The people watched as the Haima Tribe conducted their rite.
With each passing second, their voices grew louder and louder, while the waves began to dance. It was as if the ocean itself was joining them in the rite and began to dance!
Waves swirled in unique patterns while they rose and fell in a repeating chorus.
Pillars of water rose and exploded, as if fireworks were lit, reaching a great crescendo.
"Marvelous," was all that everyone could utter as they witnessed it.
Five minutes later, the rite was completed, and the ocean turned still.
It was as if time itself had come to a standstill, and no one took a breath. An encompassing aura spread throughout the ocean before it began to divide.
The divide was clean, and there was no flow of water as a deep ravine formed.
Two incredibly tall walls of water now existed within the ocean, with the ocean bed visible at the bottom. Lin Mu and his companions stood on the eastern side of the ravine, while the Haima Tribe stood on the other side.
~HUALA~A few moments later, incredibly strong spatial fluctuations spread that could be felt by everyone.
"This is almost on the level of the Bridge Plane!" Crown Prince Feng Shun assessed.
"What is happening? Is a Grand Teleportation gate opening?" Ziran wondered.
It wasn't just those present here, either; all across the Rust Sky World, similar reactions occurred. Emperor Feng looked to the west and narrowed his eyes, feeling apprehensive.
"What else is trying to intrude in the world now?" the man muttered aloud, gripping the fan in his hand.
"Dammit, what the hell is that bitch up to now?" The Holy Topaz Emperor cursed, no longer referring to his niece properly.
"More foes?" Huiqing Emperor looked to the northeast, a deep frown on his face.
"We'll fight whatever comes our way, Emperor," the Steel-Horned General Niu Juo stated, not feeling afraid at all.
Back at the Temple of the Guardian Beasts, the four guardian spirits were shocked.
"This… how is another Spatial Rift opening?" the Black Tortoise wondered.
"This isn't from the Bridge Plane… where is this rift linking to?" the White Tiger wondered.
"There aren't any realms or planes in the Rust Sky World that would cause such strong fluctuations," the Azure Dragon stated. "It isn't the time for any of them to open, either. There are no inheritance grounds or hidden grottos that open at this time," he added.
Other than the major planes like the Bridge Plane and the Desolate Blood Battlefield, there were other minor spatial realms and planes in the Rust Sky World, too. These were either hidden grottos of experts or inheritance grounds laid down a long time ago.
While not all powers and cultivators would know about them, the Guardian Beasts had been here long enough to know about pretty much all of them.
Thankfully, they had no interest in them, thus the powers of the Rust Sky World had nothing to worry about regarding the information leaking.
But soon after the spatial fluctuations came a wave of aura.
The aura was very subtle and wouldn't even be felt by most people. Even those that felt it wouldn't think much of it, finding it to be unidentifiable in the mix of the various malefic presences that were around them in the form of the Chimeric Beasts.
But there was one being that sensed and identified it.
"It can't be…" the Vermillion Bird gasped.
"What is it?" the Azure Dragon asked.
The others also looked on, wondering why the senior-most Guardian Spirit was acting like this.
"An old being has returned… A beast that is on our standing," the Vermillion Bird answered, her eyes showing pure shock.
"On our standing? A Guardian?" the Azure Dragon narrowed his eyes.
"Who else could there be? Did someone from the Immortal Court manage to arrive?" the White Tiger questioned.
"No… this is someone far older," the Vermillion Bird answered. "You three don't know about it since you only got assigned to your posts much later."
The post of a Guardian Spirit wasn't exactly permanent. Most Guardian Beasts became such upon their death and took it up so that they would have a chance at regaining their body, other than the fact that this was simply one of the duties of the Guardian Beasts.
Other than the Vermillion Bird, the three Guardian Beasts were relatively new to the Rust Sky World.
"Older than us?" the Black Tortoise was surprised. "But we've been here for nearly a million years."
"Yes… a Guardian Beast that was native to the Rust Sky World. He retreated a long time ago, having reached the ceiling of this world's limits," the Vermillion Bird spoke. "The Great Ocean Hippocampus… He has awakened from his slumber."
As soon as she finished saying this, the subtle aura that had not been registered by everyone suddenly flared up.
~HONGLONG~
A massive wave of aura swept over the entire Rust Sky World, causing the hearts of every creature to tremble.
The power and depth contained within the aura were unfathomable, such that even the three emperors held their breaths.
"Heavens… What is this cultivation base? How many Transcendent Tribulations have they survived?" Emperor Feng wondered in absolute shock.
He himself had overcome two of them, and yet the power contained in the aura was several times greater than that. He also knew that this was not a Celestial, though, as their aura was simply imperceptible unless they had brought it down to their level.
Emperor Feng had also witnessed two Celestials in recent times, the Saintess and the Ever Spring Mistress. As such, he could tell that this aura was completely unlike anything.
To him, it was as if an ancient ocean, deeper than anything, was gazing upon them all.
It was after this that they heard the cry.
~NEIGHHHHHHHHHHHH!~
A majestic cry echoed across the Rust Sky World as a massive being rose from the Spatial Rift that had opened up in the ocean.
Lin Mu and his companions watched as what looked like an entire mountain range rose from the giant ravine!
The first to rise were two small hills, which turned out to be the ears of a horse.
Connecting the two hills were tens of thousands of streams, which flowed and became the mane of a horse.
Soon the head of the majestic horse could be seen, with eyes so blue that they looked like the very soul of an ocean.
Its head rose as its long neck became visible, fully covered with scales so huge that each of them looked to be lakes!
The horse's long forelimbs were muscular, with each bulge and curve looking like rolling hills. Its hooves were tough and black, as if made out of volcanic rock.
But this was the extent of its horse features, as the other half of its body was that of a fish!
Tall and sharp dorsal fins extended from its neck that grew taller on its back, before finally ending at its tail. The dorsal fins gleamed in an iridescent light while lightly fluttering in the air. The tail was several kilometers long, ending in a wide caudal fin, the edges of which shone like opals.
"Heavens be blessed… what is this beast?" everyone wondered.
"We pay respects to the Great Guardian! O Great Ocean Hippocampus!" the Haima Tribe said out loud while kneeling.
The name was like a thunderclap to many, with only a few managing to recognize it.
"That's a Great Ocean Hippocampus?!" Ziran fell to his knees in shock. "They can grow this big?" He had read about them before, and while he knew they could grow very large, it was never on this level.
"This is a hundred times bigger than the biggest recorded Great Ocean Hippocampus," Lady Kang marveled at the majestic beast.
~NEIGHHHH!~
The Guardian Beast let out another neigh, this time lighter, before glancing at the Haima Tribe.
There was acknowledgment in its gaze, which almost made the Haima Tribe tear up. They had been waiting for the return of their Guardian Beast for ages, and it had finally appeared.
~SHUN~
The Great Ocean Hippocampus closed its eyes for a moment as a beam of energy was released from its forehead. The energy covered the Haima Tribe and seeped into their bodies. Its purpose was unknown, but the Haima Tribe's people seemed to feel enlightenment from it.
"We thank the Great Guardian for this priceless grace," Head Elder Haima said as he kowtowed.
The Great Ocean Hippocampus then glanced at the humans for a moment before looking at the Bridge Plane above.
~NEIGH~
It let out a cry of disapproval as it gazed at the Bridge Plane before flying up.
~HUALA~
Streams of energy suddenly rose from the bottom of the ocean and surrounded the Great Ocean Hippocampus as its aura began to change. Lin Mu, who saw these energy streams, was surprised as he actually recognized them.
"The World's Will?"
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