Chapter 385: The Layout of the Evil God, Shi Potian Reappears! God Path Genius

Chapter 385: The Evil God’s Design, Shi Potian Reappears! The Terror of the God-Path Prodigy!

In the void, the kneeling figure of Luo Cheng appeared infinitely small yet profoundly devout before the calm, god-like back of Qin Feng.

The fervor and ecstasy emanating from the depths of his soul were beyond the reach of language. For those human remnants forgotten in the dark corners of the Endless Sea, the title "Ultimate God Emperor" had long transcended a mere name; it was a faith, a symbol, and the ultimate proof that humanity could still stand tall amidst adversity.

Qin Feng turned slowly, his indifferent gaze falling upon Luo Cheng. He could sense the man’s blood and soul nearly boiling—an unadorned, raw worship.

To this, his heart remained unruffled.

Since the battle at Eternal Life Mountain, he had grown accustomed to gazes that treated him as a deity. He knew this was not directed at "Qin Feng" the man, but at the "power" and "hope" he represented.

"Rise."

His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable will.

Luo Cheng shuddered at these words, forcibly suppressing his fanaticism. He stood up slowly, though his head remained bowed, not daring to meet Qin Feng’s eyes.

"God Emperor, how... how did you come to the Endless Sea?" Luo Cheng asked cautiously, his voice still trembling.

"I seek an object to glimpse the Holy Path." Qin Feng’s reply was concise.

Luo Cheng understood. Only the legendary Holy Realm was worth such an existence risking their life.

"Since we have met, I shall grant you a fortune." Qin Feng flicked his finger. A Bodhi seed shimmering with seven-colored light and a jade slip containing vast information drifted toward Luo Cheng.

"This Bodhi seed can aid your enlightenment once, or save your life in a moment of crisis. The jade slip contains my past cultivation insights and the coordinates to resources sufficient to rebuild your clan."

After annihilating the Three-Eyed Ghost fleet and the Soul-Devouring Vulture tribe, Qin Feng had conveniently extracted the coordinates of their lairs and treasure vaults. To him, these resources were a drop in the ocean, but for Luo Cheng and his decimated Tianyan branch, it was a fortune enough to rise again.

Looking at the two items, Luo Cheng’s eyes turned red.

He knew this was not just a fortune; the God Emperor was pointing out a path of survival for the wanderers.

He did not refuse, for he knew that in the presence of the God Emperor, any false modesty would be a desecration of such grace. He received the items solemnly and bowed deeply once more.

"Luo Cheng, on behalf of all the lost souls of the Tianyan branch, thanks the God Emperor for this gift of rebirth!"

"No need." Qin Feng nodded slightly. "I intend to head to the first God-Pass, the 'Bone Burial Ground.' Do you know its location and current state?"

Though he possessed the star map given by the Lord of Extremity, the Endless Sea changed in an instant, and coordinates could drift. Confirming with a "local" was always the safer choice.

At the mention of the "Bone Burial Ground," Luo Cheng’s expression turned grave.

"God Emperor, you also intend to challenge the God-Pass?"

"Indeed."

Luo Cheng took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and said in a low voice, "Reporting to the God Emperor, the opening of the seventy-two God-Passes is the most significant event in the Endless Sea in a century. I do know the location of the first pass, and its coordinates do not differ much from the ancient star maps."

As he spoke, he condensed the coordinates into a mental imprint and presented it respectfully to Qin Feng.

Qin Feng received the imprint and compared it with his own map; they matched perfectly.

"What is the situation there?" he continued.

At the mention of the situation, a trace of sorrow and lingering fear appeared on Luo Cheng’s face.

"It is grim... especially for us humans," he said heavily. "The opening of the God-Pass has drawn countless powerhouses to the Endless Sea. But the Bone Burial Ground seems to have unknown rules; those who enter face ten deaths for every life! Many human prodigies have rushed there, hoping to seize the chance to become gods, but the results..."

He shook his head, his face bitter. "According to news I was lucky enough to receive, no fewer than thirty human geniuses have fallen within the Bone Burial Ground, including several King-level powerhouses. Once they entered, there was no word; even their life tablets shattered completely."

