Encountering a Treasure on the Road

This transaction concluded, the matter of the Primal Universe hunting the Eight Natural Beast Gods was officially settled. Of the eight Beast Gods who had once been invincible in the early Primal Universe, seven had fallen, leaving only Shi Yan, the Light Beast God, as the sole survivor.

Thinking of the Natural Beast Gods, Shi Yan's expression grew somewhat complicated.

When he shed the Beast God Position, the Primal Universe Origin descended, and only then did Shi Yan vaguely glimpse some truths.

The Eight Natural Beast Gods were indeed the darlings of the Primal Universe, but in another sense, they were also tools gifted by the Supreme Rules to the beings of the Primal Universe, meant to help them embark on the "path of fused laws."

The Primal Universe was protected—or rather, restricted—by the Supreme Rules. The cultivation methods beyond True God were hidden and unseen, making breaking through the cycle extremely difficult. Generally, one needed exceptional talent and a bit of luck to step into the Void Level without any guidance.

Otherwise, no matter how gifted one was, if they took the wrong path and wasted a great deal of time, breaking through the cycle would be hopeless.

Yet the Supreme Rules still left a sliver of opportunity for each generation of life in the Primal Universe: the path of fused laws.

Fused laws led directly to the Chaos Realm (Saint-level Existence), an absolute grand avenue, and even on the Origin Continent, countless people studied it.

The existence of the Natural Beast Gods was the Supreme Rules' hint to the life of the Primal Universe.

If a strong practitioner could comprehend from the Beast God Path that the Ten Great Laws could all fuse with one another, then even if their talent was slightly inferior, as long as they walked the right path, over the long span of three Reincarnation Eras, stepping into the Void Level was still quite hopeful.

Of course, since the Natural Beast Gods were born as tools, the Supreme Rules also gave them a sliver of a chance.

Favored by the Primal Universe Origin, born with the strength of a Universe Master, as long as they could step into the True God realm, they could naturally escape the fate of being hunted down.

Unfortunately, just as few strong practitioners realized the hint behind the Beast God Path, few Natural Beast Gods ever reached True God. Even Shi Yan himself, if not for the opportunity he encountered during his gestation, would have long since been reduced to bones, dismembered and scattered.

"All things have a thread of life... but it is merely a thread. The Supreme Rules seem unfair, yet they are absolutely just." Shi Yan let out a long sigh.

After learning this, his resentment toward the various races of the Primal Universe—already shallow due to his distant relationship with the other Beast Gods—diminished even further. In a sense, the Natural Beast Gods were born to face this calamity; it was the price of being born as Universe Masters.

He lightly shook his head. Regardless, he had already stepped into True God, seizing the thread of life the Supreme Rules had granted. What lay ahead was a new world.

With a flip of his hand, a white flying boat, the "Holy Sound Ship," appeared before him.

"Let me change its appearance a little." Shi Yan manipulated the Holy Sound Ship to transform into a silver boat, altering its hull slightly. Since he didn't have special treasures like the "Blood Cloud Pearl," he could only make minor modifications to the supreme treasure.

"That should be enough."

He nodded in satisfaction. Unless someone was extremely familiar with the Holy Sound Ship, they generally wouldn't recognize this treasure. Shi Yan then flew into the boat, controlling it as it sped toward the Universe Boat.

He had long anticipated the adventure of the Universe Boat. Among the maps in his hands, the most abundant in opportunities was the Qingfeng Realm.

However, the Qingfeng Realm currently had World Beasts gestating there. Even though he knew the World Beasts mostly only acted in the Dim Land, it was hard to guarantee that one of them wouldn't suddenly decide to take a stroll. In the original story, Ancestor God Qiuyan, Star Master Haolei, and King Zhenjia might have submitted to the World Beasts precisely because of such an encounter.

Moreover, if he encountered any danger or accidentally fell into the Dim Land, he would be completely finished.

Caution ensures a long journey. Unless there was an immense temptation—like the emergence of a great opportunity such as Duan Donghe's inheritance—Shi Yan would not risk going to the Qingfeng Realm under any circumstances.

As for Liuzhong Mountain and the Universe Boat, the areas explored on his maps were comparable. But the Universe Boat was a genuine relic of the Wu Kingdom. Shi Yan judged that the opportunities here might be greater than those at Liuzhong Mountain. And with endless time, after exploring the Universe Boat for a while, he could also visit Liuzhong Mountain.

The Holy Sound Ship raced through the Universe Ocean. Occasionally, it encountered strong practitioners from various races of the Universe Ocean, but they were all Universe Masters. While True Gods were numerous in the Universe Ocean relative to the Primal Universe, compared to the number of Universe Masters, True Gods were extremely rare.

These Universe Masters, seeing the terrifying speed of the Holy Sound Ship from afar, guessed that its owner was likely a Universe Supreme Being. So they all kept their distance, afraid of encountering someone with a strange temperament—like the Rampaging Demon God, who often stayed in the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space within the Universe Boat's inner region, causing endless misery for Universe Masters.

Shi Yan, inside the Holy Sound Ship, naturally noticed these Universe Masters, but he had no such malicious interest. For him, that time was better spent cultivating.

Now, breaking through the bottleneck of the Eighth Order was the most important thing to him.

