His consciousness was originally a bit blurry, but it was at this moment the flower given to him by the Saint Flower started to activate. Strength began to gush out from it. Then, like a warm flow of water, it washed through his body, rapidly containing the serious injuries that nearly caused him to collapse inwards and repairing them at the same time.

This was indeed worthy of being the Moon Praying Shrine’s Saint Flower. Just a single flower possessed such incredibly potent abilities. But unfortunately, all of this was useless. The strike from the Whale Sovereign was soon about to descend upon him.

Qin Yu didn’t seem to realize this at all. He lightly frowned. Because his injuries had recovered a little and his thoughts had been restored to clarity, his mind began to race.

This sound…this sound…

His eyes brightened. Qin Yu suddenly remembered that when the underground vine gave him a gift, there had been a strange memory that emerged in his mind. This sort of sound was heard within it. Although it wasn’t the exact same, it should be of a common language.

For the time being, he could only classify this sort of sound as a mysterious common language.

He looked up toward the thin black finger that was falling down on him and pursed his lips together. This was because no matter how small the chance was, he still wanted to try it.

Otherwise, if he died he would die with regret.

Thus that memory was taken out from his mind. The strange sound rang in his soul, and a vast sea map phantom launched out atop his head, the countless islands releasing light like treasures.

…

Capital City, living quarters of the priests.

Originally, priests were those that served the sea spirit and were called noble holy existences within certain clans and tribes. They should be living in the great and sprawling Sea Spirit Palace. But what a pity, since many years ago when royal power rose in the capital city and the Sea Spirit Palace’s plaque was taken over, no one dared to call it by that name anymore.

Of course, there were many reasons for this. In that far off past, the relationship between the priests and the change in royal authority was extremely complex. However, that was another story for another time.

This massive palace had lost its plaque many years ago and could no longer be properly maintained. Within its great and boundless atmosphere, there were also traces of decay and defeat. The mottled murals, the water-stained domes and arches, the dim light, all of this perfectly interwove into such an image.

In the largest hall stood a towering statue of the sea spirit. Large numbers of priests were gathered here. Nearly every high level priest in the capital city had arrived.

If other people were here, they would find to their shocked surprise that these priests who weren’t valued much these days, were actually using some unknown method to watch a remote video – it was the battle between the Whale Sovereign and Qin Yu. Although the video was a bit distorted and fuzzy, they could see the general situation of what was occurring. Their gazes were stern and some of them looked nervous. Their voices were quiet as they debated and argued. All of them had solemn expressions, as if what they were discussing was of the highest importance.

“…He is a human…”

“…So what if he is a human? To withstand the baptism for nearly 10 hours is more than enough proof…”

“…I disagree…”

“…Those that agree, I ask you to vote…”

“…In the end, we have no direct evidence that he is the chosen one…”

The priests finally managed to reach a decision. If Qin Yu couldn’t produce sufficient evidence, they wouldn’t make their move. The price was too great, and once they acted, everything they had hidden in secret would be exposed.

“You will regret this!” The one who roared out was one of the priests who had been responsible for the sea spirit baptism. His eyes burned with anger, “The sea spirit has already clearly communicated their will! But you old, biased, and timid fellows, you are standing here arguing and arguing. After today, the anger of the sea spirit will surely fall down upon us all.”

He turned around, almost ready to leave in a huff with the priests that supported him.

But at this moment, a sound rose up in his ears. This shocking, joyous, and unbelievable sound caused several priests to turn around. As they saw what was occurring in the glowing projection, all of them stunned.

….

The sea map had appeared, along with an impulse in Qin Yu’s soul. It was so strong and forceful that he couldn’t resist it at all.

So, he lifted his hand and locked onto a black glowing dot on the sea map, and pointed his finger towards it.

Qin Yu didn’t know what that glowing black dot meant. But, his instincts told him that this was where his finger needed to fall.

Then, Qin Yu finally realized what the black spot was and what sort of gift that underground vine had given him.

In the great skies above, below the sun, space began to twist. A formidable strength started to surge forth. In the next instant, space broke apart and a terrifying beam of light shot out. It seemed to move in a very, very strange line as it smashed into the Whale Sovereign.

It was hard to describe in words just how powerful this beam of light was. It was like a raging river, vast and honest, carrying with it the strength to annihilate all. It was like an arrow shot by a god above, utterly irresistible!

The Whale Sovereign’s complexion changed to reveal startled anger for the first time. His pupils widened, as if he were witnessing something completely unbelievable. But, he reacted in the next moment. He roared out loud and raised both hands. Rich black light gushed out from his black armor, forming a black sphere of light that covered him.

Then, this black sphere of light was swallowed up by the beam of light.

Bang –

The sea level violently collapsed, forming a deep hole that went on without end. Endless water tumbled about, roaring into the distance. Like this, without any warning, a tsunami had appeared.

Qin Yu was stunned. A single thought raced through his mind, “So it wasn’t an illusion…”

The Whale Sovereign’s single finger had arrived!

