"Something is watching me!"
Quinn Shepherd's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't see those two eyes hidden in the darkness, but he could feel their gaze.
He turned around, choosing not to enter the bridge. Instead, he closed his eyes and slowly walked outside the bridge, his steps steady and unhurried. Even with his eyes shut, he traced a perfect circle.
Finishing the circle, Quinn stopped. He had walked it using the sensation of that gaze as a reference, calculating its exact direction—a technique drawn from the spatial mathematics of numerology.
To an outside observer, it just looked like he was pacing, lost in thought over some difficult problem. No one would guess he was pinpointing the watcher’s location. True skill lies in the details, and Quinn had mastered this art to perfection.
Suddenly, a jolt ran through him. In just a few steps, he had calculated not only the source of the gaze—but also the distance between the two eyes!
He was being watched by a pair of eyes—spaced two hundred sixty-four zhang apart!
In other words, the terrifying presence in the darkness had eyes set more than two hundred sixty zhang apart!
What a colossal being this must be!
Could it be the Youdu entity I scared off when I boarded with a single phrase in Netherworld Tongue? Or is something else lurking nearby?
Quinn steadied himself, keeping his expression calm and betraying no hint of panic. He turned and walked toward the bridge.
He had already made up his mind: first, explore the bridge. If anything goes wrong, leave immediately—never linger!
The bridge is the control room of a ship. Here, one can direct the vessel’s course and route, command battles, and evade attacks—this is the ship’s nerve center.
As long as he entered the bridge and found the navigation chart, he could pilot the ship according to its mapped routes.
Quinn’s heart burned with excitement—this ship carried his dream of returning to Carefree Haven.
He had just stepped into the bridge when, suddenly, a side door swung open and a Grand Witch stumbled in, dazed.
The two met eyes and were both startled. The Grand Witch, a battle-hardened expert, reacted instantly—uncorking the gourd on his back without a word. Countless wandering souls burst forth from the gourd and lunged at Quinn!
At the same time, golden light blazed around the Grand Witch as he activated the Witch-Venerable Golden Palace Canon of Loulan. His body swelled, transforming into a one-eyed, four-armed giant.
His eye sat in the center of his face, squeezing his mouth to the very bottom of the left jaw and his nose to the right. He brandished vajra maces; in the wind, the segmented golden columns spun and roared, like four slender pagodas, smashing down toward Quinn!
"A disciple of the Witch-Venerable?"
Quinn instantly recognized the Witch-Venerable Golden Palace Canon. This man’s cultivation was extremely deep, and the wandering souls spewing from the gourd were attacks targeting the soul.
The Grand Witch refines the souls of others into wandering souls. Each wandering soul is extremely powerful; they burrow into the opponent’s body and gnaw at their soul. Even a Six Directions realm expert would struggle to resist.
If dozens of wandering souls attacked together and invaded the body, a Six Directions cultivator would have no chance of resistance!
The greatest use of the soul-gourd is on the battlefield. Countless wandering souls swarm, invading bodies and devouring enemy souls, leaving behind heaps of corpses. It’s a terrifyingly effective weapon!
The most frightening thing on the battlefield before Qingmen Pass isn’t the blades and projectiles of the Barbarians, but the Grand Witches of Loulan Golden Palace—their attack methods are truly bizarre and hard to guard against.
Countless wandering souls burst from the soul-gourd, shrieking like ghosts and gods as they lunged at Quinn. Behind him, the Gate of Bearing Heaven suddenly opened—a howling underworld wind swept in, instantly whisking away all the wandering souls!
Any soul of the dead cannot escape the Netherworld’s grasp. Loulan Golden Palace may have secret arts to keep souls and use them for cultivation, reaching heights in soul arts that other holy lands cannot match—but against the Gate of Bearing Heaven, they meet their nemesis!
The Gate of Bearing Heaven devoured all the wandering souls and slammed shut; the agonized screams in the bridge vanished instantly.
The Grand Witch was shocked; the gourd on his back fell to the floor with a crack, shattering into pieces. His four arms spun wildly, transforming the vajra maces into four pagodas, each carrying immense force as they smashed toward Quinn.
Quinn didn’t meet the attack head-on. Instead, he dodged back; behind him, Worryless Sword flew from its sheath. The Grand Witch sneered—a ray of light from one pagoda locked onto Worryless Sword and sucked it inside.