On the Dark Star, above the Worry-Free Sea, all was calm and tranquil. Hovering in the air above the vast, boundless ocean was a cultivator who appeared to be a middle-aged man, dressed in white robes that lent him an extraordinary and refined bearing.
He stood with his eyes closed, savoring the surge of heaven and earth energy around him, inhaling the scent of the Laws, a look of pleasure spreading across his face.
"The spiritual energy is quite decent. The Laws aren't particularly complete, but they're good enough. I've traveled such a long way — I might as well use you to replenish myself," the middle-aged man said, his hands dancing through a series of strange hand seals.
The next moment, his body transformed into something akin to a bottomless pit, frantically devouring the heaven and earth energy around him.
In an instant, the once-calm sea began to churn with massive waves as fierce winds howled through the air.
As vast quantities of heaven and earth energy vanished, it seemed as though something else across tens of thousands of li of ocean surface had disappeared along with it. The change left the cultivators within range feeling profoundly uncomfortable, an unsettling sensation of dread creeping into their hearts.
At the Sea Temple's headquarters on a massive island, the current Temple Master Sha Hu was discussing important matters with the temple's many senior figures when suddenly, he seemed to sense something. He raised his head to gaze in the direction of the middle-aged man, his expression growing solemn.
"Temple Master, what is it?" the Second Temple Master below asked.
Sha Hu didn't answer, but his expression grew increasingly grave. After a long moment, he shot to his feet. "Someone is stirring up trouble on the Worry-Free Sea. Come with me."
As he spoke, his body shot out like a cannonball. The many experts in the temple exchanged glances before hurrying after him.
Deep beneath the ocean, winds and strings played in harmony while flutes and qin resounded together. Numerous beautiful sea-clan maidens sang and danced below, filling the Sea God Palace with an atmosphere of music and revelry.
Suddenly, the Sea God Palace — nestled tens of thousands of li beneath the ocean — began to tremble violently, as though struck by a powerful earthquake. The ground shook, and the palace master seated upon the throne, Lie Kong, turned grim. He raised his gaze upward, two beams of brilliant light shooting from his eyes that vanished in a flash. The next instant, a hazy figure appeared before him. Despite the vast distance of tens of thousands of li between them, the shadowy figure seemed to have detected his probing and merely gave a contemptuous smile before dismissing Lie Kong entirely.
Lie Kong was furious. His commanding voice boomed throughout the Sea God Palace. "Who dares act brazenly over my Worry-Free Sea? Come to the Sea God Palace immediately and beg for forgiveness, and I may spare your life!"
His voice crossed the barriers of space, carried by a secret sea-clan technique through the seawater, arriving directly at the middle-aged man's location.
The middle-aged man, who had been frantically absorbing the surrounding heaven and earth energy, let out a cold snort. His icy gaze swept toward Lie Kong's direction. "A mere ant dares speak to me this way? Get up here now!"
As he spoke, he brought two fingers together and slashed downward in a casual, elegant motion — as though cleaving through two wisps of gentle breeze.
But this simple strike concealed unimaginable power. The seawater split apart like a mirror, the rift extending straight down to the ocean floor. Viewed from above, it was as though a massive canyon had appeared across the Worry-Free Sea — waves surging on either side, while a vast stretch in the middle lay completely empty.
The Sea God Palace beneath the ocean was suddenly laid bare before the middle-aged man's gaze.
"What?!" Lie Kong's face changed drastically, and he froze in shock.
He had only managed to glimpse a few vague physical characteristics of this middle-aged man through the sea-clan secret technique, yet the man had split the entire Worry-Free Sea in half with a single, seemingly effortless slash.
Such power was beyond comprehension, utterly beyond anything Lie Kong could have imagined.
Void King Realm? Impossible — even a Void King Realm cultivator shouldn't possess such tremendous power!
The sea-clan maidens screamed and scattered in all directions, desperately trying to plunge into the sea for refuge. But when their bodies touched the edges of the trench, they were struck as though by a devastating blow, exploding into mists of blood. Countless perished.
The many sea-clan experts turned pale with shock, gazing upward in terror at the figure standing in the sky — like a deity, impossible to look at directly.
"I told you to get up here — didn't you hear? I won't repeat myself!" The middle-aged man wore an expression of annoyance as he extended a finger toward Lie Kong from afar.
As that finger pointed at him, Lie Kong broke out in a cold sweat. He realized he couldn't muster even a shred of will to resist. The finger's approach was not fast, yet it seemed to seal off every possible avenue of escape.
Pfft... Lie Kong spat out a mouthful of blood. The next moment, he felt himself bound by an invisible force, hurtling upward at tremendous speed.
"Palace Master!" the many sea-clan experts shouted from below, but not one dared to make a move.
Lie Kong was the strongest in the Sea God Palace. If even he had been taken down so easily, they would only be throwing their lives away.
In that instant, a sense of despair began to spread. No one knew where this middle-aged man had come from, or what level of cultivation he possessed.
But one thing they knew for certain — this man absolutely possessed the power to destroy the entire Dark Star.
In just a few breaths' time, Lie Kong had been dragged across tens of thousands of li and brought to the middle-aged man's side.
"Kneel!" The middle-aged man didn't even glance at him, simply uttering two words in a flat tone.
Lie Kong clearly hadn't sensed any trace of the man using his power, yet those two words thundered through his mind like the pealing of massive bells — incantation-like, compelling him to obey. His knees buckled, and he nearly knelt before the man for real.