Chapter 314

Source Altar.

Qi Sheng paid close attention to the Mingshu Clan's revival throughout.

In fact, even if the Explorer did not expend Shou Shou Jili, he would actively consume Shou Shou Jili to investigate this race.

To understand what had once occurred in this sea region.

The Mingshu Clan was also the first force he had encountered in the Monster World where the leader abandoned all effort, yet subordinates rose against the odds.

The General's strategy was nothing short of brilliant.

What players did not see in the livestream was how much effort the General had poured into bringing about this day.

According to analysis, the Mingshu Clan had once been the absolute dominant power of the Three Seas.

But the arrival of a conquering force shattered the Mingshu Emperor's plans and arrangements for the future.

This was the "Deathwhisper Clan" mentioned in the retrospected light-and-shadow footage.

The Deathwhisper Clan's arrival was like a meteor carrying war, violently smashing through the Mingshu Clan's North Sea.

And they descended precisely in the Death Sea, one of the current territories of the Ancient God Clan.

Before the Mingshu Clan could launch a war, the aura of death had already spread like plague, instantly turning the azure sea into a abyss of despair.

Switching perspective to the Deathwhisper Clan, they were also quite unfortunate.

Faced with the colossal Mingshu Clan, which dominated all three seas, the Deathwhisper Clan had only two choices: retreat to their homeland, or crush every obstacle before them.

The Deathwhisper Clan was never a refugee group, but conquerors harboring the ambition to reach the pinnacle of the Monster World.

They chose to forcefully occupy the Death Sea (former Mingshu North Sea) and renamed it "Ghostshadow Sea," challenging the Mingshu Clan's rule.

【ps: The sea's name changed as follows: Mingshu North Sea, Ghostshadow Sea (Deathwhisper Clan), Death Sea (Ancient God Clan - Death Arena).】

Although the Mingshu Clan's overall strength had significantly increased during the Monster World's developmental progression,

the Deathwhisper Clan possessed even greater war power upon entering the Monster World.

They were a powerful race from a Great World.

Their Deathwhisper Rule possessed the power to revive the dead; its holder could infuse derivative energy from the rule into clan members, even other living beings, allowing those with Yan Sheng Lao Yin to synchronize the revival of the dead alongside the rule's possessor.

In prolonged warfare, the Deathwhisper Clan held considerable advantage.

This war cost the Deathwhisper Clan dearly, but the final outcome was near-extinction of the Mingshu Clan, and the Mingshu Emperor himself was poisoned by Deathwhisper, dying ultimately within his tomb.

In the final moment before death and Dao's dissolution, the Mingshu Emperor relinquished his inner obsession.

He knew the path to the pinnacle of the Monster World had no visible end.

In their homeland world, the Mingshu Clan were divine beings who could establish rules; but in the Monster World, there were too many races with higher growth potential than the Mingshu Clan.

Even forces like the Black Tide, which appeared as calamities they could only look up to.

At the brink of death, the Emperor chose to let go, seeing clearly that the path he had pursued was ultimately empty.

He also urged the surviving General to return to their homeland and inherit his position.

Never return again—he believed the Mingshu Clan was destined to have no future in climbing the Monster World's pinnacle.

But the surviving General did not abandon hope.

He did not agree with the Emperor's view, nor would he deny the goal his people had fought for their entire lives.

He believed the Mingshu Clan had not yet lost everything; at least he still lived, and he himself was the chip to continue the game.

Moreover, their homeland world still held vast reserves of troops—though far inferior to their war army in the Monster World, they remained vital chips for another strike into the Monster World.

As long as chips remained, how could it be called defeat?

And the General's decisive key lay in this very Monster World that had brought them despair.

Because in this world, anything was possible.

Behind endless despair lay endless hope.

Even if currently weak, one could gain growth rates beyond reason through various opportunities.

After bowing before the crystal coffin burying the Emperor, the General left a spatial coordinate within the tomb and departed, embarking on the path to seek greater power.

During this time, the General returned to their homeland world, leading the homeland army back once more.

To turn the tide against the odds, the General believed the worst course was cautious development—it would only widen the glaring power gap with the Deathwhisper Clan.

He chose the most aggressive development model: constantly exploring the Monster World, seeking forces that could elevate the Mingshu Clan.

