"The Earth God Hall has a long and mysterious history, one that can be traced back to the early days of the Miwu Civilization. The Inheritance Secret Martial Arts they command can refine the bodies of dead Secret Martial Artists or even Black Blood Species into puppets. I have dealt with a former Sect Leader of the Earth God Hall before.

He had eight Refining God Puppets protecting him! Including himself, he alone possessed the combat power of nine Refining God Venerables.

Even during the most glorious and prosperous peak of the Miwu Civilization, he was one of the very few who stood at the absolute apex."

Hearing this, Lei Bao and the others, including Hu Qi, were all visibly shaken.

To think such a Dharma Gate existed in this world.

At this thought, Hu Qi spoke up.

"Then does Lord Xuanqing know the location of its true master?"

Hearing this,

Xuanqing nodded.

"Of course! Since it’s a Puppet, it naturally carries its master’s brand. It won’t be difficult to use it to trace their whereabouts."

As he finished speaking, he pointed a finger.

A wisp of gray smoke drifted out from the body of the Puppet that had been split in two.

As the smoke twisted, a black and white Yin Yang Fish manifested and absorbed it.

It then transformed into an ancient-looking mirror. The moment the mirror appeared, it rippled like the surface of calm water.

A moment later, the ripples faded, revealing a clear image.

...

Tens of thousands of kilometers from the Federal Capital, there was a mysterious sea region that seemed like the end of the world.

Viewed from high above, the water here was visibly deeper than in other parts of the ocean, resembling a liquid as black as ink.

The reason for this was the ever-increasing depth of the sea, which made it harder and harder for sunlight to penetrate. The water received less and less light.

Due to the lack of sufficient light reflection and scattering, the seawater appeared extremely dark, almost black.

This stretch of ocean, known as the Siren Realm, was five thousand kilometers from the nearest landmass.

Therefore, it had always been considered one of the most desolate, remote, and forgotten places.

In the myths of the former Purple Gold Empire, Sirens were a type of Sea Demon with a human head and a serpent’s body.

According to legend, the voices of these Sea Demons possessed a bewitching power, allowing them to lure sailors with their beautiful songs.

These Sea Demons would even use sharpened Daggers to break open the bottoms of ships, causing them to sink into the sea.

Essentially, no ship that entered this sea region ever sailed out safely.

For this reason, the area also came to be known as the Sea of Death.

It wasn’t until the information age that this rumor was debunked.

After an investigation, the official explanation was that the area’s chaotic Earth Star magnetic field, combined with the harsh environment, was what created the legend.

However, because the area was too dangerous, ships were generally prohibited from entering.

Scattered across this sea were two or three faintly visible islands of varying sizes.

Once, several renowned wilderness survival experts teamed up to attempt a half-month survival challenge here, but they never returned.

Furthermore, marine life here was extremely scarce, and any trace of human presence was even harder to find.

At this moment, at the very center of the largest of these islands—one whose outline was blurred and shrouded in a thin layer of mist—

a complex of silver buildings was unexpectedly situated.

Inside the buildings,

all sorts of advanced instruments and equipment could be seen everywhere.

A young woman in a white research coat—with blonde hair, blue eyes, a high-bridged nose, deep-set eyes, and skin as fair as jade—stood before a nutrient pod.

Inside it, a strange creature over three meters tall was submerged.

The light blue liquid in the nutrient pod rippled slightly, emitting a mysterious glow.

It was a Sea Demon with a human head and a serpent’s body, more than three meters long.

Its upper body had a human silhouette with smooth muscle lines, exuding a sense of wild power.

Its bronze skin seemed to be endowed with a faint radiance under the light of the nutrient fluid.

Its face was ferocious.

Its ears were shaped like fins, and its long blue hair drifted slowly in the nutrient fluid like seaweed, seeming to merge with the surrounding liquid.

Its lower body was a massive serpentine torso covered in fine blue scales.

Its tail ended in a sharp, triangular tip, like a keen Dagger.

The woman stared at the Sea Demon, a strange green light glowing in her eyes.

"Awaken!"

The next moment,

the Sea Demon lying in the nutrient pod suddenly snapped open its eyes, revealing a pair of dark green, slitted pupils.

The green light in its eyes seemed to echo the green glow in the woman’s.

Seeing this,

a satisfied smile appeared on the face of the woman—who was, in fact, the true Thick Spider.

She looked at the Sea Demon before her as if appraising her most perfect creation.

This was no Sea Demon.

It was a Food Master whose strength was comparable to the Divine Image Realm.

However, this being had died long ago, killed ten thousand years ago by a certain Refining God Venerable of the Miwu Civilization.

But for a Food Master or a Refining God Venerable who had reached such a level of power,

their physical bodies were already far beyond human.

Even after ten thousand years, they still wouldn’t decay.

She had only found this place by a fortunate coincidence, guided by information passed down from her ancestors.

She had excavated its body, which had been buried deep beneath the seabed.

As for the local legends about Sea Demons, they weren’t baseless rumors.

They were real, but "they" were merely marine creatures that had happened to consume the blood from this Food Master’s body,

becoming Black Blood Species, similar to this Food Master.

However, because of the Black Blood Species bloodline within them, they craved human flesh and blood, which was why they frantically attacked any human ships that entered the area.

The few lucky survivors who escaped and told others what they saw were the origin of the mythical legends of Sea Demons.

But after she excavated the Food Master, she eliminated the remaining Sea Demons to avoid attracting the attention of other interested parties.

’Not bad! By using genetic methods for repairs, this Puppet’s strength can be preserved much more completely!’

The inheritance of the Earth God Hall allowed for the refining of powerful corpses into Puppets, but how to preserve the corpse’s original strength to the greatest extent had always been a problem.

Back in the era of the Miwu Civilization, it was manageable. Because Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was abundant, various Spiritual Materials and Treasure Medicines were not scarce. As long as one spent some time collecting everything, preserving a Puppet’s strength wasn’t difficult.

But as time passed, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy weakened, and Secret Martial Artists continuously harvested them.

The number of Spiritual Materials and Treasure Medicines on Earth Star grew smaller and smaller.

Even if some remained, there were no Treasure Medicines effective on Refining God Venerables or Food Masters.

Fortunately, heaven never seals off all exits. With the excavation of the Noki Civilization,

she found another way, frantically studying the biological knowledge of the Noki Civilization.

The learning capacity of a Refining God Venerable is terrifyingly immense.

Before long, she had completely mastered all of it.

Now, she had even used that knowledge to completely repair the injuries inside this Food Master’s body.

Just like that, she had gained a combatant at the Divine Image Realm. How could she not be overjoyed?

Just then,

she suddenly let out a muffled groan.

As if struck by a heavy blow, she staggered back a few steps.

Dark red blood even began to seep from her mouth and nose.