East Sea, outside the Heavenly Emperor's Treasury.
Gentle waves rippled as the rising sun slowly climbed above the horizon.
Morning light spilled across the sea. Flecks of radiance floated in the air—a sign that spiritual energy had grown dense beyond measure.
In just four months, the creatures of these waters had quietly transformed.
Many of the Sea Clan had only just awakened to thought. As if answering a summons, they leaped from the water and gazed in pilgrimage at the magnificent sight between sea and sky:
A vast golden storm pierced heaven and sea, standing immovable.
A narrow opening split its center, like a Heaven Gate about to close or a divine casket slowly shutting.
From that gap, a crystal-clear blue passage descended from the heavens. Like a rainbow bridge spanning the sea, it sank quietly beneath the calm surface, linking the unknowable heights to the mortal world.
The eye of the golden storm was the Heavenly Emperor's Treasury.
The blue crystal passage was the Supreme Dharma Sect's Immortal's Tear.
In a mere few months, the spiritual energy spilling from them had transformed the creatures here.
Within the golden storm, two Dragon Shadows could be faintly seen circling.
The two Dragon Kings were holding this place.
On the sea below, a huge formation operated silently, glimmers of light moving through it.
The North Sea Dragon King stood at its heart alongside nineteen Outer Dao sect masters, their bearing imposing and grand.
Such a gathering was without precedent.
Apart from the three Supreme Grandmasters of the Human Race, who had not appeared, nearly every sect master of the Three Daos was present.
"The Sea Clan has mustered a staggering force this time."
An elder of Purple Sun Academy stared at the water and said gravely, "More than forty Sea Clan experts