In that moment, his ears rang as if he had lost his sense of hearing. His body sank down and an intense desire to vomit spread through his chest. It continued proliferating through his body, followed by a horrifying amount of pain. Through his limbs and bones, his flesh and organs, and even into the ground. It felt as if he had been placed beneath a giant grinding pan and then was mercilessly dropped down from up high.

Qin Yu always believed that he had an extremely firm will. While he couldn’t ignore having his flesh sheared off or his bones broken, he could still withstand it. But this time, the pain had clearly surpassed his limits. Thus, after just several breaths of time, his consciousness collapsed and he fell into endless darkness.

Seawater roared. The light beam had already disappeared, but the impact it created continued to brew and spread outwards.

Somewhere in the depths of that unfathomably deep pit that had been formed in the sea, the Whale Sovereign emerged. His face was pale white and his black armor was broken all over. Blood flowed out from between the cracks.

It was clear that he had received heavy wounds after withstanding being directly struck by that beam of light. Even so, his aura remained as formidable as it was before, like a long spear that thrust into the skies.

With a flick of his sleeves, endless seawater was pushed back to reveal Qin Yu’s unconscious figure. An invisible strength grabbed onto him and pulled him over.

As the Whale Sovereign looked down on him, he furrowed his eyebrows together. There was a bit of caution and fear in his eyes now.

The method to save sea spirits, the Boundless Blue Finger, the power of the five elements, Qin Yu had given him far too many surprises. But, this final surprise was too exaggerated. If it weren’t for his cultivation having made a breakthrough so that he reached a level on par with His Majesty, then he might have been smashed to pieces beneath that beam of light.

This was the will of the sea spirit!

A human had actually obtained the legendary will of the sea spirit!

What an unbelievable joke.

But this was the truth, the honest truth. The facts were laid out right in front of him and he had even personally experienced it himself.

How could such a person be allowed to survive?

The Whale Sovereign was extremely anxious. He wanted to obtain everything that Qin Yu possessed, in particular the will of the sea spirit, but his instincts were like an alarm ringing in his mind, telling him that if he didn’t kill Qin Yu now, he would never have another chance to do so.

Thus, a rare trace of hesitation appeared on the face of the decisive Whale Sovereign.

…

In the Sea Spirit Palace that had lost its plaque, as the priests were about to leave, there was a short period of silence followed by roars and shouts.

“Evidence! This is the evidence you all want!”

“The messenger chosen by the sea spirit, the savior and hope of all priests, was nearly destroyed by your hands!”

“He is still alive! What are you all waiting around here for? Save him!”

This time, there were no other sounds within the hall. Some priests shrunk down with guilt and fear, but there were even more than were shaking with ecstatic joy and determination.

They had waited countless years for this person. The messenger of the sea spirit had finally appeared!

Then, it was time to make their move.

No matter the price, they must protect him.

“Our supreme faith, with our low and humble lives, we implore the arrival of your strength to punish all evils in the sea.” The priests opened their mouths and began to chant in unison. Their voices were heavy and reverent, carrying a powerful oppression within them. Each syllable seemed as if it were galvanized by their lives.

The sea spirit statue was a woman. She stood tall in the air, a blue dress wrapped around her. She was noble, she was majestic, and at this time, her gentle eyes began to emit light, as well as that scepter she grasped in her hands.

A formidable aura suddenly erupted within the capital city. All seafolk could clearly feel this. They looked up and saw that a phantom which looked exactly the same as the sea spirit statue had arrived above the capital city.

She opened her eyes and looked off into the distance.

Within the royal palace, at nearly the same time that the sea spirit phantom appeared, the Sea Sovereign reared his head back. His eyes opened and divine light flashed out, followed by an eruption of a terrifying aura.

Across from him, the old turtle’s robes fluttered about. With a cough, he was forced back dozens of feet by this aura.

Though the Sea Sovereign had never truly taken action, from this it could be seen just how strong he was.

“Priests…”

A deep and bass voice rang through the hall. This was because a bit of his cultivation had unconsciously leaked out.

The Sea Sovereign lost his composure. Though he appeared calm, it was clear that his thoughts were racing below the surface.

The old turtle was stunned. In particular, when he sensed what direction the sea spirit phantom was looking towards, this stunned shock became clearer.

After several breaths of time, the eyes of the Sea Sovereign were restored to tranquility. At the very least, there wasn’t anything different on the surface. “Mister, what do you think is the reason for the priests’ actions today?”

The old turtle hesitated. “Qin Yu?”

The Sea Sovereign nodded. “This Solitude also thinks that. It seems the priests have finally found the person they have been waiting for all this time. Unfortunately, they never imagined that he would be a human.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “It appears that this Solitude was mistaken. Qin Yu might not die today. No, he definitely will not die today.

The old turtle thought about it and agreed.

With the tendencies of those lunatic priests, if they took action it meant they had determined it was Qin Yu.

If so, they would certainly ignore all costs and desperately try to save Qin Yu’s life. One could see this from their resolve to summon the phantom of the sea spirit to appear in the world.

What a pitiful Whale Sovereign. He thought he had waited for the best chance, but he never imagined he would meet a band of crazy lunatics that didn’t care about their lives.

This time, he had made a fool of himself.