Entering the Sea

Wu Zhao finally succeeded in ascending the throne. Although her initial intentions immediately met with widespread opposition, she held control over nearly all the military forces of the Yanhuang Empire, backed by the formidable strength of Zhou Tian. Even with many voices raised against her, nothing could ultimately stop her ascension.

Thus, amidst the opposition of a minority and the silence of the majority, Wu Zhao became the first human female emperor in the history of the Magic Moon Continent.

Once this transpired, even amidst the chaotic political climate of the mainland, major factions could not help but investigate the situation. Everyone wanted to understand how Wu Zhao had claimed the throne, and what role Zhou Tian—the ever-turbulent figure of the continent—was playing in it.

Zhou Tian had no mind to care about external evaluations. The moment he helped Wu Zhao secure the throne, he left Kirin City without looking back.

He had resolved practically all the trouble on Wu Zhao's behalf, leaving her with little more than trivial matters to handle. Having no taste for such tedious affairs, Zhou Tian dumped those minor tasks onto Wu Zhao and departed without another word.

Upon returning to the capital, Zhou Tian enjoyed a brief period of leisure.

The Church of Light had a massive backlog of tasks that required personnel, but Zhou Tian had no intention of lending a hand. As for the capital, though there were matters to manage, the absolute lack of warfare meant that Zhou Tian simply delegated those trivialities to his subordinates. Consequently, out of sheer, unmitigated boredom, he ended up doing something that nearly cost him his life.

The Magic Moon Continent was just one landmass within the prime material plane. Aside from the prime material plane, Zhou Tian's world contained various other alternate planes. Though these alternate planes were all attached to the prime material plane, some possessed environments and overall strength far surpassing it.

Among those alternate planes, the one that exceeded the prime material plane and held the greatest renown was naturally the God Realm.

Zhou Tian had always harbored a certain curiosity toward the God Realm—a world that had rounded up the vast majority of the deities from the prime material plane in one fell swoop, a world that kept the demons perpetually suppressed. It was impossible for him not to feel even a shred of curiosity.

In the past, no matter how curious he was, Zhou Tian would likely have kept it to mere daydreams. But things were different now. The Chaos Clock had previously been seized by a few deities, and it went without thought that it must now reside within the God Realm. Having refined the Chaos Clock for so long, Zhou Tian had long since planted his split-spirit imprint deep within its core. While this imprint inside the Chaos Clock could not act as an independent avatar, Zhou Tian possessed the capability to use it to observe the surrounding environment.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Tian connected his spiritual sense to the Chaos Clock and instantly shifted his perspective over.

However, Zhou Tian never expected that upon doing so, the sight greeting his eyes would be a vast expanse of snowy white.

"What is going on here? I can't see a thing. Could the Chaos Clock have been locked away inside a cabinet?" Zhou Tian, who had wanted to catch a glimpse of what the God Realm looked like, felt extremely displeased upon finding that the Chaos Clock's perspective showed nothing at all. Driven by that thought, and without realizing it, he controlled the Chaos Clock to shift slightly.

Little did he expect that this very minor movement would immediately brew trouble for him.

Suddenly, the perspective of the Chaos Clock flickered. In a fleeting glance, Zhou Tian seemed to spot two rosy peaks. Following that, a stunning woman's face imprinted itself into his vision.

"Oh no!" Zhou Tian finally reacted at that moment. Connecting all the dots, how could he possibly remain oblivious to the situation?

In truth, Zhou Tian had never imagined that after being taken to the God Realm, the Chaos Clock would actually become the intimate personal accessory of a goddess. Generally speaking, although the Chaos Clock could only be properly used by Zhou Tian, the power it displayed was extraordinary. Even if those deities did not know its proper usage, they should have at least stored it away safely.

He never anticipated that a goddess would actually wear it as jewelry. Zhou Tian was acutely aware of the exact position the Chaos Clock had occupied just moments ago. Before she even noticed him, he had caught sight of things he shouldn't have seen.

