Chapter Forty-Five: A Strange Space

Qin Si passed the second tribulation of the Sea of a Thousand Calamities with remarkable ease; for him, the Void Karma Fire was less of a hardship than a tonic. In stark contrast, Qin Shuang found the ordeal far more grueling. The boundless dark green waters exuded a pervasive, bone-chilling cold that ceaselessly gnawed at his body. Merely resisting the immense suction from the sea’s surface consumed a great deal of his immortal power, not to mention the energy he had to spare to shield himself from the frigid air. Though spiritual energy was abundant here, the rate at which it could be replenished was nowhere near enough to keep up with the consumption.

And this was only the chill radiating from the Golden Element Heavy Water. Now, not far ahead of Qin Shuang, a thin layer of inky green liquid floated on the sea’s surface. Even a veneer of Golden Element Heavy Water was enough to freeze the soul of a superior Divine One in an instant. Qin Shuang’s body, though it had reached the hardness of a lower-grade Celestial Divine Artifact, would also shatter in moments if exposed.

“If my soul is frozen, my life will end here,” Qin Shuang thought as he halted, gazing from a distance at the layer of Golden Element Heavy Water, less than a meter thick. His immortal power instinctively resisted the chill emanating from the water’s surface. “My soul realm is only at the level of a superior Divine One—just a moment’s delay and I’ll be frozen solid.” A wry smile crossed his lips; it was the first time he felt how useless the Divine One realm he had pursued with such effort truly was in the face of the Sea’s second trial.

“I can only hope the Three Souls Nine Refinements will help.” With this thought, a miniature figure identical to Qin Shuang manifested in his mind, forming all one hundred and eight seals in a single breath. The glow of his Soul Golden Core grew even more intense than before.

“I can only dash through at the fastest possible speed.” Qin Shuang realized that the longer he lingered, the colder the sea’s surface would become. He was certain that if he delayed too long, this entire area would eventually turn into nothing but Golden Element Heavy Water.

Slowly, he began to fly closer to that inky green liquid, gradually relaxing the immortal power he was using to fend off the cold. He diverted a portion to protect his Soul Golden Core, leaving the rest to amass in his body, ready for a final, explosive burst of speed.

“One hundred meters left!” Beyond that, just the layer of Golden Element Heavy Water—Qin Shuang was confident that if he could get past it, the second tribulation would be over.

With a soft exhale, he surged forward at his utmost speed, leaving afterimages in his wake. In his mind, the miniature figure continued to rapidly form the one hundred and eight seals, the Soul Golden Core’s radiance growing ever stronger.

With a muffled thud, his body pierced the barrier of Golden Element Heavy Water. In that instant, every part of him was frozen and shattered—even his bones were not spared.

Within his soul sea, the little figure forming seals froze mid-motion, a faint chill enveloping it—clearly, it too was frozen. From the moment he plunged into the water until he emerged, only the briefest instant had passed. Yet in that fleeting moment, most of Qin Shuang’s Soul Golden Core was already encased in freezing energy. If he had been any slower, it would have been completely frozen, and his life would have ended right there.

“That was close!” In the blink of an eye, his body and soul returned to normal. “My recovery ability seems much stronger than before…” he mused in surprise, noticing how swiftly he had healed. This rate of recovery was indeed far superior to what he once had.

“It seems that pill I obtained in the first trial is truly remarkable. To survive the tornado and have my body’s resilience further enhanced must surely be related to that medicine.” Ever since arriving at Mountain and Sea Heaven, the tribulations had grown ever more harrowing, but the rewards were undeniable.

If he had relied solely on his own cultivation, it would have taken millions of years to elevate his soul realm from Ninth-Level Immortal Emperor to Superior Divine One—those with lesser aptitude might never have achieved it. Yet on Celestial Sovereign Mountain, a single unremarkable pill had allowed him to break through, even toughening his body to the hardness of a lower-grade Celestial Divine Artifact.

“The greater the treasure, the greater the trial.” Risk and reward always appeared in equal measure—this, Qin Shuang had never doubted. “Two trials down, one more to go. The gift of the Sea of a Thousand Calamities is almost within reach.” No sooner had he passed the second trial than Qin Shuang forgot the bone-deep cold and began longing for the Sea’s treasure.

