Chaotic World Book

At this point, Zhao Changhe had no mind to concern himself with the impact brought by the informer's news.

He stabilized San Niang's staggering life force, yet the situation still felt far from optimistic. The Sea Emperor's confidence had its reasons, for the trident was likely a Divine Artifact, causing extraordinarily preposterous harm, beyond what mere physical defenses could withstand.

Not only had her body been tossed into complete chaos by the power of the Water Element, but also, the trident possessed the characteristic of soul destruction. At this moment, San Niang's Soul Sea was immensely frail, like a flickering candle in the wind, no longer exhibiting the carefree attitude of an elder sister playfully wrestling a child, weak as if gasping for her last breaths.

The reason she hadn't been directly extinguished must be because this was not a weapon specialized in soul destruction; it merely possessed a similar trait, less intuitive than Dragon Soul Wood, and the fact that it had pierced her lower abdomen made it relatively better. This also indicated such items were not uncommon and not exclusive to oneself; one would have to be wary in the future.

But a Divine Artifact was a Divine Artifact after all, beyond what San Niang could endure, and at most, Zhao Changhe could only help hang on to her life. For healing, he still fell short and must find something to assist.

Zhao Changhe pondered briefly before looking up towards the vortex not far away.

The Sea Emperor had emerged from this very vortex, the whirlpool still exuding a strong suction force, yet strangely enough, the surrounding seawater and reefs were not being pulled in. It seemed the suction targeted only life.

This was a secret realm, or perhaps it should be called the Sea God Abyss because it was very likely not a secret realm formed naturally but rather a Dimension Fragment created by the Sea Emperor himself with supreme divine might, as a refuge from the apocalypse.

As such, it was different from a regular secret realm, exhibiting a typical characteristic where energy could permeate into it, not an isolated space. This was a pathway intentionally left open by the Sea Emperor, used to absorb the Power of Faith from the outside world, and once "opened," it was never closed.

From here, one could glimpse how outrageous the Sea Emperor was at his peak, what a formidable being he was to have opened up space... only to die at the hands of this group of "ants."

Since the Sea Emperor could rapidly recover within it, perhaps it could be put to use.

Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi exchanged glances, confirming each other's thoughts. Zhao Changhe picked up San Niang and leaped into the vortex, and Xia Chichi, packing up both the trident and the Water Soul, followed suit.

The depth below was immense, perhaps reaching the bottom of the sea.

When Zhao Changhe talked about diving to the bottom of the sea to throw punches on ordinary days, it was just talk, not actually the bottom of the sea. Diving to the bottom of the deep sea, he couldn't come up quickly to chase after ships; a mere ten fathoms or so would suffice. But this place was genuinely deep: the meaning of the vortex was to save one from the drilling down process, zipping down swiftly to the bottom.

At the very bottom lay a space made of water.

Below their feet was water, the walls were water, yet there was a supporting force. Walking around felt a bit like stepping on jelly, without sinking. Its size was similar to the Divine Hall above, perhaps ten fathoms in diameter — this could be said to be the real Divine Hall.

There was no air, the entire space was filled with an indescribable atmosphere that couldn't be analyzed. Perhaps it was the Power of Faith or the incense power.

It had been correct not to blindly dive into battle earlier, although there were no traps inside, merely a place where the Sea Emperor himself could rest and heal. But in such a place, the Sea Emperor might have grown stronger as the battle wore on, perhaps even recovering to his Imperial Realm, while everyone else would have been severely limited in their combat habits and face issues interacting with the natural energy cycle of the world. Moreover, the space could collapse, directly crushing a person.

That was no longer important. What mattered was that in the center of the space, a page from the Heavenly Book floated.

This was the first time Zhao Changhe had consecutively obtained pages from the Heavenly Book...

It was indeed convenient to grab what others had collected; otherwise, in the vast sea, where would one go to find this page? The original landing spot for the Heavenly Book certainly wasn't here... The Sea Emperor had found it through his familiar Perception of the sea, where every corner was his lookout. He had also found another page, but couldn't crack the secrets of the Azure Dragon Gate, unable to gain entry, and had been guarding it for a long time. That is to say, if things went smoothly, the Sea Emperor would have had two pages of the Heavenly Book.

But now, they all belonged to him.

Sometimes Zhao Changhe would wonder if taking from others so conveniently was what the informer had in mind. He was merely a tool for collecting the book. On the day he completed the collection, would that be when the informer would make his move?

Thus, after Xia Longyuan obtained one page, he no longer bothered with the other pages; it was enough that he could use them. The informer must have been infuriated back then; Xia's juvenile self-aggrandizing and atrocious temperament are indeed something ordinary people couldn't anticipate.

