Black Water Tempering, First Glimpse of the Abyss of Return

Looking at the two guardian puppets before him, condensed from Abyss of Return Death Qi and Water-Earth Spiritual Light and radiating the pressure of peak Mysterious Immortals, Xuanwei felt like an unlucky thief who had broken into someone's backyard only to be cornered by vicious guard dogs. Fighting them would be difficult, since they were powerful and held the terrain advantage; yet if he did not fight, there was clearly something good on the altar behind them, and the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor was still "urging" him on, like a child anxious to get home for dinner.

"Let's do it! This is the perfect chance to test my new divine abilities!" Xuanwei gritted his teeth, and the techniques of Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist and Black Tortoise Prison Suppressing Pattern instantly surged to their limits within him! At the same time, he quietly drew upon the Chaos Bead's power—not to attack directly, but to enhance his control over water and earth elemental qi and resist the all-pervasive erosion of Abyss of Return Death Qi.

"Roar!"

The turtle-like puppet on the left, carrying a black crystalline mountain on its back, launched the first attack! It stomped fiercely, and the entire gorge seemed to tremble. Countless sharp black earth spikes erupted beneath Xuanwei's feet like bamboo shoots after rain! They contained a mixture of heavy Wutu power and Abyss of Return Death Qi, enough to easily tear apart the protective immortal light of an ordinary Heavenly Immortal!

"Black Tortoise Prison Suppression, bind!"

Xuanwei did not dare be careless. His hands moved rapidly as he drew upon the Wutu Source Core within him and the rudimentary Prison Suppressing Pattern he had just comprehended, condensing a thick earthen wall that flickered with black light before him! The vague phantom of a black tortoise coiled across the wall, emanating an intent as steady as a mountain.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The earth spikes slammed viciously into the earthen wall, producing dull, thunderous impacts! The wall shook violently and cracks spread across its surface, but it barely managed to block the assault. The recoil sent Xuanwei skidding backward several yards, his immortal qi body rippling violently as he inwardly gasped. What terrifying strength!

However, the other puppet, shaped like a black serpent and incomparably agile, had already silently circled to his flank. It opened its mouth and spat out a grayish-black water arrow! This was no ordinary stream of water, but highly condensed Abyss of Return Black Water, containing immensely corrosive and annihilating properties. Even space itself let out a sizzling wail wherever it passed!

"Black Emperor Water Sovereign, guard!"

Xuanwei hurriedly changed techniques, circulating the water-controlling method from the incomplete Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist and trying to manipulate the surrounding water-element qi into a barrier. But he had clearly underestimated the tyranny of the Abyss of Return Black Water! The water-element barrier he condensed melted and collapsed the instant it touched the black water, like ice and snow beneath a blazing sun!

As the black water arrow was about to strike him, Xuanwei was terrified out of his wits, nearly resorting to the Chaos Bead's domain or crushing a life-saving talisman!

At that critical moment, the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor in his arms suddenly trembled, releasing an even purer, more ancient aura of Black Tortoise Source! At the same time, certain obscure portions of the Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist in his sea of consciousness suddenly became clear!

"So that's it! Water has no fixed form, and the Abyss of Return is also water! The Black Emperor commands all waters—why would he fear this dead water of the Abyss of Return?!"

As if inspiration had struck, Xuanwei gave up on resisting by force. Instead, he circulated his technique and traced an abstruse arc with both hands, as though he intended to draw the incoming black water arrow into his embrace! The nature of his immortal qi shifted in an instant, imitating an intent that shared the same origin as the Abyss of Return Black Water yet was even deeper—that was the authority of the Black Emperor, who ruled all waters and embraced return to silence!

Sss—

The black water arrow, capable of annihilating a Mysterious Immortal, became as tame as a weary bird returning to its forest the moment it touched the arc traced by Xuanwei's hands. Its violent annihilating force instantly turned docile, obediently merging into the arc and transforming into pure water-element qi and Abyss of Return Dao Rhyme, which Xuanwei carefully guided and absorbed!

