The whisper beneath the sea was not loud, yet it seemed squeezed from the memories of every drop of seawater.
"At last..."
The voice stretched on and on, like a tide turning over in time.
Ten thousand meters beneath the sea, the ancient city called "Void" slowly lit up with ghostly blue patterns. Across the ruined dome of its temple, ancient runes awakened one by one, like a sleeping star chart beginning to turn once more.
The seawater did not flow.
Instead, it was "rewritten by rules."
The next instant.
At the center of the temple, the blue phantom slowly took solid form.
He had no facial features, yet seemed able to "see" everything.
He gently raised a hand.
The water pressure throughout the Eastern Sea changed instantly, as though bowing to a presence about to arrive.
"Child of Destiny..."
"The first human to reach this place since the Age of the Gods."
His voice held no emotion, but carried an ancient, appraising weight.
"Let me see whether you are worthy of bearing 'the sea.'"
Boom-!
The temple gates opened.
They were not pushed open.
Instead, the entire expanse of undersea ruins split apart of its own accord.
An enormous beast slowly emerged from the fissure.
The beast had no complete physical form, resembling instead a "guardian conceptual entity" pieced together from tsunamis, coral, and the wreckage of warships from the Primordial Era. Each breath stirred an undersea storm.
The Sea God Apostle Guardian Beast.
The beast did not roar.
Only lowered its head.
Then charged toward the "Entrance" where Qi Wu would arrive.
Meanwhile.
Above the sea.
The wind was still, the waves calm.
As though nothing had happened.
The next second.
Space split open.
Qi Wu stepped out of the rift and stood upon the sea.
Not