Jin Feng's consciousness returned slowly. He found himself standing in a vast chamber that defied comprehension. Pillars of crystallized water reached toward a ceiling lost in shadow.
'Hmph, where am I? This isn't the entrance... why am I here?'
"You have been chosen, Jin Feng."
The voice that spoke was entirely different from Shen Tao's trial chamber. Where that voice had been coldly indifferent, this one carried a mechanical precision, neither warm nor cruel, simply stating facts.
"Chosen? By who? What is this place?" Jin Feng asked, spinning around to locate the source of the voice.
"I am what you would call a System."
Jin Feng's brow furrowed. "A system? I don't understand."
"I am the legacy of the First God, the being who once ruled above all others in this realm. His power transcended that of kings like Shen Tao. However, even I do not know what became of him. He vanished eons ago, leaving only me to find a suitable inheritor."
The air around Jin Feng began to shimmer as the System continued speaking.
"You have been selected to carry my essence, to grow in strength alongside me. Together, we must uncover the truth of the First God's disappearance and surpass the limitations that bound even him. But understand this, I am not a gift. I am a partnership. Your strength feeds mine, and mine feeds yours."
"And why should I believe you? I am just a mere tier one cultivator who just failed Shen Tao's trial." asked Jin Feng suspiciously.
"Shen Tao was a king, not a god. Kings rule through fear and absolute dominance. Gods rule through strength tempered by wisdom. Your refusal to murder innocents, even echoes of innocents, demonstrates a healthy mind required for true kingship."
"Sweet words, but you haven't answered my question." Jin Feng childishly shrugged.
Before the System could respond, space tore open beside Jin Feng. Yan Hui stumbled through the rift, his eyes bore an absent and terrifying look. The old man's appearance had changed, his robes now flowed like liquid water, and his eyes gleamed with an otherworldly blue light.
"This power... It's incredible!" Yan Hui's voice carried new harmonics, as if the sea itself spoke through him.
Then his gaze fell upon Jin Feng. "Brat?!" Yan Hui's twisted expression made Jin Feng terrified deep down.
"Yan Hui, listen to me..."
"SILENCE!" Yan Hui raised his hand, and water materialized from nothing, forming razor sharp projectiles that shot toward Jin Feng. "Give me the remaining inheritance and I will make your death painless."
Jin Feng could not dodge the attack, his inferior cultivation left him helpless against Yan Hui's newfound power. The water projectiles shot right through his arms and legs.
"The inheritance site aids him." the System observed with clinical detachment. "Shen Tao's legacy and this domain work in harmony. We are at a severe disadvantage."
"Then what do we do?" Jin Feng vomited a mouthful of blood, rolling behind a pillar as more attacks struck around him.
"We assimilate now! The process will be painful and incomplete, but it is our only chance of escape."
Yan Hui's mocking echoed through the chamber as he advanced, water swirling around him like a living creature. "Don't hide from me, brat! Your death is already settled, unless you give me that thing."
"Do it." Jin Feng whispered decisively.
The System's presence suddenly slammed into Jin Feng's consciousness like a thunderbolt. Pain beyond description tore through his mind and body as the system forced itself into his meridians. His vision went white, and he felt his very essence being rewritten.
"Initiating emergency transplantation. Warning: Process incomplete. Current integration: ten percent. Attempting emergency extraction."
The chamber around them began to shake violently. Cracks appeared in the crystalline pillars, and the flowing script on the walls began writing faster.
"Trying to escape?" Yan Hui coldly snorted, unleashing a massive wave of translucent water toward Jin Feng.
However the wave never reached him. Jin Feng felt himself torn from the chamber just as Yan Hui's attack would have instantly killed him.
Jin Feng collapsed onto the sand, his body convulsing due to the incomplete binding process. Gasps and screams surrounded him as he realized he was in the middle of the crowd of cultivators outside the inheritance site. Blood flowed from his eyes, nose, arms and legs. It was a truly pitiful sight.
"Look! Someone was expelled from the palace!"
"Is that the boy who went in with the elder? Quickly, heal him! Don't let the elder see him like this or we will die a dog's death!"
Before anyone could approach him, the crystalline palace began to glow with an ominous light. The glow pulsed once, twice, then the entire structure started shaking so violently that the ground beneath everyone's feet began to crack.
"Everyone back!" Lady Wuhan's voice cut through the panic as she materialized at the edge of the crowd. "Something has gone wrong inside!"
The palace's glow intensified to blinding levels just as a figure burst through the entrance. Yan Hui emerged, his water flowing robe now billowing with the king's power, his eyes blazing with fury as they locked onto Jin Feng.
