185: Chapter 186 The Shock Brought by the Dragon

Above the high seas, the vast blue waves stretched as far as the eye could see, with the sea and sky merging into one. It was originally a rare, clear day.

Suddenly, the calm was completely shattered.

"Rumble—!!"

First, from the deep seabed below, came a series of muffled, thunderous roars. Even through thousands of meters of seawater, one could still feel the heart-stopping energy fluctuations.

Immediately after, the sea surface seemed to be violently churned by an invisible giant hand, and dozens of water columns, reaching up to a hundred meters high, suddenly exploded upwards! Within the water columns, multi-colored elemental lights flashed and annihilated frantically; clearly, an extremely intense energy conflict had erupted deep on the ocean floor.

That was not all. The violent explosion triggered a chain reaction, and the terrifying energy shockwave transmitted up through the seawater, instantly whipping up a small-scale yet exceptionally fierce tsunami on the surface! Giant waves, several meters high, centered on the explosion point, roared outwards in a ring, sweeping away and instantly swallowing some unfortunate seabirds and low-flying monsters passing by.

Amidst this chaotic scene where the heavens and earth seemed to change color, a snow-white, slender, and majestic figure broke through the surging waves and the yet-to-subside water columns. Carrying a sky full of crystalline water droplets, it raised its head and let out a long cry, soaring straight into the sky!

It was a dragon! A true dragon, completely different from the lizard-like giant dragons of the West, full of Eastern mystery and holiness! It was over a hundred meters long, its entire body covered in scales as pure and flawless as ice and snow, resembling the finest mutton-fat jade, flowing with a warm and noble luster under the sunlight. Its horns were prominent, its five claws sharp, and its body wound with a sense of power.

A pair of dragon eyes, clear as glazed glass yet containing endless majesty, indifferently overlooked the churning sea below. The seawater seemed to submit to its will, automatically gathering and swirling around it, transforming into rays of crystalline blue, incomparably sharp sword Aura, escorting its sacred body forward.

The divine dragon appears, roaming the nine heavens!

This scene was clearly seen by seven pairs of eyes on an invisible magical flying boat hovering in mid-air over a hundred kilometers away.

These seven people were the level 82 genius squad sent by the Black Night Alliance to enter the "demons lair" secret realm. There were three men and four women, none of them old; the oldest looked to be no more than twenty-five or twenty-six. Each was dressed in bright, clean clothing with excellent equipment, their faces carrying the unique confidence and arrogance of geniuses. To reach this level at their age and be selected for cultivation by the Black Night Alliance, they were undoubtedly the best of the American Empire's younger generation, with limitless futures. In their home country, they enjoyed the adoration of the masses and abundant privileged resources, having long ago developed an arrogant personality, looking down on everyone.

At this moment, they were gathered in front of the porthole of the flying boat, originally chatting and laughing easily, guessing how many pieces of equipment that legendary-rank secret realm could produce, and discussing tactical assignments after entering.

"Did Wells and the others take action? This is quite a commotion." A young male mage with blonde hair and blue eyes, holding a staff embedded with a huge sapphire, raised an eyebrow and looked at the abnormal energy explosion and sky-high water columns at the distant horizon where the sea met the sky.

"They probably ran into the teammates of that guy inside the secret realm and started fighting." Beside him, a warrior with a giant sword on his back and a physique as sturdy as a bear folded his arms and grinned, "Do not know which country's unlucky bastards they are, running into our Black Night Alliance—it is just their bad luck. This secret realm is ours."

"Should we contact Wells and ask about the situation?" Suggested a petite female ranger with pointed ears, suspected to have elven blood.

The person responsible for communication was a young man wearing glasses with a gentle temperament. Hearing this, he immediately took out a crystal ball and tried to establish a mental connection with Wells. However, a few seconds later, the relaxed expression on his face disappeared, replaced by a look of gravity and disbelief.

"I cannot connect... The unique mental imprint fluctuations of Wells have disappeared." The bespectacled youth's voice was somewhat dry, "It is not just Wells; the imprints of the other four seniors... I cannot sense them either."

"What?" The atmosphere inside the flying boat instantly froze. The smiles of the geniuses stiffened on their faces; they looked at each other and saw shock and suspicion in each other's eyes. A mental imprint disappearing usually had only two possibilities: either the other party voluntarily cut off the connection and fled, or the person was dead, their soul scattered. In the current situation, the latter was clearly much more likely.

"Could it be... Wells and the others..." The petite female ranger covered her mouth, a trace of panic flashing in her eyes.

"Impossible!" The sturdy warrior growled, but his voice carried uncertainty, "Wells is an SS-rank mage, and with four other seniors assisting, they have numerous life-saving items. Even if they were not a match, it is impossible for not a single one to escape or even get a message out!"