In fact, many races, upon entering the Monster World and realizing their weakness compared to others, chose this path.

But the vast majority of races perished faster during this process.

The Mingshu Clan led by the General was one of the lucky few, rising rapidly under the General's command.

During this time, upon accidentally learning of a piece of information, he sought out the sealed Fate Clan and, using his "Mist Realm" Rule as leverage, engaged in a final gamble with the Fate Clan, who voluntarily hid beneath the earth.

The Fate Clan accepted the gamble and granted the General an opportunity.

The final outcome was the General's victory.

The Fate Clan, who never cheated, honored their promise and bestowed upon the General immensely powerful strength.

This was a long exile journey; the General grew through countless opportunities, eventually leading the Mingshu Clan back to the Cangxing Sea to launch a civilizational war against the Deathwhisper Clan.

This war lasted years; the already weakened Deathwhisper Clan ultimately perished under the General's hand.

But in the final moment, the Deathwhisper Clan unleashed one last desperate strike.

All remaining Mingshu Clan forces perished; the General himself fell gravely wounded.

The perpetual black mist shrouding the Death Sea today is formed from the fallen Mingshu Clan warriors of that battle.

(ps: Early plot described the environment of Ghostshadow Sea—the ever-present fog and the howling winds on the sea surface, tearing out mournful wails like cries of the dead. Details appear in Chapter 138, when players, after using Painful Painful Minghun to contain Heavenly Soldiers, fled to the Ancient God Clan's territory for refuge.)

The environment of the Death Sea is very similar to that of the Mistveil Island today—both shrouded in black mist.

After the war ended, the gravely wounded General seized the Deathwhisper Clan's divine artifact: the Rule—Deathwhisperer.

With sheer willpower, the General, barely clinging to life, began laying the groundwork for the future before his death.

Transforming Mist-Shadow Island was the first step of the plan.

He knew clearly that the clan members revived through the Death-Speaker would fall into a state of extreme weakness and must devour vast amounts of living flesh and blood as soon as possible to forge the Death-Speaker Body.

Therefore, he completely transformed Mist-Shadow Island, burying vast resources and wealth underground and connecting it to the Crystal Coffin.

Centered on the Crystal Coffin, he deployed the Spirit-Devouring Array covering the entire island.

The mist formed by the fallen Ming-Wu warriors gathered on the island and did not disperse, ensuring that spiritual energy could not leak out.

Over the accumulation of long years, the underground resources grew increasingly abundant, attracting a large crowd of alien races and monsters to gather.

Secondly, to ensure the "Death-Speaker" could be triggered, the General left numerous hints on the island.

For example, murals, Shi Zhu carvings, and so on.

All the clues told intelligent beings that unimaginable wealth was buried on this island, waiting for them to go and explore.

Next came welcoming death.

During the years exploring the Monster World, the General knew deeply that this world contained too many unimaginable rule-based powers.

Some races could even deduce what had happened in the past by analyzing the residual information left in the current scene.

To ensure the plan was foolproof, it acted out a play before dying.

This play might have no audience at all.

But it might become the key step to reversing the situation.

Facts proved that the General's layout worked.

Finally, the General sent the Death-Speaker rule into the Crystal Coffin, died in the guise of a Tomb Guardian, and entered the transformation state of the Death-Speaker rule.

It looked forward to the day in the future when the scattered mist could reunite.

And that day arrived as scheduled.

……

Cang Star Sea Region, Mist-Shadow Island.

The earth veins trembled.

The Spirit-Devouring Array, silent for long years, shattered; the life energy accumulated underground surged like a breached flood, crazily pouring into the Death-Speaker Body of the Ming-Wu Emperor.

Spiderweb-like dark blue light traces burst forth on the surface of the Crystal Coffin beneath.

Standing aside, the General's withered body trembled slightly, and two dark purple soul fires suddenly ignited in his crystalized eye sockets.

Crack!

The Crystal Coffin exploded with a boom, and black mist shot skyward like a volcanic eruption.

The General's body turned into a wisp of mist, followed the Ming-Wu Emperor breaking through the rock layer, and flew toward the sky above the island.

Its body twisted and condensed in the air, finally reshaping into a spirit body composed purely of Ming-Wu mist.

