Chapter 136: Hanhai Tide, The First Arrival of the Thunder Prison

Linhai City, the top-floor sea-viewing platform of the "Sea-Suppressing Military Governor's Mansion."

The salty sea breeze blew with the faint aura of thunder from afar. On the horizon, thick lead-gray clouds were like a giant pot lid, slowly pushing toward the coast. Within the clouds, dark purple electric snakes shuttled silently, brewing a large-scale sea storm.

This was not an ordinary natural phenomenon. In the perception of the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion and Lin Xuan, the energy core of this storm that was forming was faintly resonating with the restless "Star Evil Demonization Node" in the direction of Blood Shark Island. It was as if the abnormality of the earth veins was triggering a drastic change in the natural phenomena.

"Heaven sends murderous intent, shifting stars and changing lodges; Earth sends murderous intent, dragons and snakes rise to the land." The blurry figure of the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion stood by the railing, looking at the dark clouds in the distance, his voice ethereal. "The 'Graveyard' under Blood Shark Island is awakening, Star Evil and demonic energy are stimulating each other, and have begun to disturb the natural laws of this sea area. We must launch an attack before the storm is fully formed and the node activity reaches its peak. Otherwise, both time and place will be lost."

Lin Xuan stood beside him, his gray-purple long hair fluttering in the wind, his eyes reflecting the dark purple electric light deep in the clouds, faintly echoing and resonating with the gray-purple lightning. After several days of adjustment, his vitality, which had been damaged by forcibly swallowing the self-destruction energy of the Sky-Patrol Shuttle, had recovered, and he had even been blessed by misfortune, his control over the power of the Silent Thunder reaching a higher level. The blue-gray luster on the Chaos Tribulation Crystal flowed endlessly, appearing increasingly deep and unpredictable.

"The storm may not necessarily be a hindrance." Lin Xuan spoke slowly, lifting his right hand, palm upward. A strand of tiny gray-purple electric arcs jumped and flickered at his fingertips, emitting a slight "crackle" sound, faintly echoing the thunder on the distant horizon. "My 'Tribulation' is inherently in harmony with the power of heaven. This storm may be used by me."

Hearing this, the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion looked sideways, his blurry face seeming to show appreciation: "Using tribulation to control thunder, using the power of heaven for one's own use... Little Friend's Dao is becoming increasingly amazing. In that case, this old man will add another fire to this storm."

He lightly flicked his sleeves, and several streams of light flew toward the sky, submerging into the clouds. Those were the "Wind and Cloud Induction" talismans specially made by the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, which could guide and gather the power of wind, thunder, and water vapor between heaven and earth in a small range, accelerating or fine-tuning the progress and range of the storm.

In the square of the mansion below, the assembled murderous aura soared into the sky.

After intensive preparation and screening, a small but elite assault team had been formed. A total of three hundred people, the lowest cultivation was Mid-Stage Golden Core, and all were experienced, tacitly cooperative, and skilled in water warfare or hard-hitting.

The core was divided into several teams:

Eunuch Wei led a hundred elites of the "Sea-Suppressing Guards," forming the "Sea-Covering Whale Wave Formation," mainly responsible for frontal assault and battlefield control.

Beichen led twenty Star Palace sword cultivators, forming the "Big Dipper Breaking Army Sword Formation," responsible for hard-hitting and law-breaking, especially dealing with potential star-type sealing barriers.

Ling Shuang led fifteen Profound Ice Pavilion cultivators, forming the "Profound Ice Heaven Net Formation," mainly responsible for field control, freezing, and purification, restraining demonic energy and sea beasts.

Yan Gang led thirty Giant Spirit Sect body cultivators and some Imperial Dynasty fierce soldiers, acting as the assault spearhead, responsible for tearing through defensive lines and close-quarters combat.

