A distance of several decades? Lei Dong paused, slightly taken aback. It was certainly far. He was now counted among the super-strong, standing just shy of the Supreme level, a hair's breadth away.

However, Lei Dong was also keenly aware that ascending from the Half-Saint tier to Supreme wasn't a simple hurdle. Perhaps, with tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of years of accumulation, he might reach that ultimate echelon.

Yet, the window for the Mother of Ten Thousand Spirits to execute her possession was now less than three thousand years away. For mortals, three millennia allowed for over a hundred generations to pass.

But for someone at Lei Dong’s current level, three thousand years truly flashed by in an instant. Even with temporal artifacts like the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands that could greatly extend cultivation time, breaking through to Supreme within a thirty-thousand-year seclusion seemed nearly impossible.

Consequently, Lei Dong's current plan was to strike while the Mother of Ten Thousand Spirits was still wounded and in seclusion. He would stealthily infiltrate the Palace of Myriad Spirits, rescue Wan Yan, and then retreat with her to some unpopulated corner of existence, spending tens of millions of years achieving Supreme status before returning.

Unfortunately, the intelligence gathering mission to the Vermilion Bird Divine Hall had unexpectedly brought about this current complication. Given Lei Dong’s respect and admiration for the Demon Emperor Yan Chixing, he could not possibly stand idly by while his Master’s wife and daughter were being publicly humiliated.

But this turn of events might also present an opportunity for Lei Dong. At his level, one could faintly sense the workings of the cosmos; danger usually carried a premonition.

This time, however, when the Chaos Sea was mentioned, Lei Dong felt no sense of impending peril. Instead, he had a strange inkling that the Chaos Sea might be intrinsically linked to him.

The Chaos Sea, the Chaos Art, the Chaos True Essence. Furthermore, his Master, Yan Chixing, seemed to have successfully traversed the Chaos Sea, reaching a place called the Heart of Chaos, thereby achieving Supreme status.

Thus, Lei Dong resolved to head for the Chaos Sea to weather the Void Tides. Firstly, he intended to use its environment—a place even Supremes dared not enter lightly—to escape the Azure Dragon Emperor, Long Aotian. Secondly, he wanted to test his own luck and destiny, to see if the path his Master, Yan Chixing, walked was open to him as well.

If he could genuinely find an opportunity there to attain Supreme rank, his chances of successfully rescuing Wan Yan would increase exponentially.

Lei Dong was vastly different now. Even flying physically to the Savage Wilderness World would take at most a century. And while decades sounded long, for someone at Lei Dong's level, they were merely the blink of an eye.

Sensing the Void Coordinates transmitted by Ji Ziyan, Lei Dong’s thought moved, and he slipped into the spatial rift like an agile fish. With his current understanding of spatial laws, navigating the fissures felt as effortless as strolling through his own backyard.

The Chaos Sea was immensely distant. If Lei Dong could not utilize the spatial rifts for traversal, even flying for a lifetime—from now until the world’s end—he would never reach it before the next Great Cycle of Heavenly Tribulation descended.

Experts traversing the Void utilized spatial folding and fissures for acceleration, such as Void Tunnels, which were indeed powerful. However, Lei Dong could currently only manage small Void Tunnels, which rapidly depleted his power and left him weakened. While feasible for an escape, using them for routine travel was out of the question.

Once Lei Dong opened up to full speed, even with Long Aotian pursuing him desperately from behind, the Emperor could only lock onto him; their speeds were comparable, making outright capture difficult.

The reason was simple: although Long Aotian was formidable, his comprehension of spatial laws was slightly inferior to Lei Dong’s. Most of Lei Dong's insights into spatial law stemmed not from his own efforts, but from absorbing the experience and understanding of the (Ming Shen, or Underworld God). As an established Supreme, Ming Shen naturally held an edge over a newly ascended Supreme like Long Aotian.

Lei Dong flew on, and a mere few decades slipped by unnoticed. Despite spending this time, he had failed to shake the Azure Dragon Emperor, who, far from discouraged, continued his roaring pursuit.

Whenever his True Essence neared exhaustion, Lei Dong would ingest Chaos Crystals to replenish his reserves.

Finally, he reached the fringe of the Chaos Sea. It was a vista of seemingly endless, violent void, where countless turbulent and mixed Chaos Spiritual Qi formed utterly lawless whirlpools and tides across the vast expanse. Surging violently, it resembled a frenzied ocean within the boundless emptiness.

This area was a forbidden zone even for Supremes. Any being or object from the outside world entering would be instantly shredded by the razor-sharp, ferocious tides of the Chaos Sea. The very laws governing existence became chaotic here.

Even at the edge, Lei Dong could feel the ancient, unchanging, vast, and perilous aura of the Chaos Sea. The Chaos Spiritual Qi, tainted with myriad impurities, swept over him like blades, continuously eroding his defensive Qi shields.

