The Sacred Master had died, the Macabre Child was defeated, and legacy students were rescued. Yang Yang had even saved a group of young elites from the Ivory Royal Army. Mission accomplished with exceeding results and effort. 

 

Cough! Cough! Cough!

 

A mouthful of blood blasted out of Yang Yang’s mouth. “Damn it. This is bad. Really, really bad. Not only was my body gravely impacted, even my magical power was affected. Even worse, I have a fifth of my faithful energy reserve left.” 

 

He dragged his feet across the warship and steered it backed into the direction of the Arcane Abyss. He called Seventh Sister Jade and the Bone Squad to help the unconscious chiliarchs and the legacy students. 

 

“Junior Brother you...” Shades of worry appeared in Seventh Sister Jade’s eyes. However, Yang Yang assured her. “This is a temporary state. For now, take care of these guys. I’ll head us back to the Arcane Abyss so I can heal up. The Macabre Child’s Forest is a dangerous place, and there’s no telling when the monster will come back, even if the Sacred Master is dead. Oh, make sure those guys stay alive, but also make sure that they remain unconscious.” 

 

Seventh Sister Jade and the Bone Squad took the injured people backed into the cabin. Yang Yang sat down on the bow again and a large Blessed Life spell formation appeared below him. He closed his eyes and rested. Although the latter outcome had happened, the former outcome was also close to true. 

 

Not only was he physically drained, even his mental strength had degenerated. Yang Yang could see the chaos in his sea of consciousness, where numerous black holes and rifts had appeared. If it were left uncheck, those black holes and rift could end up growing in size and become mental illnesses later on. While his body healed, he used extensive meditation to heal his mind. 

 

“Weak. Too weak. Hah...” Yang Yang sighed heavily. 

 

......

 

A week had passed, but the sky was still bright red. Day and night did not exist in the Macabre Child’s Forest, but the passage of time was determined by the movement of the world.

 

When the ground of flesh shook and the trees of bones rattled, it would be daytime; when the clouds increased their speed in the sky, it would be nighttime. Yang Yang based this analysis on his circadian rhythm. Although he does not require sleep as magus, his body still retained its biological clock. 

 

The Arcane Mark of wave designs glowed with a soft blue light the closer he was to the Arcane Abyss. 

 

“This is a truly impressive location. The magical laws of the Arcane Abyss are strong. Although its memory-warping or memory-wiping effects are not powerful enough to influence me, I could see how it can at least keep out Wisdom Kings. The creator of the Arcane Abyss was clearly incredible, yet, the Sacred Master was able unleash Wisdom King level magical power.” 

 

Yang Yang stared down at a black interspatial ring on his right palm. It belonged to the Sacred Master and had fallen when the Macabre Child scattered into bits. While his right hand moved the interspatial ring around his fingers, his left hand was completely nonreactive as though the nerves were completely removed from it. 

 

He scanned through the interspatial ring with curiosity. “A spiritual-tier Blood-Bone Cudgel? Trash.” 

 

“A spiritual-tier Wolf-Fanged Heavy-Sword. Trash.” 

 

“Thirty-four spiritual-tier Instant Health Pills? Not bad.” 

 

“A world-tier warship! Now that’s some good stuff.” 

 

“What’s this? A loincloth? Ugh! It’s unwashed!” 

 

He went through one item after another, but everything was mediocre beside a world-tier warship and some medicinal pills. Yang Yang had expected to see paper documents or talismans inside the interspatial ring, but it none were found. 

 

“There are no treasures or armaments in here that could increase his magical power, so it could only mean that he was a genuine Wisdom King. How did he bypassed the Arcane Abyss’ magical laws? Perhaps he cultivated a special spell, but I no longer have anyway of knowing that.” 

 

He consumed every medicinal pills he obtained and managed to heal half of his physical injuries and around one-third of his psychological injuries. His hair was now mostly black and his youth had returned. The Arcane Mark glowed brightly, and he could once again sense the Arcane Abyss. A dense wall of flesh was covering the entrance to it, but he penetrated right through it by accelerating the warship. 

 

“Back again.” The amount of faith was increasing steadily, and now that he was closer to the source of that faith, he could draw its power much easier than when he was in the Macabre Child’s Forest. He called out, “Senior Sister Jade, please take care of this warship for the time being. I need you to stay here for now while I go explore the mysteries of this place. Before we all leave, I have to resolve any unfinished business.” 

 

He left the warship here with Seventh Sister Jade so they could later go back through the Macabre Child’s Forest. Yang Yang had saw the entrance to the Wu Province closing when the chiliarchs had unexpectedly arrived. It was definitely a shorter route to return to the Ivory Continent, and he would also need to return the chiliarchs back to the army as well. 

 

Yang Yang pulled out the world-tier warship and headed toward the Arcane Dark Kingdom’s royal palace. Although he was much weaker than before, the warship’s engine was leagues beyond the engine of the black warship. World-tier warships were usually own and used by Heavenly Devas so the engine has a much greater capacity for magical power. 

 

The world-tier warship was golden with blood-red designs and decorations all over it. It was in the color of the Blood Demons’ royal household. Although, the red color of the warship was affected by Yang Yang’s aura of life and glowed with an intense green light that made them appear green to regular eyes. 

 

It did not take very long before he returned to the Arcane Dark Kingdom. He stopped the warship right above the royal palace and descended. Strangely, there was not even a speck of life in this vast land. Even when he first arrived to the Seventeenth Layer, he could not sense any creature beside the Sacred Master. 

 

However, he could feel the immense power of something that lurked beneath the royal palace. It was something vile, but also holy; wicked, yet righteous; cold and hot. 

 

Step! 

 

Step! Step! 

 

Step! Step! Step! 

 

Yang Yang stepped down a circular stairway in the center of the throne room. He peered down, but only an abyss gazed back at him. Whatever was down there, the Sacred Master had used the same smoke in the smoke bombs to visibly hide the immense power. 

 

The smoke dissipated when he took the final step and he saw purple lake. It was roughly a thousand meters in diameter with black grasses growing on the shores. The grasses were tall and he plucked one out of curiosity, only to find it regenerating quickly. These grasses were the same as the grass on the Black Province. 

 

He stared at the purple and could feel the fluctuations of Space and Time magical laws. Without hesitation, he took a step into the purple lake. 

 

Splash! 

 

Yang Yang plummeted through the purple lake and then his head returned to the surface. When he opened his eyes, another world had come into view. 

 

A red ocean that seemed to stretch endlessly. A small island that with sandy shores and green trees. A blue shrine in the distance that worshiped a golden statue. A golden shrine in the distance with chains around a red statue. It was a strange sort of scene, yet, the strangest things in this world were two small wooden chairs by the sand. 

 

Yang Yang escaped the lake and looked at the chairs. He paused and his heart pounded. A figure was sitting on one of those chairs. 

 

Long, white hair that flowed down like strands of silk. A white dress that danced gently in the warm breeze. A sun-hat with tiny red flowers that covered the shoulders and face. A person could easily tell that the figure was a gorgeous woman without needing to see her face. However, the image of something nightmarish appeared in Yang Yang’s scarred mind. 

 

The figure turned around slowly, and terror gripped Yang Yang’s soul. Fortunately, his fear tumbled down when it a pair of blue eyes that met his own green eyes. The young woman stood up from her chair and bowed. 

 

“It is my honor to meet your holiness, the Scion of Life. I am the Spirit of the Sea, guardian of the Arcane Abyss.”