Everyone exchanged glances, their eyes unanimously falling on the giant sword on her back, their wariness undiminished. Rhea Medusa noticed this, shrugged, and chuckled lightly: "Oh, you're worried about this?" With that, she casually unstrapped the exaggerated dark gold giant sword from her back.
"Small." She uttered a simple syllable.
Hum!
A low sword hum resounded! That mountain-heavy, astonishingly long giant sword actually shrank and deformed rapidly in her hand like a living thing! The dark gold sword body flowed with faint light, shrinking in the blink of an eye into a mere finger-length, ancient and exquisite dark gold "mini sword." Rhea Medusa casually hung this "mini sword" on a small loop of her necklace around her neck, where it dangled steadily, becoming an inconspicuous pendant.
This scene made everyone's pupils contract! Whether it was warriors like Kayla and TISK, casters like Yuyuer and Arya, or tech experts like Rex, none could comprehend this defiance of common sense in material form change! It wasn't magical illusion—the star eye saw no falsehood; nor was it tech scaling—Rex's scan detected no energy fluctuations or mechanical structural changes! It was more like... direct manipulation of the material essence?
Rhea Medusa seemed very satisfied with everyone's shocked expressions; she grinned, revealing two rows of neat white teeth.
"Let her come over, Kayla." Fa spoke solemnly, her voice calm, but the vigilance in her star eye not reduced in the slightest. She needed to observe. On this desolate island, it was better to keep such a mysterious and unfathomable powerhouse in plain sight than hidden in the shadows.
Kayla hesitated for a moment, snorted, and stepped aside, but the lightning on her thunder claws did not recede. Rhea Medusa smiled indifferently and walked straight to the bonfire, finding a flat rock to sit on, her eyes fixed hungrily on the meat on the grill, looking just like a starving big cat.
Zhamisi coldly handed her a skewer of freshly roasted bird meat, her scarlet vertical pupils like the most precise detectors, not missing any subtle expression or movement from her. Rhea Medusa took it, thanked her, and began devouring it without reservation, her eating manner bold, yet her movements carried a strange coordination and sense of power.
"Mmm! Delicious! Crispy outside, tender inside, perfect heat!" She praised indistinctly while eating, completely oblivious to the scrutinizing or vigilant gazes around her, as if she truly was just a passerby attracted by the food. Yuyuer and Lin Ya exchanged a look, both seeing deep confusion in each other's eyes. Salsa's mechanical cat body lay quietly at Fa's feet, her amber electronic eyes locked on Rhea Medusa, her core soul detector running at full power, but the feedback was a abyss-like... silence? This made Salsa's soul body feel an instinctive chill.
Mysterious Departure and Continuing the Journey
The bonfire weakened, leaving only dark red embers emitting faint light. Rhea Medusa patted her flat, toned abdomen contentedly and let out a loud belch. "Satisfying! Haven't had such authentic wild game in ages!" She stood up, stretched lazily, her joints cracking crisply.
"Thanks for the hospitality!" She laughed heartily, her gaze sweeping over everyone, lingering especially on Fa for a moment; those amber eyes appeared extraordinarily deep in the night, "I owe you this meal; we'll settle it if we meet again!"
With that, she actually lay down on the ground as if no one else was there. Fa couldn't help but ask: "Rhea Medusa, how did you end up on this uninhabited island?"
Rhea Medusa wiped her mouth, her smile still bright: "I travel everywhere, seeking interesting things and powerful opponents. This island is just one stop on my journey." Her answer was casual, yet it felt like it hid more stories.
As night deepened, everyone took turns keeping watch, alert to this uninvited guest. Rhea Medusa didn't mind at all, lying on the beach and falling asleep, snoring thunderously, in stark contrast to her beautiful appearance. Fa took the first watch, her right star eye gazing at her, thinking darkly: "This woman... is definitely not simple."
In the morning, sunlight sprinkled on the beach; Rhea Medusa woke up, stretched lazily, and thanked Fa and the others again: "Thanks for the treat; I should go." Fa and the others looked at her curiously, wondering how she would leave this isolated island surrounded by sea.
Then, Rhea Medusa lightly tapped the pendant on her neck.
"Big."
As soon as the words fell, the "mini sword" pendant instantly erupted with dazzling dark gold light! Its volume expanded rapidly like inflating! In an instant, that heavy, broad giant sword emanating an aura of cleaving mountains and severing peaks—the "Thousand Peaks"—once again hovered steadily in the low air before Rhea Medusa! The sword body hummed, releasing a heart-palpitating sharp edge, as if the surrounding air was being cleaved by invisible sword qi.
