With the trade concluded, the Primal Universe's hunt for the Eight Natural Beast Gods had officially come to an end. Seven of the Eight Great Beast Gods, once invincible across the early Primal Universe, had fallen. Only Shi Yan, the Light Beast God, remained.
Thinking of the Natural Beast Gods, Shi Yan's expression grew complicated again.
When he relinquished the Beast God Position, the Primal Universe Origin had descended, and only then had Shi Yan caught a faint glimpse of the truth.
The Eight Natural Beast Gods truly were the Primal Universe's darlings. But in another sense, they were also tools the Supreme Rules had bestowed upon the lifeforms of the Primal Universe, helping them embark on the "path of Fusion Laws."
The Primal Universe was protected by the Supreme Rules—or, one might say, restricted by them. The cultivation methods beyond True God were concealed, making it extraordinarily difficult to break through the Reincarnation Passage. Generally, one needed exceptional talent and a little luck to reach Void Level without any guidance.
Otherwise, no matter how talented one was, taking the wrong path and wasting too much time would leave them with no hope of breaking through the Reincarnation Passage.
Still, the Supreme Rules had ultimately left generation after generation of Primal Universe lifeforms one opportunity: the path of Fusion Laws.
Fusion Laws led straight to Chaos Realm—to becoming a Saint-level Existence. It was an unrivaled path to the heavens, and plenty of people on Origin Continent studied it.
The Natural Beast Gods were the Supreme Rules' hint to the lifeforms of the Primal Universe.
If a powerful being could discern from the Beast God Path that all Ten Great Laws could fuse with one another, then even with somewhat lesser talent, they would still have a good chance of reaching Void Level over the long span of three Reincarnation Eras, simply because they were on the right path.
Of course, since the Natural Beast Gods had been born as tools, the Supreme Rules had also given them a sliver of a chance.
Favored by the Primal Universe Origin and born with the strength of a Universe Master, all they had to do was reach True God, and they would naturally escape being hunted down.
Unfortunately, just as few powerful beings had recognized the hint behind the Beast God Path, few Natural Beast Gods had ever reached True God. Even Shi Yan himself would have been reduced to a pile of bones and hacked to pieces long ago, had it not been for that fortuitous opportunity during his gestation.
"All things have a sliver of hope, but... it's only a sliver. The Supreme Rules may seem unfair, yet they are absolutely impartial." Shi Yan sighed.
After learning all this, his resentment toward the various races of the Primal Universe—already not strong, since he had never been close to the other Beast Gods—faded even further. In a sense, the Natural Beast Gods had been destined from birth to suffer this calamity. Perhaps that was the price they had paid for being born as Universe Masters.
He gave his head a small shake. Whatever else, he had already reached True God and seized the sliver of hope the Supreme Rules had granted him. A new world lay ahead.
With a wave of his hand, the white flying vessel, the Holy Sound Ship, appeared before him.
"I'll change its appearance a little." Shi Yan manipulated the Holy Sound Ship, reshaping it into a silver skiff and altering the hull slightly. After all, he had no special treasures like the Blood Cloud Pearl, so he could only make minor changes to the Supreme Treasure.
"This will do."
He nodded in satisfaction. Unless someone was extremely familiar with the Holy Sound Ship, they generally wouldn't recognize it. Shi Yan then flew aboard and piloted the vessel toward Universe Boat.
He had been looking forward to exploring Universe Boat for a long time. Of the maps he currently possessed, the most detailed was the one of Qingfeng Realm.
But a World Beast was gestating in Qingfeng Realm right now. Although World Beasts mostly stayed in the Dim Land at this stage, there was no guarantee one wouldn't suddenly feel like taking a stroll. Ancestor God Qiuyan, Star Master Haolei, King Zhenjia, and the others from the original story might well have submitted to a World Beast that way.
What was more, if he encountered danger or some unexpected circumstance and ended up trapped in the Dim Land, he would be completely done for.
Better safe than sorry. Unless there was an overwhelming temptation—an extraordinary opportunity like the appearance of the Duan Donghe Inheritance—Shi Yan would never risk exploring Qingfeng Realm at this point.
As for Liuzhong Mountain and Universe Boat, the areas covered by his maps were about equal. But Universe Boat was the genuine ruins of Wu Kingdom, and Shi Yan judged that it might hold more opportunities than Liuzhong Mountain. Besides, time was endless. After exploring Universe Boat for a while, he could go and look around Liuzhong Mountain as well.
The Holy Sound Ship sped through the Universe Ocean. Along the way, it occasionally encountered powerful beings from the various races of the Universe Ocean, but they were all Universe Masters. There were many True Gods in the Universe Ocean only in comparison to the Primal Universe; in truth, True Gods were exceedingly rare compared to Universe Masters.
Seeing the Holy Sound Ship's terrifying speed from afar, those Universe Masters guessed that its owner must be a Universe Supreme Being. Every one of them kept well clear, afraid of running into some eccentric, such as Rampaging Demon God, who often stayed in the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space within the Inner Domain of Universe Boat and made life miserable for Universe Masters.
Shi Yan, aboard the Holy Sound Ship, naturally noticed those Universe Masters, but he had no interest in such mischief. He would rather spend that time cultivating.
Breaking through the Eighth Order bottleneck was what mattered most to him now.
The Holy Sound Ship flew for more than half a month, and Shi Yan drew closer to Universe Boat. This was one of the advantages of being a True God: easily exceeding the speed limit meant that a True God could quickly reach any part of the Universe Ocean within a year.
