‘This is…’

Zhang Dong looked at his map, there he could see a reddish tint that looked like fog. It was an indicator that something that didn’t belong to this Empire was coming. They were coming from the dead sea filled with monsters that he had to pass to get here. The water elements were out of order and when floating out to get a better look he could see a massive tidal wave coming.

‘Of all the times…’

There was a problem here, the master of this area was now dead. His nascent divinity made its way into his seed and was already nourishing it. The protective formation that he overloaded to keep the other masters here had also been damaged. These people didn’t have the know-how or resources to establish it again.

‘Can these fish people even come on land… those sea creatures didn’t seem to like the sun too much.’

He felt a bit responsible for what was awaiting the city residents that didn’t have anything to do with the Onyx Moon Sect. If the deep sea creatures were able to climb on land they would certainly destroy the coastline. The demonic sect members would probably abandon the people living here and prioritize themselves. They would surely give up their land if it meant survival.

‘This might also be a good chance to see what these fish people can really do…’

While floating in the air he looked at the terrified citizens. The tsunami wave was foreshadowed by a large dark storm that blocked out the sun. Some of the cultivators were already starting to flee while others were waiting for his move. Zhang Dong in their eyes was the new Patriarch, they didn’t know what he would do if they just fled without receiving an order.

For the time being, he decided to stay, he could just not let these many people die while he was here. Even though the people living here were brought up with a certain lack of morals that wasn’t their fault. They were mostly victims of their environment and were trying to survive. The young kids that were still not corrupted by this demonic island still deserved a chance.

“Look out, the wave is coming, run!”

“It’s too close, we won't make it in time!”

“W-wait, what is that?”

People that were closest to the scene were panicking. Their boats that their life depended on were getting capsized. The whole pier would be instantly destroyed after the huge wave collided with it. However, a strange purple haze appeared out of nowhere. The massive wave of water collided with it but couldn’t get through.

This wave of energy started spreading to all sides while quickly halting the water from moving forward. While from the outside it looked miraculous the person performing this act was straining himself. Even though he was a pinnacle grade nascent soul master, contending with this much water wasn’t easy even for him

His Dao that concerned water was high but it was not at the level of these sea dwellers. He needed to use his newfound Dao of gravity to lessen the strain on his spiritual energy. Then slowly the force that created this wave would balance itself out. In the end, only a smaller part of the city was partially flooded with the wave not hitting as hard as it normally would.

Everyone gathered here knew who was responsible for this task. It was a very strange sight to behold as these people were not used to being saved. Already they were wondering what the cause for this act of bravery was. Did their new leader just want to show off and garner sympathy before he betrayed them? They just couldn’t see him doing it out of generosity, he probably needed the city for something and was just defending it for his own selfish reasons.

‘They really look confused…’

To Zhang Dong, this was a strange sight to behold. Normally people that he saved would have already dropped down to their knees to worship his good dead. These people on the other hand seemed to be waiting for some kind of punchline. He could only imagine the life they could have led to this point that would produce such a reaction.

“Just go back inside of your houses, there is nothing you can do here.”

His voice spread through the entire city which confused the residents even more. The way this new Patriarch acted was strange, to say the least. They all saw him floating toward the pier and he was even helping some of the people that were hit by the smaller wave. All the rubble that had anyone trapped under it started slowly floating up as if it had no weight.

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‘Hm… are they changing their tactics? Interesting… do they really need a connection to the sea or water?’

While he slowly approached the shore that was hit the most he continued to look at the map. There he could see the enemy dots going for the flooded part of the city. Previously they were hidden away by the giant wave but when it wasn’t able to flood the whole city they changed their directions. He could already feel a large number of sea creatures coming this way, some of them were already crawling out of the murky depths.

‘Giant lobsters and crabs? Is that a turtle?’

