Wanhua's gaze fell calmly upon Ao Zhan. There was neither anger nor contempt in his eyes, only an absolute indifference, as though he were looking down upon motes of dust.
What he had just said—"Dragon Palace, do you wish to discuss the Dao with me?"
His tone remained mild, yet the meaning within it froze the souls of Ao Zhan and the countless aquatic beings behind him in an instant!
That was not a question. It was the prelude to a verdict!
The dragon scales all over Ao Zhan's body stood on end. Extreme terror nearly forced him to reveal his true form and struggle, yet he discovered that he could not move even a single claw!
Not only his body, but even his Nascent Soul and thoughts seemed to have been completely locked down and frozen by that invisible gaze!
His mouth hung open as he tried to beg for mercy, to invoke the names of the Dragon Palace and the Ancestral Dragon Secret Realm, yet he found that he could not send out even a trace of divine sense.
This was the might of a Sage! There was no need for an eruption of aura or surging magic power. With a single thought, a realm of space-time and countless laws were all determined by his will!
Below a Sage, all were ants. It was no empty saying!
Wanhua did not look at Ao Zhan again, as though that Dragon Race general at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm was no different from a pebble by the roadside.
His gaze slowly swept over the densely packed Dragon Palace Water Army, which still held their formation yet stood frozen like clay statues.
"I established this Dao field here to spread the Dao throughout the Primordial Era, intending to bring blessings to All Beings. Yet ants know not the height of heaven. They have repeatedly disturbed me, and now they have even crossed my borders with blades drawn. Their crimes are unforgivable."
His voice remained calm, yet it was like the resonant voice of the Great Dao, clearly branding itself upon the minds of every aquatic being, carrying an undeniable sense of judgment.
"You rely upon the Dragon Race's name to act with such arrogance, yet you do not know that even if the Ancestral Dragon himself came, he would still have to show me due respect. How dare a mere crippled Dragon Race behave so insolently?"
He had mentioned the Ancestral Dragon! His tone was calm, yet it carried the ancient weight and absolute loftiness of one who looked down upon the ages.
It was as though the Ancestral Dragon, who had once rampaged through the Primordial Era and contended with the Phoenix Race and Qilin, was not beyond reach in his eyes.
These words struck Ao Zhan and every aquatic being who still retained awareness like thunder, shattering the sliver of pride they had built upon the Dragon Race's glory!
"To offend a Sage's majesty is to deserve punishment."
When Wanhua spoke, his words became law!
He did not even make a move. His thoughts merely stirred.
The next moment, a scene unfolded that Xuanjizi and the other Academy disciples, as well as those beings in the Enlightenment Zone fortunate enough to remain untouched, would never forget for the rest of their lives—
The frozen countless aquatic beings, from General Ao Zhan down to the most ordinary shrimp soldiers and crab generals, along with the armor and weapons on their bodies—
Were like snowmen thrown into a furnace, beginning to silently disintegrate and collapse from their most minute structural levels!
There were no screams, no struggles, because even their thoughts and senses had been frozen.
Their flesh, bones, scales, armor, Nascent Souls... everything that constituted their existence, both matter and energy, was forcibly stripped apart and refined by a power beyond their comprehension!
Ao Zhan's hundred-zhang dragon body vanished inch by inch before everyone's eyes like a weathered sand sculpture, eventually turning into a dazzling stream of pure light containing the Dragon Race's origin and the power of water-and-fire laws.
That enormous Dragon-Patterned Water-Parting Halberd also gave a mournful cry, its spirituality extinguished as its most fundamental innate gold essence was extracted.
Then came the Flood Dragon Knights, Sea-Patrolling Yaksha, Giant Whale Warriors, elite shrimp soldiers and crab generals... Like a chain reaction, they turned into streams of multicolored light one after another.
Some became pure water-element essence, some became the origin of hardened shells, and some became sharp martial essence...
The entire process was utterly silent, yet more terrifying than any earthshaking explosion! This was erasure on the level of laws, annihilation on the level of existence itself!
In merely a few breaths, the Dragon Palace Water Army that had just blotted out the sky and sea in such fierce array—the army of tens of thousands capable of sweeping through an entire region—had vanished without a trace.
