Too Many

The salty sea breeze blew in, and the warriors along the coast wore grave expressions.

The seawater churned nonstop. Clearly, Deep Sea Beasts were swimming beneath the surface, ready to come ashore at any moment.

"Damn it, this is already the sixth time today! There are more and more of these beasts!"

A warrior cursed under his breath.

Two full months had passed since Guen first arrived in East Sea Province. Over that time, Deep Sea Beasts had grown increasingly active. Even the warriors stationed here understood that the most dangerous period was approaching.

If they held out, the coming year would be much safer.

If they failed, they would sleep forever in East Sea Province.

"Get ready. Take the Sea Gel!" An officer on the stone wall shouted the order.

The warriors pulled out large chunks of foul-smelling, yellow, cloudy gelatin. They tore off mouthfuls and swallowed them.

Sea Gel was a specialty of East Sea Province. It not only kept hunger at bay, but also contained an enormous amount of Life Energy. It might not be as potent as Essence of Vegetation, but it was abundant. In peacetime, more than a hundred thousand pounds could be collected from the sea in a single day. Without Sea Gel, the Aoyu Empire would have had less than a fifth of its current number of Planetary Level and Apprentice Level Fighters.

That was why East Sea Province had to be defended, no matter how difficult it was to hold.

As long as they made it through the annual beast outbreak, they could begin harvesting Sea Gel. It was an irreplaceable cultivation resource for the empire.

"Let's stop here for a while and help them kill the Tier 9 Apprentice-level beasts," Guen said evenly as he and Carl hovered above the stone wall.

Carl nodded and looked down.

After two months, Guen had gradually become the leader between them.

Over those two months, Guen had racked up an impressive record. With him on the scene, Deep Sea Beasts rarely escaped. Even when they encountered Fighters from other factions, Guen could easily defeat them.

Among the high-level Fighters, with no sea beasts around, Guen was the strongest.

That reputation had been earned in battle after battle.

"Sea Gel. Too bad it's not much use once you reach Tier 7 Apprentice. Actually, starting at Tier 5 Apprentice, unless you eat over a hundred pounds at once, it does little to help your cultivation," Guen said with a sigh.

He had used Sea Gel to cultivate himself back in the day.

"Not quite," Carl said. "Without Sea Gel, the empire's warriors would have to spend enormous amounts of time and money hunting beasts just to get enough food. Apprentice-level Fighters have huge appetites once they reach higher levels. But just over ten pounds of Sea Gel can meet the daily needs of a high-level Apprentice Fighter. That's what allowed the empire to prosper. Otherwise, we couldn't even feed all these warriors."

Guen and Carl chatted as they waited for the sea beasts to come ashore. Once they reached land, their combat power would naturally drop by twenty or thirty percent, making them easier to kill.

In particular, Guen and Carl saw many unfamiliar faces who had been transferred from other provinces. They still lacked experience, so there was no need to rush into the fight.

East Sea Province was both the Aoyu Empire's granary and a base for its Fighter resources, as well as a massive training ground. Here, a warrior could undergo the bloodiest trials. No wonder East Sea Province had topped the annual trials for so many years.

"Wait." Guen and Carl's gazes suddenly sharpened. The waves before them were growing more violent. It looked like a Planetary-level sea beast was about to come ashore.

"Moto, send out word that a Planetary-level sea beast may have appeared here." At Guen's thought, Moto immediately carried out the order, spreading the message through their Smart Watches.

"Master, we've also received seventeen messages. Planetary-level sea beasts may have appeared at all these locations." After completing Guen's task, Moto immediately reported the situation to Linde as well.

Just then, Carl's Smart Watch began buzzing incessantly too. She looked puzzled, then raised her wrist to check it. Her expression changed at once.

"So many places are reporting possible Planetary-level sea beasts?"

Carl was stunned.

Apart from the East Guardian, there were thirty-seven Planetary-level Fighters stationed in East Sea Province. They were spread among different Armory Camps and kept watch over nearly the entire province. Yet now, Fighters at all these locations were reporting possible Planetary-level sea beasts. Such a large-scale movement of sea beasts was rare in the history of East Sea Province.

Just as Carl was about to discuss a response with Guen, several enormous shapes suddenly emerged from beneath the sea. Without pausing, they charged straight at the stone wall alongside a horde of sea beasts, tearing through the seemingly sturdy defenses.