And this was only the periphery, where the Void Tides were comparatively weak.

Lei Dong’s expression shifted subtly. He had underestimated the Chaos Sea and its Void Tides. In this supernatural environment that repelled even Supremes, Lei Dong could only perceive his own insignificance and weakness. That desolate, terrifying aura suggested that merely stepping across the boundary would result in being ground to dust by the impure Chaos Spiritual Qi.

However, this Chaos Sea also made Lei Dong’s eyes gleam with avarice. Such an abundance of Chaos Spiritual Qi—more than he had ever witnessed in his life. Of course, he was not foolish enough to absorb it immediately. One had to consider that if this resource was not fundamentally problematic, it would have been entirely mined out long ago, given the current scarcity of Chaos resources.

“Lei Dong, absolutely do not absorb this Chaos Spiritual Qi,” Ji Ziyan urgently warned. “The Chaos Sea formed at the dawn of creation; it is filled with violent thoughts and fierce resentment. In the previous cosmic cycle, countless powerful beings perished during the Great Heavenly Tribulation, leaving behind immense grievances and malice toward the Will of the Universe. The Tribulation could not erase this resentment, so in the next era of creation, the Will concentrated all that malice, resentment, and polluted Chaos Spiritual Qi into this single location.”

Lei Dong suddenly understood: this place was essentially a landfill for accumulated spite and rage. It explained why the Chaos Spiritual Qi was so impure and why the atmosphere was overwhelmingly volatile.

“In truth, this accumulation didn't happen overnight. It builds up through every successive Great Heavenly Tribulation,” Ji Ziyan sighed with melancholy. “If we fail to survive the next Heavenly Tribulation, the resentment and malice we generate will also be gathered here by the Universe’s Will in the subsequent cosmos, becoming part of the Chaos Sea and the Void Tides. If we absorb the Spiritual Qi here, we will inevitably be entangled by those malevolent forces. We might gain some short-term benefits, but we are certain to descend into demonic cultivation, becoming something neither man nor ghost.”

While the two exchanged these brief words, a familiar, powerful aura emanated from behind them, equally infused with malice and ferocity, perfectly harmonizing with the atmosphere of the Chaos Sea.

“Boy, you are finished! How dare you trifle with the great Supreme Azure Dragon Emperor!” Long Aotian snarled, charging forward with brutal force. In his heart, having broken the shackles that prevented the three races—Immortal, Demon, and Monster—from reaching Supreme status, he was immensely proud of becoming the first of his kind. Yet, before he could truly display his might, sweep the world, unify the Three Realms, and embark on a heaven-defying path, he had encountered Lei Dong.

A mere Half-Saint, someone who, in a direct confrontation, shouldn't last more than a few exchanges, yet he had repeatedly slipped through Long Aotian’s grasp. How could the arrogant Long Aotian tolerate this?

Killing Lei Dong to prove himself—this thought had become an unstoppable tide flooding his already unstable consciousness.

“Something that’s neither man nor ghost, neither demon nor fiend,” Lei Dong retorted just as sharply. This was not a release of emotion, but deliberate provocation.

It was undeniable that although the Azure Dragon Emperor was arrogant, mentally unstable, and violent, he was ultimately a Supreme expert; a direct fight would result in certain defeat for Lei Dong.

To win, he had to constantly attack the Emperor’s weakness, pushing that flaw to its absolute limit.

Inevitably, because the Emperor's Chaos Pagoda was a substandard imitation, the refined Chaos Origin Essence it produced was saturated with malice and resentment. When Long Aotian blindly absorbed this essence, he was uncontrollably infected by the ill will. He believed he could suppress it, but in reality, as the malevolence increased, it began to, imperceptibly, control him instead.

Having obtained the power he craved, but losing his selfhood—only the Azure Dragon Emperor knew whether that bargain was worth the price.

“Awooo~” The Azure Dragon Emperor let out a draconic roar, transforming into a colossal meteor aimed directly at Lei Dong, determined to flay his skin, boil his soul, and still not quench the hatred in his heart.

Lei Dong paid him no mind. With a flash, he plunged into the Chaos Sea. He had already observed that while the Chaos Sea was a death trap, it was not entirely devoid of navigable paths.

Amidst the surging tides and violent winds, there were always fluctuations—pockets of calm or momentary safe fissures. This was the essence of 'heaven never seals off all exits.'

For instance, when two violent currents collided, appearing immensely dangerous, one could find a safe haven by pinpointing the precise weak point. Naturally, the Chaos Sea was a constantly changing and unpredictable realm; these so-called safe spots shifted relentlessly.

One instant might be calm, the next swallowed by the most ferocious tide. Within the Chaos Sea and its Void Tides, Lei Dong was like a tiny sampan navigating a raging ocean, constantly in danger of being dashed to pieces by colossal waves.

...