Cannot Break One's Promise

A quiet stillness hung over the vessel.

Xi Muran stood in silence, raising a hand to touch his qin before pulling it back.

Half a year ago, he and Chen Shi had fought a life-and-death battle where he used the Great Desolation Pearl to suppress Chen Shi's Demon Blood Treasure Tree. Chen Shi had suffered defeat in that clash, and without Heavenly King Li's timely arrival, Chen Shi surely would have perished.

Yet that victory had been hard-won for him as well. Chen Shi's Profound Yellow Sword Qi and Primordial Chaos Divided were formidable indeed, meeting his attacks head-on. Although a gap existed between their cultivation realms, the gulf in actual strength had not been so vast.

Back then, he stood at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, having forged the sixth Dao realm of a Golden Immortal, while Chen Shi occupied the peak of the True Immortal realm, having forged the sixth Dao realm of a True Immortal—a full realm apart.

Yet Chen Shi had managed to bridge that disparity in realm entirely through three Dao-integration grounds, the Dao of the Dark Sea, and Master's legacy.

Now, Chen Shi had crossed the barrier of realms to enter the Golden Immortal realm, and though he seemingly advanced by only a single Dao realm, no difference remained between them in terms of cultivation level.

Xi Muran rose abruptly, scooped up the Fuxi Qin, and drifted up to land on the water's surface outside the multi-decked ship. Stepping onto the back of the massive fish that towed the vessel, he flicked his sleeve, instantly severing the chains linking the beast to the boat.

The huge fish bore him away, cutting through rolling layers of Xuanhuang Sea billows and vanishing from Chen Shi's sight in the blink of an eye.

**"Fine! Junior