Void Cultivation

Chapter 327 - 326-

Somewhere within the Dead Sea, a battered ghost ship drifted silently across the endless black waters. Thick fog rose from beneath the sea, spreading across the dark surface like a living veil. Some of the mist even rolled upward from under the ship itself, wrapping around the vessel in pale layers.

From afar, the ghost ship no longer looked as though it was sailing upon water. Instead, it seemed to float above endless clouds within a dead and forgotten world.

The wooden hull creaked softly as the sea currents pushed it forward without destination.

Sitting quietly upon the deck was a pale young girl with sickly yellow skin. Her long white hair hung loosely behind her back, while her frail body appeared emaciated to an alarming extent. The skin around her arms and neck looked dry, cracked, and rotten, as though her flesh was slowly decaying while she still lived.

At times, strips of dead flesh peeled away from her body and dropped onto the wooden deck with soft wet sounds.

Yet the girl did not react.

Her eyes remained closed calmly, almost as though she were meditating. However, despite her composed appearance, faint traces of pain twisted across her face from time to time.

The horrifying scene continued for several hours.

Then suddenly...

Cough!

The girl violently coughed out a mouthful of thick black blood.

The blood splashed onto the deck, and the moment it touched the wood, faint sizzling sounds echoed out. Wisps of dark smoke rose from the corroded surface.

Only then did the girl’s expression relax slightly.

The pain on her face eased a little, though it still lingered stubbornly within her eyes.

"Can you truly not help me deal with this corruption?" the girl asked softly toward the empty fog before her. "I possess treasures that might interest you."

For a brief moment, only silence answered her.

Then, the fog surrounding the ghost ship slowly churned.

A tall figure calmly walked out from within the mist.

He was a young man with strikingly handsome features. Long black hair flowed down his back, though several strands near the front had already turned completely white. He wore loose black robes that fluttered faintly despite the still air.

The moment he appeared, the surrounding fog seemed to retreat instinctively.

An unnatural chill spread from his body, forcing the mist to roll backward as though even it feared approaching him.

This man was naturally Caster.

And the rotting girl sitting upon the deck was Violet.

"Next time," Caster said coldly, "perhaps you should avoid looking directly at the God’s Hand with the Eye of a Soul Ascendancy expert."

However, Violet merely waved dismissively as though his words were insignificant. She continued circulating her cultivation, attempting to suppress the thick black miasma corroding her body from within.

After a long moment of silence, Caster suddenly spoke again.

"I hope you removed the karma and fate attached to the Eye of Fate before handing it to Grey."

Violet nodded slowly.

"Yes. I used the corruption caused by gazing upon the God’s Hand to erase the lingering karma left behind by that Soul Ascendancy expert." Her tone remained calm and emotionless, as though she were speaking about somebody else’s suffering rather than her own. "However, because I was the one who severed it, my own fate with him has deepened even further."

Her expression darkened slightly.

"If I attempt to use the eye again, our fates may entangle beyond separation. At that point... he may even gain an opportunity to revive within my body."

Despite the terrifying implications behind her words, Caster merely nodded calmly, as though such matters were ordinary to him.

"Besides," Violet continued suddenly, a strange smile appearing across her pale face, "I already promised little Grey that I would give him the eye of that Soul Ascendancy expert."

A trace of excitement flickered within her dim eyes.

"I’m certain that by now, he’s already using it to witness the true state of the world."

The smile on her face gradually widened into something unstable.

"I wonder what expression he’ll make once he realizes that the world he knows is merely the surface." Her voice became softer and more excited. "Everything... the heavens, divinity, the so-called Gods... all of it is false on the surface."

Her breathing quickened slightly.

"I become excited every time I think about it."

Caster stared at her silently for a moment before suddenly thinking of something.

"And what if he uses the eye to look directly at the God’s Hand?" he asked.

The instant those words left his mouth, Violet froze.

For a brief second, her expression changed completely.

But soon afterward...

Her smile returned.

And this time, it became even wider than before.

"Good... good!" Violet suddenly muttered.

A faint chuckle escaped her lips.

"Once he truly understands the form and nature of God, his understanding will evolve." Her eyes trembled with fanatic excitement. "He will no longer fear those entities that call themselves Gods."

Her grin widened unnaturally.

"He may even desire to become one himself."

Violet began chuckling softly to herself.

However, with her rotting flesh, sunken eyes, and corpse-like appearance, the sound was not pleasant in the slightest.

If an ordinary person were to witness her current appearance, they would believe that an evil corpse had crawled out from the depths of hell itself and begun laughing madly beneath the fog-covered sea.

However, Caster continued to stare at the madly laughing Violet for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"Whatever. You can go kill yourself by provoking whatever gods you wish to anger, but leave the kid out of it. Master has already taken notice of him, and if she finds out that you are influencing him wrongly..."

Caster’s expression turned complicated the moment he mentioned his master.

Violet, who had been laughing wildly a moment ago, suddenly stopped. The crazed smile on her face faded slightly, and her expression became solemn when she heard the mention of their master.

Memories from several years ago surfaced in her mind.

Back then, Violet had been found inside a newly formed Corroded Zone after God’s blinding radiance descended upon the land and transformed the entire region into a forbidden place.

At the time, she had been no different from a starving stray dog.

Her body was pale and skinny, her clothes tattered beyond recognition, and her entire existence reeked of misery and death. She could still remember fighting countless abominations for rotten scraps of flesh just to survive another day.

At that time, she did not know who she was.

She had no memories, no family, and not even a name.

All she possessed was an overwhelming desire to survive.

And somehow, that terrifying persistence allowed her to continue living within the Corroded Zone for far longer than anyone should have been able to.

It was only by coincidence that Caster’s master happened to pass by that region.

From high above the sky, she noticed Violet lying amidst several poisonous lily flowers. By then, Violet’s body had already swollen and turned pitch-black from the poison spreading through her veins.

It was obvious that she was already at death’s door.

Yet, she survived.

Caster’s master had personally saved her and taken her away from the Corroded Zone.

At that time, Violet had already reached the Fourth Level of the Qi Accumulation Realm despite never cultivating with a proper cultivation art.

That alone was enough to draw the elder’s interest.

When Violet finally regained consciousness, she discovered that she had already arrived at Sky Mist City.

Not only had she been rescued, but she had also officially become a cultivator.

What happened afterward was simple.

Violet became a disciple under the elder of Sky Mist City and slowly learned about the cultivation world. She also discovered that her master already had other disciples and that she herself was merely the third disciple.

Later, their master accepted Caster as her newest disciple because of his monstrous talent and terrifying potential.

His talent was so absurd that Sky Mist City publicly declared him the number one genius on the entire continent.

Of course, countless people had questioned that title at the time since Caster had still been at such a low cultivation level.

But now, those same people no longer dared to doubt him.

In only a few short months, Caster had crossed the Foundation Establishment Realm and stepped into the Spirit Core Formation Realm.

His cultivation speed was enough to make even veteran cultivators feel despair.

After recalling the past, Violet suddenly burst into manic laughter once more, her face twisting into a crazed grin.

"Master has always known that I’m crazy," she said while laughing. "I’m sure she wouldn’t mind."

"Eating too much rotten flesh must have rotten your brain as well." Caster sighed while shaking his head. Although Violet was older than him in seniority, at times, she acted like she was the junior and he was the senior.

Violet shrugged with a nonchalant expression on her face.