Every one of these beasts was enormous. No matter how many Apprentice-level Fighters there were, they could hardly hold back the assault.

The largest was a Four-Claw Red Crab, towering over fifty meters tall.

Unlike humans, beasts tended to grow larger as they grew stronger. A Four-Claw Red Crab over fifty meters tall was already a powerful beast at Planet Level 5 or higher.

"1, 2, 3... There are eleven sea beasts in total!"

Carl instinctively tried to send out the information and call in reinforcements. But just then, her Smart Watch rang even more frantically.

"White Sea Ferry needs reinforcements! There are fifteen beasts here, two of them over fifty meters tall. It's just me and Azhit here!"

"Oak Ferry: nine sea beasts, one over fifty meters tall. I'm alone. Requesting backup."

"Xiang River Outlet: over fifty sea beasts here, half of them over fifty meters tall. The two largest are over ninety meters tall. There are five of us here. Requesting backup."

One after another, distress messages rapidly spread among the members of the Goddess Temple through their Smart Watches.

Carl was bewildered. She was especially chilled to the bone when she heard that a large number of high-level beasts had appeared at Xiang River Outlet, the only river outlet in East Sea Province.

"Kill them! Get these warriors out of here first!" Carl had just turned around when Guen erupted with an overwhelming battle spirit and charged straight at the Planetary-level sea beasts.

Carl came to her senses too. If they didn't stop the beasts, the Apprentice-level warriors wouldn't stand a chance against the Planetary-level beasts' slaughter. The gap of a single level made it a one-sided massacre—and those Planetary-level beasts were surrounded by an endless, surging army of sea beasts!

Guen charged at the strongest beast, the Four-Claw Red Crab. With a single stride, the enormous crab could crush countless human warriors. Even many of the sea beasts couldn't get out of its way in time; they too were trampled and crushed into a pulp.

Guen flew to the Four-Claw Red Crab like a bolt of lightning. His swiftest strike, Liaohuo, slashed out, leaving a wound more than ten centimeters long on its body.

"What incredible defense."

Guen was shocked. Against a lower-level sea beast, that strike would have left a wound a meter deep. Yet the Four-Claw Red Crab had easily withstood it.

The Four-Claw Red Crab fixed Guen with a hostile stare. Its four enormous claws looked clumsy, but moved with astonishing speed. Guen couldn't dodge in time and was struck by the edge of one claw, sending him flying.

What strength!

Guen crashed into the ground, leaving a deep crater. When he flew back out, his expression was grave. He had already coughed up blood inside.

The strength of a Tier 5 sea beast was far beyond his.

Guen could fight it thanks to his techniques and the sharpness of the Meteor Light Blade. But in terms of raw physical strength, he was no match for these Tier 5 sea beasts. And this one was a sea beast: its huge size gave it far more strength than a human Fighter of the same level.

"Too bad I haven't had time to cultivate Star Body Forging. It's a Secret Method that tempers the body and makes it stronger, but it requires too many special resources. I've only just reached Planetary Level and haven't built up any reserves, so I can't begin cultivating it yet," Guen thought with a sigh.

Star Body Forging was a Secret Method on the same level as Flame Slash, and even surpassed it in some ways. It used many special resources to temper the body and make it more durable. Once the body was tempered to a certain degree, fighting above one's level became even easier than with Flame Slash. Flame Slash required comprehension, and Guen was currently stuck on the third move. But with Star Body Forging, the body could grow stronger continuously as long as there were enough materials.

The special resources it required were simply too rare and expensive. Some of the materials Guen needed could be found in the Goddess Temple's Contribution Hall and the Armory Camp, which was why he had to complete the Contribution Hall's missions.

Without Star Body Forging, Guen didn't dare meet a Tier 5 sea beast head-on.

"Good thing I didn't bring the Kejia Beast. Even after feeding it the flesh of so many Planetary-level sea beasts, it's only reached the peak of Apprentice Level 9. It's no use to me." With a thought, Guen charged in again and fought the Four-Claw Red Crab in a running battle. Speed was his advantage, and the Four-Claw Red Crab was wary of the Meteor Light Blade as well, so Guen really did manage to keep it occupied.

But if he wanted to kill it, he'd have to keep striking until he was exhausted, and even then he could only seriously wound the Four-Claw Red Crab, whose defenses were astonishing. Besides, it wasn't a stationary target; it could fight back. If it landed a hit, even the Flame God Armor couldn't absorb all the force.