Under normal circumstances, since Zhou Tian's physical body or avatar had not descended, it would have been a question of whether anyone could even perceive such a minor action, let alone discover his spiritual sense.

Yet, as fate would have it, the one wearing the Chaos Clock was a terrifyingly powerful goddess. She had detected the Chaos Clock the very second it moved slightly. The reason she hadn't eradicated Zhou Tian's split-spirit imprint from within the Chaos Clock was likely due to a difference in their cultivation systems, leaving her unsure of where to start. Now, sensing the anomaly of the Chaos Clock moving, the goddess observed it closely and discovered several abnormalities.

Even without knowing that spiritual avatars could be stored inside magical treasures, the goddess could still perceive the existence of a foreign object within the Chaos Clock. It was fine while Zhou Tian remained still; she had merely assumed his split-spirit was an intrinsic part of the artifact. But now that Zhou Tian had meddled with it, he had exposed a flaw.

Having discovered the anomaly, the goddess naturally took immediate action.

Realizing that she had worn the Chaos Clock in such an intimate spot all this time while someone had tampered with it from within, a wave of shame and anger washed over her. Although she detected the problem, Zhou Tian's methods belonged to immortal and Buddhist arts, which were entirely different from the divine arts she practiced. Detecting the anomaly was a testament to her immense power, but lacking a way to destroy the Chaos Clock, pulling Zhou Tian's split-spirit out from inside proved somewhat too difficult for her.

Helpless and ultimately finding no way to deal with the Chaos Clock, the goddess finally abandoned the idea of eradicating the "foreign object" within it.

However, thinking of the clock's recent movement, her mind drifted toward an implication she absolutely refused to accept as true. Enraged, she locked the Chaos Clock away inside a box and immediately unleashed a punishment upon Zhou Tian.

The reason she targeted Zhou Tian was not because she knew he had just witnessed that scene; the primary reason was simply that he was the original owner of the Chaos Clock. Learning that the artifact had been "taken" from him, and finding herself troubled by it now, she naturally transferred her anger directly onto Zhou Tian.

A powerful being often needs only a single thought to exert a massive influence on those inferior in strength. The goddess merely held an unproven suspicion, yet since Zhou Tian was within the same sphere of influence, she decided to act against him, and so she did.

With a wave of her hand, right as Zhou Tian's spiritual sense returned from the Chaos Clock and before he could even react, he found himself facing the goddess's retaliation.

Zhou Tian hastily left a letter behind, casually fabricating an excuse about going out, and then lost all control of his physical body, getting directly swallowed by a black hole created by the goddess.

To possess the Chaos Clock—which those deities had snatched from him—meant the goddess's status in the God Realm must be exceptionally high. To hold such a high position in the God Realm required more than just a grand birth; the only true explanation was that she possessed truly terrifying strength.

Compared to those formidable deities, Zhou Tian's current strength was simply not in the same league. Even though she had no intention of taking his life, such a casual punishment was enough to strip away half his life.

Dragged forcibly into the black hole, Zhou Tian felt suffocated with grievance, yet due to the disparity in their power, he could only swallow his anger in silence. To his surprise, shortly after being dragged into the void, he was spat right back out.

"Where... where is this place?"

Usually, Zhou Tian preferred staying indoors, content to be a homebody in his own city whenever possible. Yet, due to various circumstances, he had traveled to many places. Racking his brains through all his memories, however, he could not match his current location to a single place he had ever visited.

"What kind of game is this?"

Zhou Tian roughly understood why he had met with such an ordeal, and he harbored no deep resentment toward the goddess. If she had attacked him head-on with true weapons and magic, he wouldn't have thought much of it. But transporting him inexplicably from the capital to this unfamiliar region without any clear motive left him deeply bewildered by her behavior.

He was not left in doubt for long. Since she had intended to punish him, the destination chosen by the goddess was naturally extraordinary.

