Six days later, in the bedroom.
Sensing Zhu Zhuqing's aura had completely stabilized, Yang Yunhai took out the Dark Devil God Tiger's bead from his soul tool. "Zhuqing, here. It's time you absorbed this."
It had taken Zhu Zhuqing three whole days and nights to absorb the God-bestowed soul ring. The outcome, however, was excellent. She successfully gained a 100,000-year soul ring, her soul power breaking through to rank 74. With the 100,000-year Soft Bone Rabbit, the Thousand Ton Ant Emperor's soul bone, the 70,000-year Clear Sky Sect inheritance left arm bone, and her 10,000-year external soul bone—four soul bones as foundation—the absorption of a 100,000-year soul ring was expected.
Her breakthrough to rank 74 also owed something to the extra soul power left from absorbing the Ant Emperor's soul bone days ago.
Now, having stepped into the Soul Saint realm, she had gained her Martial Soul Avatar, perfectly merging her martial soul with her body. Its quality had advanced further still. After three days of stabilization, her cultivation had settled. In Yang Yunhai's view, this was the best time to absorb the Dark Devil God Tiger's bead.
"Alright." Zhu Zhuqing nodded, taking the bead and swallowing it directly.
The moment it entered her body, light flared. From outside, one could see faint azure light moving beneath her skin, flowing rapidly toward her lower abdomen. Once it reached its destination, she followed Yang Yunhai's instructions, activating her cultivation method, speeding up the vortex at her dantian, strengthening its pull, and dragging the bead into it.
There was no resistance—everything went smoothly.
But after the black bead sank into her soul power vortex and spun there for a short while, its dark hue gradually turned transparent. Multicolored light began to radiate from it.
A tremendous suction force erupted, draining her dantian vortex dry in only a few breaths.
The next moment, only the bead remained at her dantian.
"Hm?" Yang Yunhai frowned. With his dual-pupil vision, he clearly saw Zhu Zhuqing's soul power gathering into her dantian. External elemental energy was also being drawn in—wind, darkness, lightning, space…
Then he sensed it—time's power. The first time he had ever felt it in the world around him.
This chance was far too rare to waste.
But it lasted only briefly. After half a stick of incense, the ripple of temporal force faded away.
The black bead stopped spinning faster and instead stabilized.
'That quickly? Already fused! As expected, after absorbing the Dark Devil God Tiger's soul ring, her compatibility is incredibly high.' Yang Yunhai sighed inwardly.
He wasn't disappointed. He still had plenty of time to observe and wouldn't let even a trace escape his notice.
"Zhuqing, summon your martial soul. Let's see if there's any change." Seeing her eyes open, Yang Yunhai spoke.
Zhu Zhuqing nodded and raised her hand.
Her martial soul looked sturdier, darker, carrying a chilling sharpness.
"Do you feel anything different?" Yang Yunhai asked again.
"I can sense certain energies in the air more clearly," Zhu Zhuqing replied. "Nothing else for now."
Yang Yunhai nodded. "That must be the multi-attribute energies corresponding to your soul core. Take a few days to familiarize yourself. After that, you can begin the third trial."
"Mm." Zhu Zhuqing nodded softly.
So the next several days passed with Zhu Zhuqing mastering her new soul core—and Yang Yunhai "mastering" Zhu Zhuqing. Day after day, until ten days later on the eastern coast of Sea God Island.
"You ready?" Xiao Bai leapt from the sea in human form, sensing the group's arrival.
"This third trial won't temper us by dragging on. Better to finish it early." Dugu Yan nodded.
"Then let's go." Xiao Bai didn't waste words. Turning to the ocean, she loosed a strange humming cry. It grew louder and louder, soon drowning out the waves. Before long, the surface ahead churned violently.
Splash! Splash!
Dozens of dorsal fins broke the surface—each belonging to a Devil Soul Great White Shark over fifteen meters long.
"Their strength has risen quite a bit." Yang Yunhai nodded, feeling the aura of the shark pod.
"You barely deserve some credit," Xiao Bai glanced at him. The life energy Yang Yunhai had poured into them had indeed boosted her clan's strength.
"Enough, let's go." Dugu Yan shook her head helplessly, stepping in.
Xiao Bai nodded, dove back into the sea, and said, "The four of you, get on."
The four girls obeyed, each mounting a Great White Shark. With Xiao Bai leading, they swam swiftly toward their target.
Yang Yunhai and the others, forbidden to intervene in the trial, rode the Thousand Ton Ant Emperor, following from a distance to observe.
Two hours later, the shark pod stopped twenty li from the Evil Demon Orca pod. Xiao Bai's face grew grim.
"That Evil Demon Orca King may be vile, but its power is real. Any closer and it might sense my spiritual fluctuations."
"Then here it is." Dugu Yan pressed a finger to her brow, releasing the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. With a wave, "Vast Sea Barrier!" The shroud expanded, enveloping herself, Xiao Bai, and Zhu Zhuqing, cloaking them in invisibility.
"Nine Treasures bestow: One for Strength, Two for Speed, Three for Soul, Five for Attack!" Ning Rongrong summoned her martial soul, light cascading down as she buffed Dugu Yan and Zhu Zhuqing. "Two for Speed, Four for Defense!" She also granted Xiao Bai speed and defense. After much training, she could now control her boosts better, avoiding exhausting herself by supporting those far stronger than her.
"Wait for my signal. Xiao Bai, let's go." Dugu Yan clenched her fist, brimming with confidence.
