Chapter 294
by post_apiChapter 294: Great Terror Appears
The Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals continued to drift forward.
As it descended five thousand meters deeper, the surrounding aura of death grew denser. Swarms of Soul-Eating Birds appeared, constantly circling the ship, screeching in warning, yet too afraid to come close.
They feared the ship itself.
The Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals exuded a great and unfathomable terror.
Jin Zhihong and Yaoruoxian were both aware of this.
Yet, in their obsession with killing Zhang Yang, they had momentarily forgotten.
The Moon-Returning Dragon had also sensed it, but he remained composed, focusing on absorbing the inheritance.
Time passed quickly as the ship descended another ten thousand meters.
Boom!
The sound of roaring waves echoed through the abyss.
Beneath the Abyss of the Buried Immortals lay a vast river, boundless and unknown. No one knew where it came from or where it flowed.
Only the furious, rolling waves told of its immense power.
With them came an overwhelming aura of decay, the true source of the abyss’s death aura.
A single drop of this water could erase a Great Boundless cultivator.
A single wave could drown a sage.
Amidst the surging currents, the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals trembled violently.
Even with its massive size, those on board could feel the imminent danger. At any moment, they could be thrown overboard into the endless abyss.
Zhang Yang and the Moon-Returning Dragon came to a halt.
They knew that the ship had stopped. The battle was about to begin. Surprisingly, the Soul-Eating Birds were the first to strike. Screeches filled the air.
The invisible force protecting the Ghost Ship had faded as it descended deeper into the vast river of death.
Suddenly, the Soul-Eating Birds transformed into beams of light, streaking toward everyone on the ship.
At the same moment, two terrifying surges of Holy Might erupted explosively.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sounds did not come from the Soul-Eating Birds themselves but from their abrupt collisions in mid-air.
The force blasted them away, stunning the Moon-Returning Dragon, Jin Zhihong, and the others. Their gazes turned toward the two figures responsible for the overwhelming Holy Might, Zhang Yang and Yaoruoxian.
One unleashed Slaughter Sacred Thunder. The other’s Stone Furnace Holy Fire roared fiercely. One was cool and commanding.b While the other was ethereal and fairy-like.
Yet both radiated overwhelming killing intent, charging toward each other with boundless Holy Might.
With the power of the Stone Furnace Holy Fire fueling her, Yaoruoxian brimmed with confidence. She never hesitated to rely on external forces, only the outcome mattered.
Killing Zhang Yang was the only result she desired.
As they moved, Jin Zhihong and the Moon-Returning Dragon also sprang into action.
These two young dragons of the Western Desert had already established their dominance, proving their might time and again.
Whoever emerged victorious would claim the title of ruler of the Western Desert.
They lunged at each other simultaneously.
The four warriors, each formidable in their own right, formed two pairs and clashed in battle.
The Soul-Eating Birds struck with relentless Critical Hits, only to be blocked by the radiating Holy Might.
The river raged below. The ship swayed gently. For a moment, time seemed to freeze. Because, a colossal, jet-black arm suddenly emerged from the river of death. It was covered in hair as sharp as spears, and its enormous palm stretched toward the sky before crashing down upon the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals.
In the presence of this monstrous limb, their strength and speed felt utterly insignificant.
A single hand could blot out the sky.
A single hand could crush the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals.
That overwhelming power froze everyone in place, as if death itself had descended.
At that instant, the saintly skull at the front of the Ghost Ship flared with a deep, blood-red light. At the same time, gasps of shock spread across the ship. Their bloodlines were being pulled by an unseen force.
A torrent of blood energy surged toward the skull’s eye sockets, causing the blood-red glow to intensify.
Whoosh!
The blood-red light shot out, colliding directly with the monstrous black palm.
Boom!
The impact unleashed a cataclysmic energy storm, sending waves towering into the sky and propelling the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals thousands of meters forward, like an arrow released from a bow.
The terror faded, yet silence followed. Yaoruoxian, Jin Zhihong, the Moon-Returning Dragon, and the others turned their gazes toward Zhang Yang. Because while their blood energy had been forcefully drawn in, Zhang Yang had not lost even a single trace of his.
Even Zhang Yang himself felt a shift within.
Finally, he understood the subtlety of the Tiny Flame.
When the invisible force tried to siphon his bloodline energy, his bloodline quivered—
But at that moment, his shattered heavenly realm materialized.
Within the "Xiao" Hall, the Tiny Flame burned brightly.
The light from the Tiny Flame spread through his bloodline, calming the disturbance—
Like still water, untouched by the storm.