What emerged were huge versions of regular sea life. They weren’t that strong but they were many. Behind them he could also see other creatures thrashing around but unable to move forward. The ones that had the basis of fish couldn’t move forward, probably the pier wasn’t flooded enough to allow them to advance any further.

The winds picked up and the thunder above them started crackling as the wave of sea monsters flooded forward. If his previous enemies the demi-humans were a small force of elites then this was the reverse. It was a monster wave tactic that looked like a beast stampede. Luckily the monsters weren’t all that strong with only a tiny fraction achieving the sea king level that he previously encountered.

“You really shouldn’t have brought this storm over with me around…”

There was no way he could get rid of the water that was slowly rising but he could still attack the person that was causing this effect. Water was something that allow electricity to travel through and it was the same with lightning. Yet these bolts of lightning wouldn’t be able to pierce that far and only beings closer to the surface would be affected. Luckily for him quite a large amount of these beasts were just crawling out as if they owned the place.

Taking ownership of the storm wasn’t hard, while his Dao of water was below the sea dwellers the dao of air and lightning wasn’t. They could better control the rainwater inside those clouds but when it came to the winds and lightning he came out on top. With the mass of clouds above him it was easy to commence the attack and turn this whole place into a light show.

The people had already started evacuating and running so they were in no danger. The monsters on the other hand started getting bombarded by blue bolts of energy. It was as if lightning was raining down and quickly electrocuting any of the creatures that dared to venture outside the water.

Everyone covered their eyes while looking up into the sky. There within the clouds, they could see the elusive master covered in a bubble of energy. Lightning bolts were connecting with his body but he did not react. He just floated there while looking down at the beasts that were quickly becoming cooked. Even this massive number of creatures was unable to take a step into the city that this man was protecting.

‘Hm… are they retreating?’

Zhang Dong continued to observe, after the initial strategy failed the sea monsters started to retreat. The ones at the nascent soul level were pushed forward but he could feel that they weren’t at their full power. The one that he defeated earlier had quicker movements, with so much lightning energy combating the water energy their fighting power dropped.

‘Those mermaids really don’t like to come outside?’

Even when the larger sea monsters appeared their masters were still just hiding inside of the water. Did they expect to defeat him with these trash mobs that he could easily kill off with the lightning storm above? Or were they trying to make him use up his spiritual energy while defending the city?

His new friends from the Onyx Moon sect weren’t doing anything helpful though. The common residents were quickly fleeing but they were just looking out from within their sect grounds. It was clear that they weren’t honest when they were calling him the Patriarch. Only if he gave out a proper order would they probably carry it out.

“What are you all standing there for? Assist the Patriarch!”

‘Oh?’

To Zhang Dong's surprise, there were actually some of them that decided to aid him. A smaller number of core formation experts and foundation establishment practitioners jumped in. They gave him some ranged support but weren’t really able to cause long-lasting damage to the large monsters.

‘Are they trying to suck up to me?’

From an outsider's perspective, it seemed that Zhang Dong was winning. The waves of sea beasts continued to fall to the lightning strikes. What would happen to them if the scary demonic being like the one he was playing survived this onslaught? What would happen if he took out his rage on the people that didn’t even try to lift a finger. Thus after the small group of cultivators jumped in, the others weren’t far behind.

‘Their expressions certainly tell a tale…’

Zhang Dong went through a few battles with his own sect members. The members of the United Element Sect didn’t look this meek. These people were just desperately trying to fight for their life without even knowing if a victory here would mean anything. If the new Patriarch decided they could have already been dead due to hesitating in the first place.

‘Is this what Wang Long’s army will look like when we face them?’

Fighting against people that were basically forced to fight for their own lives wasn’t something that he enjoyed. The demi-humans weren’t much different as after their leader vanished they started to abandon the fight. These were the types of enemies that he and his people would need to go against.

Yet the fight needed to continue, he had already made it this far and there was no going back. Either Wang Long and his new demonic sect would come out victorious or him. The other Empires were only a diversion that he couldn’t let himself be distracted with.