Thousands of Spirit Beasts charged straight at the Black Masks’ longboats, creating a disruption in the water, unlike anything that they’d felt before. Many Brahmins who supervised the whole operation instantly used the Allfather’s mana in their masks to direct the oceanic Spirit Beast horde that they had to create a desperate line of defence. Evidently, they hadn’t prepared for the Lantis Republic to take a page out of their playbook. The Fleet Admiral, a champion of a thousand naval battles, could sense the unease in the Black Masks’ commanders just by their formation. Longboats carrying essential cargo were now splitting off from the group, guarded by one or two defensive ships. They knew that an extended battle could only end in one result… Absolute decimation by the Lantis Navy.

“Fire the cannons!!!” The Fleet Admiral barked at his subordinates, who continued to fire flares up high in the sky.

The Captains of each one of the warships all dropped their binoculars and began the procedure to begin the bombardment. Everything was oiled down to perfection. From the movements of the seamen to the coordination by the officers on deck. In no time at all, the warships had begun firing right at the heart of the Black Masks’ fleet.

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! BOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! BOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Ashes flew from some of the longboats, created devastating downdraft currents and colossal steam and smoke. Mixed within the mayhem, a dozen mindless Dalits flew up into the skies. Their bodies had been dismembered by the blast generated by the Lantis Republic’s cannons, and burning flesh rained down onto the ocean. Some regular Shudras attempted to block those deadly attacks using their spiritual abilities, but they were all to no avail. The Lantis Navy possessed the world’s best naval weaponry, at least above the ocean. There was no way that the Black Masks’ longboats could compare.

Shin’s skin contracted, and his face turned pale green. Shin could never get used to seeing the terrors of war. Although he knew that it was necessary, seeing humans being mauled was never an easy sight.

‘That’s why we have to end the Allfather!!!’ Shin cursed the man that brought this much suffering into their lives. Flames riddled the snowy ocean with intense amber, as the sound of detonations covered the chilling cries of the winter winds. The Lantis Navy had claimed first blood, a stark difference from the first naval battle they had with the Black Masks.

However, what comes around goes around. The Black Masks weren’t just going to sit back and let their precious cargo be annihilated, particularly after pouring this much resources into destroying the Nineteenth Artificial Island. A dark shadow emerged from the central ship of the Black Masks’ fleet and claimed the skies on his own. The cannonballs were promptly halted from advancing any further as thousands of lightning bolts graced down from the heavens, basically striking anything that dared to move before the fleet.

Shin’s summoned Spirit Beasts all halted their advance. There was something deep within warning them that if they crossed just a single metre more, the dastardly thunder that killed so many of their brethren would rain down once more. Thus, the only thing that Shin and the beast horde could do was to watch the flying silhouette up high in the sky.

Donned in full black chainmail, the figure looked just as intimidating as its immense shape. Shin estimated that the man was at least two metres tall and had muscles as dense as a slab of elk meat. Beautiful lightning coils circled all around the man, and a faint black fog emerged from his mask. Speaking of which, unlike the normal Shudras that manned the longboats, the dark figure boasted a far more intricate mask. A radiant golden tree, with petals seemingly falling out from its interior, continued to give the shadowy figure a sense of mystique, far surpassing any other Black Masks that lay underneath him.

“A Spirit Venerate Brahmin!” Vice-Admiral Heigui exclaimed. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a Brahmin in the Spirit Venerate realm...”

“Yeah, the Black Masks are really multiplying,” Shin replied, his voice as tired as can be. Dark memories began to surface, of the day that the crimson rose bloomed. A significant reason why the Frie Clan fell and why Shin’s world was turned upside down was due to the contributions of Brahmin Malgen. A Spirit Emperor that was recruited by the Black Masks, Brahmin Malgen had continued his reign of terror, fighting under the flag of the Allfather. Shin was confident that many other powerhouses felt the same.

