Back on Mount Taibai, Ao Yuan gazed at the shadows of the great beasts in the deep pit beside him.
"Dragon... Dragon God," one stammered.
"Dragon God, you've returned!"
"Dragon God, we're truly sorry to trouble you with this matter."
The various demon kings, groaning on the ground, saw Ao Yuan struggling to get to his feet.
"Rest well!"
Ao Yuan did not let them rise. With a wave of his hand, he bestowed a beast pill upon each of them.
Then, he slowly walked towards the depths of Mount Taibai.
Lost in thought, Ao Yuan sighed softly.
Currently, on Mount Taibai, no.
It should be said, in the entire world, only his strength was somewhat presentable.
The remaining demonic beasts were still far inferior to the technology that humanity had developed over hundreds of years.
"It seems I need to make them change," Ao Yuan's eyes flickered, an idea forming in his mind.
Mount Taibai.
It couldn't rely on him alone.
After all.
With the gods descending in the future, if they couldn't measure up, Mount Taibai might be close to ruin.
Having conceived a rough outline in his mind, Ao Yuan had already reached the Heavenly Lake.
Gazing at the Heavenly Lake, as placid as a mirror, Ao Yuan tucked this matter away in his heart.
This matter was important.
But Ao Yuan clearly had more pressing matters to attend to.
"First, I need to connect the Heavenly Lake!"
Ao Yuan muttered to himself and then leaped into the Heavenly Lake.
The Heavenly Lake was actually quite vast.
Of course, this was only from Ao Yuan's previous perspective.
For the current Ao Yuan, it was far less so.
What Ao Yuan intended to do now was to connect the Heavenly Lake to the seabed and expand its area.
After swimming in the Heavenly Lake for about ten minutes, Ao Yuan reached the bottom.
"Hoo..."
Looking at the still rather expansive lakebed.
Ao Yuan, with a blank expression, delivered a fierce punch!
*Bang!*
The sound was small, as if lacking power.
But the lakebed cracked inch by inch, creating a huge opening.
*Crash!*
Seawater instantly poured in, on the verge of merging with the Heavenly Lake's water.
"Weak water!"
Ao Yuan beckoned, and a stream of water manifested in his hand, forcefully separating the seawater from the Heavenly Lake.
"Again!"
Ao Yuan didn't hesitate and unleashed another powerful punch.
*Bang, bang, bang!*
One punch followed another.
Despite Ao Yuan's immense strength, Mount Taibai remained as stable as ever.
Only the opening at the bottom grew larger and larger.
Throughout this process, Ao Yuan, as if tireless, continuously moved and shifted his position, striking repeatedly.
After about ten minutes, the entire lakebed of the Heavenly Lake had been shattered by Ao Yuan.
Large swathes of land cracked and sank, like wilting flowers.
Rushing seawater poured in, but at the same time, a surge of Weak Water flowed out, perfectly separating the Heavenly Lake water from the seawater.
The fundamental reason Ao Yuan did this was because seawater and Heavenly Lake water were different.
Ao Yuan did not want the entire Heavenly Lake to become seawater.
And at this very moment.
With the complete shattering of the lakebed.
Ao Yuan looked with great satisfaction at the Dragon Palace that now stood between the Heavenly Lake and the sea.
If one were to view it from the other side of the sea, they would immediately see the gleaming Dragon Palace!
The Dragon Palace also illuminated the otherwise dark sea.
The golden, shimmering Dragon Palace looked incredibly opulent and luxurious.
"First step complete!"
Ao Yuan clapped his hands, nodding with great satisfaction.
"Time to expand Mount Taibai."
Ao Yuan turned and swam back towards Mount Taibai.
By the time he reached Mount Taibai, he saw the figures of the various demon kings.
At this moment.
Although they were not as they had been before, their conditions had mostly recovered after consuming the beast pills.
They would likely be back to normal in some time.
However...
Some demon kings, despite having no physical injuries, wore grim expressions.
"Dragon God."
"Greetings, Dragon God."
"Dragon God!"
After acknowledging each of them with a nod, Ao Yuan looked at them with interest and asked, "What's wrong with you all?"
"Why do you look so glum?"
Those demon kings exchanged glances, opening their mouths as if reluctant to speak.
"It's nothing, tell me about it," Ao Yuan was curious.
"Dragon God, didn't you just drop the trident in the seabed?"
The demon kings looked at each other. Finally, one of them stepped forward, his face contorted, and said, "We went down to retrieve it just now, but as we were about to get it."
"A massive storm suddenly erupted from the seabed."
"It blew us away, and we don't know where we ended up."
After speaking, he lowered his head, afraid to meet Ao Yuan's gaze.
Honestly, this matter was too humiliating for a beast.
A dignified demon king being blown away by a storm.
It would surely be a laughingstock if word got out.
"Hahahaha!"
As expected, the demon kings who had not gone down immediately burst into laughter.
"No, what's going on with you guys? Blown away by a storm while trying to get a weapon?"
"And a storm? Why didn't we feel anything on Mount Taibai?"
"Hahaha, you guys aren't just making up a story because you couldn't lift the weapon, are you?"
"Honestly, we wouldn't laugh at you if you just told us."
...
"Who said that? We really encountered a storm just now."
"And how could we not lift the weapon? It's not some magical weapon."
"We just didn't get a good grip."
The words of these demon kings caused the others who had ventured out to argue back vociferously.
However, this only made the previous demon king laugh even harder.
"What are you laughing at?"
"You don't believe us?"
"No, if you're going to make up a story, at least make it sound plausible! This is obviously fake!"
"A storm? Why don't you say a tsunami while you're at it?"
"Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you doubting us??"
...
Watching the two groups of demon kings argue heatedly, Ao Yuan appeared calm on the surface.
In reality, he was on the verge of tears from laughter.
If he wasn't mistaken, the storm they were talking about was likely one he had caused.
To be honest, he hadn't expected these creatures to actually go and retrieve it.
However, one thing the demon beasts had said was not wrong.
Even if they had gone.
They truly wouldn't have been able to lift it.
After all, that was the weapon of a divine being!
How could it be so easily lifted!
Ao Yuan had warned them about this before and didn't bring it up again.
This was something they needed to learn from the hard way.
Seeing that they were on the verge of a brawl, Ao Yuan shook his head, smiled, and stepped out, saying, "Alright, this isn't a big deal."
"There's no need to argue."
Upon hearing this, the demon beasts all deflated.
Seeing that they had all calmed down, Ao Yuan no longer paid them any mind and walked slowly.
He arrived at the point where Mount Taibai met the sea.
Now...
He was about to implement the second step!
...