Dead silence.
An eerie, deathly silence fell over the East Sea.
It was the emptiness after a great battle had ended, before the dust had settled.
As though the Sage who had fled in panic had carried away every sound between Heaven and Earth.
The seawater still churned, but its frenzy had faded. Like the last ripples of utter exhaustion, wave followed wave, each weaker than the last.
The cracks in the void slowly healed, giving off a faint hum, like a sigh from the Great Dao.
Only the lingering traces of Dao Rhythm seemed to proclaim Zhunti's humiliation that day.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Ten breaths...
At that moment, even time seemed to stretch.
Only after a long while did the Dragon Race beings finally come to their senses.
Then an uproar erupted, boiling over in an instant.
"Hahaha... what a thrill! What an absolute thrill!"
An elder expert of the Dragon Race threw back his head and laughed, his laughter brimming with the joy of finally holding his head high.
"This is the Dragon Race! This is the divine might our Dragon Race should possess!"
"Hmph! Our Dragon Race once bore the burden of karma, plummeting from our heights and suffering untold humiliation."
"Those so-called Mighty Experts of the world-which of them didn't look down on us from on high, treating us with overbearing arrogance?!"
"But today..."
He paused, then abruptly raised his voice, continuing in a near roar:
"Today... our sovereign fought a single battle and proclaimed the might of our Dragon Race!"
"So what if he's a Sage? Didn't he still flee in panic, scrambling away like a homeless dog?"
Those words cut to the bone, without a shred of mercy.
Of course, as far as the Dragon Race beings were concerned, there was no need