Don't Sleep-Get Up

Quite a few powerful beings vaguely sensed that something was amiss, but they were Sea Demons. There was simply no way to investigate them.

Later, more Sea Demons appeared in the Outer Sea, but they did not stir up much trouble.

Soon afterward, Sea Demons began appearing in the Inner Sea as well.

At last, people realized something was wrong.

In truth, when the Sea Demons had first appeared, some had worried that they might leave the Desolate Sea. But Sea Demons were simply too unusual; there was no way to destroy them.

As time passed, the Sea Demons remained active in the Desolate Sea, and people gradually grew accustomed to them.

Now, those old fears had come true.

It was as though some switch had been flipped. More and more Sea Demons came ashore in the Inner Sea, and faced with these nearly endless Sea Demons, people finally realized that the Sea Demons were no longer restricted.

Deep-Sea Trench. The stone stele was still radiating heat, while not a single living Sea Demon remained nearby.

Inside the stone stele was a pitch-black space. Within it, the Soul-forging Furnace still blazed fiercely, as if refining something.

Suddenly, the Soul-forging Furnace stirred, and the entire furnace began to tremble.

"Hmm?"

Lao Xu hurriedly roused himself and looked toward the Soul-forging Furnace.

Though he did not know the flow of time here, he could vaguely estimate that more than two thousand years had passed since Lin Jun entered this place.

After all that time, the furnace had finally shown some movement.

Fortunately, he had promptly taken away the soil from the Spirit Grounds of Thousand Dwelling Island and refined it back then. Otherwise, he might not have lived to see the day Lin Jun emerged.

"Don't sleep. Get up."

"Ah? Oh."