A sea black as ink.
A magnificent three-tiered Painted Dragon Boat sailed slowly across it.
Three tattered sails of unknown material rose from the ship. Under the fierce battering of the sea wind, they barely kept the Dragon Boat steady as it crawled forward.
"Rumble!"
At that moment, a burst of thunder suddenly resounded through the vast sea.
A bolt of black lightning tore across the void.
Then a streak of black light shot down from the sky. With a bang, it landed on the Spirit Boat.
The black lightning vanished with it.
Waves surged across the sea, while gusts of frigid wind swept through the air.
"Is this the Mountain Sea Virtual Realm?"
Feeling the cold, sinister sea breeze, Zhou Ling's gaze shifted. Though he knew he was now in soul form,
it felt no different from possessing a physical body.
Only the absence of the Five Spirit Flames on his body reminded him that he was currently in a soul-body state.
Yet as wave after wave of sea wind blew over him, he sensed an exceedingly obscure and eerie power, as if it sought to enter his body.
To corrode his soul.
With a thought, soul flames flickered within Zhou Ling's Sea of Consciousness, and a stream of gray fire flashed forth.
The surrounding frigid baleful aura was instantly burned away.
Only then did Zhou Ling feel his entire body relax.
He then swept his gaze over his surroundings.
"What is this?"
Zhou Ling's expression changed slightly.
Several corpses lay sprawled across the deck.
Their deaths were horrifying. Their bodies were shriveled dry, as though all the flesh and blood within them had been sucked clean.
They wore black official robes patterned with red.
Swords, sabers, and other weapons lay beside them.
Colorful banners hung on either side,