Chapter 71 – The Hypocrisy of the Tides
In the imperial capital of Heaven Dou, a messenger clad in robes the color of the deep Atlantic stood before the throne. He carried a scepter topped with a miniature trident, the symbol of Sea God Island.
"The High Priestess Bo Saixi has spoken," the messenger announced, his voice echoing with a manufactured divinity. "The Sea God, who once preached the sacred coexistence of man and the leviathans of the deep, finds the Sovereign System of the Martial Soul Hall to be a corruption. To bind a soul to a master is to enslave the spirit. The tides demand this heresy be stopped."
In the shadows of the court, Qian Renxue (as Xue Qinghe) watched with a cold, mocking gaze. She knew the history. When Poseidon was a mortal gathering faith, he promised the sea beasts protection to gain their loyalty, but when her Ancestor tried to do the same on the land, he stopped her, claiming that it's tyranny and evil, which started their fight. Now that a better system—the Soul Spirit system—was emerging from a mortal man, the God felt his faith monopoly slipping. He didn't care about the beasts, he cared about his throne and people solely worshiping him, whether be it Sea, or the Land.
••••••••••
How did a God of the distant sea find a boy in the center of the continent? The answer lay in the Slaughter City.
When Lakan struck the Slaughter King with his Sovereign's Grasp, the ripple in space-time was so immense it vibrated the Divine Intent left behind by the founders of the city. Poseidon and Asura, though rivals for Tang San, shared a sensory network regarding the Trial Grounds.
Poseidon had felt the emergence of the Ibong Adarna—a light that didn't belong to the Angel, the Rakshasa, or the Sea. It was a Primal Origin light. Fearing this new variable would destroy his plans for an heir, Poseidon scanned the continent for the strongest Old Era resonance. He found it in Tang San, whose dual martial souls and connection to the Slaughter City (via his father) made him the perfect puppet to restore the status quo.
••••••••••
Deep in the forest, Tang San sat cross-legged, his body battered from Tang Hao's Clear Sky training. He had reached Rank 50, but his internal channels were clogged with the darkness of his obsession.
Suddenly, the air grew humid, smelling of salt and ancient depths. (Tang San receives a Divine Vision from Poseidon.)
A spectral figure of a man with blue hair and eyes like the abyss appeared. "Tang San," the God's voice boomed. "The world is falling to a tyrant who mocks the heavens. You are the chosen hammer of the sea. Receive my grace."
A golden orb descended, vibrating with a power that bypassed all the Natural Laws the Sea God claimed to uphold. Normally, a soul master must hunt or form a bond, here, Poseidon simply gave it.
(The ceremony shows Poseidon's blatant favoritism.) As the orb settled into Tang San, his fifth ring manifested—not as a standard 10,000-year black ring, but as a God-Bestowed Ring that automatically adjusted to the maximum his body could handle. It was a shortcut, a Cheat Code from the heavens. Tang San accepted it greedily, his hypocrisy matching his benefactor's. He spoke of hard work, yet he welcomed the divine handout that Lakan had never received.
••••••••••
A month later, a Martial Soul Hall research vessel—the Spirit's Hope—was intercepted near the coastal borders by a fleet of Sea God Island warships. These were not mere pirates; they were the Sea God Legions, claiming the Hall was disturbing the spirits of the water.
Lakan didn't send a Titled Douluo. He went himself.
He stood on the prow of a small interceptor, his white robes snapping in the gale. The Sea God's fleet was led by a Rank 85 Spirit Douluo who commanded the water itself, creating massive whirlpools to swallow Lakan's ship.
"You are in the domain of the Sea God, boy!" the commander roared, standing atop a tidal wave. "Here, your land-laws are nothing!"
Lakan didn't say a word. He drew the silver Kampilan, Buan, and the golden Kampilan, Araw. He felt the sassy, protective hum of Buan and the stoic heat of Araw.
"Buan, Araw," Lakan whispered. "Let's show them that the Grasp doesn't stop at the shoreline."
Lakan entered the Center-Point Stillness, but this time, he didn't channel his power into his fists. He channeled his Fist Intent—that conceptual Grip on reality—directly into the steel of his blades.
(Lakan partially uses his Fist Intent on his blade to part the seas using his Severing Blade Rhythm.)
He stepped forward into a Diamond Glide across the surface of the water. He swung Araw in a vertical arc and Buan in a horizontal cross.
"Eight Directional Flow: Tuloy-Tuloy (Endless Thread) – Severance!"
The air didn't just ripple; it screamed. The Fist Intent—the Grip—manifested through the blades as a conceptual Severing. Lakan wasn't just cutting water, he was Grasping the property of the sea and Pinching it apart.
SHHH-LINK!
The ocean, for five kilometers in front of him, literally parted. A massive canyon of dry sea-floor appeared, the water held back by an invisible, prismatic wall of Intent. The Sea God's fleet was caught in the vacuum, their ships sliding down the watery cliffs into the abyss Lakan had created.
In that moment, Lakan felt a spark of something new. It wasn't just the blunt force of a punch, it was the Blade Intent. It was the realization that a blade isn't just a tool to cut flesh, but a Surgical Needle for the world's energy.
The world has a rhythm, Lakan thought, his eyes glowing with an iridescent light. If I can find the seam, I can unmake anything—even a God's ocean.
The Sea God Douluo fell from his tidal wave, staring up at Lakan in absolute terror. The Domain of the Sea had been overruled by the Intent of the Sovereign.
Lakan landed on the deck of the lead warship, which was now grounded on the dry sea floor. He looked at the commander, his blades humming with the Song of the Adarna.
"Go back to your island," Lakan said, his voice carrying over the roar of the held-back waves. "Tell Bo Saixi that the next time the Sea God wants to preach, he should do it himself. If he continues to interfere with the progress of the world, I won't just part his sea. I will drain it."
Lakan snapped his fingers, and the Grip released. The two walls of water slammed back together with the force of a thousand hammers, but Lakan was already gone, a streak of ten-colored light flying back toward the continent.
••••••••
The news of Lakan "Parting the Sea" hit the Five Shields Alliance like a thunderclap.
Ning Fengzhi sat in silence for a full hour. "He is no longer a Soul Master," he whispered to the Sword Douluo. "He is becoming something that hasn't walked this earth in ten thousand years. A True Sovereign."
Meanwhile, on Poseidon Island, Bo Saixi felt the tremor in the Sea God's Pillar. The trident was vibrating with a divine fury—and for the first time, a hint of Fear.
"He parted the sea without a God's power," Bo Saixi whispered, looking at the horizon. "Tang San... you must grow faster. The boy of the Phoenix is no longer just a rival. He is a predator of the Heavens."