After giving Guo Po some words of encouragement, Xiang Shaoyun sent him away. He believed that if Guo Po could actually take in his words, he would have extraordinary accomplishments in the future. Done with his disciple, Xiang Shaoyun headed for the forbidden zone at the back mountain.

The forbidden zone had been the silver-winged owl's territory. But even after the owl had left, the sect members still avoided the place because a sinister aura still lingered in the area. An ordinary person would not be able to withstand the aura and would be immediately corroded to death.

Xiang Shaoyun had been too busy to visit the place all this while. Now that he had some free time, it was about time he gave that place a visit and checked if it hid any other secrets.

The forbidden zone was previously sealed from the outside world and existed as an independent world. After Di Batian destroyed the seal, the forbidden zone became shrouded in a hazy energy that prevented others from clearly seeing what was inside the zone.

When Xiang Shaoyun arrived, he found that a large amount of the silver-winged owl's aura remained and was causing a sense of discomfort. Instead of directly charging into the zone, Xiang Shaoyun sent his senses inside to figure out the situation before entering. He discovered an abyss that was gushing out a large amount of energy.

Xiang Shaoyun was sure that the abyss was where the silver-winged owl had resided. He tried to explore further, but his senses were prevented from entering the abyss. He became increasingly confident that something unexpected could be found in the abyss. Xiang Shaoyun no longer hesitated to enter the forbidden zone.

A rich amount of flame energy burst out of him and burned the sinister energy in the air around him, forbidding the sinister energy from damaging his body. He soon reached the abyss. When he looked inside, he saw layers of hazy energy blocking his vision, stopping him from getting a clear look.

"What place is this exactly? It feels weird," muttered Xiang Shaoyun before he leaped into the abyss.

He had a feeling that the abyss hid a secret. It wouldn't feel so mysterious otherwise.

After passing through the energy layers, he smelled the scent of the owl and whiffed an ancient stench in the air that gave him a somewhat odd sensation. While keeping his guard up, Xiang Shaoyun continued down the abyss. There seemed to be no danger in it. He eventually arrived at the bottom.

He found an underground river at the bottom of the abyss. It was unknown where the river originated from and where the river flowed to. The water flowed unhurriedly, giving off the same odd sensation.

Xiang Shaoyun's pupils contracted, and he sank into confusion. He could not understand why there would be such a river within the sect. The river water was completely black, making the river incomparably peculiar.

"What water is this, and what is this river hiding?" Xiang Shaoyun muttered.

He gave it some thought before deciding to travel upstream, trying to find the river's source. He increased his speed and traveled rapidly. With the speed of a Sovereign, it shouldn't take him long to reach the start of the river. However, he soon found that the river seemed to originate very far away, as though he could never reach its source.

Furthermore, no matter how far he traveled, the abyss walls still surrounded him, as though the river and the abyss were a singular existence. After giving it some thought, he flew upward to figure out his current location. It was then that he found that the abyss had become incomparably deep. However high he flew, he couldn't fly out of the abyss.

He felt troubled.

"Is this an illusion?" Xiang Shaoyun muttered doubtfully as he observed his surroundings. Even after pushing his senses to the limits, he couldn't find anything special.

"Looks like I need to persist until the very end if I want to figure out this place," said Xiang Shaoyun to himself. He continued upstream.

An indeterminate amount of time passed. Xiang Shaoyun felt like he had traveled for a month or two, yet the river source was still nowhere to be seen. Despair rose in him as he shouted, "Just what kind of place is this?"

He couldn't control himself, and he unleashed a fierce attack on the river.

Boom!

One would expect water to splash up, but instead, a bone ship emerged. The ship emanated an odd aura, and two skeleton frames could be seen on the ship. The entire scene was incredibly eerie.

The blood-red words Grotto Ferry could be seen on the sail, and they gave off a sinister vibe.

"Grotto Ferry? What is this?" Xiang Shaoyun was stunned. This was the very first time he had experienced something so weird. He did not land on the ship. Slowly, the ship sank back into the river.

Xiang Shaoyun's eyes shone as he finally decided to rush down and come onto the ship. Regardless of the danger the ship might contain, he still wanted to unveil its secret.

Instead of attacking him when he boarded, the two skeletons continued navigating the ship, and the ship sank into the river.

When the ship went fully underwater, Xiang Shaoyun discovered that the water didn't rush toward the ship. It was as though some sort of power was parting the water. No energy could be sensed coming from the ship, making the entire event incredibly odd.

Since Xiang Shaoyun couldn't figure out what was happening, he decided not to think. He sat down cross-legged and let the ship bring him to wherever its destination was. He stayed in optimal condition, and he pushed his senses to the limits, trying to see if he could eventually discover anything.

However, his findings disappointed him. The river water all around the ship was akin to a natural barrier that fully isolated him and his powers from the outside world, preventing him from sensing anything beyond the ship.

An indeterminate amount of time passed. The bone ship finally arrived at the river's bottom, and an entirely different scene appeared before his eyes. Four similar bone ships appeared before him, each stopping at a different spot as if waiting for passengers.

Xiang Shaoyun also discovered that more people were arriving in the similar manner he had arrived. They came from different directions, and each person was in the Soul Foundation Realm. Some were in groups of three, some in larger groups, and some were alone like him. Everyone had their guard up as they saw each other.

Xiang Shaoyun sank into confusion. He did not know where this was, and he did not know where everyone had come from.