“But it will still take a very, very long time…”

Hearing the old turtle’s words, the little flounder replied dejectedly.

Jian Chou’s attention was finally drawn back.

Old Turtle Dongyuan looked at it, his voice filled with kindness.

“But if you don’t cultivate, you won’t possess the Universe Eye and the Cosmos Eye. How will you be able to see her when she hasn’t come yet?”

The little flounder swished its tail, circled around the old turtle once, and returned to face him: “I heard from the elders in my clan that mortals only live for less than a hundred years. By the time I finish cultivating, will she already be…”

“The Cosmos Eye can peer into the past and future. If she grows old, you can still glimpse her traces from this endless river of time…”

The old turtle finally moved, slowly retracting his head backward, and finally slowly withdrawing into his shell.

The water immediately emanated a sheet of azure light as the old turtle completely concealed all his aura.

The little flounder knew that Master Dongyuan would not answer it another word.

It swam slowly in the water. The little flounder, born not long ago, still had its two fish eyes on either side. At this moment, the bone between the fish eyes had already begun to gradually soften. When it truly matured and succeeded in cultivation, the Universe Eye would move toward the Cosmos Eye side, which is what people call “flounder eyes.”

Universe and cosmos combining into one creates the world.

Flounder eyes follow the same principle.

He seemed somewhat bewildered, murmuring to himself: “Yes…”

It seemed he found Master Dongyuan’s words very reasonable.

Thus, Jian Chou watched this little flounder swim through the vast shallow sea toward the gradually deepening waters of the ocean.

It truly began cultivating.

Although Jian Chou didn’t quite understand the cultivation methods of the flounder clan.

Unlike cultivators, sea demons generally absorbed the essence of heaven and earth from seawater for cultivation. Each time it cultivated lasted several days, but when it awakened from cultivation, this tiny flounder would still swim to the shore, waiting for someone to arrive.

Jian Chou couldn’t help but think of the woman holding pearls in that painting.

Then, all the scenery before her eyes suddenly turned to nothingness, then gradually gathered together again.

Her vision returned to the shore, where a young girl wearing simple light blue cloth clothes and carrying a fish basket followed the adults in her family, step by step, to the beach, walking along the shore, stepping on beautiful shells one by one.

Below the sea surface, the flounder watched the girl on the shore.

It desperately wanted to leap out of the water, but didn’t have enough strength, and couldn’t help feeling dejected.

The girl walked along the beach, so the flounder followed along underwater, until the girl followed the adults to collect small fish that had fallen from the fishing boats moored by the sea, then departed. He continued gazing in that direction until the moon rose over the sea before finally leaving.

Each time the girl appeared, she had grown a little.

Correspondingly, the flounder’s cultivation would also advance by a thread.

Gradually, the girl noticed its presence and would occasionally greet it.

By this time, the flounder could already communicate with humans through demon consciousness, but fearing it would frighten her, he never spoke, only quietly accompanying her.

They always met when the moon was fullest over the sea.

The girl came once each month, and gradually began bringing things for the flounder.

She said A’Rou was a fisherman’s daughter by the sea, but her parents at home were weak and sickly. She could only survive by collecting seafood from her uncle’s fishing boat. She hoped she could quickly help her parents at home and eventually go out to sea fishing herself.

The flounder didn’t speak, only gazed at her silently and tenderly.

By this time, both of its fish eyes had moved to the right side, and it had become a very large flounder.

The girl’s figure had become graceful, showing a kind of delicate, gentle beauty. She sighed as she left, but the flounder remained until sunrise before swimming back to the sea.

Master Dongyuan still cultivated in that same place; he was the one who knew the most about everything at the bottom of the sea.

The flounder approached again: “Master Dongyuan, I want to cultivate faster.”

“Poor little flounder…”

The old turtle sighed deeply, didn’t ask why, and only told it: “Three hundred li west into the deep sea, in thirteen days, an underwater volcano will erupt. There will be a great opportunity there. See if you dare to seize it.”

“…”

The flounder’s eyes lit up.

It swam three circles to the left and three circles to the right in front of the old turtle, finally resolving: “I want to try.”

