---
"What a powerful white fog!"
The moment Qi Yuan stepped into the fog, his Nascent Soul-stage consciousness was abruptly suppressed to the Foundation Establishment stage—it felt like he had plunged into a deep abyss.
Even though he could still barely drive his consciousness, every step forward through the fog was like walking through molasses.
He was, essentially, blind now.
Suddenly, the Chaos Cauldron in his mind flashed with a brilliant white light, releasing a wave of cool energy that swept through his soul.
Qi Yuan's spiritual awareness instantly returned to normal. When he glanced outward again, the fog no longer hindered his sight or senses.
His expression brightened. *As expected of the Chaos Treasure that saved my life,* he thought.
"Little brother, what are you smiling at?" Zhou Yuan asked, clearly irritated. Her own consciousness was still heavily suppressed, yet Qi Yuan seemed delighted?
They were surrounded by darkness. Zhou Yuan felt tense, alert for any danger—but also curious.
"I just remembered something that made me happy," Qi Yuan replied with a slight smile. "Let's hurry."
"Oh... okay." Zhou Yuan didn't press him. Instead, she turned her gaze elsewhere, focusing on staying alert.
With his spiritual sense now unblocked, Qi Yuan expanded it without hesitation—and soon detected a terrifying disturbance beneath the sea.
A swarm of strange, red-eyed fish was rapidly swimming upward. Each one was barely an inch long, covered in trembling white scales that seemed to breathe.
Qi Yuan's expression changed. He recalled an illustration and a passage from an ancient book.
"Oh no… Soul-Eating Red-Eyed Fish!"
These weren't just like piranhas—they could devour cultivators' flesh and bypass spiritual defense shields with their scales.
A few could be dealt with. But tens of thousands?
The sea floor was teeming with them, and their scales flashed like deadly needles. Defending against that kind of onslaught was meaningless.
There was only one option: escape.
Qi Yuan didn't waste time explaining. He immediately wrapped his arms around Zhou Yuan's waist. He didn't even have time to appreciate the softness of her body—just a rumble of thunder, and the two vanished from their spot.
Zhou Yuan barely had time to register what was happening. One moment she heard the words *Soul-Eating Red-Eyed Fish,* the next she was pressed against her younger brother's firm chest, carried in his arms.
Before she could speak, she looked up and saw Qi Yuan's serious expression. It was real.
The Soul-Eating Red-Eyed Fish—creatures that could even devour spiritual power—were approaching.
Low in defense but terrifying in number and reproduction speed, they overwhelmed opponents by sheer mass. Cultivators who encountered them could only curse their bad luck.
Qi Yuan felt their predatory eyes closing in and quickly acted. He waved his sleeve, summoning a black nail. It spun rapidly, unleashing a burst of deathly aura.
The nail spiraled into the sea, killing countless red-eyed fish in one strike. The waters turned crimson.
The magical weapon flew back into Qi Yuan's hand.
'They really were Soul-Eating Red-Eyed Fish.'
Zhou Yuan, still limited by her suppressed spiritual awareness, had initially doubted Qi Yuan's intentions when he held her—but now she realized she had wronged him.
Using his Thunder Escape to the fullest, Qi Yuan charged forward and quickly cleared the white fog.
"Fly east, little brother. The island on the left is the Three Immortals Island," Zhou Yuan said breathlessly, her face pale with lingering fear. She didn't forget to point the way.
Qi Yuan squinted, scanning with his spiritual sense. The Soul-Eating Fish were still chasing them.
"The danger isn't over yet. Bear with me, sister-in-law."
He tightened his grip, holding Zhou Yuan closer, their bodies pressed together without space between them.
The creatures weren't strong individually, but their speed rivaled that of a Golden Core cultivator.
*Swift Wind and Thunder!*
Zhou Yuan's spiritual sense had recovered. She too sensed the oncoming tide of fish. Her cheeks flushed faintly under the mounting pressure, but she gave a firm nod.
---
After Qi Yuan escaped with Zhou Yuan…
Other cultivators from the Golden Core stage began to emerge from the white mist, many battered and broken.
Some had lost limbs.
Others bore savage wounds—deep enough to expose bone.
Many had perished, torn apart by the Soul-Eating Red-Eyed Fish.
From the churning mist emerged a Confucian scholar in green robes, followed by a woman in yellow and a man in white.
Blood stained their clothing, but they were still full of energy and alert. Clearly, they had avoided serious injury.
"It's lucky you were clever enough to find two fools to serve as decoys, Brother," the woman in yellow said gratefully.
"The Three Illusory Seas are riddled with danger," the scholar replied smugly. "Without preparation, how could we escape safely? Pity those two bait buns didn't last long."
His expression was no longer righteous—it was sinister, gloating in secret.
The man in white said, "We shouldn't linger. Let's head to our destination."
The green scholar nodded. "Junior Brother Mu is right. Let's go."
The trio transformed into streams of light and vanished into the sky.
Nearby, Wen Tianren burst out of the mist, face twisted in frustration and grief. All eight of his beautiful maids had been devoured. Even his cherished beast-drawn cart was lost to the depths.
"Brother Wen, hurry! The Soul-Eating Red-Eyed Fish are still coming!" a bearded middle-aged man shouted, accompanied by two sinister-looking twin youths.
Wen Tianren clenched his fists and scanned the endless swarm of fish below. With a bitter sigh, he gave up on revenge and fled.
---
**Three Immortals Island.**
It was said to be the birthplace of three immortals, hence the name—though Qi Yuan believed it was just a myth.
The island was oval-shaped, blanketed in lush greenery. Pristine and wild.
Sweeping his spiritual sense across the island, Qi Yuan detected a few extremely well-hidden monsters… seemingly asleep.
He gently set Zhou Yuan down and whispered, "There's likely an eighth-level beast on this island. Stay cautious. Restrain your aura—don't provoke them."
"Eighth-level?" Zhou Yuan's face turned pale. She swallowed hard, nodding quickly and hiding her presence like a powerless mortal.
---