The East Sea rises with waves.

In this empire's remotest edges, there are still unique scenes unseen elsewhere; only the vast sea can support such great ships that cleave through the waves, their hulls thirty to forty zhang long, requiring two hundred people on the lowest deck to row long oars just to move ordinarily, but once in motion, their momentum is like a rainbow.

The ship's bow bears a fierce tiger's ram; the treasure ship uses wind power, water power, and manpower to crash forward, smashing anything in front of the ram to smithereens, serving as the premier weapon of sea battles, also the final weapon of desperation.

Now, Shentu Hongye stands on the golden tiger-headed ram, watching as layers of waves are split apart, looking down at the ship on the other side, a layer of indescribable pride rises in his chest. He then pulls out a sharp fine steel short spear from his back, eyeing the big fish swimming beneath the water with a hint of greed in his eyes.

The seven great sects have all produced extraordinary masters in their histories.

Heavenly Mountain is the Sword Sovereign, while the One-Leaf Pavilion is the sect founded by a named disciple of an old Master who attained the Land Immortal Realm. Back then, that old Master took in seventy-two inner chamber disciples, three thousand in his school, yet the most long-lasting legacy came from the disciple who only drove an ox cart.

The Great Grandmaster of the Heavenly Dragon Institute established the Nine Grades with Nine Fists.

And the ancestor of the Flying Spirit Sect once roamed the world; he founded the sect by the East Sea looking upon rumors of Exotic Beasts beneath its waves. For hundreds of years, the mythical Kunpeng of legend hasn't been sighted, rendering the ancestor's Dharma useless, a mere dragon-slaying technique without purpose.

Originally, he thought of the sect's supreme skill as a mere legend, but years ago, when an Elder returned to the island, he discovered that the Jade Dragon Sect had a connection to the rumored Exotic Beast, the whale niji. Following this clue, he found the truth: one day when the whale niji surfaced in distress, it was saved by Miao Zhiquiao.

It was merely a young girl's unintentional kindness, but the Exotic Beast understood human nature, often visiting the Jade Dragon Sect.

The elder of the Flying Spirit Sect was overjoyed, hurried back to the sect without alerting others. The sect's masters split into two factions over how to handle the whale niji: one wanted to quickly kill the whale niji to extract the pearl, while the other hoped to follow this clue to find more.

No matter who, all imagined acquiring the whale niji to obtain the pearl, using its Qi to nurture the Dantian, a shortcut to ascend the Heavenly Sect without the arduous path of Qi Nurturing. With millions of warriors, how many even reach the edge of the Heavenly Sect?

Even the ancestors in the Grandmaster Realm were keen to use others' strengths.

A thousand years ago, the supreme skill stated that one could borrow the Qi of the Four Seas, not ascending the twelve-floor tower but instead going to the Dragon Palace, fostering the Four Seas within the Dantian, using the pearl of the whale niji at that moment to transform into a Flood Dragon, where water doesn't have to be deep when dragons reside, a single drop of dragon into water causes great change and anomaly.

Though it's a side path, it equally has the chance to reach the legendary Land Immortal Realm achieved by only two in four thousand years.

Even without the intent to stand in the Immortal Realm, having a fragment of power is enough to dominate the world?

Years of waiting eventually led them to find the rare whale niji's lair.

To prevent the whale niji from leaving, they even surrounded the entire Jade Dragon Sect, leaving only the one whose relationship with the whale niji was best alive. With human-like intelligence, the Exotic Beast wouldn't leave at such a critical moment, and sure enough, it remained loyal over the years, eventually revealing itself.

A whale niji came from three thousand zhang deep in the ocean searching for this Exotic Beast.

With a flick of its tail, it could overturn the great dragon treasure ship with monstrous waves.

The ancestor of the Flying Spirit Sect personally took action, wielding thirteen Thunderbolt Spears on his back, battling the hundred-zhang-long centuries-old whale niji for three thousand li. Unfortunately, even after all thirteen Thunderbolt Spears were thrown, it still managed to dive deep into the sea to escape.

Fortunately, this one didn't manage to leave.

By the time it's captured, though not as grand as the hundred-li-long island beast, it's still a whale niji. Acquiring its pearl, once the ancestor enters the Great Grandmaster Realm, shaking the world, there'll undeniably be advantages.

Thinking of this future glory, Shentu Hongye's pride surges layer upon layer. Seeing Miao Zhiquiao's furious glare, he doesn't feel wary, only exhilarated; this woman of mediocre looks, the scar on her face left from that day.

At this moment, Miao Zhiquiao stands on her two-masted ship, pitifully small compared to his thirty to forty-zhang-long, eleven-zhang-wide Flying Flood Dragon, suitable only for being looked down upon. To Shentu Hongye, it's as if he's crushing an ant under his foot, causing him to laugh loudly:

"As expected of the whale niji, still not dead!"

Miao Zhiquiao feels a wave of sadness, her hand gripping the Fubo Blade refusing to relax in the slightest.

Having witnessed the disciples of the Flying Spirit Sect hunting the whale niji, she can already guess that years ago, the disaster upon her sect was due to this Exotic Beast. She took the whale niji as a friend, never imagining that in others' eyes, her friend was just something to be killed for its pearl treasure.

The Jade Dragon Sect was not weak but in the eyes of one of the seven great sects of the world, it was just a child carrying gold through a busy market, unable to protect itself.

In her sect, her martial arts weren't strong. Earlier, not even a single Green Wave Blade could shake the short spear in Shentu Hongye's hand. Looking at the whale niji under the water that wouldn't leave, she murmured softly:

"I should have been resolute back then to make you leave quickly. I shouldn't have sought to see you, shouldn't have let you come to the Jade Dragon Sect often. Shouldn't have, shouldn't have, shouldn't have let you think everyone in this world bears no ill will towards you."