Zhao Yuan was assigned to a ten-person "Surprise Attack Team" personally designated by Lin Xuan, whose members were all cultivators proficient in concealment, escape techniques, or possessing special detection abilities. Their mission was to infiltrate from the weak point of the southeast "Dead Silence Gorge" under Zhao Yuan's guidance while the main force attracted attention, striking directly at the core of the potential formation node.

Lin Xuan himself was the "anchor" and the strongest breaker for this operation, possessing the highest freedom of action.

"Everyone!" Eunuch Wei stood on the point-general platform, his voice spreading across the square with the blessing of spiritual power. "The demonic disaster on Blood Shark Island concerns the safety of the Imperial Dynasty's eastern border and is connected to the Hanhai demonic tribulation! The traitor Xing Lan, colluding with the Demon Abyss, deserves to die! In this battle, we must destroy the demon nest, behead the mastermind, destroy the node, and raise the prestige of our Imperial Dynasty and the overseas righteous path!"

"Follow the Department Head's orders! Slay demons and defend the Dao, swear not to retreat!" Three hundred cultivators shouted in unison, the sound waves shaking the sky, and even the raindrops falling in the air were shaken away.

"Set off!"

There was no grand ceremony, no deafening drums and music. Three hundred escape lights of various colors, like arrows leaving the bow, quietly left Linhai City and submerged into the increasingly gloomy, lightning-flashing sea and sky ahead. Several camouflaged, high-speed small and medium-sized warships and Sky-Patrol Shuttles followed closely behind as support and backup.

Under Lin Xuan's guidance, the team cleverly used the gradually violent waves and the increasingly dense thunder-storm areas to advance. Lin Xuan's body was permeated with a layer of invisible Chaos Tribulation Power field, not only covering most of the team's aura and spiritual energy fluctuations but also connecting, absorbing, and transforming the surrounding violent thunder power into energy to maintain the Tribulation Power field and supplement his own consumption. This made them even more concealed in such harsh natural phenomena, and their speed was not significantly affected.

The cultivators of the three overseas sects, especially Beichen and Ling Shuang, felt the "affinity" and "control" of that strange force field over thunder and storms, and their evaluation of Lin Xuan was raised again. This kind of means of "harmony between man and nature," turning natural disasters into help, had already touched upon some high-level application of laws.

Several hours later, the ferocious outline of Blood Shark Island finally appeared in the churning giant waves and misty rain curtain.

The island resembled a giant shark waiting to devour people, with jagged black reefs forming its sharp dorsal fin and fangs. Vegetation on the island was sparse, mostly strange trees that were salt-alkali tolerant and distorted in shape. At this moment, the entire island was shrouded in a layer of thick, pitch-black demonic energy mixed with dim starlight. Within the demonic energy, countless formation runes could be vaguely seen flickering, and there were teams of patrol squads riding strange sea beasts or flying demonic weapons swimming at the edge of the demonic energy. In the southeast direction of the island, the color of the demonic energy was significantly deeper and darker, and the flow was not smooth, forming a relatively "thin" but filled with dead silence and decay area, which was the "Dead Silence Gorge" in the intelligence.

Across dozens of miles, everyone could feel the evil, chaos, and a strange aura mixed with decay and madness after the star collapsed soaring from the island.

"Sure enough, the demonic flames are soaring." Beichen's expression was grave, the Seven-Star Sword in his hand already emitting a clear sword hum. "The outer formations of the island are heavy, and there is Star Evil demonic energy interference, making a frontal assault difficult."

"Act according to the plan." Lin Xuan's voice was calm but carried unquestionable decisiveness. "Eunuch Wei, you lead the 'Sea-Suppressing Guards' and Elder Yan Gang's troops to feign an attack from the west, attracting the main force of the defenders and creating chaos. Elder Beichen, Elder Ling Shuang, you two lead your troops to follow closely behind, seizing the opportunity to break through the weak points of the outer formations. Zhao Yuan, you take the 'Surprise Attack Team' and follow me."

The orders were issued, and each part acted separately.