Thus, riding the ocean waves, it swam rapidly toward the westernmost direction.

The journey of three hundred li was still too difficult for such a flounder.

In Jian Chou’s view, this swimming journey was just a brief moment, but it experienced rising and falling tides, angry waves and whirlpools. Even though it was a flounder with some cultivation success, it was still difficult to resist the entire unpredictable ocean.

It was once battered by angry waves until covered in wounds, once stirred dizzy by whirlpools, and even lost its way for a time…

But on the final thirteenth day, it finally arrived.

In Jian Chou’s vision, there was only magma surging upward from beneath the seabed’s earth veins.

Smoke suddenly rose from the sea surface…

That was the appearance of a volcanic eruption.

A brand new island thus formed on the sea surface.

The flounder was swept away by the boiling seawater, lost consciousness, and drifted far away.

But Jian Chou knew it had succeeded.

Because in the next scene, he had already transformed into a simple young man, coming to the seaside. The pair of feet he had manifested felt somewhat strange to him. He stepped on the sandy beach, as if stepping on the footprints left by the girl named A’Rou.

Here, the flounder waited many days, and A’Rou finally came again.

Thus, they finally “met.”

A’Rou came to wait for that flounder, but this time didn’t wait for it, only waited for a young man who inexplicably made her feel favorable.

They conversed by the sea, talking about the flounder A’Rou had encountered, talking about other things at sea.

A’Rou didn’t know much about the mortal world, but in the flounder’s world, everything was novel, everything was something Master Dongyuan rarely spoke of.

The young man said he had been brought here by a lost ship and was homeless.

Finally, he followed the girl home, becoming a helper in that small fishing household.

People in the fishing village all said this was A’Rou’s family finding A’Rou a husband.

Though A’Rou blushed, she never denied it.

Everything went smoothly, though the flounder felt somewhat uncomfortable about some things he saw in the fishing village… those hanging dried fish, the corpses of his fellow clan members, and medicines made from various parts of their bodies…

Until one day, A’Rou’s father frankly said his time was running short and hoped to entrust A’Rou to him, this outsider, but since they lived in this fishing village, surviving by fishing, he wanted the flounder to board a large fishing boat to learn fishing.

Seeing this, Jian Chou already sighed in her heart.

The ominous premonition faintly arising in her heart was finally confirmed.

In the endless river of time, what she saw was merely a grain of sand.

A grain of sand the flounder wanted her to see.

The young man finally went out to sea, in a suitable season, boarding the deck with all the young men from the fishing village.

A’Rou stood by the seaside, her face bearing a shy, rosy smile. Under the morning sunlight over the sea, she had an indescribable radiance.

But the flounder’s heart was filled with gloom.

This sea voyage went smoothly, encountering no wind or waves. The fishermen on the large boat cast their nets where fish gathered, hauling up countless fish.

Jian Chou heard him say to himself: The strong prey on the weak, as it should be.

Throughout the process, the flounder only watched, constantly saying something to himself, not participating.

Until someone called him over to help pull the nets.

The gathered nets were continuously pulled up from the sea surface. Countless small fish hung on the nets, unable to escape, and there were even some jellyfish. Finally, they pulled up a black old clam two zhang in size, with many ancient seaweeds clinging to its tightly closed shell, like Master Dongyuan.

The flounder suddenly froze.

But all the fishermen around him cried out: “Such a big old clam! My heavens, could it have already become a spirit?”

The fishing boat floating on the sea surface immediately became lively.

The old clam lay on the deck, with people constantly shouting loudly.

Finally, even the boat owner’s young son came out, pointing at the old clam and shouting: “Pry it open, pry it open for me! Ancient books say that such a large old clam must have a pearl mother inside!!! Hurry, what are you standing around for!”

Everyone was excited…

Their gazes fell burning hot on the old clam’s hard shell, and some had already begun grabbing tools to start.

Their hearts were all burning hot, only the flounder’s heart was cold.

A group of people spent a long time, until sunset, but still couldn’t open the clam’s shell.

