Chapter 90: The Seven Swords Awaken, the Qilin Descends; The Dimension Within the Ocean

Seven divine swords simultaneously erupted in brilliant, dazzling columns of light, shooting straight into the heavens.

The columns pierced sky and earth; all around, everyone could see this shocking sight—the columns seemed to resonate with one another, drawn to draw near, yet ultimately failed to merge due to the great distance between them.

After a brief duration, the columns gradually faded, but the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continued to tremble for a long time afterward.

At the same time, deep within a forest in the southwest of Daya, space suddenly twisted, and a dimensional rift opened silently.

“Tap.”

A hooves of blazing crimson stepped forth from the void, sending ripples of pale gold radiating beneath it—a creature entirely crimson, shaped like a calf, with eyes as clear as amber, a pair of translucent jade horns growing from its head, and an aura of warm life and serene peace swirling around it.

It gazed around in mild confusion, its nostrils gently sniffing the unfamiliar air; with each step it took, the damaged grass and plants beneath its feet regained life, and with every footfall, vibrant vitality bloomed beneath it.

Suddenly, it seemed to sense something, lifting its head toward the distance, feeling a familiar and comforting presence.

The Seven Swords awaken; the Qilin descends.

But what descended seemed to be more than just the Qilin.

Bi Bo Bay, nearshore waters.

The previously calm sea surface suddenly surged without wind, the deep blue water beginning to churn unnaturally, forming irregular spirals; deep beneath the seabed, a massive shadow slowly rose, churning the waters for hundreds of meters around.

“Splash—”

A booming splash erupted as a colossal figure rose from the sea, its grayish-green skin coated with seawater, glistening coldly under the sunlight; it had a humanoid torso but was covered in a scaly, keratinous layer, its muscles knotted and bulging like rock.

Its head resembled a deep-sea fish, with protruding eyes glowing murky yellow, crowned with a diadem.

It shook its head, spraying seawater in all directions, then looked down at its own palms and around at the churning waves, a flicker of confusion passing through its eyes.

“This… is not my sea?”

“And is it my imagination, or why do I feel such intense energy within this ocean?”

“Even I, the Deep Sea King, feel my power increasing here?”

Its voice rumbled like an underwater volcano, thick with confusion—yet what puzzled it more was the astonishingly high concentration of unknown energy in the surrounding seawater, which flooded into its body without any deliberate effort; merely by breathing, it felt its strength slowly growing.

As the ruler of the deep sea, it had never witnessed such a thing; simply from this, it could conclude it had arrived in an unknown sea.

Humans? Or some other unknown sea-born creature?

It had originally planned to lead its forces in an assault on land, yet inexplicably found itself in this strange place.

The Deep Sea King lifted its head, sniffing the air, then fixed its gaze on the distant coastline, its murky yellow eyes locking onto the silhouette of the land, the desire to conquer reigniting within its heart.

But as a sovereign, it decided to first understand this unfamiliar sea; through perception, it detected numerous beings within the ocean whose strength approached that of its former subordinates.

“Good.”

The Deep Sea King bared its mouth, full of sharp teeth, revealing a ferocious grin.

“I’ll subdue these creatures first, and ask them about this place.”

Its massive body slowly sank into the sea, swimming toward the several strong auras it sensed; where it passed, the water parted automatically, and schools of fish fled in terror.

Bi Bo City, coastal observation station.

At eleven at night, in the radar room of the Bi Bo branch of the Tian Shu Bureau’s Ocean Monitoring Division, the on-duty officer Wang Li rubbed his aching eyes.

As one of the key monitoring stations along the eastern coast, this facility was equipped with the most advanced radar systems and underwater sonar, monitoring nearly all anomalies in the nearshore waters 24/7.

Of course, because their system was too advanced, the monitoring range was broad, so they monitored selectively.

“Xiao Zhang, check the data from Sonar Array Three.”

“Anomalous echoes detected near longitude 121.47 degrees.”

Wang Li tapped the keyboard.

Before the monitor screen, Zhang Ming swiftly pulled up the data:

“Engineer Wang, confirmed anomaly—a large biological signal detected at approximately 80 meters depth, estimated body length around 20 meters.”

“It’s moving rapidly toward Bi Bo City.”

A 20-meter length wasn’t unusual; after the Spiritual Tide, marine creatures had grown larger than terrestrial ones—species like orcas and sharks, already large to begin with, had mutated into even bigger forms.

Twenty meters was nothing among them.

But approaching a human city was a problem.

Wang Li immediately set down his cup and strode to the main console; the electronic nautical chart on the wall clearly showed a massive red dot rapidly moving through the sea, heading straight for Bi Bo City.

“At this speed, it will reach the coastline in thirty minutes!”

“Should we notify the Bi Bo City Tian Shu Bureau immediately?”

As Zhang Ming spoke, Wang Li had already picked up the dedicated line phone:

“Connect me to the Bi Bo City Tian Shu Branch—emergency situation!”

Beneath the night sky.

On the coastal wall of Bi Bo City, searchlight beams sliced through the darkness like swords, sweeping back and forth across the sea.

This thirty-meter-high massive defense structure was cast entirely from special alloy, its surface bristling with automated artillery platforms and spiritual energy monitoring devices.

In the Age of Spiritual Revival, humanity’s vigilance toward the ocean far exceeded that toward the land.

After all, over seventy percent of the Blue Planet’s surface was ocean, teeming with an incalculable number of creatures; Bi Bo City, as a coastal metropolis, could never be defenseless.

Although the mutated marine creatures observed so far still largely followed their original habits and showed little interest in human land, no one could guarantee that future mutations wouldn’t produce sea beasts with “land invasion” ambitions.

“Old Zhou, the waves are pretty rough tonight.”

Inside the watchtower, a young Tian Shu Bureau member frowned at the turbulent sea outside.

“Normal. After the Spiritual Tide, the number of mutated marine creatures has surged, and their internal conflicts are fiercer than on land—naturally, the sea stirs.”

The middle-aged man, Old Zhou, took a sip of tea, his expression relaxed.

“As long as those deep-sea mutants don’t get stupid and charge ashore, this wall’s just for show.”

“For show?”

“If the cannons on this wall fire, those sea creatures won’t even make it to land—they’ll die the moment they surface. That’s still ‘for show’?”

The young man didn’t understand.

“The ocean’s so vast—aside from those brain-dead mutated sea beasts, who’d even look toward land?”

“And how much mutation would it take for them to abandon their instincts and head for land?”

“By then, those creatures would probably already be third or fourth tier.”

“Third tier’s manageable—we’ve got firepower to kill them. But fourth tier? These weapons won’t do a thing.”

(End of Chapter)