"Look at the sky! What is that?!" Just then, another female elementalist who had been looking out the window suddenly pointed at the distant sky and exclaimed in shock.

Everyone looked in the direction she pointed, and suddenly they all fell silent, eyes wide, staring fixedly at the snow-white figure that had broken through the water curtain and soared into the sky.

"A dragon... Is that... the divine dragon of the East?" The male mage holding the sapphire staff trembled. He was well-read and had dabbled in the myths and legends of various countries, recognizing at a glance the biological form that was completely different from Western giant dragons. It was the totem sacred beast that only existed in ancient Eastern legends!

Sacred, majestic, powerful, ancient... These various Auras, even from over a hundred kilometers away, still made them feel a palpitation and pressure originating from the depths of their souls.

"It is coming towards us! So fast!" The elf ranger screamed, her voice distorted by fear.

Only then did everyone realize that after breaking through the sea surface, the white divine dragon did not stop or fly elsewhere. Instead, it flicked its tail slightly and turned into a white streak, tearing through the sky and speeding towards their location! The speed was unimaginably fast; it had just been on the horizon, but in the blink of an eye, it had approached to the point where they could see those cold dragon eyes!

"Bad! Flee! Disperse and flee immediately!" The sturdy warrior reacted first, his face changing wildly. He roared and rushed towards the control hub of the flying boat, wanting to activate it at maximum power to escape. The others also panicked instantly; various magical Auras of acceleration and defense lit up on their bodies, and some even tore open precious random teleportation scrolls directly.

However, it was already too late.

Just as the white divine dragon flew over their heads, an invisible, intangible, yet vast and terrifying pressure like the wrath of heaven descended with a boom! It felt as if the entire sky had collapsed, pressing down hard on every inch of their skin, every bone, and every soul!

"My skills... I cannot use them!"

"Scrolls! The teleportation scrolls are ineffective! Space is locked!"

"Damn it! This is silence and space locking! It is that Lin Muyang! It is the methods of that Lin Muyang from the Xia Kingdom!" The bespectacled youth seemed to remember something, his face pale as paper, screaming hoarsely. He had been busy raiding the secret realm recently and had not paid much attention to outside news, but he had heard of the name "Lin Muyang" and his signature silence Aura.

"Lin Muyang? That Summoner?" The others, upon hearing this, felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave. If they had still held a glimmer of hope before, now there was only boundless despair. That monster newcomer who created miracles at the Xia Kingdom's Summoner Competition and was marked by the intelligence agencies of various countries had actually appeared here, and his summon... was an Eastern divine dragon?!

Without waiting for them to react further, the white divine dragon in the sky had already locked its cold gaze upon them. No roar, no charging up; it simply raised a front claw and pressed it gently downwards towards the sea area where the flying boat was located.

"Hum—!!"

The seawater within a radius of several kilometers seemed to receive a supreme command, instantly boiling and roaring! Endless seawater broke free from the constraints of gravity, surging upwards to form countless massive water spouts on the surface around the flying boat! Even more terrifyingly, every water spout, every wave, and even every tiny droplet of water was instantly imbued with an extremely sharp "sword intent"! The seawater was no longer a gentle source of life, but had transformed into billions of invisible yet substantial, crystal-blue, cold-glaring "swords of water"!

A sword formation! A peerless sword formation formed by the vast seawater, covering the heavens and the earth!

The pupils of the seven geniuses on the flying boat suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks, and boundless fear gripped their hearts. They wanted to flee, to hide, to defend, but under that sword intent pressure covering the heavens and the earth and the absolute silence effect, they found it incredibly difficult even to move a finger. All their skills, equipment effects, and scrolls were all as if rusted shut, with no response at all.

"No—!!"

The desperate scream was completely drowned out by the rain of swords that descended the next second.

"Swish swish swish swish—!!!"

Billions of water swords, like a heavenly river pouring backwards, or like the wrath of a sword god, shot and strangled the poor magical flying boat and the seven people on it from all directions—up, down, left, and right—without any blind spots! The water swords tore through the air, emitting piercing, extreme shrieks, the sounds converging as if the heavens and earth were wailing for it.

That expensive magical flying boat, inscribed with multiple defensive arrays, was like a paper toy in the first wave of the water sword torrent, easily pierced, torn, and decomposed into the most primitive magic material fragments. The seven geniuses on the flying boat could not even let out a decent scream; the magic shields they raised were like bubbles under the sun, collapsing at the slightest touch. Immediately after, their bodies were penetrated, cut, and pulverized by countless water swords... The blood that had just splattered out was washed away without a trace by even more seawater.

