"Impossible!" the bandit leader snarled, his voice filled with disbelief as he watched the flying ship crack and shatter before his eyes.
The once formidable formation that had trapped Meng Lin was now reduced to a cascade of splintering wood and fading spiritual energy.
His grip tightened on his blade as rage twisted his scarred features. "How could she—!" He didn't get to finish his sentence as the Crimson Tortoise Dragon lunged at him again, its fangs gleaming with elemental energy.
The bandit leader raised his weapon just in time, but the force of the dragon's attack sent him flying backward, crashing through the remnants of the ship’s shattered formation. His body skidded through the air before he managed to halt his momentum, his expression a mixture of fury and shock.
His eyes flicked toward the dragon, but then a more sinister realization dawned on him. "I underestimated her..." he muttered.
In an instant, his figure blurred as he shot into the distance, retreating without another word.
Meng Lin, still hovering in the air, looked at the scene in bewilderment. "He's running?" she muttered, her face turning serious. "You won’t escape."
With a command, she sent the Crimson Tortoise Dragon to handle any remaining threats around the shipwreck and pulled out a small golden talisman from her robes. A soft glow enveloped her as she injected qi into it.
In a flash of golden light, she surged forward, cutting through the sky like an arrow. The wind howled around her as her figure blurred, and in moments, she caught up with the bandit leader.
Killing intent flared in her eyes as she hovered just behind him. "You're not getting away." Her voice was cold, filled with an unmistakable promise of death.
The scarred man felt her presence and turned sharply, but before he could react, Meng Lin was already upon him. Her claws extended, shimmering with mist-like energy, and she struck.
A fierce clash echoed through the air as the bandit leader raised his blades to block, but this time, Meng Lin’s strike carried the weight of Form Nullification, destabilizing the spiritual energy around him as cracks appeared in his weapons.
The scarred bandit leader quickly tossed one of his swords as he was pushed back, producing a small blood-red token from his robes.
Without hesitation, he crushed it, and a streak of blood-red light shot out, enveloping him. In an instant, his figure blurred, transforming into a streak of crimson energy that shot off into the distance.
Meng Lin was shocked as she quickly gathered herself.
She poured more qi into her golden talisman, feeling its power surge around her. With a flash of golden light, she kept pace with the man, the world around them blurring as they sped across the vast sea, passing several islands. The pursuit was relentless, and Meng Lin could feel the talisman straining under the rapid expenditure of qi, but she refused to relent.
After several minutes of pursuit, Meng Lin noticed something—his speed was slowing down. Her eyes narrowed as she summoned her brute qi, ready to end this once and for all.
"Die!" she said, raising her hand as the Brute Qi surged while the Brute Vortex Cultivation Method circulated through her body.
Large amounts of chaotic energy gathered at her fingertips, ready to strike.
But just as she was about to release her attack, a sharp pain tore through her chest. Her vision blurred, and she coughed violently, blood splattering from her mouth.
Cough cough!
"Huh?"
The scarred man, sensing the shift, turned his head slightly and saw Meng Lin stop and violently cough up blood, "Now’s my chance!" he hissed as he gripped his remaining sword.
In an instant, his figure vanished, reappearing right next to Meng Lin, his blade aimed straight for her throat.
Meng Lin’s reflexes kicked in, and she raised her claws, deflecting his strike with a resounding clang. But the force behind the attack was immense, and in her weakened state, she couldn't fully block it.
The blade nicked her shoulder, ripping open her robe and drawing blood. She was blown back, her vision spinning.
Boom!
Meng Lin's body crashed into the water below like a falling star, her robes fluttering as blood sprayed into the air. She coughed again, her energy quickly dissipating, but her eyes remained fierce, her gaze still strong.
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The bandit leader, steading himself from the earlier exchange, hovered in place, his gaze narrowed as he watched her struggle to stay aloft on the water.
His blade gleamed, dripping with her blood. "I don't know what's going on but you're finished," he sneered, his voice filled with malice. "Give up the jade box, and I'll spare you more suffering."
