Prime Originator

Somewhere several hundred miles east of the Human Domain, a beautiful floating island hun in the high skies of the Neutral Zone. 

However, no one could marvel at its beauty as it was situated in a place that cannot be seen by the rest of the world. 

At the same time, it was equipped with a near-invisible stealth ability encompassing the entire floating island like a protective barrier.

On the beautiful floating island, a tower-like golden temple stood out from the rest of the exquisitely designed infrastructure that surrounds it. 

Inside of the golden temple, an old man stroked his long dragon beard while in deep thoughts after using an ancient mirror-shaped artifact to peer into distant places on the surface.

"Interesting... I didn't expect this young man's senses to be so sharp as to sense my gaze from so far away..." the dragon-beard old man muttered on the top floor of the golden temple. 

The so-called golden temple was an old observatory that was used in the past by the ancient civilization. But now, it was treated as a holy temple in which only the strongest of humans in the Human Domain can gather and stay.

"Old Kaiser, it's time to switch! It's my turn to use the Celestial Mirror of Omniscience," another old man suddenly spouted upon arriving.

Old Kaiser gave the old man glance for a moment before he nodded. Before he moved away from the big artifact, he swiped his hand and erased his search history. 

"Here you go," Old Kaiser casually responded before stepping away, making room for the other old man to use the ancient artifact.

"Hoh? You removed the search history? Why did you do such a thing, hmm? What are you hiding, Old Kaiser?" 

"Nothing you to need to be concerned about," Old Kaiser spouted before adding, "On the other hand, it seems like your kingdom will be overrun soon if you don't lend your help, Old Thunder."

"Kek, are you trying to send me off? Nice try. Even without any of us intervening, the Geyser Kingdom will do just fine with the Sea Emperor around," Old Thunder stated calmly. 

"Those little fishes will never prevail with their meager strengths. The Geyser Kingdom's might is simply that strong."

"Complacency will be one's undoing." Old Kaiser shook his head as he differed in opinion, "The Boundless Sea is vast and mostly unexplored territory. Who can say there isn't any strong sea monster out there?"

"With the coming of the Cataclysm, it is hard to guess what changes it will bring to the creatures of the sea."

"I suppose what you said makes some sense. But that is not enough to convince me to change my opinion."

Old Thunder stated firmly before adding, "The sea monsters might be getting stronger, so is our human race."

"Since you have said that much, I won't try to persuade you to change your way of thinking further," Old Kaiser said with a shake of his head. 

With each passing day, more sections of the Boundless Sea are explored, and more treasures and ancient heritage of the past are uncovered one after the other.

While this was a good thing, they were also encroaching on the territory of potentially frightening sea monsters that rule those waters. 

"Good." Old Thunder nodded. 

Shortly after, Old Thunder rubbed the ancient mirror and inserted his spiritual sense to use the Celestial Mirror of Omniscience and peer into location within the Human Domain.

The Celestial Mirror of Omniscience was like a gateway to the mirror world. By projecting one's spiritual sense into the other side of the mirror, one would feel like they have been teleported into the selected area, allowing them to see everything happening as if they were there in person.

The destination choice of Old Thunder was a region that belonged to one of the lords in the Geyser Kingdom. 

"In my honest opinion, the emergence of the Demon Worshippers is a greater problem to be concerned about. This force had suddenly appeared throughout not only the Human Domain but even the Wildlands."

"Oh?" Old Kaiser paused his steps as he was leaving before turning around to say, "Well, you're not wrong there. I also agree." 

"We don't have a single piece of useful information of these Demon Worshippers such as their strengths, their numbers, or even their purpose. Nothing. We don't know anything."

"That's right. If they are truly minions of demons, we must destroy them at all costs and not give them a chance to grow," Old Thunder nodded. 

"Demons has always been the bane of all life—or at least, that is how they are portrayed throughout history."

"They sow chaos and kill everywhere they go. If one is discovered, we must eliminate them immediately," Old Thunder stated firmly." 

"Un." Old Kaiser nodded before he suggested, "Since you have said as such, why not leave the Celestial Mirror of Omniscience to me and just go down to the surface to hunt them all?"

"F*ck off. The Geyser Kingdom already has able people carrying out the investigation," Old Thunder snorted with rolled eyes. 

Old Kaiser simply has no shame for consistently trying to make him give up his observation time.

