Before the words fell, Ao Xuan swung his left arm violently. His dragon claw tore through the seawater, and a mighty surge of water spiritual power condensed into a blue blade, slashing toward the black-scaled shark king.
The water blade moved with blinding speed, whistling sharply as it reached the shark king in an instant.
The black-scaled shark king's pupils contracted sharply. It frantically flapped its tail to dodge, but the blade grazed its side.
A hissing sound echoed. Its hard black scales shattered like paper, and blood instantly dyed the surrounding seawater red. The excruciating pain drew a shrill roar from its throat.
"Seeking death!" the black-armored sea turtle roared in anger at the sight. Its massive pincers, glowing with venomous light, smashed down at Ao Xuan.
Before the pincers could strike, a stench of poison filled the water, turning the seawater dark blue—clearly, the venom was extremely potent.
Ao Xuan stood his ground and growled lowly: "Dragon Roar!"
A sound wave erupted from his mouth, surging toward the sea turtle like a tangible tidal wave. This was a secret technique he had comprehended at Buzhou Mountain, infused with the innate dragon's prestige and the destructive power of wood-attribute vitality.
Struck by the sound wave, the sea turtle's colossal body trembled violently. Several spikes on its shell snapped off instantly, and it spat out a mouthful of black blood, its eyes growing unfocused. The demonic energy in its body was scattered by the sound wave, and even its soul suffered severe damage.
Qing He seized the opportunity. Countless emerald vines shot from her fingertips, coiling around the sea turtle's limbs like venomous snakes, binding it tightly.
The vines secreted a sticky sap that hissed as it touched the turtle's shell—actually corroding the hard surface.
Seeing its companions suffer successive defeats, fear flashed in the red-eyed octopus's eyes. But it still unleashed all its power, lashing out at Ao Xuan with dozens of tentacles at once. The suction cups on the tentacles sprayed black corrosive liquid, attempting to melt Ao Xuan completely.
Ao Xuan let out a cold laugh. He formed a seal with his right hand, and a dense golden light—Pangu's merit power—gushed from his palm.
The golden light transformed into a barrier in front of him. When the black corrosive liquid hit the barrier, it was instantly purified, leaving not a trace behind.
"Insects!" Ao Xuan's figure blurred, teleporting behind the red-eyed octopus. He swung his dragon claw with immense force, slamming it hard into the octopus's head.
A crisp crack sounded. The octopus's skull shattered, and its massive body went limp, sinking slowly to the seabed. Its tentacles twitched slightly, but it could no longer attack.
Having dealt with the octopus, Ao Xuan turned to the sea turtle bound by vines. By now, the turtle had regained some clarity, its eyes filled with terror as it looked at Ao Xuan like a god of death.
"S-Spare me! Immortal, spare me!" the sea turtle stammered.
"This junior is blind to your glory, Immortal. Little did I know you are the Green Dragon Great God... This junior is willing to submit to you, to guard the East China Sea for you—please spare my life!"
Ao Xuan stared down at it, his dragon eyes calm and unwavering. "In the Primordial World, it's survival of the fittest. You dared to attack me, so you must be prepared to perish body and soul."
As the words fell, Ao Xuan raised his dragon claw. Cyan-gold spiritual light condensed at its tip, then he slammed it down—piercing the sea turtle's shell directly and crushing its demon core.
The sea turtle let out a desperate wail. Its colossal body gradually lost all life, sinking to the seabed bound by the vines.
In the distance, the black-scaled shark king watched as the other two great demons fell. Terrified out of its wits, it turned to flee.
But Ao Xuan would not give it the chance. He flicked his fingertip, sending a water arrow shooting straight at the shark's hindbrain.
The black-scaled shark king's body stiffened, then fell motionless.
Having eliminated the three great demons, Ao Xuan retracted his dragon arm. The ferocious aura around him faded, and he returned to his gentle, steady self.
He looked at the lesser demons brought by the great demons—dozens of cuttlefish spirits and crab generals, trembling in the seawater, daring not to move an inch.
"Are you willing to submit to me and serve the Dragon Palace?" Ao Xuan's voice was calm.
How could the lesser demons refuse? They quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "We are willing to submit to you, Immortal! We will serve you with our lives!"
Ao Xuan nodded, waving his hand to collect the corpses of the black-armored sea turtle and the others. These bodies contained rich demonic energy and essence blood—perfect for refining pills to enhance his strength.
He turned to Qing He. "Qing He, these lesser demons are yours to command. First, have them clean the waters around the Dragon Palace, then familiarize themselves with the palace."
Qing He bowed respectfully. "Yes."
Ao Xuan walked to the front hall of the Dragon Palace, sitting on the dragon throne and gazing out at the deep East China Sea.
He knew that slaying the three great demons today was only the first step in establishing his foothold in the East China Sea.
According to the timeline, the Dragon-Han Great Tribulation was approaching. Luo Hou's demonic flames had already begun to spread. He must gather strength quickly and subdue more vassal forces to survive the catastrophe—and protect the dragon clan.
Pale blue spiritual light swirled around Ao Xuan's fingertips. A map of the East China Sea, condensed from seawater, floated before him. Countless glowing dots on the map represented the settlements of various clans in the East China Sea, and several dots flickering with dark red light marked the remaining forces of the three great demons.
