Disciple of a Sovereign: From North to South, a Sea of Blood

"Sovereign Chuheng?" Huang Tian had never heard the name of this plain-robed, staff-bearing elder, but he had long known from the Virtual Universe that a Sovereign's strength surpassed even the leaders of cosmic nations! Only humanity's peak factions—such as the Supreme Virtual Corporation, the Civilization Pioneer Army, and the Galaxy Bank—boasted powerhouses of the Sovereign realm! They were the pillars anchoring the human race; without them, humanity could never have become one of the universe's five peak races. The universe was unimaginably vast. In terms of sheer numbers, there were hundreds of millions of races, differing only in scale. Yet whether a race could stand atop the cosmos depended entirely on whether a Sovereign watched over it! Without a Sovereign-rank powerhouse, no matter how many Supremes a race possessed, it would still suffer the bullying of other races and have no choice but to attach itself to mighty species like the human race and the Hell Race. Yet so long as even a single Sovereign stood guard, that race would hold some standing in the universe, at the very least maintaining a degree of autonomy. *It seems the commotion I caused was immense, enough to draw a Sovereign down to New Star...* Huang Tian thought to himself. Sovereign Chuheng smiled. "I have come today because I am moved to take an apprentice. Would you be willing to become a personal disciple under my tutelage?" Stepping across the threshold of three Laws while still at the Stellar rank—with such innate talent, his chances of becoming a Supreme were not small, but there was still virtually no glimpse of hope for reaching the Sovereign realm. Over countless eons, Sovereign Chuheng had seen plenty of geniuses of this level, but he did not accept every one as a disciple. When taking disciples, he placed greater weight on karmic affinity, willpower, disposition, and character. However, the situation this time was different. On an ordinary native planet, this young man named Huang Tian had broken through to the early Stellar rank within a single month while also gaining initial comprehension of three Laws. No matter how one looked at it, this was abnormal! After all, the time frame was far too brief. The rare prodigies in human history who comprehended three Laws at the Stellar rank had all spent hundreds or thousands of years to do so, yet he had taken merely a single month... Either this Huang Tian harbored an immense fortuitous opportunity, or his innate talent was truly high enough to dazzle through all of history, surpassing countless human prodigies across countless eons! Yet Sovereign Chuheng had inspected him thoroughly and found no abnormalities whatsoever on Huang Tian. Whether that supposed opportunity existed was unknown. Even if it did, he would not have cared much anyway—he himself could elevate a mortal to the Stellar rank and grant comprehension of Laws in the blink of an eye. The price of doing so, however, was immense damage to one's potential! Yet when discerning whether Huang Tian's soul belonged to the human race, he had already observed that the young man's divine soul was serene and his spiritual light radiant and clear, showing not the slightest hint of damaged potential. Clearly, he had not forcibly inflated his strength through external means. Therefore, Sovereign Chuheng no longer thought Huang Tian harbored some extraordinary opportunity. It was purely that his talent was excessively high—high enough to be peerless throughout all eternity... Of course, whether that was truly the case still depended on his subsequent cultivation progress. "Huang Tian pays respects to the Master!" Faced with an olive branch extended by a Sovereign, Huang Tian naturally had no reason to refuse, bowing in apprenticeship without the slightest hesitation. Sovereign Chuheng's smile broadened, growing noticeably warmer. "Including you, this master has accepted nineteen disciples to date. Among them, seven ascended to Supreme, two became Eternals, and nine perished... The path of cultivation is never smooth sailing. Though your talent is superior, you must always harbor reverence and hone yourself in pursuit of the Dao. Only then can you tread steadily and go far." "This disciple understands!" Hearing that half of these senior brothers and sisters he had never met had actually fallen, Huang Tian grew pensive. *They were likely killed by alien races?* He had long heard that when various races clashed, they assassinated enemy geniuses, and a Sovereign's disciple was undeniably among the race's pinnacle prodigies... *It seems I may also end up on other races' assassination hit lists in the future.