Unveiling Layers

Among the many unnamed islands on the sea around the Douluo Continent beyond the Bloodied one, a large number of water projectiles tear into the surface of a single island with a group of Spirit Masters battling with each other in ten different spots.

As Golden Crocodile had planned, huddling together with the other five Titled Douluos gave them great results.

Not only did the enemy give up quickly but they were 'advised' to join in and follow back in line. Even if the group of Titled Douluos would much rather kill each other to prevent any hidden enemy, the surrounding army really pressed them into a corner.

But despite Golden Crocodile's speed, a few losses were unavoidable.

This time, with Spirit Douluos and Titled Douluos taking charge, these two groups are the ones that suffered losses, too, while Spirit Sages kept their struggling numbers in check.

But just because Golden Crocodile managed to recover the order did not mean the internal conflict truly settled. One Titled Douluo was sacrificed and at that moment, the amount of treasure Golden Crocodile's group contained almost doubled! After all, Titled Douluos are nothing to scoff at and their treasury is certainly worth the envy of others. Only this time, the greed in the hearts of many had calmed down and now they decided to postpone the eventual contest for those treasures.

Facing the barrage of water attacks from the many beasts around the island who still chose to not enter the surface of the land, the group of humans chose to remain in a defensive position.

But this time, with their focus on the enemy and their surroundings, the humans do not allow the sea beasts to catch them by surprise as Golden Crocodile commanded the group to instantly spread out and circle a specific point.

Not short after, a claw formed out of the bluish skeleton rends the ground apart, and a gigantic blue skeletal figure with a posture of a toad jumps out. A formless shock of spirit energy expands out from its bony jaws.

A formless, silent, spiritual roar. The attack would have caught the group off guard if not for the Titled Douluos already ready this time.

"A Cyan Skull Toad, coming into contact with their spirit energy would poison the targets, too. A good thing I'm here then," Dugu Bo inhales and a vortex of spirit energy consumes the shockwave as it spreads further and further while his fifth ring flickers constantly.

As the formless poisonous shockwave is devoured by Dugu Bo, his expression turns stern and a bluish mist begins to ooze out of his pores.

'These aquatic beasts are definitely above the usual poisonous beasts of the continent,' With this thought, Dugu Bo snaps his hand forward and a phantom of a jade phosphorous snake slithers forth from out of him to coil around the skeleton.

"It's just 30,000 years old! I can handle this one. But be careful about the next ones that crawl out," Dugu Bo issues a sound warning to all only to have their worst nightmare come true!

There is a reason why Dugu Bo considered Cyan Skill Toad to be a piece of 'good' news. The ocean is immeasurably vast! Although the five overlords of the nearby regions have well-known skills and Golden Crocodile did share relevant information, these five overlords have more than enough variety of sea beasts under their thumbs, most of which have no records known.

Information.

The lack of this key factor is deadly and it also happened to be one of the major reasons for the losses of the voyagers. Cyan Skull Toad is a known spirit beast and others can cope with it even if its mutation emerges but...

*Aaannnnnghhhhh*

A tremendous roar shakes the island entirely as the sound shakes the mind of every Spirit Master.

A dark blue phantom begins to climb on the island's surface with a body large enough to tower over the island.

Although the beast only had a cultivation of 10000 years, no Titled Douluo dares take this threat simply, and before this unnamed beast can even show its might, no matter how little it may be given its cultivation, the Titled Douluos attack at once with their energy-based skills.

Their experience simply warns them to not use physical attacks in futility and even if the sight of the monster roaring in pain and dissipating in the air brings relief to the Spirit Sages, the stronger Spirit Masters begin to take the initiative to cover the hole dug open by the Cyan Skull Toad and even attacking more and more to weed out the beasts they considered fatal to the group or those that are thoroughly unknown.

The situation soon turns into a stalemate with the group from the Spirit Empire now starting to take turns to attack and defend separately while two Spirit Sages reveal a Spirit Fusion Skill that weighed the scales heavily in the favor of the group on the island but this technique, too, comes at a cost of immediate exhaustion afterward.

