Xu Tianxi opened the scroll tube and pulled out the letter inside. What greeted him were clumsy, crooked lines of text—alongside a note from the sender: the young Baxia had specifically emphasized that these words were transcribed by a hired human sea soul master and absolutely not written by his own claw.
Glancing over it, Xu Tianxi couldn't help but smile.
"The letter's contents are normal enough—just checking in with some warm greetings... but he even included a sea chart. Brother Turtle really is the embodiment of honesty."
The young Baxia described how he had been recuperating in seclusion for two and a half years before suddenly remembering his human friend. So, he went out to sea, found a boatload of human sea soul masters, and had a "friendly and harmonious exchange" with them. Then he asked them to serve as his scribes.
The sea soul masters, tears brimming in their eyes, hastily agreed to the request. After writing the letter, they fled with a pile of shiny rocks as compensation—running for their lives.
The letter also complained about how their clan had recently suffered a violent attack from the Deep Sea Demon Whales, which left many of their kin seriously injured. As a gesture of goodwill, Baxia included a detailed sea chart depicting the escape route of one such ferocious Demon Whale, driven off by Tongtian Baxia himself.
This map marked the sightings and territories of various Deep Sea Demon Whales—including some with ten-thousand-year cultivation levels.
"This soul beast friend of yours is remarkably generous," Xiao Changfeng remarked with a complicated tone. "He marked every Demon Whale location on the map. If he's not lying, we'll definitely find one suitable for your needs after ten or fifteen days at sea. Take a good look."
Xiao Changfeng had already reviewed the contents and couldn't help but marvel at Tongtian Baxia's audacity.
Thank the heavens the Deep Sea Demon Whale clan was so powerful—if this were any other soul beast tribe, no one could survive being "sold out" like this.
Frankly, this was soul beast treachery at its finest.
Xu Tianxi didn't expect Brother Turtle to become a full-blown collaborator just because of one life-saving favor.
"Back then he said he'd lead me to his clan's waters—I thought he was joking. But he actually did it…"
He pulled out a magnifying glass to study the map closely. A gleam lit up in his eyes as he muttered to himself:
"I chose the Deep Sea Demon Whales not only because of their innate ferocity, but also because of the rare mutant strains within their species—some of them possess unique traits. If I can find one of those, things will go much smoother…"
Among soul beasts, the Deep Sea Demon Whale stood near the top—like the Dragon Clan's position on land. Their innate talents were monstrous, though their spiritual power was said to be mediocre—blamed on their small brains.
But there were always exceptions.
Some mutated variants had oversized whale brains. Though physically weaker, their spiritual power could rival that of top-tier spiritual-type soul beasts. These included the bloodthirsty, berserker Blood Demon Whale, and the more elemental and affinity-rich Silver Demon Whale.
The former had a terrifying berserker trait, while the latter had incredible elemental control—especially over water and lightning, almost approaching Ultimate attributes.
After scanning through the chart, Xu Tianxi pointed to a coordinate thousands of nautical miles southwest.
"Master-Uncle, I've found my target. This one."
Xiao Changfeng narrowed his eyes and glanced at the map. His brow arched.
"Territory of the Silver Demon Whale? So you had your eye on this from the start, didn't you?"
Xu Tianxi chuckled and spread his hands.
"Can't be helped. There aren't many pure spiritual-type soul beasts in coastal waters. A mutated Deep Sea Demon Whale is a rare catch—and it's silver. That's worth pursuing."
"According to ancient texts, the Dragon God bathed in the essence of the sun and moon and birthed the Golden and Silver Dragons. The Golden Dragon inherited solar might, evolving toward Ultimate strength. The Silver Dragon absorbed moonlight and evolved toward multi-elemental mastery."
"All silver-colored soul beasts today trace their lineage to the Silver Dragon's blessing. They cultivate by absorbing moonlight. The Silvermoon Wolf King of the Sun Moon Empire and the Deep Sea Silver Demon Whale are both of that bloodline. Though not purely spiritual types, their mental strength rivals the best of them."
"My martial soul is moon-based in nature. The most compatible soul beasts for me are either pure spiritual types or silver-attribute beasts."
"And among the silver-colored soul beasts of this age—the Silver Demon Whale stands at the very top!"
Xiao Changfeng gave it some thought and then nodded with a smile.
"Makes sense. Deep Sea Demon Whales are already top-tier. A mutated Silver one is even stronger. No spiritual-type beast could suit you better."
In the soul beast hierarchy, gold represented Ultimate Strength, while silver denoted multi-elemental mastery or exceptional attribute potential. Silver soul beasts were either evolved or born with overwhelming innate abilities.
The Silver Wolf—a native species of the Sun Moon Empire—was a classic example. They could control six elements from birth, and they all shared the same trait: immense spiritual power, necessary to handle such elemental control.
The Deep Sea Demon Whale clan was already a dominant species of the oceans. A silver mutation could only be even more terrifying.
Xiao Changfeng committed the coordinates to memory and passed them along.
