Three days and three nights of pursuit had left Xu Mu utterly exhausted.
So, after the Qiongqi left, he closed his eyes without hesitation and began to sleep.
Yes, sleep, not heal.
He wasn't injured, just overworked and in need of rest.
Xu Mu sat cross-legged on the mountain peak, the breeze caressing his face, and drifted into slumber.
He subconsciously believed this place was safe.
But it wasn't safe at all, because it was full of people.
The most terrifying enemies in the world were never great demons, but humans themselves.
While Xu Mu slept, Fang Jia, one of the Northwest Four Freaks, had silently appeared behind him.
His right hand rested on the back of Xu Mu's head, his sharp, pale fingernails dug in, and with a slight press, they embedded themselves into the flesh of the young man's scalp.
It was painful, but Xu Mu showed no reaction.
Normally, if someone were to touch his head like this while he slept, Xu Mu would instantly draw his blade and sever the offender's arm along with their hand.
But at this moment, his body and soul were at their limit. He had no ability to defend himself and slept more soundly than a pig.
Thus, faced with danger, the young man merely furrowed his brow slightly, a purely physiological reaction to pain.
Fang Jia opened his mouth and laughed silently, inhaling countless pollen particles, like a mute.
He hadn't expected to approach this peerless genius so easily, with the latter sleeping so deeply, and everyone else busy healing, not even batting an eyelid.
So, all he needed to do now was to unleash his innate ability, perform a soul search, and all of Xu Mu's memories from birth would be unearthed and become his own.
Although this would turn Xu Mu into an idiot, it was exactly what he wanted!
A smile spread across Fang Jia's face. From now on, Xu Mu's fortunate encounters would become his, and he would, in Xu Mu's stead, slowly ascend to the pinnacle of the world!
"Come on, let me see what secrets you truly hold!"
A thick mist seeped from the tips of Fang Jia's five fingers, penetrating Xu Mu's head and entering his Sea of Consciousness without any obstruction.
Within the Sea of Consciousness, that wisp of grey mist slowly formed an eye, identical in shape to Fang Jia's own eyes.
Fang Jia then closed his eyes, preparing to transmit his soul to Xu Mu's Sea of Consciousness, directly above the wisp of grey mist.
This process would take three seconds.
And during those three seconds of darkness, Fang Jia was already impatient:
"The Eight Trigrams, the flesh, your talent, all your mysteries will be mine!"
He laughed wildly in his heart, his soul merging with the grey mist, and thus he entered Xu Mu's Sea of Consciousness.
Then, his wild and triumphant smile froze on his face.
Upon seeing this Sea of Consciousness, the soul formed from the grey mist trembled violently, shaking uncontrollably.
Because Fang Jia saw an ocean.
Xu Mu's Sea of Consciousness was an ocean?
Fang Jia swallowed silently. Although it was called the Sea of Consciousness, it had always been a metaphor for others.
The power of the human soul was theoretically limitless.
And "sea" precisely represented vastness, which was why people called the place that contained soul power the Sea of Consciousness, though it was merely an exaggerated term.
Normally, the Sea of Consciousness of a peak fourth-stage cultivator who primarily cultivated their soul could barely rival a raging great river.
The difference between a river and an ocean was more than a hundredfold, or even a thousandfold. Even a Domain Lord, or perhaps a Human King, might not be able to truly turn their Sea of Consciousness into an ocean.
This was unlike innate abilities; the higher the realm, the greater the improvement.
But at this very moment, in Xu Mu's Sea of Consciousness, he truly saw an ocean.
Fang Jia turned his head, holding his breath, gazing at everything before him in disbelief.
The expanse was azure, sky and sea merging, with reefs and waves, and no end in sight.
Was it really the sea?
"Impossible!"
Fang Jia suspected he was hallucinating, so he blinked hard several times.
Even his physical body in the outside world shook its head in disbelief.
And when Fang Jia finished doing this, he opened his eyes again.
What he saw was still an ocean.
Fang Jia's soul then went completely numb.
It turned out that "Sea of Consciousness" was not an exaggerated term, nor a metaphor.
It was a literal description.
Just how much soul power could be contained within Xu Mu's such a vast Sea of Consciousness, perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of times more than his own?
Fang Jia pondered woodenly. He tried to find Xu Mu's soul power in this space, but after searching for a long time, he found nothing.
Then, his head stiffly bowed, and he looked down at his feet.
Beneath his feet was seawater.
But the color of this seawater was unusual, a blue with a hint of transparent radiance.
Waves crashed against the reefs, spray flying, then splashing onto him, eliciting a strong soul reaction.
Fang Jia was stupefied.
Since he had known Xu Mu, the young man had shocked him too many times to be described in words.
So, Xu Mu's soul power had been there all along.
So, Xu Mu's soul power was an entire ocean!
...
Xu Mu was unaware that while he slept, Fang Jia had infiltrated his Sea of Consciousness and was deeply shocked.
Actually, Xu Mu felt there was nothing to be surprised about.
He was used to it, and that was that.
The soul power within the sea could not be brought outside the body. The portion that could be freely controlled was perhaps only one in billions, linked to his realm.
This was why he felt mentally fatigued.
Otherwise, even if he performed divination for a hundred years, he wouldn't feel tired. But now, after only three days of calculations, his brain nerves had swollen, and he had a splitting headache.
However, it was fortunate that his soul power could continuously nourish his brain, and with the help of sleep, he should recover completely soon.
His physical body was the same. Xu Mu possessed the Sacred Glazed Heart, which even Fuxi marveled at. That noble blood, propelled by the beating of his heart, coursed through his limbs, and returned with each beat. Every circulatory cycle nourished his dry and cracked body.
And the pollen floating in the air contained the purest innate abilities and medicinal properties. Thus, Xu Mu's body acted like a black hole, drawing energy from the spectral image of the Shore Flower above the distant mine. The pull was so intense that it even stirred up a gust of wind.
Soul, body, and innate abilities, all three working in tandem.
It wouldn't take long, perhaps less than a day, for Xu Mu to recover and wake up.
And if, at that time, Fang Jia had not yet found the other shore of that ocean, Xu Mu would show him what cruelty meant.
Fang Jia might die, leaving not even ashes behind.
Just like the baboons burned to death by the Samadhi True Fire of the Qiongqi!
...