"It is said that it is a true 'burial ground.' No matter how powerful you were in life, once you step inside, you are reduced to dry bones, your cultivation and essence devoured by that strange land."

Qin Feng listened quietly, his expression unchanged.

Such danger was within his expectations. If the barriers set by the Evil God were easy to pass, that would be the real surprise.

"Besides those who fell, is there any intelligence regarding the unknown rules?"

"None." Luo Cheng shook his head. "All who emerged alive are tight-lipped, as if bound by a taboo. But every one of them was severely wounded, their essence damaged, as if they had survived the most terrifying battle in existence."

He paused, as if remembering something, his face darkening further.

"Just recently, shocking news arrived. A... a top-tier human prodigy who had stepped onto the 'God-Path' was severely wounded in the Bone Burial Ground and nearly killed. They only escaped by detonating an Imperial-level secret treasure. Now, their whereabouts are unknown, and their fate hangs in the balance."

"Oh?" Qin Feng’s eyebrows finally lifted slightly. "A God-Path prodigy?"

In a place like the Endless Sea, producing a human genius of the God-Path level was no small feat.

"Yes." Luo Cheng nodded, his eyes filled with admiration and regret. "That person’s name is... Shi Potian!"

Shi Potian.

The moment these three words entered his ears, the ancient, still lake of Qin Feng’s heart finally rippled.

A name long sealed away, nearly forgotten in the depths of his memory, quietly surfaced.

His thoughts seemed to pierce through endless time and space, returning to that blue Morning Star, to those slightly naive days of his youth.

High school.

In that class of talented martial artists, there was always a boy sitting silently in the corner, dark-skinned and stubborn. His talent was not top-tier, and his background was ordinary, but he was the most diligent and desperate in the entire class—aside from himself, who had unlocked the System.

When others practiced for eight hours, he practiced for twelve.

When others did one set of strength training, he did three, until he collapsed from exhaustion.

His name was Shi Potian.

Qin Feng remembered that back then, because of the System, his strength soared, quickly leaving everyone behind to become the brightest star of Morning Star.

And Shi Potian was like a silent pursuer, always following behind him. He never spoke, never gave up, just following that unreachable back, step by step, with sweat and scars.

To think...

After such a long time, in this perilous Endless Sea, he would hear his name again.

And as a "God-Path prodigy."

The boy who once silently chased him had actually relied on his own perseverance and fortune to reach this point.

"So it was him..."

Qin Feng whispered to himself.

An indescribable emotion flowed through his heart. It was not the joy of reuniting with an old friend, but rather... an acknowledgment of a pure "Dao Heart."

Qin Feng knew clearly that without the help of a system, reaching the "God-Path" required a terrifying price, countless brushes with death, and a heart of iron that never yielded.

Shi Potian had done it.

"God Emperor, do you know Lord Shi Potian?"

Luo Cheng keenly captured the momentary fluctuation in Qin Feng’s mood.

"We have met once." Qin Feng withdrew his thoughts, his gaze returning to calm.

He did not ask further; he knew what he needed to know.

"Go," he said to Luo Cheng. "Find a hidden place and cultivate with focus. After I succeed, if humanity finds a foothold in the Endless Sea, I will seek you out."

"Yes!" Luo Cheng responded respectfully. He knew the God Emperor was heading to a place of death, and following him would only be a burden.

He took one last deep look at Qin Feng, etching that figure forever into the depths of his soul, then turned into a streak of light and sped away toward the resource coordinates.

After Luo Cheng’s figure vanished completely, Qin Feng turned, his gaze fixed on the star field shrouded in endless chaos and the aura of death.

There lay the first God-Pass: the Bone Burial Ground.

The Oracle emerged in silence, and Qin Feng stepped inside.

Full speed ahead; the destination is the Boneyard.

As the cold command was issued, the Oracle’s engines erupted with immense thrust, the vessel carving a faint, fleeting shadow through the void as it raced toward that legendary graveyard of gods and demons.

The voyage did not last long.

When the Oracle pierced through an asteroid belt composed of countless shattered stellar remains, the view before them suddenly opened wide.

A vast plain, too immense for the eye to measure, appeared abruptly in the chaotic void.

