Over time, cultivators tended to develop a sense for danger. It was merely an extension of their spiritual energy senses- and it could be wrong. Otherwise, darkness cultivators and anyone else trying to pull off sneak attacks would be out of luck.

  John didn’t really feel any danger from Ruha and her trident. He did feel the intention, but it never rose to a level that felt significant. Obviously he wasn’t going to let her hit him regardless. He just noted the lack of danger. Meanwhile, Aldara had been a serious threat even when she wasn’t thinking about killing him. Obviously the most when they had actually been fighting. It wasn’t just about rank, phase, and spiritual energy- but those were a large part of it. Ruha was only one rank beneath John, but the step between phases was huge.

  His sword slashed out for her neck, carrying the weight of a small mountain behind it. Her trident caught his weapon like waves crashing in an ocean, much like she had done previously. His other hand flicked forward, holding their treaty. Wind sharpened the path of the enchanted paper.

  It was just supposed to be a reminder at how useless such things were. A warning she would never be trusted again. John had surrounded it in spiritual energy and he had been serious about the attack… but he still expected her to block it. Instead, all he got was a shocked look as her head separated from her shoulders. Her reactions too slow, her defenses insufficient. Air certainly beat water, but the enchantments on the paper weren’t one of sharpness. Just durability and resistance to staining and fading.

  The enchantments would help with the blood. That was John’s thought as the paper fluttered to the ground.

  The battlefield was nearly still. The clash had just begun moments before. There were dozens of cultivators moving to support Ruha, to harry John while Ruha maintained a defensive position. No doubt they had all sorts of plans about wearing him down. Sneaky tricks to overcome the difference in power. They knew they were dealing with the Exalted Soul Phase, after all.

  Everyone sprang back into motion, with plans not appearing to change much. Except Ruha was dead, so they had to change. Anthea of the Maelstrom sect pulled back from attempting to capsize the ships at the edge of the island and instead focused all of her efforts on John, raising great waves.

  At least for a single moment. As he flew up and away from her attacks, swiping at various incoming assaults from the massed cultivators below, she let her waves sweep her up… leaving behind members of the Stormy Sea Sect… and even her own people.

  John wasn’t fond of the idea of diving into the midst of literally all of the enemy forces to chase after her, so he settled for cutting his way through the ranks of enemies, creating a path for others to follow.

  As he moved, John took stock of the effectiveness of his attacks. A single swipe could cut down multiple Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators. His biggest limits were how many were actually in reach, rather than the amount of energy he used. Merely having more spiritual energy wasn’t sufficient to produce such results. Instead, he paid attention to what had become natural to him. Manipulating the flow of energy, finding flaws in everyone’s elements. Perhaps the greater advancement wasn’t reaching the Exalted Soul Phase, but the insights that had allowed him to do so to begin with.

  The more he got used to his new level of power, the greater it seemed. So much power, what was it for?

  Oh right. Defending those he cared about. They weren’t here in the Windswept sea for fun. It was because they had been attacked. They had to cause as much damage as they could to the local forces. The peace accord had been meaningless paper, so the only real way to enforce it was if nobody dared to act. Or if they were all dead.

  The continental forces wasted no time, and soon they were halfway across the island, in the core of the Stormy Sea Sect. Cultivators were known for grabbing resources and running if they couldn’t win. The sect themselves hadn’t had the opportunity, and Anthea hadn’t been willing to delay her retreat for even a moment. Meanwhile, John didn’t intend to break open the vaults at the moment either- they would properly secure the island and destroy the core of the Stormy Sea Sect so they couldn’t rise again. Then they would move on to the others.

  John dodged out of the way as Ursel was blasted through several buildings by a massive burst of water. She was fine- he didn’t even have to look. It was the buildings that lost that clash. And though the attackers successfully made space, they were just going to have an angry Ursel to deal with.

  As for who had done it, John had almost missed them. Their spiritual energy blended into the rest of the mass, and he’d been focused on what was around him for the most part. The Titanic Serpent Clan had finally arrived, and it was a number of their mighty beasts and their elders that had blasted Ursel away.

  They sure had a lot of ships in addition to the sea serpents. John noticed that some of the continental ships had already been making their way around the coastline to secure things- and now they would likely move to engage. Hopefully they could pincer their enemies. Even if John personally wasn’t in any danger, proper tactics would prevent casualties on their side.

  John picked out Anthea just on the far shoreline. He was fairly certain she would have commandeered a ship or been swimming away if the Titanic Serpent Clan hadn’t arrived at just that moment. This was what the other ship had been trying to delay them for. It had to be admitted that facing them all at once would have been somewhat more difficult, but this wasn’t that far removed and John didn’t feel much threat.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Although… the clan head did seem quite confident still. Even though he should be aware that Ruha died. Somsak was his name, based on previous intel. His long hair snaked down his back, reaching almost to the sea serpent beneath him. “You may have defeated Ruha, but you will find you are far from invincible!” the man declared. “Behold, the power of the sea’s mightiest!”

