"Why isn’t he back yet?" Mrs. Yun muttered with a touch of unease, standing atop the city wall.

"Don’t you worry. A guy like him is hard to kill," Li Fayi said dismissively.

More than half a day had passed since Su Ze chased the Tier Five Coral Insect into the sea, and he hadn’t been heard from since. Mrs. Yun couldn’t help but grow anxious.

The Dongli Saint Envoy at their side stroked his beard. "He should be fine. Haven’t you all noticed? Since he entered the sea, the number of beasts making landfall has dropped significantly."

"That’s true." Li Fayi gazed toward the beach of the neighboring Luofan Country, where the battle was still raging.

In contrast, here in Dongli, Su Ze had first transformed into a flood to wipe out a wave of monsters, which had already greatly reduced the pressure on the Dongli soldiers. And after he went into the sea, the number of beasts landing on the Dongli beach had also fallen significantly.

This was because Su Ze had departed from Dongli’s waters and carved a path of destruction as he went. As a result, many of the beasts originally heading toward Dongli were slaughtered by him along the way.

Now, the scattered small fry landing on the Dongli Coast weren’t even enough to keep the soldiers busy.

The Dongli soldiers had already recaptured the first line of defense.

The few Dongli Guardian Gods were also able to finally relax and take a breather.

As for the Tier Five beast, the Seven-Colored Conch, which had been locked in a fierce battle with the Dongli Saint Envoy, it too found an opportunity to slip away after the Tier Five Coral Insect fled.

The soldiers from the neighboring Luofan Country glanced over at Dongli from time to time, green with envy.

They were being swarmed by beasts, while the Dongli soldiers were the ones swarming the beasts. How could the disparity be so huge?

However, they no longer dared to pull the same tricks as before and drive beasts toward Dongli. This was mainly because Luofan had recently lost two of its Overlords, greatly diminishing its strength. Dongli, on the other hand, had seen several new Overlords emerge in succession and was gaining momentum. They had no choice but to be more restrained.

Mr. Ya fiddled with the Spirit Communication Phone. After confirming he couldn’t contact Su Ze, he realized Su Ze must have gone out of communication range.

Su Ze always carried the Amida head, which served as the communication base station. The communication range was therefore centered on him, covering an area roughly the size of half a city.

Since the phone couldn’t receive the base station’s signal, it meant Su Ze was already quite far away.

"If there’s no other choice, I’ll go look for him," Mr. Ya said, also growing concerned.

"Let’s wait a little longer," Mrs. Yun urged after a moment’s thought. Heading into the sea amidst a beast tide was still dangerous.

...

At that moment, Su Ze had just finished absorbing the Bloodline Crystal. He tried out "Space Jump" a few times and, combined with the inherited memories from the crystal, quickly became proficient with the skill.

After stomping a beast to death, he once again used "Liquid Life," transforming his body into a current of water and continuing toward the source of the beast tide.

The farther he went, the denser the beast tide became, until his entire field of vision was a teeming mass of beasts.

He knew he had to be very close to the source of the beast tide.

To be on the safe side, he didn’t press on recklessly. Instead, he slowly ascended, rising to just below the surface.

There were relatively few beasts here, making it a bit safer.

Then, he activated his "Eye of Truth" and spread his Perception Tentacles toward the ocean floor, exploring everything below as he searched for the source of the beast tide.

He soon discovered an interesting phenomenon: Marine Beasts from all directions were constantly converging on a single point, as if assembling there.

At the same time, an endless stream of beasts emerged from that point and swam straight toward the Lin Hua Continent, forming the spectacular beast tide.

The source of the beast tide was located within a deep, dark ocean trench.

’What exactly is in that trench? Why are all the Marine Beasts gathering there?’

’And why do they head straight for the Lin Hua Continent to attack human cities after they emerge?’

Su Ze’s Perception Tentacles quickly descended, delving deep into the ocean trench.

Fortunately, the trench wasn’t excessively deep, and his tentacles soon reached the bottom. Down below, countless Marine Beasts faced a single direction as if on a pilgrimage. Although Su Ze couldn’t understand the language of beasts, he could see their reverence, as if they were having an audience with a god.

After a moment, however, the beasts seemed to receive a divine directive. Their auras surged, and they became like warriors brimming with fighting spirit.

They each swallowed a mouthful of the silt beneath them, then turned, swam out of the trench, and headed directly for the Lin Hua Continent.

Immediately after, a new batch of beasts would enter the trench...

’Eating mud?’

Su Ze found the beasts’ final act of swallowing the silt difficult to comprehend.

’Is this some traditional Marine Beast custom?’

He carefully used his Perception Tentacles to explore the silt at the bottom of the trench and, to his surprise, discovered fine flecks of golden dust within it!

From that golden dust, Su Ze sensed a familiar energy—the golden energy!

’So that’s it...’ Su Ze instantly understood why he was able to extract golden energy from the bodies of the beasts he had killed.

’It’s because they swallow a mouthful of this silt before setting out to battle.’

From everything he was witnessing, Su Ze could already deduce a great deal of information.

’It looks like a higher-level beast is ordering them to attack the Lin Hua Continent...’ This didn’t particularly surprise Su Ze. After all, the intel he’d received had always mentioned that a new king had been born among the beasts. The one who launched the beast tide was likely that very "new king."

’In that case, the new king must be hiding beneath this trench, and all these beasts are here for an audience with it.

’And the silt containing golden energy is the king’s reward to all the beasts who come for an audience?’

Su Ze hesitated, wondering if he should extend his Perception Tentacles forward to catch a glimpse of this new king’s magnificent form.