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With the Evil Tiger Whale clan defeated and over two hundred of them killed, the entire sea was dyed red with blood.
Yang Xiong and his group were ecstatic. The battle had been brutal, and everyone had sustained minor injuries during the intense fighting, but they were all relieved to have finally completed this trial.
Yang Xiong heard a voice in his ear.
"Yang Xiong, Top-Tier Eight Trials, Fourth Trial—Apex Whale and Shark Battle: Completed. Reward: One level increase in soul power, and an additional one thousand years added to the duration of all soul rings."
A golden light enveloped Yang Xiong, and he could feel his soul power grow stronger, reaching Level 89.
The others confirmed their rewards as well—all received a one-level increase in soul power, while Shui Bing'er and Ning Rongrong gained an additional five hundred years for each of their soul rings.
As Yang Xiong had anticipated, Yang Wei had finally reached Level 80 and was now eligible to absorb the hundred-thousand-year soul ring from the Evil Tiger Whale King.
Yang Xiong had deliberately left three Evil Tiger Whales aged over eighty thousand years alive, leaving the choice to Ning Rongrong and the others.
At that moment, Yang Wei was overjoyed.
"Little Xiong, I have great news! My Black-Level Four Trials have been upgraded. The Sea God just informed me that due to my excellent performance in the first four trials, my Black-Level Four Trials have been upgraded to Black-Level Five Trials. I'll need to complete a fifth trial to fully finish the challenge."
Yang Xiong was delighted. Qin Shuang also reported that his trial had been similarly upgraded to Black-Level Five Trials.
Hearing this, Yang Xiong was pleasantly surprised. It seemed the Sea God had meticulously planned each trial, and the growth everyone had experienced through the first four trials was beyond imagination.
Now, the only remaining issue was the absorption of soul rings.
Earlier, Yang Xiong had left the choice of the hundred-thousand-year soul ring to the group. After discussion, they decided that Yang Wei would slay the hundred-thousand-year Evil Tiger Whale King to claim its soul ring.
The remaining three Evil Tiger Whales, aged over eighty thousand years, lay on the brink of death in the sea.
These Evil Tiger Whales were exceptional spirit beasts—not only were they top-tier strength-type spirit beasts, but their bloodlines were also incredibly strong, making them highly suitable for the group.
Oscar, Ning Rongrong, and Feng Xiaotian exchanged glances and each killed one of the eighty-thousand-year Evil Tiger Whales, clearly determined to use them as their eighth soul rings.
Under the group's protection, Yang Wei, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, and Feng Xiaotian prepared to begin absorbing their soul rings.
Especially Yang Wei, who appeared extremely nervous. Absorbing such a soul ring required not only immense courage but also the resolve to face potential death.
True to expectations, once the absorption began, Ning Rongrong, Feng Xiaotian, and Oscar progressed relatively quickly, completing the process in less than a day.
The Evil Tiger Whale was indeed one of the ocean's most elite spirit beasts, especially those aged over eighty thousand years. Each person experienced significant growth, and the soul skills they obtained were all exceptionally powerful.
Yang Wei, however, took a full five days to absorb his soul ring. In the initial stages of absorbing the hundred-thousand-year soul ring, he looked utterly miserable—blood seeped from every part of his body, his eyes bulged, and blood flowed from his seven orifices, as if he were on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Ultimately, Yang Wei persevered and successfully absorbed the hundred-thousand-year eighth soul ring.
After absorbing the soul ring and soul bone, Yang Wei's strength saw a substantial increase.
Upon completing the fourth trial of the Sea God and absorbing the soul rings, Ning Rongrong's soul power reached Level 84, while Oscar reached Level 83.
Surprisingly, Yang Wei also reached Level 83, making him one of the highest-ranking members in terms of soul power levels within the group.
In particular, after absorbing the soul ring and soul bone of the Evil Tiger Whale King, Yang Wei gained four incredibly powerful abilities, further enhancing the might of his Black Iron Sword.
