Chapter 272 Biblical Punishment

"As you wish." Kaze replied, jumping into the air and flying over the water.

As the soldiers watched the man in awe, the Ice General waved her hand at the ocean. "[Arctic Seed]."

The technique compressed nitrogen in the air until it turned to a liquid, then circulated it into a white sphere, hovering over the ocean.

Evalyn lowered her hand, and the ball crashed into where the moray eel and barracudas were.

The liquid nitrogen was so cold that the icy water caused it to boil, creating steam that spread on the surface like a fog. However, the extreme heat disparity only lasted for a second.

CRrrreeeeaAcCKkKkkKkkKkkKKkK!

A choir of freezing and cracking sounds followed, with the water freezing, the waves cracking the ice, and the water refreezing. The seed grew, extending the ice from the feeding site to the shore.

"You will not eat my people." Evalyn declared chillingly, walking on the frozen ocean to the red ice, checking her surroundings.

Meanwhile, the emperor flew over the water with his eyes closed, using a vision technique.

"One… two…." Kaze whispered, waving his hand, "She will die if I don't help her, and lessons lack meaning for the dead."

The ocean radiated with a golden light around a brunette, swimming east of the beach.

"Thank god... Agh!" While she was thrilled to see her leg grow back, the light exposed a nightmare scene of circling shadows lurking under the surface. "H-Help me!"

She create a Guided Arrow and pointed it at the water. "Someone, please! It's—"

VOOooooOOooORSH!

When she felt a massive tigerfish the size of a shark shoot at her, she released her arrow. It created a strange splashing sound followed by a whirlpool, sucking her into the water.

She thought that she was done for, but a hand materialized from thin air and yanked her out of the water.

"Admirable attempt, albeit misguided." Kaze smiled charmingly, holding the toned brunette, wearing torn, yellow underwear by the waist, "Give me a moment, love."

The brunette blushed furiously, seeing the absurdly attractive teen holding her, wet and half-naked. It wasn't a time to flirt, yet his smile and charming tone said otherwise! It was overwhelming!

"And you... escaped wounds entirely." He muttered, looking at a man to the west, "I supposed it's enough to be in the water during this."

Kaze turned to the woman with a gentle expression. "Close your eyes, and don't open them. You've experienced enough today and don't need to see this."

While his tone and expressions were gentle, she could tell that he was being serious. So she closed her eyes, buried herself in his shoulder, and hugged him.

Evalyn watched the brunette coldly from her ice stage. However, when she saw a blinding golden sphere develop in his hand, she immediately understood what was happening. "I'm not sure if I want to watch this."

She turned to her soldiers on the beach and then to the water. "I must never show weakness."

Seeing she had prepared, the emperor lobbed the golden ball into the water.

It sent a golden ripple for miles across the ocean when it touched. While it was a magical sight, Evalyn and the soldiers froze in fear, seeing what was below the water.

Thousands of shadows cut across the ocean toward the glowing sphere. At a glance, everyone could tell they were lucky to swim so close inland!

Barracudas were the size of sharks, and sharks were the size of whales. Every type of predatory fish imaginable was ten times its normal size and swam at full speed toward the golden light.

The sight traumatized everyone instantly, including Evalyn. She took slow steps back to an acceptable range, turned around, and walked back to the shore with a stoic expression.

Once on shore, she turned around again and seized a second time. This time, it wasn't the shadows that made her shut down—it was the boiling ocean.

Thousands of massive, predatory fish fought each other to get to the ball of Soul Qi, ripping each other to shreds. The violent waves crashed to the surface all around the area, making the ocean boil with blood. It was a terrifying sight.

No one had it worse than the man still in the ocean. He had survived without injury but was now on ground level to see the feeding frenzy unfold. The brutal sight triggered his fight-or-flight response, and he flew across the water to the shore again.

"W-What's happening?" The brunette stuttered, shaking while hugging the emperor.

"It's nothing if you allow it be, Alex." Kaze said calmly, "Now keep your eyes shut; we'll be at the shore soon."

