Stranger Danger

Chu Xunxian made a pulling motion and shook the Natural Five Phases Flags, causing them to emit even more profound light. The pouring thunder rapidly weakened under its effects until it all dissolved into chaos.

“Incredible! What an incredible Strange Artifact!”

The Eastern Sea Dragon King did not look angry despite the failure of his first strike. In fact, he looked very delighted. “I’ll be claiming the Natural Five Phases Flags for myself!”

“Come get it if you can!” Chu Xunxian replied indifferently.

“I most certainly will, hahaha…”

The Eastern Sea Dragon King laughed wildly as his massive draconic body twisted and stirred up tens of thousands of kilometers of sea water. It was crawling with thunder as well, the thunder was boosting the sea waves and vice versa. An ocean of lightning was literally descending from the sky as the Eastern Sea Dragon King swooped down to crush Chu Xunxian.

Chu Xunxian remained calm and waved the Natural Five Phases Flags again, causing them to rapidly grow in numbers until countless golden lotuses were stacked on top of one another. At the same time, the World of Five Regions took form.

The flags made a rolling motion, and both the ocean of lightning and the Eastern Sea Dragon King suddenly vanished into thin air. Chu Xunxian then put his hand over the Natural Five Phases Flags and declared, “Nether End Army, attention! The Eastern Sea Dragon Palace intends to betray the human race. In the name of the emperor, slay the traitors to the last!”

Whoosh!

On the warships, every Nether End Army soldier lifted their spears. Their movement was soundless, but their killing intent shot into the sky and resummoned a howling black tiger. The wind and clouds began to blow violently.

The next moment, a profound light flashed from the warships, and every warship carrying the Nether End Army pounced into the sea like actual serpents or dragons. They cut through the wind and waves like nothing and annihilated any aquatic person or Stranger unfortunate enough to stand in their way.

This was just the beginning. The soldiers—a dark light surrounding their whole body—proceeded to race down the warships and attack the aquatic people and Strangers like vicious tigers or dragons. Not only were they not impeded by the waters, they were actually faster and stronger than they were on land. They absolutely trounced their foes and met almost no resistance whatsoever.

Although the Natural Five Phases Flags’ profound light had killed or injured the large majority of aquatic people and Strangers within a radius of several hundred kilometers, this was the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. The dragons had had centuries to operate in these waters, and the number of aquatic people and Strangers in this sea region easily exceeded ten million. Therefore, even though the Natural Five Phases Flags had slain ten million of them in one strike, the remnants still outnumbered the Nether End Army several times to one. On top of that, the large majority of the survivors of the five-colored profound light were elites of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace and boasted immense power.

Despite this, they were powerless before the Nether End Army. They split into battalions of five hundred and formed the Dragon Flying Formation. With the warships acting as the core of their formation, they advanced, retreated, and supported each other perfectly to separate, surround, and annihilate the remnants of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace.

If they ran into a particularly powerful Stranger or a troop of elite soldiers, several battalions would merge into one and form a military formation. Then, they would surround, suppress, and annihilate the enemy soldiers to the last.

Even on an individual scale, the soldiers of the Nether End Army were far beyond your ordinary human. For one, they did not seem to possess any sense of pain at all. They did not bat an eyelid even if an enemy were to stab them in the torso or cut off their limbs. They fought with complete fearlessness toward death.

This was why the aquatic races and the Strangers were being routed like livestocks under assault by a horde of tigers even though they outnumbered the Nether End Army several times to one.

In just a matter of breaths, countless aquatic people and Strangers had perished, and their blood turned the entire ocean red.

Rumble… rumble…

Suddenly, they heard a series of strange rumblings from somewhere. The Natural Five Phases Flags were shaking, and the five-colored profound light they emitted were flickering erratically as well.

Clearly, the trapped Eastern Sea Dragon King was attempting to break out of the flags.

“Chu Mingfeng, Su Bancheng, Chen Wuji, Chu Wangsun, assist the Nether End Army in annihilating the enemies, but make sure you don’t get greedy and stay on your guard at all times.”

Chu Xunxian did not dare to take the Eastern Sea Dragon King lightly. After giving the four Chu geniuses their orders, he looked at Guo Ximian and asked smilingly, “Dare you slay this old loach with me, Duke?”