* "Now that you have acknowledged me as your master, you will accompany me elsewhere to cultivate," Sovereign Chuheng said. "If you have any unfinished business on this planet, you may attend to it now and bid farewell to your kin and friends." At that, he added, "As for that so-called Paradise Corporation, do not fret. From top to bottom, not one of them shall escape death." "Thank you, Master!" Huang Tian said solemnly. Sovereign Chuheng gave a slight nod. "Go, then. I shall wait for you here." Hearing this, Huang Tian hesitated no longer. Offering a respectful bow, he stepped into the air and flashed across the sky, arriving in an instant at a makeshift military command center, where he found Yun Yan hard at work. "Director Huang!" The moment Yun Yan saw Huang Tian, he immediately set aside what he was doing and volunteered, "We are accelerating the cleanup of those sea beast carcasses. However, because there are so many, progress is rather slow. Also, the carcass of the Twin-Winged Giant Dragon is simply too enormous and exceedingly precious, so we have no choice but to handle it carefully..." Huang Tian shook his head. "I didn't come to rush you. I came so you could pass word to the capital and governments worldwide: it is time to thoroughly exterminate every mutant fierce beast across the globe!" Yun Yan was taken aback. "S-So soon? Though the Twin-Winged Giant Dragon is dead, what if there are still beasts above the Lord rank lurking in the oceans or mountain forests..." "No need to worry. I alone shall suppress and slaughter them." With those words, Huang Tian had already walked out of the command center. He shot straight into the sky, his voice drifting back from afar: "Starting with the ocean!" *Rumble!* The sonic booms rolled like thunder. Yun Yan hurried out of the command center, only to find Huang Tian had long sped into the distance, leaving only a faint black speck on the horizon. "Th-This..." His eyes widened in stunned silence. Dazed for several seconds, he abruptly waved to a staff officer. "Contact the capital! Quickly!" "Right, right away!" The staff officer scrambled to respond, immediately dialing the capital. Several minutes later, having finished his report, Yun Yan rubbed his temples with a furrowed brow. "Sigh, Director Huang is still too hasty. Right now, we have no idea how many beasts above the Lord rank exist worldwide. If he runs into danger while slaying beasts out at sea, we won't be able to provide backup in time!" The staff officer nodded in agreement. "Director Huang's talent is extraordinary, and his cultivation progress is blazingly fast. He could easily cultivate for a while longer and wait until his realm is higher and his strength greater before moving to suppress the beasts worldwide. His odds would certainly be much higher then." Yun Yan only sighed at that. Several more minutes passed before a sharp ringing broke out. Yun Yan's expression turned stern. Striding quickly to the phone, he picked it up and nodded repeatedly. "Understood, understood. I see..." Hanging up, he saw the staff officer lean closer. "Is it regarding Director Huang?" Yun Yan nodded with a complicated expression. "The capital has decided to fully cooperate with his operation. They are instructing local military forces and Patrol Bureaus across the country to take the initiative and purge the mutant fierce beasts to the best of their ability while preserving municipal and county order. The capital will provide all necessary support. I expect that in another minute or two, the capital will release a nationwide announcement declaring that the hour of the decisive battle against the beasts has arrived." The staff officer drew a light breath and said nothing, merely pulling out his phone. Unlocking the screen, he tapped into a news platform. After waiting about a minute, he saw a remarkably succinct official announcement pinned at the top across all major platforms: "The day of humanity's decisive battle against the mutant fierce beasts has arrived!" The instant this announcement was published, the entire internet erupted into pandemonium! "Huh? Isn't this too fast? Isn't it a bit rushed?" "Boss Huang Tian already killed the Twin-Winged Giant Dragon—how is this too fast? It feels completely natural to me." "Who knows how many beasts above the Lord rank actually exist in the world? The Twin-Winged Giant Dragon was merely the first to show up. What if others are hiding in the oceans or deserts? If we launch a massive counterattack all of a sudden and provoke them all into a frenzy at once, what will we do then?" "What's there to panic about? Didn't you see Divine Huang slay the Twin-Winged Giant Dragon in just two or three strokes? How many blows could other beasts of the same rank withstand against him?" "Hard to say. Winning easily one-on-one doesn't mean fighting several at once will be easy. What if Boss Huang Tian is besieged by multiple beasts above the Lord rank? There's even a worse possibility: could there be beasts in this world an entire realm higher than the Twin-Winged Giant Dragon?" "Can't you hope for something good? Besides, I think you're worrying over nothing. If there really were that many powerful beasts, why would they all tacitly stay hidden, escaping detection by satellites, oceanic monitors, and every other method?" While fierce debates raged across the internet, official livestreams began popping up across the web. These streams broadcasted footage of military units and Patrol Bureaus mobilizing everywhere, as well as satellite feeds of Huang Tian slaying mutant fierce beasts. Countless citizens flooded the various livestreams to watch, and the stream following Huang Tian undoubtedly drew the greatest crowd. There, a lone silhouette swept across the boundless ocean at staggering speed, reaching an astonishing seven kilometers per second—over twenty times the speed of sound! Sonic booms erupted in unbroken succession. As Huang Tian flew at high speed, his mental force—his divine sense—swept across the sea below. Whenever he detected beasts of the Beast General rank or Lord rank, he slashed down without delay. A frosty, pale blade light plunged into the water in a flash, cutting down every beast in an instant. *Splash! Boom!