Far out upon the seas, beyond the mainland, lay a place that struck fear into the heart of any who dared speak its name. From time immemorial, whispered in countless legends and strictly warned against in the deathbed counsel of the elders, it was decreed that none should set foot in the Outer Sea unless they possessed the power of the Divine Path.

Yet, on this very day, a Venerable Master dared to trespass into this dreaded realm of death. He was a powerhouse from the West: tall in stature, handsome of countenance, with a thick mane of golden hair that blazed as brilliantly as the sun.

This man was Edwin, the new prodigy of the Western Temple. Immediately after ascending to the rank of Venerable Master, he found himself embroiled in a cataclysmic battle against the pinnacle of Human Dao power from the West and a formidable Eastern master, He Yiming.

In that devastating clash, the Western forces suffered a complete rout, and the last two remaining experts at the peak of Human Dao were slain. Before his final breath, Pope Franklin of the Western Temple commanded Edwin to journey to the Outer Sea and seek the legendary Isle of Gods.

With a resolute spirit, Edwin accepted the dying wish of His Holiness the Pope without hesitation, and with the Temple’s full backing, he immediately prepared a fleet and set sail toward the Outer Sea. Before entering, their fleet was whole.

But when they reached the boundary between the Outer Sea and the Inner Sea, they encountered their first attack from creatures of the deep. The sheer power of these marine entities utterly surpassed human imagination.

Even Venerable Masters, figures deeply respected and admired in the human world, could barely manage to protect themselves against these sea monsters. In the end, Edwin was left with no choice but to abandon his now shattered vessels and proceed alone into the vastness of the Outer Sea.

If, before entering, the dangers of the Outer Sea had been mere hearsay to him, upon entry, he felt the terrifying strength of its inhabitants firsthand. Here, the cultivation of a Venerable Master seemed far from exceptional.

He had encountered several colossal sea creatures locked in brutal combat—some fighting over territory, others driven by the instinct to devour one another. The immense power unleashed by their struggles made Edwin feel utterly inadequate, compelling him to keep as far away as possible from these terrifying beasts.

He simply held no confidence in his ability to defeat any of them. Thus far, his only solace was that among the creatures he had met, none were the supreme Sacred Beasts equivalent to the pinnacle experts of the Human Dao.

It was well known that Sacred Beasts of that caliber were comparable in might to powerhouses such as the late Pope Franklin. Should he be unlucky enough to cross paths with an ocean entity of that rank, his chances of escape, despite being a powerful Venerable Master, would be slim to none.

Currently, beneath his feet rested two thick wooden planks, which he utilized for buoyancy to tread upon the sea. Though his strength as a Venerable Master would normally allow him to stride directly across the waves without issue, he knew this venture deep into the Northern Sea would not permit a swift return.

Therefore, conserving even a sliver of his true Qi was prudent. He extended his hand, revealing a ring of emerald green—a rare Spatial Ring.

Since the disappearance of the Divine Path, spatial artifacts had become treasures that dwindled with every passing day, their value, in some respects, nearly rivaling that of imitation Divine Artifacts. Given Edwin's status and strength, he was not typically entitled to wear such an adornment.

However, due to the paramount importance of this expedition to the entire Temple, the Temple Elders had conferred and decided to entrust him with one of their most treasured spatial items. With a flow of True Qi, the space opened, and Edwin retrieved a peculiar object: a hexagonal, bizarre metal device segmented into several distinct colors.

As this item was revealed to the outside world, it immediately emitted an intensely brilliant radiance. Edwin lightly touched one of its protruding points with his fingertip, slowly raising it upright, and channeled a pure stream of Light energy into it.

Individuals possessing pure Light or pure Dark constitutions were exceedingly rare, even within the great powers of the Temple and the Dark Alliance. While Edwin was not of a pure Light constitution, he was recognized as the most naturally inclined talent toward Light among the younger generation of the Temple.

Consequently, upon mastering his Martial Dao, he had successfully harnessed the power of Light. Though this power could not compare to that of the departed His Holiness Pope Franklin, among the Temple’s current members, he was counted among the few who possessed such refined light energy.

The hexagonal artifact, having absorbed a significant amount of Light energy, began to spin rapidly, completing countless revolutions in mere moments. A distinctively potent energy emanated from the object, seemingly communicating, through some unknown mechanism, with a force that Edwin could not fully comprehend.

Edwin focused all his concentration upon it; his eyes flashed with an intense brilliance as if he could discern something within its movements. After a long silence, the object abruptly stilled.

Edwin then looked up, fixed his gaze upon a specific direction, and sped across the water's surface toward it like the wind. However, just as Edwin moved away, the surface of the ocean where he had been standing began to churn violently.