Mist flowed within the contours of the armor, and dark purple soul fires burned deep within the helmet, like a pair of eyes from the abyss.

The black mist of the entire Mist-Shadow Island boiled at this moment.

The alien races and living beings surviving on the island all became nutrients in the revival of the Ming-Wu clan.

The gifts bestowed by fate had long been marked with a price in the dark.

The Underground World beneath Mist-Shadow Island, which they saw as rich in resources, was like a trap; the moment for triggering had now arrived.

The mist surging around the island tangled and condensed like living creatures.

Those Ming-Wu warriors who had died in battle returned in the form of mist spirits.

Without bones, without flesh and blood, only rolling mist outlined vague human silhouettes; soul fires blazed fiercely in their eye sockets, and low moans issued from their throats, as if ten thousand wronged souls were whispering simultaneously.

During the surge of memories, intense hunger drove them to activate their predation mode.

The entire island underwent earth-shaking changes in this process; plants on the island withered rapidly, leaves turned to flying ash, and juices were extracted into dark blue mist miasma, devoured by the Ming-Wu warriors.

Vast numbers of monsters and alien races were gnawed into white bones amidst wails, and the entire island became the domain of the Ming-Wu spirits.

But the revival of the Ming-Wu clan was not yet over.

The Ming-Wu General, holding the Mist Realm rule, looked at the Ming-Wu Emperor at this moment.

"Your Majesty, lend me the rule."

The Emperor nodded; the "Death-Speaker" rule branded on his forehead detached and flew toward the General:

"This was always yours."

After receiving the rule, the Ming-Wu General stepped onto the void, hovering at the highest point of the island, and his deep soul fires gazed toward the direction of the Death Sea.

He raised his arm; the Death-Speaker rule condensed and manifested in his palm, turning into a dark purple rune, which he pressed violently into the void.

"My clan's warriors, awaken!"

Rule ripples invisible to the naked eye spread toward the direction of the Death Sea.

The black mist that never dispersed over the Death Sea throughout the year suddenly contracted, as if gripped by some invisible force.

Amidst the rolling and twisting of the mist, countless vague figures formed.

The Ming-Wu warriors who died in battle in the Ghost Shadow Sea Region that year also awakened at this moment, their figures appearing amidst the surging black mist.

They wore armor condensed from mist and held mist blades; their vast numbers caused the entire sea region to tremble.

Hovering beneath the sky curtain, the General's figure grew increasingly tall under the cleansing of rule power.

Amidst the surging mist on his body, a giant mist blade spanning the sky condensed in his hand; he suddenly waved his finger, pointing toward the Death Sea.

"My clan's mist shall never disperse for eternity."

The General's domineering declaration officially announced the return of the Ming-Wu clan.

Responding to the summons, the mist shrouding the Death Sea swept across the Cang Star Sea Region like a tsunami, joining the devouring action against the living beings of Mist-Shadow Island.

This hegemon that once ruled the three major sea regions reappeared today in an even stronger posture.

This is what the General called: Everything is possible.

Next, the conquest begins anew.

As more and more black mist shrouded Mist-Hidden Island, the General's roar shattered the clouds for a hundred li, and countless undead soldiers stepped out of the mist, their armor surfaces flowing with tide-like dark patterns, assembling and forming ranks outside the island's perimeter.

From the ancient battlefield ruins sleeping beneath the seabed, countless skeletal warships slowly rose, the bone rams at their prows writhing like living creatures.

"General, the current sea domain situation is unclear; let us decide how to proceed after a detailed investigation." The Emperor's voice rang beside the ears of the Mist-War General, whose battle intent surged.

Upon hearing this, the sharpness in the Mist-War General's eyes receded slightly.

Although the Mist-War Legion has already revived, and the clan's memories are rapidly awakening,

this is the Monster World. Even with the rules of the Death-Speaking Clan bolstering them, granting the Mist-War Clan strength greater than in years past, they must still learn to restrain themselves.

Rash action would only plunge them once more into a state of eternal damnation.

Just then, a pitch-black fissure suddenly split the sea surface.

A massive warship constructed of mist and bones broke through the waves, upon whose prow stood an old man draped in tattered battle robes; his face resembled withered tree bark, yet his eyes burned with ghostly blue flames.

