The chilling wind and solitary moon swept across the sky, the sand and dust filling the air. Animals dwelling deep within caves, like snakes, ants, and scorpions, seemed to sense the imminent, immense danger and had already begun to migrate.
The more they lived in harsh and cold environments, the more acutely animals perceived approaching crises. They were merely driven by the instinctive physiological reflex to 'escape disaster' as they fled.
Ren Yuanhao painstakingly lifted his saber and sword, his entire body aching as if torn apart. His vital energy surged outward from every capillary, making him resemble a balloon punctured with countless holes.
"Boy, I admire your courage, but courage can sometimes ruin a person. It blinds your eyes, making you believe there's still a sliver of a chance to survive, or even defeat me. Unfortunately, that's just your wishful thinking."
Keerhan's voice grew increasingly hollow and chilling.
"Even a baseless hope is better than no hope at all. Wishful thinking or foolishness, I, this young master, will never regret it!"
Ren Yuanhao's body was enveloped in visible white vital energy. Every word he spoke seemed like white mist exhaled from a volcano.
"Boy, you possess first-rate combat intelligence. It's a pity. You are the strongest I have ever destroyed in my life. I will obliterate you with absolute dominance. That is the greatest respect I can show you."
As he spoke, the enormous black cocoon retracted towards the sky like a giant dragon drinking water. The black sand, in turn, transformed into a black sandstorm, sweeping towards Ren Yuanhao!
If Ren Yuanhao hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that one person could unleash a black sandstorm comparable to the forces of nature. Moreover, that sand was no ordinary substance. If the desert was a place that devoured life, then that black sand was the annihilating sand that forcibly erased all life.
Where the black sand passed, not a blade of grass remained, as if instantly stripped of its vitality. Ren Yuanhao gripped a saber and a sword, the incantations of the Burial Sea Flow secret technique constantly echoing in his mind.
'Boundless and Lawless, the Qi Sea rolls back. The sea, the greatest vessel of water. Yet, compared to the vast ocean, a person's vital energy is but a mustard seed to Mount Sumeru, the vast ocean to a single grain of sand. Thus, ordinary people cannot imagine, nor dare to imagine, how to overturn the vessel of an entire sea. However, since it is a vessel, it must have a limit. The ocean, vast as it is, has boundaries, and with boundaries, it can be overturned. The moon's tides, the sea's fracturing, all can cause the seven seas to boil, devouring heaven and earth. Yet, intention is like the moon. To stir greater lunar tides, one must apply distance and speed to the sea, increasing gravitational and tensile forces. At a certain critical point, the seawater can surge backward, and heaven and earth can be overturned. This is the Burial Sea Flow...'
Ren Yuanhao had already closed his eyes. The Burial Sea Flow chapter in the Azure Sea Tide Birth Art explained it quite clearly. To make the tides more furious and devastate a sea, one must borrow the moon. And this moon is intention. The closer the distance, the greater the gravitational pull; the faster the orbital speed, the more the tidal power is driven to its limit. Therefore, the ultimate secret technique incantation of the Burial Sea Flow, in the end, is about the smooth integration of intention and spirit, forming a unified whole. Unlike the 'union of heaven and man' mentioned by cultivators, this move is about sealing all senses and merging one's intention entirely with the sea within one's dantian!
Gradually, Ren Yuanhao began to lose his five senses. He felt himself sinking continuously, surrounded by pressure that could suffocate him. This sensation was akin to being in a lightless deep sea, every pore of his skin bearing tearing pain, not even feeling his breath. All his consciousness seemed to be connected to the entire expanse of the sea.
This feeling was exceedingly profound, as if he were in a state between life and death, or perhaps assimilated with the sea. The only thought remaining in his mind was to draw his saber and sword!
However, drawing his saber and sword would alter this existing state, and after altering the state, he would surely be unable to re-enter it. Therefore, he had only one chance, which was mentioned in the Burial Sea Flow secret technique incantation – the critical point!
He continued to sink. The deeper he sank, the deeper his intention became. Every pore felt more terrifyingly squeezed, and the blood within his body seemed to mix with the seawater.
Upon this discovery, Ren Yuanhao instantly understood what that critical point was.
It was the boundary between life and death!
Fortunately, Ren Yuanhao could already touch that boundary!
The moment all his intention shifted to drawing his saber and sword, his eyes snapped open.
Drawing the saber and sword!
The sharp edge of the saber and sword struck the black sand before him with an unpretentious posture, like a surging tide pouring from the Milky Way, annihilating it in an instant!
The human silhouette within the black sand tore apart, screaming madly, heart-wrenching cries echoing. Ren Yuanhao, after this swing, also erupted in a burst of blood mist, his dantian shattered.
The black sand abruptly stopped. Men and horses were thrown into disarray. Ren Yuanhao's move was as plain as a beginner practicing swordsmanship, hacking at rotten wood, yet its immense power and imposing aura could only be recognized by true sword masters.
Keerhan, without even letting out a cry, awakened and then annihilated within the black sand. His dream of calling himself a god, unfulfilled, was abruptly halted by a young man who appeared halfway. At this moment, Zi Yuan had already awakened. She frantically beat the poplar tree, which was deeply plunged into the sand, and shouted Ren Yuanhao's name with all her might.
For some reason, the man lying in a pool of blood now seemed like the only light in the sky, or perhaps the only light she could see in this hell.
But this light was slowly dimming...
...
Ren Yuanhao didn't know if he had died or was trapped in the system's illusion. All he knew was that in this environment, he couldn't perceive the passage of time, and everywhere his hands could touch were ice-cold rocks or ice.
There was no light around, and the swirling frost energy stabbed at him like sharp swords. He hunched his body and slowly crouched down.
Perhaps human fear of darkness stems from light itself. If a person has never seen light, they would think the entire world is darkness and thus fear nothing.
Ren Yuanhao was also human and had an innate fear of darkness. He had once heard his mother say that after death, Yama would claim one's life. In the Ghost City of Yama, ruled by the Ten Kings of Hell, the mistakes one made in life would determine which layer one resided in. No one was exempt.
Therefore, to return to the land of annihilation forever was to return to eternal darkness.
At this moment, a voice slowly appeared above his head.
"Who are you?"
Ren Yuanhao swallowed, relieved to find that he could still make a sound.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you going for the 'philosophical triad of questions'? Fine, I am who I am, and I am also not who I am. Are you satisfied with this answer?"