Facing the resentful yet expectant gaze of Tian Meng, Xu Zihuang couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, Tian Meng. As long as you're willing, when my soul power breaks through to level 70, you can also choose to become my soul spirit."
"Of course I'm willing, bro!" Tian Meng's eyes lit up as it excitedly wriggled its plump body.
"Although I'm not good at fighting, I'm still an unprecedented million-year soul beast. I have a feeling that once that contract is completed, I'll definitely be able to help you."
Xu Zihuang nodded noncommittally.
"We'll talk about it when the time comes. With my current cultivation speed, it should take about a year to reach the level 70 bottleneck."
This was the benefit of condensing a soul core. His current cultivation speed was even faster than when he was at the Soul King level.
"Zihuang, then it's settled." Tian Meng chuckled in agreement. Afterward, it enthusiastically pestered Xu Zihuang for a long conversation before happily falling asleep again.
The massive body of Tian Meng sank back into Xu Zihuang's mental sea and fell silent.
The portion of Xu Zihuang's consciousness that had been immersed in the mental sea returned to his body, and he opened his eyes.
It was already deep into the night. The originally calm sea was gradually becoming rough, as if the weather was about to change. Strong sea winds pressed the sails into a startling arc, almost touching his back.
Fortunately, it was currently a north wind, so he didn't need to adjust the angle of the sails.
"Puff, puff, puff—" The waves rose and fell, producing deafening crashes. Yet Xu Zihuang remained motionless. He activated the special level-six soul tool protective shield attached to the Devil Whale, sat cross-legged, and entered a cultivation state.
This special level-six soul tool protective shield blocked not only sight but also sound.
Xu Zihuang's state was similar to before: while meditating and cultivating, he split off a portion of his mind to extend his spiritual power and stay vigilant of the surroundings.
The night quickly passed.
Perhaps because of last night's wind and waves, a thick layer of mist shrouded the sea at dawn. The Devil Whale continued sailing along the established route from north to south along the continent.
Xu Zihuang suddenly stood up without warning and stopped releasing the soul tool protective shield. The light distorted, and the Devil Whale abruptly appeared on the empty sea surface.
The instant the Devil Whale revealed itself, a massive vortex suddenly formed on the sea, as if trying to swallow the vessel.
Immediately afterward, a tentacle over ten meters long emerged from the center of the vortex and slammed down toward the Devil Whale. The blood-red tentacle was covered in suction cups, sending chills down one's spine.
Xu Zihuang moved to the front of the Devil Whale, maneuvering it to dodge the tentacle's strike and escape the vortex's pull.
"Bang—" The thick and powerful tentacle struck the sea surface, producing a terrifying, explosive sound. Seawater splashed dozens of meters into the air.
In the area of the vortex, a massive red octopus with a main body diameter of over three meters and eight tentacles surfaced. Its scarlet eyes glinted with ferocity as its eight tentacles whipped through the water, rapidly closing in on Xu Zihuang. Judging from its aura, even if it hadn't reached ten thousand years, it was at least a soul beast with over eight thousand years of cultivation.
This was the strongest sea soul beast Xu Zihuang had encountered in the coastal waters over the past three days.
A shrill screech suddenly erupted from the giant octopus's mouth, and its eight tentacles shot skyward. The suction cups on the tentacles sprayed countless high-pressure water arrows.
Xu Zihuang's deep purple eyes instantly shifted to a brilliant gold. Through the innate ability of his Golden Eyes martial soul, he could clearly see that each water arrow was about one meter long, spindle-shaped, with the thickest central part roughly the thickness of an adult's arm. Their swift speed seemed to tear through the sky. There was no doubt that each high-pressure water arrow could leave marks on refined iron.
Facing such an assault, Xu Zihuang showed no fear.
This octopus-type soul beast, with cultivation nearing ten thousand years, was perfect for testing another of his techniques.
Strange dark red ripples condensed in his left palm, forming a crystal orb out of thin air. Unlike the dark red crystals he usually formed with his second soul skill, Mirror Destruction, this crystal orb was exceptionally deep in color, resembling a ruby.
Fine patterns were etched on the orb's surface, clearly core arrays.
Xu Zihuang tossed the orb upward. With it as the core, he rapidly constructed a dark red crystal shield.
Without needing him to infuse soul power, the crystal orb, an aggregate of core arrays, emitted dazzling light that instantly spread across the entire shield. A transparent dark red glow expanded from the shield's surface, forming a massive dome that enveloped both him and the Devil Whale.
Xu Zihuang's second soul skill, Mirror Destruction, essentially transformed intangible soul power into a tangible dark red crystal.
However, one point might have been overlooked: this process was reversible. In other words, as long as he wished, the compressed soul power crystal orb could revert to pure soul power at any time to drive the inscribed core arrays.
At the same time, the dark red crystal itself was condensed from soul power, conducting soul power better than any rare metal currently known. It was also sufficiently durable and highly heat-resistant.
It was an excellent material for crafting soul tools.
Everything happening now was based on this principle.
In simple terms, Xu Zihuang had used his second soul skill to temporarily create a shield-type defensive soul tool that didn't require additional soul power to activate.
He had conceived this idea long ago. Only recently, after his spiritual power broke through to the tangible and material realm and his second soul ring reached forty thousand years, could he accomplish it with his exquisite control.
This was also his first time using it in actual combat.
Condensing the crystal orb while simultaneously inscribing several core arrays in such a short time was considerably difficult, even for him now.
Thus, the soul tool he temporarily created was only a level-four defensive soul tool. He could produce more complex core arrays and more powerful soul tools, but they required more time.
The incoming high-pressure water arrows collided with the dark red dome, creating ripples of light and temporarily blocking the octopus soul beast's attack.
Xu Zihuang then tossed out another crystal orb and repeated the process. A dark red crystal spear, which could be called a level-four soul tool, took shape and was hurled forward.
The spherical core array aggregate inside flashed, and red light was conducted through the entire spear.
The spear accelerated once more in midair, exuding an extremely sharp aura. In the next instant, it turned into an afterimage and pierced the head of the octopus soul beast.
Due to its unique internal structure, the giant octopus didn't die immediately. Its eight tentacles thrashed wildly.
However, it wasn't long before the tentacles successively lost strength and limply fell onto the sea surface.
A purple-black soul ring slowly condensed above its corpse.
The golden sun rose from the east, and the morning mist on the sea gradually dissipated.
Xu Zihuang calmly withdrew his gaze. Bathing in the sunrise, he sailed the Devil Whale away from this sea area. The two soul tools he had temporarily created shattered with a boom, crystal fragments scattering like fine snow. Under the sun's rays, they shimmered with dazzling, colorful light.
Speaking of which, this technique was inspired by Xiao Hongchen. Xiao Hongchen could control metal, and Xu Zihuang could similarly control dark red crystal condensed from soul power.
In fact, he surpassed Xiao Hongchen in this regard.
After all, whether as a soul master or a soul engineer, he was far too uniquely favored.
Xu Zihuang had been sailing along the continental coast in the coastal region, greatly shortening the voyage compared to his original plan. In just one month, he reached the southern sea area where the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire bordered.
Although he hadn't ventured into deeper waters this month, he had encountered many powerful sea soul beasts. Through such intensive practical combat training, his mastery of every aspect of his abilities had subtly reached near perfection.
All of his soul skills had been fully integrated, completely fulfilling the purpose of this sea training journey.
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