"O Sea God…"
Bo Saixi murmured, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum, instantly swallowed by the howling sea wind and the demon god's ceaseless roars.
"The one you await—the bearer of all hope—when… will they arrive?"
She withdrew her gaze, and in an instant her eyes were stone—resolute and unyielding.
No matter how long she must wait, no matter how faint the hope, so long as the Sea God's light had not fully gone out, she—Bo Saixi—Grand Priestess of Sea God Island and the Sea God's voice in the mortal world—would fight to the last moment and bleed her last drop.
It was her innate mission, her unwavering faith.
In the past—the Bo Saixi who cherished life and yearned for freedom—might not have wished for the Sea God's successor to appear.
Because that would mean she must become the stepping stone to the godseat—offering up everything in herself as the necessary sacrifice in that sacred rite.
Though she knew this fate from the moment she accepted her mission, her desire to live had once made her resist in secret.
But now—looking at the people behind her who trusted and followed her, at the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardians whose steadfast faces could not hide their fatigue—she found herself for the first time sincerely praying for the one who could inherit the Sea God's mantle to hurry and appear.
Even at the cost of her life.
Just then, beyond the golden barrier, Osial's heads reared up again, frantically gathering a chilling mass of blue-purple destructive energy.
In the next second, a colossal pillar of light—like a world-ending spear hurled by a demon god—slammed into the wavering barrier.
Boom!!!
The thunderous detonation burst forth; blinding energy turbulence smothered all sight.
The barrier shook and warped with unprecedented violence, emitting an audible, keening sound like a cry of sorrow.
Fine cracks began to creep across that sacred golden wall.
Sea God Island's future seemed to sway with the flickering light, tossed amid a storm of annihilation.
In the distance, space was torn like fragile brocade; a pitch-black rift appeared abruptly.
A hurried beam of light shot out, falling like a meteor upon the heaving sea and throwing up a spray of white foam.
When the light faded, two figures—slightly unsteady—stood atop a lone spire of reef.
"This is…"
Bai Xiuxiu barely steadied herself from the disorienting spatial transfer. Her sea-blue eyes, still shadowed with fright and confusion, swept the unfamiliar surroundings.
Rough, slick rock underfoot. As far as the eye could see, a vast ocean dyed an ominous inky blue.
The sky above was terrifyingly dark—heavy, leaden clouds pressed low upon the sea. The air was damp and oppressive, brewing a storm of destruction.
"Did we… escape, Teacher?"
Still shaken, Bai Xiuxiu patted her chest, her voice carrying a faint tremor.
She and Skirk had been sucked into a spatial rift that opened suddenly in Mingdu, ending up in this parallel world some time ago.
They had wandered, seen strange lands and customs, and come to understand some of the dangers lurking here.
Thanks to Skirk's unfathomable strength, they'd encountered monsters born from so-called foulness points a few times, yet escaped unscathed—and even reaped a few drops of loot.
But good luck never lasts.
Earlier, they strayed into a mountain range ignited by inextinguishable flames; the towering fire and anomalous energy stirred their curiosity.
Trusting in Skirk's might, they ventured in without hesitation.
And met unimaginable horror.
Even now, thinking of the white-haired youth standing amid the flames, and the blood-red demon sword in his hand that seemed to devour all light, Bai Xiuxiu felt a bone-deep chill sweep her body.
The youth merely stood there—yet the time-freezing cold and palpable killing intent suffusing him nearly froze her blood.
Even Skirk, formidable as she was, was almost slain outright the instant they clashed.
Every swing of that demon blade carried a soul-severing power. In a single hurried exchange, Skirk was already gravely wounded.
Fortunately, at death's door, Skirk was decisive—she tanked the aftershock of a blow that could have killed her, tore open space by force, and dragged Bai Xiuxiu into the turbulence to flee.
In the last instant, Bai Xiuxiu glimpsed upon a charred peak nearby a corpse nailed to the mountainside by a blazing greatsword.
Though lifeless, that figure still exuded terrifying killing intent and reeked of blood—their level, by Bai Xiuxiu's sense, was no less than an Ultimate Douluo she knew of.
More chilling still, the residual aura of that corpse was of the same origin as the white-haired youth's crimson demon sword. The uncanny link made her shudder.
"Cough…"
Skirk silently circulated her power, calming her churning qi and blood, and wiped a thread of blood from her lips.
Her complexion was pale, but her eyes remained cool.
That white-haired youth was indeed terrifying, but he had no true intellect—merely a coagulation of immense negative energy, possessing only the shell of power and the instinct to kill. Otherwise, she and Bai Xiuxiu likely would have died there.
Just then, Skirk frowned slightly, sensing an anomalous surge from afar, and said in a low voice:
"This feeling… it's familiar."
"Familiar?"
Bai Xiuxiu gathered herself and looked over curiously.
"Mm."
Skirk nodded faintly, her keen gaze cutting toward the far horizon where energy turbulence could be sensed even from great distance.
"It's like something from my world… but more chaotic and twisted—nothing left except pure malice and the urge to destroy."
After a brief adjustment, they decided to investigate.
