# 241
Chapter 241: Gods Forbidden
East-Sea coastline.
Low, heavy clouds smothered the sky; Chaos-laden, they let no light slip through, lightning prowling among them like caged beasts.
Beneath, the sea was a roaring black monster, rearing up in thirty-meter jaws that seemed ready to swallow the clouds themselves.
Howling winds scourged the shore; trees thick as a man’s embrace were ripped out whole and hurled into cafés across the street.
Wave upon wave crashed ashore, exploding over empty streets, spray tall enough to drown a skyscraper, seawater flooding the staggered avenues until half the city crouched under wind and water.
Armageddon made real.
Everyone within five kilometres of the coast had been evacuated; cordon ribbons snapped and vanished under the surge.
Helicopters circled overhead; officers in army fatigues stared at the sea, faces grim.
“This beats any disaster movie,” one muttered. “What could do this? At least Infinity, right?”
“Infinity? Don’t joke.” His neighbour shook his head. “It’s not just one city—every port along the East-Sea coast looks like this. Even Klein couldn’t manage it…”
The first man paled. “You mean it’s—”
A stern voice crackled through every headset:
“Target sighted! Repeat—TARGET SIGHTED!! Do nothing, do not engage, maintain radio silence!
Someone else will handle it.”
Breaths froze; every eye swept the shoreline.
Rumble—!
The black sea seemed to boil. Far out, a wall of water rose sky-high, tearing a chunk of thundercloud with it, lightning writhing in its crest as it prepared to smash the city to powder.
The crews swallowed hard, knuckles white on the grab-rails.
Cling—!!
A clear sword-cry cut through the thunder of the wave. In that instant the world went deathly still.
The towering wave halted, then sheared clean across—as though an invisible blade had sliced the ten-kilometre crest in two.
The severed water crashed back, detonating like a missile, echoing across the heavens.
A city-wrecking calamity erased by a single note.
Every gaze snapped to the shore.
Wind and rain shredded the light into broken reflections.
A young man walked through the wrecked streets, cradling a long case. Rain-soaked hair hung over his eyes; gale whipped his black shirt as he stared at his shoes and paced steadily toward the sea.
Rumble…
The surface heaved again, birthing a wave even vaster, ripping clouds apart as it fell.
Still he watched his toes, indifferent.
His palm brushed the case.
Cling—!!
Sword-song rang again; the wave was punched through, shredded into drifting spray, gone before it could touch the city.
He never broke stride.
Step… step… step…
He stopped beside a snapped tree at the water’s edge.
Head bowed, he murmured only to himself:
“Beyond this point—Great Xia territory. Gods forbidden.”
The whisper was insect-small against the roar, yet the instant it left his lips the raging sea froze—every wave, every droplet, suspended.
Then the ocean rolled back on itself, parting like a curtain.
Between the sundered waters a titanic figure strode from the depths.
A foreign face, bare-chested, black hair to his waist, Trident in hand; every movement carried crushing majesty.
One step and he stood before the youth; the Trident’s butt struck earth, the city quaking as his voice rolled out:
“Mortal, do you know who I am?”
“Divine serial 009—Sea God Poseidon,” the young man answered flatly.
Poseidon’s eyes narrowed. “Arrogant land, faithless people! You dare catalogue gods?”
“What’s to believe in?” He still studied his shoes. “I trust only my sword.”
The god regarded him. “Interesting. Your name?”
“Zhou Ping. They call me Sword Saint.”
“Zhou Ping.” Poseidon’s voice deepened; terrible pressure slammed down, crushing the ground beneath Zhou Ping’s feet to rubble.
“Of all mortals I’ve met, you are the strongest… yet you think flesh alone can bar a sea-god?”
“I can try.”
The case opened a finger’s breadth; sword-cry rang.
A savage gouge split the earth between them, sword-aura erupting to meet divine might, neither yielding an inch.
Poseidon’s face darkened. “The Śiva’s Grudge is an artefact of absolute ruin. In evil hands it will unmake worlds. Great Xia has no gods—you cannot guard it. Only Olympus can.”
“Great Xia’s affairs are not Greece’s concern.” Zhou Ping’s hand closed round the hilt; his aura shifted.
Endless sword-qi pierced the sky. For the first time he lifted his gaze, eyes like frost meeting the god’s.
“I say it once more—within Great Xia… gods forbidden!”