Under One Person: The Sea Emperor Who Shattered Heaven and Earth

Chapter 130 The Sea Emperor Arrives (4000)

Shanghai, Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal.

Today, Shanghai is eerily quiet. The once bustling shipping lanes have been completely cleared, and not a single ship can be seen in the sea for several kilometers around. On land, from the core area of ​​the port to the outer ring, three layers of security have surrounded the area like an iron barrel.

Standing at the front row were several solemn-faced leaders. Behind them were a neatly arranged group of people: members of the board of directors of NaDuTong Company headquarters, as well as the heads of the four major regions of East China, North China, South China, and West China. Gao Lian, Dou Le, Xu Si, Ren Fei, and others had all abandoned their usual casualness and stood ramrod straight.

Wang Weiguo stood on the other side. The current richest man in the country was dressed in an extremely understated dark suit.

But the large, dark crowd behind him was anything but understated—these were descendants of the Canal Gang, still deeply rooted in China. Among them were elderly people with white hair, middle-aged men, and children, their hands held by their fathers, peering ahead with bewildered curiosity. Their eyes all shone with the same almost fanatical anticipation.

Next up is a lineup that will make the entire world of supernatural beings tremble.

Zhang Zhiwei, Lu Jin, Wang Ai, Lü Ren, Feng Zhenghao, Na Ruhu, and other members of the "Ten Elders" were all present. The leaders of major sects such as Wudang, Quanzhen, Sanyi Sect, and Shangqing Sect, along with their core disciples, lined up in order.

Within this vast group of people, strictly arranged by seniority and rank, a barely noticeable commotion was taking place in one corner.

"Old Na, you're big, move to the left a bit more and cover me up so those leaders in the front row can't see me." A voice was low and tinged with guilt.

The speaker was Ding Shian, one of the "Two Heroes," who had joined the Quanxing Sect to ensure that the experts he challenged would spare no effort in attacking him. Now, he was shrinking back, desperately trying to hide his body in that broad, tiger-like back.

Ru Hu was speechless. He turned his head and lowered his voice to berate Ru Hu: "Old Ding, are you crazy? What kind of occasion is this? All the leaders of the highest rank in the country are here. Every single person here has been reported to the relevant departments at every level and has passed three generations of formal review before being allowed to enter. What are you, a 'black household' from Quanxing, trying to sneak in? If something happens, neither of us will be able to get away with it—no, neither of us will be able to survive!"

Ding Shian gave a wry smile: "Don't be like that, old man. Do you think I don't know the consequences? I promise I'll only bring my eyes today, no hands, and absolutely no trouble. This is a legendary figure—the Emperor of the Sea, the strongest in the world. If I don't see him in person, I'll never be satisfied with my cultivation for the rest of my life. I won't compete, I won't show myself, I'll just stand behind you and measure him with my eyes—I just want to see for myself what the difference is between me and someone who stands at the very top of the world..."

Ding Shian's words were cut short before he could finish speaking.

In an instant, it felt as if an ice spike had pierced his spine, and every hair on his body stood on end.

This feeling was something he had never experienced in countless life-or-death struggles—an extreme sense of threat.

Ding Shian's instincts beat his brain; his ankles were already straining, his muscles bracing for a leap to create distance. But before he could do anything, a withered yet heavy hand firmly gripped his shoulder. His prized reaction speed completely failed him at that moment.

He couldn't even sense the other person's approach—there were no footsteps, no fluctuations in breath, nothing at all, as if that hand had been on his shoulder the whole time.

Ding Shian stiffly turned his head, and only after seeing who it was did his tense body relax slightly.

"Old...Old Celestial Master."

Standing behind him was Zhang Zhiwei, the current Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain. The old Celestial Master wore a kind smile, the curve of his lips perfectly controlled, but in Ding Shian's eyes, that smile was more intimidating than a judge's decree. The hand on his shoulder neither increased nor decreased its pressure, it just remained there—yet he simply couldn't move.

The surrounding supernatural beings noticed the commotion, and their originally dense formation shifted silently. Lu Jin, Lü Ren, Lü Ci, and others moved a step without making a sound, forming a human wall that blocked the view of the leaders in the front row.

A small space was cleared out for the two of them.