His Tiny Flame stabilized his bloodline, preventing the terrifying force of the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals from affecting him in the slightest.
How could this not astonish them?
Their eyes remained locked on Zhang Yang.
Even Jin Zhihong who had been on the verge of attacking, could not help but speak.
But before he could, another change occurred.
“Hu… xi… hu… xi…”
The sound of breathing filled the air.
Immediately, a chill crawled up the spines of everyone on board. This breathing didn’t belong to any of them. Nor did it come from the river of death outside. It came from inside the ship. Specifically, from within the cabin.
The breathing was deep. Overpowering. It drowned out the roar of the raging river. It eclipsed the sound of their pounding heartbeats. The warriors on the ship stood frozen, their eyes fixed on the floor beneath their feet. Was there a great terror hidden below deck?
Jin Zhihong clenched his fists, his face tense with disbelief.
"Impossible… absolutely impossible!" he muttered through gritted teeth. "There are records of Taixu Dynasty survivors encountering the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals, three individuals, three separate accounts.
"Not a single one of them ever mentioned hearing breathing from the cabin of the Ghost Ship.
"Why? Why is it happening this time?"
Many among them had read the survivors’ descriptions of the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals.
It was known to be a place of great terror.
But never! Not once had the ship itself revealed its true horror. Now, the breathing from the cabin felt like the slow, deliberate inhale of a giant, unseen beast.
A chilling realization crept into their minds.
Yaoruoxian, though unnerved, remained calm.
Her deep black gem-like eyes glowed with intelligence as she spoke.
"It’s your blood."
Her words struck them like a bolt of lightning.
Suddenly, they all understood.
Indeed, all the differences lay within Zhang Yang’s bloodline.
He hadn’t lost a single trace of it. Yet, unease crept over him. He could feel it.
Something—someone—was watching him. The gaze came from within the cabin.
He couldn’t see it. But he could hear it. The slow, terrifying breathing.
“Fourth battle!”
Suddenly, Yaoruoxian let out a low cry and launched a swift attack.
At that moment, she recklessly unleashed a torrent of Saintly Fire, sending out a devastating strike infused with the Saints’ Laws, charging directly at Zhang Yang.
“Are you crazy?!”
Jin Zhihong’s face turned pale as he shouted, “Aren’t you afraid of provoking the great terror inside the cabin?!”
He felt as if Yaoruoxian would scare him to death.
This woman was terrifying, her courage unimaginable. To attack now, when great terror was awakening? Was she trying to kill them all? But Yaoruoxian ignored him completely. Zhang Yang felt worse than ever.
It was as if a supernatural beast had locked onto him, poised to strike at any moment.
At a time like this, any distraction was undeniably dangerous.
And yet, Yaoruoxian boldly attacked.
Even Zhang Yang had to admit, this little woman was insane. He was angry too.
Boom!
He had always advanced fearlessly. Never afraid. Never retreating! Whether it was great terror or life and death, nothing could make him bow.
Fight!
He unleashed the Consummate Slaughter Thunder Saint Power.
But this time, it was different.
Like a calm sea suddenly erupting into a violent storm, the Slaughter Thunder Saint Power surged with terrifying force.
Even the Slaughter Sacred Thunder let out a frenzied roar.
The two warriors clashed with unrelenting ferocity.
Jin Zhihong, the Moon-Returning Dragon, and the others could only watch in stunned silence.
The power produced by warriors of the Ascending to Heaven Realm was so overwhelming that even those at the Opening the Sky Realm felt an instinctive fear.
Bang!
They were too familiar with each other, there was no need to test their strength.
Each strike was delivered with the most dominant and lethal force.
The Slaughter Sacred Thunder collided with the Stone Furnace’s Holy Fire, exploding in a violent burst of lightning and fire.
The two warriors clashed.
Zhang Yang stood firm.
Yaoruoxian was sent flying again.
And then—
The breathing from within the cabin suddenly intensified.
“Hu…xi…hu…xi…”
Something changed.
Something strange.
The breathing, which had been erratic before—
Began to synchronize.
Their own breathing fell into rhythm with it.
Their heartbeats followed suit.
An unnatural unity.
Everyone’s bloodlines began to boil.
Everyone’s, except Zhang Yang’s. Around them, streams of blood energy erupted from their bodies, wrapping them in an eerie aura. At that moment, Zhang Yang stood apart from them all.
And then, the breathing sound trembled slightly.
As if something from beneath the ship had pierced through the wooden boards, a gaze. An ancient, terrifying gaze locking onto Zhang Yang. It felt like being watched by a holy beast of unimaginable power.