* Suddenly, raging billows surged across the sea ahead, and colossal waves rolled in every direction, churning up layer after layer of swell. *Wuuu...* A colossal whale over five hundred meters long cruised the deep sea, its mountain-like back rising and dipping through the waves. It slowly parted its gaping maw, drawing tens of hundreds of thousands of fish into a whirlpool and swallowing them whole alongside seawater. After feeding, it let out a contented, low call. "Hiss... With a bulk like that, couldn't it be a beast above the Lord rank?" someone commented fearfully in the livestream chat. "Not necessarily. Whales were already massive before mutating. Right now it might just be Lord rank." "Still, judging by size alone, it shouldn't be much weaker than the Twin-Winged Giant Dragon, right?" Only a few bullet comments had rolled by before halting abruptly—for on screen, Huang Tian ripped through billowing air waves and cleaved downward! *Whoosh!* Like an immortal deity plowing the heavens, a brilliant white blade light tens of thousands of meters long plunged from high above. In a single instant, the colossal whale was split in two from head to tail! Blood gushed frantically, turning into crimson waterspouts over a hundred meters high that shot into the sky, dyeing half the heavens a deep scarlet! Across the sea surface, scalding whale blood soaked in all directions. Soon, the waters for over a dozen kilometers around turned from azure to blood-red, looking startlingly crimson. Having slain the colossal whale with casual ease, Huang Tian did not spare it a second glance. He continued rocketing forward, leaving ring after ring of vapor cones in his wake! "Are you kidding me, bro? One strike? Just one strike?!" "Boss Huang Tian actually grew stronger again? Right, just looking at his flight speed tells you his realm has advanced again—but this is beyond absurd! Just how does he cultivate?!" "No wonder the officials declared the hour of humanity's decisive battle against the beasts has arrived. I feel like Divine Huang alone could kill every mutant fierce beast in the world!" "It's only been a month since the Great Change began, right? I used to pessimistically think humanity would have to wage a grueling war against mutant fierce beasts for decades or centuries, or even face extinction. Looking at it now, it suddenly feels kind of absurd..." "Your suspicion wasn't actually wrong. If you remove Divine Huang from the equation, everything matches your expectations. Under the threat of powerful beasts like the Twin-Winged Giant Dragon, humanity would undoubtedly live in constant peril, terrified every waking hour... Divine Huang is the greatest anomaly and variable of New Star's civilization." The excitement and awe of the viewers in the livestreams went without saying. As for governments worldwide, seeing Huang Tian's overwhelming might, they eagerly plunged into this 'final battle' against the mutant fierce beasts! Armies, Patrol Bureaus, civilian martial artists, ordinary volunteers, and more mobilized in full force, ruthlessly slaughtering beasts across all regions. Ammunition of every kind was spent without hesitation; whatever was on hand was fired, and when supplies ran dry, the rear shipped more to the front lines. For a time, fires of war blazed across the world in full fury. Meanwhile, Huang Tian continued streaking across the ocean. Wherever he passed, across every expanse swept by his mental force, all mutant fierce beasts were eradicated. Only a few unranked sea beasts were spared; their mutation and evolution progressed too slowly—most could not even keep pace with humanity's rate of evolution—posing negligible threat. In the span of a few hours, he fought his way from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere, sweeping across oceans to continents in an unstoppable advance. Not a single beast was worth an extra second of his time. His final leg was the Aozhou continent. This landmass had almost completely fallen, with only a sparse handful of survivors lingering in one or two cities. Flying high above the Aozhou continent, he looked down to see the mountains, plains, hills, and lakes teeming with mutant fierce beasts. Like a tidal wave, they surged across the vast expanse of land, their roars ringing without pause. With a cold, stern expression, Huang Tian channeled the Metal Law. The war saber in his hand hummed, and in an instant, he brought it down in a slash. The blade light descended like a brilliant white aurora, causing beasts across hundreds of li to detonate into bloody mist! *Swoosh! Swoosh!* He streaked past at breakneck speed, scattering myriad arcs of blade light. Each blade light that plummeted was like the heavenly Milky Way cascading down. Mountains were sheared through, hills flattened, the earth cracked open into canyons, and lakes churned up great waves hundreds of meters high as wave upon wave of the beast tide perished! Surging blood gushed forth from the mountains, canyons, and plains, converging into what was almost a scarlet ocean. Billows of crimson waves surged, a sea of blood flowing wide! After slaughtering for a full hour, Huang Tian finally sheathed his blade. Tens of billions of mutant fierce beasts had perished beneath his edge. Across the boundless continent, an endless stench of blood soared into the heavens! He paid it no heed. With a calm, composed expression, he simply let the howling gale toss his sleeves at will.