"Master, please rest assured." Ding Shian swallowed and whispered, "I really didn't come here to cause trouble, and I don't have the guts to do anything reckless here. Just pretend I don't exist—just let me stand here and take a look."

Zhang Zhiwei slowly shook his head, his tone as kind as if he were reasoning with a junior, but every word was uncompromising: "No."

“Today’s situation is different from usual. Normally, if you make a fuss, I can turn a blind eye. But in this situation—not a single mistake can be made. If anything goes wrong here, the leaders will be very unhappy. If they are unhappy, they will definitely make me unhappy too.”

"So for everyone's sake, I have no choice but to make you unhappy."

She then tilted her head slightly, changed her tone, and looked at Ding Shian with a smile, "I just heard you say that you wanted to see the difference between yourself and that person?"

Ding Shian nodded obediently.

The old master bluntly said, "You're not qualified. Let alone fighting him, you probably wouldn't even have the courage to move a finger just standing in front of him. Let's go, before I get serious."

Ding Shian was taken aback at first, then his eyes flashed with an almost manic desire to seek the Dao.

"Since we can't meet that maritime emperor, then meeting you, the 'top expert' of our country, would make the trip worthwhile!" Ding Shian lowered his voice, his tone full of longing. "Master, the commotion won't be too big. I humbly request that you demonstrate your skills with me. Just one move!"

Zhang Zhiwei sighed, his smile still on his face. He neither said yes nor no, but slowly removed his hand from Ding Shian's shoulder. Then, he slowly raised it again, casually reaching towards Ding Shian's neck. The hand moved slowly; its trajectory was clearly visible to the naked eye.

In that instant, Ding Shian strained his entire body to its limit. The battlefield in his mind was instantly illuminated, and thousands of possible countermeasures unfolded simultaneously like exploding fireworks—the Golden Bell Shield could withstand the attack and then use the force to create distance, the Splitting Palm could probe the opponent's protective qi from the side, and the Earth-Walking Immortal could bypass the opponent's blockade from below by simply touching the ground with his toes first—he had thought of everything, prepared for everything, and all his ultimate techniques were poised to be unleashed in the best possible position.

However, from an outsider's perspective, the process was outrageously simple.

Zhang Zhiwei's hand reached out directly. Before Ding Shian could even form a defensive stance, it was completely neutralized by a mysterious force.

Half a second later.

Ding Shian—one of the two heroes recognized by the entire world of supernatural beings—was using his neck to forcefully control one of Zhang Zhiwei's hands.

Zhang Zhiwei lifted him off the ground like he was taking a chick out of a chicken coop.

Ding Shian's face flushed red instantly, then turned bluish-purple, with veins bulging from his forehead all the way to his ears. His lips moved, but no sound came out. The powerful energy he had once been so proud of burst like a balloon punctured by a needle the moment the old man closed his hands. The chaotic flow of energy scattered throughout his meridians, unable to be reassembled.

“Uh…” Ding Shian’s eyes rolled upwards, and his hands and feet fell limply to his sides.

Zhang Zhiwei held Ding Shian by the neck with one hand until the other person completely lost consciousness, then gently let go.

“Young people these days have such short tempers.” Zhang Zhiwei clapped his hands, then turned to look to the side. Two disciples from Longhu Mountain immediately slipped over silently, each expertly supporting Ding Shima on one side, and they disappeared behind the cordon in the blink of an eye.

After dealing with all of this, Zhang Zhiwei resumed his dignified and otherworldly demeanor, put his hands behind his back, and quietly returned to the most conspicuous position in the front row, as if nothing had happened.

The strange people around witnessed the whole scene, but they didn't even blink. Only the tiger muttered something very softly in the crowd.

At this moment, all communication channels are open, including those in the North China region.

Zhang Chulan stood behind Xu San and Xu Si, and he had seen everything that had just happened. He touched his neck, cold sweat trickling down his spine, and asked in a low voice:

"Third Brother, Fourth Brother...didn't you say the Old Master had a good temper? How come he just choked someone unconscious right away? That's Ding Shian! A hero! He just choked him like that?"

