The eastern sea gleamed like crystal under the sunlight. A flying boat slowly flew across its boundless surface.

“Long Chen, what’s going on? How have we not encountered any powerful sea demons in two days?” Meng Qi gently brushed back some strands of hair that had been blown astray by the wind.

“It’s probably the calm before the storm. It means a huge beast tide is about to erupt.” Long Chen’s expression was a bit grave.

According to past records, each time the beast tide occurred, the sea demons would enter a quiet state as if they were preparing their strength.

After flying for so long, they had essentially reached the edges of the deep sea. According to reason, despite that state of calm, there should still be sea demons present. However, things were frighteningly calm.

“Boss, why does the beast tide even occur? I still don’t understand, what’s the point of this periodic attack?” asked Gu Yang.

“To put it simply, it’s a method of weeding out the weak. The Martial Heaven Sea-Ring is controlled by the sea demons, and in the depths of the sea, no one dares to provoke them. Even the continent’s peak experts are intimidated by them. As for the sea demons we’re killing, they’re just inferior members of the sea demon race. Their bloodline is impure, and the ninth rank is their limit. Only sea demons that can reach the tenth rank and above are true members of the sea demon race. Those who came with me to the Central Plains, you must still remember that we encountered a tenth rank sea demon on the way. They are the true leaders of the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring.

“Just like the continent, the sea is also a land of cultivation. But there are just too many sea demons, and when the numbers reach a certain level, it affects the pure-blooded sea demons’ cultivation as well. The beast tide is caused by the leaders of the sea demons who want to see the numbers go down,” said Long Chen.

This secret was actually something only a few people knew. The Xuan Master had told him so he would be prepared.

“Heavens, they can control such a huge army of sea demons? Then couldn’t they easily exterminate all human cultivators?” cried Gu Yang.

“It’s not that exaggerated. After all, they’re still beasts. They don’t know alchemy, forging, formations, etc. Once they come onto the land, experts will kill them eventually. They can only run rampant in the sea.

“The reason they cause beast tides is to suppress the number of sea demons. It’s through this balance that the number of sea demons stays low enough that the spiritual qi in the sea doesn’t grow thin. That would affect the true experts of the sea demon race.

“This is also why they will always put out some signs that the beast tide is about to start, so that the human race can prepare. It’s just a game of survival of the fittest. It’s not a bad thing for humans or sea demons.

“The sea demon race is using human cultivators to eliminate a portion of their wasted resources. As for human cultivators, they use this battlefield to temper their disciples, as well as gathering Neidans.

“This is also why the Martial Heaven Alliance forbids King experts from going hunting in the sea. They’re afraid they might kill some pure-blooded descendants of the sea demons. That would draw out the true leaders of the sea demon race, and then a huge battle would definitely erupt.”

As Long Chen explained, he scattered some medicinal powders he had previously refined into the sea. These powders also contained the blood of some of Meng Qi’s Magical Beasts.

Sea demons were very sensitive to Magical Beast’s blood. With Long Chen’s powders, their scent was magnified.

In just an incense stick’s worth of time, the sea began to surge, and countless huge figures charged over.

“Ninth rank sea demons!” Wilde was the first to charge out with delight. He directly summoned his Barbarian Blood Bronze Body and swung his club, blasting the first monster fish’s head apart.

At the same time, a bowl in his hand released a ray of light that drew the monster fish inside. Wilde directly swallowed it.

The others found that surprising and funny. Wilde was actually filled with such urgency because of hunger. They all went out to kill the sea demons.

Eighth rank sea demons were no longer useful to them, but ninth rank sea demons were treasures. Their corpses could be sold for money, and their Neidans were exceptionally valuable.

Long Chen’s bait was drawing over more and more ninth rank sea demons. Now that the Dragonblood Legion had all advanced to Foundation Forging, killing these ninth rank sea demons wasn’t at all difficult.

The sea was quickly dyed red with the blood of the sea demons. The scent of that blood drew over more sea demons, and huge waves began to surge.

Long Chen had the flying boat float over the battlefield. He looked at the intense battle below. Wilde was killing and eating them one by one. In just a bit, he killed dozens of them but still wasn’t full.

“Long Chen, what are you thinking about?” Seeing Long Chen frowning in thought, Meng Qi walked over.

“Have you noticed? The blood of these ninth rank sea demons, the energy within it quickly dissipates in the sea,” said Long Chen.

“Isn’t that obvious? When blood enters the sea, the sea will absorb it,” said Meng Qi with a teasing smile.

