62: Chapter 62 The Sword Talisman Unleashes Its Power, Countdown to Natural Disaster Begins

When that single sigh fell, the entire night sky seemed to fall silent for a moment.

It was not that the sea beasts stopped roaring.

It was not that the spirit boat stopped exploding.

Rather, it was as if all sound had been forcibly shaved away by something.

The next moment, the small white jade sword in Lu Changyuan's palm shattered silently.

There was no thunder.

There was no loud noise.

There was only a thin line of frost-white sword light rising from his fingertips.

That sword light was initially only an inch long, like a wisp of cold silk illuminated by the moonlight.

But the moment it left his hand, it grew rapidly in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a snow-white, fine line that spanned the long sky.

Thin.

As thin as a single hair.

Yet, it was precisely this "hair" that sliced the entire night sky open.

The sinister smile on that Golden Core Devil Head's face froze for the first time.

He clearly sensed that something was wrong; his bone bead was instinctively pushed to its limit, and massive layers of Devilish Qi rolled up, attempting to block the space between himself and Lu Qingyao.

But it was useless.

When that line of sword light fell, everything—the Devilish Qi, the bone claws, the False Core Abyssal Beast—was like paper.

It wasn't smashed.

It wasn't blown to pieces.

It was sliced open.

Cleanly.

So cleanly that it was almost cruel.

The first to be severed was that giant bone claw.

The five pitch-black bone fingers slid off without a moment's pause, the cross-section as smooth as a mirror.

Immediately following was the bone bead, churning with Devilish Qi like a polluted sea.

The moment the bead touched the sword light, it split silently into two halves.

The Devilish Qi accumulated inside didn't even have time to explode before it was shredded into nothingness by that higher-level Geng Metal Sword Intent.

Only then was it the turn of the Golden Core Devil Head himself.

He was still maintaining his forward-lunging, pressing posture.

Yet, from his brow to his abdomen, a thin white line had quietly appeared.

He looked down, as if he had finally understood something, and unspeakable horror instantly welled up in his eyes.

"This is impossible..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he and the Devilish Qi surrounding him split neatly into two halves.

Not a drop of blood had time to spray out.

Because the next instant, the two halves of his corpse were shredded into a sky full of gray dust by the sweeping Sword Intent.

The two False Core Abyssal Beasts met an even more miserable end.

The Armored Sea Lizard was first sliced into a line from head to tail; before its massive body could fall into the sea, it disintegrated inch by inch in mid-air.

The Ghost-Faced Ray King didn't even have time to let out a scream; its fleshy wings, spine, internal organs, and demon core were all sliced open by this one sword strike.

Its entire body, like a piece of black hide that had frozen, cracked, and then been shattered by the wind, drifted down into the sea in a flurry.

The entire battlefield fell into a momentary deathly silence.

Within a radius of a thousand zhang, the surging Devilish Qi and black tide had been swept clean by this one sword strike.

Even the surface of the sea had been cut into a long, blank strip.

In that strip, there was no blood, no waves, no corpse parts—nothing.

There was only a layer of frost slowly rising.

Lu Hu's mouth hung open as he watched.

"Master..."

"Is... is this even a sword?"

Lu Changyuan did not reply.

He simply looked down at his empty palm.

The jade sword had shattered.

Out of three full-power strikes, one was now gone.

But this sword strike was worth it.

High in the sky, Lu Qingyao finally steadied her falling figure.

She swallowed the blood in her mouth, looked up sharply, and gazed toward the source of the sword light.

In the night, Lu Changyuan stood behind a ruined wall, his robes flapping in the sea breeze, yet there was no extra expression on his face.

It was as if he had merely done something that should have been done long ago.

But the more this was the case, the more it chilled one's heart.

Having lived for so many years, Lu Qingyao naturally knew what this meant.

Something capable of slicing a Golden Core Devil Head, along with two False Core Abyssal Beasts, a Demonic Path treasure, and a thousand zhang of Devilish Qi clean away, could not be the means of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Nor could it be some ordinary life-saving talisman bestowed by an elder.

This was a phenomenon only seen above the Golden Core stage.

At least, that was how it appeared to her.

Thinking of how she had previously lectured this kid with the air of an elder, telling him "don't seek death," Lu Qingyao felt an indescribable sense of awkwardness.

But awkwardness was one thing.

Her actions, however, were not slow in the slightest.

"All troops, counter-press!"

"While their formation is in chaos, press them to death!"

As the order was issued, the Cultivators on the city walls and the spirit boats seemed to suddenly snap out of their daze.

The army's morale, which had been on the verge of collapsing, was instantly and forcibly pulled back by this one sword strike.

"Kill!"

"Push back the tide!"

"That Devil Head is dead!"

For a time, spirit cannons, heavy crossbows, talisman fire, and the flowing light of Magical Artifacts lit up the night sky once again.

Those demonized sea beasts had only been forced forward to throw their lives away.

Now, without that true thread behind them, and having been pierced by Lu Qingyao's spear as she turned back into the tide, the entire Outer Sea front line fell into chaos.