...

In the Geyser Kingdom's eastern waterfront, battles with the sea monsters are consistently fought off the coast. 

Military camps and outposts were set up on offshore islands. 

The kingdom's soldiers were permanently stationed to slay the sea monsters in a joint-cooperative relationship with the disciples of the Grand Ocean Palace. 

In many ways, the Geyser Kingdom shared a delicate relationship with the sea monsters.

The sea monsters were not only the primary source of sustenance for the people of the Geyser Kingdom, but they are also practice targets for people to temper themselves through battle. 

At that moment, a group of Grand Ocean Palace Disciples could be seen fighting the sea monsters on one of the thousand islands spanning across the eastern sea. 

Puchi!

The Tier-3 Starfire Sword of a female disciple pierced straight through the vital organ of a 9-star level sea monster before it erupted into flames and died on the spot. 

With a strong flick of the female disciple's wrist, the blood was removed from her red sword.

Shortly after, the female disciple rejoined the other 4 fellow disciples to finish off the remaining 9-star level sea monsters that left the advantage of its waters to hunt humans.

The 4 fellow disciples of Grand Ocean Palace all used water-elemental abilities in their attacks. It was only the female disciple who wielded a sword of fire to fight. 

"Once we finish off these last four Sea Crawlers, we can bring their bodies back and finish off the mission!" The sword-wielding female disciple spoke. 

"Yes, senior disciple-sister Lina!"

"Ahh, I can't wait to take a bath in hot water after this!"

The two junior disciple-sisters chimed while the other two junior disciple-brothers responded with their actions, killing the 9-star level Sea Crawlers faster.

Swish~!

Lina quickly hacked out with her Tier-3 Starfire Sword from behind a 9-star level Sea Crawler and directly sliced off its head. 

Shortly after, the other 3 9-star level Sea Crawlers were also cleaned up by Lina's junior-disciple brothers and sisters. 

"Great! We're finally done!"

"Mm, mm! That went unexpectedly well!" 

The junior disciple-sisters exclaimed excitedly at the completion of their 9-star mission to hunt 20 9-star level sea monsters. 

"Of course, it did! Who do you think we have in our team?!" One of the two junior disciple-brothers finally spoke. 

Lina waved her hand and collected the bodies of the 9-star level sea monsters into her interspatial ring while the other junior disciple-brother watched with envy.

"Sigh! I wonder when I will be lucky enough to own an interspatial tool of my own? The convenience is unimaginable!" The junior disciple-brother sighed. 

"If you're lucky enough to become the disciple of the Venerable Pill Master like senior disciple-sister Lina, you might also receive an interspatial ring as a gift!" A junior disciple-sister spoke optimistically. 

However, her words only served to make the junior disciple-brother even more depressed. 

"How is that even possible? Senior disciple-sister Lina was chosen because she has a rare wood-elemental ability... But, me? I have a water-elemental ability!"

The junior disciple-brother complained before continuing, "Ahh, it's so frustrating! I was scolded simply for seeking apprenticeship from the Venerable Pill Master!"

"Hahaha, I remember! At that time, the Venerable Pill Master barked, what do I need water-element aligned disciples for?! Do you want to drown my herbs or make herbal soup out of them?! Hahaha!" 

One of the junior disciple-sisters laughed, causing the junior disciple-brother's expression to wince painfully in recollection of the memory. 

"Ahh, don't remind me of the Venerable Pill Master's word for word! I could die from embarrassment!" The junior disciple-brother complained. 

"Hahaha!" The other junior disciple-brother laughed and patted him in the shoulder, "It's your own fault for not checking the Venerable Pill Master's requirement before seeking apprenticeship from him."

"Alright, alright. Enough chit-chat. Let us wrap up and head back," Lina Greene stated before warning, "The Boundless Sea is much more dangerous at night."

"Mm, mm!" One of the junior disciple-sister nodded in agreement and said, "I heard that the chances of encountering Early-rank 1 Transcendent level sea monsters in a 9-star level zone increase a lot at night!"

None of them were Transcendents. If Early-rank 1 Transcendent Sea Monsters appeared, they would not be able to win. Not only that, they might even get wiped out!

They were all 9-star Ranked Awakeners, but the difference to Transcendents was huge!

"The winds are blowing stronger. Let us leave now."

"Yes, senior disciple-sister Lina!"