How could anyone not be swept up in excitement?
Ever since the Great Nirvana Period began, the war between humanity and the monsters had never ceased. Although humans had built Base Cities on land, they had always been at an absolute disadvantage against the vast ocean.
The ocean was a paradise for monsters and a forbidden zone for humanity.
The two Beast Emperors entrenched in the sea—the Octopus Beast Emperor and the Thunder Dragon Emperor—were like two swords of Damocles hanging over humanity.
Even "Hong," the world's strongest, and "Thunder God," the second strongest, could only reach nonaggression agreements with them. They couldn't wipe them out completely.
They were a dark cloud that had never lifted from the hearts of Earth's humans.
But today, someone had stepped forward, vowing to rid Earth of these two scourges.
His name was Lin Yuan.
From this day on, that name would be anything but ordinary. Even as the years passed and the world changed beyond recognition, when future generations turned the pages of history, his name would stand as an epic they could never overlook.
At that moment, the entire world's attention was fixed on the Eastern Hemisphere.
Countless military satellites adjusted their orbits, locking onto that stretch of turbulent sea.
The earth-shaking scene was being broadcast live on giant screens in the plazas of Base Cities, on televisions in countless homes, and even on the tactical watches of warriors in the Wilderness Zone.
There was no doubt that this had captured the hearts of everyone on Earth.
West Sea Base City, command center.
The commander, Ivanov, was watching the image of Lin Yuan's fighter on the screen.
Hongning Base City, Elite Training Camp.
Yang Hui, Jiang Fang, and all the War God Level instructors had stopped what they were doing.
Behind them stood a group of talented trainees, including William and Zhao Ruo. They held their breath, watching the familiar black figure on the screen, their hearts surging with an indescribable sense of awe.
Once, he had been just like them, striving for points here.
But now, when they looked back, he had already ascended into the clouds, becoming a legend they could only look up to!
And it wasn't just them.
"Hong," who was in seclusion at Extreme Martial Arts Hall headquarters.
"Thunder God," at Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall headquarters.
And America's "Ice Emperor," Mohanderson, the European Union's East... All the Councilor Level powerhouses standing at the pinnacle of Earth were watching the battle with grave expressions.
They had all witnessed Lin Yuan's growth, and some had even questioned how quickly he was rising.
But as they watched that figure streak across the sky, the same thought arose in every one of their minds—
He had become the strongest on Earth!
Deep in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere in the shadowy depths.
A colossal black beast, so immense it was almost beyond imagination, lay hidden in an ocean trench.
Its cold, savage, dark golden eyes sensed the energy fluctuations in the distance through the sea.
It was Luo Feng, who had taken over the Golden Horned Beast!
"Luo Feng! Run! Hurry up and run!!!"
In Luo Feng's mind, the demon Babata let out a piercing, shrill shriek, its voice full of terror.
"He's here! Lin Yuan's here! We're too close to the Octopus Beast Emperor—we'll get caught in the crossfire!"
"What? Senior Lin Yuan?"
Luo Feng froze, then sensed the terrifying pressure that made his soul tremble despite thousands of meters of seawater between them.
"Damn! This mental force... Is he even human? He's even more terrifying than this Golden Horned Beast body of mine!"
Luo Feng came to his senses and didn't dare linger for even a moment.
Boom!
The seabed churned with mud and sand as the Golden Horned Beast's massive body turned into a black streak of lightning and shot toward the heavens, fleeing as far away as it could.
No way was he sticking around. The current Lin Yuan could kill anything in his path, be it god or Buddha!
--
Above the sea.
The black smart fighter hovered ten thousand meters in the sky, its hatch open.
Lin Yuan stepped forward and instantly left the fighter behind.
He used no flight pack. Standing atop the moon-wheel-like Arc Wheel, he became a meteor, drawing a dazzling arc across the gloomy sky.
"Octopus Beast Emperor."
Lin Yuan looked down coldly at the turbulent sea below.
Buzz—
The next instant, his vast, abyss-like Spiritual Force surged out without restraint!
Like an invisible net vast enough to cover the entire sea, it instantly spread for hundreds of miles in every direction.
Every fish swimming in the water and every current was reflected clearly in his mind.
"Found you."
A cold curve tugged at Lin Yuan's lips.
He waved his right hand, and the Sun God Weapon appeared.
"Open!"
With a soft shout, Lin Yuan swung it with all his might.
Under the gaze of countless people across the world, the boundless waters of the West Sea were ripped open by that single strike, forming a colossal fissure thousands of meters long and unfathomably deep!
The seawater was forcibly pushed aside by his terrifying mental force, forming two walls of water a hundred meters high.
