The bolts of lightning coiling around the God Kings suddenly turned violent.
Blinding electric serpents writhed wildly, hissing and crackling as they made the dark seawater flicker between light and shadow.
Terrifying pressure engulfed the entire stretch of sea. A devastating thunderstorm could descend at any moment and swallow the figure at its center.
Jiang Ping An stood alone before several God Kings whose auras were terrifying. Straight as a pine, he met their gazes without a trace of fear.
His deep eyes were as still as an ancient, icy pool. No ripple disturbed them, and no one could tell what thoughts and schemes lay beneath the surface.
The two sides faced off in the depths, lit by flashes of lightning. Time seemed to stand still; only the crackle of electricity rang clearly through the deathly silence.
At last, one God King suppressed his surging anger and said in a low voice, "Fine. Your true body may leave first."
They wanted nothing more than to tear this arrogant wretch apart on the spot, but he still held the lives of half their clan's geniuses in his hands.
Compared with the momentary satisfaction of revenge, ensuring the safe return of those geniuses—the future of their race—mattered far more.
With permission granted, the pitch-black shadow beneath Jiang Ping An's feet swiftly detached from his body, melted into the darkness, and raced into the distance at astonishing speed.
His true body had never actually shown itself. It had been hidden inside the Shadow Clone all along.
The God Kings' cold gazes locked onto the Avatar left behind.
"Your true body has gone. Now give us the coordinates of the rest of our clan's geniuses."
A God King urged him impatiently, his tone an order.
Jiang Ping An's Avatar remained perfectly composed and replied