Rhea Medusa leaped lightly, landing steadily on the broad, door-like sword body. The giant sword "Thousand Peaks" didn't budge, as if she weighed nothing.
She stood on the sword, sea breeze fluttering her crimson ponytail, her posture tall like a pine. She turned her head, her gaze once again precisely landing on Fa; those amber eyes in the deepest pre-dawn night seemed to pierce through space, staring directly at Fa's right eye flowing with ethereal blue starlight. Her face no longer held the previous hearty smile, but a profound insight into the world and a trace of... indescribable anticipation.
"Farewell, everyone. The journey is long; take care." Her voice clearly entered everyone's ears, but the last sentence was directed solely at Fa, with a meaningful smile:
"Glad to see you, Daughter of the Star Eye. We will surely meet again in the future."
Before the words faded, the giant sword "Thousand Peaks" let out a clear, lingering sword cry! The dark gold sword light suddenly blazed, turning into a golden rainbow tearing through the night! Carrying that figure with fluttering crimson hair, it pierced the clouds in an instant at a speed beyond comprehension, disappearing into the southwestern dawn horizon, leaving only the stunned people on the beach and the lingering, sharp sword intent in the air, as tangible as substance.
"Daughter of... the Star Eye?" Arya murmured repeatedly, looking worriedly at Fa.
Fa stood in place, the starlight in her right eye flowing endlessly; Rhea Medusa's final gaze felt like a cold lightning piercing deep into her soul, causing a palpitation. That woman not only saw through the essence of her star eye but seemed to know more... The title "Daughter of the Star Eye" was no coincidence! Who was she exactly? How could she command such a divine giant sword? That phrase "we will surely meet again"—was it a prophecy or a warning?
"Her power... is very strange." Rex's electronic eyes recorded the data of the disappearing sword light, his voice carrying unprecedented gravity, "Unclassifiable. Not magic, not tech; energy level... inestimable. That sword's material form transformation... violates existing physical laws."
"Who cares who she is!" Kayla scratched her hair irritably, lightning crackling on her thunder claws, "All mysterious and whatnot, and that 'Daughter of the Star Eye'... doesn't sound like a good person! Next time we meet, I'll test if that crappy sword of hers is tough enough!"
"She had no malice." Lin Ya suddenly spoke, sensing the lingering aura in the air, "At least... not just now. Her existence is as heavy as a mountain, as free as the wind. But her words..." He looked at Fa, "Fa, be careful. She seems... to know the source of your power."
Celestia held the comatose Elios tighter in her arms, her ice-blue eyes gazing toward the direction where Rhea Medusa disappeared, filled with worry. The path ahead was uncertain, and now such a mysterious figure appeared, casting another shadow over Elios's hope.
Salsa's mechanical cat body walked to Fa's feet, her electronic voice sounding low: "Her soul... is like an abyss; my detection couldn't reach the core. But one thing is certain: her understanding of soul bodies... or rather, the essence of souls, is extremely profound. That last look she gave you... carried a certain... scrutiny and anticipation." This made Salsa think of her kin possibly on Ghost Island, her unease becoming clearer.
Fa took a deep breath of the sea breeze carrying saltiness and lingering sword intent, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart. She looked up southwest; the sky's ink blue was gradually tinged by the struggling golden-red dawn from below the horizon. The wind had unknowingly strengthened, distant sea surfaces beginning to surge with ominous whitecaps; heavy lead-gray clouds like stampeding beasts rapidly approached from the deep sea, bringing cold moisture.
"Pack up!" Fa decided decisively, her voice firm as iron, "A storm is coming! We must leave this sea before it forms! Salsa, summon the wing guards; full speed ahead! Target—Ghost Island!"
The storm's precursor roared low, whipping up cold waves crashing against the black volcanic rocks. Everyone moved quickly; the shadow wing guards tore through shadows to manifest again. Ten figures wrapped in deathly chill, facing the increasing wind and the rapidly spreading gloom on the horizon, like ten arrows shot into the storm's abyss, once more charging into the sky, plunging resolutely into that unknown sea known as the soul's forbidden domain. The enigma and warning left by Rhea Medusa lingered like thick sea fog in everyone's hearts, together with the rolling storm ahead, foretelling that the voyage to Ghost Island would be anything but calm.