Of course, "any part" meant the regions the various powers of the Universe Ocean had explored and were familiar with—the area centered around the Primal Universe and the Reincarnation Passage in Qingfeng Realm.
The vast Universe Ocean was boundless. Even with a True God's strength, spending three entire Reincarnation Eras traveling would probably reveal no more than a tiny fraction of it.
But within the known regions, True Gods really could travel with ease. In fact, if Shi Yan had used Teleportation, he probably could have reached Universe Boat in six or seven days.
Still, this was Shi Yan's first time venturing into the Universe Ocean. He treated the journey by ship as a chance to familiarize himself with the surroundings.
"Hmm?"
Shi Yan, who had been sitting cross-legged and cultivating inside the Holy Sound Ship, suddenly opened his eyes.
"I've been in the Universe Ocean for so long. Finally, something to break up the monotony." Shi Yan stood and stretched. With a flash, he appeared outside the Holy Sound Ship.
The Holy Sound Ship was now near a second-tier danger zone called Nine Abyss Ravine.
Nine Abyss Ravine was a well-known second-tier danger zone in the Universe Ocean, consisting of nine ravines that lay relatively close together and had similar structures.
There were countless caves along both sides of each ravine. The caves constantly emitted a terrifying suction force, which grew stronger the farther down one went.
The suction from the caves on the topmost level posed no threat to weaker Universe Masters. But in the caves at the very bottom, even a Universe Master needed a Top-tier Supreme Treasure to withstand it. A True God, however, could resist the suction with his physical body alone.
At times, the caves in Nine Abyss Ravine switched from suction to an equally strong repulsive force. This was a sign that a Supreme Treasure was about to appear. Generally, the deeper the cave, the better the treasure that emerged from it.
It wasn't that no powerful beings had ever ventured into the caves of Nine Abyss Ravine to hunt for treasures. But the suction inside the caves increased almost geometrically compared to that outside. Even super-powerful beings who braved the suction and went in to explore came away empty-handed nearly every time. Gradually, no one was foolish enough to charge into the caves anymore.
In the past, a Peak Domain-type Supreme Treasure had appeared at the very bottom of Nine Abyss Ravine. But this time, it wasn't a cave at the bottom that had switched to repulsion.
"The treasure is appearing in the Second Abyss this time. It looks like it's somewhat below the midpoint of the ravine. At this depth, it's probably only a Top-tier Supreme Treasure." Shi Yan couldn't help smiling.
A treasure of this level was just a toy to him now. But since he had come across it, there was no reason to pass it up.
Shi Yan immediately accelerated to his limit. Before long, he reached the top of the Second Abyss, where two Universe Masters were waiting.
"Greetings, senior."
The two Universe Masters hesitated not at all before bowing respectfully to Shi Yan.
They were both ordinary Universe Masters who had happened to encounter the treasure's appearance at Nine Abyss Ravine. They had originally planned to compete for it and give it a shot, but the moment they saw Shi Yan easily break through the speed limit, they understood that he was a Universe Supreme Being they couldn't afford to offend.
"Mm."
Shi Yan glanced at them. They both looked unfamiliar, and he couldn't tell what races they belonged to. But since they were respectful enough, he simply gave them a slight nod.
"Since you've come, senior, the treasure that appears naturally belongs to you. This junior won't disturb you." One of them, who looked like a rocky lifeform, spoke.
"Do as you please."
Shi Yan couldn't be bothered with them. He sat cross-legged atop the ravine and waited for the treasure to appear.
"Farewell, senior."
The two Universe Masters hurried off in opposite directions. As they left, however, they also sent messages to their respective races and some of their friends through various channels.
"An unfamiliar Universe Supreme Being has appeared in the Second Abyss of Nine Abyss Ravine. He looks human, with silver hair and the appearance of a young man."
The message spread from one to ten, then from ten to a hundred. Soon, many powerful beings in the Universe Ocean knew that an unfamiliar Universe Supreme Being had appeared at Nine Abyss Ravine.
"Human-looking? The few Universe Supreme Beings from the human races of the First and Second Reincarnation Eras have been famous throughout the Universe Ocean for ages. Besides, many powerful beings know their auras and can recognize them. They have no need to disguise themselves. As for the humans of the Primal Universe, surely they haven't gotten lucky enough to produce a third Universe Supreme Being so soon?"
"Probably some eccentric old geezer who changed his appearance on purpose."
"What a bore."
"..."
The news spread through a small part of the Universe Ocean, and many took note: a Universe Supreme Being with the appearance of a "silver-haired human youth" had appeared in the Universe Ocean.
Shi Yan, however, knew nothing about it. He waited at Nine Abyss Ravine for three days and finally saw the treasure appear.
"Just as I thought. It's only a Top-tier Supreme Treasure weapon."
It was a rather elegant-looking two-handed greatsword, one of the finest among Top-tier Supreme Treasure weapons.
But it was naturally of little use to Shi Yan.
"I'll ask Qing Huan if he wants it when I get back. If not, I'll leave it in the Hulan Secret Realm as a decoration." Shi Yan thought, feeling a little bored. He put the Supreme Treasure aboard the Holy Sound Ship, then set off again toward Universe Boat.
Nothing else interrupted his journey this time. After three days of travel, Shi Yan finally reached Universe Boat.
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