Another clear morning.
Xu Zihuang sat at the metal desk, carefully assembling that close-combat soul guide weapon.
During the half-month voyage at sea, the most crucial core array assembly had been perfectly crafted by him. Early this morning, he began debugging and assembly.
Ye Guyi, following her usual routine, went to the deck for some fresh air in the early morning and then, to avoid anyone disturbing Xu Zihuang, personally brought back breakfast.
At this moment, Xu Zihuang was alone in the room.
Golden sunlight slanted in through the window, and another golden halo swept across.
Xu Zihuang held a gold-and-white slender sword, stood up, and swung it lightly. A halo of light gathered on the sharp blade, seeming to absorb the sunlight and becoming as transparent as golden crystal.
The most dazzling feature was the seven golden-yellow gems embedded in the sword's body. Golden-yellow gems were an extremely rare and precious metal capable of absorbing the essence of the golden sun.
A single golden-yellow gem was worth at least a hundred thousand gold soul coins. That meant the seven gems alone cost over seven hundred thousand gold soul coins—this already exceeded the price of many level-seven close-combat soul guides.
The sword was three feet seven inches long and two and a half fingers wide. Though it appeared slender, its actual weight was considerable. It felt perfectly balanced in the hand.
The guard was shaped like angel wings, and the hilt was similarly engraved with golden angel wing patterns. Xu Zihuang had crafted it based on the divine weapon of the God of Angels from ten thousand years ago, the Angel Holy Sword.
However, on both sides of the center of the guard, there were two diamond-shaped grooves.
This was not intentionally designed by Xu Zihuang and Wang Xiao, but rather because the golden slender sword still lacked two components to be complete.
The two missing components were the crystallized essences of a light-attribute soul beast and a fire-attribute soul beast.
According to Xu Zihuang's plan, the fire-attribute soul beast essence would come from the blazing glue of that hundred-thousand-year Blazing Apricot Delicate Beauty. The glue would be refined into diamond-shaped crystals that fit the grooves.
As for the light-attribute soul beast essence, that was rarer. They would have to wait until they reached the continent to search carefully. With Ning Tian there, and the power of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan behind him, obtaining a suitable light-attribute soul beast essence crystal would not be difficult.
The most ideal, of course, would be a dragon crystal from a Light Holy Dragon. But the Light Holy Dragon had long been extinct, so they could only settle for the next best option.
Clearly, this gold-and-white slender sword was a level-seven close-combat soul guide possessing both light and fire attributes.
Seven-Star Lightflame Sword, Blazing Sun Judgment.
Xu Zihuang stretched his body and was about to go find Ye Guyi when, suddenly, the warship shook violently without warning.
If viewed from high above, one would see numerous orange-yellow tentacles clinging to the hull of the warship. Like the tentacles of the Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler, they were limp and soft, but far thinner. There were far more of them, densely packed like a lion's mane.
Besides clinging to the hull, many tentacles were raised high above the warship, seemingly ready to strike down at any moment.
Wang Xiao, Lin Long, and Meng Cang, who had been eating, immediately turned serious and rushed to the deck the next instant.
The other soldiers of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion on guard duty on the deck also responded instantly. Each grasped the metal protrusions on the ship, injected soul power, and activated the soul guide protective barrier that enveloped the entire warship. There was no sign of panic.
With a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse like Wang Xiao present, although the soul beast before them was strange, they did not believe it could pose any real threat.
"Legion Commander." Everyone looked toward Wang Xiao, awaiting his instructions.
Lin Long noticed the light of the soul guide barrier gradually dimming and decisively said, "First, deactivate the soul guide barrier. Leave the rest to me."
"Yes!"
Lin Long's strength was second only to Wang Xiao, and he held great prestige in the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion. Seeing that Wang Xiao did not object, everyone quickly withdrew their soul power.
The moment the soul guide barrier was deactivated, the tentacles whipped toward the people on the deck.
Lin Long's gaze turned cold. An unusual soul power fluctuation emanated from his right leg, and under the shroud of a dark red halo, he fiercely kicked out.
Countless dark red light blades, each only a foot wide, instantly burst from his right leg, spreading out with an ear-piercing whine.
Twenty-thousand-year Evil Demon Orca right leg bone skill, Orca Shattering Fang Slash. A powerful group-attack innate soul skill of the Evil Demon Orca clan.
Though each dark red light blade was small in size, their sheer number made up for it. Moreover, every blade carried a fierce killing intent, shredding the tentacles into fragments.
Wang Xiao observed the tentacle fragments falling from the sky, their color shifting from orange-yellow to pink, and suddenly realized.
He recognized the origin of this soul beast.
A powerful soul force, deep as the abyss, erupted from his body, abruptly repelling the tentacle fragments. The other tentacles clinging to the hull were also shaken loose.
A sharp, piercing screech rang out as a massive jellyfish revealed itself in the seawater ahead of the warship. The umbrella-shaped body of this jellyfish exceeded two meters in diameter. The tips of its tentacles were orange-yellow, gradually changing color until, at the roots and the body, they became a bizarre pink.
Tentacles over forty meters long filled the surrounding sea area. From its aggressive posture, it clearly had no intention of letting them go.
Lin Long leaped to the railing at the front of the deck, preparing to enter the sea and deal with the jellyfish soul beast once and for all. His martial soul was the Black Scaled Dragon Shark; only in seawater could he fully exert his strength.