The Call of Ghost Island and the Homeland of the Soul Descendants
After five days of rapid flight, traversing unpredictable cloud seas and sudden rains and gales, the ten shadow wing guards, like death messengers tearing through shadows, finally carried Fa and her group to the legendary forbidden land—Ghost Island.
The scene before them far exceeded anyone's imagination.
The island wasn't an ordinary land isolated on the sea but more like a massive, solidified ethereal blue soul vortex, struggling out from the deep seabed, suspended above the surging waves. A dense mixture of spiritual qi and mana, nearly tangible, formed an ever-present gray-white mist, tightly enveloping the entire island. The mist wasn't static but flowed and rotated slowly like it had life, sometimes thinning to reveal the island's edges with ferocious black reefs like giant beast fangs, sometimes thickening like viscous liquid, blocking all prying eyes. The air was filled with an indescribable aura—cold, silent, with soul pressure penetrating to the marrow, yet strangely mixed with an ancient sorrow and vast tranquility. This aura unconsciously slowed the living's heartbeats, tensing their minds, as if stepping into the boundary between life and death.
"This is it..." Salsa's electronic voice emerged from her mechanical cat body, carrying unprecedented fluctuation; her amber electronic eyes fixed on the ethereal blue mist below, "The echo of souls... so strong, so... heavy." Her soul body trembled slightly within the shell, the call and awe from deep in her bloodline intertwining; that "abyss"-like feeling became even clearer.
Fa's right star eye shone brightly with ethereal light, attempting to pierce the mist and see the island's body. However, the dense soul mist seemed alive, strongly repelling and distorting her probing. She could only barely see countless tiny, flickering ethereal blue or silver-white light streams flowing and converging deep in the mist, like rivers of light formed from the whispers of billions of souls. In the island's central area, there was an overwhelmingly vast soul energy source, pulsing slowly like a sleeping heart.
"Scan obstructed." Rex's electronic eyes flickered with dense data streams, "The mist has strong energy interference and mental shielding properties. The island structure below is abnormal, not naturally formed rock; detected high-density soul energy aggregates and unknown force fields. Hypothesis: The entire island itself is a massive... soul creation or energy domain."
"The Soul Body Clan... is under this mist?" Celestia held the comatose Elios tighter in her arms, her ice-blue eyes filled with worry. The aura here made her instinctively uncomfortable, as if her wind-thunder power and four-wing vitality clashed with this land of deathly stillness.
"Our Soul Body Clan despises sunlight and prefers dark, soul-energy-rich environments." Salsa said as her mechanical cat tail swayed, "The entrance... should be in the shadowed areas on the island's edge. Look for caves or weak points of energy convergence."
The shadow wing guards lowered altitude, skimming the rolling ink-green waves, navigating the labyrinth of mist and ferocious reefs. The intense soul pressure was like invisible water pressure, squeezing everyone's spirits. Yuyuer's crystal orb flowed with blue light, striving to soothe the restless water elements around. Lin Ya closed his eyes to sense, emerald life glow flickering on his surface as he tried to connect with possible ancient plants deep in the island, but only felt a cold "void."
In less than half an hour, at a hidden bay on the island's north side, surrounded by towering black rock walls, Rex's scan locked onto an anomaly.
"Ahead at the cliff base, detected large-scale artificial excavation traces and strong energy leakage. Structure stable, no active defensive energy response. Hypothesis: Entrance."
Everyone landed on a small slippery reef platform. Before them was an enormous arched cave mouth, as if gouged out from the mountain rock by some immense force. The cave edges were smooth, covered in a constantly flowing, shifting ethereal blue and silver "liquid energy membrane," like a water curtain, separating inside from outside. Inside the cave was profound darkness, with only faint ethereal light from deep within, and... utter silence.
The soul pressure in the air peaked here, bone-chillingly cold, accompanied by faint, seemingly billions of beings' sighs-like whispers, making one's scalp tingle.
"This is it." Salsa's mechanical cat body leaped down from the wing guard's back, walking to the cave mouth. Her amber electronic eyes gazed at the flowing energy curtain, her core seemingly performing complex calculations. "The aura inside... is very pure, but also very ancient. Everyone, be careful; follow me closely."
She took a deep breath, her soul body emerging from the seams of the mechanical cat shell, dense shadow energy mixed with her soul body's unique icy chill seeping out thread by thread. This wasn't an attack but a declaration, a soul fluctuation from the same source.
