I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

After leaving the auction house, Zhou Yuan did not continue to wander around. Instead, he went to a seemingly ordinary shop and bought a detailed nautical chart of the waters near Qiyuan Island.

He then left Blackrock City and headed south.

According to the markings on the nautical chart, the legendary "Sea Abyss" is located south of Qiyuan Island.

Zhou Yuan flew for ten thousand miles in one breath before slowing down his escape speed.

This place is far from Blackrock City, and it's rare to see any human cultivators around here anymore.

The sea stretches to the horizon, dotted with a few desolate islands.

Zhou Yuan landed on one of the small islands, which was only about fifteen or sixteen miles in circumference.

The island was small, but its secluded location made it a perfect place for him to stay temporarily.

He took out the "Ninefold Sealing Pill Array" set of equipment and the Xuan Shu Stone he had just acquired, and began to refine it again.

Two months later.

The new formation is finally complete!

Zhou Yuan named this formation the Mysterious Killing Formation!

It combines trapping, defense, illusion, and offense, making its power far superior to the previous Ninefold Sealing Pill Formation.

The most ingenious thing is that this mysterious killing formation has a unique characteristic: the higher the quality of the spirit stone, the stronger the formation's power!

Zhou Yuan currently carries dozens of high-grade spirit stones. If he were to replace all sixteen mid-grade spirit stones originally used in this formation with high-grade spirit stones...

Even a level nine demon beast would have to put in a lot of effort to break through this formation!

After all, sixteen high-grade spirit stones—that's a generous sum that even the entire protective array of Qiyuan Island might not be able to provide!

"It's time to move to a different place."

Zhou Yuan dispelled the formation and continued flying south.

……

Seven or eight days later.

The color of the sea ahead began to change.

The once azure sea gradually turned deep and dark, as if leading to an endless abyss.

Zhou Yuan knew he had arrived at the edge of the abyss.

According to the cultivators of Qiyuan Island, this abyss is ridiculously large, stretching for tens of millions of miles!

Even more terrifying is that this sea area is unfathomably deep, and no one has yet been able to determine its exact depth.

Zhou Yuan hovered in the air, gazing at the pitch-black seawater, and had already made up his mind.

"At most, we can go as far as 50,000 li."

In the deepest parts of the ocean, monstrous beasts that have taken human form may appear in large groups.

With his current strength, if he were to encounter them, his chances of survival would be slim.

We can only look for opportunities in the peripheral areas, which are 50,000 miles away.

He took a deep breath, and in a flash, he disappeared into the sea.

……

Dive into the deep sea.

The depth of the abyss at the edge was still within Zhou Yuan's acceptable range. Before long, he sank to the bottom of the sea.

But the further they went, the more bizarre the terrain became—the seabed resembled a series of stepped cliffs, some plunging thousands of feet into the depths, as if leading to the underworld.

Zhou Yuan concealed his aura and moved slowly along the seabed, while simultaneously releasing his divine sense to be vigilant about everything around him.

Four or five days passed.

During this time, he encountered several foolish level-five demonic beasts, all of which he swiftly killed. He pocketed their demonic cores and discarded their corpses.

On this day, Zhou Yuan arrived at a peculiar place.

Ahead, a huge stone pillar rises from the seabed, shooting straight up to the surface, its height unknown.

The stone pillars are covered with the marks of time and are overgrown with various marine plants, suggesting they have existed for countless millennia.

At the top of the stone pillar, on a protruding platform, stood five human cultivators!

They're all at the Core Formation stage!

Three late-stage Core Formation cultivators and two mid-stage Core Formation cultivators!

Zhou Yuan's gaze sharpened slightly. A preference for fantasy novels? (Click here)

After he came out to the outer sea, he suppressed his aura to the mid-stage of Core Formation.

At this moment, he deliberately exposed himself to these people in order to find out some things.

"Fellow Daoist, why are you alone?"

One of the burly men, with a rugged face, noticed Zhou Yuan and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. "Are your companions nearby?"

"I have no companions."

Zhou Yuan shook his head.

Upon hearing this, the five people reacted with varying expressions.

A look of disdain flashed in some eyes—"He dares to come to the Abyss to hunt demons all by himself? He's courting death."

Some people seemed to be deep in thought—those who dare to venture into this place alone must have some extraordinary abilities and should not be underestimated.

A late-stage Core Formation cultivator, dressed in a green robe and with a refined appearance, spoke up: "My name is Fu Kun. May I ask your name? Would you be interested in hunting down an eighth-level transformed demon with us?"

Zhou Yuan's heart stirred, but he remained expressionless.

Hunting down a transformed demon? Just these few people?

"Zhou Yuan," he announced his name, then asked, "Fellow Daoists, do you think we few can hunt down a transformed great demon?"

Fu Kun laughed and explained, "Fellow Daoist Zhou has misunderstood. In fact, this demon-hunting plan was organized by Senior Jin Xia."

We will only need to assist from the sidelines, and we will receive a substantial reward.

Senior Jinxia – a Nascent Soul cultivator!

"The demon-hunting location is three to the east..." Fu Kun was interrupted halfway through his sentence by a wink from the person next to him.

The man said in a low voice, "Brother Fu, this fellow Daoist hasn't agreed yet, how can we reveal all the information?"

Fu Kun gave an awkward smile and didn't say anything more.

Zhou Yuan sneered inwardly, but on his face he showed an apologetic expression, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect: "I'm sorry, my strength is too weak, so I'd better not join in the fun. Please make yourselves at home, fellow Daoists."

Having said that, he turned and left, quickly disappearing into the vast sea.

……

After going in a big circle, Zhou Yuan quietly turned back.

Instead of leaving, he quickly and stealthily headed east, the direction Fu Kun had previously let slip.

He didn't know if it was three hundred li or three thousand li, but it couldn't possibly be thirty thousand li.

After traveling three hundred miles without any abnormalities, Zhou Yuanchao flew even further.

Three thousand miles was not a long distance for him.

Soon after, a small island came into view ahead.

The island was small, only about four or five hundred miles in circumference, with sparse vegetation and complex terrain.

Zhou Yuan slowed down his speed in advance and suppressed his aura to the extreme.

Instead of flying directly to the island from the sky, he first dived into the seabed, skimming along the seabed and approaching silently.

After landing on the island, he still did not rush into anything, but simply moved slowly on the ground.

A moment later, he sensed a golden beam of light flying from a distance.

The light flew very low, close to the sea surface, clearly trying to conceal its presence.

The golden light fell into a secluded mountain stream on the island.

Zhou Yuan approached quietly.

In the mountain stream, an elderly Taoist priest with an air of otherworldly wisdom stood with his hands behind his back.

He had an ancient sword tucked into his back, a whisk in his hand, and wore a golden, gleaming Taoist robe with a powerful aura.

It was a Nascent Soul cultivator!

"This person must be the 'Senior Jinxia' that those people were talking about."

Zhou Yuan thought to himself.

He held his breath and focused his mind, pushing the Nameless Concealing Breath Technique to its limit, his entire being becoming like a stubborn rock, merging with the surrounding rocks.

Fortunately, his divine sense far surpassed that of his opponent, and coupled with the exquisite concealment technique, the Golden Cloud Daoist, who was in the early Nascent Soul stage, did not detect his presence.