Li Qiye didn’t immediately enter the city. Instead, the old servant led him to the coastline.

A majestic platform floated in the sky above the water right outside of the city. Keep in mind that the entirety of Black Wood resembled a cliff right next to Black Tides.

While standing on this platform, one could see the famous ocean ahead. Virtually everyone in Eight Desolaces has heard of its name before and its horrifying tales.

Nonetheless, to see it in person was still astonishing. When people thought of oceans, they would imagine blue water and a clear sky.

This wasn’t the case for the boundless ocean ahead. True to its name, the water was completely black. Moreover, it felt quite thick as well.

If it was only black like squid’s ink, then people wouldn’t mind adventuring there. However, the thickness was intimidating. They thought that once they took one step inside, they would be stuck there, unable to get out.

Furthermore, due to this thickness, the water surface should be quite calm. In reality, this ocean was furious with high waves always ravaging the shore, ready to sweep the earth away.

The sky wasn’t blue either. It seemed that after millions and millions of years, the evaporated water resulted in an all-enveloping thick fog. 

In a sense, one would feel that they were standing before a great beast with its bloody jaws wide open. The first impression was usually fear and dread.

Yang Ling and Fan Bai had heard of this place before but this was their first visit. They felt the same way as everyone else.

“Why is the water black?” Yang Ling brought this up.

In fact, this might be the first question in everyone’s mind after seeing the ocean. It must have been asked a million times.

Li Qiye smiled while the old servant answered: “There are numerous legends regarding this.”

“What are they?” Fan Bai, who was in awe, became interested as well.

“One tells of a source stone of darkness residing in the deepest crevice of the ocean. It stained the entire thing with its dark affinity. If one were to fall in the water without being strong enough, they would rot right away.” The old man answered while gazing at the ocean.

This caused the two to stagger backward right away. Indeed, this black ocean seemed eager to swallow intruders.

“So is this one true?” The reticent Fan Bai asked.

“I don’t know.” The old man stopped staring and shook his head, looking a bit emotional: “Only those who can actually make it there know whether there’s a stone like that or not.”

“Can you do it?” Yang Ling asked, aware that the old servant wasn’t an ordinary cultivator.

“I would only embarrass myself due to my meager cultivation.” The old man smiled wryly: “The number of people that can make it there is pitiful, to say the least. Only characters like Dhyana or Vajra Dao Lord can do so. Others will only be courting death.”

“I’ve heard of this before.” Yang Ling became excited after hearing about the expeditions: “They said that Vajra Dao Lord destroyed the sky vault here with his weapon…”

Yang Ling came from nobility and had memorized the tales of the four dao lords already. This was one reason why she was so excited to visit Black Tides.

“That’s correct, it goes to show how fierce and competitive the battle was.” The old man nodded.

Yang Ling didn’t think of it this way. Vajra Dao Lord was known to be unbeatable. Thus, if he were capable of suppressing Black Tides, the fight wouldn’t have been so devastating. It would have ended rather quietly.

“What about Duality Master?” Yang Ling brought up someone else: “I heard the master came freely without being stopped.”

As a student of Duality, she has also heard about the founder’s exploits. Rumor has it that Black Tides didn’t react to his presence at all. He strolled inside as if it was his own backyard.

Many didn’t believe this particular legend. Everyone knew that Duality Master was a mortal. How could a mortal tread freely in Black Tides? That’s impossible.

Even the dao lords of the holy ground needed to fight the entire way to get inside then killed their way back out. 

Any existence, regardless of their power, would find traveling in this region exceedingly difficult. Nonetheless, Duality Master actually did it.

“Yes. According to the records, Duality Master is the only one who traveled freely in Black Tides without any resistance.” The old man solemnly said.

“How did he do it?” Yang Ling couldn’t come up with a reason. This was indeed a mystery that has spanned for eras.

“I don’t know.” The old man said: “Maybe he’s a unique existence, or perhaps he had already escaped the five elements and constraints of the world. Or, Black Tides was afraid so he did whatever he wanted.”

“Afraid of his power? How could a mortal be so strong?” Yang Ling murmured.

Her skepticism was warranted. One could say that no one in this world was stronger than the holy ground’s dao lords during their respective era.

How could a mortal be stronger than a dao lord?

“Cultivation doesn’t determine everything in this world. Duality Master is an exception, the only exception.” The old man said.

Yang Ling nodded in agreement, agreeing that her academy’s founder was special. There have been numerous dao lords in history but only one Duality Master.