Master, I, Old Sun, Am Off!

Golden light shattered a vast swath of darkness.

A figure descended from the golden light.

"Monster! Take a blow from Old Sun!"

The golden figure swooped down from the sky, the dazzling golden light making it almost impossible for Lin Yi to keep his eyes open.

Boom!

The staff blazing with golden light smashed down.

The Blood Ghost's figure actually flickered into intangibility for an instant.

Immediately afterward, a figure appeared before Lin Yi.

Golden light surrounded his thin frame.

He held a Rolling Pin wrapped in golden light.

The figure turned his head and flashed two trademark rows of teeth at Lin Yi. "Master, I'm here!"

"D-Da Sha..."

A little focus returned to Lin Yi's vacant eyes.

Splash.

The sea of blood churned even more violently.

Countless vengeful souls surged toward the two of them.

The enormous Nine-Headed Anomaly stomped through the blood, its eyes filled with venomous resentment.

"Master, I'll be right back!"

Da Sha leaped up.

One blow fell.

The Nine-Headed Anomaly proved as fragile as glass.

It shattered into a skyful of blood.

It struggled to re-form from the sea of blood.

But Da Sha was already shooting toward the Blood Ghost.

"Monster, take another blow from Old Sun!"

Boundless golden light spilled from Da Sha's hands, carrying streaks of golden staff afterimages crashing toward the Blood Ghost.

Whoosh!

The Blood Ghost lashed out with its bone whip.

Crack, crack, crack.

The bone whip formed from the Blood Ghost's spine crumbled inch by inch beneath the golden staff afterimages, unable to withstand even a single exchange.

"Roar!"

The Blood Ghost let out a terrifying howl.

The sea of blood surged up, engulfing Da Sha in an instant.

"Break!"

Golden light spilled from the sphere of blood formed by the surrounding sea.

Boom!

The sphere burst apart, and Da Sha strode out on boundless golden light.

He was like a god of war walking down from the heavens.

He smashed out another blow.

Boom!

Under this blow, the suffocatingly powerful Blood Ghost began to collapse.

"Aah!"

A piercing scream of agony escaped the Blood Ghost's mouth.

Its body shattered in an instant.

It turned into a skyful of bloody rain!

At the same time, the sea of blood turned illusory, gradually dissipating amid the shrill howls of vengeful souls.

Their surroundings returned to the Ice and Snow City's original appearance.

Only a drizzle of blood kept falling, mingled with pure white snowflakes.

Golden light flashed.

Da Sha had already appeared before Lin Yi.

He looked down at Lin Yi and slowly opened his right hand. A pulsing tear of blood and a constantly flickering blood-red eye appeared. "Master, here. Anomaly materials the Blood Ghost left behind after it died."

"Oh..."

Lin Yi accepted them reflexively.

The Da Sha before him felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

"Hehe, Master, pretty impressive, right?"

Da Sha smiled and rubbed his head.

Only at this sight did Lin Yi feel that the Da Sha he knew had returned.

"Really impressive."

Lin Yi's praise was heartfelt.

"Hehe."

Da Sha turned around.

Gazing at the golden light shining down from the heavens, he spoke in a rather calm tone. "Master, from now on, you'll have to walk the road ahead on your own..."

Lin Yi gazed at the back before him, which seemed so much more imposing now, still not understanding what he meant.

Then Da Sha's body began turning into specks of golden light, slowly drifting toward the brightness that had broken through the sky...

"Some powers always come at a price..."

"Master, I, Old Sun..."

"Am off..."

The golden light piercing the darkness vanished.

Da Sha was nowhere to be seen.

Darkness enveloped the entire world once more.

Clatter.

Lin Yi looked dazed, as though something had stabbed his heart.

He looked down. The Rolling Pin he had given Da Sha had fallen to the ground from where Da Sha had dissipated.

Lin Yi gently picked up the Rolling Pin, unable to stop himself from murmuring, "Da Sha..."

Then his eyes rolled back, and he passed out completely.

"Hehehe, never thought you'd have a day like this, brat!"

The Skinning Ghost emerged from the darkness.

Its eyes brimmed with the satisfaction of having its great revenge.

Through its repeated deaths, it had also noticed something was wrong.

It seemed that every one of its deaths had been caused by the human before it.

Just as it was about to approach Lin Yi and kill him for good-

Clack, clack...

A sound drew nearer from the distance.

Four ice-sculpture huskies were pulling two sleds.

"Miss, what was that golden light just now?"

"Seems like the sea of blood disappeared right after that golden light showed up."

Li Jie sat on the second sled, chattering nonstop.

Lu Hanxue said nothing as the sled reached Lin Yi's side.

A third sled appeared.

Lu Hanxue gestured.

Li Jie hurriedly placed Lin Yi on the third sled.

The ice-sculpture huskies broke into a run again, taking the sleds out of sight in the blink of an eye.

"Damn it, damn them!"

The Skinning Ghost pounded the ice wall beside it, its eyes filled with resentment.

On the snow-white ice, a group of over a hundred people slowly made their way forward.

Three modified off-road vehicles led the way, with a bus packed with people in the middle.

A truck brought up the rear.

Around the convoy crowded quite a few survivors traveling on foot, dressed in down jackets.

"He's been unconscious for three days. Is he all right?"

"He's fine. Someone with sequence transcendence won't starve to death in three days."

Inside the third modified off-road vehicle.

Li Jie was chatting with a middle-aged man in the front passenger seat.

Meanwhile, Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes in the back seat.

His lifeless eyes stared at the ceiling.

He looked as though he had lost his soul.

Neither of the two men in front noticed that Lin Yi had awakened.

After a long, long time, scalding tears slid from the corners of Lin Yi's eyes.

"Da Sha..."

He murmured softly.

He had clearly told himself time and again to be a little more cold-blooded.

Yet watching Da Sha dissipate before him had still left him unable to keep the grief and heartache at bay...

"You're awake?"

Hearing his murmur, Li Jie looked curiously toward the back seat.

Lin Yi still said nothing.

"Let him be for a while."

Wu Ke, the middle-aged man in the front passenger seat, patted Li Jie's shoulder.

"Oh..."

Li Jie could also tell that something was off with Lin Yi, and did his best to suppress his talent for incessant chatter.

Lin Yi slowly sat up. Da Sha's departure had hit him much harder than he had imagined.

He opened his right hand, revealing Da Sha's final gift to him.

An eyeball and a pulsing drop of blood.

Just as Lin Yi opened his hand.

The blood flowed uncontrollably toward the Blood Ring.

In the blink of an eye, all the blood had burrowed into the Blood Ring.

It vanished without a trace.

[Anomaly name: Sealed Blood Ring.]

[Stolen from the Land of Great Terror by a thief with no regard for their own life.]

[Anomaly sequence: 1001.]

[Trait 1, storage: the Blood Ring possesses storage capabilities.]

[Trait 2, Soul-Sealing: pay a certain price to suppress anomalies. Release them to fight for you!]

[Trait 3, sea of blood: the vengeful souls in the sea of blood will help you entangle your enemies. Their numbers will grow as you kill!]

[Trait 4, sealed.]

[Cost of use: dazzling golden light purifies you. The cost of use has been forcibly erased!]