Qin Yun felt the world shift as he passed through the boundary. Darkness lay beyond, blocking all his senses as if he stood in outer space. No sounds reached his ears, and he couldn't feel the wet touch of water on his skin, yet his instincts screamed at him that it remained. He, therefore, held his breath, too afraid to suffocate in this nonexistent space.

  Blackness was all that lay before his eyes, except for a single point of grey deep below, down in the depths. Despite the boundary, Qin Yun realized he hadn't been transferred to another realm but remained within the oasis. This was merely a defensive formation preventing any would-be invaders from reaching further.

  Still, there was one detail on his mind. As he approached the lake, he hadn't seen any signs of a formation: no runes nor earth veins flowing through the ground. In fact, the land was barren of power, except for what lay beneath the oasis. Furthermore, the locals didn't indicate proficiency in such a discipline. They were remarkably unsuited to seek mastery over qi, as they had never felt its embrace.

  This was an oddity Qin Yun couldn't understand, which drove him to seek answers despite the risks.

  Still, the touch of grey deep within the lake was all too expected. Indeed, only the corruption kept its hold on this barren land, driving away all manners of qi back toward the continent's centre. It was as if the two forces were in a war of attrition, where only one could rule supreme, and as expected, the corruption seemed to be winning slowly but surely.

  Qin Yun stopped in his tracks, wondering whether to dive even deeper. Would he find something worthwhile were he to go forth or merely face unneeded risks? Still, he felt the energy pulsing as if calling for him to go on. Was this a trap meant to snare him, but how could they have known his path? After all, even he didn't know the path he would take, only letting fate guide his steps. Maybe fate had a hand in this, after all.

  Resolved, Qin Yun dove further into the darkness. The trip took much longer than he anticipated and seemed physically impossible. The path to the bottom stretched for what seemed like miles, yet the boundary above didn't move in the slightest, yet the grey colours grew slowly closer.

  Quite the peculiar place, Qin Yun thought, trying to understand the rules that formed this place, yet his current cultivation didn’t allow for such insights.

  The Dao flowed into everything that comprised this world, and only by understanding its intricacies could one make the lotus bloom, treading further on the path. While the path forked into countless directions, one couldn't hope to skip steps, lest the endless staircase leading to the top begin to crumble with each step, cutting off their paths halfway up the mountain.

  While Qin Yun possessed much knowledge of cultivation, most of it was locked behind a veil, only revealing once the opportune moment had been reached. Still, the path seemed familiar, almost as if he had walked it before. It all seemed much too coincidental.

  Yet, he put those thoughts out of his mind. Even if he was to walk to the tune of another, this was still his path. All of it stemmed from his own choices, and he had never been forced into making those choices. If this path led him to a dead-end, he would only have himself to blame.

  The closer he became to the swirling masses of grey substance at the bottom of the lake, the more he felt how potent and corrosive it was. It was a far cry from the corruption he had witnessed on the other side of the Great Barrier. It was comparable to what he had seen as he had breached the world's boundary back in Jin City. The purest form of corruption imaginable in this world was now before his eyes.

  A way away from the edge where grey met black, Qin Yun stopped to observe. The grey swirled as if an ocean below a sea of black. Waves upon waves crashed into each other, mixing until they became uniform, only for a disturbance to appear within, and the cycle began anew. Yet the ocean grew ever so slightly.

  Qin Yun's eyes narrowed, and he felt the energy contained within growing slightly stronger. The change was minute, almost unnoticeable, yet Qin Yun's sense was heightened to the limit. All he could feel within this sea of blackness was the energy swirling just out of reach. He could feel all its intricacies as if he were bathing himself in it, entirely submerged in this ocean of grey.

  Is this... a Gu? Can corruption even corrupt itself, strengthening this aspect even further? If so, the amount should only decrease, and not the opposite. How is this possible?

  Gus were common among practitioners, especially among poison masters. In fact, the poison afflicting Elder Guo had most likely been made in such a fashion. By mixing countless poisonous substances, one could eliminate all detrimental attributes while strengthening the desirable ones. This process worked even better with living specimens.

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  Although the technique was ancient and almost obsolete, some cultivators still relied on Gu for cultivation. By sealing countless poisonous insects into a container, the creatures would fight to the death, mixing with each other, only to create something new—something that was the sum of all that once was. Using those Gus as nutrients, a cultivator could enhance his poisonous Dao, skipping many steps. Still, such methods always harboured side effects. It was, therefore, deemed forbidden a long time ago and faded from the social consciousness.

  Did someone try to revive this forbidden art? No... This is too natural to be someone's work. It feels as if the corruption did this alone, yet what could be fuelling its evolution. A Gu cannot grow without extracting from something else...

  In the core of the mass of swirling grey, Qin Yun finally found what he was looking for—a point deep below the surface where masses of grey spewed as if from a spring. Gradually, renewed corruption emerged from the depths, only to be merged within, adding to its corrosive nature. To his dismay, Qin Yun couldn't peer through the mass and identify the cause.

