The East Sea.
Waves surged beneath a clear sky.
A green-clad figure slowly appeared in the void, black hair falling to his shoulders, his gaze calm.
Xuandu stood with his hands behind his back and looked into the distance.
There, the Martial Dao Heavenly Stele towered over the land, its crimson-gold radiance piercing the sky. Countless members of the Human Race knelt before it, cultivating day and night without daring to slack off.
They were his disciples.
They were the foundation of the Human Race.
But he had not come today for them.
Xuandu slowly withdrew his gaze and looked down at the sea beneath him.
The East Sea stretched for countless miles, with no end in sight.
This stretch looked ordinary. Waves rolled across its calm surface, no different from the surrounding waters.
Yet deep within Xuandu's Purple Mansion, the Chaos Bead trembled faintly.
The tremor was slight, but it carried a pull he could not ignore.
A summons from fortune.
When he had unlocked the sum of the Jie Sect's Fortune, an image had appeared within the Fortune Pillar. Those flickering points of light now returned to his mind.
The largest and brightest had pointed to the Nether Blood Sea, to the Chaos Bead.
He had already claimed it.
Some of the other lights had dimmed. Others still shone.
And the one guiding him now was the brightest of the opportunities that remained.
Xuandu's eyes narrowed slightly.
His Spiritual Sense spread toward the sea below like a rising tide.
Inch by inch.
Foot by foot.
Yard by yard.
Beneath the surface, fish and shrimp swam among thickets of coral and jagged reefs.
It was no different from any ordinary stretch of sea.
Xuandu frowned slightly.
He probed again.
This time, his Spiritual Sense became more focused, more precise,