“Hahaha! Why wouldn’t I dare?”

Guo Ximian was still laughing when he walked into the sky. Every time he took a step, his body would grow taller and bigger, his bloody aura would grow thicker, and the killing intent permeating the air would deepen. �

Just three steps later, Guo Ximian had become a thirty-meter-tall giant of a human. Smelly blood was circulating throughout his body, and countless bones sat beneath his feet. His killing intent was such that even the sky had turned red.

The next moment, the white bones transformed into a set of armor and attached themselves to his body, the scarlet blood turned into a cloak and floated behind his back, and the killing intent turned into a long saber that rested in his palm.

“Hahaha… eat my saber, old loach!”

Laughing, Guo Ximian brought his saber down and split heaven and earth into two.

Inside the Natural Five Phases Flags, the Eastern Sea Dragon King was still trying to break out when the slash sent him flying and spilled copious amounts of dragon blood.

“Your saber is as sharp as ever, Duke.”

Chu Xunxian chuckled as he unleashed a palm strike. At the same time, the five-colored profound light transformed into a gigantic palm that slapped the Eastern Sea Dragon King away like a fly before he could slip through the crack created by Guo Ximian’s slash. “Together, we will surely put this old loach to the blade.”

“But of course! Hahahaha!”

Guo Ximian laughed like a madman. “It’s just a stinky old loach! What’s there to be afraid of?”

Although the Eastern Sea Dragon King was trapped inside the flags, he could still hear their conversation. He blurted out, “A shameless boast! You have no idea about the profoundness of an Ancient!”

“So? It’s not like I’ve never killed an Ancient before.”

Chu Xunxian chuckled and slipped into the Natural Five Phases Flag himself. “Today, I shall add another to my tally.”

The profound lights mingled, and a white light blinded the sky. Both Chu Xunxian and Guo Ximian disappeared in the light.

The war on the sea was still ongoing though. And it would not end until one side was completely destroyed.

……

“Phew… I had no idea that the Natural Five Phases Flags are this powerful!”

On a small boat, Ye Qing was staring at the light-filled sky and feeling the terrifying energies emanating from within. He patted his chest with trepidation and remarked, “Thank goodness we were far enough from the battlefield. Otherwise, we would probably be dragged into this fight whether we like it or not.”

“Your foresight is as impressive as ever, Qingyou!”

Feng Qingyou replied indifferently, “I happened to hear of the power of the Natural Five Phases Flags in the past and decided to play it safe. That’s all.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” Ye Qing cast her a suspicious look. He had a feeling that Feng Qingyou wasn’t telling the truth, and this time, he had proof.

For example, she knew the origin of the Nether End Army. For example, she knew that the four nations would split their armies into four and annihilate the Four Seas Dragon Palace in one go. For example, she knew that Chu Xunxian’s group would definitely show up at the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace instead of the other three dragon palaces. So on and so forth. Somehow, it felt like Feng Qingyou knew everything. None of it, not a single thing, had escaped her predictions.

Still, he didn’t ask. He was used to it at this point.

He and Feng Qingyou hadn’t followed Chu Xunxian’s group to this place. That was just asking to be found out. After confirming the success of their plan, they had made a beeline straight for the Eastern Sea. Therefore, they had actually arrived sooner than Chu Xunxian’s group.

After arriving at the Eastern Sea, Ye Qing heeded Feng Qingyou’s advice—specifically, she claimed that Chu Xunxian possessed a powerful Ancient-class Strange Artifact called the Natural Five Phases Flags, and that it boasted the ability to seal a vast range of space and immense destructive power—and parked their boat at least a thousand kilometers away from the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. Neither he nor her wanted to get caught after all.

Not too long after that, they saw with their own eyes the Natural Five Phases Flags sealing the entire sea region and killing countless aquatic people and Strangers with the five-colored profound light. It was terrifying to say the least.

Thank goodness they were out of range, or they would’ve been lucky to survive with moderate to severe injuries. Chu Xunxian would almost certainly discover them as well.

“The Natural Five Phases Flags are strong, and Chu Xunxian is no slouch either. It’s a shame though!” Suddenly, Ye Qing let out a sigh.

“It is a shame!” Feng Qingyou nodded in agreement.