The Palace of Crystal was difficult to enter, yet leaving posed no obstacles.

Ao Minhang led the way back along their path, using the Water Avoidance Pearl to rise above the ocean.

After three months in a cave, suddenly emerging onto an endless sea filled all with a sudden sense of boundless relief.

The treasure pig let out a deafening roar, so powerful it sent marine life fleeing in panic and disarray.

Ao Minhang's expression darkened as he worried this might expose their location to He Yiming's group. A five-element ring was hurled from his palm - five radiant beams spread across the waves like ripples.

Beneath the sea, identical light patterns shimmered upward before flowing across the surface with an eerie sentience.

He Yiming's gaze narrowed at the sight below. The lights had formed a vast array diagram. A divine path transmission formation manifesting on open ocean? Even if this legendary artistry of Five Elements Ancestor, once the world's foremost genius, still functioned perfectly after millennia...

Countless beams erupted from the center, enveloping their group mid-air.

The sea shimmered with undulating silver light under the sunlight until the final golden burst faded and all vanished silently into the blue.

※※※※

On an offshore island, another flash of gold surged through the air before vanishing after a quarter-hour.

In the island's heart now stood He Yiming's group emerging from thin air - only to hear a furious roar and feel an unimaginable force crashing toward them.

A monstrous beast with four massive claws, armored scales, and spine-ribs like spearpoints hovered above the waves. Its eye sockets bulged in disbelief at this absurd confrontation: five divine path warriors plus an enigmatic figure.

Three months prior, a strange light had appeared on its domain - considered an insult to its sovereignty. Now witnessing the same phenomenon again, it launched a devastating breath attack... only for it to be shattered effortlessly by combined elements of firewood lightning and five-element power from the intruders.

The beast's instincts screamed danger as it felt those divine path presences. Though tiny in size compared to itself, their strength rivaled its own. With no chance against such a coalition, it immediately retreated into the depths with all speed available to marine life.

Ao Minhang surged forward at top velocity after the fleeing creature, followed by his companions who dove into the ocean using Water Avoidance Pearls. Though these artifacts could part water, their pursuers simply cut through resistance like arrows in flight.

The beast twisted its massive body underwater, but a sudden flash of multicolored light from Ao Minhang struck it - then came another crackling thunderbolt from Bai Ling's whip. Blackened scales smoking and panicked beyond reason, the creature vanished into darkness at impossible speed before their eyes could even track it.

In the aftermath of shattered waves and scattered energy, the divine path warriors stared blankly at each other.

"This can't be a random encounter," He Yiming muttered grimly while Ao Bo Rui sighed: "With restored cosmic energies, many apex saints in these outer seas have recently ascended to divine paths..."

Their gazes followed the creature's vanished trail as they grumbled under their breaths.