Xu Si had subconsciously put a cigarette in his mouth, but realizing the inappropriate situation, he quickly stuffed it back into his pocket, his expression becoming somewhat serious: "Even having a good temper depends on the situation. Chu Lan, look at those big leaders in front of us, and then look at those arrogant 'Ten Elders.' If anything goes wrong today, not to mention Longhu Mountain, from top to bottom, countless members of our Tongmeng will be directly exiled to the Tibetan region to guard the ponds."

At the same time, Xu San suddenly remembered something, took a half step closer to Zhang Chulan, and whispered, "By the way, the Old Celestial Master asked me to pass on a message to you when he passed by earlier. He said that after we finish welcoming you here, he wants to see you alone and have a chat with you."

Zhang Chulan's face turned pale instantly: "What... what's going on? I haven't offended him, have I?"

Xu Si glanced at him sideways, sneered, and then lowered his voice: "Your Golden Light Incantation and Thunder Techniques are all treasures of Longhu Mountain that are never passed down to outsiders. If you were the Celestial Master, and you saw a kid who had never been up the mountain and had never submitted a formal apprenticeship invitation suddenly use all your hidden skills, wouldn't you want to have a chat with him?"

Zhang Chulan suddenly felt his legs go weak: "No way, didn't he invite me to the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony? I can't just turn my back on him now... Is it too late for me to run away now?"

Xu San glared at Xu Si and comforted him, "Don't listen to his nonsense. The Old Celestial Master is a highly accomplished cultivator and won't do anything to you. He probably just wants to have a chat with you."

Zhang Chulan managed to catch his breath for a moment, but the unease churning inside him still rose in his throat. He looked around, his heart pounding faster and faster: "Alright then. But Third Brother, Fourth Brother—who exactly are we here to pick up today? I just heard several people around me talking about 'the gang leader' and 'the emperor of the sea' and stuff like that. This is such an extravagant display, is it some kind of head of state who has arrived?"

Xu San and Xu Si exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with complex emotions—it wasn't that they didn't want to explain, but there was too much to explain, and they didn't know where to begin.

"To be honest, Chu Lan," Xu San said slowly, his tone carrying an unprecedented solemnity, "we only learned about the existence of this ancestor a few days ago from the company's 'top secret files'."

"Do you know who the biggest taboo is in this world we live in, no, in the whole world?"

Zhang Chulan shook his head.

Xu San said in a low voice, "In 1935, a remarkable man emerged in Shanghai. He first unified the canal transport system, bringing all the previously fragmented river transport under one banner. Then, during those turbulent days, at the foot of Zijin Mountain..."

He paused for a moment, his tone shifting from the previous narrative to a low, somber tone that even he found it somewhat unbelievable to say: "He single-handedly annihilated an army of 300,000 Japanese soldiers. That wasn't war; it was a one-sided crushing defeat."

Xu Si picked up the conversation, his voice even lower: "Later, he sailed across the ocean, heading straight for the East, not only destroying Tokyo but also killing millions. The East signed a treaty of apology and reparations, the top echelons of the East Asian government were completely purged, and he thus occupied the entire East. Afterwards, he created a 'New World' independent of all other nations, beginning to dominate global shipping. Later still, in the Western Pacific, he conducted a nominal joint maritime security exercise with the US aircraft carrier group, and the result…"

Zhang Chulan nervously swallowed: "And the result?"

"As a result, that carrier strike group was completely destroyed." Xu Si pointed to the distant sea. "From that day on, there was only one voice in the world's oceans, and that was his voice. He was the world's recognized 'Emperor of the Sea,' and every country that wanted to survive at sea had to pay him a maritime security tax..."

Xu San picked up where Xu Si left off, his tone softening: "And during the most difficult years in our country, he used his own fleet to transport batches of grain and core equipment free of charge..."

Zhang Chulan was completely dumbfounded. He felt like he was still living in that urban supernatural world where he was preparing for graduate school entrance exams, looking for a job, watching videos, and occasionally encountering extraordinary people. How did the script suddenly turn into a fantasy movie?

"Sea Emperor? Rule...rule the world's seas?" Zhang Chulan murmured. "Is this really not a movie?"

Just as Zhang Chulan was trying to piece his worldview back together from a pile of fragments into a barely recognizable shape, a very subtle commotion suddenly arose in the previously deathly silent dock.

