripped the octopus demon. It tried to dive back into the black depths to escape!

Ye Chuan appeared above its head, channeling spiritual energy into his sword before delivering a devastating slash: "Cleave!"

A streak of sword light split the beast’s skull in two.

The moment its soul fled the body, Ye Chuan summoned the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, devouring it in a flash of crimson light. The sinister artifact’s power surged once more!

[Absorbed Half-Step Dao Comprehension soul. Artifact enhancement: Host attributes +60%]

"Killing these Half-Step Dao Comprehension creatures is still too easy. I wonder where my true limits lie." Ye Chuan murmured to himself. Now, he no longer feared the Dragonkin at all.

The previous issue of his magic and techniques failing to penetrate defenses had been resolved after obtaining Origin Magic.

It seemed all his spells now carried [True Damage] properties?

"Time to move on. I wonder how Qianshuang is doing?"

Deep down, he was worried about Bai Qianshuang. Though many of his actions had been driven by self-interest, the longer he spent with everyone, the more those calculations faded into the background.

Even Ye Chuan himself hadn’t noticed the change.

"Oh, right." He suddenly remembered something. "Can I use the Anywhere Door?"

"Probably not. Last time, it dumped me straight into a restroom."

The Anywhere Door still seemed a bit buggy. But…

Ye Chuan pulled out his phone. He recalled he could check the tenants’ logs—if Bai Qianshuang had truly appeared on the Donghua Divine Continent, he might be able to track her current status.

Sure enough, on Bai Qianshuang’s interface, a chibi version of her stood outdoors, swaying slightly as if searching for something.

[Bai Qianshuang is worried about you]

[Bai Qianshuang is worried about you]

[Bai Qianshuang is trying to find a way back to the Xihua Divine Continent]

[Bai Qianshuang is hungry. Bai Qianshuang is worried about you]

In the animation, the chibi Bai Qianshuang seemed to be shedding tears, looking utterly pitiful.

...

Though she was fretting over him, it seemed she was safe.

In that case, he needed to hurry.

Ye Chuan activated his Chaos Immortal Body to completely conceal his aura, then draped an avatar over himself. Now, he appeared as nothing more than a shadowy silhouette.

"Let’s go."

After flying hundreds of miles, the miasma remained thick as ink, reducing visibility to mere dozens of meters. The demonic energy here wasn’t just lethally toxic—it also disrupted spiritual senses, luring intruders into illusions.

Not that it affected Ye Chuan.

But along the way, he spotted countless corpses—both demonic beasts and human cultivators.

Among them were remains of experts far surpassing the Dao Comprehension realm. Clearly, even those beyond that level found crossing this place no easy feat.

Some had fallen to powerful monsters, others slain by rival cultivators.

In a hellscape like this, there wasn’t even a place to tend to wounds.

Another few hundred miles later, the scenery remained a blank white haze, impenetrable even to divine sense.

But the environment here was far more horrifying than the outskirts. The miasma clung like viscous ink, compressing visibility to less than a few meters.

The sea was no longer just black but shimmered with a sickly violet-black sheen. Waves churned with faint purple arcs of electricity that crackled against the rocks, corroding them into pockmarked ruins.

Eerie sobs and laughter occasionally echoed through the mist. Twisted black seaweed occasionally rose from the depths, their barbed leaves gleaming with a cold, predatory light.

In the distance, massive skeletal remains loomed faintly in the gloom—remnants of some unknown demonic beast, adding to the desolate dread.

Ye Chuan realized something critical.

With his divine sense useless and the fog swallowing everything, he had to admit…

He was lost.

"Have I seen this skeleton before?" Ye Chuan’s lips twitched as he stared at the enormous bones nearby.

Or… was it just a similar one?

"Buzz—" He raised a hand and fired a beam of demonic light.

The skeleton shattered instantly.

Just as Ye Chuan prepared to move on, a shadowy figure emerged from the miasma.

A serpentine woman—her upper body that of a beautiful maiden with crimson eyes, her lower half a coiling snake’s tail covered in obsidian scales, radiating a chilling aura.

"Human cultivator, why have you trespassed into our domain?" Her voice was sweet yet icy.

Ye Chuan’s eyes narrowed in surprise. "Oh?"

He was cloaked in his Chaos Immortal Body’s avatar. How had this serpent-woman pinpointed him so precisely?

"Hey there, friend. Just passing through—no hard feelings." Ye Chuan dispelled the avatar calmly, unwilling to waste time here.

"Passing through?" The serpent-woman sneered. "The Demon Sea is not someplace you come and go as you please. Today, you’ll stay with me!"

With that, she spewed a cloud of black poison, the air sizzling in its wake!

Ye Chuan remained expressionless. He strode straight through the toxic mist, appearing behind her in an instant, his sword slashing toward her tail!

The serpent-woman twisted away, her crimson eyes locking onto him as she began chanting under her breath.

Ye Chuan glanced sideways just as countless grotesque, miniature demons surged toward him, jaws gaping wide to devour him whole.

"Disgusting filth."

Ye Chuan's sword erupted with a dazzling radiance as a terrifying sword aura slashed toward the woman!

"Spirit Transformation Realm?!" The woman's face paled in shock. She hastily conjured a black barrier, but the sword aura shattered it instantly.

Amidst a piercing scream, she was cleaved in half, her soul swiftly devoured by Ye Chuan using the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Gazing at the surrounding mist, Ye Chuan fell into contemplation.

As he ventured deeper, the miasma grew denser, and the oppressive aura intensified.

Suddenly, the fog ahead churned violently as three figures emerged, blocking his path.

At the forefront stood a green-haired serpent-man with a sinister expression, flanked by two demonic cultivators wielding bone blades. All three exuded thick demonic energy, their cultivation at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.

"Huh, how did they find me?" Ye Chuan frowned. His concealment should have been flawless—how had these serpent-men pinpointed him?

Or did these damned snake-people have some trick up their sleeves?