I Can See Your Combat Power

Early morning of August 5th,

The originally clear sky above Xiling suddenly turned overcast. In an instant, a violent wind sprang up, followed by raindrops the size of beans, drumming hard on the pavements. Thunder rumbled, deafeningly loud.

After a while, the beans-sized raindrops formed a dense sheet. The rain fell as if the sky had collapsed. It was early morning, yet it was as dark as midnight. Massive dark clouds obstructed all the light. Thunder followed one after the other, with lightning snakes dancing wildly in the dark clouds.

The wild wind whipped the rainfall onto the rock faces and leaves, snapping and crackling. Entire groves of trees were unable to withstand the tremendous force of the wind, snapping in half at the trunk.

A white line appeared in the southeast, stretching almost beyond sight, its wrath rolling towards Xiling.

The ten patterns of the Undying Battle Body corresponded to the liver and gallbladder, symbolizing the Divine Storage of Wood. Although the divine power wasn’t activated just yet, Tang Luo’s eyesight was surprisingly keen, unaffected by the blinding pelting rain and the dense clouds. The dreadful white line was extraordinarily clear in his eyes; it was an enormous tidal wave, a dozen feet high, roaring down from the upstream of the Lingjiang River. Mud and countless pieces of wood, stone, and houses were whirling and flipping tn the muddy water like monsters.

Although he was over a hundred miles away, Tang Luo could clearly see the terrifying force of the flood. Numerous villages were located in the southeast of Xiling, but with just a light wave of the dozen-feet tall wave, the delicate little villages were completely wiped out. The ruthless flood was playing a cruel game, relentlessly stirring up the waves, rolling and churning.

The villages on both banks of the Lingjiang River were instantly lost. The monstrous tidal wave, rushing at over twenty miles per hour, revealed its ghastly first wave to the people of Xiling.

Short hills were completely submerged, while everything and everyone on its path was swallowed up, an absolute horror of Cimmerian darkness.

The flood was making landfall in Xiling. The rain was even more violent, the wind fiercer, and the flood peak roared. The east of Xiling, once land, had turned into a river. You could barely make out a few isolated peaks. These were the summits of the hundred-meter mountains, most of which were swallowed by the flood, leaving only tiny peaks exposed.

Like a famished beast, it devoured everything in Xiling, transforming the entire eastern part into a vast ocean.

In the face of such a catastrophe, personal strength appeared so insignificant. Looking at the overwhelming force of the flood, Tang Luo clenched his fists tightly behind him.

The berserk flood fiercely collided with the Red Cloud Mountain Range in the east. Billions of tonnes of muddy water turned into a colossal wave and slapped onto the rocky face. The outermost soil layer and the forest disintegrated within a second.

The civilians trembling in the mountains thought the end of the world had come. Huge mud and rock waves slammed into the mountain, ripping apart the last defense in the hearts of the civilians, even under this dark torrential rain.

Some civilians thought the Red Cloud Mountain was going to collapse and ran downhill in panic. Only seeing ten meters ahead, they didn’t know that the flood had already surrounded the Red Cloud Mountains, turning it into an isolated island in the flood.

The people who slipped and fell into the flood in the torrential rain and thunder didn’t even have a chance to call for help before they were swallowed up by the muddy water, their fate unknown.

Only death can utterly ignite the nerves of the weak. But it was not until they saw the mob leaders being swallowed by the flood that they realized the terrifying extent of this flood in Xiling.

August 8th

The downpour that had lasted for three days finally cleared, but the whole of Xiling submerged in a flood. The water level at the peak of the flood, reaching over forty meters, could destroy any plain civilization. Even the highest Tianxiang Building in Xiling was completely washed away, not to mention anything else.

In this flood, the thousand-year-old Xiling City became a thing of the past. Looking at the relentless flood, no one knew how long it would last, but many lords understood that Xiling City would cease to exist, even if the flood receded. Therefore, the various clans bucked up and began to rebuild their homes on the mountainsides. The temporary accommodations had been shattered by three days of continuous rain, and many food supplies were spoiled and needed to be dealt with quickly.

In comparison to the predicaments faced by the medium and small clans, the northern mountains, where Tang Luo was, felt little to no impact from the flood. For the Tang Clan, which had been preparing for this flood for two years, everything seemed incredibly stable.

There were stone fortresses, wooden houses, and cave dwellings on North Mountain for the various tribes that had sought refuge under the Tang Clan to settle in. There were also temporary sites for different departments, Summoning Fields, Herbal Halls, Secret Arts Pavilion, Refinery rooms, and Wind Media Department. Not only were the necessary documents fully prepared, but the design of the sites was almost an exact replica of the original headquarters in Xiling.

As children thought that the disaster would allow them to stay at home, they were surprised to know that the clan had reopened an Extensive Field in the mountains, putting an absolute end to the desires of some to laze around.

Even during the worst moment of the flood three days ago, the impact on the northern mountains was minimal, making people forget that they were in the most terrifying disaster Xiling had suffered in a thousand years.

The residence of Tang Sen was probably the least affected by the flood among all of the Tang Clan. For the servants and guards of Tang Mansion, their activities were mostly confined within the three hundred acres of the estate; they seldom had the chance to leave. Now that the entire Tang Mansion had been moved to the mountains, staying inside the mansion felt like they were still in Xiling, with the only difference being the sea of clouds they would see outside occasionally, reminding them that they were on top of a mountain and not in Xiling.

As the residence that owned a hunting team, Tang Sen had given orders to butcher and freeze the animals upon his initial return to Xiling. Over a million pounds of meat had been frozen in the ice cellar. Coupled with the vegetable produce from the estate’s farm, life and dining conditions were barely different from when they were in Xiling.

Especially on this special day, he had thought that nobody would remember his birthday after his mother, Xu Shuhui, passed away. However, she had already informed the housekeeper, Uncle Fu, about the arrangements before her departure.

The fifteenth birthday was an important day for scions of the prominent families. The legitimate sons could receive their first piece of property from their fathers, marking their economic independence to a certain extent.

Sect Head Tang Sen had only one wife, which meant that Tang Luo and his two brothers were all legitimate sons. Therefore, the three of them enjoyed almost the same treatment, with no distinction between the legitimate and the illegitimate.

However, as Tang Luo held the deed to three houses on Golden Avenue, he wondered whether he should laugh or cry thinking about Xiling, which had been completely wiped out by the flood.

Although the flood was raging outside, the mansion was decorated splendidly inside. Almost all important individuals in the Tang Clan were present and had brought gifts. The grandeur of the ceremony was self-evident. This was not only his birthday but also the day of his Coming-of-Age ceremony.

The Coming-of-Age ceremony marked adulthood. As per clan custom, all Tang clan descendants, men who either turned twenty years old or graduated in the Mortal Realm, underwent the Coming-of-Age ceremony, signaling adulthood. They were recognized by the family, and could marry and establish their households.

Regardless of their legitimacy, girls underwent the Hair Pinning ceremony at the age of fifteen. After the Hair Pinning ceremony, they were allowed to accept marriage proposals and get married.