Chapter 323: All-Out Counteroffensive

Saint Luo Hall, this palace was specially built for Land Immortals; the attendants coming and going here are all of Elemental Dan Realm cultivation.

It's inevitable that someone will ask, having reached Elemental Dan Realm cultivation, wouldn't it feel stifling to still serve as an attendant?

Of course not; this attendant position is highly coveted.

Saint Luo Hall was specially built for Land Immortals; the spiritual energy concentration here is at least ten times that of the outside world, and there are also several feng shui formations, with various precious trees transplanted, which greatly aid in comprehending secret arts and so on.

For those at Elemental Dan Realm, coming here greatly helps in comprehending domains, so without some status and standing, this attendant position is truly hard to snag.

Several Elemental Dan Realm cultivators gathered here, constantly probing the palace with their heads, their eyes full of surprise.

"Wow! I've comprehended it! I've comprehended it! In such a short time, I've comprehended a complete domain?"

"Damn! We're both human, why is the gap between us so huge?"

"A female Elemental Dan cultivator's eyes sparkled with gold stars: 'I've heard that Lord Shen is of the same generation as us, even a bit younger!'"

"Ah?"

"Hold on, Yuris! You haven't been to Great Martial, have you? Quickly tell us."

Yuris provoked the Heavenly Pride of Great Martial in the Great Martial Hall of Myriad Heroes, and ended up being the one who challenged Shen Qing, only to be knocked out by Shen Qing's Sea-Releasing Finger plus a kick.

Yuris gave a light cough: "Do you really want to hear?"

"First, Lord Shen, he is indeed of the same generation as us."

"Moreover, when I was in Great Martial, I had a conflict with him."

The people around suddenly had their eyes light up; melon-eating knows no borders.

Yuris chuckled: "Back then, in the Great Martial Hall of Myriad Heroes, I alone challenged all the Heavenly Pride of Great Martial, but you know me—I've always liked challenging the strongest."

"So I directly challenged Lord Shen! Though I ultimately fell just short, I blocked his finger with sheer force, and only then did I lose on the second kick."

The surroundings erupted in exclamations; these past few days they'd heard rumors that Shen Qing alone had slain several evil sages.

Instantly, the looks of the people around Yuris filled with admiration.

Until, a voice sounded.

"But the version I heard isn't like that; back then you didn't see that Lord Shen's cultivation was only first-layer Elemental Dan Realm and thought he was the weakest? The result was the strongest—he unleashed a West Sea, and that's why you didn't die."

Yuris's face instantly reddened; he opened his mouth to curse, but when he turned around, his face reddened further—he was flustered, because the person who arrived was Shengjia Martial Saint, his father, whom he could neither defeat nor dare to scold.

"Dad! Why are you ruining my act?"

Shengjia snorted coldly: "You lot! After finally snagging the attendant position at Saint Luo Hall, you don't cherish the time, but instead idle chat here?"

"Lord Shen doesn't need you; hurry up and get lost to train!"

All the Elemental Dan cultivators scattered in a rush, including Yuris.

Shen Qing entered the great hall, and at that moment he sat cross-legged in midair, with void torn open in all directions by him, for comprehending the Void Domain.

Shen Qing sensed Shengjia's arrival: "Shengjia, you've come."

Shengjia nodded, taking out a few books from his hand: "Already, according to your request, I've collected them all."

"These are the sword techniques cultivated by those of the Saint Luo Martial Saint Realm."

Shen Qing gestured, sucking the books into his hand—this was also his request.

After reaching Martial Saint Realm, because each person's comprehended domain differs, even if the domain is the same, the details differ; thus, strictly speaking, every Martial Saint Realm cultivator's path is different.

Thus, the most suitable martial art must be self-created; therefore, in the Shen Clan of Great Martial and the Imperial Palace Sutra Pavilion, there are no sword techniques fitting Shen Qing.

So Shen Qing also must create a sword technique best suited to himself.

Even after examining all the sword techniques of Great Martial, Shen Qing still felt lacking a bit; thus, the first thing upon coming to the Saint Luo Empire was to examine their Martial Saint Realm sword techniques for inspiration.

Shen Qing, while looking at the sword techniques, asked: "How is the situation now?"

Shengjia said: "No increase in evil spirits; the evil spirits within Saint Luo are negligible and no longer pose a threat."

