Thunderclouds loomed overhead, and rain fell on Rain Xiang Mountain.
The pitch-black clouds churned and rippled overhead like dark water. Amid rolling thunder, they gathered and unfurled, occasionally revealing an arm or a stretch of scaled armor.
Without warning, rain came pouring down, only to be blocked by the spirit array outside Rain Xiang Mountain and diverted to either side.
The Great Void tore open, and a True Person appeared. He wore a dark robe with a jade disk hanging at his waist, his expression grave. It was True Person Xuan Di.
He broke through the Great Void and ventured above the cloud layer. Only as the dark clouds streamed past did he make out the figures upon them.
The clouds surged like waves. At their crest appeared a savage-looking Yaksha over ten feet tall, with an indigo face, hair as red as cinnabar, a huge mouth full of fangs, and eyes shining like twin lamps. Holding a massive axe, the Yaksha stood atop the Green-Backed Crab General.
At the sight of Xuan Di, the Yaksha swung the enormous axe, sweeping aside the water and parting the waves. On either side, Shrimp Soldiers arrayed their halberds like rows of teeth, forming a single line in a show of martial might.
Red hair and whiskers bristling, the yaksha leaned on the great axe and declared with imposing dignity:
"Xingbo'er, [Sea Patrol Envoy of the Azure Void Lesser Sea's Dark Expanse Dao], greets the immortal adept of these waters."
Xuan Di's eyes flashed. This was indeed a sea-patrolling Yaksha from the Lesser Sea. Rather than tending the waters outside, the Yaksha had led Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals, commanding this company to burst from the crest of the tide and descend upon Rain Xiang Mountain. What was the purpose?
As thoughts flashed