This plain possessed an eerie, ash-white hue, as if paved with the bone dust of some unknown creature.

The expanse was barren, devoid of mountains or rivers, holding only a silence and desolation that seeped into the marrow.

In the center of the plain stood a portal of unimaginable scale.

Constructed entirely from the colossal, pale-white bones of unknown entities, its two pillars were the leg bones of gargantuan beasts that spanned the heavens, while the lintel was a thicker spine, etched with ancient divine runes.

Within the portal swirled a deep, rotating gray vortex, as if connected to another dimension, radiating a pulse of devouring hunger that chilled the soul.

This was the Boneyard.

Before the portal, on the vast plain, a dense crowd of figures had already gathered.

They were of varied forms and disparate races: Abyss demons with bodies like mountains wreathed in hellfire; fallen angels with twelve wings radiating holy light; mechanical lifeforms forged from intricate gears and runes; and succubi, graceful yet radiating a lethal allure.

Yet, without exception, the aura each emitted was powerful to the extreme.

Every one of them stood at the very pinnacle of the King realm—the peak of the King-tier.

This did not conflict with the intelligence Luo Cheng had provided regarding the death of many human prodigies; those prodigies might have been elites among the humans who entered the Endless Sea, but before this gathering of true apex powerhouses, they were likely not even worth the status of cannon fodder.

Qin Feng hid the Oracle behind a distant asteroid belt, his powerful divine sense sweeping quietly across the field.

As he had expected, the beings present were not all prodigies of the Divine Path.

The vast majority were merely ordinary peak Kings. Though powerful, their foundational Dao paths lacked the essential depth of true Divine Path prodigies.

Of those who had truly walked the Divine Path, Qin Feng sensed only twelve.

These twelve auras were like lighthouses in the dark, unmistakably prominent. They occupied their own territories, clearly demarcated from one another, their presence defined by a wholeness and a resonance that transcended ordinary laws, making them stand out like cranes among a flock of chickens.

This was a staggering number.

In the main universe, the birth of a single Divine Path prodigy in an era was enough to shake the cosmos. Yet here, twelve had appeared at once. It was a testament to the immense allure of the Seventy-Two Divine Passes.

At this moment, the atmosphere before the portal was exceptionally heavy, even restless.

All the powerhouses stood in silence, yet not one dared to be the first to step into the bone portal.

Clearly, the Boneyard’s reputation as a place of "ten deaths and no life" had spread, casting a deep shadow of trepidation even over these arrogant peak Kings.

They argued, their mental fluctuations clashing in intense exchange.

How long must we wait? The opportunity is right before us; are we to just waste away here? A volatile thought rang out, originating from a beast-kin king with red manes, resembling a lion.

Hmph, easy for you to say, why don’t you go in first? A cold, thin voice retorted—a creature half-corporeal, woven from shadows. Who doesn’t know that the rules of this Boneyard are treacherous? Those who enter first become nothing but paving stones of bone!

The rules are unclear, so it is indeed unwise to act rashly. But waiting forever is no solution. If we miss the opening window, haven’t we come for nothing?

The debate surged and ebbed; everyone craved the fortune within, yet no one wished to be the sacrificial scout.

Just then, a cold, haughty voice suppressed the clamor.

Enough.

The speaker was one of the twelve Divine Path prodigies.

It was a humanoid entity composed entirely of brilliant black crystal, every facet of its body seemingly containing the fundamental truths of the Dao, radiating a chilling, demonic luster.

The Crystal Demon King.

In Qin Feng’s mind, the records provided by the Limitless Lord regarding the new generation of Divine Path prodigies in the Endless Sea surfaced. This was one of them.

As the Crystal Demon King spoke, the scene fell instantly silent.

All the ordinary peak Kings turned their gazes toward him, their eyes filled with awe and... resentment.

This was the prestige of a Divine Path prodigy. Even as fellow peak Kings, the disparity in their life essence granted these beings absolute authority.

The Crystal Demon King surveyed the field, his black crystal eyes devoid of emotion.

What everyone says has merit. The rules of the Boneyard are unknown, and we do indeed need beings to scout the path ahead. His voice was like grinding crystal, cold and grating. Since no one is willing, we shall decide who goes.

He stated this as if it were a matter of course.