The boat owner’s son, furious, ordered the fishing boat to return to shore, transport this two-zhang-large old clam back to the seaside, and get tools to open the clam.

The underwater world was not as simple as mortals imagined.

This old clam had long cultivated into a spirit monster in the water, a profound existence like the old turtle. This time, for some unknown reason, it was completely unconscious.

When small, the flounder had once nestled in front of her clam shell, gazing at her enormous and beautiful mother of all pearls…

She was the Clam Mother.

And he couldn’t watch mortals harm her.

At dawn, when the ship was about to dock, he took advantage of everyone sleeping soundly, came to the deck, freed the Clam Mother from the fishing net, and returned her to the sea.

All this was done without anyone knowing.

The next morning, everyone discovered the Clam Mother was gone and flew into a rage.

The boat owner’s son was furious, angrily scolding everyone, but still no trace of the Clam Mother.

The boat finally docked.

This trip they returned with a full load, and A’Rou waited for him on the shore, as if welcoming a hero.

The flounder had been out to sea and finally gained A’Rou’s father’s recognition, who promised to betroth A’Rou to him.

He thought this was the end of it all.

But trouble lay ahead.

The boat owner’s son somehow traced it back to the flounder, bringing a group of people to confront him: “It was him who released the old clam, released the pearl mother!”

The boat owner’s son pointed with his hand, and everyone swarmed forward.

The flounder didn’t understand how he had been discovered.

But by this time it was too late. In the seaside fishing village, families with boats, especially large boats, were the wealthiest and often controlled the entire village, even the entire coast. A’Rou’s family had no power to resist. Even A’Rou was captured, demanded to compensate for the fishing boat’s enormous losses from this voyage.

The flounder asked what it would take to ransom A’Rou back. The boat captain’s son said: “Pearl mother, I want the pearl mother, the pearl mother that can extend life!”

Pearl mother, born within a thousand-year-old clam, could extend a mortal’s life.

Ancient national texts recorded that obtaining it could even grant immortality.

All mortals yearned for it.

A’Rou looked at the flounder with puzzled eyes, seemingly not understanding why he would release the old clam, nor why he would put the entire family in danger…

The flounder suddenly didn’t know what to do.

He had to find a pearl mother to have any chance of saving people.

Though at that moment, he very much wanted to slaughter them all, the old turtle had said: The cultivation world doesn’t interfere with mortal affairs, mortal affairs have cultivators to protect them. If demons cause trouble, cultivators will drive them away. Your cultivation is still shallow, don’t take risks.

Facing A’Rou’s gaze, he couldn’t defend himself at all, could only agree to the boat owner’s son’s demand. He was given a small boat to go to sea to find the Clam Mother and retrieve the pearl mother.

Actually, no one knew whether that old clam really had a pearl mother inside, but everyone clearly knew the boat owner’s son was bullying with power.

Yet no one dared stand up and say more.

The flounder hadn’t been in the mortal world long and didn’t understand these intricacies.

He went to sea when the ocean waves were strongest. Everyone knew this journey was a matter of nine deaths and one life. Forget finding the old clam and obtaining the pearl mother – being able to preserve his life would be the Sea God’s protection.

But the flounder wasn’t human.

He would face no danger at sea, only…

Where to find a pearl mother?

This seabed was his home, the place that bore and raised him. On the other shore was the girl he admired, waiting for him to return with the pearl mother to save her and her parents.

He dared not reveal his identity.

The sea was vast, but he knew there was only one Clam Mother, only one pearl mother.

That was an elder who had shown him kindness in his youth. How could he raise the butcher’s knife toward a fellow creature who had been kind to him?

At sea, he drifted for a very long time.

The sea wind made his hair turn yellow, his skin turn dark, his lips become cracked.

Many things pained his heart, including A’Rou’s uncomprehending gaze.

After who knows how many days, he finally couldn’t bear all this torment any longer. He shouted once at sea, and thus the waves grew angry, wild waves rose one after another, fierce sea wind brought up a mad water spout, rushing skyward!

He transformed back into a fish, a giant flounder, leaping from the boat into the sea.

Swimming, swimming.