The main force led by Eunuch Wei and Yan Gang erupted with powerful spiritual energy fluctuations without concealment, the warships raised the Imperial Dynasty's battle flags, drums and sails billowing, like a sharp sword stabbing directly at the most heavily defended port area on the west side of Blood Shark Island! The Sea-Covering Whale Wave Formation kicked up monstrous waves, and Yan Gang roared, turning into a giant, wielding his twin hammers, like a god of war, smashing first into the demonic energy barrier on the outer edge of the island!

"Enemy attack—! It's the Imperial Dynasty's Sea-Suppressing Guards and overseas cultivators!" The alarms on Blood Shark Island were instantly raised to the highest level, ear-piercing conch sounds and the roars of demonic creatures sounding together. On the west side of the island, demonic energy rolled, formation lights shone brightly, and countless demonized sea beasts and Blood Shark Pirate cultivators swarmed out, meeting the incoming team, and the battle broke out instantly!

Taking advantage of the war on the west side attracting most of the attention, Lin Xuan took Zhao Yuan and the other ten people, restraining all their auras, like shadows merging into the sea and sky background, using the waves and the increasingly dense thunder-storms as cover, silently circling toward the southeast of the island.

The closer they got to the "Dead Silence Gorge," the heavier the aura of decay and dead silence became. The seawater here presented a strange dark gray, calm and waveless, as if it had lost its vitality. The cliffs were steep, the strange rocks jagged, and not a blade of grass grew, with only some strange phosphorescent moss-like organisms attached to them. The demonic energy here became thin and chaotic, as if repelled or neutralized by some invisible force, but in its place was a more uncomfortable "Star Evil" and "Death Intent" that seemed to corrode the soul's origin.

The broken "Silent Shadow" sword in Zhao Yuan's hand emitted a slight hum at this moment, the dark gold pattern on the sword body suddenly lighting up, transmitting a clear guidance and... desire. It seemed to have sensed something in the depths of the "Dead Silence Gorge" that was of the same source or could complete itself.

"Senior, the sword spirit's resonance is strong, pointing to the depths of the gorge, to the lower left, about three hundred zhang away, where there seems to be a naturally formed rock cave, the aura is completely different from the outside, the death intent is the strongest, but also the 'purest'." Zhao Yuan transmitted his voice in a low tone, sweat on his forehead, clearly maintaining this high-intensity resonance was a great burden for him.

Lin Xuan nodded, his Chaos Tribulation Power like the most sensitive tentacles, having already scanned the area ahead in detail. He also discovered the rock cave, the entrance of which was covered by distorted rocks and thick gray-black dead silence energy that could not be melted. If it weren't for the guidance of the "Silent Shadow" sword, it would be extremely difficult to discover. The aura coming from the cave was indeed more extreme, but also closer to some kind of "origin." That place might be a natural vent for "Star Evil," or the core of the "Dao injury" caused when the star fell that year.

"That's the place. Restrain your aura and follow." Lin Xuan turned into a blurry gray shadow first, sticking to the steep, slippery cliff wall emitting an ominous aura, sliding silently toward the cave entrance. Zhao Yuan and the others followed closely, all exerting their concealment skills to the limit.

The cave entrance was not large, only allowing two or three people to walk side by side. As soon as they entered, an extreme cold, dead silence energy that seemed to freeze the soul rushed toward them. The cave walls were not rock, but a strange crystal emitting dim starlight, yet covered in cracks and traces of decay, which were star fragments or derivatives eroded by Star Evil for years!

The passage wound downward, bottomless. The deeper they went, the thicker the dead silence energy became, and even the operation of spiritual energy began to become sluggish. But the hum of the "Silent Shadow" sword became clearer and more excited, and Zhao Yuan could even feel that the sleeping spirituality within the sword body was greedily absorbing the pure "dead silence" and "decay" intent in the environment, and the dark gold pattern spread at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After traveling about a thousand zhang underground, the passage suddenly opened up, and a giant underground karst cave appeared before their eyes.

