Chapter 1114: Contesting the Blood Sea

“The Blood Sea in Life Province?” Both Lu Yun and Qing Yu paused.

“Do you remember the little girl?” Qing Yu rummaged through her memories. “She mentioned that the real Blood Sea once appeared when her era was about to end.”

“That tomb,” Lu Yun elaborated, “which could be found beneath the Blood Sea, was the ruins of her era. The Blood Sea of Life Province is also a Blood Sea, but it’s a new one. There should be some sort of connection between the two.”

He frowned slightly, knowing only that the Blood Sea of Life Province was someone’s setup, but not who’s. His trip to the great wilderness had been too early, the prototype of many things were nowhere to be seen yet.

It was also possible that that Blood Sea wasn’t the plan of some empyrean realm master, but an origination from the chaos or the result of an even higher powerhouse.

“If the Blood Sea could form in Life Province, then it can also form in hell.” Lu Yun suddenly thought of the hell of the mythological realm.

When his past self entered that realm, the heavenly palace and kingdom of hell had both materialized and were the rulers of that age. He’d snuck into the kingdom of hell at one point and found that the hell of that time didn’t possess the Blood Sea.

A hell without the Blood Sea wasn’t a complete hell.

Meanwhile, the kingdom of hell also existed in the current world of immortals and the eighteen levels of hell could be found in many corners of the world.

“Someone wanted to refine the world of immortals into the kingdom of hell, but they failed.” A new line of thought suddenly struck Lu Yun. “We need to get going. The Blood Sea will depart from here before long and if my guess is right, we’re not the only ones after it.”

There was something in the chaos that could direct the Blood Sea’s movements. The sea’s appearance in the world of immortals was a result of that item, and during its visit, the watery depths destroyed an entire civilization by itself. Lu Yun and Qing Yu picked up their pace when their thoughts traveled here.

The Tomb of Heaven and Earth was empty after its zombies and ghosts entered the underworld as new mausoleum keepers. While countless realm monsters still lay embedded in the air in the outermost fringe, the Blood Sea beneath their corpses had vanished.

It’d been replaced by a swathe of dazzlingly white bones.

“The Blood Sea has receded, but not yet left. We’ll be able to see it once we cross this land of white bone!” Qing Yu inferred. “But we need to be careful, these white bones aren’t some dead, inert things. They’re the skeletons of what once lived in the Blood Sea!”

Just about to set his foot onto a piece of bone, Lu Yun’s foot froze in the air.

Creatures of the Blood Sea were as their name, beings that lived in the Blood Sea. They were dead spirits, but also possessed life, as if they were alive. They were an uncommonly eerie and paradoxical existence.

Clatter!

Lu Yun had just taken a few steps back to assess the land when clear sounds rang through the air. Skeleton upon skeleton lifted their heads from the ground, a tiny flame burning in their skulls. Scarlet flesh and blood began to grow over their bones and turned them into strangely shaped beings.

These were true creatures of the Blood Sea, nurtured in the bloody depths for an unknown span of years—hardly the weaklings created by Life Province’s Blood Sea.

But when he saw this, Lu Yun understood that the sea could’ve left its denizens behind at any point in time. The Blood Sea of the human hell had lacked these terrifying inhabitants, or that hell would’ve become their territory long ago.

……

Lu Yun and Qing Yu were wholly unafraid to face these creatures. A faint, bloody shadow floated out from Lu Yun’s body—Carmine Eternal!

Carmine Eternal and Arbiter hailed from mysterious origins. They’d first borrowed the bodies of connate demon gods to enter the great wilderness, but someone then successfully schemed against them and stole the rest of their opportunities from them. Later on, Taiyi and Yinglong collected their fragmented souls and adopted them as their daughters.

Lu Yun had eventually taken Eternal to the Blood Sea so she could be nurtured by its core essence. She shared the same foundation as the sea, and it wasn’t something easily obtainable like Mount Buzhou. It’d originally been Arbiter who was supposed to be born from the Blood Sea, but Patriarch Darkriver had stolen that from her.

However, Darkriver’s usage of the sea hadn’t been as strong or thorough as Eternal’s usage, and that was all because of Lu Yun. He’d utilized the power of the Tome of Life and Death and hellfire to enable Eternal to fully absorb the sea’s core essence.

Lu Yun hadn’t known the true nature of the Blood Sea at the time, so it’d all been a happy coincidence. Carmine Eternal was the source of his confidence in being able to lay claim to this sea.

“What do you think?” he carefully asked the snake in human form.

“It’ll be fine,” chuckled Carmine Eternal. She stood in front of the land of white bones and flared with bloody light, broadcasting the image of a bloody sea in the air. That instantly stilled the creatures stirring from the ground and they laid down again as disassembled skeletons.

“The Blood Sea is ahead of us and about to recede fully. We can still catch a wisp of its tail if we hurry.” Carmine Eternal suddenly looked forward with alarm. “Someone else is trying to capture it!”

Whoosh!

She streaked forward as a bloody shadow and vanished at the end of the land of white bone.

“Bridge of Forgetfulness!!” Lu Yun roared.

Boom!

The bridge barrelled out of nowhere and set itself on the two sides of the land of white bone. Lu Yun and Qing Yu walked onto it and instantly passed through the domain.

When Carmine Eternal left, the creatures of the Blood Sea showed signs of awakening. However, they all shrank back again the moment the Bridge of Forgetfulness appeared.

No, not shrank back. They fled away.

In the eyes of the Blood Sea, the bridge was much more terrifying than Carmine Eternal!

……

“Arrogant cretin, how dare you try to take my Blood Sea!” The moment Carmine Eternal arrived at the end of the land of bones, she violently expanded her aura to call out to the Blood Sea.

Locked down in place, the bloody waters frothed and churned to break out of their restraints.

Carmine Eternal was only at empyrean realm and yet to recover her full strength. But within the Blood Sea, she was almost invincible.

The Blood Sea had been ready to recede gracefully, but an undefined power had trapped it and wanted to lead it in another direction. A tall and magnificent figure stood atop the Blood Sea, directing the boundless waters to an unknown land.

The body of water was so vast that it couldn’t be captured by any singular power. The figure on top of it wasn’t forcing it to bend to his will, but using its momentum upon departure to direct it into another world.

With Carmine Eternal on the scene, she immediately forced the Blood Sea out of its restraints and sent it roiling through the void.

“Vile spawn!” the figure cursed at seeing its target agitate with resistance. “How dare a tiny carmine snake ruin my plans?! Die!”

It pointed at Carmine Eternal, a gesture that expanded violently into a mountain that bore down on the snake.

“Just one moment, I get it! You’re the one who created the Blood Sea in Life Province of the world of immortals. You want to use that Blood Sea to claim the real Blood Sea here!” The truth of the matter suddenly struck Carmine Eternal and she also understood where the figure wanted to take the Blood Sea—to Life Province, the world of immortals!

But hot on the heels of her revelation, she realized with shock that her connection to the bloody waters had been severed by that point!

With nothing calling out to it anymore, the churning Blood Sea returned to its tranquil state and continued flowing to an unknown space. Meanwhile, Carmine Eternal was firmly suppressed in the void, blood oozing out of the corner of her lips.

Boom!

An enormous bridge rushed out of thin air, crashing down upon the shadowy figure.