Ripples spread outward in concentric circles from that single point. A moment later, the water split open, and a massive, grotesque fish slowly surfaced.

It was a bream-like creature, its head triangular, its mouth lined with teeth like jagged steel saws, and its body covered in dense, fine scales. The appearance of this creature brought every other marine life form into a state of absolute terror; they fled the area with frantic haste.

Such widespread silence only occurred when the undisputed overlord of that particular sea domain made its presence known. This monstrous fish was precisely the king of this region.

It had sensed Edwin’s presence the moment he appeared and drew out the hexagonal artifact. Yet, it refrained from attacking the human on the surface precisely because of the energetic signature emanating from the hexagon.

From that energy signature, it perceived an aura belonging to the true Overlords of the Outer Sea. Faced with such an aura, every creature in the Outer Sea, especially the highest-ranking Sacred Beasts like itself, dared not provoke or disobey.

Just as no other creature dared challenge its dominance within its governed waters, this beast dared not test the patience or magnanimity of the Outer Sea Overlords. Long before it even reached maturity, its elders had repeatedly warned: the majesty of the Outer Sea Overlords must never be challenged, and all who defied them met a fate worse than death.

This principle had held true for ten thousand years... Thus, the great fish watched Edwin from afar until the frail human had drifted far beyond the waters it commanded, before it finally swung its massive tail and retreated to its lair.

Edwin remained completely unaware that by deploying the Divine Path treasure in the Outer Sea, he had, in effect, placed a talisman upon himself—one that granted him safe passage and shielded him from peril. No matter which stretch of ocean he entered, although he inevitably encountered powerful sea monsters, these beasts strangely rarely initiated an attack or challenge against him.

Even when some formidable aquatic spirit beasts did engage him, after a period of flight, the pursuers would inexplicably lose interest and vanish. Edwin always assumed that the spirit beasts inhabiting the ocean lacked sufficient willpower or patience.

He remained ignorant that those monsters brave enough, or those whose senses failed to register the authority emanating from the hexagonal artifact, were not abandoning the chase; they were being hunted down and devoured by even more powerful oceanic entities. This reality was unknown not only to Edwin but also to the past Popes and the Chairmen of the Dark Alliance.

Several months later, Edwin finally halted, for a vast expanse of fog lay ahead. This blanket of mist covered an enormous area; by the time he perceived it, he was already at a location where the horizon vanished into the haze.

Once again confirming the bearing indicated by the hexagonal artifact, Edwin gritted his teeth and plunged into the dense fog. He understood that in such hostile conditions, he might encounter even more terrifying sea monstrosities, perhaps even the legendary, supreme Sacred Beasts.

But at this juncture, retreating was no longer an option. Drifting alone upon the boundless ocean was anything but a pleasant endeavor.

After months at sea, only his unwavering faith and tenacious will kept him from collapsing entirely. He even found himself anticipating whether some strange phenomenon might occur within this fog.

Of course, the primary reason for his courage was that the direction indicated by the hexagon pointed directly into the heart of the mist; without that guidance, he might not have possessed such boldness. Wielding the Divine Path treasure and treading upon the increasingly waterlogged planks, Edwin bravely entered the obscurity.

The fog seemed endless. He walked within it for a full seven days, yet still, there was no end in sight.

Exhausted both in body and spirit, Edwin pressed forward. If the guidance of the hexagonal Divine Path artifact had not remained steady, his resolve would surely have broken.

A subtle, mysterious energy permeated this place, one capable of eroding a person’s fighting spirit and gradually corroding their will. Yet, Edwin endured.

He constantly held fast to the final words spoken by His Holiness the Pope: To revitalize the Temple and restore the glory of the Western World, he must find the Isle of Gods. After an indeterminate time—perhaps days, perhaps months—as Edwin staggered across the water like a walking corpse, his vision was suddenly pierced by a blinding golden light...

There, the fog dissolved, giving way to overwhelming brilliance. A colossal island materialized abruptly within the boundless, dense mist, suddenly appearing before his eyes.

Edwin’s mouth fell open, his eyes instantly flooding with tears. He gathered every shred of strength left within him and scrambled, half-crawling, half-rolling, from the sea onto the island’s shore with the utmost speed.

He had never seen this island before, yet inexplicably, the moment it came into view, his heart knew: this was the Isle of Gods, the legendary island spoken of in the lore of the Western World. At the apex of his weakness, when his will was faltering and his body nearly spent, he had finally found it, finally reached the shore.

The instant his feet touched the solid earth, an overwhelming, irresistible wave of exhaustion washed over him. He fought to remain conscious, but found it utterly impossible.

His body listing sideways, his eyes closed, he fell unconscious. Yet, in the final fleeting moment before complete oblivion claimed him, a single message seemed imprinted upon his mind: "You have done well, rest now, my child..."