And what did Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou mean by that? They were saying that victory was still uncertain. In fact, it was a coin toss whether the humans or the aquatic races would win.

Yes, Chu Xunxian made the first move and killed countless aquatic people and Strangers thanks to the Natural Five Phases Flags. Yes, The Nether End Army was slaughtering the absolute crap out of the aquatic people and Strangers right now. And yes, it looked like the upper hand was firmly in the humans’ hands.

In reality, that wasn’t the case. After all, the deciding factor of this battle wasn’t the Nether End Army, but the Eastern Sea Dragon King.

If the Eastern Sea Dragon King was just a Disaster-class Stranger, then victory would already have been decided. Considering Chu Xunxian and Guo Ximian’s strength and the Natural Five Phases Flag’s power, there was absolutely nothing the Eastern Sea Dragon King could do to turn things around.

However, the Eastern Sea Dragon King was an Ancient-class Stranger. This one factor turned what was a sure victory into an uncertain fifty-fifty at best.

Although Ancient was just the next level after Disaster, the difference between the two classes was night and day. An Ancient-class Stranger was already far stronger than a Disaster-class Stranger, but the Eastern Sea Dragon King was a dragon-type Stranger and the strongest type of Strangers out there. His power to move wind and rain and command lightning and thunder was scary to say the least.

Chu Xunxian was powerful, and Guo Ximian was hardly a weakling. However, they were ultimately Half Sages. Even with the Natural Five Phases Flags in hand, it was unlikely they would be able to kill the Eastern Sea Dragon King.

But of course, the opposite was the same. It wasn’t going to be easy for the Eastern Sea Dragon King to defeat a Chu Xunxian who wielded the Natural Five Phases Flags either.

Long story short, it was still a coin toss who would emerge victorious.

“Who do you think would win, Qingyou? Chu Xunxian or the Eastern Sea Dragon King?”

The five-colored profound light had muddied the rivers of fate, and Ye Qing could not perceive what was happening inside the Natural Five Phases Flags. Still, he could easily imagine how fierce the battle was.

“Who do you want to win?” Feng Qingyou responded to his question with a question of her own.

“I want Chu Xunxian to win, of course,” Ye Qing replied matter-of-factly. It was the truth. The entire point he went through all the previous troubles was so that the four nations could annihilate the Four Seas Dragon Palace and quell the four seas threat in one go.

Naturally, he wanted Chu Xunxian to come out victorious. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that the only way for this war to end with one battle was if Chu Xunxian emerged victorious.

“

That said,

I want Chu Xunxian to win, but I want it to be a hard won victory. If it turned out to be a pyrrhic victory, then even better,” Ye Qing added after a pause.

And why did he desire a pyrrhic victory? Because this meant that Chu Xunxian and Guo Ximian would not be able to spare the energy to keep an eye on Chu’s young geniuses, and that meant that he would have a shot at killing Chu Wangsun.

Of course, that shot was non-existent right now. Although Chu Xunxian and Guo Ximian were already too busy to keep an eye on Chu Wangsun, the Nether End Army was still around. He wasn’t stupid or mule-headed enough to butt heads against tens of thousands elite soldiers.

For now, he could only wait and pray for the best.

Frankly, they were here just to watch the show anyway. They knew there was actually very little chance that they would be able to kill Chu Wangsun.

“You’re being honest today.” Feng Qingyou smiled.

“What do you mean? I’ve always been an honest man.”

Ye Qing shrugged before asking, “By the way, do you think that the battles at the other dragon palaces will go smoothly, Qingyou?”

Feng Qingyou mulled over this for a moment. “They should go smoother than this battle at least. After all, there is no way the other three dragon palaces would have an Ancient-class Stranger.”

“Makes sense.” Ye Qing nodded in agreement before tossing out another question, “Say, how do you think the Eastern Sea Dragon King is able to become an Ancient-class Stranger?”

The dragons of the four seas had had their fate stripped from their entire race. As a result, they were loathed by the very world they resided in. Normally, it should be absolutely impossible for a dragon to become an Ancient-class Stranger, and yet the Eastern Sea Dragon King somehow managed to do it without alerting the humans.

“I wonder.”

Feng Qingyou pondered for a while longer before replying, “If I have to make a guess, it most likely has something to do with the Dragon Sovereign.”

“The Dragon Sovereign, huh…”

Ye Qing let out a long sigh before snorting disdainfully. “He’s been suppressed for nine hundred years, and still he couldn’t resist causing trouble and dreaming of freedom, tsk tsk…”

“Yes. A storm is coming, and all the ghosts and gods are coming out to play!” Feng Qingyou replied, though she seemed to be implying something.