Just as Zhou Tian was wondering where he had ended up and whether he should look around, a volley of dozens of arrows came whistling toward him.

Noticing the incoming danger, Zhou Tian immediately summoned the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus.

*Clang!* With a series of crisp strikes, the dozens of arrows—now that Zhou Tian was aware of them—stood no chance of harming a man protected by the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus. After a flurry of impacts, they all clattered to the ground.

"Who's there?" Facing an ambush, slow-witted or not, Zhou Tian knew he had encountered enemies. He immediately grew vigilant, calling out to probe the hidden adversaries while subtly scanning the surroundings for potential hiding spots.

He was currently on a beach, and not far from the shoreline lay a small patch of forest. Looking around, Zhou Tian deduced that the "people" who had just attacked him were most likely concealed within those woods.

With that thought in mind, Zhou Tian's figure flashed. Remaining seated atop the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus, he utilized the Five Elements Earth Escape technique and sank straight into the ground.

The moment Zhou Tian vanished, the group of "people" who had just ambushed him instantly reacted.

They had never witnessed such a maneuver. Seeing him "drill" into the earth, curiosity got the better of them, and most of them stepped out from their hiding spots.

However, those individuals failed to notice that just as they emerged from the forest, Zhou Tian's figure emerged right out of the tree trunk behind them.

"How are they all women?"

When ambushed, Zhou Tian had wondered what kind of enemies awaited him, but after sneaking behind them, he discovered they were a band of women.

While Zhou Tian didn't hold prejudice against women, he had no desire to bicker and fight with a group of females either. Discovering their identity, he dismissed any thoughts of revenge. Sinking back into the tree trunk, he sat upon the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus and departed the area directly.

Return to the capital? Zhou Tian had certainly considered it, and if he really wanted to, he possessed the capability to do so. Yet, capable as he was, he dared not return right now. Who knew if that goddess was petty-minded and had thrown him into this wasteland purely as a form of discipline? If she discovered that he had scurried back in less than a day, her petty streak might flare up, and heaven knows how she would react.

Zhou Tian didn't want the capital to suffer collateral damage because of him, nor did he wish to provoke the goddess into further excessive actions. Therefore, even with the thought of returning burning in his mind, he had to suppress it for the time being. Until he was certain the goddess was no longer paying attention to him, he had no plans to return prematurely.

Since he wasn't going back anytime soon, he naturally had to spend a period in this region.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Tian set out to understand his new living environment. After leaving the group of women who had attacked him without provocation, he began wandering through the forest.

Protected by the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus, and possessing the unpredictable Five Elements Earth Escape technique, Zhou Tian was a newcomer, yet after roaming the forest for a long time, he not only encountered zero danger but also gathered considerable information without a single creature discovering him.

The more he learned, the more baffled he became about what the goddess was actually plotting.

Logically speaking, even if she lacked solid proof, if she harbored suspicions, shouldn't she have sent him to an extremely dangerous location as punishment?

Yet, the intelligence Zhou Tian quietly gathered indicated that his current location was seemingly not dangerous at all.

The goddess had dropped him back onto the Magic Moon Continent of the prime material plane, but she had placed him at the complete opposite end of the continent. Not only had he never been here, but he had never even heard of it.

This territory no longer belonged to humans; the dominant faction here was the Elven Empire, located not far away. Even if the elven empire's nominal borders didn't explicitly include this patch, the vast majority of the terrain here was dense forest, making even a small squad of elves a formidable force in such topography. Not to mention, countless elves operated actively throughout this region, establishing their dominance here as undisputed.

Aside from the elves, the other major power in this region was a sub-human race whose name sounded somewhat familiar to Zhou Tian: the Amazons.

True to the depictions in legends, the Amazon race was a matriarchal society. Among them, men served merely as tools for procreation; whether in combat or support roles, all positions of authority were held by females.

