The stench assaulted the senses of everyone.
"It’s foul. Makes my throat dry just from the salt in the air," Elyon muttered, visibly suffering with his sharper-than-human senses.
Little Shrubby seemed unaffected, having created a thin veil of flames around his nose that burned away the foul stench with ease.
"I think the briny stench is stronger due to the added mineral content from the volcanic ash and cooled lava," Daoist Chu theorized after a moment of thought.
"Hmm..." Lin Mu came to a stop at the edge of the water and looked at it intently.
A moment later, he dipped his finger into the sea and drew it out, examining the liquid closely.
"Strange..." Lin Mu muttered as he sensed the properties within the water.
"What is it?" Meng Bai asked, stepping closer.
"Despite the volcanic ash, there’s barely any Earth or Metal energy in the water. Even the Water Elemental Qi is being suppressed," Lin Mu explained, his brows furrowed.
"Shouldn’t those elements be dominant here?" Meng Bai asked, confused.
"I think they might be getting suppressed somehow," Daoist Chu speculated.
"Water suppressed by Metal... Metal suppressed by residual Fire that no longer exists... and Earth that has sunk into the depths. A naturally balanced alchemical position," Lin Mu concluded, his eyes narrowing in thought.
"Do people use this for alchemy?" Meng Bai asked Elyon.
"I’ve never heard of it being used. The impurities are probably too high for it to be worthwhile," Elyon replied, shaking his head.
Lin Mu thought for a moment, then slowly extended his hand into the sea once more.
This time, he infused it with Qi.
GUSH!
The water around his hand swirled into a vortex, spinning rapidly before suddenly vanishing as if swallowed by a void.
A perfect depression formed around his hand.
The Blackbone Sea stirred.
"What are you doing?" Elyon asked.
"Just storing some water for future. Who knows if it’ll e in handy?" Lin Mu replied.
"Just how much are you storing though? There’s a literal current being formed towards you." Elyon couldn’t prehend the wastage of space in the Spatial Storage ring.
"Umm, I don’t know? Like a Lake’s worth or more?" Lin Mu replied.
"A L-Lakes worth?" Elyon couldn’t believe his ears.
"Don’t worry, Lin Mu’s a Spatial Master so he has more Spatial Storage space than you’d ever think. He can make the storage rings as he wishes." Daoist Chu patted the wolfkin’s back.
"Ah, right..." Now it didn’t seem ridiculous to Elyon.
After a few minutes of absorption, Lin Mu had quite literally created a new lake within his ring. He didn’t know when it would e in handy, but had gotten used to hoarding by now. After all he quite literally had mountains of literal dirt in his ring for no reason.
He may as well add more.
With that done, the group began to travel once more.
The moon hung low in the sky like a watchful sentinel, its silver light painting a rippling path across the still waters of the Blackbone Sea.
Night finally descended and the group chose to halt for now.
As they camped on the obsidian sands by the sea, the battles seemed distant. Gentle waves lapped against the shoreline, and cool breezes carried a salty tang, whispering through the skeletal remains of ancient coral reefs that jutted from the beach like the bones of drowned giants.
A small island stood some distance offshore, visible through the moonlight and the thin mists that rose from the sea’s surface. It was round and unassuming, a dark silhouette against the horizon, easily mistaken for a sandbar or a long-forgotten reef.
No movement came from it. No sound. Just the sea.
They had almost dismissed it entirely—until Meng Bai sat upright in his bedroll.
He blinked several times, staring into the distance. His brows furrowed. "Do you hear that?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Lin Mu turned to him, alert. "Hear what?"
"A voice... a woman’s voice..."
Elyon and Daoist Chu both looked up from where they had been seated near the fire, sensing a subtle shift in the air.
"I hear nothing," Daoist Chu said at first. But then his eyes narrowed. "Wait..."
A melody, faint and ethereal, wafted over the waves. At first, it was almost indistinguishable from the sighing wind. But then it gained clarity—a gentle harmony that seemed to resonate with their souls.
Meng Bai rose to his feet, entranced.
The voice continued, clear now. Feminine. Haunting.
e where the night breathes quiet and deep...
Let go of pain, surrender sleep...
Where time forgets and stars fall still...
e walk the waves; obey the will...
"It’s... beautiful," Meng Bai said, his voice dreamy.
"No!" Elyon shouted suddenly. "It’s not real—pull him back!"
But Meng Bai didn’t listen. His eyes were glazed, feet moving on their own as he stepped toward the water, one slow stride at a time.
Daoist Chu moved to stop him, only to stagger slightly as the song intensified. It was no ordinary voice—it struck at their spirit, bypassing physical defenses and logic entirely. Even with their higher cultivation realms, they could feel it coiling through their hearts like velvet ropes.
The melody continued:
Drop your burdens, let them sink,
Where old stars drown and shadows drink...
Meng Bai’s feet touched the black water. To everyone’s surprise, the water didn’t ripple. It simply accepted him, as if he were being one with it.
"Enough," Lin Mu said, his voice low but thunderous.
The air around him grew heavy.
The pull of the song was undeniable, even to him. It wrapped around the core of his being like a lover’s caress. Somewhere deep within, it even awakened a forgotten emotion—grief, loss, longing.
But Lin Mu clenched his jaw.
His aura erupted. His Sword Intent coiled around him while his sheer will broke free from the enthrallment of the voice. But that was just the start.
The earth trembled slightly beneath their feet as his Gravity Dao surged outward. The air pressed, waves flattened, and the very pull of the siren’s voice fractured beneath the overwhelming force of Lin Mu’s will.
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