The hundred-thousand-year soul bone from the Evil Tiger Whale turned out to be a left leg bone, one of the missing pieces in Yang Wei's collection, though unfortunately not a head bone.
Feng Xiaotian also reached Level 83, showcasing his remarkable cultivation talent.
Qin Shuang reached Level 77, still some distance away from becoming a Soul Douluo.
Meanwhile, Huo Wu and Shui Bing'er both made impressive progress. Huo Wu had reached Level 76, and Shui Bing'er Level 75. Compared to when they first arrived at the Sea God Island, they had gained seventeen to eighteen levels, making them the fastest-growing members of the group.
To everyone's surprise, Ning Rongrong's eighth soul skill was also Nine Treasures Protective Divine Light. It seemed that regardless of what type of soul ring the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda absorbed, the skills remained consistent. However, the effects varied depending on the age, species, and bloodline of the spirit beast.
Oscar's eighth soul skill was equally impressive—it was identical to the original storyline, called Myriad Transformations Crystal Sausage, an ultimate healing-type soul skill capable of instant recovery, truly a top-tier ability.
While Yang Xiong and his group absorbed their soul rings, the Demon Soul Great White Shark clan was jubilant. This victory was a rare triumph in their history. Not only had they slain the strongest Evil Tiger Whales, but with so few top-tier experts left, it would be difficult for the Evil Tiger Whale clan to rise again.
Yang Xiong used the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud to collect all the Evil Tiger Whale corpses. He refrained from dissecting them on the spot in front of the Demon Soul Great White Sharks, as they too were spirit beasts.
After the group finished resting and prepared to return to the Sea God Island with Little Bai, she expressed her gratitude to Yang Xiong.
"Yang Xiong, although I dislike how you recklessly kill hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts, I must thank you this time. Without you, we wouldn't have achieved such a great victory, nor would we have killed so many Evil Tiger Whales. Our Great White Shark clan emerged largely unscathed."
Yang Xiong smiled: "You shouldn't thank me—you should thank the Sea God. This is all part of the Sea God's plan."
Little Bai hesitated before speaking: "Yang Xiong, given your strength, you could have wiped out the entire Evil Tiger Whale clan. Why did you leave more than a hundred of them alive to escape?"
Yang Xiong shook his head: "Every spirit beast has its reason for existing in this world. Though the Evil Tiger Whales are naturally ferocious, the fact that the Sea God didn't exterminate them long ago means they have their purpose."
"Moreover, the Great White Shark clan and the Evil Tiger Whale clan are natural enemies. As humans, it's not ideal for us to interfere too much. Perhaps leaving these Evil Tiger Whales will serve as a form of pressure for your Great White Shark clan."
Little Bai seemed to understand but remained somewhat confused. Yang Xiong couldn't help but shake his head.
As spirit beasts, the Great White Sharks were undoubtedly one of the peak races among sea spirit beasts. But such beasts could only grow stronger through endless slaughter. By aligning themselves with the Sea God, perhaps they had disrupted the balance between spirit beasts. The eventual extinction of the Great White Shark clan thousands of years later might be a form of retribution—or perhaps they had grown too complacent about their enemies.
…
When the group returned to the Sea God Island, everyone began to focus on the content of the fifth trial.
However, when they saw the trial requirements, everyone was stunned.
Yang Xiong's new trial displayed as follows: "Top-Tier Eight Trials, Fifth Trial—Challenge the Holy Pillar Guardians. Timing begins upon challenging the first Holy Pillar Guardian. Complete all challenges within thirty-six hours. Defeat all seven Holy Pillar Guardians to pass. Time limit: one year."
At this moment, Yang Xiong found it strange. Why did his trial seem identical to Tang San's in the original storyline? Was it really necessary to make a Top-Tier Eight Trial this difficult?
As for the others, their expressions were filled with shock, clearly overwhelmed by the difficulty of the trial.