"General Ye Ming, long years have passed since we last met; you are still so impetuous." The old man's voice was hoarse; the bone staff in his hand lightly tapped the deck, and immediately, a fleet of Mist-War ships behind him surfaced.

Seeing the newcomer, a hint of a smile appeared in the General's eyes:

"Cang Hai, has your memory already returned?"

The old man, known as Cang Hai, nodded:

"It seems our clan's war against the Death-Speaking Clan ended in victory; the Death-Speaking rule seal within my body must have been branded by you, General."

"Not just you, but us as well."

Surging mist swept in, the sea surface exploded in succession, and several figures emerged from within.

On the left, a burly figure wrapped in chains slowly emerged; with every step, the sea surface congealed into gray-white ice crystals.

This was "Frost Prison," one of the Eight Generals of the Mist-War Clan, who wielded the "Mist Supreme" power within the Mist-War Clan's cultivation system.

On the right, the mist twisted, taking the form of a bewitching woman; her laughter rang like silver bells.

She too was one of the Eight Generals of the Mist-War Clan, "Mist Princess."

And behind the crowd, the sea parted, and a colossal beast formed entirely of pure black mist slowly rose.

Upon the beast, a misty figure spoke with a lazy expression:

"My Great General Ye Ming, what mistake have you made again to be criticized by His Majesty, and... exactly how many years have we slept?"

As all gazes focused on the Mist-War Emperor, they all knelt on one knee:

"Your Majesty."

The Mist-War Emperor slowly raised a hand:

"Rise. This world is no longer the environment we know, and our enemies are no longer the Death-Speaking Clan."

Speaking thus, its gaze turned toward the deep sea, as if piercing through distance to stare directly at those terrifying existences lurking in the darkness:

"First, gather all awakened clan members and rebuild the Mist-War Council; future development shall focus on investigation and probing attacks." As General Ye Ming, the leader of the Eight Generals, was about to nod, he suddenly sensed a power fluctuation approaching from afar, then whipped his head around to look toward the direction of the Death Sea:

"It seems we need not go to probe; the power wishing to probe us has appeared first."

All gazes turned toward the direction of the Death Sea.

A crimson meteor tore across the sky, forcibly ripping a burning fissure through the thick haze.

The roar emitted during its flight caused the sea surface to continuously erupt with water columns, as if the entire sea domain trembled under its pressure.

Ye Ming's expression became Solemn.

The newcomer was entirely shrouded in solidified blood qi flames; along its flight path lingered blood-red fissures that would not dissipate, like wounds torn open in the sky.

As the view drew closer, they made out the approaching figure.

It was a burly creature entirely shrouded in boiling blood qi; its bronze skin seemed cast from molten lava, its muscle fibers like coiled dragons and pythons, and every tendon radiated terrifying power capable of shattering mountains and severing seas.

Even each heartbeat caused the air to vibrate, the resulting shockwaves evaporating the seawater it passed directly into mist; most striking were the flames of battle intent leaping within its pupils.

Merely from the blood qi fluctuation, Ye Ming could determine that this fellow needed no weapons whatsoever.

For this very body was the most terrifying weapon.

And the one attacking was precisely the Champion Warrior under the Ancient God Clan.

"Interesting. It seems that during the years we slept, some interesting things have been born in the nearby sea domain." The Mist-War Clan Emperor, also sensing the surging blood qi fluctuation, spoke with a smile.

"I will go." Ye Ming stepped forward, staring directly at the approaching figure.

The crimson meteor rushed straight toward them; Ye Ming neither dodged nor avoided, while figures like the Mist-War Emperor actively retreated.

They too wished to see how strong the powers of the nearby sea domain truly were.

The Champion Warrior's right fist, at this moment, struck out without any trickery.

The hurricane raised by a single punch plowed a thousand-meter trench into the sea surface; before the fist even arrived, the island behind Ye Ming trembled.

Boom!

Ye Ming neither dodged nor avoided, allowing this punch to pierce straight through his chest.

But the Champion Warrior's eyes changed, for his fist seemed to have struck into viscous liquid; the part of Ye Ming that was hit turned into flowing mist, which instead coiled up along his arm.

