Above the East Sea, the aftermath of a brief yet earth-shaking massacre had only just begun to spread.
On a barren reef thousands of miles from that stretch of sea, several low-level rogue cultivators had gathered together, their faces still marked by lingering shock and fear.
They had been the closest witnesses to this upheaval.
An elderly Daoist in a gray robe, his face withered, spoke in a trembling voice as though he had yet to recover from what he had just seen.
"It's gone... just like that?"
"Huo Teng, the young master of the Fire Spirit Immortal Sect—he was an Early Taiyi Golden Immortal expert! And that magnificent immortal vessel of his, along with the dozen or so Golden Immortals and True Immortals aboard it... all gone in a single breath!"
Beside him, a plump female immortal known as Fairy Liu Xia patted her chest and added with lingering fear, "Gone? They evaporated! Not even a drop of blood was left behind! Did you see it clearly? That peerless fairy merely... merely raised her hand!"
The moment she said that, everyone around them sucked in a sharp breath.
A burly man carrying a massive sword swallowed hard, his eyes filled with fervor and disbelief.
"I saw it! I saw it perfectly clearly! She casually drew a circle in front of herself! The next moment, the seawater within a thousand miles went mad! Hundreds of waterspouts reaching from heaven to earth! I'll never forget that sight for the rest of my life!"
"That wasn't an array—it was a miracle! It was Words Manifest as Law! She was the god of that sea!"
Everyone spoke over one another, growing more excited and finding it increasingly unbelievable with every word.
In their descriptions, Qiong Xiao's image was endlessly elevated, turning her into a female array grandmaster who could summon the power of heaven and earth with a wave of her hand and rule life and death.
"But... but don't forget," said the old Daoist who had spoken first, shakily raising one finger, "that even more terrifying man!"
The entire group instantly fell silent.
If Qiong Xiao's performance had been a miracle, then Lin Feng's existence was a taboo beyond miracles—terror itself, something unspeakable and unfathomable.
Fairy Liu Xia's face turned deathly pale as she lowered her voice. "Right... that man... from beginning to end, he only said one sentence..."
With only one sentence, two late-stage Golden Immortal experts had been bound in place, unable to move. Even their primordial spirits seemed frozen, leaving them to watch helplessly as the water dragons shredded them apart.
What kind of tyrannical method was that?
What a vast disparity in strength!
"Who... who exactly was that man?" The sword-bearing man's voice was filled with reverence.
"No idea... I've never heard of anyone like him in the Primordial World."
"That female array grandmaster was already ridiculously powerful, yet before that man, she was as obedient as a maid... She even called him 'Master'!"
"Hiss—!"
That discovery made every soul present tremble.
To take a female array grandmaster capable of instantly killing an Early Taiyi Golden Immortal as a maid?
What an astonishing feat!
Just how unfathomable had that man's strength become?
Grand Unity?
No, an ordinary Grand Unity Golden Immortal could never be so calm and effortless!
Could he be... a Quasi-Saint?
Or perhaps some Hidden World Great Being who had attained the Dao in ancient times and now wandered the mortal world for amusement?
For a time, countless speculations arose in everyone's minds, yet not one of them held up.
In the end, the old Daoist was the first to recover, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"This is huge! It's absolutely news that can shake the entire Primordial World!"
"Quick! Spread the word! A mysterious female array grandmaster and a mysterious expert suspected to be a Quasi-Sage Mighty Being appeared in the East Sea and wiped out the entire Fire Spirit Immortal Sect with a wave of their hands!"
The rogue cultivators exchanged looks and saw the fire in one another's eyes.
They immediately took out their respective Jade Talismans for communication and sent what they had seen and heard in every direction, embellishing the story as they went.
A storm was brewing.
The news spread far faster than anyone had imagined.
East Sea Dragon Palace, deep within the Crystal Palace.
Ao Guang, the East Sea Dragon King, had been resting with his eyes closed when a shrimp soldier came tumbling and crawling inside, his voice shrill and piercing.
"Report—! Dragon King! Terrible news!"
Ao Guang frowned, opened his dragon eyes, and said displeasedly, "Why are you panicking? Where is your decorum?"
The shrimp soldier dropped to his knees with a thud and incoherently reported the news he had just received.
"Young Master Huo Teng of the Fire Spirit Immortal Sect... he and his ship were annihilated in the East Sea! Not a single survivor was left!"
Ao Guang was briefly stunned before letting out a scornful laugh. "The Fire Spirit Immortal Sect? So what if they were wiped out? What does that have to do with my Dragon Palace?"
A second-rate sect that had to burn incense in gratitude just to have a Taiyi Golden Immortal oversee it was not worth a second glance from him.
"B-but, Dragon King," the shrimp soldier said tremblingly, "it is said that a mysterious fairy was responsible. She used only one move to stir up seawater for ten thousand miles and form an unparalleled grand array, killing Huo Teng, a Taiyi Golden Immortal, on the spot!"
Ao Guang's smile froze.
One move to instantly kill a Taiyi Golden Immortal?
This was no joke.
"And... and behind that fairy was an even more mysterious man! Huo Teng's two Golden Immortal guards were immobilized by just one glance from him, left at the mercy of others!"
Ao Guang shot to his feet from the dragon throne. Dragon might spilled from him, causing the entire Crystal Palace to tremble.
"Is what you say true?"
"Absolutely true! Rogue cultivators throughout the East Sea have gone mad spreading the news! They all say a Hidden World Great Being has arrived in the East Sea!"