It wasn't clamor, nor was it rushing about; rather, it was a kind of suppressed, intense atmosphere, a shift in the air where countless extraordinary individuals held their breath simultaneously, only to be pierced by the same signal. Someone whispered, "They're here," but those two words were swallowed up by an even heavier silence before they could even spread.

Everyone turned to look at the horizon. In the distance, through the sea fog, a huge dark shadow was slowly emerging.

At the same time, a suppressed gasp erupted from the ranks of the supernatural beings.

Zhang Chulan rubbed his eyes violently. He wondered if he was hallucinating or experiencing some kind of visual residual.

Because in that instant, without warning, a black and red lightning bolt flashed before his eyes, and a strange sense of palpitation grew stronger and stronger.

Chapter 131 A Greeting Across Time

The massive shadow of the lead ship, Zhenhai, has completely loomed over Wusongkou.

At the very front of the deck, Jiang Zhen stood by the railing, his eyes piercing through hundreds of meters, clearly capturing the vivid and complex faces on the shore.

"Hey, that old bastard Zhang Zhiwei, he's gotten so old he's practically unrecognizable." Jiang Zhen chuckled, looking at everyone. "And Old Lu, Dongtian..."

.....

"Hey, we're almost at shore. Since we're going back to our hometown, maybe we should tone it down a bit." Huang Chunjie stood half a step behind him. He saw Jiang Zhen's foot stepping onto the gunwale and the increasingly bright excitement in his eyes. He was probably about to get things done.

"Hold back? When old friends meet, how can we not show our strength? It's been so long, let me weigh you first." Jiang Zhen chuckled and took half a step forward with his right foot.

In that instant, his casual, carefree demeanor vanished. In its place emerged a terrifying, overwhelming will, capable of suffocating everything.

Huang Chunjie's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly growled, "You, sir! Take it easy!"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. It's just a greeting," Jiang Zhen replied excitedly.

Seeing that he couldn't stop them, Huang Chunjie sighed and suddenly turned to the crew and entourage on deck, shouting, "Listen up! Anyone whose life cultivation is insufficient, immediately retreat to your cabin! Seal your five senses!"

Everyone clearly understood what greeting someone in a superior position meant. In an instant, chaos erupted on the deck as most people moved with a practiced ease that was almost heartbreaking, quickly evacuating from the eye of the storm.

At this moment, only Huang Chunjie, the three Jiang siblings, and a few others remained on the first ship's crew.

next second.

A sudden change occurred.

Centered on Jiang Zhen, countless black and red lightning bolts suddenly exploded in the void. These lightning bolts did not fall to the ground, but instead slithered wildly through the air like serpents.

"boom--!"

The invisible pressure transformed into a tangible mental storm in the next instant, starting from the bow of the Zhenhai ship and spreading straight down the sea towards the port.

At the port, the faces of those who had been standing solemnly like pine trees turned from white to green, and then from green to purple, the moment the Conqueror's Haki touched them.

"Here it comes!" Lu Jin shouted, and his body instantly activated the Triple Reversal of Life, his energy exploding like snow.

But the ordinary superhumans behind him weren't having such an easy time. Even hundreds of meters away, the suffocating feeling of being crushed by a mountain made it difficult for many to even catch their breath.

In an instant, the harbor echoed with the dense sound of footsteps grinding against the ground. The strange beings didn't move, yet under the intense, invisible pressure, they were involuntarily pulled backward. The cement bricks on the ground even creaked and groaned from the strong friction.

The situation at the scene fell into three categories: one person was still able to stand upright; a dozen or so people were resisting while half-bent over; and the majority of people were supporting themselves on all fours.

"Hey!" Lu Ci grinned, his eyes wide, his frenzied energy ignited. He spread his legs wide, the flow of Ruyi Jing Qi rushing from his dantian to his Baihui point and then back down to his limbs, making him like a powder keg with a lit fuse. "Brothers! Brother Jiang is giving us a fist bump from afar! He hasn't been back to his hometown in decades, and his first greeting is so energetic—if we can't even handle this much of his power, we've wasted our lives cultivating!" He took a deep breath and roared a single word, "Rise!"

"rise!"

With a loud shout, Lü Ci's Qi surged around him like boiling water.