Might makes right.

In this Endless Sea, where there is no order, only power, the strong have the right to determine the fate of the weak.

This naked bullying made the faces of many ordinary peak Kings grow ugly, though they dared not voice their anger.

The Crystal Demon King ignored their reactions, turning his gaze to the other eleven Divine Path prodigies.

Those eleven, of various races—Gods, Demons, Beasts—though belonging to different camps and even competing against one another, reached a startling consensus in that moment.

They would use these mortals to clear the path ahead.

I agree.

A fallen god-kin prodigy with black flames burning behind him nodded slowly.

Acceptable.

A mechanical prodigy, its form like shifting liquid metal, emitted a synthesized electronic tone.

No objections.

...

The twelve Divine Path prodigies reached an agreement in mere seconds.

Seeing this, the ordinary peak Kings felt their sense of foreboding intensify.

Sure enough, the Crystal Demon King spoke again, his voice filled with unquestionable tyranny:

Since that is the case, the twelve of us shall each select a 'lucky one' to scout the path ahead for us.

With that, his right hand, fashioned from black crystal, rose slowly and pointed toward a direction within the crowd of kings.

Let us start... with you.

Following the direction of his finger, all eyes converged.

It was a beast-kin king, relatively slight of build and covered in cyan scales. The moment he was pointed out by the Crystal Demon King, he shuddered, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

No! Why me! he shrieked in terror.

There is no why. The Crystal Demon King’s voice remained cold. Or do you believe you have the right to refuse?

Before the words had faded, a terrifying pressure from the Divine Path descended upon the beast-kin king like an invisible mountain.

The beast-kin king felt his bones groan and his soul threaten to shatter; even standing became an impossible struggle.

This was a naked display of power!

And the other eleven Divine Path prodigies, at nearly the same moment, each reached out their hands, casually—as if picking goods at a market—and pointed at eleven other unfortunate souls in the crowd.

"You."

"And you."

"Step forward."

This attitude, treating them as mere blades of grass and disposing of their lives at whim, ignited a fire of fury in the hearts of every peak king present.

Suppression, resentment, humiliation—these emotions gathered in their chests like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"By what right!"

Finally, someone unable to bear the indignity let out a roar of rage.

"We are all peak kings, here for the same destiny! By what right do you treat us as expendable pawns to clear your path?"

"That's right! So what if you are prodigies of the Divine Path? We are not made of mud!"

"If you want us to die, you will have to step over our corpses first!"

The defiance of one ignited the entire crowd.

"Boom—!!!"

Waves of powerful kingly auras surged into the sky. Hundreds of peak kings, no longer silent, spontaneously united, fixing their furious gazes upon the twelve high-and-mighty prodigies of the Divine Path.

Public outrage had been fully unleashed!

Facing this terrifying formation, enough to make any Emperor pale, the twelve prodigies showed not a hint of fear.

Only disdain, and a flicker of annoyance at being provoked by ants.

"Oh?" The Crystal Demon King let out a cold laugh, the demonic light in his eyes intensifying. "It seems some have yet to recognize the chasm between us."

"Since you seek death, I shall grant it to you!"

The moment his words fell, his figure vanished.

An instant later, he appeared before the king who had first resisted. A claw made of black crystal, imbued with the power of tearing laws, pierced straight through the man's chest!

"Pfft—!"

Blood sprayed.

The peak king could not even react before he was killed instantly, his soul annihilated by the demonic energy clinging to the claw.

A single strike, slaying an equal!

Such was the terrifying strength of a Divine Path prodigy!

This sight sent a chill through the hearts of the kings who had just been emboldened.

Yet, there was no turning back.

"Kill!!" After a brief shock, a more violent roar shook the entire plain.

"Even if we die, we will drag you arrogant bastards down with us!"

"Everyone, attack together! No matter how strong they are, there are only twelve of them!"

The battle erupted instantly, without warning.

In a heartbeat, the plain before the burial ground turned into a turbulent ocean of energy.

Laws collided, divine lights intertwined, and supreme arts clashed.

Hundreds of peak kings faced twelve Divine Path prodigies.

A slaughter... without suspense, had begun.

...

