Wang Ba looked gravely at the Slender Old Man and the Divine Corpse Big Yellow, who had appeared unexpectedly before him, his heart sinking uncontrollably.
He had thought they had already retreated, never expecting them to lie in wait along his route back to the Immortal Severance Land. What puzzled him, however, was that only two of them had come this time; the other cultivators of the Jade Pot Realm had not followed.
The Slender Old Man seemed unsurprised by Wang Ba's mood. With his hands behind his back, he turned his gaze slightly toward the empty Immortal Severance Land and said with a look of lament:
"You may not know just how cruel this Sea of Boundary Turmoil is to cultivators like us. Even if we exhaust the strength of all living beings, we are still beasts trapped in a cage. We gaze at the Immortal Pass, at the Immortal Severance Land, knowing that boundless wonders must lie outside, yet all we can do is keep a barren vigil here, forever and ever, with no hope of reaching a higher world..."
Wang Ba fell briefly silent. While his mind raced to find a way out, he said in a low voice:
"Outside may not necessarily be a good place either. Otherwise, how would we have ended up here?"
"Is that so?"
The Slender Old Man neither agreed nor disagreed. Then, seemingly curious, he asked:
"What is it like outside? Could you tell me?"
Wang Ba considered briefly and glanced at the Slender Old Man, who seemed to be waiting earnestly for him to speak. Weighing the man's intentions, he slowly said:
"It is not very different from here, except there are World Eaters... These creatures are born from the Boundary Sea and feed on worlds. They are the great