The hazy, blood-red moon cast a soft glow over the forest, silent for countless ages. As far as the eye could see, the trees, tall and short, stood unevenly, their canopies sharp and menacing, like inverted spikes, each one stained with a sheen of crimson light.

A spacecraft, resembling a colossal black beast charging forward, tore through the sky from the distant heavens at breakneck speed. The ground beneath it remained undisturbed by the airflow it displaced, as if it were hurtling forward at a velocity achieved only by traversing sub-spatial realms.

It was an ink-black vessel, its sails hoisted high, embroidered with a single, ancient seal script: Tian!

The ship's decking and railings were densely covered in intricate carvings, like countless dark, writhing earthworms coiling and snaking across the hull, layered thickly. Under the pale, bloody moonlight, they reflected a cold, desolate glimmer.

Inside the main cabin, the living area was brilliantly illuminated, turning every corner as bright as day, though the alloyed metal corner of a table revealed a patch of shadow.

Ye Chen lifted the deep crimson wine from the table, pouring it into a Burgundy glass. The rich, mellow liquor streamed down in a perfect line, releasing an aroma that seeped into the very soul. The dazzling light from the ceiling fell into the glass, refracting off the chiseled, resolute line of his jaw and face.

With slender, elegant fingers, Ye Chen raised the glass and took a small sip. He then gazed out the viewport at the star-strewn darkness, his deep, black eyes betraying no thought. Just then, the ship's alarm system blared suddenly, a piercing shriek, as if confronted by something utterly horrific, letting out a hysterical roar.

"What is it?" Ye Chen snapped back to awareness, his noble, sword-like brows furrowing slightly. His voice, captivatingly magnetic, was slow and deep, showing no panic despite the activation of the Tiandao Divine Ship's never-before-used Q-level alert, maintaining its usual composure and calm.

A vertical liquid screen materialized on the cabin ceiling, displaying the hurried, slightly discolored face of Xiao Zhongsheng. Her exquisitely clear features seemed smeared with something, rendering them strangely pale and distorted. She gasped, "It's bad, Master! Ahead, ahead...—．there’s a monster!"

Ye Chen's brow furrowed slightly, his expression slowly darkening. For Xiao Zhongsheng, who had followed the Way of Heaven for years and seen much, to lose her composure, something truly formidable must have appeared. A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth. The wine glass he held began to slowly congeal into pure white ice where his fingers gripped it, the frost rapidly spreading across the entire vessel, forming icicles even at the rim, emitting wisps of cold, white vapor.

Ye Chen set down the glass and rose from the sofa, his tall figure moving away. He glanced back at Bai Yijun beside him, his thin lips moving slightly, as if about to speak. At that moment, Bai Yijun approached him with a soft, radiant smile. Clad in snow-white garments that contrasted with her skin, smooth and luminous like fine jade, her eyes were pure black and gleaming, like a docile kitten. She drifted gently toward Ye Chen like a pure white cloud, her delicate hand taking hold of his broad, strong palm. She murmured softly, "Let's go together."

Ye Chen's warm, deep eyes softened, and he nodded gently. Then, gripping her slender hand tightly, he flashed instantly onto the external deck of the Tiandao Divine Ship. Standing within the energy shield behind the railing, he gazed forward. There, a colossal shadow, like a black mountain range, loomed, radiating an aura of potent, wild strength. The contours of its musculature embodied a violent aesthetic beauty; every inch of its skin appeared like meticulously sculpted, exquisite artwork.

Yet, upon seeing such a near-perfect physique, both Ye Chen and Bai Yijun’s expressions changed drastically, filling with horror and disbelief. Before them stood a towering giant, soaring toward the clouds, its mass resembling a mountain peak with its scabbard thrust upward—it was unmistakably the headless ancient corpse they had encountered in the Ancient Realm Peak!

Has the army of headless ancient corpses from the Ancient Realm Peak reached the Primordial Continent? Such a thought flashed through Ye Chen’s mind like lightning. Immediately, his heart felt as though it were gripped by a massive, terrifying hand, filling him with a sensation of suffocation. He painfully turned his head to look at Bai Yijun beside him; the beautiful woman turned her gaze toward him simultaneously.

Their eyes met across the void, and both recognized the same thing... Fear!

Even a formidable figure like Ye Chen, who possessed the Tiandao Sutra and numerous secret canons, and commanded the Tiandao Divine Ship, knew clearly, having witnessed the horror of the headless corpses, that his current strength was utterly insignificant in their eyes—capable of being instantly shredded into crimson dust.

