Xu Zimo frowned slightly. He could clearly and intensely feel countless auras locking onto him. Each one was powerful. The green, gleaming eyes scattered through the darkness made the atmosphere deeply unsettling.

He opened the Infinite-Samsara Demon-Eye, taking in every part of the cave, darkness included. The sight made his scalp tingle. The walls were riddled with holes, packed densely like a hornet’s nest. The spiders had long since carved them out to form their lairs. And this wasn’t a nest for one spider. Judging by the sheer number of tunnels, there had to be at least a hundred thousand of them. The Dao of Oblivion had eroded the entire cave, mutating every spider within. Or perhaps it was the other way around. This had always been the spiders’ nest, and the Dao of Oblivion later seeped in.

Every spider stared at him, hungry and aggressive, watching the foreign intruder. Xu Zimo wasn’t afraid, but fighting them all would be troublesome. He started considering his escape. Ahead, the cave split into two paths. Both were deep and pitch-black, their ends impossible to see. But he knew he had no time left to hesitate.

He exploded into motion and sprinted toward the left passage, fast as thunder. The moment he moved, hundreds of web strands shot from the ceiling nests toward him. Explosions echoed behind him as the ground shattered and the cave trembled. But he was too fast and slipped into the left path.

The instant he entered, space around him twisted. It felt like leaping from one space into another. He vanished.

Within seconds, his feet hit solid ground again and the space stabilized. He found himself enveloped in darkness. He couldn’t see anything except the bridge under his feet, only one meter wide, stretching across an endless abyss. Falling meant eternal damnation.

The place felt unnerving, and he couldn’t find a way back.

“Fine. Since I’m here, I’ll keep going,” he muttered. He took only two steps before a majestic voice echoed from the darkness.

“Child, I am the Oblivion Progenitor. Welcome to my inner world.”

The voice carried divine authority, reverberating endlessly throughout the void. Xu Zimo looked up but saw nothing.

“Who exactly are you?” he shouted.

The voice answered again, calm and absolute. “This is my land of inheritance. Those with deep fate may receive my life’s legacy. Those with shallow fate shall have their souls annihilated.”

As the voice faded, the sound of flowing water rose around him. Xu Zimo looked down to see a stream of water spreading across the bridge. When he lifted his gaze again, a towering wave of Oblivion surged ahead of him, rising like a tidal wall thousands of meters tall. It came crashing down, intending to drown the entire bridge, him included.

“Come on then. Make the storm fiercer,” he growled.

His blade, Shadow Tyrant, trembled excitedly in his hand, eager for battle. When the wave roared toward him, he swung with all his strength and split it cleanly in half. He darted through the opening and ran toward the far end of the bridge. But water had no fixed form; though split, it took no damage. It rejoined instantly and chased him again.

In the endless darkness, one man fled while a raging tidal wave pursued.

After a long chase, the wave seemed to tire and gradually calmed. Xu Zimo also came to a stop. Ahead stood four giants.

Their sheer size was unimaginable, like an ant before a colossal god. Their feet sank into the abyss, while half their bodies rose above the bridge. Even if Xu Zimo activated his Heaven-Shattering Titan form, he wouldn’t reach even a tenth of their height.

“What are these…?” he muttered. His presence seemed to break the silence of the realm. At once, all four giants opened their eyes.

“Kill… kill…” they murmured in vague, muffled voices.

The giants began to move. A casual swing of their arms shattered the void and cracked the bridge beneath their feet.

“Not good,” Xu Zimo muttered, alarmed. The bridge was on the verge of collapse, giving him no time to even consider fighting. He turned and ran.

A massive palm slammed down toward him. With a thunderous boom, Xu Zimo raised his blade to block. The force of the strike was terrifying, hurling him through the air.

“Can’t fight head-on.” That was his first thought. But fortunately the giants, though impossibly strong, were slow. He could avoid them if he was careful. He sprinted forward as the bridge crumbled behind him and all four giants thundered after him.

“First trial. Slay the Immortal Giants.”

A line of blazing red text appeared in the void. Xu Zimo immediately understood. Escape was pointless. The only way out was to pass the trial.

“If it’s a fight you want, then let’s fight.”

He turned, no longer fleeing. The Heaven-Shattering power spiraled wildly within him. His Heaven-Earth Dharma Codex strengthened his body. The God-Demon Creation Atlas fortified his soul. The Three-Life Gates hovered above him, boosting his strength. Xu Zimo unleashed his full power and charged one of the giants.

The collision was cataclysmic. Both bodies were blasted backward. A mushroom-cloud shockwave erupted at the center of impact. Pain rippled through Xu Zimo’s entire body, this was the first time his flesh had met such a fearsome force. But he suspected the giant wasn’t unscathed either. Still, he knew brute force wouldn’t work. There were four of them.

The other three giants attacked next. Xu Zimo’s mind raced, then he suddenly remembered the wave.

The wave might be useful.

He turned and ran back the way he’d come. The four Immortal Giants chased relentlessly. After another long chase, he finally saw the titanic wave again. The Dao of Oblivion surged around him as he dove straight into it.