Although he had absorbed only an insignificant trace, Xuanwei immediately felt as though his immortal qi source had been tempered by some utterly cold, deathly still power. It became more solid, and he gained a deeper understanding of water-element power, especially water-element power bearing negative attributes! His proficiency in Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist also soared by a considerable amount!

"It can be used like this?!" Xuanwei was both shocked and delighted! The Abyss of Return Black Water was poison to others, yet for someone like him, who bore the Black Emperor's inheritance—albeit an incomplete one—and Black Tortoise Source through the Dao Pattern Armor, it was actually a tonic?!

In an instant, the tide of battle turned!

The two guardian puppets clearly had not expected their prey to "eat" their attacks, and their movements stalled for a moment.

Xuanwei seized the opportunity and attacked! He no longer focused solely on defense. Instead, he combined the Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist with the Black Tortoise Prison Suppressing Pattern, closing in on the black serpent puppet like a ghost. Black light and watery vapor intertwined around his fist, carrying a force both heavy and resilient as it smashed toward the puppet's vital point—its energy core!

"Black Water Prison Suppressing Fist!"

Boom!

The fist force erupted, and power infused with the properties of Abyss of Return Black Water instantly invaded the black serpent puppet's body. Its black crystalline armor let out cracking sounds under unbearable strain, and its massive body was sent rolling away, its aura visibly weakening!

Seeing this, the other giant turtle puppet let out an enraged roar. Its enormous body bore down on Xuanwei like a mountain, attempting to crush and kill him with absolute force.

"Perfect! You can help me practice the defensive power of the Prison Suppressing Pattern!"

Xuanwei neither dodged nor retreated. He combined the Abyss of Return Black Water power he had just absorbed with his own Wutu Source and activated the "Black Tortoise Prison Suppressing Pattern" with all his strength! Clearer, more intricate jet-black patterns emerged and flowed over the surface of his immortal qi body, as though he had donned a suit of armor condensed from Abyss of Return Black Water and Wutu Essence!

Rumble!!!

The giant turtle puppet slammed fiercely into Xuanwei, erupting with an earth-shaking crash! The terrifying shockwave shattered many of the black crystals along both sides of the gorge!

However, when the dust settled, Xuanwei's figure still stood firmly where he had been! The jet-black patterns across his body shimmered as they dissolved and redirected the giant turtle puppet's terrifying impact layer by layer, even rebounding part of it! Though his immortal qi body shook violently and consumed a great deal of energy, he had ultimately endured the full-force strike of a peak Mysterious Immortal head-on!

"Awesome!" Feeling the surging power within him and his deeper understanding of his divine abilities, Xuanwei could not help but let out a long howl! This feeling of clashing head-on and tempering divine abilities at the edge of life and death was far more efficient than secluded cultivation!

The two guardian puppets seemed to realize that this "intruder" was not easy to deal with and possessed power from the same origin as theirs. They exchanged a glance, then slowly retreated and merged back into the shadows on either side of the gorge, disappearing from sight. The cold sense of being locked onto also vanished.

"Did I pass?" Xuanwei let out a slight sigh of relief, feeling as though he had passed a grueling job interview. He did not let down his guard. While taking the chance to recover his spent energy, he warily headed toward the black altar deep within the gorge.

The closer he came to the altar, the denser the surrounding Chaos Qi and water-earth elemental power became, nearly condensing into tangible mist. The altar itself was not ornate. It was entirely built from the kind of black crystal that absorbed light, covered in ancient runes similar to those on the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor. At its center was a sunken pool.

Within the pool was not ordinary liquid, but... a pool of Abyss of Return Black Water, like liquid black gemstones, constantly churning and emitting extreme cold and Abyss of Return Dao Rhyme! And it was the purest source black water!

The resonance of the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor came precisely from this pool of black water!

