A ripple rose on the calm sea. Su Wen stepped out. In an instant, dozens of Sun Moon battleships formed an airtight encirclement—so seamless even a fish couldn't escape.
In midair, Ye Xishui's terrifying strength was on full display. Power belonging to an Ultimate Douluo—the apex of the era—even allied naval soul engineer corps felt crushed, struggling to breathe.
Her black robe fluttered. The woman looked around her thirties or forties: purple eyes, purple hair, and equally eerie purple nails. Though time had left a trace on her face, she remained a beautiful middle-aged woman.
No wonder she once had looks not inferior to Wang Dong'er's.
Su Wen looked up, sighing in admiration.
"Am I beautiful?" Ye Xishui giggled, seeing him calmly examine her face.
In her view, this Shrek brat was trying to stall. Was he waiting for Jing Hongchen to save him? But she didn't expose it—she simply watched Su Wen, trapped with no wings to fly, feeling unprecedented delight.
A pity—such a prodigy couldn't be used by the Holy Spirit Cult.
But if she couldn't have him, she'd destroy him, giving her the aura of a mad, beautiful villainess.
"Beautiful," Su Wen smiled.
"No wonder you could toy with Senior Long in the palm of your hand."
"Oh?" Ye Xishui's lazy eyes moved. "Interesting kid. So Mu En told you about the past? Makes sense—he probably wants you as his successor."
She smiled leisurely. "But what he didn't tell you is that back then, his reaction to Long Xiaoyao was about the same…"
"That's what you think. Elder Mu is sharp—maybe he already smelled the sewer-stench of you evil soul masters. When he realized you and Senior Long ended up in the wrong bed, he used the chance to withdraw at the right time," Su Wen said lightly.
Ye Xishui's smile slowly disappeared.
"Sharp-tongued brat. I meant to let you live a little longer, yet you insist on courting death…"
"I changed my mind. If I let you die like this, it'd be too boring. I'll take you to the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters. There you'll see what methods we rats in the gutter have."
"Tsk, you just praised me for being interesting—then the moment I tell the truth, you flip your face. Women…" Su Wen sighed.
The atmosphere grew heavy. Many Sun Moon officers silently marveled at Su Wen's composure—facing an army, and an Ultimate Douluo leading multiple Title Douluo, yet still joking.
If it were them, they'd have turned tail immediately.
And the gossip about the Holy Spirit Cult's elder… was explosive.
Su Wen paused. This might be a perfect chance to leave openly with Xuan Ziwen and Ju Zi back to Shrek—but before leaving, he could drop a bomb.
"Where's Hall Master Jing? Why won't he come see me?" Su Wen asked softly.
"HAHAHAHA!" Ye Xishui threw back her head laughing. "I wondered what your confidence came from—Jing Hongchen. Fine, I'll tell you. He's already been removed as Mingde hall's hall master and imprisoned in Sun Moon City."
She searched Su Wen's face for fear.
There was none.
Instead, the people inside the stealth ship fell into despair. Even a figure like Jing Hongchen being implicated and removed showed how much the empire had invested to eliminate Su Wen.
They were likely burial goods, sinking in the bay.
"We dodged the Deep Sea Demon Whale, only to fall to our own people…" Ke Ke sobbed.
Xuan Ziwen sighed to the sky—he regretted not forging true battle armor with Su Wen before dying here.
Zi Mu stared at Su Wen, anger and envy mixed. He'd caused this—but even now Su Wen still stood at the front.
He glanced at Ju Zi's eyes—worry, and something like love—and could only sigh.
Fate played cruel tricks.
Who could've guessed the Sun Moon Empire would suddenly move?
If so… dying with the goddess at sea wasn't so bad.
"The Sun Moon Empire is ruthless even to Mingde hall's hall master. Cold indeed, imperial family," Su Wen sighed.
"Shut up! Imperial affairs are not for a prisoner like you!" A middle-aged officer in Sun Moon uniform barked from a fleet.
