A battle between Nascent Soul cultivators.
Who in their right mind would remain behind to witness such a thing?
The mere thought was madness.
The surviving cultivators, who moments ago had been overwhelmed with gratitude after the Thousand Isle Monarch's arrival shielded them from the Flood Dragon's devastating pressure, now wore expressions of pure terror.
One Nascent Soul cultivator was enough to shake the heavens.
Two...
Their battle alone could erase an entire archipelago from existence.
Without anyone needing to issue a command, streams of light erupted in every direction as the remaining cultivators fled with everything they had.
No one dared look back.
No one dared slow down.
Survival became the only thought left in their minds.
...
Unlike them...
Lin Sheng couldn't run.
He remained kneeling before the damaged teleportation altar, his hands moving faster than ever as countless runes appeared and disappeared beneath his fingertips.
His gaze remained fixed upon the shattered central spatial rune.
Crystal continuously projected countless calculations before his eyes.
Every possibility...
Every failure...
Every microscopic deviation...
All were being simulated simultaneously.
Yet the conclusion remained grim.
•[Current formation integrity: 27%.
Forced activation possible.
Success probability: 41.8%.
Catastrophic failure probability: 58.2%.]•
Lin Sheng's expression remained calm.
That wasn't what truly concerned him.
The real problem...
Lay elsewhere.
If he forcefully activated the damaged formation...
The central spatial node would collapse completely.
This side of the teleportation array would become permanently unusable.
Even if he survived...
Returning through this route would become impossible.
He would be stranded wherever the other end led.
That alone wasn't the greatest danger.
The void tunnel itself depended upon dozens of stabilizing runes working together.
If even one section failed...
The tunnel could partially collapse.
Should that happen...
The protective spatial layer surrounding his body would disappear.
The endless Void Currents would come into direct contact with him.
Not even a Golden Core cultivator could survive such a fate.
Lin Sheng slowly inhaled.
"...Either I stay..."
"...or I gamble everything."
Outside...
The heavens exploded once more.
BOOM!!
The sea was torn apart for hundreds of li.
A colossal tidal wave rose into the sky before instantly freezing into an enormous wall of ice.
The Thousand Isle Monarch raised one hand.
A gigantic golden seal descended from above, smashing the frozen ocean apart like fragile glass.
Fragments of ice larger than mountains rained toward the sea below.
The entire world seemed on the verge of collapse.
Spiritless Island trembled violently.
Large cracks rapidly spread throughout the underground chamber.
Several supporting pillars collapsed completely.
Dust filled the air.
Time was running out.
Fortunately...
At that critical moment...
His State of Emptiness naturally emerged.
Every distracting thought vanished.
Fear disappeared.
Regret disappeared.
Only absolute rationality remained.
His pupils became incomparably clear.
Crystal immediately synchronized with his mental state.
Thousands...
Then tens of thousands...
Then hundreds of thousands of formation models flashed through his consciousness.
Most failed instantly.
Some improved stability slightly.
Others merely delayed the inevitable.
Until—
One particular simulation remained.
Lin Sheng's eyes brightened.
"...That's it."
The stabilizing runes.
More precisely...
The Void Pressure Induction Runes.
Those runes weren't responsible for opening the tunnel itself.
Their sole purpose was protecting the traveler.
They continuously dispersed the crushing spatial pressure encountered during long-distance transportation, ensuring ordinary cultivators weren't reduced to pulp before reaching their destination.
Normally...
Removing them would be suicide.
But...
Lin Sheng wasn't normal.
His body refinement had already reached the peak of Rank Three Early Stage.
Far stronger than the minimum requirements established by the ancient formation's creators.
Perhaps...
He could endure the remaining pressure.
The price would undoubtedly be severe.
Broken bones.
Internal injuries.
Possibly even permanent damage.
But...
There would still be a chance to survive.
Compared with certain death beneath two Nascent Soul experts...
The choice wasn't difficult.
Without another moment's hesitation, Lin Sheng began modifying the formation.
One rune after another was erased.
Others were redirected.
Several auxiliary arrays completely shut down.
The burden originally carried by the protective runes was instead redirected toward maintaining the tunnel itself.
Crystal's calculations updated continuously.
•[Void pressure protection reduced to 46%.
Tunnel stability increased to 73%.
Survival probability revised: 68.4%.]•
Lin Sheng's fingers never stopped moving.
Sweat dripped from his forehead.
His Mental Perception was being consumed at an astonishing rate.
Even maintaining his State of Emptiness became increasingly difficult.
Outside...
Another terrifying collision erupted.
The island shook so violently that enormous boulders crashed from the ceiling around him.
Lin Sheng ignored everything.
Only the altar existed within his world.
Forty-five breaths later...
The final rune settled into place.
The entire teleportation altar suddenly erupted with brilliant silver radiance.
Ancient symbols carved into the stone platform lit up one after another.
The surrounding space immediately distorted.
The remaining essence hidden within the Void Divine Stone was rapidly extracted.