In the center of the karst cave was not the demon formation or demon nest they had expected, but a black "water pool" as smooth as a mirror, covering an area of over a hundred zhang. But this "water pool" was not water, but dark gray "Star Evil Dead Energy" that was thick like liquid and slowly flowing! In the center of the dead energy pool grew a strange plant—it had no leaves or flowers, only a straight, gray-white stalk about the height of a person, with a fist-sized "fruit" constantly flickering with dim starlight at the top. Every time the fruit flickered, it caused the dead silence energy of the entire karst cave to ripple slightly, emitting a Dao rhyme of "ending" and "returning to silence."

"This is... 'Silent Star Fruit'?!" An old cultivator in the team who was well-informed couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, his voice trembling. "A heaven and earth treasure that only has a tiny chance of gestating after ten thousand years in the ancient star graveyard where Star Evil dead energy gathers! It contains the purest 'Silent' Star Evil origin, and is a supreme treasure for cultivators who practice death, ending, and destruction-type arts, but it is also a deadly poison; ordinary cultivators will die upon touching it!"

Everyone's gaze was hot for a moment, then calmed down. This place was strange, and clearly not their final target.

Lin Xuan's gaze, however, passed over the "Silent Star Fruit" and the dead energy pool, landing on a cave wall deep in the karst cave where the dead energy was thickest and almost condensed into substance. There, an extremely ancient and incomplete sword mark could be vaguely seen! The sword mark was deeply embedded in the cave wall, its edges as smooth as a mirror, and even after endless years, it still emitted a terrifying sword intent that cut off everything and made all things return to silence! This sword intent was faintly resonating with the aura emitted by the broken "Silent Shadow" sword at this moment!

"So that's it..." Lin Xuan realized. "This place is not only a Star Evil vent, but also a place where an ancient mighty figure who practiced the 'Silent' sword Dao perished together with a fallen star (or its fragments), and the final sword intent merged with the Star Evil dead energy to form this unique 'Dead Silence Sword Domain.' The 'Silent Shadow' sword is likely deeply related to that ancient sword cultivator."

Zhao Yuan was trembling all over with excitement at this moment, and the "Silent Shadow" in his hand seemed to want to fly out of his hand and rush toward the sword mark. "Senior... the sword spirit... it craves that sword mark..."

"Go. This is your opportunity, and also the key to the restoration of this sword's sharpness." Lin Xuan nodded. "We will guard for you here. Hurry, although the dead energy here can shield ordinary detection, it may not be able to completely hide from the perception of 'Shadow Erosion'."

Zhao Yuan nodded heavily, no longer hesitating, holding the "Silent Shadow," and walked toward the cave wall step by step. As he approached, the hum of the "Silent Shadow" was like a dragon's roar, and the dark gold pattern shone brightly! When he finally stood still in front of the ancient sword mark, the broken sword automatically broke free from his hand, and with a "clang," the sword tip precisely pierced into the very center of the sword mark!

"Hum—!!!"

In an instant, the dead silence energy of the entire karst cave surged wildly, gathering toward the "Silent Shadow" sword and the sword mark! The dark gold light and the gray-white dead silence sword intent intertwined and merged! The ancient sword mark seemed to be activated, and countless tiny sword intent runes flowed out from it, merging into the "Silent Shadow" sword body! The cracks on the sword body healed and disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye in the light! The aura it emitted climbed step by step, and a sharpness and silence that truly belonged to an ancient divine weapon slowly awakened!

Zhao Yuan sat cross-legged, closed his eyes and concentrated, fully guiding this vast sword intent inheritance and merging it with his own Dao foundation. His aura also began to undergo earth-shaking changes.

Just at the critical moment when Zhao Yuan was receiving the inheritance.

Outside the karst cave, in the core of Blood Shark Island, in the deepest part of the demonic energy.

