Chapter 1

On that day, a light snow fell over the land.

In the vast North Sea, where whales and dragons lurked, ancient icebergs floated on the silver-blue waves. The cold wind howled, stirring up a sky full of shattered jade scales. Three boats sailed against the wind, like arrows piercing through the waves, navigating through the icebergs, heading straight north.

One boat was no more than ten feet long, its body entirely green, carved from a ten-thousand-year-old pine tree.

Two fair-faced young Taoist boys steered the wooden boat, while a young Taoist sat at the bow, holding a jade flute, playing a gentle and elegant tune, looking ethereal and otherworldly like a celestial being.

Another boat was a hundred feet long, made of bronze, with three decks front and back, intricately carved with countless ghost and god patterns, exuding a majestic and fierce aura.

On the deck stood several hundred heavily armored, imposing men, each radiating a formidable killing aura.

A man nearly two feet taller than the average person was wrapped in a white tiger cloud battle robe, holding a twenty-four-foot-long white tiger halberd, a cold smile on his face as he surveyed the surroundings, his eyes flashing with a cold light, his gaze as substantial as a physical presence, truly intimidating.

A third boat was sixteen feet long, its body a pale gold, made of translucent bones that shimmered like golden glass.

This boat had no one steering it; on board sat a handsome monk in a white robe.

His head was shaved smooth, with nine pale golden scars on his scalp. He smiled, holding a scroll made of green leaves, reading it slowly, word by word.

When the young Taoist's flute music began, a faint cloud of mist appeared below the boat, and its speed gradually increased.

As the handsome monk recited the scripture, each word and phrase he spoke caused the boat to emit a faint glow, and with each flash, the boat would surge forward several hundred feet.

The bronze giant boat, however, showed no supernatural abilities. While the boats of the Taoist and the monk had to navigate around the giant icebergs, the bronze boat simply plowed through them.

Whether it was a small iceberg a hundred feet wide or a massive one a thousand feet wide, the bronze boat's speed remained unchanged as it charged through.

From a high vantage point, the three boats each displayed their unique abilities, generally moving forward in unison, none able to outpace the others.

The boats traveled for countless miles, rounding a range of ice cliffs that stretched like a great wall across the ocean. Ahead, the sky suddenly brightened.

The wind ceased, and the snow stopped.

Over the vast ocean, white mist rose, and the bone-chilling cold air condensed into palm-sized, white ice crystal lotuses on the surface.

The three boats slowed down, gliding slowly across the ocean.

The boat hulls collided with the ice crystal lotuses on the surface, producing a faint "ting ting" sound.

In this stretch of the sea, the sky and water were a uniform silver-blue. No clouds were visible in the high sky, and a large sun lazily hung at the far horizon. The sunlight, refracted countless times by the countless tiny ice crystals in the air, created a series of rainbow halos that swirled around the people like a mirage.

After traveling several thousand miles further, a giant hand suddenly emerged from the sea.

The water here was extremely clear, with no fish, shrimp, whales, dragons, turtles, or even a single blade of seaweed.

Through the water, one could see a massive stone statue of a Taoist sitting cross-legged in the unfathomable depths of the sea.

The size of this stone Taoist was unknown.

Just the hand that emerged from the sea, with the palm facing up, covered several square miles.

In the center of the Taoist's palm, a mountain of five colors was cradled.

On the peak of the mountain stood a hundred-foot-tall, four-faced, eight-armed giant with a fierce expression.

This giant's body was damaged, covered with countless large and small transparent holes. Through the narrow, sharp transparent wounds, one could see his internal organs, which were colorful and crystalline like glass beads.

For an unknown amount of time, black smoke and black flames continued to rise from within the giant, escaping through the wounds like steam from a steamer.

On the face of the giant facing north, a lotus stem grew from his mouth, extending upward to the top of his head, blooming into a red lotus several dozen feet wide.

The three boats stopped near the hand of the stone Taoist.

The Taoist, the giant, and the monk simultaneously bowed three times and kowtowed nine times to the hand of the stone Taoist, the giant on the palm, and the lotus in the giant's mouth. Then they rose into the air and gently landed on the blooming red lotus.

The thousand-petaled red lotus had a central lotus platform no more than ten feet wide. A woman of extraordinary beauty and solemnity sat cross-legged in the center of the platform.

Her hair was tied up in a high bun, and she wore a white dress, adorned with countless jewels and pendants. In her left hand, she held a bowl of clear water, and her right hand formed the immovable mudra, gently pointing forward.

Her eyes were closed, and her exposed, smooth, ivory-like skin was covered with countless cracks.

Like a white porcelain vase that had been accidentally broken but held together by some mysterious force.

Before her right hand, a faint purple light flickered.

The light was no more than three inches long and finer than a hair.

A terrifying sharpness continuously seeped from the light, gradually eroding the woman's body.

The Taoist, the giant, and the monk flew onto the lotus platform, holding their breath, and nervously looked at the purple light at the tip of the woman's finger.

With a crisp "pop," the purple light shattered.

The jewels and pendants adorning the woman's body simultaneously cracked and shattered, the fragments scattering everywhere.

With a "crack," the body of the four-faced, eight-armed giant supporting the red lotus suddenly split into several large cracks from head to toe, almost tearing his entire body apart.

Accompanied by a sharp cracking sound, the body of the stone Taoist also began to crack.

The Taoist smiled and waved his jade flute: "It's blocked!"

The giant laughed wildly, jumping and doing three somersaults in the air: "Ha, it's blocked!"

The monk placed his hands together in front of his chest and bowed deeply to the woman covered in cracks: "Well done, it's blocked."

The Taoist smiled, shook his head, and bowed to the woman sitting on the lotus platform, then stepped on the wind and returned to the bow of the boat: "Clear wind, bright moon, let's return quickly. Our path is complete!"

The giant descended with a gust of wind, landing heavily on the bow of the bronze boat.

He danced and roared: "Return quickly, return quickly. Hehe, old Taoist, bald monk, this path still needs to be contested."

Several hundred fierce men roared in unison, and the bronze boat quickly turned around, speeding away in a whirlwind.

The monk stood on the lotus platform, looking at the two boats that had sailed away, and gently shook his head: "You may go, but there's no rush. The remains of our ancestors should be respectfully returned to the mountain."

The monk smiled, shook his head, and bowed to the woman again, reciting a sutra for her.

The two boats had already sailed far away, out of sight.

The monk took out a golden brocade from his sleeve, bowed to the woman again, and respectfully approached her, ready to lift her body. Suddenly, a soft, sweet, and seductive laugh came from behind him.

A "giggle," a voice that was truly enchanting and bone-melting.

The monk's pupils suddenly contracted, and he heard a soft, coquettish voice: "Husband, shall we play together?"

The rainbow halos in the sky slowly rotated.

On the ocean surface, the ice crystal lotuses gently collided.

A piercing, tragic scream echoed through the sky, and then there was no more sound.

The massive stone Taoist, the four-faced, eight-armed giant, and the woman on the lotus platform simultaneously collapsed and disintegrated, falling into the abyss.

A gentle breeze blew, and the cold air condensed, forming white lotuses on the ocean surface.

On the silver-blue ocean, a pair of bright red embroidered shoes was reflected.