To the east of the Eastern Continent lay the boundless East Sea.
Yet, further east of the East Sea, there was still more East Sea…
And the further east one traveled, the thinner the spiritual energy became, until it eventually turned into a barren land devoid of any spiritual energy.
In such places without spiritual energy, cultivators’ internal magical power would continuously deplete and leak away, but they could not absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish it. Without sufficient items to restore spiritual power, cultivators could not last long.
However, this world never lacked those with too much time on their hands. Once, a cultivator, bored to death, brought ample spirit stones, elixirs, and other provisions and flew continuously eastward.
They traversed the boundless barren land, seemingly flying to the end of the world.
At the end of the East Sea, there was an absolute darkness that even the midday sun could not dispel.
Entering this darkness, one could not see, could not distinguish north from south, and divine sense was confined within the body.
Facing such an environment, there were always a few cultivators who were not afraid of death, unable to suppress their curiosity, and ventured into the darkness to explore.
However, after wandering disoriented in the darkness, these cultivators returned to the East Sea.
Xiao Fei learned from some ancient texts that not only was the East Sea like this, but around the Eastern Continent, while there were other unique places in other directions, they all ended in such a scene.
The cultivation world generally believed that this was what the edge of the world looked like.
But Xiao Fei felt that this world was more like a cage, imprisoning everyone within this realm, unable to leave for a lifetime.
“Fellow Daoist Xiao, any further ahead is a barren land completely devoid of spiritual energy!”
On the vast East Sea, four figures were flying rapidly eastward.
Besides the originally planned Xiao Fei and the green-eyed father and son, a female lizard spirit had also joined them.
Xiao Fei truly couldn't understand how a rat and a lizard could spark love. What was the foundation of their relationship?
And their cross-species love, did it have reproductive isolation? What would their offspring look like if they were born?
Xiao Fei occasionally glanced at the inseparable golden-haired rat and the lizard spirit, various strange thoughts arising in his mind.
Neither he nor the green-eyed one had expected that just as they were about to depart, the golden-haired rat would suddenly find a female of another species and bring her to their doorstep.
To prevent further leaks of information, they had to bring this female lizard along. Traveling together as a group of four wasn't too many.
As they entered the sea area without spiritual energy, there were no longer any traces of other demonic beasts along the way. Even the fish and shrimp in the sea had shrunk considerably in size.
Xiao Fei held a wine gourd, taking small sips from time to time, his face flushing slightly from the drink.
Over the years, he had brewed the excess spirit fruits and herbs in his spatial dimension into spirit wine and stored it.
The longer spirit wine was stored in places with dense spiritual energy, the more mellow and fragrant it would become, and the higher its spiritual energy concentration.
The spirit wine in Xiao Fei's hand at this moment had been aged for a thousand years in his spatial dimension. A small sip was like drinking nectar, and a powerful surge of spiritual energy mixed with the alcoholic potency rushed straight to his head.
The green-eyed family of three beside him, catching the aroma of the wine from time to time, felt that their own hundred-year-old spirit wine was bland and tasteless.
The group of four continued to venture deeper into the East Sea, unable to absorb even a trace of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, relying solely on spirit wine and elixirs to replenish their depleted magical power.
Spirit stones could also provide spiritual energy, but all four were Nascent Soul cultivators. The spiritual energy consumed with each breath was a massive amount.
Ordinary low-grade and mid-grade spirit stones simply couldn't keep up. Only with a large quantity of high-grade spirit stones could they barely maintain the consumption of Nascent Soul cultivators.
However, high-grade spirit stones were too rare. Even with their Nascent Soul cultivation, they could only find a few dozen, which was far from enough.
The group flew for another month in this spirit-energy-less sea area, consuming countless spirit wines and elixirs.
It was only now that Xiao Fei witnessed for the first time the darkness at the legendary end of the world.
Ahead of the four was an endless darkness. The scorching sun could not penetrate the darkness at all.
Xiao Fei tried to activate a fireball talisman and throw it into the darkness. The light of the fireball talisman disappeared as soon as it entered the darkness. He didn't know if it had extinguished or been blocked by the darkness.
“Fellow Daoist, the ruins you mentioned are in there. How are we supposed to find them?”
Xiao Fei looked at the darkness ahead and couldn't help but ask.
The green-eyed one had always been cautious. Up to this point, he hadn't revealed the exact location of the ruins even to the golden-haired rat.
However, Xiao Fei agreed with his caution. If the golden-haired rat had the map of the ruins, it might not be just this female lizard who would get the news.
Along the way, Xiao Fei had gained a general understanding of this female lizard from the side. With the green-eyed one's shrewdness, he should be able to see some clues.
This female lizard always tried to probe for the exact location of the ruins by beating around the bush, but she had never succeeded.
From the unintentional glances revealed in the green-eyed one's eyes, Xiao Fei had already seen killing intent. Only his foolish son was still infatuated with the female lizard.
It was estimated that the green-eyed one was still waiting for the right opportunity.
“No rush, no rush! We’ve been flying for over a month. How about we rest on the small island ahead and then proceed when we’ve recovered to our best condition?”
The green-eyed one said, pointing to a small island ahead.
Part of this small island was hidden in darkness, and the exposed mountain part resembled the head of a turtle.
Xiao Fei looked at this somewhat peculiar island and already had a guess in his mind.
The green-eyed one led the three down to the top of the turtle's head.
The four had flown for so long and were indeed very tired. Now that they finally set foot on solid ground, they immediately sat down on the ground without any pretense.
Xiao Fei had prepared plenty of dry food, mainly featuring seafood specialties from the East Sea.
Those large Golden Core stage crabs, each leg thicker than his waist, and Nascent Soul stage mantis shrimp, Golden Core stage sea snails… in short, they lived off the water.
After eating two large seafood dishes, Xiao Fei felt refreshed and energized, all fatigue from the journey completely gone.
“Alright! Before we enter the dark area, I suggest we tie ourselves together with a rope to prevent us from getting separated in the darkness.”
The green-eyed one said, already taking out a rope he had prepared.
The three had no objections and tied the rope around each of their waists.
“Dad! You still haven’t told us how to get in or where it’s located!”
The green-eyed one glanced at his foolish son. Among the four present, perhaps he was the only one who hadn't guessed where the ruins were.
It was only because he had taken too good care of him normally, giving him no opportunity to experience life and death.
The experience gained from countless life-and-death trials could only be understood by personally going through them.
“This small island resembles a large turtle, and only a small part is exposed. The ruins are located on the turtle’s back of this island.”
The golden-haired rat and the female lizard nodded in understanding upon hearing this.
“Let’s go!”
The green-eyed one said, walking at the forefront, following the turtle’s neck into the darkness ahead…
Xiao Fei walked at the very back, his gaze casually glancing at the seabed behind him. He casually took out a few prepared bursting spirit fruits and placed them by the roadside.
………………
The figures of the four disappeared completely into the darkness. After a moment, five figures with horns on their heads emerged from the sea behind them.
Among them, a dark-faced man with a single horn on his head held a jade plate. A red dot on the plate flickered a few times before gradually dimming and finally disappearing.
“The darkness has blocked the tracking information. We’ll have to find the rest of the way ourselves. Let’s go, follow them!”
These five one-horned men, who had tracked them from the seabed, now followed suit, walking along the turtle’s neck into the darkness.
After these five disappeared, several more heads emerged from the ocean.
“Hahaha… You think you can escape this old man’s grasp…”
These few heads jumped out of the water…