[Discovered "Abyss of Return Source Black Water Pool"! Contains the purest Abyss of Return Annihilation Power and Chaos Water Element!]

[Warning! Energy level too high! Direct contact carries the risk of complete assimilation and annihilation!]

[Hint: You may use the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor and the Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist method to attempt gradual absorption and refinement, tempering your physical body (immortal body) and divine soul while greatly increasing resistance to and control over water-element, earth-element, and Abyss of Return Dao Rhyme!]

Tempering his immortal body and divine soul?! Xuanwei looked at that pool of heart-palpitating black water and swallowed a mouthful of nonexistent saliva. This thing looked ten thousand times more terrifying than sulfuric acid. Could it really be used for a "bath"?

But the longing and guidance transmitted by the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor could not be false. Moreover, he could sense that if he successfully refined this pool of black water, his Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist and Black Tortoise Prison Suppressing Pattern would definitely rise to an entirely new level! He might even use it to touch upon a trace of the mysteries of the "Abyss of Return" law!

Fortune was found in danger! He was doing it!

Xuanwei gritted his teeth. First, he pushed the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor's power to its limit, forming a solid suit of black-light armor over his body. Then, with utmost caution, he extended a thread of immortal qi into the black water pool.

Sss—!

Like a red-hot branding iron plunged into icy water, that thread of immortal qi was instantly worn away by more than half under the terrifying annihilating power contained within the black water! Intense pain traveled back through the connection, making even Xuanwei's consciousness tremble!

But he clenched his teeth and endured it. At the same time, he circulated the newly comprehended intent of "embracing return to silence" from the Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist, guiding the remaining black water power, which had been initially "tamed," to slowly flow back and merge into his immortal qi source.

The process was agonizing, like being cut by a thousand blades, or cast into an icy prison to endure eternal extinction. Yet his immortal qi source truly became more condensed and pure at a visible pace beneath the tempering of this extreme power. A faint, deep black gleam appeared within it, and his resistance to Abyss of Return Dao Rhyme clearly increased.

[Immortal qi source purity increased! Resistance to Abyss of Return Annihilation Power +10%! Understanding of Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist greatly increased!]

[Detected host coming into contact with the core Dao Rhyme of the Abyss of Return... The Chaos Bead has produced a weak resonance... Beginning to record and analyze fragments of the Abyss of Return Law...]

Even the Chaos Bead had been stirred? Xuanwei was delighted, and he calmed his mind further, enduring the immense pain as he absorbed and refined this precious Abyss of Return Source Black Water bit by bit.

Time seemed to lose all meaning within this deathly silent secret realm.

No one knew how long had passed before Xuanwei finally stopped cultivating, when he felt that his immortal qi source had nearly reached saturation and his absorption efficiency of the black water had begun to decline sharply.

At this moment, although his immortal qi body was still at the early Heavenly Immortal stage, its level of condensation and fundamental strength likely no longer lagged behind that of an ordinary late-stage Heavenly Immortal! More importantly, his body now contained a trace of pure Abyss of Return Black Water source. His control over water-element power, especially negative water-element power, had skyrocketed! The Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist had directly entered the minor accomplishment realm!

"This trip into the secret realm was worth it!" Xuanwei was overjoyed as he sensed the changes within himself.

However, just as he was preparing to study the other runes on the altar and see whether there were any further gains—

Hum!

The Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor in his arms began trembling violently once more! But this time, what it conveyed was no longer a "summons," but an urgent... "warning"!

At the same time, the entire secret realm shook violently! From the direction of the already unstable spatial entrance in the distance came a powerful energy fluctuation carrying the air of Buddhist chants!

A brazen, self-satisfied voice faintly passed through the spatial barrier:

"Ha ha! So it really is here! As expected of a treasured land fated with our West! Fellow Daoist inside, please come out for a talk and share this opportunity with us!"

Xuanwei's expression instantly darkened.

Western Teachings! They had actually found a way to stabilize the entrance, and they had chased in so quickly?!