Prologue

With a "plop," a slender figure leaped into the river, splashing water.

The figure appeared to be a young man, about thirteen or fourteen years old. His clothes were ornate, but his body was half-covered in blood. As soon as he hit the water, he kicked his legs, swimming downwards with the current.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Arrows, carrying the sound of impending doom, shot from behind, piercing the water's surface at an angle.

The sharp arrows, still carrying their momentum, pursued the young man at high speed. They drew bloody gashes across his cheeks, arms, and thighs. Blood instantly dyed the surrounding water red, but fortunately, none of the wounds were fatal.

Gritting his teeth, the young man used his hands and feet, desperately squeezing out the last ounce of his strength to dive towards the riverbed.

The nearby current suddenly grew turbulent, and a powerful undertow seized his body, instantly sweeping him several yards away.

Instead of panicking, the young man rejoiced and swam forward rapidly, cooperating with the undertow.

The rain of arrows from behind continued its pursuit, but its force waned here. Under the impact of the undertow, the arrows scattered, no longer posing a threat to him.

The young man in fine clothes secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his movements did not slacken. He quickly submerged to the riverbed and continued to swim forward with all his might.

Only by escaping further could he have any chance of survival.

In the blink of an eye, he had traveled half an incense stick's length underwater, and there was no longer any disturbance from behind.

However, after staying underwater for so long, his breath was nearing its limit. His chest felt like it was churning with muffled thunder, and his head was swelling. He was about to risk surfacing for air.

Suddenly, the surrounding undertow intensified several times. He could hear a loud rushing sound even underwater. The young man couldn't stabilize his body at all and was directly swept away.

The sound of the rushing river ahead became even louder, like a coiling water dragon, forming an undertow vortex tens of yards in size.

Many jagged reefs stood within it, like the teeth of a giant beast, tearing apart and swallowing everything.

The young man in fine clothes was greatly alarmed. Although his swimming skills were good, he was now seriously injured and on the verge of suffocation, with little strength left. If he were caught in such a massive undertow vortex, he would surely die.

In his panic, he frantically dug his hands into the mud below, trying to grab something to stabilize himself. His right hand touched something hard, seemingly a reef.

The young man exerted all his strength with his fingers. His body, caught in the current, paused slightly.

However, the object he was holding was not firm. Before he could fully stabilize himself, it detached from the mud at the riverbed. He was swept away by the undertow vortex and, with a "bang," crashed heavily against a black reef.

The young man could no longer hold on. A mouthful of blood, mixed with large bubbles, spurted out. Blood also gushed from the arrow wounds all over his body.

At this moment, he felt as if all his bones had fallen apart. His head grew increasingly heavy, and with his breath already gone, he had no strength left to resist. He was about to be completely swallowed by the giant vortex.

A ball of azure light suddenly lit up from his right hand, illuminating the seabed within a radius of several yards. The surging undertow vortex suddenly calmed and disappeared without a sound.

Everything around them fell silent at that moment.

The young man in fine clothes vaguely felt a cool sensation entering his head, invigorating his spirit. The feeling of suffocation and despair greatly eased. He immediately looked at his right hand in astonishment.

Faintly, the glowing object was what he had just retrieved – it looked like an ancient azure incense burner, about the size of a bowl.

The blood flowing from the wound on his right hand coiled around the incense burner like threads and quickly seeped into it.

Just as the young man was about to look closer, the azure light from the incense burner suddenly erupted.

His mind felt as if it had been struck a heavy blow, far more intense than hitting the reef. At this moment, bizarre images began to churn in his mind.

A sky torn apart, a devastated earth...

Under a blood-red sun, a west wind whipped up vast sandstorms. A colossal creature, covered in sharp spines and claws, neither snake nor not, writhed its body, twisting up and down, with large patches of lightning gathering around it...

A giant, half-naked figure covered in strange tattoos was bound to a thousand-zhang cliff face that pierced the clouds. Its eyes were tightly shut, and two streams of blood tears had long since dried...

The myriad stars shattered in an instant, and the moon also dimmed, becoming lusterless. It was as if only endless darkness remained between heaven and earth...

These images flashed through the young man's mind, as if leaving no trace.

Before the young man could even form a thought, he instantly lost consciousness.

The azure incense burner transformed into a streak of azure light, merging into his right arm and forming a faint azure mark