Though they were envious, Lord Banyan Fire and Lord Ripple Crystal weren't idle either.
As the saying went, "That's a nice map you've got there. Shame if someone took it."
The two of them had carefully recorded the entire route Qing Huan had traveled, and they'd reaped quite a harvest.
Qing Huan was well aware of their little tricks, but he didn't care. It was only a route, and he considered it payment for the two of them inadvertently acting as a decoy for him.
And so, in a somewhat strange atmosphere, after spending a little over two months on the journey, Qing Huan arrived at the Flowing Cloud Sea together with Lord Banyan Fire and Lord Ripple Crystal.
An endless expanse of azure clouds appeared before them.
As they flew into the clouds, they officially entered the Flowing Cloud Sea. Qing Huan, Lord Banyan Fire, and Lord Ripple Crystal all slowed down in unison.
Lord Banyan Fire began surveying their surroundings, while Lord Ripple Crystal flew alongside him.
That was one of the advantages of working in a group. The two of them could take turns watching out for the Eternal Freeze Cold Qi, allowing each to rest in turn and keeping them from getting too tired.
Meanwhile, with Fire Scale on him, Qing Huan circled around them, constantly scanning every direction.
"The disturbance in the Flowing Cloud Sea is in that direction. Let's head over there."
After looking around for a moment, Qing Huan called to his two companions, and they headed toward the disturbance in the Flowing Cloud Sea.
After flying for a long while, the three of them spotted twelve rapidly spinning tornadoes made of flowing clouds in the distance.
These were a special phenomenon in the Flowing Cloud Sea known as "Flowing Cloud Vortices." According to the records, every time one had appeared in history, a Supreme Treasure had emerged more than ninety percent of the time. Only on rare occasions had the vortices dissipated without any Supreme Treasure appearing.
Each tornado formed by a Flowing Cloud Vortex measured several light-years across. Its immense pressure spread outward, and even gazing at it from a great distance made one feel a heavy weight pressing down.
Inside the tornadoes, the clouds raged, and Eternal Freeze Cold Qi appeared more frequently from time to time. Top-tier Domain Supreme Treasures would be easily shattered within them, and even Peak Domain Supreme Treasures couldn't cover much ground. Only a Domain-type Supreme Treasure could spread normally over a range of hundreds of light-years.
But even among True Gods, Domain-type Supreme Treasures were exceedingly rare. The Universe Masters naturally had no such treasures in their possession.
So the Universe Masters had no choice but to explore the tornadoes one by one, carefully, hoping to be the first to discover the Peak Supreme Treasure that might emerge.
"Which vortex should we go to?"
After rushing over, Lord Banyan Fire and Lord Ripple Crystal were both at a loss. They couldn't help looking to Qing Huan, the strongest of the three.
Qing Huan didn't mind either way. He hadn't come to compete for a Peak Supreme Treasure, but to set a trap for the God Eye Race.
He wasn't particularly concerned about who ended up with the treasure.
Besides, as far as he knew, the Flowing Cloud Vortices in the Flowing Cloud Sea would gradually dissipate over time. Only after two or three remained would the Supreme Treasure emerge.
Until then, the Universe Masters weren't really exploring in the hope of obtaining the treasure early. Rather, they were familiarizing themselves with conditions inside the Flowing Cloud Vortices.
Of course, Universe Masters like Lord Banyan Fire and Lord Ripple Crystal were unlikely to know this information.
Qing Huan didn't feel like explaining much to them, so he pretended to think it over before casually pointing at one of the tornadoes. "Let's go there. We don't know when the Supreme Treasure will appear, so we should hurry."
"Okay."
Lord Banyan Fire and Lord Ripple Crystal nodded repeatedly, and the three of them quickly plunged into the Flowing Cloud Vortex.
Inside the Flowing Cloud Vortex were countless small tornadoes, the targets the Universe Masters were exploring.
Quite a few Universe Masters had come to the Flowing Cloud Sea by now, but compared with the vastness of the Flowing Cloud Vortices, the density of powerful beings was still very low.
At least, Qing Huan and his companions couldn't see a single Universe Master in their field of vision.
"What a powerful vortex."
As soon as they entered the Flowing Cloud Vortex, Lord Banyan Fire and Lord Ripple Crystal both struggled to keep their balance.
The two of them were at the peak of the Third Order, and were indeed at the bottom of the heap in the Flowing Cloud Sea. Though they could bring their combat strength up to the Fourth Order by joining forces, they still fell short of true Fourth Order Universe Masters in many respects.
Qing Huan waited until the two had steadied themselves before saying, "The Eternal Freeze Cold Qi is denser inside the Flowing Cloud Vortex than outside. The two of you, keep watch. Let's move."
"Understood."
The two Universe Masters nodded, then followed Qing Huan as the three of them quickly searched through the tornado.
When searching for Supreme Treasures in the Universe Ocean, patience was essential. Although the Universe Ocean produced many Supreme Treasures, that was only relative to the Primal Universe. Under normal circumstances, a powerful being could roam the Universe Ocean for countless eras and still come away with very little.
Take Giant Axe Founder, for example.
He was a True God who had broken through early in the Primal Universe's history, yet it wasn't until the era when Luo Feng rose to prominence that he found a Supreme True Treasure in the Universe Ocean.
He might have obtained quite a few Peak Supreme Treasures along the way, but for a True God, those hardly counted as a great haul.
Universe Masters were weaker by comparison. If they wanted to obtain a good Supreme Treasure, they needed patience, caution, and a little luck. They couldn't afford to lack any of the three.