After confirmation, Feng Xiaotian, Oscar, Qin Shuang, Yang Wei, Huo Wu, and Shui Bing'er each needed to defeat one of the Seven Holy Pillar Guardians, meaning they had to face Title Douluo-level opponents.
As for Ning Rongrong, she needed to participate in all six battles, assisting the others in completing their trials.
Oscar would face the Sea Horse Douluo, Feng Xiaotian the Sea Delusion Douluo, Qin Shuang the Sea Ghost Douluo, Yang Wei the Sea Spear Douluo, Huo Wu the Sea Star Douluo, and Shui Bing'er the Sea Witch Douluo.
No wonder everyone was so serious. Among the group, Qin Shuang, Shui Bing'er, and Huo Wu were still top-tier Soul Sages. For them to face Title Douluo-level opponents, the gap was simply too vast.
As for the others, their recent absorption of the Evil Tiger Whale soul rings, combined with Ning Rongrong's support, gave them slightly better odds.
Yang Xiong, however, felt relieved. Among the Seven Holy Pillar Guardians, the one he truly feared was the Sea Dragon Douluo. As long as no one faced the Sea Dragon Douluo, there was still hope.
Of course, there was one major issue—when facing the Title Douluos, the battles would take place at the Seven Holy Pillars' home ground, which meant underwater combat. Land-based soul masters would face certain limitations, especially Huo Wu, who would be heavily restricted.
Yang Xiong glanced at the group: "This battle against the Evil Tiger Whales was just a warm-up. From now on, everyone must participate in underwater battles. I'll train you all as rigorously as possible, and I won't hold back. If you want to truly defeat a Title Douluo underwater, you must be prepared to face death."
Having just fought the Evil Tiger Whales, the group was acutely aware of the dangers of the sea and the limitations of their abilities. To defeat a Title Douluo underwater would be no easier than facing the Evil Tiger Whale King.
Before Yang Xiong began training the group, they first found a relatively quiet place to examine their spoils.
This time, they had killed a total of 210 Evil Tiger Whales, 190 of which were aged over ten thousand years. Three were over eighty thousand years old, eleven were over fifty thousand years old, and the rest were ten-thousand-year-level beasts.
Ten-thousand-year spirit beasts had a certain probability of producing soul bones, while those over fifty thousand years had an extremely high chance of doing so.
After dissecting the corpses, the group was thrilled.
They had obtained four soul bones: two from eighty-thousand-year beasts, one from a fifty-thousand-year beast, and one from a thirty-thousand-year beast.
Unfortunately, the eighty-thousand-year soul bones were for the left and right arms, the fifty-thousand-year bone was for the right leg, and the thirty-thousand-year bone was an exceedingly rare torso bone. There was no head bone.
Though the group was excited about the soul bones, they all left the distribution to Yang Xiong, as he had been the true leader and key executor of this battle.
After careful consideration, Yang Xiong assigned the eighty-thousand-year left arm bone to Feng Xiaotian and the right arm bone to Shui Bing'er.
The eighty-thousand-year left arm bone came from the spirit beast Feng Xiaotian had slain to obtain his soul ring, making it the most compatible for him.
The eighty-thousand-year right arm bone went to Shui Bing'er. Although it came from the spirit beast Oscar had slain, Oscar already had a right arm bone and couldn't use it. Shui Bing'er, on the other hand, faced more challenging trials ahead, so this soul bone might aid her.
Yang Xiong then gave the fifty-thousand-year right leg bone to Qin Shuang.
As for the final thirty-thousand-year torso bone, Yang Xiong directly gave it to Shui Bing'er.
Compared to Oscar, Ning Rongrong, and Yang Wei, Shui Bing'er was currently the most disadvantaged. She was undergoing Red-Level Seven Trials, and her final two trials were likely to be extremely difficult.
As for Huo Wu, her fire attribute didn't align well with the Evil Tiger Whales' nature, so she didn't receive a soul bone this time.
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