"I'll lead the way." Salsa said, stepping forward first, passing through the flowing energy curtain without hindrance, like through a cold water veil.
Fa followed closely, her right star eye vigilantly scanning around. The moment she passed through the curtain, a purer, more ancient soul energy hit her face, carrying the aura of sealed ages. The cave interior wasn't the imagined damp darkness but unusually dry. Underfoot were polished smooth black stone slabs emitting faint silver light, extending into the dark depths. The passage was extraordinarily wide, enough for several carriages abreast; the sides were towering rock walls, not rough stone but covered in a semi-transparent, deep-colored crystal-like substance. Inside the crystals, countless hair-thin ethereal blue and silver-white light streams flowed and intertwined slowly, like solidified star rivers or the veins of billions of sleeping souls, emitting a soft yet illuminating halo. The air was filled with a faint, strange scent like aged tomes mixed with cold metal.
"Heavens..." Arya whispered in awe, her emerald eyes reflecting the soul light streams on the walls, "These... are traces of soul energy materialization?"
"Not just traces," Salsa's voice came through the mental link, carrying a trace of awe, "These crystal walls... were woven and cast point by point over countless years by the Soul Body Clan, resonating their own soul energy with the island's origin. They are fortresses, records, and... cradles."
The passage was eerily quiet, with only everyone's light footsteps and breaths echoing in the vastness. However, beneath this silence, it wasn't empty.
Not far ahead, in the ethereal blue halo, vague forms began to emerge. They varied in shape: some like twisted shadows, some like semi-transparent armored warriors, others purely flickering energy masses. They floated quietly on the passage sides or ceiling, like ancient sculptures, emanating cold, non-living auras. These were bound or sleeping soul creations here—guards, or rather, part of this soul corridor.
As Fa and her group approached, these dormant soul creations seemed awakened. In their empty eye sockets or energy cores, ethereal blue or pale white lights suddenly lit up, all "gazing" over in unison! The invisible soul pressure instantly doubled, surging like cold tides, carrying strong rejection and hostility! The air rang with faint, piercing soul shrieks like nails scratching glass!
"Careful!" Kayla growled low, her thunder claws popping out instantly, lightning crackling. TISK's Lava Hammer ignited with ice-fire patterns. Zhamisi's venom fang daggers unsheathed, flickering with eerie green chill. Celestia protected Elios tighter, wind-thunder power condensing at her fingertips. Rex's armor emitted warning hums, his shoulder micro-weapon bays opening.
Just as battle was about to erupt!
Salsa stopped abruptly. No longer suppressing, a powerful and pure soul body fluctuation erupted from her like ripples! This fluctuation contained her unique icy chill and shadow attributes, yet clearly carried the Soul Body Clan's most fundamental core frequency.
"Awaken! Sleeping guardians!" Salsa didn't speak but directly turned the soul howl into invisible mental waves, oscillating through the entire passage! "I am Salsa Lisia! The wandering child returns! Sense my bloodline! Sense my echo!"
A miracle happened.
Those awakened, hostility-filled soul creations froze upon contacting Salsa's soul howl! The lights in their eyes or cores flickered violently, as if intensely identifying. The surging hostility and soul shrieks vanished as if wiped by an invisible hand, rapidly receding. The ethereal blue or pale white lights in the empty sockets gradually turned to a gentle silver glow with curiosity and inquiry.
They surrounded Salsa's soul body phantom like curious spirits, emitting light, wind-chime-like soul whispers. Moments later, the lights on these soul creations gradually dimmed, hostility completely dissipating. They slowly retreated to their original positions, lights fading, sinking back into silence as if never disturbed. The suffocating soul pressure in the passage also weakened, returning to its initial state.
"They... recognized you?" Yuyuer breathed a sigh of relief, her grip on the dragon bone staff loosening slightly.
"They sensed the homologous call," Salsa's soul body phantom carried complexity, "But this is just the outermost 'automatic' defense. The descendants inside... their attitude is unknown." Her tone wasn't much relaxed.
Crisis averted, everyone continued deeper. The passage seemed endless, the soul light streams forming wall murals growing grander and more complex, depicting incomprehensible ancient rituals, stellar movements, and... abstract scenes of countless souls converging and dissipating. The soul energy density in the air also increased, as if cold energy particles seeped into the lungs with each breath.