"Elder Yue, we've chosen a destination. Once we enter the deep sea, head southwest—full speed."
"No need to detour. And don't worry about hostile sea soul beasts along the way—with us here, they won't be an issue."
At 96th rank, Xiao Changfeng was a true Super Douluo. Even if they ran into a hundred-thousand-year sea beast, he was confident in repelling it.
As an elder, he had to have this level of deterrence.
Xu Tianxi glanced at Xiao Changfeng giving orders over the communicator and then turned back toward the coastline, a thought crossing his mind.
"By the way, Master-Uncle, the Xuanwu Chamber of Commerce has an intelligence network across all three empires, right? Can we dig up information on the White Tiger Duke's Mansion?"
Xiao Changfeng paused.
"We can. What's this about?"
Xu Tianxi's eyes turned thoughtful.
"Considering the full context, the White Tiger Duke Dai Hao bears some responsibility for the fall of my mother's family. He's stationed in the western border of the Star Luo Empire and has always been a major obstacle to the Sun Moon Empire's eastern expansion. I'm bound to clash with him someday."
"To prepare for that, I want to study their weaknesses."
Xiao Changfeng understood immediately.
"That's easy. Once we're back, I'll have someone compile a full dossier on everyone in the Duke's Mansion."
"When I was training at the Star Luo Royal Academy, I made plenty of aristocratic friends. Most of them now hold power. They'll help me out. Tracking the White Tiger Duke's family won't be difficult."
The Dai Clan, descended from the old imperial family, had ruled for over 4,000 years under the new dynasty. They were constantly watched by countless eyes, making it easy to gather intelligence.
And the Star Luo Royal Academy was a gathering place for nobility. Xiao Changfeng's peers now occupied all corners of the Star Luo upper class. With this network, even a cat's death in the White Tiger Mansion wouldn't go unnoticed.
"Thank you, Master-Uncle."
Xu Tianxi grinned. Thanks to Dai Hao's visibility, it would be easy to investigate Huo Hang as well—no excuse needed.
Xu Tianxi wasn't particularly concerned about Dai Hao.
If he stood in his way, he'd just kick him aside—or kill him.
The real concern lay with Dai Hao's four highly talented sons.
Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin both inherited pure White Tiger Spirits and were practically guaranteed to become Title Douluo.
Dai Luoli's Blood Tiger Spirit looked unimpressive early on, but once awakened, it even surpassed the White Tiger in quality.
As for Huo Hang, the protagonist of the original story…
He possessed the Lingmo Eye Spirit, an exceptional support-type spirit, and was incredibly gifted with soul tools.
But due to a miserable childhood, his meridians were a mess, resulting in only first-rank innate soul power.
If not for the Skydream Iceworm's original-stock "energy investor," even Beibei and Tang Ya's help wouldn't have been enough for him to graduate from Shrek's Martial Soul Department—maybe just the Soul Tool Department.
But ironically, despite having the kind of spirit best suited for the Sun Moon Empire or the Body Sect, he ended up in Shrek—where martial soul talent was everything.
And Shrek's Outer Court… had only one decent teacher: Wang Yan.
The rest were glorified NPCs. Ethics? Never heard of it.
They couldn't train average students into geniuses—but they were experts at hogging the credit when a genius succeeded.
Xu Tianxi had long decided to intercept the Skydream Iceworm and Electrolux before they bonded with Huo Hang.
If he succeeded, Huo Hang's godhood—or his fate as Tang San's lapdog—would both be gone.
Was it a little selfish? Maybe.
But letting conscience override personal gain was stupid.
He didn't want Huo Hang to completely collapse, though.
If Huo Hang never entered Shrek, Tang San's bait would go unused, and the Clear Sky Sect's two ancient soul beasts might come hunting instead.
If that happened, Xu Tianxi wouldn't survive for long—even if Xu Xiaoyun reached Limit Douluo, he wouldn't be able to protect him from them.
So Huo Hang had to enter Shrek—and not get expelled by its brutal elimination system.
The longer he lingered, the more secure Xu Tianxi's growth period would be.
He didn't need to gift him a beast sacrifice, but a few pills to boost his talent? Easy. Just enough to keep Tang San interested.
"Now that I think about it, Huo Hang's cohort also includes that twin-spirited girl, Xiao Xiao. If Tang San gives up on Huo Hang, he might pivot to her instead…"
"Maybe arrange a little performance at Qiankun Love Questioning Valley, give Xiao Xiao a 'Ning Tian treatment'... just in case."
"Huo Hang is a year younger than me. If I remember right, his mother should be dying around now. Dai Mubai supposedly snatched her soul into the Divine Realm as leverage. But he hasn't met Wang Dong yet, so he shouldn't be under surveillance..."
"Still, making direct contact with him is risky. I need a proxy. An evil soul master would be perfect for the job."
With that thought, Xu Tianxi turned and asked:
"Master-Uncle, have we captured any evil soul masters over the years?"