Before the burial ground, on the silent plain, war was ignited in an instant.

It was not a duel between equals, but a hunt.

The twelve Divine Path prodigies, like twelve gods and demons walking the earth, faced hundreds of furious yet desperate peak kings.

"Boom!"

The Crystal Demon King moved like a black lightning bolt, weaving through the crowd of kings.

He used no flashy arts, relying solely on his supreme body forged from "Demon Source Crystals."

Each swipe of his claw easily tore through space and pierced laws, crushing both the protective divine light and the flesh of a peak king.

His movements were efficient, precise, and filled with a cold aesthetic of slaughter; it was as if he were not fighting, but performing a delicate act of "dismantling."

"Holy light, judge these sinful souls!"

The prodigy of the Fallen God race, with twelve wings upon his back, raised a great sword forged of black radiance.

Where the blade pointed, beams of black holy light, heavy with decay and corruption, descended like divine retribution.

Kings enveloped by the light saw their essence rapidly eroded and corrupted, until they dissolved into pools of pus along with their souls, amidst agonizing screams.

The Machine race prodigy, whose form resembled liquid metal, was even more terrifying.

His body disintegrated in an instant into billions of nanobots, forming a metallic storm that shrouded half the battlefield.

Any creature caught within had their energy, life information, and even insights into the Great Dao frantically analyzed, stolen, and devoured, leaving behind only a withered husk drained of all essence.

Twelve Divine Paths, twelve distinct yet equally tyrannical methods of slaughter.

They were like twelve high-efficiency meat grinders, coldly harvesting lives.

The ordinary peak kings were not without resistance.

They roared, burning their own essence to unleash their most forbidden secret techniques. Dozens of kings joined forces, converging all their attacks into a torrent of energy capable of shaking stars, blasting it toward one of the prodigies.

Yet, the prodigy merely smiled in contempt. Before him, a "Barrier of God," constructed from his own Dao laws, quietly emerged.

"Rumble—!!!"

The torrent of energy, enough to destroy a galaxy, struck the barrier, causing only a ripple before being rendered invisible and void.

"Is this... the gap?"

A blood-soaked king, witnessing this, felt endless despair in his eyes.

The power they took such pride in was as fragile as a joke before true Divine Path prodigies.

This was not a chasm that numbers could bridge; it was an absolute suppression of the level of life.

The slaughter continued.

Kings fell in droves. Their remains were quickly torn to shreds by the violent energy aftermath, absorbed by the strange gray-white plain, and vanished without a trace.

The air was thick with the scent of blood and despair.

In the distance, hidden behind an asteroid belt aboard the [Divine Oracle], Qin Feng watched it all quietly.

His face was expressionless.

He had seen such scenes too often. The law of the jungle was the norm of the universe. The strength of these twelve prodigies was indeed impressive; each possessed combat power comparable to a newly ascended Emperor, and together, even an ordinary Emperor would have to retreat.

But he did not care.

What he cared about was the "burial ground" itself.

Since the battle began, his divine sense had remained draped over the entire field. He perceived with chilling clarity that the fallen kings—their dissipating essence, their flesh, even the fragments of their souls—were not truly returning to the cosmos. Instead, drawn by an invisible force, they were quietly absorbed into the vast, ash-gray plain beneath their feet.

This earth... was feeding.

The slaughter did not last long.

When the last resisting king had his skull crushed by the claw of the Crystal Demon King, the clamor of the battlefield finally dissolved into a deathly silence.

Of the hundreds of peak kings who had stood there, only twelve remained.

These were the twelve "pathfinders" pointed out at random by the twelve prodigies of the Divine Road.

They had not participated in the combat; or rather, from the very start, they had been pinned by the crushing pressure of the prodigies, unable even to stir. Now, chilled to the bone and pale as ghosts, they gazed at the carnage and those twelve figures looming like dark gods, their eyes brimming with boundless terror.

Now, it was their turn.

"Very well, the obstacles have been cleared."

The Crystal Demon King flicked the nonexistent blood from his claw, his icy gaze sweeping over the twelve survivors.

"Now, it is time for you to fulfill your 'glory'."

The other eleven prodigies cast their own indifferent gazes toward them as well.