Judging from the soul power fluctuations emitted by this jellyfish-type soul beast, it had at least thirty thousand years of cultivation, and its tentacles possessed immense strength. If it was not dealt with quickly, the warship would inevitably suffer some damage.
However, before he could act, Wang Xiao stopped him.
"Lin Long, don't be rash. This soul beast is a Lion's Mane Jellyfish. Its tentacles contain deadly poison, and its body must not be touched."
"Lion's Mane Jellyfish?!" Including Lin Long, everyone present was shocked.
The Lion's Mane Jellyfish was considered one of the most powerful sea soul beasts in the ocean and one of the strongest among jellyfish-type soul beasts. It was said that even demonic whale-type soul beasts were their prey.
Only because their numbers were extremely rare did they not enjoy the infamous reputation of the ocean's three overlords: the Deep Sea Demonic Whale, the Evil Demon Orca, and the Demon Soul Great White Shark.
At that moment, Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi arrived simultaneously.
Xu Zihuang stood on the railing area outside the top-deck room, gazing at the Lion's Mane Jellyfish in the sea ahead. Ye Guyi had just come from the galley to the deck. The two exchanged a knowing glance.
Xu Zihuang smiled and tossed the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword to Ye Guyi.
"Sister Lingyi."
"Zihuang, you finished it?" Ye Guyi caught the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword and happily examined it. Both its appearance and feel were impeccable to her. Most importantly, it was a soul guide that Xu Zihuang had meticulously crafted for her.
Their arrival drew the attention of everyone on the deck.
Xu Zihuang nodded.
"Try the power of this Seven-Star Lightflame Sword."
"Seven-Star Lightflame Sword?"
Ye Guyi understood and smiled charmingly. Then, under everyone's gaze, she released her martial soul and soared into the air. Her pure white angel wings unfolded behind her, and gentle golden light sprinkled down from the sky.
As soul power poured in, the golden Seven-Star Lightflame Sword in her hand instantly blazed with light. The golden radiance then extended to her entire right arm.
That was not an effect of the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword but rather the activation of the sixty-thousand-year Golden Flame Bird's right arm soul bone. The golden light on her right arm resembled constantly gathering and leaping flames, extraordinarily divine and dazzling like the golden sun.
At this moment, Ye Guyi seemed to be the embodiment of the sun itself.
"In the name of the divine, Angel Judgment!" A clear, cold voice rang from Ye Guyi's mouth as her first soul skill, Holy Light Illumination, was activated simultaneously.
She raised the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword high with both hands. The light of her first soul skill, Holy Light Illumination, the radiance of the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword, and the glow of the Golden Flame Bird's right arm soul bone perfectly fused, dazzling yet carrying a trace of scorching heat.
"Scorching Bone Sunflame!"
The golden light instantly engulfed the Lion's Mane Jellyfish. Even with the obstruction of seawater, it could not escape Ye Guyi's attack.
The moment the jellyfish's body came into contact with the golden light, it had no time to resist and melted away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Only a pitch-black soul ring remained, pulsing on the sea surface.
Although it appeared Ye Guyi had only used her first soul skill, Holy Light Illumination, in reality, she had already integrated the soul bone skill into it.
Fusing a soul bone skill with a soul ring skill was extremely difficult, not something every soul master could achieve. The user needed a profound martial soul foundation and astonishing control over soul skills.
As a Holy Angel soul master, Ye Guyi naturally met these requirements. Though it was her first time using it this way, it felt as natural and smooth as commanding her own arm.
Scorching Bone Sunflame was the soul skill attached to her right arm soul bone. It could be used independently or combined with any of her soul skills. This was one of the reasons Ye Guyi had insisted on fusing this soul bone back then.
She had vaguely guessed the effect of the soul bone at the time.
Soul bone skills capable of comprehensive amplification were extremely rare. Comprehensive amplification meant a full enhancement of the soul master's overall strength. This characteristic alone made it comparable to top-tier hundred-thousand-year soul bones.
For example, when combined with her first soul skill,l Holy Light Illumination, any opponent illuminated by the holy light infused with Scorching Bone Sunflame would instantly suffer terrifying high temperatures erupting from within their body, impossible to defend against.
Normally, a soul beast with over thirty thousand years of cultivation should not have been so helpless. The reason for this outcome was purely due to the Lion's Mane Jellyfish's unique body structure; its body was far too fragile, lacking bones to protect its interior. This led to an effect far beyond expectations.
Another factor could not be ignored.
Because of the Purple Patterned Brilliant Dragon inscribed core array, the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword carried a trace of destruction attribute when used.
The incorporation of the destruction attribute further amplified its power.
Ye Guyi gracefully flew back to Xu Zihuang, retracting her martial soul. She held the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword in a reverse grip with her right hand, her beautiful face brimming with smiles.
"Zihuang, this Seven-Star Lightflame Sword amplifies my martial soul abilities even more than I imagined."
"Once it's fully perfected, the effect should be a bit better," Xu Zihuang replied with a warm smile, and together with Ye Guyi, they looked toward the golden sun slowly rising over the eastern horizon.
Wang Xiao and the others on the deck understood and dispersed, leaving only a few to remain on guard. The warship continued sailing, but those who had witnessed Ye Guyi's formidable strength could not hide the amazement in their eyes for a long time.
Not only is the young master Xu Zihuang's talent astonishing, but Ye Guyi's talent is equally astonishing.
Facing the morning sun, Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi chatted with smiles on their faces. Soon, they would enter the boundary between the deep sea and the coastal waters. Today, they would return to the continent.
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