"Let's hope this decapitation plan works." Xiao Bai sighed and dove with Dugu Yan and Zhu Zhuqing into the depths.
Seeing this, Yang Yunhai stowed the Ant Emperor, leading Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo underwater. "Life Domain—disguise!" He unfurled his domain, blending with the seafloor plants and drawing oxygen through them as they slipped closer to the orcas.
Soon, the Evil Demon Orca pod appeared within Yang Yunhai's spiritual web.
With his current spiritual power, he had absolute confidence he surpassed the Orca King. Concealed within his surroundings, there was no chance it could detect him.
Through his spiritual sharing, Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo also saw the massive pod: gray-black skin, blood-red eyes, each over thirty meters long—twice the size of the Great White Sharks. Nearly 300 strong, with the Orca King in the center measuring thirty-five meters.
"Xiao Bai, slower—come in from below. Don't worry, with the Vast Sea Shroud and Tianmeng helping conceal your aura, they won't sense us." Dugu Yan's eyes hardened, soul power surging.
"Dragon Transformation!" Horns sprouted from her head, a tail unfurled, limbs turned to dragon claws, eyes slit into vertical pupils, scales spread across her skin. The aura of an ancient dragon bloodline spilled forth, even making Xiao Bai shudder in awe.
"Martial Soul Avatar!" Zhu Zhuqing unleashed her true body—cat ears, tail, claws, black markings across her face, eyes sharp as blades. "Fourth Soul Skill, Netherworld Possession!" Her body shrouded in dark mist. "Crimson Gold Terrorclaws!" Golden talons gleamed.
"These two… absolute monsters!" Xiao Bai thought, trembling as she crept forward.
Moving at a steady pace, they blended seamlessly into the sea under the shroud's concealment.
Soon, they reached the seafloor beneath the Orca King.
"Xiao Bai, I'll strike first!" Dugu Yan pressed her brow, gathering terrifying spiritual power.
"Spiritual Shock!" A surge of azure light shot forth.
The Orca King stirred. "Who—!" It snorted instinctively.
Bang!
The shock slammed into its mind like a hammer, its vision went black, eyes rolled back.
"Blink!" Zhu Zhuqing teleported before its face, claws flashing—slash! slash!—blinding both eyes. Another blink, and her talons stabbed deep into its blowhole. Her sixth ring flared.
"Dark Domain!" Darkness spread, plunging a hundred meters into pitch-black.
Xiao Bai lunged, jaws clamping its throat, tearing with savage force.
"Martial Soul Avatar!" Dugu Yan transformed into a thirty-meter water dragon, coiling around the Orca King.
"True Lunar Water Dragon!" Water surged, freezing instantly into armor. The dragon became an ice dragon, swelling to fifty meters, binding the Orca King tight.
Even Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Bai were armored in frost.
Barely two seconds had passed.
"AAAH!" Agony snapped the Orca King awake, screaming. Its body was frozen solid, jaws bound, fins and tail immobilized. Venomous chill seeped into its wounds, numbing its mind. Straining, it tried to unleash soul power in a desperate counter, but nothing worked.
The surrounding orcas rushed to aid their king, but entering the black domain was a nightmare—slashed by claws unseen, bodies frozen into blocks of ice.
A few moments later, the Orca King roared, "All of you, attack together—break them apart!" It was barely clinging on. If this dragged out, it would die for sure.
The orca pod surged forward—only to be met by Dugu Yan's "Fifth Soul Skill—Water Explosion!" The sea itself detonated, hurling them back, then froze into layers of ice, trapping many within like vegetables in a giant frozen cauliflower.
"Didn't expect Yan'er to be so fearsome in water combat." Chrysanthemum Douluo gasped.
Of course, Yang Yunhai thought. With the Water Dragon King's torso bone, in the sea her power scaled exponentially. On land she was an average Titled Douluo, but here… a terror.
As the Orca King thrashed, the Devil Soul Great White Sharks finally arrived.
"Vast Sea Barrier!" Dugu Yan shielded Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling, allowing them to breathe safely underwater. The Orca King, already gagged by ice, weakened rapidly. Xiao Bai tore a bloody crater into its neck.
A sudden surge of spiritual power flared—"Not good, it's going to self-destruct!" Xiao Bai cried, pulling back.
"Spiritual Shock!" Dugu Yan struck again, stunning it, then raised her dragon head. "Spiritual Sharing!"
Her mind linked with the Great White Sharks, granting them 360-degree battlefield awareness.
"Target only those over fifty thousand years." Her command rang out.
With shared vision, the sharks easily evaded deadly skills, tearing into the orcas. Though wounded at times in close quarters, they quickly gained the upper hand.
Within two quarters of an hour, the Orca King's soul ring drifted free. The pod collapsed into retreat.
"Don't pursue." Dugu Yan's voice cut through the sea. "Remember this lesson—hunt only when necessary. Wanton slaughter will only bring ruin."
The fewer than a hundred surviving orcas fled without reply.
"Brother… I've finally avenged you." Tears pricked Xiao Bai's eyes as she looked at the fallen Orca King. Yet even with help, nearly a tenth of her clan had perished.
Yang Yunhai stayed silent. He could have revived some, but this was the Sea God's trial to preserve balance. He could not intervene—not yet.
'If it were my family, could I just stand by?' The thought cut deep. Perhaps being a god was never as enviable as mortals believed.
On the surface, the Great White Sharks began carrying the orca corpses to shore.
(End of Chapter)
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