Arrows filled the sky. Xu Mu held his saber in the air, an ancient statue floating above, and waves of qinse energy rolled out, shredding every elemental wood arrow.
"The soul-confusing incense and arrows are useless against them. Everyone, attack together, and make sure to hold them until Lord Shakya arrives!"
With a command, countless elves flapped their wings, channeling the essence of heaven and earth, unleashing magic towards Xu Mu and Qiongqi.
Xu Mu, piloting the statue, unleashed his saber energy like a vast mist, repelling the surrounding elves and depleting his own power.
Boom!
Another collision. An elf of the fourth stage broke through a statue and rushed towards Xu Mu and Qiongqi, attempting to block them.
"Die!"
Qiongqi roared, spitting out Samadhi True Fire to melt the attacker. But with a series of hand seals, the elf summoned a fragment of ice, capable of freezing space.
Sizzle...
The true fire burned the ice, and the space was enveloped in white mist. However, the ice was a thousand meters long and wide. Even the Samadhi True Fire couldn't melt it instantly; it would take a considerable amount of time, especially as the elf continuously cast spells to reinforce the ice layer.
"As long as I can hold you off for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, my mission will be complete," the peak fourth-stage elf of the Frost Clan said, his face pale, a smug smile on his lips.
His ice magic was of a high grade. Though not as potent as the fire, it wouldn't be easily burned through. If he could just contain this human for the duration of an incense stick, he would be safe once the fifth-stage elders arrived.
"So annoying," Qiongqi closed his mouth, no longer waiting for the Samadhi True Fire to forge a path. Instead, he directly utilized spatial magic, instantly appearing before the Frost Elf.
Xu Mu was ready. He tightened his legs around Qiongqi's body, gripped his saber with both hands, and then slashed downwards with immense force. The terrifying might, infused with death, instantly annihilated the Frost Elf.
"Bang!"
Before the elf could even react, he was reduced to a pile of็ข่ (shattered flesh).
"Lord Yachi!" elves around cried out in shock, calling the Frost Elf's name, their grief overwhelming.
They hadn't expected the tide of battle to turn so quickly. The human and the demon race had instantly traversed space and slain Yachi, a peak fourth-stage being!
"We can't catch up," they growled, watching Xu Mu and Qiongqi's retreating backs. Soon, they realized that the direction Xu Mu was fleeing seemed to be away from the Dark Elf teleportation array.
Instead, it looked more like they were heading towards the Boundless Sea.
The elf froze for a moment, then suddenly understood. He opened his communication device and shouted, "Report, we've been tricked!"
"That human is going to the Boundless Sea! Stop him quickly!"
...
"This is truly troublesome."
Xu Mu, riding Qiongqi, felt a faint fatigue in his brow. The elves who had attacked him were almost all third-stage, with several fourth-stage individuals among them. And their attacks had all been blocked by him initially.
He relied on his unparalleled saber techniques and the saber of the sacred relic. Yet, even so, he had suffered backlash and sustained internal injuries.
Qiongqi remained silent. His condition was the same as Xu Mu's. Utilizing spatial magic and spitting Samadhi True Fire, and traveling at full speed, had also been extremely taxing. All he wanted now was to reach the Boundless Sea quickly.
Xu Mu, with a frown, silently stepped on the 'Xun' trigram to enhance their speed.
Soon, in less than an hour, the scenery before them drastically changed, turning dark and chaotic.
"Break through this forest, and the Boundless Sea is ahead," Xu Mu said. Qiongqi roared, charging through the dense forest, ignoring the faint sense of danger emanating from within.
Hum!
Darkness vanished, and light appeared. Xu Mu and Qiongqi stopped in mid-air and looked up to see a sea suspended upside down in the sky.
This sea connected heaven and earth, with the most furious and unpredictable surface. Snow-like colossal waves crashed against towering cliffs. In the distant center of the Boundless Sea was a visible, enormous vortex, churning with dark clouds and lightning, deep and terrifying.
