Chapter 1300: Invited by the Lord of the South Sea

On the barren gray earth, three figures walked side by side.

"By the way, how is that guy Red Heart doing now?" Jian Changsheng asked tentatively. "Has he made much progress in the last half year?"

Sun Bumian pondered for a moment.

"Him... his grades have improved quite quickly, but his rank doesn't seem to have increased much. He’s still at the Fifth Order."

Hearing this, Jian Changsheng visibly relaxed, a smug smile appearing on his face. While smoothing out his matted hair, he said leisurely,

"So Red Heart is nothing special after all... Looks like it’s time for me to settle the score!"

Jian Changsheng still couldn't forget the scene from over half a year ago at the Jiangtian Sect branch, where he was pinned to the ground and beaten by Chen Ling...

At the time, he thought his strength had improved significantly, but he still lost completely against Chen Ling’s Calamity-body transformation. The result was watching that red opera robe turn and leave, a back he could never catch up to.

That intense sense of frustration and annoyance at his own weakness was the core motivation driving Jian Changsheng’s training over the past half year.

His greatest wish now was to fight Chen Ling again; he had to personally crush the inner demon that had tormented him for half a year and wash away his shame.

He was confident.

This time... he would never lose again.

Just as Sun Bumian was about to say something, Jian Changsheng suddenly frowned and stopped in his tracks.

"What’s wrong?"

"Something’s not right..."

Jian Changsheng sniffed the air, a sharp killing intent flashing in his eyes.

"It’s the smell of those turtles from the Forbidden Sea..."

Sun Bumian looked around in surprise. They were still over ten kilometers away from the ocean where the South Sea Domain was located, and as far as the eye could see, there was only endless wilderness... Where was the sign of the Forbidden Sea?

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. I’ll never forget that thick, fishy stench from the seabed." Jian Changsheng nodded firmly.

"We were swallowed alive by a whale from the Forbidden Sea and lived in its stomach for seven days." Jiang Xiaohua explained for Jian Changsheng at the right moment, then added after a pause, "But my sense of smell still isn't as sharp as Spade’s."

Sun Bumian looked at Jian Changsheng suspiciously. "Did you really switch to the [Military Dog] path?"

Jian Changsheng rolled his eyes and continued walking forward.

"I can't be wrong; it’s the scent of the Forbidden Sea... And for it to be this strong from so far away, I’m afraid the entire Forbidden Sea has poured out."

Hearing this, Sun Bumian’s brow furrowed, and a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

The next moment,

Gold and black energy rose from his pupils!

[Divination of Fortune and Misfortune].

Sun Bumian narrowed his eyes, a mysterious and sacred aura radiating from him. Jian Changsheng and Jiang Xiaohua knew what he was doing and didn't interrupt.

A moment later, the gold and black energy in Sun Bumian’s eyes gradually dissipated, and his expression was one of confusion...

"How is it?" Jian Changsheng asked.

"Strange. If the entire Forbidden Sea had really poured out, it should be [Great Misfortune] for us... but this time, the hexagram shows equal parts fortune and misfortune."

"So that means nothing’s wrong?" Jian Changsheng blinked.

"From our perspective, nothing is wrong, but..."

Sun Bumian didn't finish the second half of his sentence. In fact, he already had a vague guess in his heart... The Forbidden Sea would never appear without reason, and the direction was exactly where the South Sea Domain was located. I’m afraid...

"We should hurry."

The three of them immediately picked up their pace, heading straight toward the ocean.

Soon, they followed the broken train tracks to the original location of the South Sea Domain, but the sea surface was now covered with the massive corpses of Calamities and miracle creatures, bobbing up and down with the waves—it was enough to make one’s scalp tingle!

"Good grief, they actually fought??" Jian Changsheng looked at the horrific scene, unable to imagine the brutal slaughter that had taken place here.

"Where’s the South Sea Domain?"

Sun Bumian’s first reaction was that the South Sea Domain had been sunk by the Forbidden Sea, but upon reflection, that seemed unlikely. After all, the South Sea Domain had two demigods guarding it; surely it wouldn't fall so quickly?

He knew that not long ago, when he arrived here with the Fusion Faction, everything was still fine.

"The scent of the Calamity of Taboo went that way." Jian Changsheng pointed in a direction.

The three did not hesitate and followed the coastline in the direction Jian Changsheng pointed.

This time, they walked for another full hour before finally seeing a giant object as large as a plateau, lying motionless on the barren Gray Realm earth...

It was a giant turtle.

Its size was simply too massive; from afar, it looked like a mountain rising from the Gray Realm earth, but the shell, which had once been like a dome of the sky, was now shattered, as if something had forcefully cracked it open...

Four giant pillar-like legs, soaked in black blood, were driven into the earth, looking as if they had weathered and stiffened. At the very front of the shell, a massive three-eyed head remained in a bizarrely twisted posture, hanging limply on the ground. The three eyes were tightly shut, and it was motionless—it had completely lost all signs of life.

"So big..." Jian Changsheng couldn't help but exclaim. "But there’s no aura of a Calamity... What is this thing?"

"This is the South Sea Domain."

"The South Sea Domain is a turtle?"

"It should be said that the South Sea Domain was hidden inside the shell." Sun Bumian paused for a moment. "However, it looks like this giant turtle that carried the South Sea Domain is dead... strangled to death."

"Oh no, does that mean the South Sea Domain is finished too??"

"Hard to say... let’s go over and take a look."

The three were now quite worried. They didn't really care if something happened to the South Sea Domain, but Sun Bumian had just said that the Fusion Faction had defected to the South Sea. If the South Sea Domain was in trouble, they probably wouldn't escape unscathed either...

As for Red Heart 6... no one was worried about him at all.

Even if the Calamity of Taboo turned the entire South Sea Domain upside down, it probably wouldn't dare touch Chen Ling.

As the three got closer to the shell where the South Sea Domain was located, suddenly, several figures leaped out from the shell fragments and charged straight toward them.

Jian Changsheng’s gaze sharpened, a wisp of faint killing intent drifting from his body. His right hand reached toward his waist, as if he were about to draw something at any moment.

Sun Bumian gently pushed up the small round sunglasses on his nose, and a crystal-clear lion pendant on the chain around his wrist swayed slightly, looking lifelike.

Jiang Xiaohua silently began to unwrap the pitch-black bandages on his body, an aura of resentment radiating from him...

They were, after all, wanted criminals in the human domain. Now that they had just approached the South Sea Domain, people were charging straight at them; it was likely they were not coming with good intentions.

Just as the three were poised for action, a voice rang out from the air:

"Three distinguished guests, the Lord of the South Sea requests your presence."

The three were stunned in place.