While the duo were chatting, the remnants of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace were still being cut down at a prodigious rate. Of course, the Nether End Army had suffered quite the losses as well, but it was nothing compared to what the aquatic races and Strangers suffered.

Chu Wangsun, Su Bancheng, Chu Mingfeng and Chen Wuji were all injured to a certain extent as well. Their shirts were covered in blood.

At the same time, the battle between Chu Xunxian, Guo Ximian and the Eastern Sea Dragon King seemed to have reached a critical point. It was because the Natural Five Phases Flags suddenly began to wobble violently. Its five-colored profound light was flickering erratically as well. It was clearly less dominating and powerful than it was before.

A few breaths later, the piercing roar of a dragon suddenly resounded throughout heaven and earth. It was filled with mournfulness, grief and indignation. Before the roar faded, thunder roared like it was the end of the world, and the World of Five Regions created by the Natural Five Phases Flags to trap the Eastern Sea Dragon King cracked.

Golden purple thunder leaked out of the cracks, beautiful and beyond dangerous. Then, it exploded in a mixture of five-colored profound light and golden purple thunder with enough force to engulf hundreds of kilometers of sea in an instant.

Space was ripped into shreds, wind and clouds were wiped out from existence, and even the sea was crushed into bits.

In an instant, everything within the blast zone had turned into a scorching hell, and all living beings unfortunate enough to reside within this area had disintegrated into dust.

The good news was that the Nether End Army noticed the signs and immediately ordered the troops to gather together and form a military formation. Thanks to this, they were just barely able to survive the shockwaves of the explosions. However, not everyone managed to get into a military formation in time, and they disintegrated into dust together with the aquatic people and the Strangers.

It wasn’t like those who got into a military formation were unscathed either. People were dying for every breath the explosion remained in the sky.

A dozen or so breaths later, the explosion of five-colored profound light and golden purple thunder finally began to fade. The large majority of the Nether End Army was injured or killed by the explosion; it had incurred far more casualties than the aquatic people and Strangers they were fighting.

If even they were struggling to survive, the aquatic people and the Strangers could only fare worse. Almost all of them were dead.

This was why Sages and Ancient-class Strangers were feared so. Just the shockwaves of their clash was enough to overwhelm most people and Strangers.

Gods fight, and mortals suffer.

This was also why Chu Xunxian had trapped the Eastern Sea Dragon King with the Natural Five Phases Flags at the beginning. It was to prevent the energies of their clash from leaking. Otherwise, the fifty thousand strong Nether End Army would have suffered massive casualties before the Eastern Sea Dragon King could even do anything.

When the five-colored profound light and the golden purple thunder faded, Chu Xunxian, Guo Ximian and the Eastern Sea Dragon King appeared into view once more.

None of them looked to be in pristine condition.

Guo Ximian looked the worst out of the three. He was ashen black in color as he had been burned into a crisp by thunder and fire. His aura was also sitting at rock bottom.

Chu Xunxian looked much better than Guo Ximian, but he certainly wasn’t in good condition either. His eyes were bleeding, and he was missing one arm. The Natural Five Phases Flags were looking much dimmer as well. It was clear that the Ancient-class Strange Artifact had suffered massive damage.

The Eastern Sea Dragon King was gangbanged by Chu Xunxian and Guo Ximian and so looked absolutely terrible. For of his five claws were broken, and he sported a cut so deep that nearly cleaved him in half. His golden purple blood was raining profusely and creating a storm on the sea as well.

“I underestimated you, Chu Xunxian.”

The Eastern Sea Dragon King’s voice was calm, but his voice was ice cold.

“I told you that this isn’t the first time I killed an Ancient-class Stranger.”

Despite losing an arm, Chu Xunxian looked as handsome as ever. “You won’t be my second, third, fourth, or even the fifth kill by the time I’m done with you, and I can tell you responsibly that you aren’t much compared to some of the Ancient-class Strangers I’ve killed.”

“A shameless boast. There is no way you would’ve been a match for me if it wasn’t for the Natural Five Phases Flags,” the Eastern Sea Dragon King taunted.

“Strange Artifacts are one part of a warrior’s strength,” Chu Xunxian replied calmly. “And besides, I could kill you without much trouble even if I didn’t have the Natural Five Phases Flags.”

As he spoke, Chu Xunxian’s missing arm began regenerating at a visible rate. At the same time, auspicious clouds began growing out of his body and healing all of his injuries.

What stunned the Eastern Sea Dragon King even more was the fact that he saw a man seemingly lying down on the floor and sleeping amidst the clouds. He looked harmless, but his calm, even breaths boasted unspeakably profound radiance and countless arts that seemed to be existing in perfect harmony.

Ten thousand arts dance around me when I sleep.

When I open my eyes, I look down on the world instead of up.