New Overlord of the East Sea

The vastness of the East Sea far exceeded Li Cha's imagination. As far as the eye could see, azure waves stretched without end, merging with the sky at the horizon as if there were no boundary. With his Mid Da Luo Spiritual Sense, trying to precisely locate the legendary, elusive, and self-concealing Three Immortals Island—Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou—among these boundless billions of rolling waves was nothing short of a fool's dream, harder than searching for a needle in the ocean.

"Oh well, matters of fate cannot be forced." Li Cha quickly adjusted his mindset, smiling lightly. "Since I'm here, I'll treat it as a journey and take in the sights of this foremost of the four seas. Perhaps there will be other gains I haven't anticipated."

Carried by Mo Ran, he drifted aimlessly and leisurely forward. Ever since the Dragon Clan, driven by Ancestral Dragon's grand vow, withdrew entirely to the four seas to eternally seal the sea eyes and ceased contending for supremacy in the Primordial Era, this vast East Sea had welcomed a new power structure. After years of slaughter and annexation, a tripartite stalemate gradually formed:

First, the Turtle Clan. This clan's defensive capabilities were freakish; cultivators of the same rank could rarely breach their shells. They also had long lifespans, amassing a large number of experts within the clan. Their weakness lay in relatively monotonous attack methods and sluggish movement speed. Though they had no ambition to dominate, no one dared provoke them lightly.

Second, the Whale Clan. This clan's individual strength was formidable, especially their offensive power, which was vast and unparalleled. However, their population was relatively sparse, and their nature was peaceful, averse to conflict. Despite having the strength to claim the title of ocean overlord, they remained aloof and settled in their own corner.

Third, the Shark Clan. This clan had strong reproductive capabilities and a massive population. They were naturally bloodthirsty, cruel, and fearless, delighting in slaughter and plundering far and wide. With their ferocious style and enormous numbers, after the Dragon Clan's retreat, the Shark Clan had become the new overlords of the East Sea.

Li Cha, riding Mo Ran—a rare Ink Qilin—had only been in East Sea territory for a few days when his aura, so different from that of aquatic beings, combined with the auspicious beast spiritual energy radiating from Mo Ran, acted like a beacon in the darkness, immediately drawing a pair of greedy and cruel eyes.

The newcomer was a Sea Patrol General of the Shark Clan named Sha Bo, who had already reached Mid Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal cultivation—slightly higher than Li Cha. He commanded nearly ten thousand lesser demons, most of whom were only Mystic Immortals, but among them were two capable lieutenants: an Early Da Luo Overlord Squid and an Early Da Luo Lightning Dragon Eel.

From afar, Sha Bo spotted Li Cha riding the Qilin and, sensing that the other was merely Mid Da Luo, immediately regarded him as a lost "fat sheep." Qilins were auspicious beasts that rarely acknowledged a master; anyone who could ride one surely carried heavy treasures. He calculated that with two Early Da Luo subordinates and nearly ten thousand demon soldiers forming a battle formation, they could crush the opponent.

"My boys, surround him! Kill the man, capture the Ink Qilin alive, and present it to the clan leader!" Sha Bo sneered, brandishing a Serrated Great Saber as he charged ahead, demonic energy soaring and stirring up thousand-fold waves. Behind him, ten thousand demons roared, a terrifying spectacle.

But today, they had kicked an iron plate.

Facing the surging horde of demons, Li Cha didn't even rise from Mo Ran's back. He merely cast a faint glance at Sha Bo, who was leading the charge, as the Spirit Origin Ruler materialized in his hand. He lightly traced it through the void.

"Still!"

An invisible ripple spread outward, carrying the profound power of Tea Dao's clarity and mind-suppressing stillness. Sha Bo and his demon soldiers at the front felt the space around them solidify; their raging killing intent was doused like a bucket of ice water, their movements instantly sluggish by half a beat.

Just then, Mo Ran moved! He was no longer the weakling of before. With Half-Step Da Luo cultivation, combined with the Kirin Clan's innate divine abilities and the techniques Li Cha had taught him, his strength far exceeded those of the same rank.

In a flash, he appeared before the massive Overlord Squid. His Qilin claw, covered in thick scales, shot out with power that tore the void!

"Pfft!"