Because they lived close to the Elven Empire and were influenced by them, every single Amazon was skilled in archery. The only notable difference was that since Amazons possessed much greater physical strength than elves, they lagged far behind in precision archery, but the javelin-throwing techniques they invented were peerless across the Magic Moon Continent.

Though the location had changed, Zhou Tian genuinely couldn't fathom what danger could possibly exist here.

Puzzled by the goddess's arrangement, Zhou Tian wasted no time. After gathering sufficient information, he directly slipped toward the coastline.

Since he only intended to stay here temporarily rather than develop a territory, Zhou Tian wished to avoid trouble and thus had no plans to interact with the natives of this region. In the past, he might have thought of seeking adventure in this land of women. But having already experienced two women and witnessed supreme beauties, those past notions were long gone.

relying on his escape technique, Zhou Tian easily returned to the coast. Finding an isolated spot where people rarely ventured, he hid himself and began to cultivate.

Time flies quickly during cultivation. Zhou Tian had no idea how much time had elapsed when he suddenly felt a stir in his heart and pulled himself out of his meditative state.

"This is..."

Originally, Zhou Tian thought that by running to the coast and diving deep into the water, he would be completely free of trouble. He never expected that after only a short period of cultivation, he would find himself surrounded by a group of creatures.

Looking at the entities before him—creatures with fish heads and human bodies, looking far more like monsters than humans—Zhou Tian, even without exchanging words, could tell from their aggressive posture that they harbored deep hostility toward him.

"I have no ill intentions. You guys—oh, come on! Want to fight? Be my guest." When he first saw the aquatic creatures, Zhou Tian had intended to communicate. If they could understand him, it would be best; he could peacefully coexist with them for a while. But he hadn't anticipated that these water-dwellers would be so utterly ferocious. Before he could even finish speaking, they raised their weapons and launched an attack. Thanks to the protection of the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus, he remained completely unharmed, but their behavior thoroughly angered him, prompting him to teach them a lesson.

Clearly, the fish-men had no intention of listening to Zhou Tian. They merely stared at the black lotus with puzzled expressions, unable to comprehend why their attacks failed to affect it. Then, perhaps due to limited intelligence, they didn't dwell on it; casting a few more glances at the lotus, they resumed their fierce onslaught against Zhou Tian.

No matter how harmless their attacks were to him, being relentlessly beaten would anger anyone. After enduring their assault for a while, Zhou Tian's patience ran out, and he launched a counterattack.

Dragons were the overlords of the waters. Even if he was merely a flood dragon, the combat prowess he could unleash underwater far surpassed that of ordinary creatures.

"Water arrows, water pillars, vortex slash..." Once he counterattacked, Zhou Tian rapidly deployed various secret water techniques native to the dragon race.

Though he cast only low-level spells, to these fish-men, even low-level magic was lethal.

In less than five minutes, the group of fish-men who had hounded Zhou Tian relentlessly were effortlessly slaughtered by the majority. It wasn't until more than half their numbers perished at his hands that terror finally gripped them, causing the survivors to flee in a panic.

Glancing at the retreating fish-men, Zhou Tian ultimately chose not to pursue them.

Killing them wasn't difficult, but he genuinely lacked the mood to bicker with such weak creatures.

Had they not provoked him repeatedly, he wouldn't even have thought of killing them in the first place. Now that they had been driven off, he had no desire to entangle himself further.

However, Zhou Tian's thoughts were too optimistic; the fish-men failed to comprehend his leniency. While he kindly spared their lives, they merely assumed he lacked the speed to chase them down. Simple-minded fish-men understood nothing of who could or could not be provoked. In their eyes, only food and companions mattered—and companions could even become food during food shortages. Expecting such creatures to understand his strength and willingly yield was asking too much.

Ultimately, after being beaten back, those fish-men rallied their friends and summoned a massive horde of fellow fish-men to seek revenge. Seeing himself blocked by them once more, Zhou Tian truly didn't know what to say.

He had no desire to waste time dealing with these fish-men, but since they had come knocking on his doorstep, he had no choice but to retaliate. Coincidentally, curious about the capabilities of the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus, he decided to use the fish-men as a testing ground.

