In any case, Yu Xian decided to go join in the excitement first.
He closed his Star Ring, looked over at Zhang Buyao, and asked, "Yaoyao, something's happening out on the ocean. It looks like the entire sea has come alive. Want to go take a look?"
"To the seaside? Sure, let's go feel the sea breeze! It's been ages since I visited the ocean," Zhang Buyao said, getting to her feet immediately upon hearing this.
Although the sea inside Feng Laixian's storage ring could technically count as an ocean, it had no wind and no waves. It didn't feel like an ocean at all, resembling a pool of stagnant water more than anything else.
"Then let's go."
Yu Xian conjured a spatial bubble and stepped right inside.
By the shore of the Island Nation, Yu Xian stepped out from the spatial bubble. The reason he chose to appear in the Island Nation was that Huaxia's seas were currently severed from the rest of Earth's oceans.
Because Huaxia was sheltered within a grotto-heaven, it had been unaffected; only the oceans here on Earth had awakened.
Yu Xian smoothed his hair back with his right hand. As if set with hair gel, it held firm against the sea breeze without a single strand falling out of place. He hopped onto a reef rock, curiously studying the sea.
Naturally, he couldn't make out a thing.
However, when his eyes turned green, a completely different view unfolded before him. The interior of the ocean appeared laden with blood vessels, resembling the translucent belly of a glass frog.
Zhang Buyao emerged from the spatial bubble just then. When she looked upon the ocean, she showed a second of surprise before leaping onto a reef rock beside Yu Xian. "Do you hear that?" she said. "The ocean is weeping. It feels like that Zhi'er you guys mentioned."
"Zhi'er?"
Yu Xian hadn't expected the ocean coming alive to be connected to Thales.
Still, what did it mean for the ocean to weep? Thales was crying? Could there have been something wrong with the treasure he obtained, so he'd ended up screwing himself over to tears?
"Yeah. But luckily, he's probably about to die. We don't even need to do anything; he won't last long anyway. Half a day at most," Zhang Buyao said, nodding as she gazed out over the sea.
Yu Xian frowned. "Can you tell how he's dying?"
"His soul has shattered into pieces and completely fused with the ocean. Every fragment of his soul is dissipating," Zhang Buyao answered.
Hearing this, Yu Xian felt rather conflicted.
Life really wasn't like a movie or TV show. There were no sworn archenemies, no ultimate final bosses; half the time, enemies died on their own without anyone ever needing to lift a finger against them.
Half a day... forget it.
Yu Xian lost all interest. Since Thales was going to die on his own anyway, what would be the point of fighting him?
"Yu Xian!!!"
Right then, the ocean suddenly churned with violent waves, and a humanoid figure made of water emerged from the sea.
The ocean was Thales's body. The moment a drop of water touched Yu Xian's shoes, he sensed Yu Xian's presence. Staring at Yu Xian now, Thales felt killing intent boil within him, accompanied by overwhelming envy, jealousy, and sheer hatred!
Why was it that he had worked so hard, sacrificed so much, only to end up like this, while Yu Xian was surrounded by beautiful women, feasting and playing around, yet only grew stronger and stronger—and had such incredible luck on top of it all?
Most crucially of all, he had no future left, while Yu Xian had a brilliant tomorrow ahead of him.
"I will destroy you!"
Thales roared in a twisted voice, manipulating the seawater behind him into a colossal fist that slammed toward Yu Xian.
"Can't you just die quietly?"
Yu Xian sighed and blasted the ocean ahead with a punch. Countless tons of seawater decomposed directly into hydrogen and oxygen.
The entire ocean surface was parted clean in an instant. Terrifying energy whipped into a shockwave that swept across the distant waters, while the surrounding sea boiled violently, throwing up massive plumes of steam.
This punch had used perhaps one percent of his power.
With his current strength, if he got serious, a single blow could shatter the Earth into atoms. Thus, while the awakening of the ocean was indeed a catastrophic disaster for the living creatures of Earth, in his eyes it was little more than entertainment.
Had he not harbored compassion, worrying that if the ocean vanished the Earth's creatures would be unable to survive, none of this would have been an issue in the first place.
"Primordial Water Lances!"
Thales didn't care at all that a portion of the sea had been wiped out.
He immediately drew on more seawater to form double-tipped spiraling lances, launching them in a rapid barrage toward Yu Xian.
Yu Xian couldn't even be bothered to punch. After practicing his punches in the sea of flowers, he'd had quite enough of throwing punches, and if it wasn't necessary, he was too lazy to lift a finger.
A bead flew out from between his brows, expanding rapidly as it rose into the air.
Its immense gravitational pull instantly drew Thales's water lances toward it. In the next moment, seawater surged skyward in torrents, clinging to the surface of the sphere; even the rocks and soil of the island were pulled aloft.
This was the little bead Yu Xian had bound with a drop of blood inside Feng Laixian's storage ring—the Heavenly Megastar. In essence, it was a planet with colossal mass. Not only was it unimaginably durable, but it was split evenly into ice on one half and magma on the other. Yu Xian could freely choose which side to smash into an opponent, and it would exert influence on targets according to its master's will.
If Yu Xian wished, it could unleash an overwhelming surge of gravity in an instant to obliterate the Earth entirely, reducing the planet to a patch of frozen permafrost on the sphere's surface, or dumping all of Earth's matter into the magma to be incinerated.
Naturally, Yu Xian had no intention of doing anything of the sort. He merely directed the sphere's gravity to influence a localized area.
Countless tons of seawater froze upon the surface of the Heavenly Megastar, and even the rocks and soil drawn to the sphere were quickly encased in a thick crust of ice.
If Yu Xian wished, he could allow this chill to radiate outward—for instance, to freeze the entire ocean.
Yet Yu Xian did no such thing. He simply let Thales vent his futile rage and attack as he pleased. Since the man was about to die anyway, Yu Xian could indulge his final tantrum.
Besides, with him keeping Thales occupied here, other places remained safe; at least Thales wouldn't have any spare attention to harm anyone else.
"Why?! Why?! Why?!"
Thales threw everything he had into the onslaught, yet every attack was sucked up by the Heavenly Megastar. It was as if any attack was neutralized the moment it approached Yu Xian's vicinity.
Yet the more this happened, the more unreconciled he felt.
Some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths, while others were born in a latrine. It was utterly unfair.
Had this been before today, Thales would have declared that his fate was his own to make, or sworn that tides turn every thirty years. But now, he harbored only profound despair.
Even his very life was an illusion; his entire existence was nothing more than a joke.
How bitterly ironic.
He was tired.
Let it all end.
Thales let out a long sigh, looking at Yu Xian, who stood on the shore completely calm and composed.
One stood on land while the other remained in the sea. Yu Xian stood atop a reef rock, and Thales had only his upper half held aloft by the seawater, each gazing at the other.
After a long silence, Thales spoke: "Yu Xian, you are merely luckier than me. When one day your luck runs out... what will you have left to rely on?"
The moment the words left his lips, Thales's form disintegrated, splashing down as seawater.
He was dead—not from his soul dissipating, but by his own hand. He had not been able to choose how he was born, but he could at least choose how he died.
Green light glowed in Yu Xian's eyes, and he knew without a doubt that Thales was gone. He replied softly: "If the day ever comes when my luck runs out, I think... I'll still have my companions."
Chapter 359