My Talent's Name Is Generator

Chapter 1090: Restless

The serpent emerged from the ruins of the shattered mountain in a fury.

Entire cliffs still tumbled from the damaged peak as the creature tore free of the debris cloud, its enormous body twisting violently through the water while black soul energy poured from between its scales. The earlier attack had clearly injured it, but not nearly enough to end the battle. If anything, the strike had only driven the beast into a frenzy.

The ocean itself seemed to recoil from its rage.

The surrounding mountains trembled as the serpent released another roar that rolled through the sea like distant thunder.

This time, however, my father didn’t move.

While the beast focused its attention on the battlefield ahead, he remained exactly where he was, floating in the water with his sword lowered at his side. At first glance he appeared almost detached from the fight, but the longer I watched, the more obvious it became that something far more dangerous was taking place.

The sea around him was changing.

The currents that had once surged through the valleys and mountain passes were gradually disappearing. Streams of water that should have been moving naturally slowed until they became almost motionless. Entire sections of the battlefield grew unnaturally calm.

It was as though the ocean itself was holding its breath.

The serpent sensed the danger immediately.

Its head snapped toward my father.

For the first time since the battle began, hesitation appeared in its movements.

Unfortunately for the beast, the other humans had no intention of allowing it to act on that instinct.

A spear-wielding warrior appeared directly in front of the creature and drove his weapon forward with enough force to create a shockwave that rippled through the surrounding sea. Golden lightning exploded from the spear’s tip and wrapped itself around the serpent’s neck like chains of living energy.

The creature tore through them almost instantly.

By then a second one had already arrived.

Ice erupted across the battlefield.

A complete section within the sea froze solid as crystalline formations spread over the serpent’s body. Several of its limbs became trapped beneath layers of enchanted frost powerful enough to imprison lesser Transcendents.

The beast shattered those restraints as well.

Yet every second it spent breaking free was another second stolen from it.

Another second given to my father.

The remaining humans pressed the advantage relentlessly. Explosions of fire illuminated the dark waters. Stone constructs rose from the ocean floor and crashed against the serpent’s body. Blades of compressed wind carved deep wounds across its scales.

The beast fought back with terrifying strength.

One sweep of its tail obliterated an entire mountainside. A burst of spiritual energy from its jaws erased several formation pillars.

Twice it nearly escaped the encirclement. Twice the humans forced it back.

Slowly, they herded it. Not unlike hunters driving prey toward a waiting trap. Only this trap happened to be my father.

By now the changes surrounding him had become impossible to ignore.

The sea was gathering.

Water from distant valleys and neighboring mountain ranges drifted toward him in vast spiraling streams until an enormous sphere had formed around his body.

The sphere continued growing. The serpent noticed the same thing.

Panic entered its movements. The creature abandoned the fight entirely and attempted to retreat toward deeper waters.

My father opened his eyes.

The effect was immediate.

Every current stopped. Every ripple vanished.

The ocean became still. For one impossible heartbeat, it felt as though the entire Soul Sea had frozen in place.

My father slowly raised his sword.

The vast sphere surrounding him responded.

Countless streams of water began rotating around the blade, compressing further and further until the enormous mass of oceanic pressure condensed into something so thin that normal eyes could barely follow it.

The serpent felt the danger.

Its struggle became desperate.

Yet no matter how fiercely it fought, the other humans held their ground.

They weren’t trying to defeat it. They were ensuring it remained exactly where it needed to be.

My father took a single step forward.

The ocean moved with him.

”Sea Breathing: World-Severing Tide.”

There was no explosion or dazzling display of energy. The attack was almost disappointingly simple.

My father swung his sword. The ocean obeyed and a single line appeared. A razor-thin current compressed beyond reason, carrying enough force to divide everything in its path.

The strike crossed the battlefield so quickly that even the serpent missed it.

For several seconds nothing happened. The serpent remained motionless. The surrounding mountains remained intact.

Even the ocean seemed unchanged.

Then a deep crack echoed through the sea. The serpent’s body split apart from the crown of its head to the tip of its tail.

The separation was perfect. The creature died before it even understood it had been struck.

Far beyond the battlefield, the mountain range behind it began to collapse. Massive peaks slowly separated into two halves before sliding apart under their own weight. Entire sections of stone crumbled into the valleys below as the true scale of the attack finally became apparent.

The battle was over.

For a few moments nobody moved.

The five humans simply hovered in the water, staring at the aftermath. Then one of them shook his head and pointed toward my father.

Even from this distance, I could tell he was complaining about something.

The others appeared to agree. Apparently this was not the first time such an argument had occurred.

Beside me, Roland folded his arms and released a long sigh.

”There he goes again.”

I glanced toward him.

The old man gestured toward the battlefield.

”Your father has spent years perfecting swordsmanship and water manipulation. He could have ended that fight in dozens of different ways.”

A grin slowly appeared on his face.

”Naturally, he chooses the most dramatic option available.”

Despite the criticism, pride practically radiated from every word.

Far below, my father sheathed his sword while the construction teams resumed their work as though a mountain-sized sea monster hadn’t just been cut in half.

And as I watched him standing there amidst the drifting currents of the Soul Sea, I finally understood why the Alliance trusted him with missions like this.

The sea wasn’t merely his battlefield.

It was his domain.

At least as a Transcendent.

”He couldn’t have been more than a Grandmaster when he died,” I said as I continued watching my father below. ”How did he become this strong so quickly?”

Roland followed my gaze.

”Just like the rest of us. The Null Realm has a way of pushing people forward. Compared to other worlds, reaching the Transcendent rank isn’t the difficult part.”

His eyes drifted toward the battlefield where my father was speaking with the other cultivators.

”The difficult part is everything that comes after. Power can be gained quickly here. Skill cannot. Skill takes time. Practice. Experience.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

”And your father has never been the sort of person to sit still. He gets involved in everything. Missions. Expeditions. Conflicts. If there’s a dangerous place nobody wants to visit, there’s a good chance he’s already been there.”

”Restless would be the polite way to describe him.”

I couldn’t help chuckling. That sounded familiar.