It was not just them; several powerful monsters—including a few level 100+ epic-grade deep-sea behemoths—that had been drawn by the earth-shattering commotion were also not spared.

Whether they poked their heads out of curiosity or were startled by the sword intent and attempted to flee, under this comprehensive, indiscriminate rain of swords, no matter how massive their bodies, how hard their shells, or how tenacious their vitality, they were like snow under the scorching sun—rapidly dissolving and disintegrating, turning into clouds of blood mist that dyed a large area of the sea a faint red, only to be immediately diluted by the endless seawater.

This casual strike from Ao Qingyan might have looked like a mere application of her bloodline talent, "Condensing Water into Swords," but with the support of her terrifying stats in the millions after transforming into a dragon, its power and scale had reached an unimaginable level.

With a single thought, she controlled the seawater across several kilometers, condensing millions, even tens of millions of water swords, each with power comparable to the full-force strike of a high-ranking swordsman, forming a heaven-destroying and earth-shattering sword formation—this was no longer within the scope of ordinary skills, but rather an embodiment of something akin to "Divine Authority"!

The rain of swords came quickly and left just as quickly.

After a mere two or three seconds, the sky-filling water swords seemed to have completed their mission; they dispersed, turning back into ordinary seawater and splashing down into the churning sea below.

The traces that the flying boat and the seven geniuses had ever existed were completely wiped away, leaving not even a scrap of wreckage.

Only the sharp sword intent that had not yet fully dissipated in the air, along with the scattered fragments of those unlucky monsters floating on the sea surface, silently recounted the destructive scene that had just occurred.

From beginning to end, the white divine dragon in the sky maintained an indifferent gaze, as if it had merely swatted a few annoying flies to death.

It took one last look at the sea below, which was gradually returning to calm yet still surging with undercurrents, and let out a long, low dragon roar. Its massive dragon body circled elegantly in the air before diving straight into the high-altitude clouds. Its snow-white form flickered in and out of sight among the clouds, and soon it vanished completely, as if it had never appeared at all.

Between the sea and the sky, tranquility returned.

Only the sunlight continued to shine on the blue sea, sparkling, as if the brief, one-sided slaughter just now had been nothing but a dream.

However, all of this was faithfully recorded by an ultra-high-definition reconnaissance satellite belonging to the American Empire military that happened to be passing over the area.

Although the satellite failed to capture the battle deep under the sea and did not film Lin Muyang and the young ladies, the shocking footage of Ao Qingyan transforming into a dragon, bursting out of the sea, soaring through the sky, and finally triggering a tsunami, condensing an endless rain of swords, destroying the flying boat, and wiping out a large area of marine life, was captured clearly from multiple angles and in multiple frequency bands.

Soon, this video footage, which had undergone emergency processing but still clearly displayed the majesty of the white divine dragon, was reported up the chain of command and finally placed before the high-ranking officials of the American Empire and the core decision-makers of the Black Night Alliance.

The American Empire's high command was shaken!

Within the Black Night Alliance, it was an instant explosion of chaos!

A living, breathing white divine dragon, which only existed in Eastern myths and legends, had appeared above the high seas and, with thunderous momentum, had seemingly killed the five core members they had sent to explore the secret realm—they had lost contact, and given the situation at the scene, they were likely doomed—as well as seven carefully cultivated future hopes—S-rank and SS-rank genius seeds!

This loss was a severe blow to the Black Night Alliance, the most devastating setback since the organization's inception!

Anger, shock, disbelief, and... a trace of irrepressible greed intertwined in the hearts of the Black Night Alliance's top brass.

"Investigate! At any cost, find out the origin, whereabouts, and all information about that white dragon for me!"

"Retaliate! We must retaliate! No matter what it is, anyone who dares to kill members of my Black Night Alliance must pay the price!"

"And also, that dragon... if it can be killed, the materials on its body... might be able to forge true mythic grade equipment, or even... an artifact?"

In the high-level conference room, roars and arguments were endless.

A divine dragon possessing such power was of inestimable value!

Whether for the sake of revenge or for the potentially maddeningly huge profits, the massive machine that was the Black Night Alliance began to run frantically.

Within five minutes of the footage being confirmed, several top powerhouses of the Black Night Alliance with levels exceeding 200 and Auras as deep as an abyss arrived above the scene of the incident as quickly as possible via remote teleportation arrays, high-speed flying mounts, and other means.

They employed various tracking secret arts, detection curios, and even sacrificial spells, attempting to capture any lingering Aura, energy fluctuations, or soul fragments... wanting to find the culprit and locate that white dragon.

However, everything was in vain.

When Lin Muyang left, he had already used the power of his God-Tier Aura to completely erase all traces left behind by himself, Ao Qingyan, and all the young ladies at this location—Auras, energy residues, karmic threads, and even the subtle impacts their very existence had on the environment—until it was spotless.