On either side of the sea near the vortex, the sky presented starkly different scenes. One side was bathed in dim sunlight, with icebergs toppling and tsunamis rising. The other was a brief but beautiful summer, with blue skies and clear seas, where everything seemed to grow wildly.
Xu Mu and Qiongqi stood motionless, gazing at the scene before them, their expressions awestruck.
"So this is the Boundless Sea," Xu Mu said.
Standing in the not-so-dark night, his tone was complex. He had never imagined the Boundless Sea would look like this.
He was accustomed to the sea within his own consciousness, and thus assumed all seas were like that... How could a sea hang in the sky?
"How is it inverted? Why doesn't it fall?" Qiongqi asked, measuring with his claws. But there was no one to answer, as Xu Mu himself didn't know.
"According to the map, the marked treasure location seems to be... inside that vortex," Xu Mu said, his facial muscles twitching involuntarily.
The pressure and shock the Boundless Sea gave him were entirely different from the tornado sandstorm he encountered in the Elf Kingdom. The latter, in comparison to the Boundless Sea, was merely a gentle breeze at most.
He also recalled the elves' confident assertion that the sandstorm was just an illusion, yet he had ended up covered in dust.
And what about this Boundless Sea?
"Entering this vortex would mean death, wouldn't it?" Qiongqi couldn't help but feel hesitant as he looked at the inverted sea. He could accompany Xu Mu on adventures, even face death with him, but not on a suicide mission.
Flying into it would be pure suicide. Didn't he see how even a corner of an iceberg was sucked in and shredded?!
"But the map does indicate this," Xu Mu took a deep breath, calming himself, and then took out Fu Xi's map to study with Qiongqi. "See, the lines drawn here clearly suggest that above this Boundless Sea, there's a sea route. We can follow this route by boat or by swimming into that vortex."
"After entering the vortex, we'll go to the bottom of the Boundless Sea, and then..." Xu Mu looked at the map, scratching his head. He couldn't understand the subsequent path, as the markings were too complex. Perhaps he would only understand when he arrived.
"My good sir, are you sure you want to swim here?" Qiongqi asked with a wry smile.
"Or fly directly across?" Xu Mu pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Never mind, we don't know what dangers lie here. Let's stick to the fixed route."
"Are you sure?" Qiongqi swallowed, his heart sinking. Xu Mu was actually going through with it. What was the difference between this and throwing away his life?
"If we don't go, there's no other way," Xu Mu said, glancing back at the startled birds in the forest behind them. He quietly put the map back into his embrace. The pursuers seemed to have arrived.
"Hell has no gate, are you here to kill yourself!" Weijia's voice rang out, and a colossal wizard manifestation appeared in the sky and on the earth.
Xu Mu and Qiongqi exchanged a glance, then, using the vortex's pull, instantly shot into the sky, heading towards the magnificent Boundless Sea.
Behind them, Weijia's smile froze on his face. The other elves who had come to hunt them down also widened their eyes.
Xu Mu, had he willingly flown into their forbidden zone?
"The ignorant are fearless. It's just a pity I can't personally exact revenge," Weijia sneered, watching Xu Mu and then Qiongqi ascend into the sky, already certain of their demise.
That was the Boundless Sea, inverted in the sky, separating the lands of the major elven tribes. Few beasts inhabited its waters, and the most terrifying aspects were its furious and unpredictable climate and surface. The vortex in the center even possessed supreme power capable of destroying those in the Human King realm.
If Xu Mu fell into it, even a small wave stirred at the edge, or a lightning bolt leaked from the dark clouds hidden within the Boundless Sea, would instantly turn him to ash.
"But they... don't seem to be dead."
Below, the elves gazed at Xu Mu's figure from afar. At this moment, he had already stepped onto the surface of the Boundless Sea and was heading rapidly towards the central vortex, riding the crest of the waves.
They weren't swimming or sailing, but walking on the raging, unpredictable sea, treading the waves!
...