Silver streams of light intertwined above the altar before extending endlessly into the void beyond reality.
Across an unimaginable distance...
The ancient formation at the opposite end sensed the familiar spatial signature.
The two formations resonated.
A low humming sound echoed through the chamber.
Then—
The space before Lin Sheng slowly split apart.
A narrow...
Yet stable...
Void passage gradually opened before him. The instant the void tunnel stabilized...
Lin Sheng's instincts screamed.
A terrifying sense of crisis exploded throughout his entire body.
Without even turning around, he already knew.
Something had happened.
His head snapped toward the cave entrance.
The world outside had changed.
The Flood Dragon's enormous body had been smashed toward the sea by the Thousand Isle Monarch's divine ability.
Its colossal figure struck the ocean only a few dozen li from Spiritless Island.
BOOM!!
For a brief instant...
The sea became perfectly still.
Then—
It erupted.
The calm blue ocean disappeared beneath a wall of water so enormous that it seemed to connect heaven and earth.
The tsunami stretched across the horizon.
Countless sea yao beasts were swallowed before they even had time to flee.
Entire islands vanished beneath the rising water.
Everything lying between the impact point and Spiritless Island ceased to exist.
Lin Sheng's pupils contracted.
"...Five breaths."
At most...
Five breaths before the wave reached him.
He immediately looked toward the teleportation altar.
More specifically...
Toward the remaining Void Divine Stone embedded within its core.
His expression stiffened.
"...Damn."
He had only chipped away several small fragments beforehand.
Enough for future analysis.
Enough to establish resonance.
But nowhere near enough to reconstruct another cross-continental teleportation array.
The majority of the Divine Stone still remained embedded within the altar.
And now...
There wasn't enough time.
The tsunami was already descending.
Even if he dismantled the altar with brute force...
He wouldn't finish before the entire island disappeared beneath the sea.
For the first time in many years...
Lin Sheng hesitated.
That stone...
Represented another road home.
Another chance.
Another possibility.
Leaving it behind meant abandoning an opportunity that countless Nascent Soul cultivators would willingly slaughter entire sects to obtain.
His fingers unconsciously tightened.
Crystal's calm voice interrupted his thoughts.
•[Warning.
Estimated arrival:4.7 seconds.
Recommendation: Immediate evacuation.]•
Lin Sheng slowly exhaled.
"...Opportunities can be found again."
"...Life cannot."
Without another glance at the altar...
He activated every protective formation engraved upon his Dharma robes.
Layer after layer of silver runes emerged across the fabric.
Protective arrays.
Spatial stabilizers.
Impact absorption formations.
Even the emergency life-preservation inscriptions began glowing one after another.
His Gang Qi erupted.
Without hesitation...
Lin Sheng leaped into the void passage.
The moment his body entered...
An indescribable force wrapped around him.
Every direction disappeared.
Up...
Down...
Left...
Right...
All concepts lost their meaning.
Only endless brilliance remained.
A dazzling white flash engulfed everything.
His senses became completely disordered.
Sight disappeared.
Sound vanished.
Even his perception of time became chaotic.
His organs twisted violently.
His bones groaned beneath the terrifying spatial pressure.
The runes upon his Dharma robes flared continuously as they desperately dispersed the crushing force pressing against his body.
Even after reducing the pressure induction runes...
The remaining force still far exceeded what ordinary cultivators could endure.
Fresh blood seeped from the corners of Lin Sheng's lips.
Yet...
Before his consciousness completely blurred...
He instinctively turned his head.
Through the rapidly shrinking entrance...
He witnessed the final scene of the Southern Archipelagos.
The void entrance behind him rapidly contracted.
The tsunami descended.
Spiritless Island vanished beneath an endless ocean.
At nearly the same moment...
Something seemed to awaken within the Flood Dragon.
Its enormous head suddenly turned toward the rapidly closing spatial passage.
Its golden eyes flickered with unmistakable intelligence.
For the first time...
Rather than looking at the Thousand Isle Monarch...
It looked toward the disappearing void tunnel.
Almost as though...
It had sensed something.
The charging Thousand Isle Monarch roared furiously.
"Fiend!"
"You think you can escape?"
Golden divine light illuminated the heavens.
A world-shaking divine ability descended once more.
Yet the Flood Dragon no longer paid him any attention.
Its enormous claws suddenly tore through the surrounding space.
RIP—!
The fabric of reality split apart.
Unlike the carefully constructed teleportation tunnel Lin Sheng had used...
The Flood Dragon forcibly ripped open the void itself.
Chaotic spatial currents poured outward.
Without the slightest hesitation...
Its colossal body plunged into the crack.
The torn space immediately collapsed behind it.
Silence returned.
Only the furious roar of the Thousand Isle Monarch echoed across the shattered sea.
Meanwhile...
Far beyond the endless void...
Lin Sheng's consciousness finally succumbed to the unbearable pressure.
Darkness swallowed everything.