I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

"No," Yan Lingji said, "If I don't go now, I'll be even less likely to do it later."

Qin Yuan's lips curved slightly, then he stepped into the rift. The bone blade gleamed in his hand, the starlight and galaxies on its surface more dazzling than ever before. His Eye of Chaos activated at full power, and on the other side of the rift, he saw a boundless sea of ​​chaos. Pitch black, churning, chaotic, without laws, without order, without any familiar landmarks. But the instant he stepped into this outer realm, something within him was awakened.

It is not the Chaos Holy Path, nor the Nine Transformations of Chaos, but something more ancient and essential than these.

That was a feeling he had unconsciously touched upon while planting taro on the back mountain of Guixu Temple—the growth, withering, and regeneration of all things, endlessly repeating the cycle. It was not a law, not an origin, but a Tao.

The Way of Protection. The Way of Creation. The Way of Endless Life.

Qin Yuan gripped the bone blade tightly, and took a step forward to meet the gaze that was watching him from the depths of the Chaos Sea.

Behind him, the bells of the Seven Star Tower rang once again. This time, it wasn't seven chimes, but a long and powerful roar, like a lighthouse that had been sleeping for 100,000 years bidding him farewell.

The corner of the statue's mouth in the tower seemed to twitch slightly.

Then, the crack slowly closed behind him.

There is no sky in the outer realms.

The first step Qin Yuan took out of the crack didn't land on the earth, but on a semi-transparent membrane. Beneath the membrane surged chaotic currents, where multicolored light exploded and extinguished, as if the birth and destruction of countless miniature worlds had been compressed into a single instant. The membrane itself had no support, simply floating in the chaotic sea, extending in all directions without end.

"Don't step on the edge." Qin Yuan glanced back at the seven women who were still walking out of the crack. "The membrane has a limit to its load-bearing capacity; it will break at the edge."

Yan Lingji's foot was only halfway out when she heard this and withdrew it, stepping back where Qin Yuan had just stepped. She looked down at the churning chaotic currents beneath her feet, and the flames on her fist involuntarily flickered.

"This is Outland?" she said. "It's not quite what I expected."

"What did you expect it to be like?"

"It's even scarier." Yan Lingji looked around. "There are monsters everywhere, and an overwhelming amount of demonic energy. You have to fight as soon as you come in. But there's just this one place... and nothing at all."

Qin Yuan didn't reply. His Chaos Eye was already operating, piercing through the membrane, through the chaotic turbulence, and seeing things much further away. This chaotic sea wasn't "empty," but rather everything had been transformed into chaos. Laws, matter, energy, even time itself, were all shattered into their most basic particles within the chaotic sea, then recombine, only to be shattered again, in an endless cycle. In this environment, any orderly existence would be swallowed by chaos and reduced to nothingness. The membrane beneath their feet was the only stable layer capable of supporting orderly existence—it was an extension of the sealing passage's power into the outer realm, the last foothold that the white-haired guardian had secured with his remains ten thousand years ago.

Su Yao walked to Qin Yuan's side. Her Chaotic Saint Body's perception allowed her to sense the anomaly in this space as well. She frowned slightly, pressed her palm against the surface of the membrane, and closed her eyes to sense it for a moment.

"The membrane is thinning." She stood up, her voice low so only Qin Yuan could hear, "The thickness at the edges is 30% less than in the center, and it's continuing to decrease. At this rate, in fifteen days at most, this stabilizing layer will begin to collapse from the edges. Then the membrane beneath our feet will shatter into countless pieces, and below will be chaotic turbulence."

"That's enough," Qin Yuan said.

Su Yao glanced at him but said nothing more. She took out a compass-shaped magical artifact from her storage bag. It was something Ye Wuji had given her before she set off; it was called the "Star-Fixing Compass," which could mark directions in the chaotic environment to prevent her from getting lost. She fixed the Star-Fixing Compass in the center of the membrane and poured a stream of chaotic essence into it. The Star-Fixing Compass lit up, shooting out a beam of light that pointed directly in the direction she had come from—the coordinates of the sealed rift.

"From now on, wherever the beam of light from the astrolabe points, that's the way home." Su Yao turned to face the other six women and Qin Yuan. "No matter how far you go, as long as the beam is still there, you can find your way back. If the beam disappears—"

"It won't disappear," Qin Yuan interrupted her.

Su Yao looked at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, but she didn't refute him. She knew Qin Yuan too well. When Qin Yuan said "it won't disappear," he wasn't comforting her; he was issuing a death order. He had given this membrane a death order: it had to hold on, and it absolutely had to hold on. As for how to hold on, that was something he would have to figure out next.

"Let's go." Qin Yuan, carrying the bone blade, walked towards the direction where the membrane extended.

There is no direction in the Chaos Sea, but the extension of the membrane has a direction. It was not formed naturally, but is a continuation of the sealing power. Ten thousand years ago, the guardian used his power to pave a path in the Chaos Sea. At the end of the path is the place where he shattered the outer realm passage, which is also the source of the Chaos Sea that is constantly eroding the boundary of the void.

Follow this road, and you're sure to find it.

After walking for about two hours, the membrane began to narrow. At first, seven people could walk side by side, but now only three could walk side by side at most. The edges on both sides were clearly visible—beyond the membrane was chaotic turbulence, with multicolored light surging less than three feet away from them. Occasionally, a wisp of chaotic air would hit the edge of the membrane, making a sizzling sound, like hot oil dripping onto ice.

"There's something ahead," Jian Wushuang suddenly said.

Everyone stopped in their tracks. Jian Wushuang had the best eyesight among the seven women. Her Xuanbing Saint Body could sense changes in temperature from a great distance. In the outer realms, where there was no concept of temperature, she could sense changes in "existence" itself—something was approaching.

Qin Yuan raised his left hand, signaling everyone to be on guard. At the same time, he activated the Chaos Eye at full power, looking in the direction Jian Wushuang pointed.

About three miles in front of the membrane, there is an eye.

The eye hovered in the chaotic turbulence, without a socket, without a body, just a solitary eye. The pupil was grayish-white, a vertical slit, slowly rotating as if scanning the surrounding space. Its scanning method wasn't with sight, but with concentric circles of gray ripples spreading outwards; wherever these ripples swept, the churning chaotic turbulence would momentarily pause.

Grayish-white ripples spread towards the membrane. Qin Yuan had no time to think; he inserted the bone blade into the membrane, creating a chaotic shield centered on the blade. The gray ripples swept across the shield, emitting a muffled hum, and the shield's surface rippled, but it was not penetrated.

The ripples passed. The vertical pupil of that eye turned in another direction, seemingly unaware of their presence.