A rift suddenly tore across the brilliant night sky, as though ripped open by the hand of a colossal giant. The sight left everyone in shock and terror, their hearts gripped with unease.
For that rift had appeared far above the nine heavens, amid the starry river. If someone had truly done this by hand, just how enormous would they have to be, and how tremendous their power, to tear open such a gash in the sky?
People dared not dwell on the thought, because the harder they tried to fathom it, the more their blood ran cold and their fear deepened. Instinctively, they convinced themselves that no human could have done this—no cultivator, no matter how powerful, could possess that kind of strength.
So they decided it must have been the work of either demons or gods, though they far preferred to believe it was simply a strange phenomenon that had nothing to do with them.
The spectacle was simply too overwhelming, far beyond what ordinary people could bear to contemplate. It was not something they could be involved in, nor did they want to be.
The rift in the sky was visible to everyone across the entire Eastern Sea Region. Nearly every soul had been startled by it, and Chu Feng was no exception—he had noticed the phenomenon as well.
But Chu Feng had no interest in gazing at it, nor any desire to speculate about what it meant. At this moment, there was only one person occupying his thoughts: Xiao Yuer.
"Chu Feng." Suddenly, a voice rang out, and at the same time a graceful, ethereal figure appeared before him, blocking his path. It was Qiushui Fuyan.
"Senior Qiushui, have you seen Xiao Yuer?" Chu Feng asked with concern.
But Qiushui Fuyan shook her head. "Chu Feng, searching like this isn't going to work. The Eastern Sea Region is vast beyond measure, and Xiao Yuer's speed in the water is truly frightening. If she went out to play, she wouldn't necessarily stay within the Boundless Blood Sea. How could you ever find her at your speed?"
"You should go back and keep watch. If Xiao Yuer finishes playing and returns, someone needs to be there to escort her back to the Floating Island."
"And don't worry—Yafei couldn't have captured Xiao Yuer. You know how fast Xiao Yuer is. Yafei absolutely doesn't have the ability to catch her."
Having said this, Qiushui Fuyan lifted her gaze toward the nine heavens above and let out a soft sigh. "Tonight is certainly not a peaceful one." Then her slender figure darted forward like a streak of light, vanishing into the distance. At the same time, she expanded her Mental Power, broadening the range of her perception.
Watching her go, Chu Feng understood that Qiushui Fuyan was continuing the search for Xiao Yuer. Thinking about it more carefully, he realized she was right. If Xiao Yuer had really gone out to play, finding her would be next to impossible—but she would eventually come back. And if no one was waiting below the Floating Island when she returned, Xiao Yuer wouldn't be able to get back to the island. That would actually be more dangerous.
So Chu Feng stopped his blind search. Instead, he activated his movement martial art and shot back toward the Floating Island where they lived.
"Young Brother Wuxing, have you seen Xiao Yuer?" Upon returning to the Floating Island, Chu Feng found that Jiang Wanshi had come back as well—presumably Qiushui Fuyan had escorted her back.
Chu Feng shook his head. "Senior Sister Jiang, there's no need to worry too much. I'm sure Xiao Yuer will be back soon. I'll go wait for her below the island. You can keep watch up here."
"After all, that little girl has all sorts of tricks. Even I'm not sure whether she can fly through the air. If she comes flying in, she'll head straight back to this island, and then you can come down and let me know."
"En, Young Brother Wuxing makes a good point." Jiang Wanshi nodded.
Then, without another word, Chu Feng leaped off the Floating Island and landed on the crimson surface of the sea.
Standing atop the water, Chu Feng had intended to quiet his mind and wait patiently for Xiao Yuer. But this was the central region of the Boundless Blood Sea—everyone in the sea lived in this area.
And with the sudden appearance of the strange phenomenon in the heavens above, cries of alarm and astonishment rang out from every direction, accompanied by wails and sobs of terror. Amid the clamor, even Chu Feng couldn't help but look up at the night sky.
"Egg, this phenomenon is certainly spectacular, but it's even more terrifying. Do you know what it might be?" After observing carefully, Chu Feng had to admit the phenomenon was far too strange—it filled him with a vague sense of unease, and he didn't believe it was something brought about by the arrival of a divinely gifted physique.
"Heh, I may be well-read, Your Majesty, but I've been stuck in the Asura Spirit World all this time. This is the first time I've seen anything like it. Rather than having me make wild guesses, you'd be better off using your Heavenly Eyes to take a closer look." Egg chuckled without giving a direct answer.
Without hesitation, Chu Feng activated his Heavenly Eyes. His gaze sharpened like a blade as he looked up toward the nine heavens once more—and his expression changed drastically. Through the Heavenly Eyes, he had actually discovered something.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the rift simply appeared to have edges shaped similarly to the imprint of a hand, which was why they assumed someone had torn it open by hand.
But through Chu Feng's Heavenly Eyes, he could faintly make out a phantom image. It was flickering and indistinct—impossible to determine whether it was truly real—but that phantom was unmistakably a pair of enormous hands, piercing through the void and rending the sky apart.
"How… how can this be?!" Even the typically composed Chu Feng couldn't help but be shaken by the sight.
No matter how powerful a cultivator might be, there was always a limit. Even if one could soar through the sky, passing through layer upon layer of clouds, one could never hope to reach the stars and moon—much less the sky beyond them.
Yet here was a pair of giant hands that had truly torn open the heavens themselves. How could Chu Feng remain calm?
He could not begin to imagine how massive those hands truly were, or what kind of power they contained to accomplish such a thing.
But Chu Feng could imagine this: if those giant hands were to descend from the sky, it wouldn't even require the whole hand—perhaps just a single finger pressing down would be enough to annihilate the vast Eastern Sea Region.
Those hands were too terrifying, far beyond the bounds of Chu Feng's comprehension. And their owner must be even more fearsome—possessing truly world-ending power.
In this moment, the ever-agnostic Chu Feng found himself for the first time thinking of a single word: god.
Could those be the hands of a god? This was the greatest question now churning in his mind.
"Egg, did you see that?!" Still shaken, Chu Feng hurriedly asked Egg. They shared vision and hearing—whatever he could see, Egg could as well.
"En. Looking at it this way, I'm fairly certain now." Even Egg's tone had grown unusually grave, all playfulness gone.
"Egg, what do you mean by that? Are you saying the phantom between the rifts is real?" Egg's answer only heightened Chu Feng's alarm.
"If blessings are to come, no misfortune can stop them; if misfortune is to come, no blessing can prevent it. All I hope is that whatever this brings—blessing or disaster—it has nothing to do with you." With those words, Egg fell silent, as though even this fearless queen had been frightened.