Lady Wuhan's expression shifted to one of deadly seriousness as she felt the power radiating from Yan Hui. "Impossible, you were supposed to be dead and you cultivation has fallen to tier two but you've actually succeeded in claiming Shen Tao's inheritance."
"More than succeeded!" Yan Hui snarled, raising both hands as massive pillars of water erupted from the ground around him. "I am Shen Tao's chosen! Today I reclaim my place as the supreme elder in the Celestial Tide Sect."
The ensuing battle shook the very foundations of the coastline as two forces beyond mortal comprehension collided, Lady Wuhan and the elders of her sect fought to keep the newly ascended inheritor of the king of the seas under control, while Jin Feng crawled through the chaos, the incomplete presence of the System burning his consciousness like a fever.
'Host integration incomplete.' the System's voice echoed in his mind, weaker now but still present. "We must flee immediately. The First God's legacy cannot fall into the hands of someone like Shen Tao's inheritor."
"Teleport me somewhere safe like you did before!" shouted Jin Feng while he activated one grade two regeneration stone as he tried his best to not fall unconscious.
'Not enough power.'
"Damn system, what good are you?" Jin Feng retorted as he activated a grade two regeneration stone.
The battle erupted with cataclysmic force.
Lady Wuhan moved first, her tier five cultivation allowing her to react with inhuman speed.
Celestial Tide Art: Severing Moon Blades!
Her hands moved at lightning speed and traced complex patterns in the air, crescent shaped blades of pure qi materialized around her.
Yan Hui laughed maniacally as the crescents shot toward him.
Shen Tao's Legacy: Abyssal Depths!
The water around him turned black as the deepest ocean trenches, forming a protective barrier that absorbed most of Lady Wuhan's attack, though cracks appeared in his defense.
"He's strong, but not as strong as a true King of the Sea." Lady Wuhan observed. "The inheritance might be incomplete."
Formation: Four Tide Converge!
The three tier four elders spread out with Lady Wuhan. Elder Chen raised his hands:
Northern Tide: Thousand Year Ice Prison!
The surrounding water froze, amplifying the power of the movement many times over.
Eastern Tide: Cutting Current!
Elder Liu attacked, pressurized water streams sliced through the air towards Yan Hui.
Western Tide: Crushing Depths!
Elder Zhao struck, the air around Yan Hui compressed with crushing force, creating mini explosions.
Southern Wave: Boiling Maelstrom!
Lady Wuhan completed the formation, superheated steam erupted around Yan Hui in a hot whirlpool, creating steam that covered the entire battlefield. Vision became completely useless.
For a moment, the combined assault seemed overwhelming. Then Yan Hui's laughter resumed.
King's Authority: Dominion Over Water!
Yan Hui smiled as the attacks reversed, ice shattered, currents redirected, pressure dispersed and the steam condensed.
"Laughable, you dare use water based techniques against Shen Tao's inheritor?" Yan Hui gestured dismissively.
But Lady Wuhan's tier five cultivation wasn't just for show. The sky darkened as concentrated qi beams rained down like falling stars.
Celestial Tide Secret Art: Lunar Eclipse Devastation!
King's Command: Ten Thousand Li Ocean Shield!
Water rose from miles around, forming a massive dome, but the tier five qi energy punched through in several places, searing his shoulder and leg.
"Good, but not good enough." Yan Hui's palms struck towards the elders.
King's Wrath: Hundred Li Shallowing Wave!
Lady Wuhan stood her ground.
Celestial Dominion Shield!
A barrier of pure qi energy met the tsunami half way. The collision shook the coastline, but her shield held.
However, Elder Liu was caught in the backlash. The residual force almost crippled him, blood seeping from his seven orifices.
"Liu!" Elder Zhao cried out as his companion's body was hurled away.
Yan Hui was now breathing heavily, sweat beading despite his power. Each use of the King's authority strained body and mind.
Lady Wuhan pressed her advantage. Combined Strike: Tier Five Suppression! Her cultivation flared to its peak as she coordinated with the remaining elders.
Elder Chen poured his entire qi in this one move: Ice Soul Coffin!
Elder Zhao matched his resolve: Pressure Void Collapse!
Lady Wuhan unleashed her full tier five might: Forbidden Art: Celestial Soul Maelstrom!
The three attacks struck simultaneously. Yan Hui's soul couldn't fully defend against a coordinated assault led by Lady Wuhan's tier five power.