The Holy Sound Ship flew for over half a month, and Shi Yan was now close to the Universe Boat. This was the benefit of being a True God: easily surpassing the speed limit, allowing a True God to reach any location in the Universe Ocean within a year.

Of course, "any location" here referred to the areas that had been explored and were familiar to the various factions of the Universe Ocean—a region centered around the Primal Universe and the reincarnation passage of the Qingfeng Realm.

The vast Universe Ocean was boundless. Even with a True God's strength, using all three Reincarnation Eras just for travel would likely only allow them to explore a fraction of it.

But within this known region, True Gods indeed found travel very convenient. In fact, if Shi Yan used teleportation to travel, he could probably reach the Universe Boat in six or seven days.

Still, this was Shi Yan's first time venturing into the Universe Ocean, so flying was a way to familiarize himself with the environment.

"Hm?"

Shi Yan, who had been meditating in the Holy Sound Ship, suddenly opened his eyes.

"After being in the Universe Ocean for so long, I finally have some entertainment." Shi Yan stood up, stretched, and with a flash, appeared outside the Holy Sound Ship.

The Holy Sound Ship was currently near a secondary dangerous area called the "Nine Abyss Ravine."

The Nine Abyss Ravine was a relatively famous secondary dangerous area in the Universe Ocean, composed of nine ravines that were close to each other and similar in structure.

On both sides of each ravine were numerous caves, which constantly emitted terrifying suction forces. The deeper the ravine, the stronger the suction.

The suction from the uppermost caves was nothing even a weak Universe Master feared, but at the deepest level, Universe Masters needed top-tier supreme treasures to withstand it. Of course, for a True God, resisting the suction with their physical body was no problem.

Occasionally, some caves in the Nine Abyss Ravine would switch from suction to an equally strong repulsive force, a sign that a treasure was about to emerge. Generally, the deeper the cave, the better the treasure that appeared.

Of course, some strong practitioners had ventured into the caves of the Nine Abyss Ravine to search for treasures. But the suction inside the caves was geometrically stronger than outside, and even if a super-strong practitioner endured it to explore, they almost always found nothing. Gradually, no one was foolish enough to dive into the caves anymore.

Historically, a peak domain-type supreme treasure had emerged from the deepest part of the Nine Abyss Ravine. But this time, it wasn't the deepest cave that had switched to repulsion.

"The treasure this time is emerging... at the Second Abyss. It looks like it's around the middle-lower part of the ravine. At this position, the treasure is probably just a top-tier supreme treasure." Shi Yan couldn't help but smile.

A treasure of this level was just a toy to him now, but since he had stumbled upon it, there was no reason to let it go.

Shi Yan instantly accelerated to his limit, and before long, he arrived at the top of the Second Abyss. Two Universe Masters were already waiting there.

"Greetings, senior."

The two Universe Masters didn't hesitate and immediately bowed to Shi Yan in respect.

They were both ordinary Universe Masters who had happened to encounter the treasure emerging at the Nine Abyss Ravine. They had originally planned to compete and fight for it, but seeing Shi Yan easily surpass the speed limit, they realized he was a Universe Supreme Being they couldn't afford to provoke.

"Mm."

Shi Yan swept a glance over the two of them—both were Universe Masters with unfamiliar appearances, impossible to identify which race they belonged to. But seeing that they were respectful enough, Shi Yan simply gave a slight nod.

"Since Senior has come, the treasure emerging here naturally belongs to Senior. This junior will not disturb you further," said one of the Universe Masters, who looked like a rock-type lifeform.

"Do as you please."

Shi Yan couldn't be bothered with them. He sat cross-legged atop the mountain ravine, quietly waiting for the treasure to appear.

"Senior, we take our leave."

The two Universe Masters quickly departed in different directions. But as they left, each sent messages through various channels to their own races or to some close friends.

"A stranger who is a Universe Supreme Being has appeared in the Second Abyss of the Nine Abyss Ravine. Outward appearance resembles a human, silver-haired youth."

The message spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred. Soon, many powerful beings in the Universe Ocean learned that an unfamiliar Universe Supreme Being had shown up in the Nine Abyss Ravine.

"Human appearance? The few Universe Supreme Beings of the Human Race from the First Reincarnation Era and the Second Reincarnation Era have long been famous across the Universe Ocean. Besides, many experts know their auras and can recognize them—no need to change faces. As for the humans of the Primal Universe, they shouldn't be so lucky as to produce a third Universe Supreme Being so quickly, right?"

"Probably some eccentric old fellow deliberately changing his appearance."

"What a bore."

"..."

This piece of news spread on a small scale throughout the Universe Ocean. Many took note: a Universe Supreme Being with the appearance of a "silver-haired human youth" had appeared.

But Shi Yan knew nothing of this. He waited quietly in the Nine Abyss Ravine for three days before the treasure finally emerged.

"Sure enough, just a top-tier treasure weapon."

It was a rather exquisite two-handed greatsword, considered top-grade among top-tier treasures.

But to Shi Yan, it was naturally of little use.

"I'll ask Qing Huan later if he wants it. If not, I'll leave it in the Hulan Secret Realm as a decoration," Shi Yan thought idly, then stored the treasure into the Holy Sound Ship and set off once more toward the Universe Boat.

No further incidents occurred during this leg of the journey. After three days of travel, Shi Yan finally arrived at the location of the Universe Boat.