When Zhang Yuhe woke up, it was already afternoon.
"I slept so well," he said, rising from the bench and stretching.
"Let's see if anyone replied."
He logged into Skynet.
"Uh, here's what's going on…"
As soon as the interface loaded, Zhang Yuhe didn't even have time to check his earlier post before a large red-lettered announcement caught his attention—pinned at the top of Skynet's homepage.
[Announcement: Sea Region Ban]
Zhang Yuhe clicked to open it.
[Recently, in the East China Sea, a massive eight-clawed sea monster has appeared. The creature has been attacking passing personnel and ships. Multiple hunting operations organized by the alliance have failed. In order to eliminate the Kraken and restore peace to Blue Star, a peace bomb strike has been authorized. Until the operation concludes, please avoid the designated sea area.]
A nautical chart followed the message, outlining the restricted zone.
Zhang Yuhe stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"The Blue Star Immortal Cultivation Alliance is really this weak? A small Kraken and they're resorting to bombing? That's excessive."
From what he knew, the most advanced cultivator on Blue Star had only reached the Jindan realm. Demon beasts appearing on the planet were generally first-order creatures.
He often patrolled the major mountain ranges of Blue Star when offline but had never encountered particularly strong demon beasts.
Logically, the Alliance should have been capable of handling threats like these. So why were they failing?
A peace bomb?
Sure, the power of such a weapon was considerable—enough to take down a fourth-order beast, which was equivalent to a Yuanying (Nascent Soul) cultivator.
Anything below that wouldn't stand a chance against a direct hit.
"I guess I'll take care of it myself. Hopefully it's not too far."
Closing his eyes, Zhang Yuhe released his divine sense, sweeping toward the sea with all his might.
"There it is... a third-order pinnacle Kraken. No wonder they're struggling."
A third-order peak demon beast was equivalent to a Jindan Great Perfection cultivator. In the middle of the sea, the Alliance truly was outmatched.
Zhang Yuhe extended a single finger. A brilliant sword light tore through the sky, flashing across thousands of miles in an instant.
It struck the ocean like thunder, cleaving the sea in two. The force gouged a deep trench into the seafloor.
Moments later, the ocean slowly settled, and a massive eight-clawed Kraken, its body split cleanly in half, floated lifelessly to the surface.
"Let's see why this Kraken evolved so fast. It's only been a year, and it's nearly reached fourth order."
Zhang Yuhe rose gracefully, like an immortal taking flight, and soared toward the sea.
Soon, he reached the corpse—more than ten miles long. With a wave of his hand, a shimmering, crystal-like bead floated out of the Kraken's body.
"So that's it—a Spirit Bead. No wonder it advanced so quickly."
The Spirit Bead—also known as the Qi Pearl—was born from spiritual veins and was an extremely rare cultivation treasure. For low-level cultivators, it was like having an internal fountain of spiritual energy, greatly accelerating cultivation speed.
But for someone like Zhang Yuhe, already in the Divine Transformation realm, it was essentially useless—like chewing on chicken bones.
Still, the Kraken had been extraordinarily lucky, almost like a protagonist in a novel—finding a treasure and rocketing ahead in cultivation.
But no matter how high a mountain is, there's always one higher.
And Blue Star still had Zhang Yuhe.
If he hadn't intervened, this could have triggered a global beast rebellion.
…
After storing the Spirit Bead, Zhang Yuhe quickly returned home.
Meanwhile, in the conference room of the Wangjing Immortal Cultivation Alliance headquarters, the atmosphere was tense.
A massive map of Blue Star dominated the wall, and officials stood before it, speaking in hushed tones.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a resolute gaze strode in. He scanned the map and addressed the room.
"Has the base confirmed the target?"
A young man in a crisp uniform stood quickly. "Yes, President. The base just reported back—they've locked onto the Kraken. We're awaiting the order to launch the peace bomb."
The middle-aged man nodded, then addressed the room firmly.
"Prepare to move out. These beasts are extremely sensitive to danger. The bomb likely won't land a direct hit—it might only wound it. We may have to intervene ourselves."
He turned to leave, leading the others.
Just then, a technician in white called out.
"Wait! Look at this!"
Everyone turned as the technician switched screens. The Blue Star map transitioned to a live satellite photo.
What they saw left them speechless.
There, clear as day, the enormous Kraken had already been split in two, its corpse drifting peacefully in the sea.
"What…? It's dead?"
"Who did this?"
They stared at each other, dumbfounded.
The middle-aged man studied the image for a long moment before speaking. "Do we have more satellite footage?"
"Yes," the technician replied. "To track the Kraken, we had multiple satellites recording. The entire encounter was captured."
He began piecing the footage together.
As the images played, the room fell into stunned silence.
A single sword light had slashed from the east, cleaving the sea and the Kraken in one instant.
A lone figure then appeared above the water, hovered briefly, retrieved something from the Kraken's body, and vanished.
But the figure was too blurry. No matter how much the technician enhanced the image, the identity remained obscured.
"What cultivation level is this?"
"I don't know…"
"I've seen Nascent Soul cultivators fight in Yufantian. None had this kind of presence."
"Is it a Divine Transformation cultivator?"
"Impossible. It's only been a year since Yufantian opened. No one should have reached that level yet."
"Then how do you explain this? Could it be… an ancient immortal living on Blue Star?"
"No way. After the spiritual revival, we combed the planet. No trace of ancient immortals."
The middle-aged man listened to the discussion, still staring at the image. After a long silence, he said slowly:
"A Divine Transformation cultivator wouldn't be this powerful. I've seen one fight before."
"Above Divine Transformation, then? That's not possible…"
The room buzzed with speculation, but no one had a definitive answer.
Even after centuries in Yufantian, none of them had ever witnessed something like this.
And for it to occur on Blue Star of all places—it felt surreal.
"Who is this person? If there are no ancient immortals… could it be a player?"
"Impossible," someone whispered. "No player advances that fast."
Then, quietly, another voice added:
"...Could it be a native of Yufantian?"
The room fell silent.
Everyone looked at each other—shocked.