Then he looked up at Ye Xishui. "Holy Spirit Cult, if you won't act, we can do it!"
"Heh." Ye Xishui snorted.
Ultimate Douluo pressure descended. The officer's face turned white; he was forced to half-kneel, then fell flat like a dog.
"Can't even withstand my pressure and you dare bark in front of me." Ye Xishui said coolly. "That kid you're facing—he's been bearing it this whole time without changing expression."
"What?!!" Everyone was shocked.
That officer was at least an eighth-rank soul engineer—yet he couldn't take her aura. The youth still stood straight.
"So—last words are done?" Ye Xishui smiled. "Then go in peace. I'll give Mu En an explanation…"
She waved casually.
Waves on both sides roared toward the Abyss Stealth Ship, carrying dark-red energy—and within the surf seemed to echo countless ghostly screams.
The whole sky turned dark red. Oppressive terror seized Xuan Ziwen and the others.
This was the might of an Ultimate Douluo.
The humanity's "limit."
One casual motion made resistance feel pointless.
That hundred-meter warship now seemed tiny…
As tens of battleships stared at Su Wen—
Ye Xishui suddenly frowned.
In the next moment, time seemed frozen. The sky-high dark-red waves halted in midair instead of crashing down.
Looking closer—by Su Wen's side stood a pure white figure.
Dressed in white, sleeves drifting like an immortal maiden. Bare feet lightly stepped atop the wave.
The strong saw the truth at a glance: the waves weren't immobilized—they were freezing into snow and ice. Crystal frost spread from under those pale feet outward, and in a blink, ice covered more than a five hundred meters.
A five hundred meters of frozen sea.
Even the dozens of battleships were frozen solid in place.
All were stunned.
To affect nature at this scale surpassed ordinary soul masters. To do this, one had to be a top existence of the world.
Why was she here?!!
"Snow Empress…" Ye Xishui's eyes turned solemn.
Then she shook her head, narrowing her purple gaze. "No—her strength has declined, but her bloodline has mutated and advanced? Could it be…"
Only now did a ridiculous thought rise.
Could Snow Empress also be this kid's contracted soul beast?!!
Killing intent spread in Ye Xishui's eyes. Black-red aura thickened, whipping her robe as countless wailing resentful spirits churned around her—human and beast souls alike.
Snow Empress's cold beauty showed a trace of anger.
"Holy Spirit Cult—hated by both man and beast. You deserve death!"
"That's not for you to decide," Ye Xishui snorted, producing a giant tower and setting it behind her.
The tower rotated. Each level displayed faces—human and beast—distorted and grimacing.
"Death God's Light!"
…
"Break the ice!" the middle-aged officer roared.
Being made a clown by the enemy was humiliating.
"Commander, we can't!" a subordinate ran up sweating. "Ice-breaking soul tools do nothing. The ice is too solid—tougher than the Extreme North. The hull is locked in ice; we can't move. Even heaters barely work. To get free would take three to four days."
The officer's face went pitch black.
Three to four days—battle would be long over.
"Transmit to all forces: abandon ship, assemble into soul-guided formations per original organization. Assist the Holy Spirit Cult in capturing Su Wen—no, kill on sight!"
"Yes!"
Soldiers abandoned ships, assembled on the ice with their equipment.
Four corps formed up—imposing enough.
Three eighth-rank soul engineers, two thousand-plus elite soul engineers of rank three or above. Tens of thousands of soul-guided cannons fired at Su Wen.
"Tsk tsk…"
Su Wen stood with hands behind his back, smiling at the officer.
"Gale!"
"Here!"
"Roar—!!"
A gale erupted. A thousand-meter tornado formed on the ice, spreading outward—lead-gray, like true natural might. The Sun Moon soldiers finally understood what "gale" meant.
Their dense firepower was instantly swept in, forming a wind wall around Su Wen that blocked all harm.
…