When he opened his eyes again, he had entered his Spirit Sea, but instead of its usual purity, the place appeared somewhat dim.
"The place has really changed. This is going to be troublesome."
Zhang Yong couldn't suppress his displeasure. What happened to his Spirit Sea was that it had been polluted.
It was something he couldn't allow to happen. He had already lost his Dantian and couldn't risk losing his Spirit Sea as well, or he would lose his abilities along with it and would no longer possess any advantage.
"As for solving this problem..." Zhang Yong fell silent and began thinking of methods.
He searched his memory for pills, but most weren't suitable for his condition, and the others required materials that would take time to find.
Then his train of thought was cut off by light taps on his shoulder. He turned to find Yami standing behind him.
"Oh right, I forgot. How are you guys doing?"
Yami shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "The others are still exhausted from what affected your soul. You just recovered, so it will take them some time."
Zhang Yong nodded and asked, "Is it that serious?"
Yami looked at Zhang Yong as if he were stupid. "You have a spiritual contract with them. If your soul gets damaged, of course it will affect them too."
"I see." Zhang Yong turned his gaze away before quietly looking back at Yami. "Yami, you know that I—"
However, Zhang Yong was interrupted by him. "Forget it and don't tell anyone, not even me. Focus on what's in front of you, and achieve what you aim for. Don't let anything change your decision."
Zhang Yong smiled sarcastically. Among everyone, Yami was certainly the one who understood him most, but it wasn't the kind of understanding he longed for.
Because it wasn't understanding.
He opened his eyes and returned to reality, looking at his companions in the circle.
'It will take time for them to finish comprehending the law. After that, we'll continue the journey.'
With this, Zhang Yong stood up and started running. While the others were meditating, he decided to explore the area to find the territorial wall.
...
Two months later.
The last individual opened their eyes, and it was Jiang Ruyan.
Each person had their own capacity for comprehending laws, so each of them woke up at a different time.
After explaining everything to them, about Zhang Yong recovering his memories, and about the location of the territorial wall, they had already formulated their plan.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go to the territorial wall," Long Yuliang said enthusiatically.
With that, they all headed towards the territorial wall. After ten hours,
They stood before it. A towering wall stretching infinitely, made of light.
Su Ming and Zhang Yong stood beside each other as Zhang Yong nudged him. "Want to bet on whether what's beyond the wall is a high law or an elemental law?"
Su Ming released an arrogant smile. "That confident? Alright, what are we betting on?"
Zhang Yong simply raised his finger. "A bucket of the master's spiritual rice wine. The loser will bring it to the winner after getting out of here."
"Wait, did the master have that?" Su Ming's eyebrow rose slightly. Since the master's body had transformed into something akin to a child's, he could no longer tolerate drinking and had stopped.
However, this wine was precious to the master. He used it for betting? There seemed to be something suspicious about it.
Zhang Yong nodded. "Yes, he has it. So what? Don't have the courage?"
"You're crazy... Alright, agreed. I say it's an elemental law."
"Deal, I say it's high."
At that moment, Zhang Yong took the first step toward the territorial wall. As soon as he approached, the lights comprising the wall began to shimmer and vibrate.
As soon as everyone entered, pressure fell upon them all. Zhang Yong turned toward Su Ming and smiled. "Can't handle this pressure?"
Su Ming smiled confidently despite the sweat beginning to pour from his forehead, and said in a faint voice, "Stop talking and focus. We'll see who collapses first."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll stop talking, man," Zhang Yong waved his hand indifferently.
"You two really have the mood to joke around now, huh?" Liu Yan couldn't help but mock them both as well, while sweat poured from her.
Long Yuliang clenched her fists and advanced with steady steps, not in the mood for talking. She had previously given much of her life force to Zhang Yong, and that had clearly weakened her.
With every step toward the wall, the pressure grew more intense. Wu Ruxian walked quietly, her long hair swaying behind her while her eyes were fixed forward.
Among them all, perhaps the one who suffered most was Princess Jiang Ruyan.
Princess Jiang Ruyan was breathing with difficulty, her face pale, and her forehead wet with sweat.
Certainly, among everyone, her cultivation base was naturally achieved, but she had attained it relying on resources, and her combat experience was also minimal.
Despite that, she did not retreat. She gripped her robe tightly and took another step forward. "I... will not be a burden... anymore..." she whispered silently to herself, her expression majestic.
After a considerable period, they emerged from the wall to be greeted by the hot ground.
And it was literally hot, because what lay before them was an active volcanic region.
Yes, this was the Fire Law Region.
Everyone stood silently before the majestic scene of lava flowing from deep cracks in the earth, while black smoke clouds loomed in the sky and the smell of sulfur spread through the air.
"Well, surprisingly, this place suits Yuliang," Liu Yan said while shaking her head.
Su Ming approached Zhang Yong and patted his shoulder. "You owe me a bucket of—" However, Su Ming only now noticed Zhang Yong's expression.
There appeared to be confusion and unexpected surprise on his face.
'This place... the Testing Ground?!'
The place was remarkably similar to the Testing Ground he had been through before, but he quickly shook his head, erasing this assumption from his mind.
There are many regions with the same climate. Just because of similarity doesn't mean the place is the same.
"Zhang Yong, what's wrong?" Su Ming couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Yong shook his head. "Nothing, just thought I'd been here before. It's just foolishness on my part, no need to worry."
Zhang Yong continued looking cautiously at his surroundings, then turned to the others and said quietly, "We'll advance deeper. At a certain point, we'll stop and begin comprehending the law, agreed?"
