The surge of the water dragon slammed violently into the Gu Clan's flying ship. The roar of the waves sounded like an ancient beast trying to tear the entire vessel apart. Yet the helmsman, a veteran of countless battlefields, did not panic. He shouted crisp orders, activating layer after layer of reinforcement formations. The defensive barrier flared with blinding light as Zhang Wen's water dragon crashed head-on into it. The impact shook the entire ship, its structure groaning loudly, but the barrier barely held. The water dragon could not break through, shattering instead into torrents that slid down along the glowing shield.
Gu Lanyue collapsed hard onto the deck. Her heart pounded wildly, as if about to burst from her chest. Her breathing was ragged, both hands trembling uncontrollably. She had only recently broken through to the Spirit Formation realm. Compared to a battlefield of this level, she barely even qualified to stand here. In all her sixteen years, she had never known fear. Ever since obtaining the Villain System a few months ago, her talent and the Gu Clan's backing had made her invincible among cultivators of the same realm. She had crushed five Sons of Destiny with ease, each falling without even the chance to resist.
But today, merely facing Zhang Wen made her feel as though she were standing before a nightmare she could never escape.
She forced herself to steady her thoughts. Seeing that the water dragon could not breach the ship, some of the tension in her heart eased. Gu Lanyue raised a hand and wiped her face unconsciously, but what clung to her palm was not sweat. It was an icy droplet of rain left behind from moments earlier.
In that instant, a thought flashed through her mind.
Her expression changed drastically. Blood surged through her body. She hurriedly activated her spatial ring, but before she could even extend her consciousness into it—
Boom!!
A deafening impact rang out. Several guards on the ship lunged forward with all their might. At the same time, the raindrop on Gu Lanyue's arm began to distort. Its shape expanded, transforming into Zhang Wen's figure in the blink of an eye. His eyes were cold and empty. One hand gripped a water spear compressed with immense water energy. Though unstable, its killing intent was so sharp it made her breath catch.
The water spear thrust forward without hesitation, its target her heart.
In the split second between life and death, five streaks of sacred light surged in at once. The Gu Clan's maidservants, each a Saint-level cultivator, moved in perfect coordination. Sacred swords slashed toward the water spear. A suppressive palm technique pressed down on Zhang Wen's form. Two others unfolded layered defensive barriers behind them, shielding Gu Lanyue.
The collision erupted at the center of the ship. The crash was deafening, enough to make ears ring. Zhang Wen's water spear shattered into fine droplets, but the recoil sent two of the maidservants flying back, blood spraying from their mouths. Even so, they held their ground, showing no sign of retreat. Then the Zhang Wen formed from rain broke apart once more, dissolving into water that spread across the deck as if he had never existed there at all.
Gu Lanyue gasped for breath. Her body felt so weak she could barely stand. Her eyes trembled as she stared at the raindrops still striking the deck. For the first time in her life, true fear took root. In this moment, she realized that every advantage she had once relied on might mean nothing at all.
The Gu Clan's Saint King, still entangled in battle with Zhang Wen's water clones, suddenly sensed an abnormal disturbance from the direction of the flying ship. The power radiating from it fluctuated violently. He turned his head for only an instant, yet his heart nearly stopped.
What he saw was a massive vortex of water forming atop the Gu Clan's flying ship. His thoughts flew at once to Gu Lanyue's safety. If anything happened to her, the consequences would be a catastrophe he could never recover from. Rage exploded within him. The Saint King unleashed his full power without restraint, his roar shaking the heavens.
"You damned brat!"
Boom!!
Sacred aura swept out, crushing Zhang Wen's water clones into mist in the blink of an eye. Without hesitation, he shot back toward the flying ship at top speed, carrying Zhang Lingyue with him.
At the same time, not far away near the edge of the ancient beast forest, where floodwaters pooled and rain fell lightly, the area was sealed within layers of barriers and towering walls of water. No sound could escape to the outside world. Even the shrill screams of agony echoing within were swallowed completely.
"Ahhhhh! Stop it, stop! I will give you everything… please! Let me go… Zhang Wen!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
The man screaming was the ancestor of the Silver Feather Dynasty. The face that had once been dignified was now twisted in unbearable pain, his eyes filled with absolute terror. Both hands were raised in desperate pleading, yet Zhang Wen's grip was locked around his throat. Life force was being drained without pause. His once formidable cultivation aura shattered, veins bulging across his face, until at last his power collapsed entirely.
Inside the water-wave barrier lay the corpses of twelve Saints. Each body was dried and shriveled, skin wrinkled tight against bone, all spiritual power completely drained away, leaving nothing but lifeless husks. Yet there were still seven others who remained alive. Their breathing was faint, but Zhang Wen's poison had already eaten deep into their bodies, leaving them utterly unable to move. All they could do now was wait for death in despair.
One Saint lay not far away, his trembling eyes fixed on the scene before him. At first, when they attacked Zhang Wen and were struck by his poison, everyone believed the poison came from his blood. That was only partly true. In reality, most of the poison was mixed into the fine mist permeating the air around Zhang Wen. Once inhaled, their internal energy began to spiral out of control, unable to condense. Their bodies grew weak, muscles refusing to respond.
This poison was not lethal enough to kill a Saint outright, whether in normal condition or when heavily injured. It merely weakened them temporarily. Given enough time and calm, they could have expelled it from their bodies. But Zhang Wen never allowed those conditions to exist. After they inhaled the poison, the Saints who had not been affected retreated without helping them.
Left behind, they could only force themselves into meditation to expel the poison. Before they could succeed, Zhang Wen had already stepped into the state of a false Saint. Then he summoned torrents of water to drown the entire area in an instant. Nineteen poisoned Saints were swallowed by the waves together. No one came to save them. No one escaped.
Within the currents, multiple water dragons swam through the flood, searching for them one by one. Whenever a body was found, a dragon would immediately engulf it, dragging the Saint into this water barrier in a crippled state. When they first arrived inside the barrier, they desperately accelerated their efforts to purge the poison.
Not long after, the barrier opened once more. At first, no one paid it much attention, assuming another captured Saint had been brought in. But at that moment, the poison inside their bodies suddenly surged, far faster than before. Then a Saint's scream rang out.
The remaining Saints opened their eyes at the same time, without any signal, and the sight before them made their bodies tremble uncontrollably.
It was Zhang Wen.
He stood there on the brink of death. His hair was pure white, soaked by rain. His skin was split with countless bloody cracks. His face was withered, like that of someone who had lived for millions of years. Yet his eyes burned with a cold, unwavering light. He reached out and crushed the throat of one Saint, a soft crack of breaking bone sounding out, before beginning to devour their power one by one.