On the Gu Clan's flying ship, Gu Lanyue stood frozen in place. Her eyes were wide, her lips pale, and both legs trembled uncontrollably. The scene reflected in her pupils was no longer that of an ordinary cultivator, nor even something comparable to the Sons of Destiny she had slain before. It was something far more distorted than that.
The system within her body began issuing warnings in its cold, mechanical tone.
[Host, calm yourself first. Zhang Wen's current state may appear terrifying, but do not be deceived by his outward form. His power is—]
Before the voice could finish, Gu Lanyue heard nothing more. All that remained was the sound of her own heart, pounding violently as if it were about to burst from her chest.
In the very next instant, the aura around Zhang Wen surged wildly toward the heavens. His unstable Saint-level power erupted into spiraling waves of dull blue light. The clouds in the sky were torn apart as an immense volume of water exploded outward from his body, as if an entire ocean had been released in a single moment. Floodwaters swallowed the surrounding land in an instant. The outer edge of the Ancient Beast Forest below vanished beneath the deluge. Giant trees snapped like matchsticks. Earth and stone were ground into dust. The shockwave blasted the Gu Clan's Saint King hundreds of meters away, and then rain began to pour down in torrents, as though the heavens themselves were weeping.
Amid the downpour, Zhang Wen stood alone. His hair had turned a pale white. Cracks like veins of blood spread across his skin, and the life force within his body was visibly fading. He slowly reached out and lifted Zhang Lingyue's head, her power already drained until her foundation had collapsed completely. Her body hung limp, her eyes dull and lifeless. Zhang Wen's poison had spread through her veins, turning her skin dark and ashen.
The storm showed no sign of stopping. The sky was swallowed by thick black clouds, thunder roaring as if the heavens themselves sensed the abnormality. Zhang Wen swayed as he stood amid the flooded terrain. The Saint aura around him fluctuated in waves, surging high one moment and plunging the next, like a tide with no rhythm.
"Retrieve the madam's body."
The command rang out from the Gu Clan's Saint King, accompanied by a terrifying aura that spread outward. The Saint King and several Saints moved at once. Lightning spears, sword waves, sacred palms, and countless other attacks surged toward Zhang Wen from all directions. Overlapping shockwaves shattered the air itself. Towering walls of water were flung upward, as if the flood were about to be lifted into the sky.
Zhang Wen let out a low roar. The water around him churned violently, then rapidly condensed into dozens of enormous water dragons. Their bodies were translucent yet dense with the power of water. Each dragon let out a roar that shook heaven and earth as they charged fearlessly toward the Saints. The water dragons crashed head-on into the Saints' attacks, devouring those forces before surging onward toward their attackers.
One of the Saints was struck head-on by a water dragon. One of his arms was shattered, the sound of bones cracking ringing out clearly. He screamed before being swept away by the torrent and disappearing into the rain. Another tried to resist with a punch, but the rebounding force sent his internal organs into chaos. Blood burst from his mouth as the entire area filled with the sounds of violent impacts and the roaring of water.
Yet amid the ferocity, the instability of Zhang Wen's cultivation began to reveal itself. Some of the water dragons trembled before shattering midair. The backlash slammed into Zhang Wen, causing blood to spray from his mouth once more. He forced himself to remain standing, but his knees buckled and he collapsed into the water. His vision blurred for a brief moment.
And in that very instant, several dark shadows shot up from beneath the water where he stood. The remaining members of the Black Crow Secret Unit made their move at the same time. They no longer cared about life or death. Pitch-black shadows tore free from their bodies, transforming into dozens of jet-black energy chains that bound Zhang Wen's arms, legs, and torso. The shrill screech of clashing energies pierced the air as the dark chains tightened relentlessly, crushing the power within Zhang Wen's body.
A moment later, several of the Black Crows detonated into clouds of blood to sustain the formation, causing the chains to constrict even further. Veins bulged along Zhang Wen's neck. He clenched his teeth, trying to transform his body into water, but his chaotic power refused to respond. His body trembled under the combined pressure and accumulated injuries.
The Gu Clan's Saint King did not waste the opportunity. He charged in at once, his sacred palm slamming violently into Zhang Wen and sending his body flying across the water's surface. Seeing the scene before him, the Saint King was shocked and confused as to why Zhang Wen still had not died. Nevertheless, he quickly regained his composure and pulled Zhang Lingyue's near-death body into his arms.
