Chapter 1323: Having Grasped the Dao

Leaving the orderly cycle inn, he returned to the wild, chaotic expanse of the Youming Realm, and Yan Buji felt a lighthearted sense of breaking free from his bonds. He did not immediately use the "Calamity-Crossing Spirit Vessel," but relying on his affinity for the Youming death qi and the concealable nature of his Chaos Force, he transformed into a barely perceptible gray stream of light, racing toward the "Forgotten Marsh" marked on the jade slip.

The closer he got to the frontier, the harsher the environment became. The leaden gray clouds in the sky grew thicker, and corrosive Youming acid rain often poured down. The land was gradually replaced by mire and black marshes bubbling with gas, the air reeking of intense decay and filled with an oblivious mist that muddled the mind. Occasionally, twisted souls reduced to mere instinct could be seen drifting in the marshes, emitting meaningless howls, and even more strangely shaped remnants of ancient, ferocious nether beasts lurked in the mist.

Here the space structure is extremely unstable; tiny spatial rifts, like black lightning, flash and vanish, devouring everything around them.

Yan Buji concealed all his aura, gliding low over the marsh like a ghost, avoiding several areas where powerful presences were clearly entrenched. He tightly held the jade slip inscribed with a detailed star chart, advancing straight toward the marsh's depths where the disturbance originated.

According to the star chart, the disturbance caused by the "anomaly" lay in the marsh's center, in a deadly place called the Soul-Sinking Abyss. It is said that this was the site of an ancient god-demon war, where space was completely shattered, forming a vast abyss; the lingering remnants and obsessions of countless fallen warriors entwine there, undispersed over the years, evolving into all manner of bizarre and unpredictable dangers.

Several days later, Yan Buji reached the outskirts of the Soul-Sinking Abyss. The sight before him was heart-pounding: an immeasurably huge dark abyss, like a wound in the earth, lay ahead. Inside the abyss was not pure darkness, but a roiling, multicolored spacetime turbulence filled with deathly silence and chaotic energy. Countless distorted soul-shades flickered within the turbulence, emitting eternal wails. The space at the abyss's edge resembled shattered glass, riddled with cracks, and a powerful suction emanated from its depths, pulling at everything.

Yet in this extremely perilous environment, Yan Buji clearly sensed—a faint, almost imperceptible vibration that resonated with the ancient god Dao rhythm within his body—emanating intermittently from the deepest part of the Soul-Sinking Abyss!

"Indeed, it's here..." Yan Buji's eyes narrowed. He tried to extend his divine sense into the abyss, but as soon as his divine sense touched the shattered spacetime turbulence, it was like a mud cow entering the sea—instantly shattered and annihilated, unable to penetrate at all.

This place is far more dangerous than expected; relying solely on his own strength to force a breakthrough, the odds of success are extremely low.

He took out the jade talisman engraved with a small boat pattern, and, following the method taught by Bai Chen, infused a thread of Chaos Force into it.

The talisman flashed, and a small vessel made entirely of some pallid bone, its hull inscribed with countless runes to resist Youming corrosion, appeared on the black-water marsh before him. It was exactly the "Calamity-Crossing Spirit Vessel."

After the spirit vessel appeared, it automatically emitted a soft halo that kept the surrounding oblivious mist and corrosive energy at bay, while its runes flowed, stabilizing the fragile space nearby.

Yan Buji boarded the spirit vessel and guided it slowly toward the Soul-Sinking Abyss. The vessel was indeed miraculous; traversing the peril-filled marsh and the abyss's edge felt like walking on flat ground, and the tearing forces of the spacetime turbulence were greatly weakened by the hull's runes.

However, just as the spirit vessel was about to enter the mouth of the Soul-Sinking Abyss, a sudden change occurred!

Hum!

A pitch-black pillar of light, like ink, exuding a rich Asura battle intent, shot out without warning from the mist to the side, aiming straight for the core of the Calamity-Crossing Spirit Vessel! Wherever it passed, space was frozen and torn apart.

An ambush! And the timing was perfect—exactly when the vessel's defenses were focused on resisting the abyss's suction and the spacetime turbulence, leaving its flank relatively weak!

"Someone from Changwu Old Ghost?! No, this power……" Yan Buji's heart tightened; the Asura battle intent contained in this attack was pure and mighty, far surpassing the pursuers he had faced before, and it carried a decisive killing intent!

He reacted extremely quickly; his Chaos Force erupted instantly, a grayish‑blue gust sweeping out and condensing on the vessel's flank into a thick chaos bulwark!

Boom!!!

The black light pillar slammed hard into the chaos bulwark, erupting in an earth‑shaking roar! The bulwark shuddered violently, cracks spreading, but it did not break. Yet the tremendous impact caused the Calamity-Crossing Spirit Vessel to lurch sharply, its runes flashing wildly, nearly capsizing and being sucked into the abyss!

At the same time, the surrounding mist roiled, and five figures clad in dark‑red heavy armor, wielding blood‑colored war blades, and emanating towering auras appeared, encircling the spirit vessel! Their leader, a scar‑faced Asura war general, possessed the aura of a Youming Ghost Commander! He gripped a giant axe entwined with vengeful spirits, his icy gaze locked on Yan Buji.

"Yan Buji! By the decree of the High Priest, take your life and seize your chaos soul!" the scarred general shouted, his voice ringing like clashing metal, killing intent fierce.

Yan Buji stood on the trembling spirit vessel, his face grim. He hadn't expected the assassins dispatched by High Priest Changwu to be so elite, nor to be able to ambush him precisely here! Was it a coincidence? Or…

His gaze swept over the Calamity-Crossing Spirit Vessel, a chill flashing in his mind. The Hall of Rebirth!

That's right—this spirit vessel was provided by the Hall of Rebirth! They likely tampered with it, either installing a beacon or leaving some kind of trigger, allowing the Asura assassins to locate him so precisely and strike when he was most vulnerable!

What a scheming Hall of Rebirth! Signing a contract with him on one side, secretly borrowing a knife to kill him on the other! If he died here, the Hall could wash its hands clean, blaming the Asuras; if he miraculously survived, he would inevitably forge a deadly feud with the Asuras and be further forced into the Hall's camp!

"What a calculation!" Yan Buji laughed angrily, "Too bad, hoping to take my life with a few of your trash is far from enough!"

He held nothing back; the newly born Chaos Force after the Return to the Ruins erupted fully! A hazy gray spread from him, carrying the "Silence Extinction" of the Return to the Ruins and the "vastness" of the Ancient God, instantly turning the surrounding hundred‑yard marsh into a chaos domain! Within the domain, the oblivious mist was dispelled, the Asura battle intent suppressed, and even the suction of the Soul-Sinking Abyss seemed to weaken somewhat.

"Form the formation! Shura Spirit‑Slaying Formation!" the scarred war general's face changed slightly, and he shouted in a harsh voice.