Standing high above, the onlookers could see a platinum radiance suddenly emerge from the seawater below, expanding outward at breakneck speed and illuminating the depths with crystalline clarity.
Once the sphere of light swelled to its absolute limit, an earth-shaking boom erupted. Colossal volumes of seawater flash-vaporized in an instant, sending a dense plume of scalding white steam billowing straight into the sky.
Across the expanse where the rays had spread, a cavernous void opened straight to the seabed. It lasted only a brief moment before the surrounding sea surged inward to fill the gap, churning into a massive collapsing vortex that seemed capable of tearing everything in the vicinity into its depths.
Moments later, specks of platinum light rose from the sea floor, ascending into the sky like countless rivers returning to the sea, flowing back into Chen Chuan's body.
That strike had also been a spiritual impact, merely applied through the highly activated fire of spirituality.
Chen Chuan's primary objective with that blow had not been to kill, but to test and perceive his adversary's true strength.
Since reaching the Dongxuan View, he had clashed many times with opponents of comparable caliber. In the process of accumulating vast combat experience, he had also mastered several techniques unique to himself.
One such technique took advantage of the fact that the fire of spirituality was an extension of his very being. When it made contact, it was no different from striking with his own hands; the enemy's reaction and resistance could be felt clearly, allowing him to discern and evaluate their foundation.
Under that strike, the person below seemed to have sensed the danger in advance, rapidly undergoing physical metamorphosis and retreating into the distance while shielding himself with the fire of spirituality in the nick of time.
Judging purely by combat reflexes and the potency of his fire of spirituality, he was roughly at Yuan Congye's level, with a body around six meters tall. The moment he metamorphosed, his strength had surged dramatically. Though ambushed without warning, he hadn't panicked; instead, his spirit had expanded outward in an attempt to counterattack, revealing immense confidence in his own capabilities.
This had to be Prince Yi.
Beyond Prince Yi, the impact had also startled two others deep beneath the sea, forcing their presences out into the open.
One was of the Visage of the Divine, and the other of the Visage of the Aberrant. These were presumably Prince Yi's two subordinates.
Yet he also noticed an anomaly down there whose aura was very close to Prince Yi's, practically on the same level.
In his assessment, only Prince Yi and that aberrant beast possessed any real merit. The other two, whether in their fields or spiritual caliber, lagged far behind the colleagues standing behind him.
He promptly marked the positions of those two on the map provided by his active conscious entity, then relayed the coordinates to everyone present via mental transmission.
Once Mingchengzi received the message, two more figures manifested within the misty smoke swirling between his hands.
At such close range, his art could do far more than just sense Hidden Dragons; any target detected through spiritual perception could be projected onto it, giving everyone an intuitive visual display.
Upon seeing this, several of the arriving martial artists broke into three-man teams and flew toward those two directions.
Meanwhile, beneath the sea floor, Prince Yi had been blasted far back by the tremendous shockwave, and the subterranean chamber he had occupied was completely obliterated.
Shock and rage consumed him. He had never imagined he could be tracked down so precisely despite hiding at the bottom of the ocean.
Worse, the cavern had housed a fissure he intended to use for escape. But the blast had hit too quickly—and whether by coincidence or deliberate design, the epicenter of the detonation had landed right over it. Knocked so far away, returning to it was now out of the question.
Just then, a pulse rippled through his mind—a mental transmission from his two subordinates.
"Your Highness, the intruders must belong to the counterfeit dynasty! Since they've found this place, hiding is no longer an option. We cannot afford to linger here."
The other said, "Your Highness Prince Yi, I took a brief glance just now—there are at least a dozen powerhouses up there! The three of us can never match them. We must find an escape route at once!"
"Indeed, Your Highness. Fleeing without delay is the only way."
Prince Yi could tell they had zero will to fight. He was hardly surprised. Both men had deeply offended the imperial family in the past and were forced to swear binding oaths before being shunted off to him; they possessed not a shred of genuine loyalty toward him.
Had it not been for their oaths, they would have fled on the spot without uttering a word.
His eyes flickered as he answered, "Flee? Where could we possibly run? If the counterfeit dynasty could find my hiding place, my royal nephew must have left behind some guiding talisman. Detestable wretch! He squandered his house and lost his realm, yet he still won't let me live in peace."
"Then what should we do? Your Highness Prince Yi, we mustn't stand and fight!"
"Indeed, Your Highness! Why don't we..." The rest went unsaid, but the implication was unmistakable: *Why don't we just surrender?*
Prince Yi let out a sigh. "The two of you have endured much hardship with me over these years. I intended to reward you with wealth and glory, but as matters stand, that is no longer possible. Go. I shall go up and hold them off. Take your leave while you can."
"Your Highness, this..."
The two hesitated at once. It was not because they were moved by his words, nor did they suddenly feel loyalty; rather, they knew all too well what kind of man Prince Yi was.
