Chapter 1809 — Unrivaled Upon the Sea of Ruins

Suddenly they caught sight of another Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon, and their spirits soared; rousing their Dao Trees and Dao Fruits, in an instant they remade their bodies, taking the form of men with rooster heads, immensely powerful, and flew toward that Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon, wings flapping behind them.

They passed through a bubble, and their minds went suddenly dim and muddled; when they came to themselves, they saw that their forms had changed once more, becoming two green snakes slithering along the ground.

"The Seventh Young Master's divine abilities are no match for those who have attained the Dao!"

The two sensed their Dao Trees and Dao Fruits, roused their divine abilities once more, and remade their bodies; the strength of Dao-attainers was displayed in full, and in an instant they took the form of men with serpent heads, still immensely powerful, and charged out of the bubble.

Scarcely had they left that bubble when they entered another, and became two old trees.

The two Dao-attainers' minds were somewhat disordered, but before long they remembered who they were; the two old trees tore themselves from the ground and became two burly tree-men, striding out of that bubble world.

They stepped into another bubble, and fell into a great sea, becoming two tiny fish.

When they plunged into the next bubble world, they became two wildflowers by the roadside.

Entering yet another bubble, they became two grasshoppers, hopping to and fro.

With every bubble world they entered, their consciousness grew more dim; yet Dao-attainers were mighty after all, and holding fast to their Dao hearts, they always managed to wake again.

Only, each awakening took longer than the last, and the two began to fear in secret whether they would be able to rouse their sense of self the next time.

Yet to remain in a bubble world was no solution either, for the bubble worlds would burst and be annihilated from time to time; each explosion was like the kalpa of destruction and the kalpa of creation at the opening of heaven and earth, and what it consumed was their cultivation and strength.

Moreover, as bubbles perished, new bubbles were born, without end.

The two Dao-attainers passed ceaselessly from bubble to bubble, and the other Dao-attainer they sought had long since vanished without a trace.

Thus they underwent countless cycles of reincarnation, until at last, rolling into yet another bubble world, they became two Chaos Stones.

The consciousness within the two Chaos Stones sank gradually into stillness along with the chaos qi, becoming a state of pure chaos.

Then another object rolled into that bubble world, and landing, became a Chaos Stone.

The three Chaos Stones lay there rigid, motionless, without any consciousness or thought.

Meanwhile, in the world outside, only an instant had passed.

In the blink during which Palace Master Hehuan and Palace Master Phoenix roused their treasure halls to extinguish the fire of heat death, they made their decision, and at once turned back, seeking to leave the Ruins.

But to their horror, they could not see the entrance to the Ruins.

They looked up, and saw only skies shaped like wheels, one after another, within which the great kalpa of destruction surged and howled!

Palace Master Hehuan reached up and seized the hand of Palace Master Phoenix, who had risen into the air, and pulled her back, shaking her head and saying in a low voice: "Do not go! Once inside, you fall into the Dao of Reincarnation, and life becomes worse than death!"

Palace Master Phoenix suddenly recalled the rumors about the Seventh Young Master of Miluo Palace, and hastily checked herself, breaking out in a cold sweat.

In the old tales, there had once been those who entered the space of reincarnation within the dream of the Seventh Young Master, Shen Mu, and met with every manner of uncanny thing; the tales were most sinister.

The Shen Mu of this moment already bore the bearing of the Seventh Young Master, and she had no choice but to act with caution.

"I still have the divine ability of the Third Young Master, Lingxiao; it can grievously wound the Seventh Young Master and break open his uncanny domain!" said Palace Master Hehuan in a heavy voice.

Palace Master Phoenix was reassured.

Suddenly, three Chaos Stones fell from one of the wheel-shaped skies, dropping past them into the Sea of Chaos.

The two Palace Masters' eyes fell upon those three stones; they were puzzled, but gave it no further thought.

But at that moment, behind Shen Mu, countless white hairs streamed and flew, each one like a sword, attacking from behind him!

Each white hair transformed in a thousand ways, evolving every kind of Ruins divine ability, seeking to devour Shen Mu.

Suddenly the Chaos Wheel spun, blocking strand after strand of white hair, so that they could never come within a hair's breadth of Shen Mu!

"Old Seven, your skills have grown!"

Beneath the Sea of Chaos, lotus leaves drifted one after another, and suddenly a vast face surfaced, white hair streaming around it, utterly uncanny.

Palace Master Hehuan and the others looked at that face through one Chaos Wheel after another, and saw that the woman was bound by enormous red chains, suppressed within the sea, unable to free herself.

"The Second Young Master, Wuji!"

Hehuan, Phoenix and the rest were startled, and hastened to pay their respects: "Hehuan, Phoenix and Zengcheng greet the Second Young Master!"

The white hair that had just attacked Shen Mu was none other than the white hair of the Second Young Master, suppressed beneath the Sea of Chaos.

For a grave transgression, she had been suppressed by the master of Miluo Palace within the Sea of Chaos; the red cord knot had become five chains, imprisoning her at the bottom of the sea.

Seeing Shen Mu arrive, she had been delighted at the prospect of prey and struck at him with deadly intent. But suppressed as she was by the master of Miluo Palace, the slightest movement brought the red cord knot down upon her, and she could not shake Shen Mu in the least.

The face of the Second Young Master, Wuji, drifted beneath the surface of the sea, now east, now west, now forward, now back, surveying them all, and suddenly she laughed with a clucking sound: "Three Palace Masters of Miluo Palace, all at once. Old Seven, can you handle them?"

She could not help laughing: "To choose this place to ambush them — you think far too little of me. If I joined hands with these Palace Masters, do you think you would stand a chance?"

"Second Sister, so long as you are not free, you cannot touch me."

Shen Mu turned. Under the sway of the six Chaos Wheels the Sea of Chaos howled and churned, waves towering to the sky, shaking the treasure halls of the two Palace Masters and Huang Tang's smaller World Tree, making everyone stagger. He smiled and said: "Even if you joined hands with them, you could not touch me in the least. I have no lack of ways to make you docile!"

The Second Young Master, Wuji, flew into a rage and sneered: "Old Seven, your nerve grows greater and greater..."

Shen Mu flicked his fingers again and again, and suddenly the power of the five red cords suppressing the Second Young Master erupted; Wuji gave a stifled grunt and was driven down to the bottom of the Sea of Chaos.

"As for making threats, Second Sister, you are not yet qualified."

Shen Mu turned around and said mildly: "Unless our teacher unties your red cord knot, you would do better to be a little more obedient before your little brother. All of you!"

His voice suddenly exploded above the Sea of Chaos, shaking the sea's surface into rolling waves.