The dense foliage withheld the starlight of the Star Sea.
Faint shadows were cast along the ground, moving with the swaying leaves.
It was silent, like the calm before the storm.
Sun sat in a tree.
He wore his familiar brown robes, covered in light silver armour detailed with darker intricacies.
Dao Art mediums hung from his body.
Clutched in his arms was a long halberd, with two blades and a spear point, with a similarly silver lustre.
It was the night of the first tide's appearance. As planned, he would act as one of the ambush points.
One of the last ones, that is.
Warrior of Spring would ambush the tides, then the two Third Foundation Cultivators would further disperse the tides.
Sun and Shade of Autumn would receive them thereafter, finally weakening them as they are finally attacked at the site of confrontation.
Unlike Silver Extreme's approach, Warrior of Spring focused on offence.
He planned to exterminate as many beasts of the tides as he could.
They both shared the ambush strategies, taking out the Mystical and ordinary Beast Kings first.
While Silver Extreme retained life by dispersing them away from Iron Mountain Quarry Settlement, Warrior of Spring destroyed life by focusing on deception and brute force.
Suddenly, an intense impact shook the land. Sun fell out of the tree, fortunately twisting around and landing on his feet.
"What in the..."
Looking in the rough direction that Warrior of Spring should be, feeling a strong presence from that area.
Awe fell upon Sun's expression.
He had never met a State Cultivator before, he was surprised by Warrior of Spring's strength.
Of course, he had met Immortals, such as Immortal Defiance and Immortal Union, and even witnessed their power.
Feeling the trembling land, he could help but compare their two earth-shaking strength.
Back when he was fleeing Star Gazing Settlement and got caught in the mist, Sun remembered the terrifying pressure that was above him.
Running with Selene in hand, they desperately tried to flee from the overwhelming power they felt above them.
Warrior of Spring was supposed to be a few hundred meters from him, yet he shook the land hard enough to knock Sun out of his tree.
"Just what did he do...?"
Besides obviously striking the ground and the first wave of beasts, Sun couldn't imagine what that strength was like up front.
He admired it, somewhat close to reverence and yearning, anticipating the moment he could wield such power.
Snapping out of his daze, Sun climbed back into his tree.
If Warrior of Spring had made his move, the first tide had finally made its appearance.
'In half an hour, the first group is supposed to move outwards and away from Senior Warrior of Spring, encountering the other two Seniors, Golden Eagle and Fierce Iron Mauler.'
'After them, in another half hour, I should expect them to arrive, as should Autumn of Shade.'
'I wonder what kind of beasts they'll be. Hmm...'
Sun had about an hour to himself, he passed the time by simply chatting to himself.
There was anticipation, to fight and slaughter, for redemption, too.
He honed his skills intensely to fight against the beasts, against the tides.
The tides were a product of those Demons, he especially hated the Demon of Confusion.
The mist that claimed dozens of lives scarred the Western region as it did his life.
He seethed with hatred and wallowed in sorrow.
Despite losing so much, he pushed forward, resolving himself to revenge and never giving up.
Sitting in the tree, Sun lay back, resting.
He admired Warrior of Spring for his power, the Immortals for their status.
Bundling with anticipation, Sun could not wait to reach the summits that his superiors had reached.
To take revenge is what he yearned for.
Now, he waited patiently for that chance.
...
After forty-five or so minutes, Sun could hear the faint but frantic stampeding of beasts.
"What! How are they here so early?"
Grasping one of the Ornaments on his body, he turned into a shadowy figure.
Dao Art medium — Shade's Embrace, it masked his presence as long as he remained in the shadows.
It could hide his scent and muffle most of his sounds, but not hide his visage.
This Dao Art was mostly used to hide one's identity, reducing them to a 'shadow'.
Sun watched from above as he saw a few wolves run underneath his tree.
There were a little less than a dozen.
'These must be stragglers from Senior Warrior of Spring's ambush...'
'They must have avoided Senior Golden Eagle and reached my area as they fled.'
'Speaking of Senior Golden Eagle, he must have ambushed his wolves already...'
Looking down at the fleeing beasts, Sun contemplated whether he should step in and attack them.
Doing so could ruin his ambush, leaving the scent of blood in the air would alert approaching beasts.
However, he did not want to just let them go.
Sun was here to prevent the beasts from passing him, he was here to slaughter the tides.
Watching the small group of wolves desperately fleeing, he was reminded of his people fleeing Star Gazing Settlement.
He felt empathy for the beasts, they were retreating under similar conditions.
Yet, as strong as the empathy in his heart was, so was the hatred.
Sun's people were slaughtered by beasts as well, unrightly.
Although these beasts were not responsible for attacking his people, they would become a dangerous force against the people of Corpse Mountain Settlement.
If he stood to the side and let them become a problem, if he willingly overlooked them as he did last time, if he acted weak and cowardly, Sun would never forgive himself.
He sought redemption. He sought revenge.
Through these beasts, albeit how unrightly he is in attacking them, he would find both in the slaughter.
Taking a step forward, he plummeted towards the ground, rebounding off the soil and charging forward.
There was no sound in this action, and no scent for the wolves to detect Sun.
He trailed after them for a moment, allowing them to move away from his site of ambush.
As they got far enough, Sun charged forward again with incredible speed.
Raising his halberd, he swung downwards on an unsuspecting beast.
The wolf yelped in pain as it dug into its back. Catching the attention of the other wolves.
Sun's shadowy figure was hidden by the dense foliage of the trees.
He retrieved his halberd from the wolf's corpse, staring intently at the other wolves.
Not that they could see his eyes.
Growling and baring their fangs, they paced around him with caution.
Taking a deep breath in, he inhaled the scent of the wolf's blood and sighed.
Solemnity would've been seen on his expression.
Qi flowed through his muscles, and his assimilated Dao Art felt strengthened.
Dao Art — Crown Ring Tyrant's War Banner.
Sun's strength surged.
He watched as the other wolves began to falter in his presence.
Taking a step forward, he did not hesitate as he saw their fear.
Bringing down his Halberd, again and again.
Staining the ground a stomach-churning, moist crimson.
Turning around, he left the scene without turning back.
His shadowy figure leaves the area.
...