Countless illusory sea spirit beasts drew closer, and as they approached within five meters of the group, the icy blue light emanating from Ning Rongrong's petite body reached its peak. With a crisp roar, a burst of intense light spread outwards in a fan shape from Ning Rongrong.
The moist air within the water curtain instantly began to vaporize, and the currents beneath the reefs rapidly froze into ice. The intense cold air caused the air currents to condense into frost, slowly falling onto the frozen sea below, transforming the entire space into a frigid hell.
Tens of thousands of sea spirit beasts within the water curtain were also frozen into ice sculptures, extending to the water wall a thousand meters away, making the group seem as if they were imprisoned in an ice crystal prison.
Xiao Wu, seeing the sea spirit beasts that had troubled her group for so long all frozen in place, patted her friend's shoulder with delight.
"Wow, Rongrong, your soul skill is amazing!"
"It is amazing, but... isn't the consumption a bit too much? I feel like my body has been... hollowed out."
Hearing this, the little rabbit turned to look at Ning Rongrong and found that her not-so-large chest was panting heavily like a bellows, obviously caused by the excessive consumption of soul power in an instant.
"That's still amazing. Brother Ning Bei is pretty good at playing with ice, but that's nothing special, right?"
"That's right, that's right, Miss is already very amazing."
"..."
After recovering a little and regaining some of her strength, Ning Rongrong immediately returned to her true nature, put her hands on her hips, raised her little head with an arrogant look, and accepted all the praise from her friends without any politeness.
"Hmph, that's right, don't you know who I am!"
Ning Bei in mid-air watched this scene speechlessly. The battle wasn't even over yet, what was going on?
Poseidon, positioned opposite the group of children, frowned as she gazed at the ice sculptures before her. Her thoughts drifted back to the day she fought Ningbei. Both times, she had been playing with ice, but with the sea at her back, she had been utterly helpless against her opponent, forced to swallow the bitter pill of defeat. While the little girl before her had unleashed a power that surprised her, it was clearly not enough to pass the test.
"Sixth Soul Skill: Sea Burial."
With these words, Poseidon raised her scepter, spinning it and causing the world to shift. A deep, dark blue hole appeared in the sky, gradually transforming into a massive waterspout. Where the tornado passed, the newly formed ice shattered, exposing the surging seawater once more.
The appearance of the sky-covering waterspout caused the children to palpable, with the little rabbit mechanically turning her head to look at her friends.
"Rongrong, hurry up, unleash your Glacier Storm again!"
"Seriously? I can barely stand, do you want me to risk my life for another Glacier Storm?"
Ning Rongrong, still in a panic, nearly stumbled and fell onto the rocks upon hearing the little rabbit's words. Did she really think she was a god? Didn't a 300,000-year-old soul bone skill require soul power?
"Sister Rongrong, take some pills to help me out!"
Just as the two girls were about to start arguing, a crisp voice reached their ears. Looking up, they saw Nami had already jumped into the sea. Ning Rongrong instantly lost all interest in arguing with Xiao Wu. A few recovery pills were swallowed, and she immediately felt some of her depleted soul power return. She skillfully lifted the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda into the air and began her work.
"Nine Treasures, Famous - Non-stop Work."
Nine-colored light shot into the sea, directly into Nami's body. Feeling her attributes surge, Nami immediately began her actions.
"Seventh Soul Skill - True Soul Form."
A burst of green light erupted from the sea, and a soft, melodious song echoed throughout the space. Nami, the Tidecaller Shark, emerged from the water, wielding a massive scepter. For a moment, Nami's soul seemed to rival even Poseidon's Sea God soul.
"Source Water Barrier!"
Unlike the large-scale deployment used when defeating the Demon Orca King, this time the Source Water Barrier only extended within a relatively small area, just enough to completely envelop the sea tornado summoned by Poseidon.
Due to the ravages of the sea tornado, the waves surging on the Source Water Barrier seemed on the verge of collapse. Nami didn't stand idly by. The blood-red soul ring on the Tidecaller Shark shone brightly again, and a deep gray light gradually condensed on the massive ocean scepter, only to be released again after reaching its peak.
"Wrath of the Tide!"
A fierce gray light shot out at lightning speed, heading straight for the sea tornado enveloped by the Source Water Barrier. This move was one of the two 100,000-year soul skills bestowed upon Nami by the Demonic Orca King.
The light pierced through the Source Water Barrier along with the tornado, instantly shattering the powerful sea tornado, which no longer possessed the terrifying suction force it had when it first appeared.
In truth, Nami's abilities alone could not have accomplished this, but with Ning Rongrong's assistance, Nami's strength underwent a qualitative change, and the sea tornado had not yet reached its peak. With the right timing and the right people, Nami successfully intercepted Poseidon's powerful soul skill.
Just as the little ones breathed a sigh of relief, a cold female voice once again entered their ears.
"Fourth Soul Skill - Annihilation Sea."
As the voice fell, several great white sharks instantly appeared on the sea surface, leaping up and accurately swallowing all the little ones whole. Through the transparent bodies of the great white sharks, one could see the little ones struggling in the seawater. These sharks were also composed of soul power and seawater.
As land-based Soul Masters, they felt extremely uncomfortable in the ocean. Long Nianbing immediately summoned countless cleavers and began frantically cutting into the inner walls of the great white shark, but the breaches were quickly filled by the seawater. At the same time, these great white sharks continuously absorbed the Soul Power from the smaller creatures. Ning Rongrong, whose Soul Power was already depleted, was quickly drained again, unable to even struggle, and lay dormant inside the great white shark's belly.
Nami, the only one who hadn't been swallowed by the great white shark, panicked upon seeing this and immediately turned to rescue her friends, only to find Poseidon blocking her way from mid-air.
"Your progress is indeed good, but not enough for Nami."
"High Priest, it's not over yet!"
"You still have the ability to resist, but your companions seem to be gone, and there won't be any more reinforcements. Like the previous times, this can be considered a failure."
Nami's expression was extremely unwilling, but she understood that Poseidon was telling the truth. Even without using their Martial Soul True Body or higher-level Soul Skills, it would be difficult for them to last even a stick of incense's time against the High Priest. Completing the assessment seemed a long way off.
Just as Nami was about to give up on the challenge, Poseidon's expression suddenly froze. She then turned her head and saw that the great white sharks enveloping the smaller creatures had all shattered.
"Soul Bone Skill: Winter Curse."
(End of Chapter)