Finally, at the passage's end, appeared a "door" indescribable in words.
It wasn't a physical door but a massive, slowly rotating ethereal blue energy vortex. The vortex center was profound like a cosmic black hole, edges flowing with silver soul light threads forming countless arcane runes. The vortex emitted vast energy waves like the sea, with strong attraction and repulsion, as if a portal to another dimension. On the ground before the vortex, embedded a circle of complex, glowing soul crystal ring array.
"The Soul Vortex... the gateway to the Soul Descendants' core area." Salsa's voice carried unprecedented gravity, "Passing through it leads to the Soul Body Clan's true habitat. Fa, follow me closely; no matter what you see, stay calm, don't release hostility or overly strong energy fluctuations easily. Here... is the domain of souls; the rules differ from the outside."
She turned to look at Celestia holding Elios, and the equally tense others, her gaze finally landing on Fa: "Leave the communication to me. But if there's an incident..." She didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.
Fa's right star eye stared tightly at the slowly rotating soul vortex, ethereal blue light flowing endlessly. She could feel the terrifying energy and unfathomable soul rules within. She nodded, short blade gripped in hand, her multi-element mana hidden and unemitted: "Understood. Let's go."
Salsa floated to the center of the soul crystal ring array, raising her hands toward the slowly rotating ethereal blue vortex, emitting a series of ancient, obscure, rhythmic Soul Body Clan language. It wasn't sound but direct mental oscillations and energy resonances acting on the soul level.
With Salsa's "chant," the soul crystal ring array lit up one by one, projecting silver beams connecting to the vortex edge runes. The massive soul vortex's rotation sped up, the profound darkness at the center gradually becoming transparent, revealing a breathtaking scene—
Beyond the vortex wasn't the expected cave or underground city but a vast, boundless "Sea of Souls"!
Overhead was endless dark void, dotted with variously sized ethereal blue and silver-white "stars" condensed from pure soul energy, rotating slowly, sprinkling cold and dreamy light. Below was the bottomless "ocean" formed of soul energy, calm and waveless, presenting deep blue-black, reflecting the soul stars above.
And above this Sea of Souls floated a "city" indescribably magnificent and intricate.
It wasn't a city built of bricks and mortar but entirely "woven" from flowing, condensed soul energy! Countless huge, semi-transparent ethereal blue and silver-white crystals floated in the air like mountains, connected by flowing light bridges. These crystals weren't inert; inside, complex, neural network-like glowing veins flowed and flickered constantly. Their forms varied: some like inverted icebergs, some like blooming crystal clusters, others like massive, geometrically perfect prisms. Countless smaller soul crystals orbited these main structures like satellites.
The city had no roads, only countless fine soul light streams flowing like rivers between buildings, converging. And above these light streams, between those massive soul crystals, countless figures floated and moved silently like ghosts.
They were the Soul Body Clan.
Varied in form, similar to Salsa's soul body but more solid and diverse. Some presented clear humanoid outlines, composed of pure silver or ethereal blue soul energy, emanating gentle halos; some like flowing energy bodies, shapes constantly changing; others wrapped in semi-transparent armor or robes condensed from soul energy. They had no physical form, their movements bringing no wind, like the lightest dreams. The entire city was silent, with only the low hum like cosmic background radiation from soul energy flows. No sunlight, no clamor—only eternal soul glow and profound tranquility.
Spectacular, sacred, yet carrying a heart-palpitating inhuman sense and cold deathly stillness. This was the Homeland of the Soul Descendants—a miraculous land built on the essence of souls, a taboo domain hard for the living to comprehend.
Fa and her group stood on this side of the soul vortex, deeply shocked by the scene, momentarily forgetting words. Even the well-traveled Fa had her right star eye filled with awe and vigilance. Celestia held Elios tight, her ice-blue eyes reflecting that cold soul star sea, filled with worry for the unknown and faint hope for redemption.
Salsa stopped chanting, her soul body phantom quietly floating before the vortex, gazing at that homeland of her descendants. There was the palpitation of belonging, the tension of homesickness, and deep wariness for the upcoming communication and unknown trials.
At that moment, across the vortex, in the sky above the Sea of Souls, several figures emanating powerful soul fluctuations, as if drawn by Salsa's call, deviated from their floating paths, silently drifting toward the vortex entrance. Their forms were more condensed, soul glow more brilliant—clearly several high-level members of the Soul Body Clan.
The real contact was about to begin.