And in the distance, still largely unaffected on the beach beside other wreckage, symbols begin to creep under the sand from a nondescript barrel. These symbols are like living serpents that have mapped the inner layer of the island quite a bit. As these symbols grow and branch out further, the stronger the assault of the beasts grows.

And then...

*Fwip*

Raising a cloud of dust, an entire layer of the island disappears in an instant while the assault of sea beasts rains upon the roots of the trees cut in a clean line alongside a damp layer of soil covering the island.

And in the next instant, alongside a domain that spreads out beyond the comprehension of mortality that turned the sky bloody and made the army of beasts quiver, a pale man covered in thin bloody wrap appears midair with his baleful bloody pupils instantly locking upon the barrel within the wreckage.

While Qian Xunji could try and cover up his lack of practice in the recent attempts at array through his godhood, attainment in the concept of blood, and well, divine strength, he still happened to be marginally behind not only Ja Sun but also Ja Yin and Violet who have followed the practice religiously.

Yet, this now became his domain.

A true God's Domain is simply too... 'real.' Even space is his to master in his domain and it's through this intimate connection with the entirety of the domain that Qian Xunji could finally focus on the important thing that he couldn't previously just by staying in his mediation room.

As Bibi Dong assumed, overestimating Qian Xunji truly limited Ah Yin.

The only reason Bibi Dong even 'knew' how this divine intent would have worked and not become a sense of omniscience is due to her talks with Ja Sun.

While Ja Sun has been forthright about many things including many aspects of his strength, Bibi Dong herself focused on the more divine qualities. It's routine. Bibi Dong would record the strength of her team and that's true even now but with the addition of 100,000-year-old beasts. Just as Titled Douluo aimed at the unknown beasts due to the lack of information, Bibi Dong has tried to cover her gaps of knowledge in many aspects constantly.

Not paying other beasts any attention or even thinking of creating another portion of the blood sea, Qian Xunji locks his gaze on the wooden barrel and narrows his eyes, "Might as well try and pick apart at the matrix of runes and arrays to understand its depth. They aren't going anywhere."

If Qian Xunji had his God Tablet or Divine Weapon, things would be simpler but there is no use crying over spilled milk. Instead, the Blood God gets to work with a sense of passion. While he has been chasing Godhood in his years as a mortal, attaining this divine form has now left him free for other tasks including imploding the heavens by planning to create a large number of gods!

Honestly, now that Qian Xunji's comprehension had also received a major boost from the energy of faith, he only feels quite a bit refreshed as he slowly but gradually picks apart the layers of the array forming this spatial containment.

'Hmm, only Ja Sun should have this mastery of Array. Did he leave the King's Lair? If yes, then I must understand how he escaped my senses and I must form countermeasures for it. Although, the most likely situation should be that he is somehow channeling my own... flesh and blood that he collected to evade my senses.'

As a Grandmaster in the Law of Blood, Qian Xunji is distinctly aware of how one's own bloodline connections can be used against oneself. While Qian Xunji surely wants to keep his father safe, the major reason for his desire to recover Qian Daoliu stems from this knowledge.

Whether Qian Xunji wants it or not, Qian Daoliu has become a great weakness to himself. But setting these thoughts aside and somehow revealing a side not too far from Ja Sun's obsession with art, Qian Xunji quietly works his way through the maze of runes.

Meanwhile, thousands of beasts watch God at his work silently. They cannot move.

Qian Xunji would not let them.

After all, if all the members of his expedition die, these beasts will be the source to recover his losses.

Back when he engaged in his tribulation, someone... or rather, a sneaky sage stole all the spirit bones that were left in the Sea of Blood so stooping equally low is not a problem for the blood God.

And Qian Xunji's greater ability of comprehension shows its worth as he unveils the layer of protection around the barrel of wood to realize that it is indeed powered and sustained by 'materials' that came from him. Yet... Qian Xunji only feels a whiff of it covering this barrel to hide it from his simpler Divine Sense.

After a few more minutes, Qian Xunji can finally feel the Spirit Energy of the members of his expedition save for...

Two Members.

Qian Xunji locks his brows and doubles down on his efforts while expanding his domain further to assess if he can sense anything else for the enemies, who somehow are not present in this spatial artifact.

***

Alternate Title: Faith Energy is the New Hack!