Following the terrified retreat of the Blood-Soul Demon Sharks, the Black Water Ghost Domain returned once more to its deathly silence. Yet this time, the atmosphere was even more oppressive and terrifying. Though they had won the battle, their tracks had been completely exposed. Like a drop of fresh blood falling amidst a school of sharks, they had alerted the true predator lurking in the shadows.
The black fleet did not halt. Under Tran Kien's command, they hurriedly performed a cursory sweep of the battlefield before continuing deeper into the deathly sea. No one dared slacken their guard. Everyone knew the trial just now was merely an appetizer.
"Exalted Lord," Old Whale approached, his single eye staring into the ink-black water with intense vigilance. "According to the ancient charts, ahead lies the 'Ghost Gates' (Quỷ Môn Quan), the true entrance to the core region of the Black Water Ghost Domain. It is a narrow strait flanked by jagged, hidden reefs, with incredibly chaotic ocean currents. However, the greatest danger is not the terrain."
"It is the 'singing'," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "Legend says that place echoes with the songs of drowned maidens. It can beguile the mind, causing men to willingly leap into the sea, forever unable to find salvation."
Tran Kien gave a slight nod. He had already sensed it. A bizarre fluctuation of soul energy, faint yet incredibly persistent, drifted over from ahead.
As the fleet neared the strait, a mist even denser than before rolled in, enveloping everything. Visibility was reduced to less than ten zhang.
And then, the singing began.
It was not mournful or tragic. On the contrary, it was incredibly melodious and sweet, like a mother's lullaby to her child, or a gentle wife awaiting her husband's return. It struck straight at the deepest memories and yearnings within each person's heart.
A few of the Sea Dragon Guards with weaker willpower felt their eyes turn glassy. They smiled foolishly, their steps staggering as they unconsciously walked toward the ship's railing, as if their family and the happiness they sought lay waiting beneath the ink-black water.
"Wake up!" Thiet Phu roared, swinging the pommel of his saber to strike the back of a subordinate's neck, knocking him unconscious. But this was not a sustainable solution.
"Use the 'Mind-Calming Pills'!" Tran Kien commanded.
All the warriors immediately retrieved the pale green pills Tran Kien had prepared beforehand and swallowed them. A cool, refreshing aura radiated from the pills, dispelling the beguilement in their minds and maintaining their lucidity. Tran Kien's meticulous preparation had, once again, proven effective.
But when the beguiling song failed, the true guardians of the Ghost Gates revealed themselves.
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
From the bottom of the sea, colossal black shadows slowly ascended. They were three "Black Water Profound Turtles," giant demonic turtles of unfathomable age. Their shells were glossy black, as hard as Profound Iron, and covered in sharp, jagged spikes. The size of each turtle rivaled a warship.
And upon the backs of these three demonic turtles were not ordinary shells, but flat stone platforms. Upon each platform stood roughly twenty "Resentful Soul Archers"—phantoms clad in decaying armor, silently drawing bows crafted from white bone.
Three mobile fortresses!
"FIRE!"
Without a single word of warning. Dozens of arrows forged from resentment flew out silently like a black rain. They did not aim for the ship's hull; they aimed straight for the warriors on the deck. These arrows could pierce ordinary spiritual defenses and attack the Divine Soul directly.
"Form the array! Black Water Armor, defend!" Ly Tin shouted.
The Sea Dragon Guards immediately formed a shield wall. The Black Water Armor upon their bodies simultaneously lit up with faint, sea-blue array diagrams, creating a secondary layer of defense specifically designed to counter soul attacks.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The arrows of resentment struck the shields and were significantly weakened, but a few still pierced through. Several soldiers who were struck turned deathly pale, their souls shaken.
"Attack their legs!" Tran Kien ordered. He knew their shells were virtually impenetrable. The only weak points were the head and the four limbs.
"Sea Dragon Guards, into the water!" Ly Tin roared.
Over twenty specially trained Sea Dragon Guards, without a shred of hesitation, dove straight into the ink-black water. The Black Water Armor did not merely provide defense; it allowed them to move underwater as swiftly as leviathans. They dove deep, using their sharp Wavebreaker Sabers to attack the bellies and legs of the three colossal turtles.
A chaotic grand battle erupted. Tran Kien's fleet was pinned down by these three mobile fortresses, utterly unable to advance.
Tran Kien knew that continuing like this was not a viable strategy. He had to break the deadlock. He looked at the cliffs flanking the strait.
He had found it.
The source of the beguiling song, and simultaneously the primary Array Heart supplying energy to the Resentful Soul Archers, was a colossal, pitch-black conch shell hidden within a rocky alcove on the cliff face.
He said nothing. He simply handed the Lac Hong Saber to Uncle Sword. Then, his frame shot out from the ship like a loosed arrow.
He did not fly. He glided upon the water's surface!
"Unhindered Lac Feathers!"
His movement technique was ethereal to the absolute extreme, dodging the rain of resentment arrows flying his way. His target was that conch shell.
The Master of the Sacred City, observing everything from the mountain peak, saw this and sneered coldly. "Foolish. Did you truly think the Array Heart could be destroyed so easily?"
Just as Tran Kien was a mere few zhang from the cliff face, from within the conch shell came not a song, but an ear-piercing shriek. It transformed into a destructive soul sonic wave, crashing directly into him!
This was the true killing move!
Yet Tran Kien seemed to have anticipated this. He did not defend. He did only one thing.
He intentionally fractured a portion of his own Divine Soul!
An excruciating pain surged, but in that very instant, it rendered him completely immune to external soul attacks! He had used cruelty against himself to forge a fleeting opportunity.
"BREAK!!!"
A punch carrying Primordial Chaos Qi and heavenly lightning slammed directly into the conch shell.
CRACK!!!
The Ghost Gates were broken. But behind those doors lay not paradise, but a purgatory on earth, ten thousand times more terrifying, silently waiting.