Ao Guang's expression shifted constantly as he paced back and forth.
The Fire Spirit Immortal Sect itself was nothing to fear, but the power backing it was someone even the East Sea Dragon Palace could not afford to offend.
"Guards!" Ao Guang shouted in a low voice. "Go inspect the soul lamps the Fire Spirit Immortal Sect left in the Dragon Palace!"
A moment later, a turtle minister hurried in to report, his face deathly pale.
"Dragon King... all... all of them have gone out."
Ao Guang's body swayed, and he collapsed back onto his dragon throne, his eyes filled with terror.
They really were all dead.
Not only was the other party terrifyingly powerful, but they acted without restraint, showing no regard whatsoever for the Sect of Elucidation behind the Fire Spirit Immortal Sect!
"Pass down my order!" Ao Guang's voice carried a trace of trembling. "Seal the Dragon Palace! Recall every sea-patrolling yaksha! No one is to approach that stretch of sea, much less investigate this matter! Pretend we know nothing!"
He was afraid.
The East Sea Dragon Palace could not wade into these muddy waters!
The Netherworld Sea of Blood surged with violent waves.
Ancestor Minghe sat upon the Karma Red Lotus, listening to the report from the Asura demon general below, a hint of amusement appearing on his face.
"Oh? An array grandmaster? A mysterious expert?"
"Interesting. I would like to see what divine figure dares act so arrogantly in the East Sea, refusing to give even the Sect of Elucidation any face."
He waved his hand.
"Send someone to take a look. Remember, observe only from afar and do not act disrespectfully. Bring me portraits of those two."
Longevity Mountain, Wuzhuang Temple.
Zhen Yuanzi held a pair of jade shears as he carefully trimmed the branches and leaves of the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
A gentle breeze passed by, bringing news from afar.
Zhen Yuanzi paused, then chuckled softly and shook his head.
"The Heavenly Secrets are muddled. There is another variable now."
"That opportunity in the East Sea seems to be getting more and more lively."
With that, he ignored the matter and leisurely continued tending his garden.
The major forces of the Primordial World were shocked, curious, or wary. Countless gazes, open and concealed alike, began converging on the East Sea.
Everyone wanted to know the origins of that mysterious master and servant pair who had appeared out of nowhere.
Among all the factions, none reacted more fiercely than Kunlun Mountain.
Jade Void Palace, the sacred place where Yuanshi Tianzun preached the Dao.
Auspicious clouds swirled through the air, while immortal music echoed in waves.
Guang Chengzi, foremost among the Twelve Golden Immortals, sat cross-legged upon a Cloud Bed, comprehending the Great Dao.
Just then, a Daoist boy rushed in with a panicked expression, stumbling as he shattered the tranquility of the place.
"Senior Brother! Something terrible has happened!"
Guang Chengzi slowly opened his eyes, a trace of displeasure flashing through them. "Why are you so alarmed?"
The Daoist boy knelt on the ground, panting heavily as he quickly recounted what had happened in the East Sea, emphasizing his final point.
"Senior Brother, Huo Teng of the Fire Spirit Immortal Sect carried a token of our Sect of Elucidation! Now that he has been killed, the token's whereabouts are unknown. This... this is a slap in the face to our Sect of Elucidation!"
Guang Chengzi's expression finally changed.
The death of a mere Fire Spirit Immortal Sect was nothing worth regretting.
But they had been acting under orders from the Sect of Elucidation to investigate the opportunity in the East Sea.
Now they had all been wiped out. This was no longer merely a slap in the face—it was provocation! An open provocation against a Saint's lineage!
"Impudent!"
Guang Chengzi snorted coldly, and a terrifying aura swept out. The Daoist boy was instantly forced flat against the ground, unable to move.
He extended his right hand, his five fingers blooming like lotus petals as he began calculating the Heavenly Secrets.
He wanted to see who had such audacity!
Yet in the next instant, Guang Chengzi's face suddenly turned pale.
His fingers froze in midair, and unprecedented shock and gravity appeared in his eyes.
He could not calculate it!
The Heavenly Secrets were utterly muddled, as though completely obscured by an even greater power!
Not only had he failed to deduce anything about the pair's origins, but his own cultivation had suffered a slight backlash from forcing the divination!
How was this possible?!
He was a direct disciple of a Saint, a peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal who wielded the Houtian Supreme Treasure, the Fan Tian Seal. In terms of divination, few among his peers could rival him.
Yet he... could not calculate the origins of two unknown nobodies?
Guang Chengzi's brows furrowed tightly.
An ominous premonition hung over his heart like dark clouds.
If the other party could obscure the Heavenly Secrets to such an extent, their strength likely far exceeded anything he had imagined.
More importantly, despite knowing that the Fire Spirit Immortal Sect was connected to the Sect of Elucidation, the other party had still struck without hesitation.
This meant they did not care about the Sect of Elucidation's prestige at all! Perhaps they had even come with hostility!
A mysterious expert of unfathomable strength who bore hostility toward the Sect of Elucidation had appeared just as the opportunity in the East Sea was about to emerge...
The more Guang Chengzi considered it, the heavier his heart became.
He realized that the seriousness of this matter had exceeded what he could handle.
Guang Chengzi slowly rose from the Cloud Bed, his expression incomparably grave as he looked toward the deepest part of Jade Void Palace.
That was where the Saint cultivated in seclusion.
"This matter... must be reported to Master immediately!"
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