"Only brute force?"

Ye Ming's voice came from all directions.

The Champion Warrior whirled around abruptly, discovering six identical Ye Mings stepping out of the mist, each wielding a different mist-formed weapon.

The Champion Warrior roared in anger, and battle tattoos across his body erupted with light like the sun.

Raising both fists to collide, the resulting blood qi shockwave instantly shattered three mist clones, while the residual force erupted a thousand-meter-high water wall on the sea surface.

But the true Ye Ming had already appeared above his head, the condensed mist blade lightly sweeping across the back of the Champion Warrior's neck.

A bloodline appeared.

The Champion Warrior spun around abruptly and launched a charged punch.

Like the sun exploding, the instantly unleashed blood qi energy shattered Ye Ming's body.

But the dispersing mist reformed not far away, and General Ye Ming's silhouette emerged from within it.

Neither side struck again this time; their gazes locked.

General Ye Ming saw burning battle will and desire in the Champion Fighter's eyes.

The Champion Fighter saw a resolve in General Ye Ming's eyes he had never felt before, like an immovable mountain.

The auras of both sides surged at this moment.

"You are no match. Die, or retreat."

General Ye Ming's voice exploded in the Champion Fighter's mind, conveying his thoughts through mental communication.

"Kill!" the Champion Fighter roared in response.

The nearby seawater instantly steamed into white mist, boiled by the burning blood qi.

The Champion Fighter shot forward like a blood qi meteor, closing the distance to General Ye Ming in an instant.

His bare chest heaved violently, every vein bulging beneath the skin as if a million fire pythons were rampaging within his body.

The flames of battle will burned his pupils crimson; the moment they locked onto General Ye Ming, the entire sky was dyed blood-red.

As the Champion Fighter channeled the power within his body, it triggered a tsunami; the muscles of his right arm erupted like a volcanic eruption, and the fist wind he unleashed condensed into a giant fist phantom in the air.

General Ye Ming's pupils shrank sharply; his entire body dissipated like green smoke. The instant the giant fist slammed into the sea surface, the seawater was compressed downward, exploding into a crater ten thousand meters in diameter.

A light chuckle came from the mist; General Ye Ming's figure suddenly appeared behind the Champion Fighter.

The Champion Fighter's reaction was equally swift; while in his punching stance, he yanked his right arm back, twisted his hips and turned, switching to a rear elbow strike.

Boom!

Waves of blood qi heat rolled forth, yet this strike still failed to inflict any substantial damage on General Ye Ming, merely blasting him apart into dispersing gray mist.

At that moment, an arm coalesced from the scattering mist.

Where the fingertip passed, ripples formed in the air; the sharp claw grazed the Champion Fighter's neck, sparking a clatter of metal on metal, yet left only a pale mark on his bronze skin.

"Physical perfection, not bad."

Before General Ye Ming's words had fully faded, the Champion Fighter spun around abruptly, driving his knee forward like a heavy cannon.

But General Ye Ming turned to mist once more, the mist scattering and reorganizing within the shockwave.

He keenly seized the gap in the opponent's attack, then transformed into a streak of light, striking straight for the face.

The Champion Fighter bared his feral white fangs, met the attack head-on, and collided his forehead with General Ye Ming's sharp claw, sending a thousand sparks flying.

"Shatter!"

The Champion Fighter's blood qi surged violently throughout his body; flames gushed from his pores, turning the entire sea into a furnace.

General Ye Ming's mist sizzled under the scorching heat, yet this did not prevent it from reforming his body once again.

The mist-form ability granted by the rules of the Mist Realm, combined with the Corpse of Death Words, had brought General Ye Ming's physical form to a state nearly impossible to destroy.

Any offensive move by the Champion Fighter failed to inflict effective damage.

When General Ye Ming once again scattered into mist filling the sky.

The Champion Fighter's punches became frantic; every strike carried the might to shatter mountains and split the earth, smashing the nearby sea into fragments.

The giant waves were evaporated into mist before they could fall; the entire battlefield seemed to have turned into a boiling steamer.

At this moment, the spectator players had arrived at the battlefield.

In the words of the forum players: if there were a rule where spectating brought power, every player would inevitably embed it.

