"Hope you survive this, Tenth."
As Lam Minh's words faded, Tenth and the giant Kraken hadn't even had time to understand what was happening.
When...
Lam Minh's entire body, encased in the Dragon God Battle Armor, suddenly erupted in a dazzling golden light.
The Dragon God Golden Core inside him began to spin at a frantic speed, the energy within becoming extremely unstable, like a star on the verge of collapse.
Tenth, upon sensing that terrifying, destructive energy, turned deathly pale. He finally understood this bastard's plan.
"YOU... YOU DARE TO SELF-DESTRUCT YOUR GOLDEN CORE???" he roared in absolute terror.
A Golden Core self-destruction was already terrifying enough. But a Golden Core self-destructing without any control or restraint, and at the bottom of the deep sea where the water pressure would amplify the destructive force many times over... Its power would be no different from a strategic nuclear bomb.
This guy was insane! He was truly insane!
Lam Minh looked at him and gave one last smile.
"The Saintly Way and I will meet again."
BOOM...!!!!
There were no more words.
The entire energy of the Dragon God Golden Core, accumulated from countless deaths and resurrections, from ancient cultivation arts, from the Dragon God bloodline, was, in an instant, completely unleashed.
A sphere of golden light, brighter than the sun, exploded in the Palawan Trench.
It made no sound. In the dense water, it only created a deathly silence.
A blinding yellow energy shockwave, carrying destructive power, swept through everything. The deep-sea currents were pushed away, creating a massive vacuum.
Lam Minh, at the center of the explosion, was incinerated down to the last cell, vanishing in the light, with nothing left behind.
The giant Kraken, despite its powerful deep-sea monster body, was hit head-on by the shockwave. It let out a horrific, pained roar, its massive body thrown for dozens of kilometers, its tentacles torn to shreds, and blue blood spewed out, dyeing a large area of the sea.
Tenth, despite having tried to use all his strength to defend and flee, was no better off. He was swept away like a leaf in a storm, his Nascent Soul defensive layer shattered, his body cut by countless energy currents, covered in injuries.
But the disaster didn't stop there.
The energy shockwave, after sweeping the seabed, continued to spread upwards and outwards at an unimaginable speed.
It struck the geological layers of the seabed, causing a terrifying earthquake.
The entire East Sea region trembled.
On land, in the ASEAN bloc nations, seismographs simultaneously blared alarms at their highest levels.
The ground shook violently as if hit by a magnitude 9 or 10 earthquake. High-rise buildings swayed, and panicked people ran into the streets.
And then, from the sea, a horrific sight appeared.
The sea surface, which had been calm, suddenly rose. One, two, then three giant tsunamis, tens, even hundreds of meters high, were formed, crashing towards the mainland.
Meteorological centers worldwide issued tsunami warnings at the highest level.
The people of the ASEAN bloc stood frozen, watching in horror at the giant wall of water rushing towards them, carrying the power to swallow entire cities.
But fortunately for them.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The tsunamis, upon hitting the ASEAN Great Wall—the great defensive barrier built with technology and ancient formations—were stopped. Billions of tons of seawater crashed against the sturdy wall, creating sky-shaking booms, before collapsing.
Although it caused flooding in some coastal areas, the worst catastrophe was averted. The ASEAN Wall, once again, had protected the last lives of humanity.
The entire world was stunned by this sudden and terrifying natural disaster. No one knew that its cause came from the deliberate self-destruction of a young man, in the deepest part of the ocean.
The mission to seize the Azure Star Ore mine had failed.
But Lam Minh had successfully shaken off the tail of a Nascent Soul expert.
And he had created a new "legend," a disaster that would be recorded in history.
...
At the bottom of the deep sea, in the Palawan Trench, the chaos was not yet over. The water was still churning violently after the horrific explosion. The light was gone, leaving only the inky blackness and the cold of the abyss.
From a crevice in a collapsed underwater mountain, a figure slowly crawled out.
It was Tenth.
His entire body was covered in wounds. The black robe was tattered, revealing a body full of deep cuts caused by the shockwave. The dark energy around him was faint, and the spiritual energy in his body was almost depleted. Lam Minh's self-destruction, though it didn't kill him, had left him severely injured, his cultivation level almost dropping.
"Cough... cough..." he coughed up a mouthful of black blood, which dissolved into the water. "That... that madman... He really dared to do it..."
He looked around, no longer able to sense Lam Minh's aura. He assumed the kid had truly been annihilated, soul and all. After all, no soul could survive a Golden Core's self-destruction.
"It was worth it," he murmured, trying to circulate his remaining spiritual energy to heal his wounds. "At least... a great threat has been eliminated."
But, just as he was about to sigh in relief.
He suddenly felt a giant, frantic, and furious aura rushing towards him at a terrifying speed.
He looked up.
From the darkness, a giant monster emerged. It was the Kraken, the Deep Sea Demon King.
It was also heavily injured. A few of its tentacles were severed, and its milky-white body was covered in energy burns. Its golden eyes were now bloodshot, filled with rage.
It had been awakened from its thousand-year slumber, only to be caught in a terrifying explosion for no reason. Its anger had reached its peak.
And now, in this area, there was only one living creature left with the aura of the one who had caused all this.
Tenth himself.
The Kraken didn't need to think. It assumed that this tiny "person" in front of it was the one who had injured it.
ROAR!!!
It let out an angry roar at the bottom of the sea, creating sonic waves that shook the entire region.
It swung one of its remaining tentacles, as large as a building, lashing out viciously at Tenth.
Tenth looked at the incoming tentacle, his face turning pale.
"NO! IT WASN'T ME!" he wanted to scream, but it was too late.
He, a Nascent Soul Holy Messenger, who had just escaped death from a self-destruction, now had to face the wrath of an ancient deep-sea monster.
BAM!
The tentacle struck him. He was sent flying like a bullet, for kilometers through the sea, black blood spraying from his mouth once again.
Along with it, a curse full of resentment echoed under the sea.
"FUCK YOU, LAM MINH!!!"
A few hundred nautical miles away.
In the quiet seawater, a gleaming, golden drop of Golden Blood was floating idly.
Suddenly, the drop of blood lit up.
It began to absorb energy from the surrounding seawater. It grew larger, regenerating every cell, every blood vessel, every bone.
[Host has been resurrected from Golden Blood.]
[State [Immunity] activated. 29:59 remaining.]
[+1 Immortality Point for it being a suicide.]
In just ten seconds, a complete body was formed.
Lam Minh opened his eyes. He was in the middle of the ocean.
He felt that his cultivation was still at the Initial-Stage Golden Core, and he let out a sigh of relief. This type of suicide didn't affect his cultivation; the system was truly heaven-defying.
"But... only one immortality point," he murmured. "Still, in exchange for shaking off a Nascent Soul expert and gaining a new escape method, it's worth it."
He looked towards the distance, where the battle between Tenth and the Kraken was probably still ongoing. He just sneered.
"Good luck, Tenth. Hope you'll be a good toy for that octopus."
He thought to himself, "This move is really useful. Maybe I should prepare a few drops of Golden Blood and hide them somewhere around the world. When needed, I can just go 'BOOM' and shake off any enemy."
A new, very "roguish" "insurance" plan was formed in his mind.
He looked towards the horizon, determining the direction of the ASEAN bloc.
The mission to seize the Azure Star Ore mine was considered a failure.
But he had farmed a huge amount of points, and more importantly, had successfully escaped from an unbeatable enemy.
He quietly swam forward, like a long-distance swimmer, beginning his journey back home.