Night fell once again, but the expected second wave of attacks did not come. As everyone regrouped in their respective cities, a wave of relief and celebration washed over the southern coast. Everyone began to treat their own injuries or help treat the injuries of others. Some stayed on alert and guard while others tried to relax as best as they could before the next battle. Morale was relatively high.

The presence of the Golden Shell Guild members had turned a potential catastrophe into a decisive victory today. The disciples of the five sects saw their strength, the safety that their presence brought and they felt good. For the first time in days, they believed they could win this war. The enemy was strong but they were not battered, the opposite actually. No one actually died today, a thing thought unbelievable before.

In Azure Wave City, the sect leaders held a small, impromptu banquet to thank their saviors. Li Yu, however, did not join them. He stood on the highest point of the city wall, his gaze fixed on the dark, placid ocean.

The silence was unsettling to him, his mind wandering around at what could be happening. This was too easy, there had to be something else. The Beast Faction had been forced to act, but this chaotic, leaderless assault felt more like a tantrum than a strategic move. He was looking out when he sensed it.

It started as a barely perceptible pinprick on the edge of his spiritual sense, but it grew with terrifying speed. It was an incredibly powerful aura, coming quickly from the deep sea, an aura so immense and ancient that it made the Core Formation beasts from the day before feel like tadpoles in the presence of a leviathan.

He knew he couldn’t let the fight happen here, or else the city would be destroyed. He turned to Spine, who was resting his head on the city wall. “Stay here for now, don’t follow me,” he told Spine. “Watch over the city.”

Without another word, Li Yu launched himself into the air and charged out to the sea, a streak against the moonlit sky, heading directly for the source of the overwhelming presence.

He flew for several minutes, the city lights shrinking behind him, until he was alone over the dark, churning water.

As he got closer to the source of the aura, he saw an elderly man, floating effortlessly above the waves. The man was not what he expected to find out here. He was all alone and it didn’t seem like he was sneaking around or hiding.

He was not handsome, but not ugly. There were no wrinkles on his face, his skin smooth despite his ancient aura, Li Yu could guess that he was very old. His back was straight, his frame looked normal, neither frail nor muscular. He wore simple, grey robes, yet he carried a grace about him, like he was of nobility.

“Why are you here?” Li Yu asked, his hand gripping his staff, his entire being on high alert. “Are you the one causing this beast tide?” The old man turned his calm, placid gaze upon Li Yu.

“I am here because of this beast tide, but I am not the one that started it,” the man responded, his voice even and unconcerned. “I am here to investigate it as well, for my own reasons.” His expression then shifted, a flicker of impatience crossing his features.

It would seem like this man was in a rush Li Yu thought, perhaps he was trying to do something. Is he lying about starting this beast tide? His presence here was very suspicious after all. Li Yu couldn’t tell how strong this man was either, only that his aura was strong, incredibly so.

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“Young man,” he said, his tone shifting from conversational to dismissive, “I need to soul search you to find the information I am looking for. I apologize for the offense, but I have no time to simply chat and talk.”

Soul search? Li Yu was taken back by the casualness at which he said he had to soul search him. The sheer arrogance, the outrageousness of the demand with the casualness of it was beyond anything he had ever encountered until now. Without a second thought, he brought his nameless staff to a ready position, a form of silent rejection to the man’s demand.

The man sighed, as if mildly annoyed by a buzzing fly. The same kind of sigh that Li Yu gives when he is annoyed by getting news he didn’t like. “So be it.” He practically vanished before Li Yu’s eyes. He didn’t move; he simply ceased to be where he was and was already behind Li Yu, his speed incredible.

Li Yu’s combat instincts, which have been through many battles now screamed at him to react. He was able to slightly keep track of him and swung his staff in a devastating, backward arc, putting all of his monstrous physical strength into the blow. But then something shocking happened that was unbelievable.

The old man didn’t dodge. He simply raised his left fist, a seemingly casual gesture, and met the full force of the staff made of Condensed Sea Iron Ore. There was no cataclysmic explosion as the two met. There was only a sharp, sickening crack. The man struck the staff with his fist, shattering it in half, the top half flying off into the distant darkness. Li Yu was stunned. His weapon which had seemed indestructible all this time, broken by a single, casual punch. He had no time to process the shock, because the man’s right hand continued forward as a palm, smashing into his body instantly.

It was a blow unlike any he had ever experienced. It wasn’t just the force, which was enough to make his bones creak and his organs feel like they were being turned to liquid. It was also the soul attack that accompanied it, a perfectly synchronized hammer blow to his consciousness. The air was blasted out of him. Li Yu had never been hit so hard before in his life, his body recoiling from the blow as he was sent flying a few hundred meters back.

“Huh?” The old man looked on in surprise, a flicker of genuine curiosity in his eyes. “That should have been enough to knock you out for a long time. Why is your body so incredibly strong?” He didn’t wait for an answer and continued to move.

Li Yu was still reeling from the attack, his vision swimming, his mind a chaotic mess of pain. That seemingly simple palm strike had ravaged his entire body, and the soul attack was so strong, he had never been hit with one like it either. His entire being was in complete shambles, he could barely even process where he was or what had happened. Only that he was okay one moment and in the next his staff was broken and he was sent flying.

How could this man be so strong? What kind of freak was he and why was he here?! Who was this incredibly powerful old man? His mind could barely give his body commands and what commands it could give, his body wouldn’t respond.

He couldn’t move at all. Before he could even begin to even take a breath, the man had already acted again. He appeared before the still-airborne Li Yu and sent another palm strike at him, this one landing squarely on his back.

“Let’s try this again.” The second blow was even more powerful than the first, blasting him out of the air and into the water below like a cannonball.

The impact with the water was agonizing. Once again, Li Yu was shocked that an even more powerful blow had struck both his body and his sou than before. He floated limply on the surface, his body completely paralyzed, his mind barely clinging to consciousness.

The old man was stunned again, seeing that Li Yu was blasted down but his eyes were still open, a spark of defiant awareness still present within them. As they locked eyes with one another, the man’s face suddenly changed. The mild curiosity vanished, replaced by a look of frantic, desperate shock.

“That aura…” he whispered, his voice trembling. He then roared, his voice shaking the very heavens, “WHY IS THAT AURA ON YOU?! WHERE?! SHOW ME NOW!” Li Yu was confused, his mind too damaged to process anything, let alone understand what the man was talking about. He was about to try and speak, but no words would come. As the man’s desperate question echoed over the sea, he took out a strange, glowing object.