A faint aureole rose around Skirk, enveloping Bai Xiuxiu as well. Then they became a dim streak skimming along the waves, slipping toward the center of the eruption.
The nearer they drew, the more suffocating the world-ending pressure became.
Towering waves joined with the sunless sky, like water-whips swung by an angry god, lashing madly at an island wreathed in warm, resilient golden light.
Amid the raging seas, a colossal demon god with multiple ferocious heads—its body woven from rampaging currents and baleful dark light—roared with soul-shaking fury, ceaselessly gathering destructive energy to bombard the island's defenses.
"That is… the Vortex Demon God, Osial!"
Skirk halted abruptly, pupils narrowing, a trace of surprise in her tone.
But swiftly, her seasoned senses picked up the oddity.
"No, not the true body. Like that white-haired youth, it's a negative-energy memory body condensed from this world's foulness points—powerful in shell, but inside there's only chaotic instincts for destruction."
Frowning at the demon god running rampant upon the sea, Skirk knit her brows tighter.
Judged by this world's standards, this Osial memory body had reached the level-100 True God tier. Though inferior to the white-haired youth who wounded her, it was dangerous enough.
And she was still recovering, injuries heavy. To engage such a foe head-on now would be unpredictable—likely fatal.
At that moment, Bai Xiuxiu's attention was wholly captured by the island that remained unmoved under the assault, radiating warm, sacred gold.
The sheltering, peaceful power in that golden light stirred a comfort and familiarity from deep in her blood.
"Sea God Island… is that Sea God Island?"
She murmured, recalling the clan's lore about the Sea God's holy land.
Her gaze drifted down, to the waters around Sea God Island where a desperate battle raged against the demon god's summoned water-element monstrosities.
A pack of agile, fierce Devil Spirit Great White Sharks, each radiating powerful soul force, were hurling themselves fearlessly at the demon god's minions, their teeth and bodies forming a bulwark.
Then her vision froze completely.
At the very front of those brave Great White Sharks, the vanguard—the largest in size, with silver skin agleam, every charge unflinchingly bold—that white, sweeping figure…
Time stretched thin and stopped.
Bai Xiuxiu's breath simply stopped. It felt as if an invisible, icy hand clamped her heart; a tidal ache and stabbing sorrow flooded her nose and blurred her vision until only that soul-shakingly familiar silhouette remained.
That was…
That was her mother!
The queen of the Devil Spirit Great White Shark clan—the mother she yearned for day and night.
In her original world, the clan had been massacred by the Demon Emperor; her beloved mother had long since become a cold corpse, sunk forever in the lightless depths.
That searing grief of losing kin was a wound that would never heal—one that throbbed painfully in her midnight dreams.
But now… what was she seeing?
The mother she thought she could never behold again stood alive before her, fighting.
That vast, elegant, streamlined body; that stance of unyielding battle before a mighty foe; that resolve leading the clan forward—
Everything overlapped perfectly with the most heroic, radiant image of her mother in her deepest memories.
Scalding tears burst free like snapped pearls, sliding down her smooth, pale cheeks without warning.
She stepped forward unconsciously, a slender hand lifting slightly, as if to cross the impossible distance and touch that warmth that only appeared in her sweetest dreams.
"Mother…"
Choked, she breathed out the words heavy as a thousand tons, audible only to herself—laden with longing and sorrow.
But the cold reality surged over her like a tide.
She realized with a jolt: this was impossible.
This was a parallel world.
In this world, her mother was still fighting to protect Sea God Island.
In this world, her mother had not yet given birth to her—perhaps… had not even fallen in love with her father.
If she rushed forward now, what would she be but a strange human girl acting erratically and losing control? She might not even earn a second glance.
Overwhelming grief and an almost absurd, desperate helplessness washed over her.
Her mother—right there—close enough to touch, yet separated by an invisible, unbridgeable gulf of time and space.
So near, yet so far.
Sensing Bai Xiuxiu's uncontrollable, violent emotional turmoil, Skirk followed the girl's gaze and saw the Devil Spirit Great White Shark queen, Xiao Bai, fighting at the front.
With her intellect, she understood at once.
Seeing the girl tremble, stifling sobs as tears poured like a breached river, even Skirk's abyssal, placid eyes flickered—just slightly—with gentleness and pity.
"It's her, isn't it?"
Skirk's voice was feather-light, as if afraid to jostle the girl's fragile emotions.
Bai Xiuxiu nodded hard; tears fell more fiercely, darkening the rough reef at her feet with scattered stains.
"Teacher… that's my mom… my mother in this world—she's alive…"
Her shattered voice mixed incredulous joy with deeper pain and despair.
Skirk was silent, looking out again.
Under the shockwaves of Osial's attacks, Xiao Bai's clan was barely holding—every clash a close brush with death.
She understood how heavy a longing that crossed time and worlds could be—and how it felt to watch one's own kin in peril, yet be unable to openly reunite.
Just then, Bai Xiuxiu whipped around and seized Skirk's arm with all her strength. Lifting a face streaked with tears—pitiful and pleading—she begged through sobs:
"Teacher, please—help them, help Sea God Island… I… I can't… I can't watch my mother, right in front of me… once again…"
Her words dissolved into soundless crying.