King's Last Resort: Oceanic Rebirth!
His body dissolved into water, but the technique was imperfect. Elder Chen's move hit, piercing his soul, Elder Zhao's vacuum crushed his soul, and Lady Wuhan's move dealt the final blow.
Yan Hui reformed, bloody and ragged. Elder Chen had collapsed, his qi energy entirely spent. Elder Zhao was barely conscious. Lady Wuhan's cultivation had dropped from peak tier five to mid tier five from using forbidden techniques.
Yan Hui's soul was gravely injured, almost to the point of collapsing. "But I still possess a King's authority!"
He raised his hands for a final strike: King's Ultimate Authority: Oceanic World Dominion! Water began rising from everywhere, even pulling moisture from people's bodies. Even Jin Feng was affected.
But just as the technique peaked, Yan Hui staggered, blood erupting from his mouth. His soul injuries could no longer cope, his soul has vanished from his body!
Meanwhile, Jin Feng felt the System stabilize. 'Integration reached: forty two percent. Emergency teleportation now possible.'
"Teleport me now!" Jin Feng crushed his second grade two regeneration stone.
'Initiating emergency extraction.'
Reality folded around Jin Feng just as Yan Hui's technique collapsed from the backlash.
Lady Wuhan, seeing Yan Hui's moment of weakness, gathered her remaining tier five power for one final decisive strike. But as she prepared her attack, something changed in Yan Hui's demeanor.
The old man's pained expression suddenly shifted to one of cold calculation. His eyes, which had been wild with madness and fury, became calm and ancient. When he spoke, his voice carried a different quality entirely.
"How fascinating. Sixty thousand years..."
Lady Wuhan froze mid attack, her spiritual senses detecting a fundamental shift in the being before her. "Who... are you?"
Yan Hui's body began to change. His aged features smoothed slightly, his posture straightened with regal bearing, and most unnervingly, his cultivation level plummeted from tier two to that of a mere tier one cultivator. Yet somehow, he felt more dangerous than before.
"I am Shen Tao, King of the Boundless Sea." the being wearing Yan Hui's face replied with casual indifference. "This mortal vessel has served his purpose."
Elder Chen, barely conscious and missing most of his cultivation base, whispered in horror. "The inheritance wasn't meant to empower a mortal. It was meant to resurrect the king himself."
Elder Zhao, his own cultivation permanently damaged from his sacrifice technique, struggled to stand. "Impossible. Even if you are truly Shen Tao, you're only tier one now. Lady Wuhan can still..."
"Silence."
Shen Tao didn't move, didn't gesture, didn't even look at Elder Zhao directly. Yet the elder was instantly forced to his knees as every drop of moisture in his body responded to an absolute command that transcended mere cultivation levels.
"You misunderstand the nature of authority." Shen Tao continued, his tone that of a teacher correcting a particularly slow student. "Cultivation levels measure accumulated power. Authority measures the right to command. I am a King. The very concept of water obeys me, regardless of my current strength."
Lady Wuhan's face went pale as she realized the true scope of what they faced. "You're using your tier one cultivation to channel a king's authority. That should be impossible."
"Should be, yes. But I am not bound by what should be possible." Shen Tao finally looked directly at her, and Lady Wuhan felt the crushing weight of eons of accumulated majesty. "I am disappointed in you, child. Your sect once paid proper tribute to the Sea Kings. Now you dare raise weapons against me?"
"The old ways are dead." Lady Wuhan replied, though her voice wavered. "The age of divine rulers ended long ago."
"Did it?" Shen Tao smiled, and the expression was far more terrifying than Yan Hui's rage had ever been. "Tell me, where did the boy go?"
"What boy? I don't understand what are you talking about." Lady Wuhan answered honestly.
"Of course you do. You have tier five cultivation, you would have noticed the way he disappeared." Shen Tao's expression grew thoughtful. "That boy is interesting. Very interesting indeed."
The reborn king began walking toward the shoreline, each step causing small tremors in the ground despite his reduced cultivation. "You may consider this your fortunate day, Celestial Tide Sect. I have more pressing matters than punishing your insolence. But remember this moment well."
He paused and looked back at the three battered cultivators. "The next time we meet, I will not be constrained by this lowly tier one cultivation no more. I will have reclaimed my full power. When that day comes..."
Shen Tao's smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed sharp as coral. "Well. Let us hope for your sake that you have learned proper respect by then."
With that, the reborn Sea King dove into the ocean and vanished beneath the waves, leaving behind only the lingering scent of deep sea brine and oppressing fear.