  In fact, this was the closest he dared to advance, feeling the deadliness of the mass of grey below him. He knew that if he fell into this ocean, he would surely perish. This wasn't something he could contend with. Unlike the poisonous smog he absorbed back at the Frontier, this would corrode his very soul until nothing remained. If unleashed upon the world, the fortress would fall, as would most of the Western Region.

  Fortunately, the boundary remained stable, keeping it in check. Judging by the extent of this ocean and its purity, it had been so for a long time and may remain so for much longer to come. Still, there was no telling when it would emerge to cover the land nor how many others were scattered throughout the Western Desolate. Besides, this place was but one of four quadrants of this world. There were also three other desolates threatening the world's stability. It was only a matter of time before they spilled into the mainland.

  This world is doomed, isn’t it? Qin Yun sighed. Even if I reach the edge, what can I hope to accomplish on my own? If only I had more time...

  As he turned to leave, Qin Yun felt something shift. The ocean of grey began to churn, creating waves that crashed into each other, rising from the depths, resembling a hand that sought to ensnare Qin Yun with its grip.

  His pupils dilated as the hand picked up speed, rising faster and faster. In a mere instant, the black crystal sword appeared in his grasp as he swung with all his might. The force was such that it created a void within the water, only for it to collapse soon after from the water pressure.

  The extinction of this cavitation bubble formed explosive pressure waves that spread in all directions, colliding squarely with Qin Yun and flinging him out of this side of the boundary. Yet, the waves of grey seemed unhindered by the explosion, piercing through it as if to chase after Qin Yun.

  As he gazed upon the encroaching corruption, he felt something stir within his core. The two golden characters laced with grey began to burn upon the lotus seed, searing onto its surface, almost as if they yearned to be reunited with the ocean below.

  They pulsed as if in resonance with each other, beating stronger the closer they became until Qin Yun's back finally collided with the boundary. Air was ejected from his lungs as the impact propagated throughout his body, threatening to shatter his bones, if not for the fact they had been strengthened to absurdity.

  Yet, the wall he crashed onto was but temporary. As a secondary wave smashed into him, Qin Yun’s body pierced through the threshold, emerging from the other side, only for the boundary to repair itself almost instantly, trapping the ocean of grey within.

  Qin Yun could feel his heartbeat pound in his chest as he watched the ocean recede, only to feel a shiver of dread run down his spine. Without his quick reaction, he would have surely perished beneath all this corruption. Not even he could hope to survive. With nothing else to observe, Qin Yun slowly surfaced, the recent events reeling in his mind.

  Does the corruption possess consciousness? Qin Yun pondered. Is it merely its instinct to propagate, or has it developed sentience? This should be impossible... This is but a fraction of the whole, similar to qi. While the Dao exists, it is merely the rules that shape our world, and qi is but the fuel that makes the engine called reality run. There should be no way for corruption to gain sentience, not as long as the Heavenly Dao exists to shackle its nature...

  Qin Yun sighed as he emerged from the pond, his thoughts in shambles. The situation was much more dire than he first anticipated. While the ocean of grey was still trapped beyond the boundary, it wouldn’t remain so for long in its current state.

  As he expected, the boundary relied on qi to maintain its existence, yet qi was scarce in the desolates. Sooner or later, the boundary would collapse, letting this evil free into the world, ready to reshape reality according to its twisted design. This was inevitable; even Qin Yun had no solution for this. Yet one question remained in his mind.

  The boundary's existence consumes a massive amount of qi; where does it all originate from?

  Despite risking his life by diving into the oasis, he had found no answer to this query. The boundary seemed to be maintained as if out of thin air. There was no rhyme or reason for its existence, yet Qin Yun knew better. There always was a logical explanation for all phenomena. This missing link was merely proof of Qin Yun's ignorance. There was still so much he didn't know about this world.

  As he pondered facing the lake, his wet clothes quickly drying under the dry desert heat, Qin Yun felt movements behind. It was more than mere winds blowing over the dunes as he also felt a gaze on his back—one laced with killing intent.

  Qin Yun spun on his heel, digging slightly into the soft sand, only to see a bone dagger aimed at his head. A bronze-skinned young man stood on the other side, his face twisted with a mask of rage and sorrow as he shouted something in the Outsider’s tongue.

  If only by reflex, Qin Yun parried the blow as he struck the man's wrist aside before striking the man squarely in the chest. Once he realized what he had done, Qin Yun reigned in the blow, if only in time to avoid having the young man explode into gore. Yet, the young man was still propelled into the air before crashing into the dunes a few ways away, creating an explosion of sand.

  To Qin Yun's surprise, he didn't even have time to catch his breath. The young man emerged from the sand, seemingly unscathed, yet countless grey lines and symbols had appeared on his skin, making him look extremely menacing.

  Still, Qin Yun was now calm and prepared to deal with anything thrown at him. Yet, he could barely believe how sturdy the young man was.