In their eyes, these twelve beings were no different from the dead.

Yet, just as the Crystal Demon King prepared to command these twelve "sacrifices" into the bone-wrought gateway,

A sudden, violent shift occurred!

"Hum—"

A mysterious vibration, impossible to describe in words, rippled outward from the depths of that colossal bone portal without warning.

This pulse carried no energy, no sound; it seemed to transcend matter and time, acting directly upon the fundamental laws of the plain.

In an instant, the entire ash-gray expanse began to glow with a faint, rhythmic light, pulsing like a living breath.

Everyone froze at the sudden turn of events.

Then, a sight unfolded that made every creature present—even the twelve high-and-mighty prodigies—feel their scalps prickle and their blood run cold.

The very ground that had absorbed the flesh and essence of the kings who had just been ground to dust began to "writhe" slowly.

Specks of bone-like ash began to gather upward.

Threads of dissipated energy began to coalesce from the void.

Shards of shattered soul-marks began to knit themselves back together.

It was as if time were flowing backward.

No, it was far more sinister than that!

Blurred human shapes formed rapidly amidst the gathering dust and energy.

Flesh regenerated, bones were reshaped, and spirits were restored.

In the span of a dozen breaths, the hundreds of peak kings who had just been slaughtered to the last man... were all standing back in their original places, not a single one missing.

They were unscathed; their wounds healed, their spent essence restored to the peak state they held before the battle began.

"I... am I still alive?"

The king who had been the first to be slain by the Crystal Demon King looked down at his intact chest, his face a mask of bewilderment and disbelief.

"What... what is happening?"

"Weren't we already dead?"

All the resurrected kings were plunged into profound chaos and shock. They clearly remembered the moment of their deaths, the agony of their souls being annihilated—that could not have been a lie.

Yet here they stood, alive and breathing.

This defied every law and reason they had learned in their lifetimes!

If the resurrected kings were shocked, the twelve prodigies felt something else entirely: a horror and chill rising from the depths of their souls.

They had killed these people with their own hands; they were certain the victims had been utterly extinguished, leaving not even a trace of their true spirits behind.

Yet, they had returned!

On this cursed land, death, it seemed, was not the end.

"What... is this rule?" the prodigy of the Fallen God race asked, a note of gravity entering his voice for the first time.

"An 'Undying' domain?" The electronic eyes of the Machine Race prodigy flickered with frantic data streams; clearly, the scene before them had exceeded its capacity for calculation.

The Crystal Demon King stared fixedly at the resurrected kings, his black crystalline eyes shimmering with uncertainty.

Suddenly, he raised his hand, and a beam of pitch-black demonic light shot once more toward the king he had previously executed.

Caught off guard by the sudden strike, the king had no time to react.

"Puff!"

His body was pierced and annihilated once again.

However, mere seconds later—

"Hum—"

The mysterious pulse rippled out from the bone portal once more.

The ash-gray plain lit up again.

And the king, once more, stood perfectly whole in his original spot.

This time, everyone saw it with absolute clarity.

The scene fell into a deathly, suffocating silence.

Every face was etched with shock and... terror.

If the first resurrection could be explained away by some unknown, large-scale revival technique, this second instance confirmed a hair-raising truth.

Before this burial ground, life, it seemed, could not be killed!

The two sides, previously at each other's throats, now fell into a sudden calm.

The common kings were no longer angry, for they realized they could not die.

The prodigies were no longer arrogant, for they realized their immense power had lost its meaning here.

Slaughter had become futile.

"Let us stop."

Finally, among the twelve, a prodigy of the God race with a gentle temperament and an aura of vegetation spoke up.

"It seems the rules of this burial ground are far more complex than we imagined. To continue fighting is meaningless."

No one argued.

The Crystal Demon King slowly lowered his hand, his expression grim. He was arrogant, but he was not a fool. In a place where even the laws of death were twisted, any rash action could invite unknown and far more terrifying consequences.

Everyone calmed down, beginning to re-examine the strange plain and the ominous bone portal.

The atmosphere shifted from one of imminent violence to a bizarre, wary peace.

They began to exchange ideas, deliberating on a countermeasure.

"Could this immortality be subject to a limit on the number of resurrections?"

