Reflection, Sea God's Heart

Along the way, neither of them spoke. Both kept their heads lowered, absorbed in their own thoughts. Qian Renxue's expression was especially grim; what had happened today had clearly far exceeded her expectations and disrupted her plans.

When Qian Renxue and Yun Chen returned to the Crown Prince's Residence, it had once again returned to its usual tranquility, as though nothing had happened that day, as though reminding Yun Chen that it had all been an illusion.

Yun Chen returned to his room, lay down on his bed, and sank into deep thought.

Hah, things have gone too smoothly since I transmigrated here.

I've also made everything seem too simple. Too naïve...

The more Yun Chen reflected on what had happened today, the more frightened he became in hindsight.

At first, he had retained some rationality. When Ning Rongrong insulted him, he had initially decided to endure it. But after Ning Rongrong escalated her insults once more—

Yun Chen suddenly wondered: Why should he endure it?

And so, that slap happened.

Yet the chain reaction afterward had far exceeded Yun Chen's expectations. Ning Rongrong had asked Bone Douluo to act, and Bone Douluo had truly acted.

Yun Chen clicked his tongue, both helpless and angry.

"Why the hell did he dare to make a move?"

The more Yun Chen thought about it, the angrier he became.

After all, on the surface, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Heaven Dou Empire were allied partners. Even though he and Ning Rongrong had fallen out today, he had not dealt a killing blow precisely because he had taken that relationship into account.

He had even proactively sent a servant to inform the Crown Prince and the others. Yun Chen's original thought had been that the powers behind both sides had deep ties.

Moreover, Ning Rongrong had been the one to speak rudely first. After negotiations, there probably would not have been much of a problem.

Yet he had never expected Bone Douluo to truly dare to openly move to kill him in public.

Yun Chen's expression shifted unpredictably, while anger churned incessantly in his chest. He was clearly furious.

Isn't this Bone Douluo a lunatic?

Only then did Yun Chen realize that he had thought people too clever. Especially experts at the Title Douluo level—he had instinctively assumed that such peak powerhouses could not possibly be that foolish, could they?

Would someone really kill an allied genius in public just because children had squabbled? And with a great enemy looming ahead, no less.

It would have been perfectly normal if he had made some small move behind the scenes. But openly killing an allied genius in public—wasn't that a bit excessive?

I should have realized it sooner. When Gu Rong saw that Tang San had twin martial souls in the original story, his first instinct had been to suggest killing him.

That kind of person is a complete madman—a madman who doesn't care about the consequences.

Yun Chen fell silent for a long time.

Yun Chen slowly sat up from the bed, gazed at the moonlit sky outside, and muttered to himself.

"No... I was also greatly at fault today."

"I underestimated this world where strength reigned supreme. Power is everything here; the strong can do whatever they want."

Yun Chen truly recognized his own problem. In his previous life, he had lived in a society governed by law, where everything could be discussed within the bounds of rules.

Since transmigrating into this life, before encountering Bone Douluo, nearly every powerful person he had met had treated him kindly.

Yun Chen had failed to realize that this was a world where fists did the talking. The strong could do whatever they pleased and did not need to obey rules.

If Xue Ye had not suddenly unleashed an unreasonable level of power and intimidated the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, then Yun Chen would undoubtedly have died there today.

That terrifying power, carrying the threat of death, still lingered in his mind and would not fade.

This is the mighty power of cultivation. Before the strong, I must remain reverent. I absolutely cannot be careless in the future.

Yun Chen felt somewhat emotional. For the first time, he faced the underlying rules of this world head-on.

"Become stronger! The path to becoming stronger is long and arduous!"

Speaking of growing stronger, Yun Chen turned his gaze to the sky-blue triangular prism on the table. It was the Sea God's inheritance token—or rather, the Sea God's Heart.

Yun Chen held the Sea God's Heart in his hand and continuously fiddled with it, touching here and prodding there, but he could never uncover its secret. His brows furrowed deeply.

How did Tang San gain the Sea God's Heart's recognition in the original story again?

It seemed like he just... probed it with spiritual power, and then... that was it...

Spiritual power? No, that won't work. I don't even know how to use it yet. And at my current level, wouldn't my spiritual power suffer backlash?

Yun Chen suddenly realized the crux of the problem. Tang San in the original story had used spiritual power to activate the Sea God's Heart, thereby drawing the Sea God's attention.

But Yun Chen was only a one-ring Soul Master right now. His spiritual sea had not even opened, much less could he wield spiritual power.

"What should I do..."

Yun Chen murmured softly, his brows tightly knit as his fingers unconsciously tapped against the tabletop. He sank into thought.

Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at the Sea God's Heart. He remembered that, in the original story, this thing could also be activated with soul power.

No sooner said than done. Yun Chen condensed a thread of golden-red soul power at his fingertip and gently sent it into the Sea God's Heart. After waiting for a while, there was no response.

Unwilling to give up, Yun Chen continued increasing the soul power he poured into it.

Gradually, more than half of Yun Chen's soul power had been drained. At last, the Sea God's Heart reacted. It suddenly bloomed with a dazzling blue light, bathing the entire room in a blue ocean of radiance.

Fortunately, Yun Chen had prepared beforehand and had already drawn all the curtains. Otherwise, such a bright light would certainly have attracted the attention of others.

The Sea God's Heart suddenly rose into the air, hovering silently in midair. A beam of light burst from its core and shot straight into Yun Chen's sea of consciousness.

Like a bullet, it forcefully bored into Yun Chen's head.

A surge of excruciating pain hit him. Yun Chen instantly collapsed to the ground and couldn't help screaming.

The pain only intensified. Yun Chen swiftly lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a golden-red ocean.

He instinctively clenched his fist, only to find that there was no real response—or rather, no sense of a physical body. His touch felt hazy and unreal, like a cloud drifting in the wind.

"Where is this?"

Yun Chen instinctively looked around. Before him stretched nothing but a golden-red ocean, and he was standing quietly atop its surface without sinking.

Directly above the center of the ocean floated an enlarged Sea God's Heart, shaped like a pyramid.

Yun Chen cautiously walked forward and discovered that he could actually stroll across the surface as if walking on solid ground.

Yun Chen subconsciously raised his hand, intending to touch the ocean. The instant that thought arose, the seawater gathered on its own into a small vortex and surged upward. By the time Yun Chen extended his palm, he had already touched the water.

"Th-This... is my sea of consciousness?"

It was the most reasonable explanation Yun Chen could think of.

Ordinarily, someone at Yun Chen's level should not have been able to enter their sea of consciousness. But the light fired by the Sea God's Heart was clearly extraordinary. Perhaps Yun Chen could be an exception.

"No matter what, I need to get out first."