In the fathomless abyss of the Azure Sea, ancient havens carved within the coral reefs were shattered by waves of emerald-clad sorcerers. Their merciless assault left trails of crimson in its wake. Those who dared to flee found no sanctuary, for the green-robed leaders dispatched relentless hunters, vowing to pursue until the very spark of life was extinguished.

The Azure Sea, now a prison sealed by ancient sorcery, offered little escape from the overwhelming tide of green-robed invaders.

The cries of the vanquished mingled with the roar of the sea, a haunting symphony punctuated by the chilling scent of blood. This carnage awakened the primal instincts of the sea’s denizens, drawing forth monstrous beasts from the deep, their eyes glinting with savage hunger.

It was a slaughter, a grim dance of uneven power. The emerald sorcerers, their mastery of the arcane arts undeniable, carried out their grim orders with unwavering resolve: to purge the Azure Sea of every last soul hailing from the Celestial Bull Continent.

Far across the blood-soaked waters, near the shores of the Green Devil Isle, three banners of immense size pierced the waves. They stood defiant against the sky, their silken surfaces rippling with the breath of the wind. Beneath them stood a silent army, thousands strong, their gazes fixed upon the horizon.

At the heart of this grim assembly stood three figures, their robes a stark contrast to the green surrounding them. Clad in pristine white, two men and a woman, their faces bore the wisdom of perhaps thirty years.

The woman, possessed of a captivating beauty, kept her gaze lowered. In her delicate hands rested a disc, no larger than her palm. This arcane instrument, etched with intricate runes, held her undivided attention.

“Brother Qian, Sister Zhao,” spoke one of the men, his features as smooth as jade, “this cleansing of the Azure Sea has dragged on for seven days. If we do not hasten our efforts, we risk failing the Ancestors’ decree.”

Qian, a man of unremarkable appearance but with eyes that flashed with cold cruelty, responded, “Four days more, at most. We shall then have purged every last Celestial Bull soul from this sea.”

The woman smiled, her hand gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “The Azure Sea is the gateway through which the Green Devil Isle may enter the Celestial Bull Continent. There linger powerful guardians, making complete eradication difficult. Yet, as Brother Qian says, four days should prove sufficient.”

“Behold, my siblings, the Azure Sea Disc,” she announced, raising the instrument in her hand. An ethereal glow emanated from it, slowly coalescing into a detailed map of the entire sea.

Upon the map, thousands of emerald lights flickered, representing the invading sorcerers, moving slowly across the water.

Interspersed amongst them were points of white light, like dying embers, their faintness a stark contrast to the vibrant green. As they spoke, scores of these white lights were consumed by the emerald tide, vanishing from the map.

The white lights were not all of equal size. Three shone with a far greater intensity, their brilliance outshining all others.

“The most formidable among the Celestial Bull exiles reside within this sea, three wandering ascetics. Their cultivation has reached the Middle Void Tribulation stage. But fear not, for the Ancestors have dispatched Green Devil Emissaries to deal with them. They are of little consequence,” the woman stated calmly.

Aside from these three, less than a dozen other white lights burned with a lesser, yet still significant, intensity. These points, surrounded by a maelstrom of emerald lights, suggested fierce battles.

“Beyond the ascetics, we have identified nine others, each possessing cultivation in the seventh or eighth Sky Tribulation stage. They shall be our quarry. Eliminate them, and the rest of the Azure Sea will crumble before us. With this device, four days will be enough,” she concluded.

The woman laughed softly and with a flick of her wrist, a single drop of viscous black liquid appeared in her palm. It shimmered with an unnatural luminescence, radiating the potent essence of water.

“With the Poison Demon Sect’s treasure, the All-Cleansing Elixir, do my brothers believe that any of the Celestial Bull Continent’s souls have a chance to survive?” She raised her head, her eyes searching the faces of the two men.

“We must remain vigilant,” the jade-faced man cautioned. “This alliance of our three sects must proceed flawlessly, lest the Celestial Bull Continent take notice. The three Ancestors have already woven powerful spells to obscure the unfolding events, masking their true purpose. Once the Azure Sea has been purged, we shall transform it back into the fragmented Immortal Pill. That pill will sunder the impenetrable barrier shielding the Celestial Bull Continent.”

Unseen by the three, on the edge of the Disc near the Celestial Bull Continent, a single unremarkable white point remained motionless.

It was Wang Lin. He sat serenely, deep within the sea, his body melded with the water, gathering and compressing the sea’s essence to nurture his own being.

