As people began to pay their tolls and pass through the teleportation array, the remaining crowd could no longer hold back, each hurriedly paying their own fees. After all, each moment they lingered increased their peril.

White Bone True Master tossed a jade bottle forward, his voice grave, "This contains Deity Transformation Spirit Essence, suitable for a fellow daoist who has depleted his resources to rebuild this teleportation array. It is right that we compensate."

Chu Xuan nodded with a smile, "Very well, True Master. Proceed quickly, and I shall certainly thank you in person someday."

White Bone True Master's mouth twitched.

A personal thank you someday, huh? Well, if you don't, you'll be the loser.

Without hesitation, he stepped into the glowing portal and disappeared.

Chu Xuan turned to the rest, still smiling, "If you have Deity Transformation spiritual items, one item will suffice for passage. If not, you'll need to offer more valuable treasures."

The rest cursed White Bone True Master under their breath.

That old trickster had to pull out the Spirit Essence, now where are we supposed to find Deity Transformation level items?

But it was too late to complain. One by one, people like Zhong Tianshuo and Tie Jun opened their treasuries wide, begrudgingly pulling out their cherished treasures to compensate Chu Xuan for the teleportation array's repair. Some, who had exhausted their stores fighting the corpse demons, painfully surrendered treasures they had hoarded for years.

Chu Xuan collected three bottles of the Spirit Essence, along with other top-grade magical treasures, Nascent Soul-level elixirs, and lower-grade spiritual weapons and Deity Transformation elixirs. Not only did he recoup his losses for rebuilding the array, but he also turned a substantial profit, especially with the three bottles of Spirit Essence which significantly aided his chances of advancing to Deity Transformation—a certainty of success with a few more such items, propelling him into the ranks of major cultivators with a thousand more years to his life.

Soon, everyone had entered the teleportation array. Chu Xuan's formations around the area were nearly destroyed by the invading corpse demons. He recalled Hu, Long, Two Arms, Four Arms, and all but a few first-tier Corpse Kings into the Heavenly Corpse Tower and the Sky-Shielding Umbrella.

As he watched the swarms of ordinary corpse demons and powerful greater corpse demons converge from all directions, he smiled faintly and stepped into the teleportation array himself. His last command before leaving was for the remaining Corpse Kings to destroy the teleportation array, to prevent the corpse demons from possibly using it to escape the Eight Extremes Palace.

With a hum, the world spun around him. A whirlwind of bizarre and dazzling sights assaulted his brain, the disorienting sensation of teleportation enough to make even the most steadfast warriors lose consciousness.

Despite his struggle to maintain consciousness through the intense dizziness of teleportation, Chu Xuan managed to deduce from the duration of his disorientation that he had been transported well beyond the South Three Rings Sea region—the farther the teleportation, the longer the disorientation lasted.

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Suddenly, a sensation of weightlessness overwhelmed him, and instead of landing on solid ground, Chu Xuan found himself plummeting towards the earth. Looking down, he noticed the islands below appeared minuscule. Initially, he thought his vision was impaired, but a closer inspection revealed he was actually high in the sky.

Cursing the randomness of the teleportation array for such a predicament, Chu Xuan quickly activated his Spiritual Qi. Now free from the suppression of spirit-dampening stones in the Eight Extremes Palace, his Spiritual Qi burst forth, enveloping him and stabilizing his descent.

Relieved, Chu Xuan extracted a flying boat from his storage bag, gently landing upon the sea's surface. He knew better than to touch the waters until he reached Deity Transformation—its perilous nature was well documented among cultivators.

Looking east, where mist obscured the horizon, Chu Xuan recalled a small island in that direction. Such islets were unlikely to be bustling hubs for cultivators, but as long as he could gather some information, it would suffice. Newly arrived, he was in dire need of understanding more about his surroundings.

Days later, as Chu Xuan approached the island, he sensed something amiss. Sounds of combat echoed continuously, and a faint smell of blood tainted the air. Peering into the distance, he saw dense clouds of blood roving the skies, trailing abrupt, silenced screams in their wake.

"Are Blood Cultivators slaughtering lower-level cultivators here?" Chu Xuan pondered. The Starshatter Sea had no mortals, but it was home to numerous low-level cultivators. Naturally, cultivators reproduced, birthing offspring who also pursued the path. Even the least among them were at least at the Foundation Building stage; Qi Refining cultivators barely survived in the Starshatter Sea.

Considering his options, Chu Xuan decided against landing on the island. Judging by the size and density of the blood clouds, the Blood Cultivators were not particularly powerful, mostly at the Golden Core stage, with perhaps a Nascent Soul leader at best.

Without knowledge of the local powers, Chu Xuan was not keen on slaying minor players only to potentially provoke more formidable foes. Preferring to avoid needless complications, he prepared to leave, unwilling to attract trouble when so much remained unknown.

Just as Chu Xuan was about to depart, the sea beneath him began to churn violently. Within moments, swarms of blood-red fish surfaced, their bodies small but their eyes disproportionately large, giving them a sinister appearance. These fish quickly opened their mouths and exhaled clouds of blood mist, which swiftly enveloped Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan was intrigued by this ambush. "Interesting," he mused, acknowledging the cleverness of the trap. Normally, his spiritual sense did not extend beneath the surface of the weak water, as powerful demonic beasts tended not to venture close to the islands where the water was too shallow for their comfort. Lesser demonic beasts were of no concern to him; if they dared to emerge, he was more than willing to taste their flesh.

He shook his head lightly, admonishing himself, "I can't afford to take chances anymore; from now on, I must extend my spiritual sense even beneath the sea."

As he contemplated his next move, three figures appeared on the edge of the island. They had spotted Chu Xuan trapped in the blood mist from a distance. The leader, a burly man, chuckled and said, "Collecting blood on the territory of the Divine Sword Sect, I had prepared for the possibility of their cultivators appearing. It seems someone has indeed blundered into my trap!"

A woman with a sultry voice expressed her surprise, "Is that the Blood Devouring Herring raised by senior brother Jin? I recall the blood mist from such herrings to be rather ineffective; how come the ones raised by senior brother Jin..."

Her companion, a tall, thin cultivator, laughed weirdly, "That's a little secret of senior brother Jin's. There are things you're better off not knowing."

The woman pouted and fell silent. The burly man laughed heartily, "The method I use to cultivate these Blood Devouring Herrings still needs refinement. It's hardly elegant. Let's kill the intruder first."

They moved swiftly towards the edge of the blood mist. The burly man gestured to disperse it, but suddenly, the blood mist began to be sucked away visibly, completely vanishing in a matter of seconds.

The sultry woman and the thin man praised, "Such a technique to dispel the blood mist into thin air, we can't even begin to fathom it!"

The burly man scratched his head, puzzled. "I didn't do that…"

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