The Sea of a Thousand Calamities, once past the endless cold, returned to its blood-red hue. The waters were windless and wave-free, serene and unnaturally calm.

“The third tribulation—here I come.” A faint smile played at Qin Shuang’s lips; not only was he unafraid, but a faint anticipation rose in his heart.

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At that moment, Qin Si hovered calmly above the surface of the sea, gazing at the sphere that had suddenly appeared before him.

Indeed, it was a sphere, only several dozen meters in diameter, its outer layer a film-like membrane, empty and hollow within.

“What is this?” Qin Si poked at the membrane with his finger, finding no resistance at all—his hand passed through with ease.

“Hmph… I’ll ignore you.” With a low snort, he shifted to the side, easily avoiding the sphere.

He had expected the sphere to follow him and block his path, but to his surprise, it remained motionless, letting him slip past.

“Better to avoid trouble when you can.” With those words, Qin Si shot forward, disappearing in the span of a few breaths.

The Sea of a Thousand Calamities stretched without end. At first, Qin Si dared not move too quickly for fear of sudden tribulations, but after several days of slow flight, impatience got the better of him. He unleashed his full speed, flying as fast as the Great Teleportation Technique, if not faster.

Yet even at that speed, he flew for three months straight, seeing nothing but endless blood-red water. No tribulation appeared, and no shore came into view.

“Damn it, they’re toying with me!” Qin Si halted abruptly, recalling the sphere. “It seems that balloon was the third tribulation. If I don’t face it, I could fly for a thousand years and never escape this sea.”

Suddenly another thought struck him, and he sighed, “I almost forgot—if I don’t pass within a hundred and twenty years, I’ll die here.”

“Back I go, damnable Sea of a Thousand Calamities. Who knows what horrors lurk in that balloon?”

After more than three months, he returned to the spot where the sphere hovered.

“Huh? This…” Though the change was subtle, Qin Si’s keen eye caught it at once. “The diameter has shrunk by over a meter compared to half a year ago.”

From several dozen meters, losing just over a meter was a minor difference to the naked eye. But Qin Si was naturally observant, and even such a small change did not escape his notice.

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Meanwhile, Qin Shuang, not nearly as cunning as Qin Si, also found himself facing a sphere. But unlike Qin Si, he lacked any suspicious thoughts; while Qin Si had avoided the sphere, Qin Shuang plunged straight in.

With a muffled thump, Qin Shuang, having just entered the sphere, suddenly plummeted downward. He did not crash through the membrane into the sea as he had imagined; instead, the membrane caught him.

“This… is an entirely different space?” Qin Shuang was stunned. The space here was unlike the God Realm, the Immortal-Demon-Beast Realm, or even the Infinite Continent.

He got to his feet and summoned his immortal power to float in mid-air. “It seems the gravity here is stronger than in the mortal realm, yet the spatial level is about the same.”

With a flick of his hand, a surge of energy tore open a wide spatial fissure within the sphere, but it healed in the blink of an eye.

“The recovery rate is much faster than in ordinary mortal spaces.” Qin Shuang made his assessment, but he still had no idea what the third tribulation entailed.

He struck again, hurling energy at the membrane. To his surprise, it didn’t even tremble.

A full-strength blow from a Ninth-Level Immortal Emperor had left the membrane completely unscathed.

“No, something’s different!” Qin Shuang realized that when his immortal power struck the membrane, it seemed to contract inward slightly.

Without the use of spiritual perception, his eyes alone could barely discern the change, but it was enough to confirm his suspicion.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Qin Shuang summoned a black staff, and with a flick, the space was shredded to pieces.

“Heaven-Shaking Eighteen Staffs!” Uncertain of his surroundings, Qin Shuang refrained from unleashing his most powerful attack. The Heaven-Shaking Eighteen Staffs would suffice for now.

In the Immortal-Demon-Beast Realm, this technique was not particularly formidable, but within this sphere—on par with mortal space—its wild energy nearly tore the place apart. Even Qin Shuang himself had to dodge the spatial rifts as he attacked.

Just as he suspected! Though his figure flickered to and fro, his eyes never left the point of impact. Each blow with the Heaven-Shaking Eighteen Staffs caused the membrane to contract further inward, this time far more than before. Even with the naked eye, Qin Shuang could see the sphere’s outer membrane shrinking noticeably.