Extracting the essence of water proved to be a daunting task, almost impossible unless the entire sea was condensed into a single drop. Yet, Wang Lin persisted, driven by an unwavering determination.

His divine sense, likewise fused with the sea, bore witness to the omnipresent slaughter and the haunting screams. The entire Azure Sea was consumed by an unending massacre.

Time passed, and a day turned to dusk. Above him, scores of green-robed sorcerers roared past, yet none detected Wang Lin concealed beneath the kelp and coral.

As the day waned, the depths of the Azure Sea had fallen by ten fathoms, the water seemingly vanished into thin air. The shift drew notice, but in the midst of the butchery, few truly cared.

The three white-robed figures beneath the banners near the Green Devil Isle were among those who noticed.
From the northeast, thirty-nine myriad leagues hence, dispatch a cohort of the Emerald Guard!” The woman, fair of face and comely of mien, gazed upon a compass in her hand. As she spoke, scores of cultivators, standing guard about her, blurred into motion, hurtling forward with a spectral whoosh. They plunged into the waters, vanishing in an instant, leaving nary a ripple.

Though mastery of the Spacial Contraction Art eluded them, the Emerald Isle had made meticulous preparation. The Dan Sea’s intricate array not only served as a seal, but also allowed the Isle’s warriors to merge with its essence, facilitating rapid translocation.

“To the southeast, one hundred and ninety-eight myriad leagues, send five cohorts of the Emerald Guard! Haste is paramount!” With those words, over a hundred warriors strode forth, fading from view like phantoms in the mist.

Decree after decree issued from the woman’s lips. Guided by the compass’s mystic map, she orchestrated her forces, methodically extinguishing the white specks of resistance, each representing a stray cultivator of the Celestial Bull Continent.

“Senior Qian, Senior Zhao, your moment has arrived. Of the nine, four have already succumbed. Five remain, two dispersed and of little consequence, but three have converged…”

Upon the woman’s compass, three prominent beacons huddled together, edging slowly towards the Celestial Bull Continent. Wherever they moved, the emerald sparks that sought to engage them winked out, each extinction a testament to death.

A jade-skinned youth, fair as alabaster, smiled faintly. He produced a folding fan, rapping it lightly against his palm, and turned to the Qian-named cultivator beside him.

“Senior Qian, I shall lend my aid, that we might witness the dark arts of the Dao Demon Sect!”

The Qian cultivator, his eyes gleaming with a venomous light, offered no reply. He lunged forward, vanishing into the matrix of the array. The alabaster youth, chuckling softly, followed in his wake, his steps as light as falling snow.

With the departure of the pair, the woman, still surrounded by thousands of awaiting cultivators, frowned. Her gaze darted across the compass, searching with a troubled expression.

“Strange… within a single day, the Dan Sea’s waters have diminished so greatly…” Her eyes swept over the white points on the compass, including the one representing Wang Lin.

Yet Wang Lin’s beacon shone too faintly to seize her attention. She pondered the matter, resolving to commit it to memory, and resumed her orchestration, dispatching her remaining forces to aid the Emerald Isle cultivators in hunting down the dwindling remnants of Celestial Bull refugees.

The slaughter raged unabated, yet Wang Lin remained oblivious. He channeled all his power into absorbing the sea’s essence. His form became a bottomless abyss, drawing the waters into himself, slowly refining them, striving to crystallize the Source of Water.

But the task was herculean. Even after consuming fathoms upon fathoms of water, it remained insufficient.

“Then I shall take more!” Wang Lin opened his withered eyes amidst the swaying seaweed, watching a squadron of green-clad warriors soar overhead. His brow furrowed.

After a long moment, Wang Lin averted his gaze, closing his eyes and continuing his relentless absorption. Another day unfurled, a day in which the entire Dan Sea sank imperceptibly, yet unceasingly. By day’s end, the sea had fallen by a staggering eighty feet! Reefs once hidden were now exposed, their rocky forms breaching the surface.

Such a dramatic shift could no longer be ignored, even amidst the carnage. Bewilderment seized the battling cultivators.

“Where has all the water gone!”

“Could some power, vast and unknown, be at work here?” Unease spread like wildfire among the Emerald Guard, their faces paling with apprehension.

Far away, deep in the seabed, three figures raced through the gloom. Two were grievously wounded, yet the third refused to abandon them, bearing them along on his desperate flight.

“White Tiger, leave us behind… Zhu Que and I are gravely injured. You’ll only be burdened.”

“Who would have thought, having escaped the Seven Dao Sect’s grotto-heavens, seeking peace and cultivation here, that we would be beset by such a deadly fate… Alas, White Tiger, go on alone!”