Only several hundred clusters of pure origin remained, each a different color and containing different attributes and law powers. Like docile stars, they floated above the tranquil sea, radiating a soft treasure light.
The sea breeze drifted past, carrying not a trace of bloodshed, only the desolation of all things returning to the void and reverting to their origins.
Inside and outside the Academy, there was dead silence.
Every being who witnessed this scene, whether Academy disciple or Rogue Cultivator on the outskirts, had turned pale as their minds suffered an unprecedented shock.
They knew that Sages were powerful, but they had never imagined them to be powerful to such an extent!
His words became law; he regarded all living beings as mere straw dogs; with a flick of his fingers, formidable enemies were reduced to ash! What kind of divine might was this? What kind of irresistible power?
Xuanjizi and the others looked at their teacher's still-composed back, their hearts filled with boundless reverence.
And with the deepest, most direct understanding of the words: below a Sage, all were ants!
Wanhua's gaze fell upon the several hundred floating orbs of origin light, and he nodded faintly. "The materials are acceptable. It would be a pity to discard them."
He raised his hand again and traced through the void. Those light clusters containing the Dragon Race's origin, water-element essence, shell origin, martial essence, and other attributes—
Seemed to be drawn by an invisible hand, beginning to combine, fuse, and take shape along some profoundly mysterious trajectory of Dao principles!
The Dragon Race's origin and the power of water-and-fire laws condensed into Startling Dragon Brushes, their tips sharp and keen, faint dragon patterns flowing across them;
Shell origin and innate gold essence fused into Sea-Suppressing Inkstones, heavy and steady, their knobs shaped like dragon turtles;
Water-element essence and part of the martial essence became nine formation flags wreathed in mist, capable of laying down the Vast Sea Literary Waves Formation...
These newly formed magical treasures were not conventional weapons of slaughter. Literary splendor flowed across them, while Dao principles lay hidden within. Though they had been refined from Dragon Race and aquatic beings, their aura was upright and harmonious.
They were better suited for assisting cultivation, gathering Literary Qi, protecting the mind, and arranging Literary Dao formations.
Every one of them was a fine Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure, especially suited for disciples of the Confucian Dao.
Wanhua swept his sleeve again, and these newly refined Literary Dao treasures transformed into streams of light that flew before Xuanjizi, Elder Teng, Yun Xi, and all the disciples present who had taken part in the defense.
"You protected the Academy this time, and your resolve is commendable. I grant you these trifles for your protection. Use them well, clarify your hearts and uphold virtue, and do not disgrace my Dao."
His voice roused the disciples from their shock.
Xuanjizi and the others looked at the magical treasures floating before them, refined from enemies who had been so arrogantly invincible just moments ago. Their feelings were exceedingly complicated, containing both the joy of receiving treasures.
And a deep reverence for a Sage's methods. They all bowed, their voices trembling with excitement. "Thank you, Teacher—thank you, Sage, for your gift!"
Wanhua nodded slightly, his gaze making one final sweep over the empty sea as though he had merely cleared away some irritating dust.
"If the Dragon Palace dares to violate my borders again, it will not end as it did today."
Having left behind those calm words filled with boundless majesty, Wanhua vanished from where he stood as silently as he had arrived, returning to the depths of the Academy.
Between sea and sky, true tranquility returned.
The sunlight was warm, and the sea breeze gentle, as though the vast army, the world-shattering assault, and that soul-quaking erasure and refinement had all been nothing but a dream.
Yet the Literary Treasures floating before the disciples—
And the absolute terror of a Sage's majesty, deeply branded upon the minds of every witness, all proved that everything which had just happened was real.
A Sage could not be insulted! Insult one, and one's body and Dao would perish, while a lifetime of cultivation would instead become an enemy's resources!
After this event, though Myriad Dao Academy stood in a remote corner, the supreme majesty of the Primordial Chaos Sage behind it would spread throughout the Primordial Era in an incomparably brutal fashion, intimidating all those with ill intent!
And the Literary Treasures refined from the Dragon Race Water Army would become one of the most conspicuous and fearsome symbols of the Academy's disciples as they traveled through the Primordial Era.
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