Chapter 1585: It's the Black Sea

Zhang Hanxiang was brimming with confidence. "I feel like I can take ten of you down, Brother!"

"Ha."

The members of Team Zenith gave her a doubtful look. Their mouths twitched. "Hehe."

Zhang Hanxiang pouted. "What's with all of you? I really am very strong now!"

"Alright, alright. It's good that you've grown stronger. The Zenith Dojo has just been attacked, so you had better stay behind to protect it."

Zhang Hanxiang's eyes widened. "Who would dare?"

"We're investigating now."

"When did they attack? Why didn't I know about it?"

"It was when you consumed the flower of universal life, while we were all distracted trying to protect you. The whole city was affected."

The members of Team Zenith couldn't help but glance askance at Zhang Lie.

Zhang Hanxiang clenched her fists tightly. "How dare they! Don't worry, Brother, I'll keep the dojo safe and sound and find the culprit."

Zhang Lie would leave Zhang Hanxiang in the relative safety of the dojo for now. He knew that keeping her in the Milky Way wouldn't be a long-term solution, and she would eventually get antsy. However, every day she remained in the Milky Way was forty days in the fourth realm, during which time Zhang Lie could do a whole lot.

He didn't intend for Zhang Hanxiang to remain in the dojo for good. She would only have to stay there for about ten days or so; Zhang Lie was confident he could ascend to the fifth realm by that time.

Although he had never been to the fifth realm himself, he had learned from some others that the fifth realm was a wide, expansive universe that had miraculous herbs like the flower of universal life. Zhang Lie was deeply confident that he would be able to resolve the problem of her deific avatar there.

Furthermore, weren't his parents in the fifth realm as well?

He brought the members of Team Zenith and Zhang Hanxiang out for a banquet. Because of the sudden hail, the entire city had been affected, and many stores had chosen to close for the day. It took a considerable search before they finally found a restaurant that was open.

After the members of Team Zenith and Zhang Hanxiang had eaten their fill, Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith returned to the fourth realm, whereas Zhang Hanxiang remained behind to guard the Zenith Dojo, awaiting an attacker that didn't exist.

"Are we headed to the warehouse Bu Wentian told us about next?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "Let's check out the south first. Hong Tianqi just told us that the black sea by the south has been particularly violent lately. It's encroaching inland, and might well submerge the entirety of the fourth realm if left unchecked. Conveniently, the warehouse is in the south as well. We'll finish our investigation first before heading there."

The black sea was a dangerous problem that was starting to leave many fourth-realm cultivators concerned.

They returned to the airship, where Li Qianlin had been waiting for far too long—a whole month, considering Zhang Lie and the others had spent the majority of the day back on Earth. Zhang Lie patted Li Qianlin on the head. "I'm very sorry for the wait."

Li Qianlin didn't grumble. "If only I could enter your world, too."

"I'll find a way,"

Zhang Lie replied gently. He drew Li Qianlin in. The two of them hugged each other intimately, enjoying a moment of reunification.

Sun Mengmeng coughed dryly. "Captain, is it time to set off?"

Zhang Lie belatedly came to his senses and commanded the airship to fly to the south.

Not long later, they could see fleeing hordes of genetic lifeforms through the airship. Some were migrating by land, and others by air. The airship struck them down.

The crackling of lightning could be heard from afar. Waves charged forward, lapping the shore, sounding like peals of thunder, like stampeding hooves.

Black clouds burned over the surface of the sea, forming blue flames. The sea caught forked tendrils of lightning and extinguished them in its deepest abyss. The lightning looked almost alive, like fiery serpents that swam in the sea and vanished the next moment.

The surface of the sea frothed with angry waves, like dragons emerging with the tide. The entire sea shifted, and lightning crackled amidst the void.

The sea had morphed into a boundless battlefield. The sea breeze was as a horn to action, and the waves, thousands of courageous soldiers heeding its call. Boulders on shore, weighing thousands of tons, were pulverized and sent sinking into the sea.

The surface of the sea frothed with angry waves, like dragons emerging with the tide.

This was a scene that should have been seen only at sea, but was now occurring on land. The land was being invaded and corroded away by the black sea, plains and grasslands and deserts and mountains and forests alike. Even the tallest mountains were crumbling as waves battered them; forests were submerged and trees uprooted.

The sea roared, the wind howled. Waves surged forward, destroying everything in their path.

Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith were transfixed by the sight that lay before them.

"Let's have a look in the middle of the sea," Zhang Lie said.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The airship's electronic voice replied, "Captain, I don't recommend doing so."

"Why not?"

"The black sea appears to be a lifeform with a soul."

Zhang Lie was taken aback. "The black sea's a lifeform?!"

Yang Ze asked, "Captain, doesn't this black sea seem a little familiar to you?"

"Aren't all seas the same?"

"But don't you feel it looks a little like Cthaat?" Yang Ze pressed.

When Yang Ze pointed it out, Zhang Lie reevaluated what lay before him. That did seem to be the case...

"You mean that this black sea is Cthaat?"

Sun Mengmeng asked, "What do we do, Captain? Should we continue the investigation if it really is Cthaat?"

"Well, we can find out easily enough. Let me go have a look."

Li Qianlin tugged on Zhang Lie's hand.

"Will it be dangerous?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "If the black sea is allowed to continue encroaching onto land, the fourth-realm genetic lifeforms aren't going to be the only ones affected. We genetic hunters will find ourselves restricted to ever smaller tracts of land—and we'll be in competition with the genetic lifeforms of the fourth realm for them."

The genetic lifeforms would be forced to retreat inland, just like the genetic hunters. For survival, the hunters and lifeforms would have to fight—until both sides were exhausted and the black sea could drown them all.

Even though the hunters were able to retreat back into the Milky Way, the same situation as when the third realm collapsed would occur again. The hunters would lose access to the fourth realm.

If the black sea really were Cthaat, then Zhang Lie could be blamed for the entire affair.

Zhang Lie gnashed his teeth. "This is good, I suppose. I was wondering how to find Cthaat. It saves me the trouble of finding it."

Killing Cthaat's son wasn't good enough for Zhang Lie. Cthaat's son had destroyed a settlement of the Milky Way, and the mastermind, Cthaat himself, was still alive. Zhang Lie wouldn't be satisfied with just the death of its son.

The airship opened up as Zhang Lie flew closer to the black sea.