Half an hour later, this sudden night raid was finally completely pushed back.

The sea surface was covered in floating corpses and shattered armor.

The water in the Outer Port had been stained black.

By the time the last military spirit boat withdrew its formation and returned to the port, the eastern horizon was already showing a faint white.

Lu Changyuan and Lu Hu did not go to join the commotion at the front.

They waited until the military government personally sent an invitation before he re-entered the inner city.

This time, Lu Qingyao was not waiting while sitting in the high pavilion.

She stood under the veranda.

Her black-gold battle armor was still stained with wet blood, and her right shoulder guard was split with a long gash; clearly, she had suffered no small loss in that previous battle.

But when she looked at Lu Changyuan, her eyes were completely different from last night.

There was still the assessment of an elder looking at a Junior.

But more than that, it was the solemnity that came after weighing someone's worth.

There was even a trace of respect that she herself could not fully hide.

"Was this sword strike given to you by Luo Qingcheng?"

Lu Changyuan did not play dumb; he nodded and said, "Yes."

"This Junior saved her life, and she owes me three sword strikes."

"This was the first strike."

Lu Qingyao was silent for a few breaths before slowly letting out a sigh.

"What a 'three sword strikes owed'."

"That woman from the Heavenly Star Sect can at least be said to not have wasted the life she owes you."

After saying this, she actually took the initiative to raise her hand and pat Lu Changyuan on the shoulder.

The movement was light.

But it was enough to explain her attitude.

"If not for your strike last night, even if I hadn't died, I would have been crippled for the most part."

"I will remember this favor."

Lu Changyuan cupped his hands: "Ninth Great Aunt, you are too kind; this Junior was merely protecting himself."

Lu Qingyao glanced at him, and a very faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"You know how to speak."

"And you know how to act."

"No wonder you've been able to stir up such a commotion on the edge of the Star Sea."

She did not continue to dwell on this matter and turned to walk into the inner hall.

"Come here."

"I've kept a portion of the things from that Devil Head last night for you."

Entering the inner hall, several items were already placed on the table.

The most striking among them was a pitch-black Storage Pouch and a gray Jade Slip that was split in half.

The Storage Pouch went without saying.

What truly made Lu Changyuan narrow his eyes was that Jade Slip.

Lu Qingyao saw his reaction and said coldly: "This Devil Head had a stubborn mouth, and his Divine Soul was dirty; there was nothing worth searching."

"What's truly useful is actually this remnant slip in his pouch that was left for reporting to his superiors."

"I've already stripped away one layer of the Restriction; take a look yourself."

Lu Changyuan reached out to take the Jade Slip and probed it with his Divine Sense.

The next moment, the light in his eyes turned cold.

This was not an ordinary military report.

It was a short, secret order mixed with mobilization markers and route ciphers.

The content was not long.

But it was fatal enough.

The seals on three sea trenches in the Eastern Outer Sea have loosened.

The vassal sea clans are being driven toward the near-shore line.

And the true tide is not here yet.

It is in three months.

At that time, the first wave of the Abyss Demon tide will press up along several old cracks in the Outer Sea, first swallowing the island chain, then the immortal cities, and then forcing all factions and the Zhenhai Army to be dragged into the front-line slaughter.

The strike on Xingyan last night was merely a feint used to distract attention and test the thickness of the city's defenses.

Lu Hu stood on the side; even though he couldn't see the content of the Jade Slip, he guessed a few things from Lu Changyuan's suddenly sinking expression.

"Master, what is written inside?"

Lu Changyuan closed the Jade Slip and slowly said: "Three months."

"What three months?"

"In three months, the true Abyss Demon tide will press up."

"The wave last night was just a vanguard used to test the path."

The hall fell silent.

Lu Qingyao's gaze was cold and stern.

"I originally only dared to guess in the worst direction."

"Now it has been confirmed."

She looked at Lu Changyuan, her tone rare in its seriousness.

"You saved my life last night, and this morning you helped me confirm this lead."

"I won't stop you from making a fortune."

"But if you really want to survive and lead Blue Moon Island through this, don't treat these three months as ordinary battle preparations."

"From now on, whatever you can eat, whatever you can hoard, whatever can replenish life, whatever can resist the demons—grab as much as you can."

Lu Changyuan nodded.

"This Junior was already planning to do just that."

Lu Qingyao stared at him for a moment, as if she had finally completely let go of that last layer of suspicion.

"Good."

"Then I will open another opening for you."

"From today until you leave Xingyan, I will have people give you clearance for the military government's sealed treasury, the Outer Port tax treasury, and the three major military supply firms."

"Whatever you want to buy, just buy it."

"Don't be polite with me."

Upon hearing this, a trace of true sharpness finally appeared in Lu Changyuan's eyes.

This was the sentence he had been waiting for.

Three months.

To others, it sounded like a deadline of death.

But to him, this was a blade that could scrape the entire Outer Sea's inventory clean.

He put away the Jade Slip, looked up at the churning dark clouds outside the hall, and finally, a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Three months..."

"Enough."