At that moment, the remaining waves and water dragons let out deafening roars and surged toward the Gu Clan's Saint King in a frenzy, like mindless beasts. Each dragon twisted through the rain, lashing out with watery claws without pause. Yet the Saint King stood firm in midair, his expression cold. In a blink, he erected a barrier of sacred power, then raised his palm and struck downward with tremendous force. A palm-shaped shockwave spread outward, and the water dragons shattered one by one, turning into fine mist scattered across the sky.
The Saint King's gaze shifted back downward. Zhang Wen's body lay slumped in the flooded basin below. The dark chains binding him were beginning to break apart as the Black Crow Secret Unit paid with their lives. Massive currents of water rushed in to envelop his body frantically, as if repairing it without regard for cost. Blood streamed down his face. His skin was cracked and torn. The Saint aura still flared around him, but it wavered violently, like a flame on the verge of extinction.
Zhang Wen slowly lifted his head, staring at the Gu Clan's Saint King as he retreated with Zhang Lingyue in his arms, while the rain continued to fall ever more heavily.
The Saint King did not hesitate any longer. He raised his palm once more, sacred power converging until the sky itself trembled. A colossal palm-shaped wave of energy slammed downward toward Zhang Wen without mercy, the crushing pressure causing the surrounding water to erupt into towering pillars.
Yet in that very instant, Zhang Wen's body collapsed inward, dissolving into flowing water that seeped down into the flooded basin. The attack crashed violently into the ground, blasting open a crater dozens of meters deep, but it struck nothing at all.
The rain continued to fall without any sign of stopping, growing heavier and heavier by the second.
Then, suddenly, the raindrops falling from the sky began to change.
Each droplet sharpened, and in the blink of an eye the rain transformed into a storm of razor-edged projectiles, stabbing toward everyone on the battlefield except for Zhang Wen alone. The raindrops chose their targets as if alive. Many Saints recoiled in shock and hastily erected protective barriers. Rapid impacts rang out as countless droplets struck. The barriers of weaker Saints began to shudder violently.
Some could not endure it. Their barriers cracked apart, raindrops piercing straight through their bodies. Blood sprayed as screams rang out, limbs and torsos punctured through. Others were bombarded relentlessly until their defenses collapsed entirely, leaving them grievously wounded and fleeing for their lives without a second thought.
Only the Gu Clan's Saint King was affected the least. His barrier remained firm and unyielding. The rain of water-energy shattered into mist upon impact. Yet his expression grew increasingly grim, for he could clearly sense that this rain was not attacking at random. It was selecting its prey.
Then, without warning, a single raindrop striking the Saint King's barrier twisted unnaturally. That droplet expanded, transforming into Zhang Wen's figure in an instant. His unstable Saint aura burst forth at point-blank range, shaking even the fabric of the air itself. The Saint King narrowed his eyes slightly, showing not the slightest trace of panic. He flicked his hand, sacred aura exploding outward in a wave that instantly destroyed the Zhang Wen before him.
But instead of blood, that body scattered into fine droplets of water, dissolving into the rain as though it had never existed at all.
At that very same moment, the air around the Saint King churned violently. Dozens of Zhang Wen figures emerged from the surrounding raindrops, appearing from every direction, front, back, above, and below. Each one lunged forward at the same time, hands transforming into water spears, blades forged from water, and claws of flowing energy, surging in like a fearless swarm of beasts.
The Saint King roared, sweeping his sacred palm outward in a wide arc. Layers of protective barriers overlapped one another as the sound of tearing air rang out without pause. Many of Zhang Wen's bodies were destroyed, shattering into water before merging back into the rain. Yet the pressure did not lessen in the slightest. Every time a body was destroyed, another took its place, born anew from the endlessly falling rain.
Meanwhile, aboard the Gu Clan's flying ship, Gu Lanyue stood motionless, her eyes locked onto the scene without blinking. Her heart pounded so fiercely it felt as though it would burst from her chest. She prayed desperately for everything to end, for the storm to dissipate.
Then, suddenly, the system's warning rang out in panic.
[Host!! To your left!!]
Gu Lanyue turned toward the warning, her eyes widening in the instant she saw Zhang Wen riding atop a mass of condensed water shaped like a dragon. It tore through the rain straight toward her ship, water energy around it raging as if ready to rip the air apart. Its speed and pressure made the vessel tremble violently even before impact.
"Open… the… barrier…"
Gu Lanyue collapsed onto the deck at once. Fear crashed over her, her body refusing to respond. She opened her mouth to shout an order, but the sound caught in her throat, unable to escape even as a whisper. Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
Boommmmm.