While it would usually be disturbing for someone she's never seen or heard about to know her name, his tranquil confidence eased her mind.

"O-Okay." Alex gulped nervously, closing her eyes tighter.

Kaze flew over the feeding frenzy and waited. A massive great white, the size of an orca whale, pushed past the blood bath and swallowed the golden orb.

The ocean darkened, showing only the angelic image of a golden whale-sized shark. It only lasted for a minute because the overload of Spirit Qi caused it to rupture.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Before the blast, he erected a sound and spatial barrier to prevent the noise from causing Alex to panic. Moreover, he would die before letting blood-stricken ocean water drench him voluntarily!

The people on the shore didn't know he had a barrier. So all they saw was the emperor, holding Alex, getting engulfed in a volcano-like eruption of red water 200 feet high.

While the soldiers were terrified to see the water go up, they were far more terrified to see it stay up!

The blood in the air circled the emperor like a slow cyclone. As it moved, more blood in the water got sucked into it, incorporating the blood of countless dead creatures.

After the water became clear of blood, thousands of fish stopped moving for a moment, perplexed and terrified. However, one shark saw the opening and shot at Soul Qi, leading to another race.

When the frenzy continued, the blood cyclone solidified into thousands of blood harpoons.

"Tears of the Fallen." Kaze whispered, opening his eyes fiercely.

A crimson meteor shower crashed from the heavens, shooting through the ocean.

The sight left the soldiers staggered, lost in awe. Since the Soul Qi illuminated the ocean, they could see the spears shoot hundreds of meters below, skewering predatory fish of all sizes. It was a brutal sight.

Next, he closed his eyes and felt the presence of the ocean. "Soul Transconfiguration: Reap."

An explosion of golden light swept across the ocean, making his flying body look like Archangel Michael, descending from the heavens and punishing depraved monsters with their own blood.

​ It was a biblical punishment fit for the rapture.

"[Crimson Vortex]." Kaze whispered, visualizing the blueprint for a technique, "Let's feed our tempering treasure first. There isn't much time for it to mature."

A dark crimson sphere developed above the water and spun at intense speeds, creating a whirlpool. Blood shot toward the sphere like a magnet, attracting the harpoons lodged in the fish and dragging the fish to the top with them.

As massive sharks, tigerfish, eels, barracudas, and billfish hit the surface, the emperor waved his hand. A ring on his finger radiated golden light, and the fish disappeared, creating a small whirlpool.

Fifty miles away, a golden barrier around the blood lake radiated with golden runes, waking up a plant.

A man saw the light with wheezing eyes, wrapped in a net of tendrils. His entire body was mangled, but the Grave Robber wrapped his wounds to prevent bleeding. Now it was just leeching him dry as a Soul Qi factory, constantly allowing him to heal.

The name Grave Robber came from the plant growing on blood-soaked battlefields, preventing the extraction of fallen comrades. Those who fell victim to the plant also found themselves incapable of death for long periods. Therefore, the dead and the living were denied graves.

Such was the nature of the most hated plant in the cultivator world.

Renton gasped, seeing the light, hoping Kaze had returned to put him out of his misery.

Unfortunately, thousands of gallons of blood crashed into the lake, followed by massive Soul-Qi-rich fish. The tendrils immediately let go of the man, letting him drown under the new blood.

A few miles from that location, another barrier lit up above the sanctuary, making Kiera, Kylie, Jake, Veronica, Sage, and Martha stop cultivating by the lake.

"Look out!" Kiera yelled, shooting up from her position and running away.

Not a moment later, hundreds of massive fish crashed into the small lake.

The soaked cabinet members turned to the lake with the fluidity of rusted cogs.

"OH, HELL NO!" Kiera screamed, hair and clothing soaked with lake water and fish slime.

Jake and Veronica shuddered in horror. Just when their adorable princess moved from manic to mellow and slightly melancholy, the sky opened up and rained down death fish. Now she was back in murder mode, and they prayed it wouldn't get directed at them.