However, this calm did not last long.
"Call."
Ahead, the thick, impenetrable fog, seemingly capable of absorbing all light, slowly parted to the sides without warning, as if a curtain had been gently drawn back by a pair of invisible giant hands.
Beyond the mist lay nine even larger, heavier shadows, silently emerging with a crushing pressure that seemed to shatter time and space.
Nine ancient ships!
Its ancient form far surpasses anything seen before, as if it existed since the Heaven-Opening. The hull is neither wood nor metal, but a matte black that devours light. The towering gunwales resemble sheer cliffs, and the majestic superstructure is like a mountain.
They lie silently between the sea and the sky, resembling not boats, but rather nine ancient demon cities rising from the deepest depths of the underworld.
Only a single bronze lamp hanging from each bow burned with an unchanging, eerie green flame, like nine cold, ghostly lights.
A colossal eye, indifferent to all living beings, overlooks this sea of death.
Absolute silence is the final breath of air before the storm.
"Awooo!!!!"
A piercing, soul-wrenching wail, filled with boundless resentment and endless chill, emanated from one of the giant ships.
A sudden explosion erupted from the depths! The howl was like a Mars igniting a powder keg, or like toppling the first domino.
"Boom!"
Nine silent Demon Mountain came to life in an instant! On the decks, along the sides, and even in the deep windows and cracks of the hull, countless ghostly claws covered in thick, rusted iron armor and withered like ancient vines suddenly emerged, wildly waving and scratching! Their sheer number instantly transformed the massive surface of the ships into a terrifying jungle of writhing ghostly claws!
The soaring, terrifying ghostly aura, mixed with the ancient accumulated corpse energy, condensed into a solid black-red column of smoke that shot straight into the heavens, stirring the mist above like a boiling pot of porridge.
"Chirp chirp, woo woo, roar!"
A myriad of mournful, venomous, and maddening cries erupted from every ship, merging into a terrifying sonic wave that tore at eardrums and shook the soul, sweeping across the vast wilderness. The sound was as if the gates of the eighteen levels of Hell had been opened simultaneously, with ten thousand ghosts wailing, trying to drag the entire world into ruin!
Then came an even more horrifying sight. "Splash! Crack! Crack!"
Like a mountain of corpses that had accumulated over countless years suddenly collapsing, or like the River Styx bursting its banks, unleashing a torrent of death.
Countless ghostly corpses surged, leaped, and fell from every corner of the nine giant ships! Some rushed directly towards Li Qingshan's small boat, which was isolated in the middle of the sea, while many more, like dumplings being dropped into a pot, densely packed and scrambling to crash into the dark seawater.
After these ghostly corpses entered the water, they were lifted up by the intense yin energy in the seawater. With a speed that defied common sense, they cut through the dark waves and swam frantically towards us. Their arms stretched out of the water and danced incessantly.
In an instant, the sea surface within Li Qingshan's sight was covered by countless writhing, waving ghostly claws, dark and boundless, forming a death tide that devoured light and heat and swept everything, surging towards the lone boat in the sea, towards the only living creature's aura!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Amidst the horde of corpses, several exceptionally robust and imposing black figures suddenly burst through the sea, soaring through the air! They were enveloped in nearly liquefied, pitch-black clouds of corpses, their ghostly forms refined like finely tempered gold. On their ancient armor, the remaining war runes flickered under the influence of death energy, emanating a chilling residual pressure—the aura of fragments of laws approaching the realm of Saint!
These are clearly the transformations of powerful beings who, in life, reached at least the level of Half-Saint or even higher, after their fall; they are the "generals" of this sea of ghosts.
Almost instantly, the tiny, solitary boat beneath Li Qingshan's feet was completely surrounded and submerged by the endless, howling sea of ghosts.
Ghostly claws, like a forest, almost touched the hem of his clothes; the howls of corpses were like thunder, shaking the surrounding space slightly; the malevolent wind, mixed with all kinds of resentment, was icy cold and could freeze the primordial spirit of a Immortal Second Realm Mighty Figure in an instant.
Li Qingshan stood at the bow of the ship, his black robes fluttering in the raging, eerie wind, yet his figure remained as immovable as an ancient rock.
His gaze calmly swept over the scene around him, a thousand times more terrifying than the scroll of Hell. The style of the tattered armor on the ghost corpses, the fragments of the battle flags, slowly overlapped with the ancient battle scenes he had seen in his mind's eye at the Five-Colored Altar, imprinted in time and space.