The 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus absorbed brutal and destructive energies, and once absorbed, it could naturally put those energies to use.

When Zhou Tian injected his demonic Qi into the black lotus, a wave of violent, destructive aura slowly seeped from beneath the lotus seat. Influenced by this aura, the already dim-witted horde of fish-men instantly began slaughtering one another in a frenzy.

Witnessing this scene, Zhou Tian—the mastermind behind it—was startled. Although he knew the black lotus possessed formidable and special traits, he never imagined that the destructive energies it absorbed could erupt with such terrifying power. After recovering from his initial shock, a broad smile broke across his face.

The 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus was his magical treasure; the stronger its power, the more advantageous it was for him. Seeing it display such might gave him every reason to rejoice.

After all the fish-men perished at the hands of their own kind, Zhou Tian frowned at the bloody stench permeating the water and swam deeper into the open ocean.

Originally, his plan was to hide somewhere until the goddess forgot about him, and then return to the capital. But seeing the Amazons on land and now encountering fish-men in the sea, Zhou Tian realized he had oversimplified matters.

Since the goddess had dumped him in this region, even if she didn't intend for him to lose his life here, she certainly expected him to suffer some hardship.

Initially, sensing no danger, he hadn't given it much thought. But after the Amazon ambush on land and the simple-minded fish-men in the sea, these continuous attacks made him understand that his status here was that of an unwelcome guest. If he wished to avoid trouble, the best course of action was simply to avoid all contact with living beings.

Yet, was avoiding all living beings truly possible?

He had retreated all the way to the ocean floor, yet he still encountered a fish-men ambush. Thus, even with his escape techniques, total isolation from the outside world was impossible. Since he couldn't dodge it, he had no choice but to face it head-on.

The goddess's original intention was likely to have the natives of this region teach him a lesson. Both the Amazons and the fish-men proved to be extremely aggressive. Given what he had experienced, if he didn't possess the Five Elements Earth Escape technique to traverse freely, he would have likely been attacked the moment he arrived. Though his strength kept him safe from dying at the hands of Amazon women, conflicts with them would have undoubtedly triggered wave after wave of relentless retaliation from their entire tribe.

In short, if Zhou Tian hadn't discovered anything else about this region, he had certainly experienced the belligerence of its inhabitants.

Where there is belligerence, accidental discovery means instant encirclement by the locals. If that day ever came, though his life wouldn't be in danger, troubles would be endless.

Zhou Tian didn't care much about the opponents he was about to face; what he truly cared about was the goddess's reaction.

If he kept hiding like this, the goddess might grow bored and conjure up new troubles on a whim. Though unlikely, he had to be prepared. If she was watching him, he needed to make some noise; and if she no longer cared about him, making noise wouldn't attract trouble either. Since he had nothing to lose, he didn't mind stirring up a storm.

Given his strength, Zhou Tian could easily slaughter his way through this region. But if he merely did that, it would be far too ordinary.

He had hardened his heart. Wasn't the goddess trying to punish him? He would show her what kind of result her punishment would yield in his hands.

She had stolen his belongings, and then treated him like this when trouble arose. Though he hadn't truly suffered a loss in a strict sense, thinking about it still irritated him. Feeling irritated, he naturally wanted to give the goddess a taste of her own medicine.

Since she believed he would be disciplined by the natives of this region, he would instead carve out a massive reputation here. He might not occupy this entire territory the way he did the capital, but he certainly wouldn't act as a target hunted down by various factions.

Accomplishing anything significant on land was nearly impossible. The surface was the domain of the elves and the Amazons. He was neither a female nor a member of those races; while he could easily make a name for himself in human or beast territories, showing his face openly in a place like this would only attract the kind of attention he didn't want.

With little opportunity on land, Zhou Tian turned his gaze toward the deep sea.