"Moreover, we have already prepared for a counteroffensive against the sea beasts."

Shen Qing stood up: "Prepared? Not slow at all—then no need to wait; let's set out now!"

Shengjia stared for a moment: "Hold on, Shen Qing! Don't be so hasty! Our preliminary counteroffensive is enough!"

"You can first finish studying the secret arts; there are plenty of sword technique secret arts, which will take some time."

Shen Qing waved his hand.

"The time spent traveling is enough to read through the sword techniques once."

On the western coast, a small town named Lakruwa has a huge metal cross standing in the city center.

The town's residents had not completed evacuation, blocked inside by sea beasts, while the defending soldiers had dwindled to just a detachment of two thousand Crusaders.

Outside the town, sea beasts surged like a flood, their numbers impossible to count.

The Crusader commander was merely a Grand Master—a middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes, named Ika, clad in a wide Gothic armor, wielding a threaded spear.

He thrust his spear, impaling an octopus that had lunged onto the city wall, then shouted loudly: "How's the rear?"

But before anyone could answer him, a sense of danger pressed directly onto the back of his neck; Ika had no time to check the details, and let out a roar.

"Everyone! Stay away from the city walls!"

Boom!!

The violent explosion's sound almost overlapped with Ika's shout; a huge blue light burst forth, blowing a large hole in the entire city wall.

The nearest Crusaders were shaken by the terrifying shockwave into blood mist.

Ika too was blown back by the violent explosion, crashing heavily to the ground in front of the metal cross at the city center, a massive metal spear piercing his chest; Ika braced himself on the ground, feeling only a buzzing in his head, his vision shaking.

Just as he thought he was doomed, a tender little hand reached out.

It was an ordinary little girl from Lakruwa town, blond-haired and blue-eyed, gritting her teeth as she grabbed Ika's armor and strained to pull, but to no avail.

Ika regained a bit of consciousness, turned his head to the little girl, and said: "Don't mind me—hurry and go!"

The ground began to tremble slightly, as the sea beasts surged in through the gap in the wall.

Ika gritted their teeth and rose, but before they could stand, a crab's claw knocked them to the ground.

"Run? You won't be able to escape!"

Ika was already seriously wounded, and after being hit like that, they couldn't even stand; this little girl spread her arms and blocked in front of Ika.

The Elemental Dan Realm crab clan laughed.

"Oh! Little girl, is this what you humans call courage?"

"But you will still die today."

As they spoke, a cruel light flashed in their scarlet pupils, and the huge crab claws in their hands were raised high.

The little girl and Ika desperately closed their eyes.

But the imagined blow never landed; instead, a miserable scream came from the Elemental Dan Realm crab clan.

Ika and the little girl opened their eyes.

All they saw was the crab clan's massive claw gently grasped by a pale hand, and the terrifying power continually erased the crab clan's body, with no blood appearing, it simply vanished into thin air.

In the blink of an eye, the three-meter-tall giant crab completely disappeared from the world.

Only then did Ika and the little girl see clearly.

Clad in a black robe, Shen Qing hovered in midair, behind them was a huge metal cross; at this moment it was noon, the sun sat at the very top of the cross, and the blinding sunlight shone from behind Shen Qing, giving their silhouette a hint of blur.

Ika stared blankly, and the little girl reached out her hand: "God..."

Shen Qing slowly descended, robes fluttering, and with a raised finger they unleashed a terrifying bolt of lightning that swept across the sky over the small town.

All the sea beasts that had rushed into Lakuoluowa were instantly turned to ash by the electricity.

Before Ika could even ask, Shen Qing took a step and arrived atop the walls of Lakuoluowa.

At that moment, three Martial Saint Realm experts had already arrived behind Shen Qing; looking up, dozens of streams of light were rushing toward this place, the earth trembled slightly, as a large army was marching here.

The next instant, terrifying lightning slammed straight into the ground below, the entirety of Lakuoluowa shook violently, a horrifying mushroom cloud rose outside the city, and the whole heaven and earth were changed in color.

Outside the city, no one knew how many sea beasts had died; the surviving sea beasts' eyes were filled with fear.

A sea beast roared: "Run!"

With a mournful howl, all the sea beasts turned and ran madly toward the sea.

Shen Qing's icy voice rang out.

"Is human territory something you can come and go as you please?"

"All sea beast empires or species that set foot in human territory!"

"I sentence you to death!"