In the perception of those tracking masters, apart from the lingering, violent water elements and sword intent, this sea area was as clean as if it had just been washed by the purest holy water, with no directional clues whatsoever.

They couldn't even be certain whether that white dragon and the culprit who killed Wells were the same group, or if it was just a powerful monster that happened to appear in the same sea area by coincidence?

The Black Night Alliance powerhouses stood in the air, gazing with gloomy expressions at the sea below that was gradually calming down, as well as the energy field in the distance that was still somewhat chaotic due to the divine dragon's appearance and the great battle. Their fists clenched until they cracked, yet they felt a sense of powerlessness.

The enemy was like a ghost; they came, killed, and then vanished completely, leaving not a single trace.

Meanwhile, blurry video clips and text descriptions regarding "The Eastern White Divine Dragon appearing on the high seas, displaying heaven-destroying and earth-shattering power" began to spread and ferment quietly across the global internet through unknown channels.

Although the American Empire officials and the Black Night Alliance tried their best to suppress the news, in this era of highly developed information, such explosive news simply could not be contained.

Especially after some processed clips that could barely make out the outline of the white divine dragon and the earth-shattering scene of the water swords began to circulate, the global Class Transferee network community completely boiled over!

"My god! It really is a dragon! An Eastern divine dragon! Not a Western big lizard!"

"This presence... it's too terrifying! Those water swords feel like they could easily insta-kill a group of monsters of the same level!"

"Is this a wild monster? Or the summon of some super powerhouse? Or a pet?"

"It must be a summon! Didn't you see it fly away and vanish at the end? How could a wild monster be so obedient?"

"Summoning a divine dragon? What level of Summoner would that require? epic-grade? Legendary-grade? Or... mythic grade?"

"Latest news! The incident happened on the high seas. It seems like people from the American Empire's Black Night Alliance died. Could it be..."

"Watch your mouth, upstairs! But... if it's true, then things are going to get very interesting."

Global public opinion was in an uproar, and speculations arose everywhere.

Some were shocked by the appearance of the divine dragon, some debated whether Eastern or Western dragons were stronger, and others keenly linked it to the recently prominent genius Summoner from the Xia Kingdom, Lin Muyang.

Although there was no evidence, the two keywords "Lin Muyang" and "powerful mysterious summon" made it hard not to draw connections.

Of course, the most uncomfortable, aggrieved, and furious party remained the Black Night Alliance.

They had suffered heavy losses, yet they couldn't even figure out who their enemy was or where they were; they could only rage impotently at a video clip.

In the Xia Kingdom, Zhongnan City, inside Lin Muyang's residence.

"Oh? It was caught by a satellite?" Lin Muyang leaned back on the comfortable sofa, watching the clearer satellite footage playing on the light screen in front of him—footage that had been intercepted and processed via special channels by Su Daji. He raised an eyebrow, a trace of surprise appearing on his face, but he quickly returned to a calm state.

In the footage, the snow-white divine dragon broke through the sea and ascended to the sky, soaring among the clouds with an elegant and majestic posture that was truly breathtaking.

Especially that final strike, where it controlled the seawater to form a comprehensive sword formation—even through the screen, one could feel that surging power and the awe-inspiring sword intent.

"Fortunately, they only caught Qingyan, not us." Lin Muyang rubbed his chin.

Even if they had, it wouldn't actually be a big problem.

He was currently in the heartland of the Xia Kingdom, under the strict protection of the authorities, and it would be very difficult for foreign forces to do anything to him overtly.

Assassination? Given his current strength and the lineup around him, it was uncertain who would be killing whom.

The most critical thing was that, after the gains from this legendary-rank secret realm and the test of actual combat, he had a clearer understanding of his own strength and that of the young ladies.

Ao Qingyan's strength after transforming into a dragon had definitely reached the top level of the Nation-Guarding Level, perhaps even stronger.

After obtaining suitable mythic grade equipment and skills, the combat power of Elabess, Seraphina, and the others had also undergone a qualitative leap.

His own stats, boosted by his Aura and equipment, had reached an unimaginable level.

"Black Night Alliance... American Empire..." Lin Muyang's eyes turned slightly cold.

Since the other party dared to strike to kill on the high seas, they had to be prepared to be killed in return.

This was just a lesson for them; if they still didn't know what was good for them, he wouldn't mind playing with them properly.

On Earth now, there were not many forces or individuals left that could make him wary.

"However, the top priority is still to improve my strength. With more mythic grade equipment and skills, the consumption of god-tier modification stones is too fast, and the stock is hitting rock bottom." Lin Muyang turned off the light screen, his fingers gently tapping on the sofa armrest.