Spectating on the forum, spectating via livestream, spectating on-site... for the players, danger did not exist; nothing could stop their hearts from spectating.

The players who first approached the battlefield immediately activated their livestreams; instantly, the heat in the livestream rooms skyrocketed.

Bringing the lens (the guide clone) closer, they discovered that the one fighting the Mist Fog Clan was actually the Champion Fighter; the players' passion for spectating burned with Xiong Xiong intensity.

In the major on-site livestream rooms, bullet comments flew everywhere.

"Front row selling melon seeds, beer, cigarettes. The battle has ignited; how can snacks be missing? Trading post item code: xxx. Welcome to buy snacks."

"Holy crap, it's actually the Champion Fighter; its opponent seems pretty fierce too."

"Everyone says warriors are awesome; facts prove assassins crush warriors. New assassin friends, keep it up; prove with strength that our assassin school is the strongest school."

"Just arrived; why is the comment section discussing whether assassins or warriors are stronger? What does that have to do with our players' class schools? Why is your immersion so strong?"

For the players, this was just a movie.

No matter who won, they would not be affected in any way.

But there were still many players taking sides in the major livestream rooms.

Warrior school players generally sided with the Champion Fighter; assassin school players generally stood with General Ye Ming.

Outside, General Ye Ming and the Champion Fighter were locked in fierce combat; inside the livestream comment sections, players from the two schools were also quarreling in a frenzy.

At this time, the battle above the Mist Hidden Island continued.

General Ye Ming's figure vanished like a ghost, transforming into a thousand gray mist threads, weaving and darting through the gaps in the fist shadows.

Every time the fist wind brushed past, the mist twisted and deformed like light smoke, reforming in the blink of an eye.

The Champion Fighter's assault seemed overwhelmingly domineering, yet it could not harm General Ye Ming in the slightest; instead, it churned the surrounding seawater into a surging blood-red vortex.

It seemed the Champion Fighter was the side launching the offensive, but in terms of actual combat power, General Ye Ming was superior by more than a single notch.

Indeed, the entire process was General Ye Ming testing the array of abilities mastered by the Champion Fighter.

Helpless, the Champion Fighter's battle will in his eyes grew even more intense.

He took a deep breath; his body rapidly expanded three times, the veins beneath his skin writhing like crimson giant pythons.

The next second, he leaped into the air, gathering all his power into his right fist, and with a forceful slam, drove a punch carrying the power of the Battle Soul down toward the sea surface where General Ye Ming stood.

Instantly, a pitch-black crack spread from the fist tip; wherever it passed, seawater, air, and even light were utterly devoured.

The moment the crack appeared, General Ye Ming's mist rapidly contracted and swiftly dodged, unwilling to make direct contact with the power of the Battle Soul.

The instant his form re-solidified into physical matter, his toes lightly tapped the seawater, and he shot toward the Champion Fighter like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

At the critical moment just before being swallowed by the rift, General Ye Ming mistified once more, turning into a wisp of fine mist that drilled into the Champion Fighter's body through his pores.

The Champion Fighter was struck as if by lightning, his body trembling violently.

He tried to force the mist out using the qi and blood power within his body, only to discover that the mist formed by General Ye Ming was like a festering sore on the bone, wandering freely through his meridians and constantly eroding his qi and blood.

He let out a roar of unwillingness, yet could not stop the loss of power.

Just then, a player who had foolishly approached obtained first-hand analysis data on General Ye Ming and posted it in the regional channel and the live stream.

【General Ye Ming】:

Hunting Rank: Ban Shen Jing.

Target Introduction: Head of the Eight Generals of the Mist-Water Clan, Second Seat of the Mist-Water Council, commander of all Mist-Water Clan legions, possessing the strongest power beneath the Mist-Water Emperor, with the "Mist Realm" rule integrated into his body.

Seeing General Ye Ming's Hunting Rank, the arguing in the live stream died out.

All players now knew that General Ye Ming had not even exerted his full strength.

In this battle, the Champion Fighter had absolutely no possibility of victory.

Leaving aside the fact that the Champion Fighter was only using derivative power from rules granted by the Ancient Gods, General Ye Ming's body already had a rule enhancement.

