Chapter 1970: The Secret of the Immortal Yuan Tide

The map given to Xu Yang by the Empress of the Star Scar Empire was accurate. Following its markings, he quickly located the sea area where the Immortal Essence Tide was situated.

The area itself had extremely powerful energy fluctuations. Xu Yang flew unimpeded, as almost all sea beasts near the Immortal Essence Tide had become extinct.

Although it was a forbidden zone that instilled dread in the eyes of the world, its surroundings were so calm that Xu Yang was speechless, yet he could understand why this was the case. For a phenomenon like the Immortal Essence Tide, unimaginable dangers were bound to be hidden nearby. The calmer the surface of the sea appeared, the more likely it was to deliver a silent, fatal blow to anyone who encroached upon the area.

Xu Yang was ready for battle at any moment, advancing slowly, almost skimming the surface of the sea, as he approached the core area of the Immortal Essence Tide.

Upon reaching the precise center of the Immortal Essence Tide marked on the map, Xu Yang began to unleash his mental energy. His powerful spiritual sense acted like thousands of eyes spreading through the surrounding space, allowing him to instantly perceive the true conditions of the sea area beneath the Immortal Essence Tide through mental scanning.

What he found was astonishing. Though the area his mental energy covered wasn't vast, Xu Yang quickly realized that within its entire range, he received no information feedback whatsoever. This strange phenomenon was a first for Xu Yang, indicating that a very powerful magical artifact capable of blocking mental energy existed at the bottom of this Immortal Essence Tide sea area.

It was important to note that Xu Yang's current spiritual realm was beyond comparison for most people; even awe-inspiring Martial God-level experts seemed insignificant before him. The fact that his terrifying soul strength allowed his unleashed mental energy to yield no feedback only further confirmed that the deepest part of this sea area held the secret core of the Immortal Essence Tide.

Realizing that this kind of search would yield no results, Xu Yang decisively chose to descend into the deepest part of the Immortal Essence Tide sea area in his physical body.

"Since there's no way to eliminate potential dangers beforehand, I'll just have to go down and investigate myself." Thanks to his Sea God Domain, Xu Yang could descend unhindered, as the immense water pressure around him had no suppressive effect on his physical body. For Xu Yang, diving to the deepest part of the sea was no different from soaring through the sky on a sword. Wherever his body passed, the surrounding water would automatically part, creating a clear path that offered no resistance.

However, as Xu Yang delved deeper into the sea, he began to see countless skeletons of powerful individuals. Based on his insight, these bodies, buried at the very bottom of the waters, were at least those of Martial God-level experts, and it appeared they had perished many years ago. Notably, hundreds of these powerful bodies showed no trace of flesh, yet their skeletons were remarkably intact, with no signs of bone fractures. This indicated that they were not directly suppressed by powerful external forces, but rather had their movements restricted by a terrifying devouring power in the deep sea. Under the influence of a unique energy, their life essence was gradually drained.

Guided by this realization, Xu Yang could almost deduce what kind of power was hidden in the deepest part beneath the Immortal Essence Tide.

"I'm quite eager to see what secret has been hidden here for countless years. And what caused that great Martial God calamity in the first place?"

With this goal in mind, Xu Yang suddenly accelerated his descent, using his mental energy to pinpoint the area with the strongest energy absorption at the very bottom of the Immortal Essence Tide sea. He soon locked onto an independently existing space. As Xu Yang drew closer to this unique area, he quickly noticed something. The circulation patterns of all the surrounding water currents around that space remained consistent, indicating that a unique energy fluctuation must exist at the end of that direction.

Sure enough, at the very center of this isolated area, Xu Yang soon saw a human-shaped outline, entirely azure blue. Xu Yang was familiar with this very special blue life essence, as it was the power the previous Nightless Emperor used to strengthen sea creatures. And now, this ice-blue, transparent outline, from head to toe, was entirely formed from that powerful life essence. Undoubtedly, this was an unimaginably significant discovery.

Xu Yang immediately approached the ice-blue outline of the body. Just as he was about a hundred meters from the unique life form's outline, an incredibly powerful soul force suddenly awakened in the deepest part of the sea. The sound of that soul was exceptionally profound, as if emanating from a deep soul awakened ten millennia ago. It rippled through Xu Yang's spiritual world repeatedly, and even with his soul strength, he was deeply shaken by its profoundness.

"Who are you, senior? With such power, why hide? Show yourself!"

Xu Yang's voice seemed tinged with anger, and it was precisely this sound wave, laced with powerful wrath, that caused the host of the soul entity to gradually materialize. Its outline was identical to the body made of blue life essence.

"It has been countless years since anyone dared to step into the sea area of the Immortal Essence Tide. You, young man, are truly bold, daring to come here alone and even dive to the core of this deep vortex. Are you truly not afraid of me draining your life essence?"

Xu Yang sneered. "It seems the answers I seek are about to surface. If I'm not mistaken, you must be the root cause of the demise of hundreds of Martial God-level experts here. Back then, thousands of ancient Martial God path practitioners and Martial God experts from various factions gathered at the Immortal Essence Tide, hoping to find that world-shaking divine weapon. In the end, their efforts were futile, and thousands of Martial Gods sacrificed their lives in this very place. Let me guess: they must have fallen into your trap. Not only did they fail to find the whereabouts of the so-called divine artifact, but after entering this sea area, all their life essence was drained by you. That blue life form next to you must be the best evidence."

Xu Yang's reasoning was remarkably clear, leaving the powerful soul owner momentarily speechless. "I must admit, you are indeed too clever."