Qing Huan and the others spent more than thirty years searching through the Flowing Cloud Vortex.
"There are way too many Universe Masters gathered in the Flowing Cloud Sea now. This portent of a Supreme Treasure appearing has lasted far too long. Our strength isn't nearly enough to give us a chance of taking it, and we're far more likely to lose our lives. We'd better not risk it here."
At the edge of the Flowing Cloud Sea, two Universe Masters—one white and one red, both resembling starfish covered in shells—were flying toward its boundary.
The white one had spoken.
Hearing him, the Red Carapace Universe Master beside him quickly agreed. "Exactly. We finally got lucky for once and happened to be near the Flowing Cloud Sea, but we've been here for so long and still haven't seen a Supreme Treasure. What rotten luck."
"But now that you mention it, this portent has lasted so long that if a Supreme Treasure really does appear, it'll probably be more special than any the Flowing Cloud Sea has ever produced. Maybe it'll be one of those special Peak Supreme Treasures that rank just below Supreme True Treasures," the White Carapace Universe Master said with a sigh.
"A special Peak Supreme Treasure? Isn't that a bit of a stretch? Those kinds of treasures rarely appear even in the Inner Domains of the Three Great Forbidden Lands. You think the Flowing Cloud Sea could produce one?" the Red Carapace Universe Master said skeptically.
"Who knows? The portent is certainly unusual this time." The White Carapace Universe Master waggled his feelers.
"That's true. I heard from a few friends that they encountered groups from the Skeleton Race, the human race, the Bug Race, and the Monster Race. Along with the Dream-Eater Race and Tree Race we ran into, and the God Eye Race, which already had people in the Flowing Cloud Sea, that makes at least seven top-tier races coveting this treasure. I imagine they also think the Flowing Cloud Sea might produce a more valuable Supreme Treasure this time," the Red Carapace Universe Master said.
"The human race and the Bug Race? Which Reincarnation Era are they from?" the White Carapace Universe Master asked curiously.
The human race and the Bug Race were two powerful groups that often rose to prominence in various Reincarnation Eras. The human race had a vast population and produced countless geniuses, while the Bug Race had powerful individuals, with every Mother Emperor among the best of her level.
Of the three Reincarnation Eras in the Universe Ocean, only the First Reincarnation Era had just two top-tier races—the God Eye Race and the Skeleton Race—because the God Eye Race kept the others in check. In the other two Reincarnation Eras, the human race and the Bug Race were each among the strongest forces of their era.
By comparison, the Monster Race was really a group cobbled together from many different Strange Beast races, while the Machine Race had arisen from independent intelligent life-forms. The rise of both races depended heavily on the two Universe Supreme Beings, Monster Beast Progenitor and Father God of Machine Race.
In the First and Second Reincarnation Eras, there were no races called the Monster Race or the Machine Race.
"The Second Reincarnation Era," the Red Carapace Universe Master added. "The Bug Race in the Original Universe Era is still weak, and the human race has lost Original Ancestor. Now their race is being sustained by an obscure figure called Giant Axe Founder. They can hardly be called a top-tier race in the Universe Ocean."
"True." The White Carapace Universe Master nodded, then scoffed. "Forget those two races. The Monster Race of the Primal Universe has three Universe Supreme Beings, but at the Universe Master level, it might not even be stronger than the human race and Bug Race of the Primal Universe."
"Exactly. They call themselves a top-tier race, yet the group they sent couldn't even bring a single Peak Palace Treasure. What a shabby showing." The Red Carapace Universe Master laughed at the thought.
"They must be so poor that they're desperate to seize whatever Supreme Treasures they can to replenish their race. But I doubt they'll get anything this time," the White Carapace Universe Master judged.
The two Universe Masters casually gossiped about the top-tier races as they soon neared the edge of the Flowing Cloud Sea.
"The boundary is just ahead. Let's hurry up and leave. There's no reason to linger in this place," the Red Carapace Universe Master said.
Although they privately treated the top-tier races' affairs as gossip to pass the time, they still respected their strength. Talking was one thing; picking a fight was another.
The two of them quickly flew out of the azure clouds and were about to continue onward when the Red Carapace Universe Master, who was watching for Eternal Freeze Cold Qi, suddenly froze and widened his eyes.
"What is it?"
The White Carapace Universe Master noticed his companion's reaction and instinctively stopped.
"Y-you have to look ahead!"
The Red Carapace Universe Master's voice trembled.
"?"
Ahead? There was nothing there.
The White Carapace Universe Master was baffled, but he kept that to himself and began controlling the space-time around them to examine what lay ahead.
The next moment, the White Carapace Universe Master froze too.
"Th-this is Eternal Freeze Cold Qi?"
The White Carapace Universe Master swallowed, struggling to speak.
If it had only been Eternal Freeze Cold Qi, it wouldn't have left him so shaken.
But at that moment, there was so much Eternal Freeze Cold Qi ahead that it had gathered into a solid wall of cold wind, as if it had sealed off the entire Flowing Cloud Sea.
"Let's... let's follow the boundary and take a look around. Maybe the Eternal Freeze Cold Qi only covers this direction," the Red Carapace Universe Master said hurriedly.
But despite his words, he felt pessimistic.
"Okay." The White Carapace Universe Master nodded repeatedly, clinging to a sliver of hope.
The two Universe Masters then set off, circling along the edge of the Flowing Cloud Sea.
Before you continue