Xing Lan, who was sitting by the ancient altar, opened his eyes abruptly, starlight and demonic energy interlaced in his eyes, and he looked toward the southeast, his expression changing drastically: "Not good! Someone touched the inheritance seal of the 'Dead Silence Sword Domain'! It's that broken sword! Damn it, how did they find that place?!"

Shadow Erosion, whose demonic energy was rolling beside him, also let out a low roar: "The sword domain inheritance has been triggered, which will briefly disturb the balance of the entire 'Star Evil Graveyard' and accelerate the node activation process, but it may also expose the precise location of the node core! Xing Lan, immediately activate the 'Star Derivation Luo Pan' to interfere with it with all your might, and at the same time mobilize elites to go to the Dead Silence Gorge, kill the intruders, and seize the inheritance! You must not let that sword fully recover!"

"Yes!" Xing Lan gritted his teeth, grabbed the Star Derivation Luo Pan beside him which was much dimmer, and injected magic power frantically. At the same time, he issued orders to his confidants and demonic creatures on the island through a special communication method.

On Blood Shark Island, the defensive forces that had originally been attracted by the main battlefield on the west side immediately split off an elite force, like a black torrent, rushing toward the southeast Dead Silence Gorge! Among them were several powerful demonic shadows whose auras were comparable to the late Soul Formation stage!

Almost at the same time as the demonic creatures on the island moved.

Lin Xuan felt something, looked up at the top of the karst cave, as if piercing through the thick rock layer, and saw the murderous intent rapidly approaching from the outside.

"It seems we've been discovered." He said calmly, turning to look at Zhao Yuan who was receiving the inheritance and had reached the most critical moment, and the other nine surprise attack team members who were waiting in full battle array. "Guard this place and buy time for Zhao Yuan. Leave the outside to me."

As the words fell, he stepped out, and his figure had already disappeared from the karst cave.

The next moment, under the gloomy sky of the Dead Silence Gorge, Lin Xuan's figure appeared out of thin air above the gorge entrance.

Ahead, demonic energy rolled, and nearly a hundred fierce Blood Shark Pirate elites and demonized cultivators, led by several Soul Formation demon generals, had already arrived! Further away, more black shadows were gathering.

Lin Xuan stood alone, blocking the path of this murderous team.

He slowly lifted his hands, palms toward the sky.

Above his head, the sea storm that had been guided by the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion and had been brewing to the extreme, at this moment seemed to have found an outlet for venting, and endless black clouds swarmed and swirled toward the sky above the Dead Silence Gorge, forming a giant, lightning-flashing vortex!

"Chaos Tribulation Dao..." Lin Xuan's voice, like a thunderous decree from the nine heavens, resounded through the entire gorge, suppressing the roars of demonic creatures and the roar of the storm. "... Thunder Prison form."

"Boom—!!!"

The firmament cracked! Billions of dark purple lightning bolts, as if having received the order of a monarch, crashed down from the center of the vortex! However, these lightning bolts did not directly attack the demonic creatures below, but under the guidance and transformation of Lin Xuan's gray-purple Chaos Tribulation Power, they intertwined, entangled, and constructed!

In just an instant, a terrifying "Thunder Prison" completely condensed from violent thunder and Chaos Tribulation Power, covering a range of several miles, was formed at the entrance of the Dead Silence Gorge!

In the prison, thick thunder dragons roared and rolled, and dense electric snakes shuttled and swam, each lightning bolt containing the dual tribulation power of silence and returning to ruins! The color of the lightning also gradually dyed a layer of gray-misty luster representing chaos and ending from dark purple!

Lin Xuan stood in the center of the Thunder Prison, his hair dancing wildly, his robes hunting, thunder light jumping around his body, like a Chaos Thunder God in charge of heavenly punishment and acting on behalf of heaven to carry out the tribulation! His cold eyes, through the heavy thunder light, locked onto the demonic creatures and cultivators below who had stopped in horror.

"This road, is blocked."