Chapter 150: The Sea

"You calculated through divination that the Seven Deadly Sins will destroy the world in the future?" Su Mu asked with interest.

Taoist Priest Xuanqing nodded. "It is absolutely true. I really did see a vision of the Seven Deadly Sins destroying the world. Furthermore, my disciple, Jun Wushang, is the future Lust of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Su Mu found this increasingly interesting. Future Sight? The Seven Deadly Sins didn't even exist as an organization yet. Even if they did in the future, he was curious—why would he lead them to destroy the world?

This contradicted his goals. He sought excitement, but once the world was destroyed, what excitement would be left?

Could it be that this so-called future was actually the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity taking over his body and acting in his place?

And Jun Wushang as Lust? Why would he let Jun Wushang join the Seven Deadly Sins? Right now, Jun Wushang was merely a Bronze Tier 1 Transcendent. While the Sequence of his Peerless Sword Dance wasn't low—and he was certainly stronger than Yang Dongqing—he possessed no absolute advantage.

A thought occurred to him, and he asked, "Does Jun Wushang also know the Longevity Daoist Magic of the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity?"

"I have already taught him everything I can. We are only missing the final Transmission Ritual to report his true name to the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity. Once he gains the Celestial Sovereign's acknowledgment, he will be able to cast Daoist magic. A mortal casting the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity's magic must sacrifice their lifespan. My foolish disciple is still young; there was no need for him to dabble in this so early. I originally planned to perform the Transmission Ritual for him when I was nearing death, so he could take my place in searching for the item the Celestial Sovereign desires. Now, however, that is no longer necessary."

Hearing this, Su Mu dismissed the idea of learning Longevity Daoist Magic. He realized that whether it was Longevity Daoist Magic or Primal Divine Magic, they were essentially the exact same thing: trading with a God for power. The prerequisite, of course, was establishing a connection with that God first.

This felt remarkably similar to the Law. One had to connect to the Law to use the Law. Could it be...

A sudden theory welled up in his mind: perhaps the Law was also the power of a God? Back then, Wan had mentioned that the Law was the power of evil gods...

This slightly chilling thought stimulated Su Mu's nerves. If everything truly was as he suspected, then this world was simply far too interesting.

Just as he was pondering this, Jun Wushang returned from buying wine.

Taoist Priest Xuanqing hurriedly invited Su Mu to take a seat, and the banquet officially began.

After that minor interlude, and with Taoist Priest Xuanqing's deliberate flattery, both host and guest thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Jun Wushang, unable to hold his liquor, was the first to pass out drunk. Su Mu's expression remained perfectly normal; he leisurely drank and ate meat while questioning Old Taoist Xuanqing about everything related to the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity.

By the end of the drinking session, Su Mu hadn't gleaned much useful information. Most of it was just the endless praise of a zealot. The template was virtually identical to that of the Primal Divine Cult—both sides claimed their own God was omniscient, omnipotent, merciful, and great, while declaring all others to be evil gods.

It seemed that if he wanted to resolve the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity's invasion, he ultimately had to target the Gods themselves. If he hadn't devoured the Primal Angel's Divinity ahead of time, he likely would have already fallen under the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity's control.

Thinking it over, a plan gradually formed in Su Mu's mind. He would head to the Nightmare World and use the emblem of the Primal Divine Cult to draw out the Primal Cultists, to see if he could secure some help from them.

After eating and drinking his fill, he was invited to rest at the Longevity Daoist Temple. He didn't refuse, taking the opportunity to stay the night.

Night fell. Su Mu lay in the guest room, while his consciousness probed into Bubai's Shadow Space.

Inside the Shadow Space, Yang Dongqing stood with his eyes closed, like a stiff wooden statue.

Naturally, he had made preparations before coming to the Longevity Daoist Temple this time. Just as the saying went: one trick prevails everywhere. The backup plan he prepared was exactly the same as the one he used when facing the Silver powerhouse, Mu Cheng.

That was to stash a Nightmare Apostle who was on the verge of entering the Nightmare World into the Shadow Space ahead of time. If he ran into danger, he would escape into the Shadow Space, hypnotize the apostle into falling asleep, and subsequently jump to the Nightmare World.

Now, this trick was useless, because it simply didn't work against a God. A God wouldn't care about any Shadow Space—they invaded the soul directly. There was no hiding from it.

Su Mu brought Yang Dongqing out and directly hypnotized him to sleep. He then smoothly linked their dreams together and waited for the Nightmare World to descend.

Almost the moment Yang Dongqing fell asleep, a streak of blood-red manifested out of thin air in his dream. After all, ever since he had first sensed the omens of the Nightmare World, he hadn't slept at all, suppressing its arrival for several days straight.

...

...

Crash, crash...

Ocean waves constantly battered against the coastal reefs. Several seagulls circled in the sky, occasionally letting out cries.

Piercing sunlight beamed straight down from the sky, falling onto the sandy beach.

Deep in slumber, Yang Dongqing frowned under the harsh glare. He jolted awake from his dream. The first thing he saw was a beach. Yellow sand, resembling coarse salt, blanketed the ground, dotted with seashells of various shapes that faintly glowed under the sunlight.

Not far away lay the vast, boundless ocean. The waves churned and the water sparkled. At the infinite edge of his vision, the sea and the sky met in a single, seamless line.

"Is this... the Nightmare World!?" he abruptly realized, springing up from the beach like a conditioned reflex. His slightly panicked gaze swept his surroundings, and only after spotting a familiar figure did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

That figure was none other than Su Mu.

Su Mu was currently standing atop a massive reef, gazing out at the sea. His Tinted Glasses reflected the glaring sunlight.

"This is a problem," he muttered to himself.

"What's a problem? Is it this Nightmare?" Yang Dongqing approached.

Su Mu shook his head and didn't answer. The problem he spoke of wasn't this Nightmare, but rather the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity.

In his original plan, immediately after entering the Nightmare World, he would go looking for the edge of the Nightmare—the Black Fog. Then, he would enter the world of the Black Fog and use the Primal Divine Cult's emblem to contact the cult, figuring out a way to borrow the Primal Angel's power to fight the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity.

It was still unknown who was stronger between the Primal Angel and the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity. Their strength couldn't be judged by their performance within the dream realm. After all, neither had displayed their full power—it was merely a small fraction of their Divinity.

It was like comparing two billionaires. One chose to eat sesame flatbread and jellied tofu for breakfast, spending five yuan, while the other ate seafood porridge that cost hundreds. This didn't genuinely reflect who was actually wealthier.

Now, however, this plan had hit a roadblock. This Nightmare world was clearly far too large; it was actually an entire island! When he stood at a high vantage point to look out earlier, he hadn't seen the endless Black Fog anywhere on the island. That meant the Black Fog was out on the ocean.

If he wanted to enter the Black Fog, he would have to set sail and search for it. This would take a certain amount of time, but right now, time was the one thing Su Mu lacked the most.

Given the speed of the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity's invasion, it would take him three days at most to completely occupy the entire dreamscape.