He searched throughout the sea, searching for Master Dongyuan who had answered his questions and resolved his doubts in his youth.

Finally, he found him.

The scene only reached this point.

Jian Chou didn’t see how the old turtle replied to the flounder, only saw that after asking Master Dongyuan, it cruised in the shallow sea for a long time, continuously observing the world above the shore, as if recalling the time it spent watching as a small fish.

It finally flicked its massive fish tail and headed east.

This was the vast, boundless Western Sea.

It swam from one end of the Western Sea to the other, searching for a very long time, finally finding a massive reef.

That was…

The Great Dream Reef!

Jian Chou’s eyes suddenly showed some surprise.

Because she knew that wasn’t a reef, but…

Kun!

The flounder came before the reef, gazing with humble devotion.

The waves in the sea suddenly calmed for a moment.

Then, some ancient and grand voice responded – a voice Jian Chou couldn’t hear, but she could hear the flounder’s voice, filled with infinite excitement, prostrating its massive body beneath this enormous reef.

“Sea Lord!”

Sea Lord…

Kun?

That massive reef didn’t move at all.

The flounder said something else, but all sounds became blurred again.

They must be communicating.

The flounder’s expression quickly became stunned, finally falling silent for a long time. Gritting its teeth, it still made its decision.

Jian Chou could finally hear sounds again.

The flounder said: “In a hundred years, Flounder will come to this place and dedicate the Universe Eye to the Sea Lord!”

Thus, a ray of light suddenly emerged from the reef.

The surrounding seawater immediately began to boil and roar, like endless cheering, like endless shouting, and like…

Endless mourning!

The flounder’s pair of eyes suddenly gained some divine light, emanating a faint glow.

With infinite sorrow yet full of gratitude, it prostrated its massive body again, paying respects to the most powerful existence in this endless sea, then departed with a heart full of hope.

It returned.

Returned to that longed-for coast, transforming back into human form, looking exactly as before.

Jian Chou saw him reach out his hand and forcefully gouge at his right eye, thus extracting that eyeball. It immediately blazed with light, transforming into a large, smooth pearl that he held in his palm.

Blood was still flowing from his eye socket…

Suddenly, laughter came from the coast.

“Then I’ll go to the seaside first to look.”

It was that familiar voice.

A’Rou.

The flounder immediately became overjoyed – A’Rou was still there, A’Rou was safe!

As if he could no longer feel the enormous pain of gouging out his eye, he turned around with a face full of smiles and shouted: “A’Rou!”

A’Rou wore brand new silk and satin, adorned with a full head of gorgeous pearls and jade, with several young maidservants beside her. She lifted her delicate skirt and had just steadied herself on a large reef on the beach.

The instant she heard this voice, she stiffened all over, turned around, and screamed in fright.

He knew he had frightened her and quickly covered his gouged eye with his hand, saying in a trembling voice: “A’Rou, it’s me, it’s me!”

A’Rou finally looked at him carefully and recognized him: “It’s you!”

So he hurried over, offering the enormous and beautiful pearl like a treasure. It was pure white, with moon-like roundness, its gentle light falling into people’s eyes, immediately giving them a comfortable and refreshing feeling, like gentle sea breezes caressing their faces, like endless seawater flowing past their acupoints…

Crystal clear.

That was an extremely extraordinary feeling.

A’Rou was extremely delighted: “It’s the pearl mother, you finally found the pearl mother!”

“Yes.”

In this moment, his heart and eyes were filled entirely with her – everything was worth it.

Even though he had promised to dedicate the Universe Eye to Sea Lord Kun in a hundred years, even though he had turned the Cosmos Eye into a pearl mother, even though in a hundred years he would have nothing…

He had no regrets!

A’Rou held that pearl, the sea breeze lifting her exquisite dress. The look in her eyes as she gazed at the pearl mother was filled with endless joy.

Truly beautiful.

That high-piled hair arrangement, temples smooth and neat…

Watching this, Jian Chou’s lips curved into a mocking smile.

What a pitiful person…

But she had no interest whatsoever.