The ocean was entirely different from the land. As a flood dragon, Zhou Tian held a natural advantage in the water. Furthermore, while intelligent life existed in the sea, the vast majority were sea beasts. Given his strength, slaying or subjugating sea beasts wasn't difficult. If he invested the time, gathering sea beasts to form a brand-new faction would not be an impossible task.

He wanted to see how the goddess would react if he established a rising power within the ocean depths.

Moreover, although the proportion of ocean area in this world wasn't quite as vast as Earth's, its sheer scale far surpassed it. If he could rule the entire ocean, the resources available to him as an Ocean Emperor would be terrifyingly abundant.

On top of that, the prime material plane likely contained more than just the Magic Moon Continent, yet he had never obtained information regarding other continents while on land. If he built his own sphere of influence in the seas, a single command would be enough to acquire any information he desired.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Tian swam deeper into the open ocean after slaughtering the fish-men.

As he ventured deeper, he inevitably ran into some trouble.

Fish-men were merely weak creatures inhabiting the marginal zones of the sea. Billions of lives existed within the vast ocean; though most lacked high intelligence, their collective strength meant the Magic Moon Continent paled in comparison to the seas.

Pushing deeper into the oceanic realm, Zhou Tian inevitably crossed into the territories of various marine entities. Discovering this intruder, those sea creatures naturally launched immediate attacks.

*Crack!* Seated inside the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus as he pushed forward, Zhou Tian suddenly felt a powerful impact hit his protective barrier, sending him and the lotus reeling backward before he could even register what had happened.

As he retreated, Zhou Tian cast his gaze toward the direction from which the attack had originated.

"This is..."

Though unafraid, seeing the creature before him genuinely startled him.

He knew sea beasts existed in the ocean, and had even heard that compared to ordinary magical beasts, sea beasts generally possessed horrifyingly massive bodies apart from differing lifestyles.

The creature that had just attacked him possessed the lower body of an octopus and the upper body of a horse—resembling a colossal sea-monster straight out of a fantasy tale.

Standing twenty to thirty meters tall, the sea beast had struck him merely with the tip of one of its tentacles. Just laying eyes on such a colossal entity brought a trace of pressure to his mind.

Pressure existed, but given his strength, he felt no fear. On the contrary, seeing that its attack had left Zhou Tian completely unharmed, the sea beast reacted with utter astonishment; waving its tentacles, it charged straight toward him again.

Zhou Tian's expression darkened at the sight.

It was one thing for the creature to attack him unprovoked, but for it to dare charge back at him after failing was intolerable. Without another word, Zhou Tian raised his hand and launched a counterattack against the giant beast.

"Aquatic Divine Lightning, strike!" Facing such a massive monster, Zhou Tian dared not be careless. Abandoning low-level magic, he immediately unleashed a high-tier spell.

Though the spell he cast was merely a pseudo-lightning strike, bearing that name was enough to prove its immense power. When the Aquatic Divine Lightning landed on the sea beast, the creature naturally found it difficult to endure.

The moment the lightning touched the beast, a blinding flash of electric light illuminated the dark ocean depths. Following that, the previously imposing sea beast was instantly scorched into a pile of charcoal by the divine lightning.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the creature didn't die instantly from the attack. Struggling feebly for a moment, it attempted to rise, but due to the severity of its injuries, it collapsed limply onto the ocean floor after a few futile efforts.

Seeing this outcome, Zhou Tian felt neither joy nor sorrow; casting a casual glance at the fallen beast, he prepared to move on.

However, just as he was about to leave, an accidental discovery made him halt his steps.

He suddenly sensed a gaze filled with pleading directed at him from the dying sea beast. It was this discovery that made him change his mind about leaving.

An ordinary sea beast could die and be forgotten; the ocean teemed with countless such creatures, and he cared little for their lives. But discovering a pleading look in the beast's eyes gave him a reason to save it.

Since he intended to establish his own sphere of influence in the ocean, his very first step was to gather a band of loyal followers.