Long Chen shook his head. “That’s not what I was talking about. I’m thinking, the sea demons are using the hands of humans to eliminate their weak members. Then is our cultivation world also the same? Is there also a large hand pushing us forward?”

“I… I didn’t think of that.” Meng Qi was caught off-guard, never having considered such a situation.

Long Chen mulled over this possibility. In the Immemorial Pathway, he had gone to the depths of it with the Eastern Wasteland Bell. There, he had seen an altar with a huge skull.

Although the Eastern Wasteland Bell had refused to answer his questions, he still felt that the Immemorial Pathway might very likely be the same as the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring. It was being manipulated by someone.

If it was possible that the Immemorial Path was being controlled, then what about the Martial Heaven Continent? If there really was someone secretly directing the Martial Heaven Continent, what kind of existence did they have to be? A god?

“Cloud, come back! Don’t get greedy!” Meng Qi was distracted by her talk with Long Chen, and in that moment, Cloud had secretly eaten an eighth rank sea demon. But Meng Qi had still caught it.

Long Chen shook his head. This kind of problem wasn’t one he should be pondering. Just the Central Plains was already so enormous. He would find the truth sooner or later.

“Meng Qi, just let Cloud eat. Its innate deficiency is essentially fixed, and there are no problems with its body now. When we get back, I’ll refine a pill to completely make up for any slight deficiency problem there still is,” said Long Chen.

The Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow looked incredibly pitiful. It was like a starving child How could they not let it eat?

Cloud immediately let out a bird cry and charged into the battlefield.

“You imp, you only know how to play good cop.” Meng Qi rolled her eyes at Long Chen. But she didn’t order Cloud back.

Under her meticulous care, there was already no problem with Cloud’s body. Its innate deficiency was already made up for. But Meng Qi was a cautious and meticulous person, and she was afraid of any possible accidents. And so she didn’t let Cloud eat too much.

As for Long Chen, he didn’t think the problem was too big. Each time, Cloud would put on such a pitiful appearance. Cloud was very smart, and as soon as Long Chen spoke, it flew off. It knew Meng Qi wouldn’t refuse Long Chen.

“Hey, that’s a ninth rank sea demon!” cried Meng Qi as she saw a ninth rank sea demon’s corpse rapidly shrinking and flying toward Cloud’s mouth.

“Just leave it. Meng Qi, don’t worry so much. Cloud is an ancient species with its own inheritance. If there really was danger, it would sense it itself. By constantly restricting it and not letting it act on instinct, you’ll end up restricting its cultivation base,” persuaded Long Chen.

“Fine, I admit I was just too concerned.” Meng Qi thought about it for a while and bitterly smiled.

Long Chen held her hand. “It’s because you promised Cloud’s mother that you are feeling so much pressure. But in reality, you aren’t a god, and you don’t know what will happen in the future. Let Cloud be.”

Meng Qi understood what he was saying. She cared too much about Cloud, and pampering it wasn’t necessarily a good thing. It would be better if Cloud was given more room to grow.

After devouring a ninth rank sea demon, Cloud’s rainbow colors lit up, and a powerful aura erupted. Cloud’s body rapidly grew, and it instantly advanced to the seventh rank.

Meng Qi was startled. Cloud was truly worthy of being a Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow. That powerful ninth rank sea demon was instantly digested as soon as it entered its stomach.

Furthermore, its aura was still very stable. There wasn’t the slightest weakening or sign of an empty cultivation base. This meant that Cloud really didn’t need to be worried about so much and could grow on its own.

Seeing this, Meng Qi sighed with relief. At the same time, she felt slightly ashamed. If Long Chen hadn’t persuaded her, she would have inhibited Cloud’s growth.

After advancing to the seventh rank, Cloud suddenly let out a heaven-shaking cry and shot toward a ninth rank sea demon.

Meng Qi jumped in fright as Cloud was still only at the seventh rank. She had just formed a hand seal when she was stopped by Long Chen.

“Sometimes, trust is the best encouragement.”

BOOM!

That bull-headed fish-bodied ninth rank sea demon unleashed two rays of bright light at Cloud.

This was its full-strength attack, causing Meng Qi to turn pale. But when that light was about to strike, Cloud spread its feathers and vanished.

When Cloud reappeared, it was right in front of the ninth rank sea demon. It opened its mouth, and an azure thread of light shot out.

The thread of light pierced straight through the ninth rank sea demon’s head, instantly killing it. Then its corpse was pulled into Cloud’s stomach.

At this moment, a dozen ninth rank sea demons had surrounded Cloud. It simply flapped its wings, turning into a rainbow-colored light that vanished into the clouds.