  Ursel was sprinting forward at a mad dash. John made certain to keep up with her. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m going to have to take this one.”

  Somsak’s power suddenly peaked, rising beyond the Ascending Soul Phase. It didn’t have the right aura for the Exalted Soul Phase, but the amount was there at least. The man seemed to be drawing directly from the sea serpents. John could only see the top half of some of them, but the one Somsak was riding on was six or seven meters across, and at least a hundred long as it snaked away into the water beyond the island.

  With a flash, John threw a dagger directly towards the man’s eye. If the battle could be easily resolved, he at least had to try- but Somsak batted away the elementally infused weapon, sweeping a large wave across in front of him. Then he used his sea serpent like a cannon, shooting forward a massive pillar of water.

  John twisted in the air, flying in an uneven helix pattern as the blast followed his motions. He had to admit that the power was substantial. Not something he wanted to meet head on. Maybe in a spar he would test himself against it, but John didn’t want to be arrogant about his newfound power even if he’d produced some surprising results.

  He didn’t know what the point of having such a massive column of water was for though. To make up for poor accuracy? But that wasn’t the case. Somsak wasn’t missing, he was just a tiny bit too slow to hit John. More focused might do it. John kept himself alert for any changes in the flow- even minor ones. It could be a trick.

  Speed was strength. John was fast. He kept some distance from Somsak mainly to let the rest of their forces catch up. Ursel didn’t count as she barreled headfirst into one of the other sea serpents.

  It had a stubby tail. John knew that because it was more of an air serpent after Ursel hit it. His brief moment of surprise was merely a product of how long it had been since he’d watched Ursel fight something that big in person. Previously, she’d been hunting down the massive beasts that filled the Viridia Wildlands. It was one of the most untamed locations on the continent… unless one counted the deep seas.

  The sea serpent looked ridiculous as it toppled end over end. John wondered how long it would take it to splash back into the ocean and then swim back. He also wondered if its riders would have the misfortune to hit the water first. Even cultivators might not take that impact well. Some of them had already been knocked off in the initial impact- which would have been good for them if that hadn’t meant being left behind with Ursel.

  “Your eels suck!” Ursel taunted. It wasn’t necessarily purposeful, she was just the sort that liked to retaliate verbally after taking a hit. Perhaps she was embarrassed she hadn’t kept her footing, though it would have been a waste to put so much energy in holding her ground against that initial combined push.

  “A single one won’t make a difference!” Somsak said confidently. “Now, attack!”

  This time, his energy directed five sea serpents, creating large crossing blasts of water. They were trying to fill the skies and cut off any path of escape for John. Overall, they did pretty good. They forced John to cut through the edge of one to escape encirclement. His sword barely managed to slice through, even with combined elements around it. John wasn’t going for anything in particular, not because focus wasn’t useful sometimes but because it was harder for most enemies to adapt to a perfect mix.

  John found him further from Somsak than before, but that was fine. The man couldn’t focus on another target. If his focus wavered, John would reach him in an instant and take him down. John was certain of that, and Somsak at least wasn’t being careless about the possibility.

  Unfortunately for him, his confidence was misplaced. It didn’t have anything to do with his technique. It seemed to fulfill his purpose, drawing spiritual energy from the great sea serpents. They were large and powerful. Their energy meshed with his perfectly so that he could use it almost like his own.

  But he wasn’t fighting just John. And if they were going to compare great sea beasts…

  John waited for the moment Carl grabbed the first one. The leviathan could survive mainly off of spiritual energy. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough food in the whole of all the seas for it to consume… not after a certain time. But Carl still enjoyed eating, and could greatly benefit from it. The sea serpent was slurped up like a noodle. Somsak clearly hadn’t expected that.

  John moved like a bolt of lightning. He covered the distance between him and his target in an instant, the effects of his travel following behind. Air was twisted out of his way to allow him to be faster, and the instant acceleration used a mix of elements- including an explosion of light and darkness for an instant boost.

  Somsak didn’t wield a trident like the Stormy Sea Sect. Instead, he had a whiplike weapon- but with a sharp point. It moved almost on its own, responding more to his spiritual energy than to the movements of his hands. See, John knew he could be faster and more focused. The point of the weapon met John’s sword. The sword sliced through it, continuing down the whole length.

  John’s sword took Somsak at about heart level. He had the power, but it wasn’t focused enough. His spiritual energy defenses were spread throughout his body, and he barely even focused a wave of spiritual energy towards where John sliced. Most of the man’s power was external… and John also felt that same fragility in the man’s cultivation. The Windswept sea had pushed hard to develop their leaders. They might not have been able to stabilize their foundations even if they had survived today.

  The sea serpents shrieked in agony as Somsak died. Whatever connection they had ran deep. John felt sorry for the beasts. Not sorry enough to stop Carl from eating more of them, though.