Meng Lin wiped the blood from her lips, her eyes locked onto the bandit with unwavering resolve. "Spare me?" she whispered, a soft chuckle escaping her lips despite the pain. "You're mistaken if you think I'll hand anything over to you."
Her strength was fading fast, and she knew she couldn't keep this up much longer, so with a resolute expression she gritted her teeth and reached out with her hand, pulling out the Void-State Tablet from her inventory.
Suddenly, the space around her began to tremble, threatening to tear apart with a violent force. The bandit leader's eyes widened in surprise as the small tablet appeared in front of Meng Lin, swirling and pulling at the air around them.
Meng Lin reached out, and as soon as it touched her fingers, she felt its feeble will tugging at her, almost as if demanding her qi as a threatening aura surfaced all around her.
Without hesitation, she poured her remaining qi into the tablet. Her eyes widened as a sharp pain tore through her body, circulating her qi through her spiritual veins caused blood to surge up her throat, and she coughed violently, the metallic taste filling her mouth.
"That tablet-!" the bandit leader exclaimed, taking a step back as he felt the sheer power radiating from it.
Crack!!
Before the man could react further, a giant crack in space opened up, bringing with it a surge of suction force. The last thing Meng Lin saw was the bandit leader's shocked expression as he was instantly sucked into space along with her.
When Meng Lin opened her eyes, she found herself floating in a vast expanse of crimson. Her body felt weightless, but the air was thick with a strange, oppressive energy. Everywhere she looked was a sea of blood, stretching out infinitely in all directions.
The God Blood Sea.
Her heart raced as she realized where she had been teleported. This place was very dangerous, even among Nascent Soul cultivators, a place of ancient origin and unimaginable danger.
"You?" The bandit leader growled, his voice laced with panic. "What have you done? How could you bring us to a place like this?" his voice echoed through the calm sea when suddenly something changed.
Rumble!!
Surge!!
Below the surface, the sea began to roil violently, sending waves crashing upward in a chaotic frenzy. The scarred man’s eyes widened as he felt an overwhelming pressure from the God Blood Sea pressing down on them.
Meng Lin looked around, feeling the oppressive energy that enveloped them. The sea was churning as though alive.
Rumble!!
From the depths, a massive shadow surged upward, displacing the blood in a colossal wave. Meng Lin's heart raced as she recognized the outline of a gargantuan creature, a whale-like behemoth whose form seemed to absorb the very light around it.
Grrrrraaaawwwr!
The creature, whose sheer scale was too overwhelming to describe, opened its mouth with a deafening noise. The beast broke the surface, its enormous mouth opening wide to reveal rows of jagged teeth, glistening with the red color of the sea.
“No! I have to leave here!” The bandit leader's panic erupted into action as he began to retreat, but the sheer scale of the creature was too overwhelming; it was like an ant running away from an elephant.
Meng Lin’s gaze faltered as the sheer sight of the creature reminded her of the colossal beast she encountered within the Primal Sea.
As she watched, she felt a colossal wave of suction power from the mouth of the creature, and before she could react, everything went black.
The last thing that ran through Meng Lin's mind was how a creature so massive could take notice of insignificant cultivators like them; she didn't even know what happened.
****
Meng Lin’s eyes snapped open, her chest heaving as she coughed violently, blood dripping from her lips. Her body felt heavy, her spiritual veins damaged and aching.
Pain pulsed through her with every breath, her limbs numb and sluggish as if weighted down by something far more oppressive than exhaustion.
The stench hit her next—thick, foul, and metallic, coating the air like a suffocating blanket. Her senses sharpened, and she realized with sinking horror where she was.
The ground beneath her feet was not earth or stone, but fleshy, damp tissue, rippling and undulating each second. The walls around her pulsed, contracting slightly as they oozed a viscous, dark fluid. The beast’s stomach. She was inside it.