Ye Chen’s mouth gaped slightly; he felt something lodged in his throat, making breathing difficult. He forced out, with all the strength in his chest, a low, guttural sound laced with a chilling, phantom-like horror that surprised even himself: "F-first, let's flee...—"

Bai Yijun felt the cold sweat on his palm, and a fine sheen of perspiration broke out on her own forehead. With great effort, she nodded lightly. Then, without a word exchanged, they quietly began to retreat, as if afraid of disturbing something, suppressing their divine energy fluctuations to the absolute limit, emitting not the slightest breath.

The headless corpse stood immense between heaven and earth, its back turned to the Tiandao Divine Ship, seemingly at rest. Ye Chen slowly backed away while watching the giant's movements. As he stared at the smooth, severed plane of its neck, a thought, bizarre and terrifying even to himself, surfaced: What entity could possibly sever the head of such a monster, and with such a clean cut—it looked like it was removed in a single instant!

Only then did Ye Chen suddenly realize that the Primordial Continent, which he had confidently assumed he could traverse at will, was in fact riddled with mysteries. It felt as if unseen, dark, chilling eyes were watching him from every corner of the sky and land, like a phantom breathing cold air down his neck, causing every hair on his body to stand on end.

Those few dozen steps seemed as vast and long as light-years. Time felt like heavy, cold molten lead flowing into his chest, gripping his furiously beating heart, inducing a suffocating dread.

Upon returning to the cabin, Ye Chen let out a profound sigh of relief, as if a mountain weighing millions of tons pressing on him had suddenly vanished. There was an indescribable lightness and release, making the mere act of breathing fresh air feel suddenly wonderful. Without pausing for breath, he urged, "Quickly shut down all divine energy fluctuations on the ship, retreat, initiate the Cosmic Great Teleportation!"

"Yes... Master."

After Xiao Zhongsheng’s slightly trembling reply, the various thruster ports outside the Tiandao Divine Ship slowly closed without the slightest sound. Xiao Zhongsheng seemed to have completed an arduous task. Sensing through her connection with the ship that all energy ports were sealed, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief and swiftly pressed the retreat button.

Click!

The bright red button looked as if it might bleed as it sank deeply into the recess beneath her delicate, scallion-like fingers.

A smile curved the corner of Xiao Zhongsheng's mouth, but when she looked up, the smile instantly froze. The fingers pressing the red button seemed to have lost all strength. Without even realizing it herself, her hand began to tremble slightly. Her eyes, once clear as azure seawater, were now filled with intense terror. A dreadful thought surfaced in her mind, like the claw of a sneering demon extending from the depths of her soul and violently seizing her heart.

The activation... it's broken?

The scenery outside did not reverse. With her high-resolution retina, she clearly saw that the Tiandao Divine Ship hadn't moved even a fraction of an inch, yet she had definitively issued the command to retreat!

If the button was broken, but her sensory input confirmed that every system within the ship was functioning normally, showing no damage—and if there were damage, the repair systems would have already fixed it. However, all data and resources indicated that all major systems and operations within the vessel were completely normal!

Ye Chen and Bai Yijun, whose view of the outside world had remained static, felt a surge of suspicion. They hurried toward the entrance of the main control room. In Ye Chen's line of sight, he saw only Xiao Zhongsheng’s slender, alabaster body standing rigidly before the virtual control panel, as if paralyzed by an acupoint strike. She stood motionless, her eyes vacant as she stared out at the starscape, only her two naturally downward-hanging hands shaking violently and arduously, as if a spectral presence was clinging to her, rendering her entire frame stiff.

Ye Chen's heart leaped. He couldn't help but ask, "What is it? Why aren't you retreating?"

Xiao Zhongsheng’s neck rotated slowly, mechanically, to turn toward him. Her clear, pretty face was contorted by an indescribable horror and dread, like an evil ghost climbing out of the underworld. Her voice, once crisp and cold, became low, hoarse, and trembling: "The, the ship... has been, has been fixed in place..."

"What?" Ye Chen’s pupils contracted, his heart feeling instantly crushed by an immense force. He couldn't help but utter, "How is that possible!" A tremor involuntarily entered his voice.

"Why is it impossible?" a voice responded with a light, questioning chuckle.

The three inside the ship instantly stiffened, as if plunged into an ice cavern. Fear spread upward from the soles of their feet, piercing deep into their hearts, tightly squeezing their wildly beating crimson organs, stealing their breath entirely. They felt as if a cold, alien hand had reached into their bodies from behind, stroking their spines, kneading their stomachs and kidneys, causing them to lose their balance.

Ye Chen gripped Bai Yijun's slender hand tighter. The two stood at the threshold, turning to look toward the source of the sound. In the spacious living room, the crimson carpet spread across the floor, radiating a bloody light, resembling flowing gore. On the sofa where Ye Chen had been seated pouring wine moments before, a black-haired youth was now sitting.