"Or perhaps... every time we return, we pay a price that remains hidden from our sight?"

"Is it possible that this rule of 'immortality' is confined to these plains? That once we step through that gateway, it will cease to function?"

One conjecture after another was proposed, then scrutinized in turn.

No one spoke of sending others to scout or die anymore. Here, the very concept of "dying" had become a hollow proposition.

Yet, just as they were locked in heated debate, attempting to unravel the mystery of this immortality,

a figure appeared, silent and unbidden, at the edge of the battlefield.

He walked with a steady, unhurried gait, traversing the distant void step by step, as if he were merely strolling through his own back garden.

His arrival stirred no fluctuations of energy, yet it naturally commanded the gaze of every soul present.

It was Qin Feng.

He had deactivated the stealth of the Oracle, descending upon this place alone.

As he drew nearer, an intangible, indescribable pressure began to shroud the entire field.

It was not a deliberate display of might, but a natural emanation from the very level of his existence. It was as if a star had quietly descended among a swarm of fireflies.

The voices of the kings, previously locked in fierce argument, fell abruptly silent.

Every eye was fixed upon this black-clad human who had suddenly emerged.

"Who... is this?"

"What a terrifying aura! He feels... even more unfathomable than those twelve prodigies of the Divine Path!"

"A human? Since when did such a powerhouse exist in the Endless Sea?"

Even the twelve prodigies of the Divine Path cast sidelong glances, their eyes filled with vigilance and gravity.

From Qin Feng, they sensed something... a peer, or perhaps... something that transcended their own kind.

Qin Feng ignored their stares. His pace never faltered, and he walked straight to a patch of open ground not far from the bone-wrought gateway before coming to a halt.

He looked up, gazing at the portal constructed from the remains of gargantuan beasts.

A grand, desolate, and ancient aura—heavy with the lingering resentment and unfulfilled desires of countless souls—rushed toward him.

Moreover, within his perception, the surrounding scene began to undergo subtle shifts.

The gray-white plains seemed to transform into an endless sea of blood and a mountain of corpses.

The air filled with the wailing and curses of a billion souls.

Visions flickered before his eyes like a revolving lantern: gods falling, their holy blood staining the heavens; gargantuan demons roaring, shattering stars with a single blow; celestial maidens weeping blood, their every hope turned to ash...

These visions carried immense spiritual impact, enough to shatter the resolve of any king whose heart was not forged in iron, plunging them into instant madness.

However, Qin Feng’s black-gold spiritual energy merely stirred.

The Seven-Colored Bodhi Seed within his sea of consciousness swayed gently, casting down rays of pure light.

Every vision and spiritual assault vanished into smoke in an instant.

His eyes remained as clear as they had been from the start, as still as an ancient well.

"Interesting."

Qin Feng whispered to himself.

Though these spiritual attacks were useless against him, they confirmed from another angle that an unimaginable number of powerhouses were buried here.

His divine sense, like an invisible breeze, spread quietly, easily bypassing everyone’s perception to capture their previous conversations and their current deliberations.

"...So, our consensus is that this 'immortality' is absolutely a trap!"

"Indeed! How could a checkpoint set by an Evil God offer us such a bargain?"

"I suspect that every resurrection leaves an unknown mark deep within our souls. Once those marks reach a certain number, it may trigger some fatal curse!"

"Or perhaps each resurrection consumes our very 'existence.' When that existence is exhausted, we will be erased from the level of causality entirely, leaving no chance for resurrection at all!"

Hearing these guesses, a flicker of understanding crossed Qin Feng’s eyes.

These peak kings, having reached this stage, were clearly no fools. They had quickly grasped the crux of the matter.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

The "blessings" of an Evil God are often wrapped in the most lethal of poisons.

This so-called "immortality" was certainly not as simple as it appeared.

It was perhaps not a protection, but a form of... screening, or even... farming.

At this thought, Qin Feng felt a surge of caution regarding this first Divine Gate, the "Burial Ground."

The waters here were deeper than he had imagined.

He did not rush to act, choosing instead to stand still like the others, observing and waiting in silence to see if any further changes would occur, or if... someone would eventually be unable to resist becoming the first "hero" to step into the unknown trap.