Raising her finger, Jian Chou simply flicked once, creating a trace of light that flicked away that speck of dust-like radiance attached to her brow.

Instantly, all the scenes disappeared completely.

Before her was still that river of time, an endless field of brilliant light points.

“Why aren’t you watching anymore…”

A hoarse, ancient voice sounded.

This was slightly different from the flounder’s voice Jian Chou had heard, but she knew this was the flounder.

She raised her head. The river of time continued to flow endlessly past her sides, never ceasing…

At the end of her vision was a vast ocean.

That was the future world, infinite possibilities.

Just gazing from this distance, Jian Chou felt dizzy and disoriented…

“Why aren’t you watching anymore…”

“Are you completely uninterested in your own future? I can peer into the universe, explore the past and future…”

“Your future can also be observed…”

“Is it this one, or this one…”

As this slow, slightly bewitching voice came, a massive flounder’s phantom slowly swam through the river of time.

Its broad body seemed to cover the entire river, yet also seemed like just a tiny speck of light in the river.

It came very slowly, but the instant Jian Chou saw it, it was already before her eyes!

That was a line of dim, sharp light!

Like a sharp sword severing time!

Jian Chou only felt a pain in her brow. The Soul-Stabilizing Nail protecting her soul emitted trembling purple light, but the instant this line of dim light arrived, it made a sound like breaking glass—

A crisp crack.

That hoarse, ancient voice immediately became frenzied, echoing in her mind!

“Why won’t you watch!”

“The mortal world has all kinds of ugliness, why won’t you watch!”

…

Jian Chou’s mind was filled with excruciating pain.

The instant that gray line entered, she felt her consciousness become chaotic. An extremely vicious feeling instantly swept over her – true love, sacrifice, great love, betrayal, and…

Slaughter!

Endless blood-red!

That was the blood-soaked fishing village, that was A’Rou stabbed to death by sharp spears, that was the enormous pearl fallen to the ground, covered in dust…

That was the dimmed, dispersed fish eye, all its light scattered!

Mixed fish eyes and pearls – what’s to pity?

The entire coast was swallowed by endless angry waves, all villages perished in these angry waves…

Kill, kill, kill!

Kill the heartless!

Kill the traitors!

Kill all who can be killed, only I am supreme, only I am law!

That gray line seemed small, seemed enormous.

It broke through the Soul-Stabilizing Nail protecting Jian Chou’s soul and charged straight into her sea of consciousness.

That was a place only cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage could penetrate.

But it charged straight through!

Thus entering a completely new, broken world…

Endless pain, as if tearing Jian Chou’s entire being apart.

The thing invading her mind made her feel like being cut by a thousand knives.

That voice still echoed in her mind!

“Why won’t you watch, why won’t you watch, why won’t you watch!”

Why won’t you watch!

Why should she watch?!

It was just betrayal, nothing more than treachery!

What she had experienced, what she had lost, what she had always hated, was far heavier and more painful than this fish eye!

Cosmos Eye?

Universe Eye?

What did they amount to!

She had died once, her soul was damaged, she had painfully lost the child in her womb!

“What are you compared to that!”

The grief from her heart and soul suddenly resounded throughout the entire sea of consciousness.

The gray line transformed into that flounder’s phantom, right before the entire sea of consciousness…

That was a broken world.

Broken mountains and waters, broken people and things. The simple farmhouse courtyard was broken, the distant ink-splashed mountain forests were broken, the massive ancient banyan in the village was broken, and even the people walking through the village all had broken faces…

Massive cracks distributed throughout the entire world, irregularly intersecting…

Even all sounds in this world were ghostly, discontinuous and blurred.

Standing in that vast emptiness, standing in that torrential river of time, standing at the boundary between past and future, she opened her eyes that had been tightly closed from pain.

Beneath her cold gaze lay her hidden, endless suffering.

Asking her to enter its world?

But what was this bit of pain compared to anything?

Faint blood-red suddenly stained the depths of her eyes!

Jian Chou gazed at that endless river, yet felt no flow of time, only that cold, even cruel voice echoing forth…

“Since you’ve come to my door, why not enter my world!”