Her mind raced as she staggered forward, fighting the waves of nausea that rose from both the stench and her injuries. "This... this can't be happening," she muttered, her voice barely audible above the constant churning of the creature’s massive innards.
Coughing again, she wiped the blood from her mouth, her fingers trembling. How do I get out of here? Panic threatened to creep in, but Meng Lin forced herself to breath, despite the pain.
Her eyes narrowed as she took in her surroundings, the fleshy walls glistening under the faint glow of the beast’s stomach fluids. She noticed a pulsating glowing light from the fleshy ground.
Walking forward, Meng Lin realized that it was the Void-State Tablet; its aura was slightly weak, the fleshy ground stuck to the tablet as if the beast's stomach was trying to digest it.
The sight of the Void-State Tablet gave Meng Lin a faint sense of hope, though it seemed weakened from the creature's corrosive stomach acids.
Gritting her teeth against the pain and nausea, Meng Lin reached down, her fingers slipping slightly against the slimy surface as she pulled the Void-State Tablet from the flesh.
She stored the tablet in her system inventory and staggered forward, every step accompanied by a slight pain coursing through her body.
As she moved further into the beast’s belly, something in the shadows caught her eye—a giant 30-meter-long skeleton, twisted and crushed, its bones almost fused with the fleshy walls. Her breath hitched at the sight as she felt an overwhelming pressure emanating from the skeleton.
Whatever that was had been powerful, and yet, they had perished here, forgotten and digested by this monstrous creature.
Beyond the skeleton, she saw a figure sitting cross-legged on one of the colossal bones. It was an old man, his robes tattered and threadbare, yet his demeanor was calm, even serene.
His long white beard fell to his lap, and his eyes, though sunken, held a timeless clarity. His skin was pale, almost translucent, as if he had been drained of life force for eons; yet there was no sign of fear or despair on his face.
"Someone else has come at last," the old man said, his voice smooth and steady, as if the passage of time held no meaning to him. "I guess all my wait hasn't been in vain."
Meng Lin blinked, startled by his composure. She stepped closer, careful not to let her guard down. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice hoarse.
The old man looked up at her, his eyes calm, unperturbed by the grotesque surroundings. "I am Taoist Tian Yu," the old man responded, his voice carrying a weight that matched the ancient energy surrounding them. "And you, young one, have entered a place where there is no escape."
Meng Lin's brows furrowed, her heart pounding with both apprehension and curiosity. "No escape?" she echoed, suppressing her rising panic. "Why do you say that?"
Tian Yu chuckled softly, though there was no humor in it. "Because there is nothing you and I could do against a rank 8 Ancient Voidshroud Whale. This rank 8 beast is beyond the limits of rank 8."
"Even an Ascension Realm Cultivator could do nothing but succumb to its might." He gestured at the massive skeleton beside him. "This is an Ancient Abyssal Serpent, once another rank 8 beast, yet it was swallowed and forgotten by the one whose belly we now reside in. Its power, its essence... All but consumed."
Meng Lin's heart skipped a beat as she gazed at the gargantuan skeleton. Rank 8? Her mind reeled. Even though she had witnessed the might of the old man, the Palace Master a few days ago, she knew that this was on an entirely different level. The oppressive weight of the place almost crushed her spirit, as if the very air was rejecting her existence.
Taoist Tian Yu's expression softened slightly, though there was a hint of something beneath his calm exterior. "You must understand, I've been waiting here for centuries. Waiting for one like me. Waiting for someone like you."
Meng Lin took a cautious step back, her instincts screaming at her to stay alert. "Like you?" she asked warily. "What exactly do you mean?"
Tian Yu’s smile was thin and calculating. "You see, there is no escape from this place—not for me, not for you or that woman. However, with you two... perhaps I can find a way out."
"That woman?" Meng Lin repeated when a thought surfaced in her mind. She asked, "What did you mean?"
"Hehe, I am naturally talking about the woman gazing at me in your soul core." His eyes gleamed with a hunger that sent a chill down her spine. "After all, it's not easy to find two people who cultivate the brute qi physique."