Like Emperor Wenguang, he was thoroughly selfish and self-serving. When had he ever spared a thought for his subordinates? The whole offer reeked of something bizarre.
Yet since Prince Yi was telling them to go, their oaths no longer bound them. Furthermore, the enemy's main target was Prince Yi himself. If they slipped away now, they stood a real chance of escaping.
Just as they prepared to move, Prince Yi called out to them again. "Wait, you two..."
Their guards snapped up immediately. *Just as expected, there's a catch.*
One of them asked, "Does Your Highness have further instructions?"
Prince Yi spoke in an earnest tone. "If you have nowhere else to go and fear being hunted by the counterfeit dynasty, you may take tokens gifted by me to seek shelter under those ancient deities. At most, you will only have to endure for a year or so. Once the external calamity arrives, you will be as free as ever."
"Oh?"
The two considered it. If that were possible, it wouldn't be bad at all. Yet this only made Prince Yi's intentions all the more inscrutable.
After offering a few words of gratitude, they fled in separate directions.
Mental exchanges were lightning-fast, taking place in the span of a single breath.
Once they were gone, Prince Yi's gaze hardened. With a low call, the white-scaled flood dragon immediately coiled around his body. His frame expanded rapidly, transforming in an instant into a half-man, half-dragon divine general over ten zhang tall, clad in dark armor.
His visualization was the legendary Earl of the Eastern Sea, an orthodox deity recognized by both the Xuan and Chan traditions.
For a Xuanji martial artist walking the path of the Visage of the Aberrant, the abilities and methods they possessed were intimately tied to their visualization target. Beings like the Earl of the Eastern Sea were immortal gods with exceedingly high ceilings.
Yet those lacking sufficient talent could not visualize such a deity at all. Had the flood dragon beside him not been capable of fusing with him in symbiosis and blending as one, he wouldn't have been able to achieve it either.
Once mastered, however, the payoff was immense. His strength had not merely doubled; he also possessed more aberrant powers than his peers.
In his own estimation, had he not started on the path of a Xuanji martial artist after turning fifteen, he would likely have broken through into the upper realm long ago to stand shoulder to shoulder with the two Yuan ancestors. He looked down completely on the likes of Yuan Congye.
A flash of cyan-red flame ignited across his body, propelling his massive form upward through the ocean floor as he surged toward Chen Chuan and the others.
He had no fear of facing a multitude of foes. He possessed an aberrant power called "Stars Shared Across Past and Present." Once he laid eyes upon a target, he could detonate the totality of his spiritual power in an instant—a catastrophic blow of stupendous power unleashed at the cost of destroying his own body.
His other aberrant power, "One Generates Ten Thousand Transformations," allowed him to regenerate instantly even if only a single strand of mutated tissue remained, requiring none of the prolonged recovery other Dongxuan View martial artists needed. With these two aberrant powers working in concert, his tactical options were manifold.
If his self-detonation severely wounded the enemy, he could pursue relentlessly. If the foe blocked it and left no opening, he could use the opportunity to withdraw.
And those two subordinates, serving as conspicuous targets, would draw away a portion of the enemy's attention.
Chen Chuan clearly saw the other two fleeing outward at high speed. He paid them no mind, leaving them to his teammates. The figure representing Prince Yi, however, had not fled at all; instead, it was accelerating upward.
Then, the seawater that had just converged below abruptly blew apart. A half-human, half-dragon divine general standing over ten zhang tall burst out, wielding a lance. Cyan-red flames flickered around him, trailing a spiraling, tornado-like tidal surge behind him in a display of awe-inspiring majesty.
Breaching the surface of the sea, Prince Yi took in the scene above. A figure holding a long knife and wrapped in platinum radiance stood suspended in the sky. Floating all around him were figures radiating potent auras, each encased within slightly smaller spheres of light.
A faint jolt ran through his heart as he guessed the person's identity. A sinister sneer spread across his face, and he charged straight at him, preparing to unleash his aberrant power—yet all of a sudden, his consciousness plunged into pitch darkness.
By the time his consciousness coalesced again, he discovered that a new body had already regenerated. Shock and bewilderment gripped him. *What just happened?*
Up above, the others had merely watched Prince Yi's colossal figure surge from the sea, only to instantly shatter into countless fragments of flesh and blood before vanishing into a flash of fiery light.
Chen Chuan's silhouette stood at the very center of the explosion. Just moments ago, everyone had felt as though he vanished from their consciousness for a fraction of an instant, only to appear right there.
In truth, Chen Chuan had merely seen his mark, stepped forward, and thrown a simple punch.
Yet because his speed was so absurdly fast, any opponent lacking the protection of a relic, a passive aberrant power, or an esoteric technique would typically be unable to react in head-on combat. They would be obliterated before their own assault could even trigger, leaving no chance whatsoever to deploy their methods.
Deep below, Prince Yi finally realized what had occurred in that split second, and a bone-chilling dread seized him.
Without making a sound, he spun around and darted toward the ocean depths.
Chapter 1456