He didn't possess the same confidence as the elderly Xia, perhaps because the blind man, after breaking free from Xia's control, had arranged everything more perfectly. For example, he might have deliberately suppressed the full performance of the Heavenly Book?

Before he knew it, he was already on the fifth page, more than halfway through...

This page of the Heavenly Book was naturally about intangible forces such as faith, incense offerings, destiny, and merit, which were indeed forms of power.

And naturally, in the hands of the Sea Emperor, the effects might be fully unleashed, thus facilitating his effective recovery, whereas on himself, these forces felt much more elusive. It wasn't something that could be learned and understood overnight, nor could he directly borrow such power without any to draw from.

Zhao Changhe, holding the Heavenly Book, silently thought, "If you continue to play with Saber Techniques, refusing to unleash the full performance of the Heavenly Book, causing San Niang to go without treatment...then congratulations, I won't be looking for the next page. Even if I'm not about to die immediately, I won't search anymore."

The blind man sighed with a touch of helplessness, "The Sea Emperor found it effective because He truly understood and controlled the ways of faith and offerings, allowing the Heavenly Book to be fully utilized. You are clueless about this area; what can the Heavenly Book offer you?"

"I don't care, just tell me how to save San Niang. I know you have a way," Zhao Changhe insisted.

The blind man really wanted to say that San Niang's desperate struggle was due to her parents' great revenge, which had nothing to do with him... Why take it out on me? But he knew that arguing was pointless at this moment. From Zhao Changhe's perspective, battling the Sea Emperor and searching for the Heavenly Book was one and the same, inseparable. Once San Niang got better, Zhao Changhe would cool down and realize upon reflection that this really had nothing to do with her. Given his clear sense of love and hatred, he might even feel a bit apologetic.

With this in mind, the blind man said directly, "Strictly speaking, this power has no healing function and is even inferior to your Rejuvenation Technique. It is a great force gathered from countless lives through belief and so on, for one's own use, making it fundamentally a method of enhancing Cultivation and using power. It's just that the Sea Emperor's Divine Soul was weakened, and this grand induction of power provided Him with supplements, leading to recovery... The strongest effect is devouring and absorption, especially effective for followers and kinsmen. This is what is called sacrifice."

Zhao Changhe nodded, "I understand the theory... Can it be applied to San Niang?"

"The Sea God that the maritime folk believe in may not necessarily correspond to the Sea Emperor; it corresponds to a Divine who controls the power of the sea, which could be the Sea Emperor or someone else, like your San Niang," explained the blind man calmly. "Do you know why the Sea Emperor's last words were 'The sea's soul is yours'? Because he recognized San Niang was worthy of that right, and he had nothing to say even against you, the one who killed him. This was perhaps the Sea Emperor's pride, implying that a Sea God can only be replaced by another Sea God."

Zhao Changhe couldn't care less about the Sea Emperor's pride, "If the Water Soul is absorbed by San Niang, could it replace the faith bestowed upon this Sea God?"

"It could have some effect, not much since the believers do not have a cognitive image of her in their hearts, which cannot correspond to her... This is why the Sea Emperor needed Hai Pinglan to build temples and spread the word. However, she does have one advantage—she possesses another Power of Faith," the blind man said.

Zhao Changhe was startled, "The Four Symbols' faith!"

"Exactly, particularly the Xuanwu faith... This Power of Faith is solidly aligned with her on the bodies of her followers. In their eyes, she is Xuanwu, and after ascending the Heavenly List the day before, it's even more the case."

"But the people still can't match up to her actual image."

"It's enough for people to correspond with her masked image; that is her, seen as one of the manifestations of a Divine," the blind man said. "If you understand this Perception, you'll realize that the Power of Faith on her is quite solid, albeit not in great quantity... In a sense, she is Xuanwu, created by the world's perception."

Because the world viewed her as Xuanwu, thus she became Xuanwu... A raw display of idealism, and yet, in this case, it made perfect sense.

"So work from both ends; on one hand, help her absorb the Sea Soul, accept whatever amount of the Sea God faith she can, as much as available to make up for her quantitative shortfall. On the other hand, learn some related Magic Skills to aid in guiding this power, and when she awakes, let her learn it on her own. This power is mainly there to help her Divine Soul concentrate and remain intact; when it's time for real treatment, my assessment is that it's not as good as the Rejuvenation Technique."

Zhao Changhe fell silent for a moment, then gave a respectful bow into the Void, "Thank you."

The blind man paused, then remained silent.

Xia Chichi looked at Zhao Changhe bowing into the Void in horror. It's over; the master's fate is unknown, and now Changhe is going mad. What to do?

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ps: Asking for monthly tickets, the goal is almost reached, ying ying ying~