Record of Ragnarok
"The Vidyadhara High Elder... Imbibitor Lunae? What kind of small fry is this?"
Awakened by the roaring waves on the screen, Poseidon opened his eyes and heard Blade's "enthusiastic" introduction. Still groggy from sleep, he assumed Imbibitor Lunae was some deity from a mysterious Eastern nation and let out a dismissive snort.
But soon, he sensed the strange atmosphere around him. His proud elder brother, Hades, sat upright, silent, his eyes showing a shock unseen in millennia. In stark contrast to the roaring tides, the gods' lounge fell into dead silence.
All their gazes were fixed on one person.
...What were they looking at?
Poseidon curiously raised his head, and in the next moment, his eyes met those of the Dragon High Elder in the sky—
The Dragon High Elder glanced sideways, a trace of the Ancient Sea's indigo flashing in his eyes. His piercing, radiant gaze seemed to cut through the screen, locking eyes with the gods.
Feeling that commanding aura and the chilling intensity in his eyes... Poseidon instinctively swallowed hard.
...This is the Dragon High Elder, another world's "Sea God"? He... he can't see me, right?
——
Poseidon suddenly felt an odd sensation. As if avoiding this gaze could prevent a battle. For the first time in ten thousand years, as the God of the Sea, he felt a strange relief at the thought of not having to fight this being in the ocean.
Unbeknownst even to himself, the Dragon High Elder had only shown a single glance, yet Poseidon instinctively summoned his Sea God's Trident, gripping it tightly and assuming a combat stance out of reflex.
"Tch, tch, jumping at shadows, huh?"
Buddha floated past Poseidon, letting out a slightly mocking chuckle.
Though Poseidon heard every word, as a Western god unfamiliar with the idioms of the mysterious Eastern nation, he coldly demanded, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Buddha turned with a grin, raising two thumbs and waving them in front of his glasses. "No offense, I mean... Sea God, you're awesome."
Meanwhile, in the Underwater Purgatory
Ao Qin, the Dragon King of the South Sea, stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out.
"Well, this..."
The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.
Ao Shun, who had just declared Dan Heng couldn't possibly be a Dragon High Elder, felt the sting of being proven wrong so quickly. He'd been so confident moments ago, only for the reversal to hit like a slap.
As fellow dragons, even through the screen, they could feel the overwhelming power surging from Dan Heng.
Forget the four Dragon Kings of the Seas combined—they wouldn't stand a chance. That gaze alone felt like it could hold back ten thousand heavenly soldiers. With such power, how could the Heavenly Court not fall?
"Hahaha! This is the true bearing and power of a Dragon High Elder!" Ao Guang, seeing this grand spectacle, was overjoyed. Though he knew Dan Heng was worlds apart from them, seeing a fellow dragon with such immense strength in another realm filled him with uncontainable joy.
"Indeed, even in another world, our dragon race is mighty! Hahaha—!"
——
["Heh, kid, you think the only hunters sneaking into the Xianzhou are us?"] Blade sneered at Yanqing.
["Ugh!" Yanqing gritted his teeth, summoning six flying swords that filled the sky with frost and snow. "If that's the case, I'll just have to take both you and him down and let the General decide your fate!"]
["I've heard of your infamy, Imbibitor Lunae. To think that, besides the Stellaron Hunters, another major criminal has infiltrated the Xianzhou..."]
["I have no intention of stirring conflict. I came to the Xianzhou only to ensure my friends' safety," Dan Heng said calmly, manipulating a black-and-white pearl in his hand. As the pearl's light shifted, the waters of Scalegorge Waterscape seemed to come alive, effortlessly blocking Yanqing's flying swords.]
[That was the Vidyadhara's sacred treasure, the symbol of the Dragon High Elder's identity—the Abyssal Pearl.]
["Mere excuses! You can explain yourself in the Shackling Prison!" Yanqing, refusing to listen, relentlessly drove his flying swords forward.]
[His stubbornness began to irritate Dan Heng. "...Get out of my way!"]
["Good, good, just like that!" Blade laughed meaningfully. "Imbibitor Lunae, you might never see your friends again... They're caught in a bitter battle as we speak."]
["Shush, you're not going anywhere either!" Yanqing flicked his finger, sending a flying sword at a tricky angle to interrupt Blade's taunts.]
["...Fine, let's add more fuel to the fire then. Kafka!"] Blade's excitement grew.]
["Hmm, Bladie, listen to me. Release the [Bindings]," Kafka's voice was like flipping a deadly switch. Blade ran his hand along the Shard Sword, his blood merging into the blade.]
["Now, let's begin!" A glint of madness flashed in Blade's eyes. "Other Shore... Oblivion!"]
[With a single slash, it was as if a sky full of spider lilies danced. Yanqing's countless sword energies, like meteors chasing the moon, were mostly swept away by Blade in an instant.]
——
"Whoa, this guy's got guts, huh? That fighting style's like he doesn't care about his life," Wang Ye and Zhang Chulan said, each slurping a bowl of Master Kang's braised beef noodles while watching the screen, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
"That Mara-Struck state..." Little Master Uncle frowned. Back when he and Senior Lu fought the Four Maniacs of Quanxing on Dragon Tiger Mountain, he'd fallen for their tricks. If he had abandoned guarding the Foot Jueyin Liver and Hand Shaoyin Heart meridians back then, he might've quickly descended into madness, his inner demons taking over.
Kafka's words were like a convenient switch, allowing Blade to abandon those meridians at will, falling into the Mara-Struck state where extreme madness and violence dominated his body and mind.
But in such a state, wasn't he most vulnerable to injury?
As Little Master Uncle pondered, he noticed on the screen that the few sword wounds on Blade's body were rapidly healing, his vitality surging, making him seem almost inexhaustible.
"This..."
No matter how many times he saw it, Zhang Lingyu found it absurd.
Zhang Chulan, on the other hand, had long accepted the Xianzhou people's outrageous physiology and was watching with relish. Seeing Blade deflect Yanqing's storm of sword energy with a single strike, his jaw dropped. "This... this is possible?"
"Heh, what's that?" Wang Ye scoffed. "You haven't met my master—Wudang's Daoist Yunlong. According to him... 'Sword energy is just a form of force.' Forget deflecting it with a sword—he could catch it barehanded!"