Even in terms of life force, a Hunting Rank of Ban Shen Jing was something the Champion Fighter could not contend with.

At this moment, the Champion Fighter's body convulsed in mid-air, the qi and blood flames on his surface already like a dying candle in the wind.

After the probing ended, General Ye Ming prepared to deliver the final blow.

Just then, within the layer upon layer of dark clouds in the sky, dark red lightning wound and slithered like spiritual snakes, and the space emitted a tearing sound of being unable to bear the burden.

"General, be careful!"

Before the Mist-Water Emperor's shocked shout could finish, a colossal bronze arm blocking out the sun and moon broke through the cloud layer.

The surface of the giant arm was covered in gullies eroded by time, with chains wrapped around it glowing with a dim green light; each finger joint was the size of a mountain, and dark golden runes flowed between the patterns on the palm.

As the giant arm fell, the seawater around Mist-Water Island was forcibly pushed aside, forming a bottomless ocean abyss.

Even the air was compressed into a solid substance, emitting a piercing shriek.

General Ye Ming, suddenly sensing something amiss, had the mist around his body surge wildly.

With no time to think further, he turned into a wisp of gray mist, detached from the Champion Fighter, and retreated.

The instant the giant arm crashed down with a boom, the submerged mountain range that had emerged instantly collapsed; the tsunami it raised was ten thousand zhang high, and where the aftereffects reached, many spectator players turned into black mist, their souls returning to Beneath Di Zhao.

The Mist-Water Emperor's expression changed slightly; he waved his sleeve and instantly deployed a defensive barrier in the high sky.

The giant arm hovered above the sea surface without continuing its descent; the palm slowly turned over, sucking the heavily injured Champion Fighter into its palm.

The Champion Fighter struggled weakly but could no longer gather the strength to continue fighting.

On the other side, General Ye Ming re-solidified his form above the island, his gaze fixed tightly on the giant arm, with mist condensing into sharp blade shapes around his body.

Just as General Ye Ming prepared to strike again, the giant arm did not launch an attack; instead, the runes on the palm suddenly lit up, injecting power into the Champion Fighter's body.

"Old man... you said the fighter's fate is to... die in battle. Why save me?"

The Champion Fighter, having recovered some strength, coughed out in a hoarse voice.

"Dying in battle is fate, but not now." The old voice rang out like a great bell, echoing across this sea area.

Afterwards, the giant arm slowly rose and retreated toward the direction of the Death Sea; with every step back, ripples appeared in the space, teleporting a certain distance.

Only after the giant arm completely vanished did the battle intent in General Ye Ming's eyes finally dissipate:

"It seems the enemy we are about to face is far more terrifying than imagined."

Gazing toward the direction of the Death Sea, General Ye Ming gained a preliminary understanding of this faction that had launched a surprise attack.

The Mist-Water Emperor fell silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice:

"Summon the Eight Generals, the Sixteen Lords, and the Elder Council... convene the Mist-Water Council immediately."

The great battle thus came to an end.

But the players all felt it was unsatisfying.

What they wanted to see was blood flowing like a river, fighting until one side was destroyed; the more tragic, the more spectacular.

As a result, both sides merely probed each other before choosing to retreat, which made them feel extremely uncomfortable.

It felt like eating a melon halfway through, only to have no follow-up.

Unlike the mindset of ordinary players, A Lan, who was also following this battle, had already sensed a crisis.

Before this, the Cang Star Sea Area had no absolutely dominant race, maintaining a pattern of chaotic warfare among all races.

Now, the Mist-Water Clan has descended from the sky... more accurately speaking, the hegemon of the old era has revived; this means the pattern of the Cang Star Sea Area will be reshuffled.

Although Dream Island, where the Gold Coin Merchant Guild is located, is not far from the Colorful Mist Coast, it is still within the power radiation range of the Mist-Water Clan.

Unless something unexpected happens, Dream Island will suffer a heavy blow.

If not handled well, the Gold Coin Merchant Guild will face its first bankruptcy since opening.

At least until the Mist-Water Clan withdraws from the Cang Star Sea Area, the Gold Coin Merchant Guild probably won't be able to continue operating.

While feeling a sudden headache, A Lan began to ponder how to solve the imminent crisis of bankruptcy.

(End of this chapter)