The Overlord Squid couldn't even unleash its techniques before its enormous head was crushed by Mo Ran's claw. Ink and blood mixed, staining a vast area of the sea black.

At the same time, Mo Ran swung his massive head like lightning, biting toward the Lightning Dragon Eel on the other side. The eel, surrounded by crackling electricity, was fast, but not fast enough to fully dodge. Mo Ran's jaws clamped onto its rear half, and with a "crack," the tough eel body snapped in two. Blood gushed out. Though not dead yet, it had lost its combat ability, writhing in agony in the seawater.

Meanwhile, Li Cha, the moment he had drawn the Spirit Origin Ruler, had moved like a phantom before Sha Bo, whose mind was still shaken. His five fingers spread open, palm revealing Dao patterns imbued with the power of the Five Elements' cycle and the sealing of all things. He pressed them lightly against Sha Bo's forehead.

"Seal!"

Sha Bo felt an irresistible law force surge into his body, instantly sealing all his mana and Primordial Spirit. He couldn't even self-destruct. His massive shark body was forced to shrink, becoming a black shark a few zhang long, which Li Cha held in his hand.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for anyone to react. By the time the lesser demons regained their mobility, they saw their commander captured, one vanguard dead, and the other severely wounded. Terrified, they scattered in all directions.

Though captured, Sha Bo's ferocity didn't diminish. He struggled and shouted in Li Cha's grip, "You pale-faced brat! You dare harm a Shark Clan general! I've already notified the clan through secret arts—you can't escape! Release me now, or I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Hearing this, Li Cha didn't get angry but smiled instead. "Tough talk." Too lazy to waste words, he directly sealed Sha Bo's five senses, tossed him into the Chaos Pearl, and locked him up for now.

Then he picked up the severed, dying Dragon Eel and directed Mo Ran to land on a nearby island.

This island was called Flying Fish Island, named for the abundance of flying fish that could glide short distances in the surrounding waters. According to the barely alive Dragon Eel, this was Sha Bo's territory.

After landing, Li Cha didn't rush to interrogate. First, he took out a large number of Five Elements Spirit Stones from the Chaos Pearl. Over the years of wandering the Primordial Era in search of Five Elements Divine Stones, he had collected plenty of various attribute spirit stones. Though their quality couldn't match the Divine Stones, they were vast in quantity and complete in attributes.

Using these stones as a foundation, he set up an Inverted Five Elements Grand Array on Flying Fish Island. This array was Li Cha's creation based on his comprehension of the Five Elements' mutual generation and restraint. Within it, the Five Elements' power was deliberately inverted and scrambled, making it impossible for entrants to discern direction and causing spiritual energy chaos. It also concealed countless invisible killing mechanisms derived from the chaotic Five Elements force. Li Cha was confident that unless one was well-versed in formations, even a peak Early Quasi-Sage powerhouse who rashly entered would either die or shed a layer of skin.

After setting the array, Li Cha began interrogating the Dragon Eel. The eel, already terrified by Li Cha's thunderous methods and severely wounded, spilled everything to save its life.

From its account, Li Cha learned the general strength of the Shark Clan: the strongest were three Late Da Luo elders, followed by ten Late Da Luo, dozens of Mid and Early Da Luo experts, and millions of clan members. As for why they attacked, it was simply Sha Bo's greed upon seeing the Qilin—common behavior in the Shark Clan, who believed in the law of the jungle and treated murder and robbery as routine.

Just as they were speaking, the sky darkened. Six figures radiating formidable auras approached on demonic clouds. Leading them was an old Shark Clan elder exuding a terrifying Late Da Luo presence, followed by five fierce Mid Da Luo Shark Clan experts.

"You rogue Daoist, listen! Release my nephew Sha Bo immediately and bind yourself in surrender, and I might leave you a whole corpse! Otherwise, I'll extract your soul and refine it, and turn your mount into blood food!" The Shark Clan elder's voice boomed like thunder, churning the waves around the island.

Li Cha stood with his hands behind his back, smirking in response. "Where did this old waste come from, just barking here? If you've got the skill, come into the island and take me."

The Shark Clan elder, never having been so disrespected, flew into a rage. Driven by urgency to save his nephew, he charged into Flying Fish Island without a second thought, his five subordinates in tow.

The next moment, the island's scenery shifted violently! What had been clear became blurred and twisted. Five-colored light swirled, and countless fierce attacks came from all directions!