Inside the fissure, countless lurking monsters didn't even have time to scream.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Whether Lord-level or King-level monsters that usually ruled their own territories, they burst into glaring clouds of blood under Lin Yuan's overwhelming mental force, like fragile balloons.
The sea turned crimson in an instant.
At last, the colossal creature lurking in the depths of the seabed—the Octopus Beast Emperor—was left with nowhere to hide!
"Roar!!!"
A roar filled with fury and fear shook the heavens.
The Octopus Beast Emperor lashed its enormous tentacles about, trying to churn the water and strike back. It was enraged. It was unwilling to accept this. It was the ruler of the ocean—when had it ever suffered such humiliation?
But even a mindless monster could feel that the tiny human above it was far too powerful to be human!
The pressure of the mental force bearing down on it weighed tens of millions of jin, as though a mountain had been planted on its back. Even the smallest movement had become incredibly difficult.
"Die."
Lin Yuan's expression was indifferent as he lightly tapped a finger.
The Sun God Weapon floating before him instantly came apart, transforming into countless golden light shuttle blades, each thin as a cicada's wing.
First Form of the Sun God Weapon—[Firefly]!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Golden light flashed through the sky, like countless fireflies dancing on a summer night—breathtakingly beautiful, yet laced with lethal intent.
The countless light shuttle blades surged like a golden storm, instantly engulfing the Octopus Beast Emperor's enormous body.
Puff, puff, puff, puff...
There was no suspense, nor any resistance.
The Beast Emperor's scales, hard as iron, were as fragile as tofu before the Sun God Weapon. Tens of thousands of light shuttle blades pierced its body, shredding its flesh, bones, and even its soul to pieces in an instant.
To put it plainly, the scene was an extravagant "funeral in full splendor."
As the golden light faded, only a colossal body riddled with holes remained on the sea's surface, slowly sinking into the blood-red water.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
The scene left the entire world breathless.
The high-ranking officials of every country watching by satellite, and the powerhouses in the War God Palace, all gaped, unable to utter a sound.
The mighty Octopus Beast Emperor, one of the two most terrifying monsters on Earth, had actually... failed to withstand even a single blow?!
It hadn't even had a chance to fight back before being slaughtered like a vegetable?
Just how powerful was Lin Yuan?
But Lin Yuan gave the world no time to process what had happened.
He didn't so much as glance at the corpse. Turning, he stepped onto the Arc Wheel and shot off like a streak of light, heading straight for his second destination—the East Sea!
He swept across the land like the Death God.
Everywhere he went, any sea monster that dared show itself, no matter its rank, burst into a cloud of blood at a single thought from him.
Ten minutes later.
Thunderclouds rolled over the East Sea.
This was the Thunder Dragon Emperor's territory. It seemed to have sensed its companion's death and was gathering lightning in a frenzy, preparing to make one last stand.
But its fate had long been sealed.
"Open!"
Lin Yuan waved again.
Once more, the sea was forcibly torn open.
Holding the Sun God Weapon, he hovered amid the raging thunder, peerless beneath the heavens.
Lit by the endless lightning, the Thunder Dragon Emperor—nearly a thousand meters long, its whole body crackling with terrifying arcs of electricity, famed for its strength and defense—was nothing more than an insect in his eyes.
Lin Yuan looked down at the roaring Thunder Dragon, his voice ringing across heaven and earth like a great bell:
"With your bodies, I shall forge my renown!"
The ten resounding words echoed through the sky, heralding the end of the monsters' reign over the oceans!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The countless golden light shuttle blades of the Sun God Weapon rapidly joined together and stretched out, finally forming a crystal-clear golden staff a hundred zhang long.
"With this staff, I shall teach the Beast Emperor a lesson!"
Lin Yuan held out one hand, and the enormous staff of light seemed imbued with the weight of ten thousand jun. It pointed straight at the Thunder Dragon Emperor's raised head and slammed down with all its force!
Boom—!!!
In an instant, the entire East Sea was thrown into turmoil.
The terrifying shock wave raised a thousand-meter tsunami, as if the apocalypse had arrived, ready to swallow everything.
The Thunder Dragon Emperor's vaunted lightning defense shattered instantly. Its enormous head was smashed deep into the seabed by the staff, and it fell silent forever.
Amid the towering waves, there was only one person: standing in midair, his clothes fluttering, radiating boundless divine might.
Like a god, he looked down upon the mortal world.
At that very moment, the familiar mechanical voice rang out crisply in his mind!
[Mission "At Last, Transformed; The Prelude to the Stars" completed!]
Before you continue