"The old black turtle has occupied the bay for three hundred years, commanding three thousand black-armored turtle soldiers and skilled in deploying the 'Black Water Formation'," Ao Xuan murmured, tapping the map lightly.
"The Stone Jellyfish holds the coral reefs, able to summon poisonous mist mazes. A few years ago, it even devoured the red carp clan from the West China Sea. And the Yaksha King hides in the deep-sea rift, specializing in plundering spiritual veins from passing aquatic clans..."
Information about each clan appeared next to the dark red dots—collected and organized by the aquatic clans that had submitted to the Dragon Palace, under Qing He's orders.
"Until these remaining forces are eliminated, the East China Sea will never know peace."
Upon hearing this, Qing He stepped forward, her emerald eyes filled with determination. "Dao Lord, although the old black turtle's Black Water Formation is powerful, it fears the penetration of wood-attribute spiritual energy. The Stone Jellyfish's poisonous mist can be purified by innate water spiritual energy. The Yaksha King is fast, but the rift is narrow—if we divert seawater to flood it, he will have nowhere to run."
She continued, "A few days ago, I had the crab generals train five hundred 'Spiritual Wood Soldiers' and cultivated 'Miasma-Dispelling Flowers' in the spiritual garden. They are perfect for this suppression mission."
Ao Xuan looked up at her and smiled.
Since the East China Sea Dragon Palace was built, Qing He had taken the initiative to handle the palace's daily affairs—from arranging lesser demons to clean the waters and repair the palace, to counting spiritual vein outputs and allocating cultivation resources, and even training newly subdued aquatic soldiers.
Everything was managed in an orderly manner. Now, she could not only accurately analyze the weaknesses of each clan but also prepare countermeasures in advance—clearly, she had put great effort into both management and cultivation.
"Since you're fully prepared, we'll set out tomorrow," Ao Xuan said, dismissing the map. His cyan-gold robes fluttered slightly with the airflow. "Come with me. It will be a good opportunity to familiarize yourself with the combined techniques of water and wood attributes."
Early the next morning, a towering wave surged on the surface of the East China Sea. Ao Xuan stood atop the wave, the Green Dragon Reverse Scale Sword hanging at his waist. The water patterns on the sword resonated with the seawater, drawing water spiritual energy from all directions.
Qing He followed closely behind.
The two first headed for the bay. Having heard that Ao Xuan had killed the black-armored sea turtle, the old black turtle was already wary. When it saw Ao Xuan approaching in person, it immediately deployed the Black Water Formation to block him.
Countless black ice pillars rose from the sea surface in the formation, wrapped in black water poison, shooting toward Ao Xuan and Qing He.
"Dao Lord, watch me!" Qing He shouted softly, waving her Qing He Staff. A dense surge of wood-attribute spiritual energy gushed from her body.
When the energy touched the black ice pillars, it instantly transformed into emerald vines. The vines grew rapidly, coiling tightly around the ice pillars and releasing wood-attribute vitality to neutralize the poison.
The foundation of the Black Water Formation was eroded by the vines, and the old black turtle at the formation's core felt its qi and blood churning violently.
Seizing the opportunity, Ao Xuan raised his hand. A mighty surge of water spiritual power gushed from his palm, transforming into a cyan-gold dragon-shaped wave that smashed fiercely into the formation's core.
A crisp crack sounded. The Black Water Formation collapsed with a roar. The old black turtle was hit by the wave, a crack splitting its massive shell, and it spat out a mouthful of black blood. Defeated in a single strike, it quickly knelt and begged for mercy: "This junior knows his mistake! I am willing to submit to you, Dao Lord, and guard the bay for all eternity!"
Ao Xuan retracted his divine power, his voice cold. "If you truly wish to submit, you must abide by the Dragon Palace's rules. All aquatic clans in the East China Sea shall not fight privately or plunder. You must pay ten percent of your spiritual vein outputs on time. Those who violate these rules shall be executed without mercy!"
The old black turtle repeatedly agreed, leading its three thousand black-armored turtle soldiers to submit to the Dragon Palace.
In the following days, Ao Xuan and Qing He successively eliminated the Stone Jellyfish and the Yaksha King. The Stone Jellyfish's poisonous mist was dispelled by the Miasma-Dispelling Flowers, and Qing He trapped it with wood-attribute spiritual techniques.
The Yaksha King fled into the deep-sea rift, but Ao Xuan diverted a branch of the Nine-Turn Heavenly River to flood the rift, forcing him out before severely wounding him with a sword strike—ultimately making him submit.
In just half a month, all seventy-two great demonic forces in the East China Sea had submitted. Ao Xuan used the water Dao to deploy the "Green Dragon Sea-Suppressing Formation" across the East China Sea, with loyal forces such as the old black turtle and the crab generals guarding the formation's nodes.
He also issued a Decree in the name of the East China Sea Dragon Palace, clarifying the rights and obligations of each clan.
Several years later, the aquatic clans of the East China Sea thrived. At the request of his subordinates in the Dragon Palace, Ao Xuan accepted an honorary title: East Sea Dragon King