"Damn! A formation!" the elder cried out, but it was too late.

Trapped in the Inverted Five Elements Grand Array, the six Shark Clan experts were like headless flies, their brute strength useless. The five Mid Da Luo Sharks barely held out for less than a day under the endless illusions and attacks before falling one by one within the array.

Only the Late Da Luo elder, relying on his deep cultivation and a protective spirit treasure, barely clung to life—but he was already spent, a spent force.

Li Cha unhurriedly walked into the array, appearing before the elder like the arbiter of fate.

Facing life-and-death threat, this elder, who had been so arrogant moments before, became extremely cooperative, spilling all the information he knew. He confirmed the Dragon Eel's account of Shark Clan strength and provided key intel on the Three Immortals Island: it didn't exist in a fixed location but appeared in a random area of the East Sea once every Kalpa (129,600 years), remaining for less than thirty days before vanishing again. Moreover, the island itself was protected by an Innate Formation that no one had ever breached.

To save his life, he also voluntarily revealed a treasure site the Shark Clan had coveted for ages but couldn't access—a mysterious island shrouded by a powerful Innate Formation. The Shark Clan had pooled all their strength and spent a hundred thousand years without budging the formation an inch.

"Senior, every word I've said is true! The island's location is..." He quickly transmitted the coordinates to Li Cha via divine sense.

Seeing this, the severed Dragon Eel went even further. Enduring its pain, it knocked its head on the ground and wailed, "Great Immortal! Great Immortal, spare me! I'm willing to pledge allegiance to you as master, to be your servant and slave forever, following you through eternity! I only beg for your mercy to keep this worthless life!"

Li Cha looked at the Shark Clan elder, then glanced at the Dragon Eel kowtowing like a pestle. He had already made up his mind. He wasn't bloodthirsty, but neither was he naive.

"Very well, I'll do as you say." Li Cha said flatly to the Shark Clan elder. "I keep my word. I'll spare your life."

The elder had just shown a glimmer of joy at surviving when Li Cha flicked his finger, and a light containing the power of destruction shot into his dantian's Purple Mansion!

"Ahhh!" The elder let out a miserable scream. His vast mana drained like air from a punctured balloon, his cultivation plummeting until he became nothing but an old shark without any power.

Li Cha kept his promise—he didn't kill him, only crippled his cultivation and took some items he had no use for (spirit treasures, storage rings...). Sha Bo was treated the same way, though he tried to resist when his cultivation was being abolished and got beaten again for it.

Li Cha swept his sleeve, tossing the old shark and Sha Bo off Flying Fish Island. He lifted some of the restrictions on them but still sealed their voices.

Two blood-soaked sharks, their strength spent, plunged into the sea. The thick scent of blood immediately drew the predators of the surrounding waters—the very flying fish they had once slaughtered at will! Now, thousands upon thousands of flying fish swarmed like piranhas drawn to blood, their not-quite-sharp teeth frenziedly tearing at the once-arrogant Shark Clan Elder and General...

In but a moment, only two massive white skeletons remained on the sea surface, slowly sinking into the deep. This was the very brutality they had inflicted on other creatures, now fully repaid upon themselves.

Li Cha no longer paid attention to the gruesome scene on the water. He looked at the Dragon Eel, prostrate and trembling on the ground, and casually struck out with a green light imbued with life force, temporarily stabilizing its injuries.

"Since you're willing to acknowledge me as your master, I'll give you a chance. For now, stay by my side, and I'll judge your conduct. If you dare harbor treacherous thoughts, your fate will be no different from these two sharks!"

Hearing this, the Dragon Eel felt as if granted a great pardon. Ignoring the excruciating pain of its body being severed in two, it kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you, master, for sparing my life! This humble one will be utterly loyal, through fire and water, and would die ten thousand deaths without regret!"

Li Cha nodded slightly and took it into the Chaos Pearl, ordering it to rest and recuperate. He himself stood on Flying Fish Island, his gaze fixed on the direction of the island the Shark Clan Elder had indicated.

The Three Immortals Island was elusive and could not be forced. But this island, guarded by an Innate Formation that the entire Shark Clan had failed to breach for a hundred thousand years, stirred his great interest.

"Perhaps this place holds the opportunity I seek." Li Cha hesitated no longer and decided to go investigate.