Be it Spirit Practitioners, Spirit Emperors or even the mighty Spirit Venerates, they all had a passive desire to just say… ‘Fuck society, let’s watch the world burn!’ They may have been forced into the dark side by their obscene desires that couldn’t be suppressed. Or it may have been circumstances that had pushed them to that stage. However, one thing was for sure. The Black Masks were growing… And they were growing fast.

The Spirit Venerate raised his right hand, and a completely empty glass bottle appeared out of nowhere. The lightning coils that surrounded him were being condensed rapidly. A thousand became a hundred. A hundred became ten. Until finally, one singular lightning bolt formed, entering the empty bottle that lay before it.

“Lightning in a bottle!” Vice-Admiral Heigui’s eyes bulged out after witnessing the Spirit Venerate’s Spirit. “It’s the Ghost Corsair!!!”

Just as his name suggests, the Ghost Corsair was once a pirate that roamed the oceans of the world, particularly the strait of the Lantis Sea. In his prime, the man was able to pillage countless of merchant ships and evade capture from the most professional navies the world has ever seen. That’s how the Ghost Corsair got his infamous moniker. In the end, the Lantis Navy decided that enough was enough and they sent a full Admiral’s fleet just to capture the Ghost Corsair.

The battle that ensued was legendary, a tale that words couldn’t do justice. Even though his pirate crew was surrounded by over a dozen warships, the Captain managed to sink over half of them, heavily injuring some of the best naval officers the Lantis Republic had to offer. However, in the end, the constant pressure that the Admiral had placed onto the Ghost Corsair was too much… In a battle that lasted for seven days and seven nights, the legendary pirate finally met his end and was sunk to the bottom of the ocean with his faithful crew.

“He actually survived?” The Fleet Admiral looked up at the dark figure that was shrouded in black armour. A hundred years ago, the Ghost Corsair was a Spirit Emperor that had reigned terror upon the Lantis Sea. The Lantis Republic had thought that the menace had long been destroyed and yet, here he was. Standing tall and even more powerful than before.

“No matter,” the Fleet Admiral gritted his teeth. “We’d sunk you once, we can do it again!!!”

Not a single warship was capable of fighting against the Ghost Corsair in open battle. A Spirit Venerate was just that powerful of an existence. Thus, the Fleet Admiral turned to one of his Admirals and barked: “Qigang, go and play around with him.”

“Yes, sir!!!” Admiral Su Qigang saluted his superior with a click to his boots. His entire being faded into a grey mist and reappeared up in the air. A bronze staff, decorated with images of monkeys on each end, appeared right between his two open palms. Ethereal mist dropped down from the centre of his Spirit as the Wind-Elements danced around in complete euphoria.

‘A Spirit Venerate’s mana is always a treat for the atmosphere,’ Shin thought as he watched Admiral Su Qigang’s pole create a small whirlwind that continued to stir the turbulent weather.

“A legendary pirate that climbed out from Davy Jones’ locker?” The Admiral scoffed. The Brahmin didn’t answer the man’s taunt, though. Instead, it looked at the Admiral with an indifference that could compare to how a human would look at an ant. It was as if the Admiral was utterly worthless in the Ghost Corsair’s eyes.

And that… tickled Admiral Su Qigang the wrong way. “You should have remained buried under the ocean!!!” Air currents akin to that of crescent blades, leapt out the ends of the Admiral’s staff, generating a faux tempest. Winds continued to slice through the crowds, and billions of currents stirred the oceans beneath the Spirit Venerates. Neither the Black Masks nor the Lantis Navy dared to come in between the fight of the giants. Compared to the powerhouses that were fighting it out, their ships were far too weak.

The Ghost Corsair watched as grey walls of wind edged closer to his body. A cutlass made out of pure mithril and powered by a mana-dense aether crystal appeared on his left hand. The vibrant lightning in his right hand was tempted to move out of the bottle and decimate the winds that dared to approach its master. Fortunately, it didn’t have to.

VVVVSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

A tidal wave the size of Frie Mountain rose between the Ghost Corsair and the Admiral. Crashing into one another, the two natural disasters cancelled each other out, leaving a deluge of pure oceanic water. Su Qigang changed his stance and focused his staff downwards. The Ghost Corsair didn’t have any water-related abilities, which could only mean one thing…

“Who’s that?!” The Admiral cried. Wearing the same type of armour that the Ghost Admiral had, one other Brahmin stood at the centre of the ocean, his feet gently caressing the surface of the water. Ripples spread out from the base of his soles and the black Killer Whale that surrounded him bared its deadly fangs for all to see.

Shin may not recognise the man, but many in the Navy, particularly those in the upper ranks, had their jaws dropped until their thighs.

“Meijing Xuenkai!!!” The Fleet Admiral screamed.

Like the Ghost Corsair, Meijing Xuenkai was a criminal that had been once wanted in the Lantis Republic. Unlike the Ghost Corsair, however, the man was a menace that had been bred from the inside. Born and raised in the Meijing Clan, one of the Eight Clans of Water, Meijing Xuenkai grew up as a nobleman. Even though he’d awakened a Spirit other than the Meijing Clan’s Enigmatic Narwhal, the man still got his fair shake. Every single benefit that a prominent talent would receive, Meijing Xuenkai got.

Alas, greed was a dangerous thing. Meijing Xuenkai lusted over the resources allocated towards the Meijing Clan’s heir and sought to take it for himself. He was desperate to become a Spirit Saint and assumed that once he raided the Meijing Clan of its resources, he would become the strongest being in the world.

Meijing Xuenkai’s dastardly actions had caused the deaths of one Spirit Venerate and two Spirit Emperors from the Meijing Clan, a tragedy that the glorious clan had yet to recover from. Naturally, the Lantis Republic couldn’t let the incident just slide. They placed the fugitive on their most wanted list and hunted him down throughout the years.

It was a long and arduous journey, but in the end, they managed to track him down about thirty years ago and had heavily injured him to the point of death. Even though the man escaped once more, the Lantis Republic had believed that his cultivation was crippled. Thus, they struck him off the most wanted list. However… It looks that that was going to change.

“Kekeke, Su Qigang… Long time no see!” The felon chuckled with a sinister yet warm tone. It was as if he’d just visited a friend that he’d never seen in quite some time.

“Xuenkai!!!” The Admiral gritted his teeth, holding back the immense rage he had for the turncoat. He didn’t even want to call the Spirit Venerate by his surname. Qigang wouldn’t give him that luxury. “How dare you show your face again?!”

“If I didn’t show up, how would those bastards up top feel the effect of their actions?” The Spirit Venerate smiled, and his serpentine tongue spewed out words that triggered every high-ranking officer present. “Also, do you honestly think that you can go for the strongest Brahmin present without defeating me first? You underestimate the Black Masks far too much...”

“No, I don’t think so!” A third voice entered the fray as a colossal octopus head emerged from the oceans below. Meijing Xuenkai leapt back with his Killer Whale Spirit, dodging the incoming damage. Attached to the octopus head was an even bigger torso of a human body. A flurry of tentacles swung waywardly against the winter winds, as the world started to turn a little illusory.

“The Abominable Cthulhu… Admiral Zhangyu Ruogang, huh?” The former Meijing Clan Spirit Venerate accurately determined the newcomer’s identity.

An elderly man, draped in the familiar naval white uniform, crunched his face together into a scowl. “Xuenkai… You should have stayed hidden… It’s a pity...” The Abominable Cthulhu waved one of its hands, creating a giant shockwave that pushed all four Spirit Venerates away from the main battlefield. The Ghost Corsair charged up his cutlass with pure lightning energy while Meijing Xuenkai merged with his Killer Whale Spirit. Admiral Su Qigang willingly went with the flow and readied his staff with whirlwinds on each side.

Admiral Zhangyu Ruogang seemed to be calm, but his internal feelings were anything but. The oceans roared in a dance of lightning, thunder and storms. Tsunamis, cyclones… Natural disasters that occurred only once in a blue moon… They were all present now. Four Spirit Venerates tangled up in a deadlock… It really was a sight to behold.

“You have given up your life once… Mind doing it once more?”