Everyone nodded silently, then began advancing toward the depths of the volcanic region.
The rocks beneath their feet glowed with a dark red hue.
'No matter how much I try to think, the place is extremely similar to it. If this is true, there's only one way to know.' Zhang Yong looked and made his decision.
After a while, they reached the base of a volcano's foot, and sat quietly, taking it as their current location.
"Su Ming, stay here with them for a moment. There's something I need to verify," Zhang Yong said in a cautious tone.
Su Ming nodded lightly and said, "Understood, but don't go far."
Zhang Yong waved his hand at him without answering, then quietly headed toward the eastern side of the volcano.
'Alright, if that creature exists, then...' Zhang Yong currently raised his foot and struck the ground forcefully, sending an echo wave rippling through his surroundings.
Zhang Yong waited silently, his eyes focused on the ground, his ear listening for any slight change, until...
"Boom..."
A hollow sound, resembling the moan of a creature, rose from the depths.
'That sound... it's him...'
The earth suddenly exploded a few meters in front of him, scattering hot lava into the air.
A massive creature resembling a whale emerged. It was like a huge cannon in the shape of a volcano, emitting a dark aura as if it would burn everything around it and turn it all to ash. It was distinguished by a hideousness and strangeness that made onlookers tremble with fear.
It was characterized by tough, stiff, burnt black skin, and shimmering red eyes from which sparks emanated.
Zhang Yong was shocked the moment he saw it. "It's him, it's really him, hehe."
Zhang Yong planted his feet and looked at the colossal creature before him with sharp eyes. He was destined to take revenge on it!
'In my previous life, I was just an ordinary human and was no match for this creature. It even made me run from it in fear. But now, it's time to pay back the debt, Moby Dick!'
Zhang Yong stamped his feet on the ground and shot toward the whale at speed.
The volcanic whale roared powerfully, and a tremendous fiery wave launched from its mouth, a cloud of flame and lava.
Zhang Yong leaped high and unleashed the Great Sun Flame, blasting it as a beam of light toward the whale.
The Great Sun Flame collided directly with the volcanic whale's chest, forming a massive fiery explosion dozens of meters wide, followed by the echo of deep vibrations that shook the earth.
The whale surged out from within the smoke, half its face burned, but its eyes clearly blazed with anger.
It leaped high and struck its charred tail covered with lava directly toward Zhang Yong.
Zhang Yong stood his ground and received the blow with his body, his feet sinking into the earth as both his hands transformed into a pair of claws and dug them into the whale's tail.
"You're mine!"
Zhang Yong leaped high, lifting the whale's body with him, and hurled its entire mass toward the ground.
Black smoke rose high, but when it cleared, the whale's image reappeared.
Its chest was charred and a clear scar appeared on it, but it hadn't fallen. Rather, it raised its head to the sky and roared again, this time with a sound that made rocks crack from its force.
Zhang Yong stared at it and smiled confidently despite the sweat falling from his forehead. "Excellent... it seems your body is stronger than I thought. This will make things more enjoyable!"
The Great Sun Flame and Desolate Moon Flame blazed around his body.
The flames blazed and gathered powerfully above him, where all the gathered flames transformed into a giant lotus.
The giant lotus shimmered in the sky, half of它 glowing with golden sun flame, and the other half dancing with the cold, desolate light of the moon. Its form was majestic.
The volcanic whale roared again, opening its mouth to unleash a stream of black flame toward Zhang Yong.
But at that moment, the giant lotus descended from the sky!
Booooom!!!
The lotus collided directly with the whale's body, and a tremendous explosion erupted, with tongues of flame rising within it.
Causing the earth to shake, rocks in the area to shatter, and even his companions, who were far from the area, felt the tremor.
"What the?!" Su Ming couldn't help but speculate that all this was because of Zhang Yong.
Zhang Yong appeared standing atop the whale's corpse, his robe torn, his right arm stained black, but he stood tall with pride.
"Hehe... you bastard... next time... don't you dare appear before me." Zhang Yong couldn't suppress his laughter. His mood was now much better.
He descended from atop the whale, which had turned into a corpse, and began butchering it. He extracted its core and smiled. "Heh, this bastard was about to advance to the sixth rank. Then he would have been equivalent to a Venerable."
He reached his hand toward the glowing core that looked like a red fireball.
'One thing is certain: fifth-rank beasts here are plentiful in this world.' Lightly, before storing the core in his storage.
Then he reached out and lifted the whale's massive corpse above his head and began walking toward his companions' location.
When he was close enough to them, they immediately spotted the huge whale carcass.
"Huh...?!" Liu Yan opened her eyes wide, unable to believe what she saw. "Am I... hallucinating?"
"You didn't start without me? Good," Zhang Yong said with a light smile as he threw the whale's corpse before them, causing the ground to shake again from the impact.
"Did... did you kill it alone?" Su Ming asked as he stood up, his gaze full of astonishment. "Is this why you left?"
Zhang Yong raised the core and made it spin above his finger like a basketball. "Yes, I did indeed. A fifth-rank beast. Its meat is enough to feed two or three villages."
"Actually, that whale is inedible. The Volcanic Ash Whale's body is originally charred and its skin is tough," Wu Ruxian explained as she tapped the whale's corpse with light knocks. "On the other hand, its skin and bones are as hard as diamond and an ideal material for making weapons and armor."
"That sounds good enough." Zhang Yong walked toward the corpse and placed it in the storage. "So now, we'll begin training."