"As expected." His mind was clear and untroubled. "These are all ancient military souls who fought in the past, Mars blood staining the starry sky, and who ultimately perished here. Within the core of the Yinghuo Ancient Star, there must be a place where an extremely yin dragon vein and myriad evil spirits converge, preserving their corpses from decay for eternity. The remaining fighting spirit and obsessions, combined with the yin and deathly energy gathered from the negative aura of the stars over the years, have nurtured these near-immortal ghosts. Whenever this eerie black sea containing the laws of the Dao manifests, they are drawn back to the world by the yin energy of the earth's veins, instinctively attacking and killing those whose blood and souls are drawn by the fluctuations of life, fighting to the death."
Faced with this death tide composed of billions of ghost corpses, among which were hidden several terrifying ghost generals comparable to Half-Saint, Li Qingshan's face still showed no trace of panic. His deep eyes reflected the dancing ghost claws and surging black waves, as calm as an ancient pool in autumn.
He no longer waited and slowly raised his right hand. His five fingers were long and slender, and a faint light flowed beneath his skin, as if it contained the power to Heaven-Opening. He pressed his palm down towards the endless sea of ghosts that had rushed to the side of the ship, baring its fangs and claws.
The movements were slow and graceful, devoid of any worldly airs, like a scholar wielding a brush or a refined gentleman Playing the Zither.
However, "Buzz!!!"
The instant his palm struck down, the entire black sea of death, along with the gloomy, oppressive sky above, trembled violently! The Void emitted a mournful cry, originating from the very laws of existence, as if it were about to collapse under immense pressure, and countless tiny yet terrifying black spatial cracks appeared.
The seam, originating from his palm, spread rapidly and silently in all directions, like cracks appearing on an ice surface.
Above the heavens, the winds and clouds changed color! A hand of indescribable size appeared out of thin air, covering a vast sea area spanning hundreds of miles!
This palm is not made of flesh and blood, but is formed by the purest and most intense golden divine light and the vast and boundless Saint Dao Laws! The palm lines are clear, like the traces engraved by the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth; in the palm, the phantoms of the sun, moon and stars are faintly visible, and earth, fire and wind surge, demonstrating the ultimate truth of the beginning of chaos and the rotation of the universe.
Extremely Yang! Extremely Strong! Extremely Great! Extremely Powerful! The magnificent divine might it exudes is like the decree of the Heavenly Emperor or the arrival of God Emperor in the mortal world, filled with an absolute majesty that cannot be questioned and suppresses everything.
The moment Shrouding the Heavens colossal hand appeared, the soaring ghostly energy and hissing ghostly cries that had filled the heavens and earth and made all living beings tremble were suddenly stopped and silenced, as if gripped by an invisible hand! Countless ghostly corpses that were frantically attacking, regardless of strength, froze instantly. The fear of the supreme holiness at the source of their life caused their remaining soul fire to tremble violently, emitting silent howls and cries.
The giant palm fell.
Beneath the palm's coverage, the nine terrifying ghost ships as large as mountains, the countless surging tides of corpses, the Half-Saint level ghost generals soaring through the air with murderous aura, and all that was sinister, dead, and filthy, vanished silently from the outside in when they came into contact with the boundless divine light showered down by the golden palm, like shadows exposed to the ultimate blazing sun.
Even a powerful Half-Saint ghost general, with his refined ghost body and remaining laws, could not withstand it for more than a moment before vanishing like smoke in the holy light.
On the Black Sea, a vast and absolutely "clean" area of palm print appeared. Within this area, the seawater was still pitch black, but crystal clear, with no trace of ghostly corpses or chilling aura. Even the bone-chilling coldness had vanished, replaced by a warm and gentle atmosphere.
The terrifying horde of zombies that devoured everything, and the nine ancient ships that resembled demons, seemed to be nothing more than a collective illusion, never truly existing.
The nine bronze ghost lamps that once illuminated the netherworld shattered into dust under the oppressive force of the giant hand, leaving not even a trace.
A gentle sea breeze carries a hint of saltiness and freshness, completely erasing any trace of the previous stench and chill.
Li Qingshan slowly withdrew his hand, and the awe-inspiring giant hand in the sky faded and disappeared, as if it had never appeared.
He stood with his hands behind his back at the bow of the ship, which had returned to calm. He gazed at the deep, still dark sea ahead, which seemed to have lost some of its oppressive atmosphere. His eyes were calm and still. The earth-shattering blow just now seemed to him as if he had simply brushed away a speck of dust from his clothes.