Due to environmental and historical influences, the native inhabitants of each continent exhibit subtle differences in their racial traits.
For example, soul masters with pure Sun Moon Empire bloodlines advance faster in cultivation during the early stages. They also absorb various medicines more effectively. However, as cultivation reaches the later stages, it becomes increasingly difficult.
Soul masters originating from the Douluo Continent, as long as their martial soul foundation and talent are sufficient, often break through bottlenecks more easily in the later stages through accumulation and sudden breakthrough.
The native inhabitants of the Star Sea Continent have a special trait in their bloodline power. Their bloodline power is generally stronger than that of soul masters on the Douluo Continent, and they can use bloodline power to amplify themselves.
On the Douluo Continent side, very few soul masters can mobilize the energy within their bloodline.
This is also why that octopus-type ferocious beast sensed the intense bloodline aura within Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er and mistook them for native inhabitants of the Star Sea Continent.
However, the natives of the Star Sea Continent have a clear drawback: the degree of fusion between their spiritual power and their own martial soul is not as smooth due to the influence of bloodline power. After reaching a certain level, their control over their own power becomes inadequate.
Those soul masters from the Star Sea Continent can indeed absorb soul rings with higher year limits in the early stages, thanks to the amplification of bloodline power. But after reaching the Rank 50 Soul King realm, because the death of a ten-thousand-year soul beast produces a soul shock that impacts the soul master's sea of consciousness, and their spiritual power's fusion with their martial soul is limited, basically, none of them can absorb soul rings beyond their level.
The vast majority of them, at Rank 50, cannot absorb ten-thousand-year-level soul rings unless their talent is exceptionally outstanding.
That is why, upon seeing Xu Zihuang's soul ring configuration, this octopus-type ferocious beast was so certain in its judgment.
"Who exactly are you people?"
The humanoid octopus youth's voice rang out again, now carrying a bit more gravity. At the same time, under the backdrop of the seawater behind him, his body began transforming back into its true form. In an instant, it turned into a massive octopus with a diameter exceeding a thousand meters.
With the waving of each tentacle, the sea suddenly became violent. Although his true form, the Patterned Octopus, was considered a relatively powerful race in this sea region, it still had a certain gap compared to super soul beasts like the Deep Sea Demonic Whale, Evil Demonic Orca, and Demon Soul Great White Shark. The reason he had been able to cultivate to his current level was precisely that he was sufficiently cautious.
Even though devouring the Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er before him would bring him enormous benefits, he still did not act rashly.
Very steady.
On the head of the Patterned Octopus were eight eyes, flickering with eerie, sinister light, uncertainly sizing up the bright golden seventh soul ring beside Xu Zihuang.
As a ferocious beast that had survived two heavenly tribulations, he was extremely sensitive to the aura of soul rings. With one glance, he recognized the true nature of Xu Zihuang's seventh soul ring.
This was absolutely a genuine million-year soul ring! How could a human soul master possibly absorb a soul ring of this level at Rank 70?!
The expression in the Patterned Octopus's eyes was filled with shock and uncertainty.
The last time he had sensed the aura of a million-year soul ring was ten thousand years ago.
On that day, the heavens and earth changed color, and in an instant, godhood was achieved. That human had inherited the Sea God's divine position, and all sea soul beasts in the ocean sensed it, prostrating themselves and offering their power of faith. He was no exception.
At that time, he already possessed cultivation at one hundred thousand years level.
While the Patterned Octopus's thoughts were in turmoil, Wang Qiu'er took out her Golden Dragon Spear. With golden flames beneath her feet, her tall figure stood proudly in the air. In her usually indifferent eyes, a rare trace of anger appeared.
When that ferocious beast-level Patterned Octopus appeared, the surging waves had overturned that pot of fish soup.
Wang Qiu'er's sudden fury was purely because of food protection!
Wang Qiu'er pointed the Golden Dragon Spear forward. In that instant, her body seemed to become illusory. Yet within this illusion, it was filled with boundless majesty. An invisible force enveloped the entire area.
"Destiny, Judgment!" Wang Qiu'er coldly shouted.
A brilliant golden light flashed over the blood-red eye at her brow, as if containing the radiance of destiny and the dignity of heaven and earth. Under her gaze, even the air seemed to emit a faint hum. The space within several thousand meters was shrouded in a layer of mysterious golden light.
This was precisely the ability of Wang Qiu'er's Eye of Destiny. As the Emperor Auspicious Beast, she was born with the power to control fortune. But this was the first time she had truly used it against a soul beast, showing just how angry she was.
The Patterned Octopus, reacting, trembled violently. A chill rose from the depths of his heart.
"What kind of ability is this?!"
He could feel that something about himself had changed, but exactly where that change was, he had no idea.
Xu Zihuang, seeming to ponder something, suddenly reached out his right hand and grasped Wang Qiu'er's wrist.
Wang Qiu'er instinctively turned her head. Seeing the deep meaning in Xu Zihuang's eyes, she seemed to understand something. Back in the Star Dou Forest, after Xu Zihuang forcibly completed the connection with her, their destinies were destined to intertwine.
After more than a month of sailing together, a special tacit understanding had already developed between them. It was a strange feeling; just a meeting of gazes was enough to clearly know what the other was thinking. Similar to martial soul fusion partners, yet different.
Although Wang Qiu'er complied with Xu Zihuang's arrangement and stopped continuing to use her ability, she coldly turned her head away.
Worth mentioning is that she did not break free from the restraint of Xu Zihuang's right hand.
At that moment, Xu Zihuang's gentle voice drifted lightly into Wang Qiu'er's ear.
"I'll make another portion for you later."
Wang Qiu'er's eyes instinctively brightened, but then she belatedly realized something. A charming blush spread across her pretty face. Since she knew what Xu Zihuang was thinking, how could Xu Zihuang not know why she had been so angry just now?
And at this time, the aura around Xu Zihuang beside her had undergone an earth-shaking change.
Four more rings of blood-red soul rings rose from beneath his feet. He had simultaneously activated the abilities of two martial souls.
Among them, one blood-red ten-thousand-year soul ring shone. Xu Zihuang raised his right hand high.
A long spear rapidly condensed in his right hand.
The spear was about three meters and sixty centimeters long, entirely a profound black, with an ancient and simple style, without any ornate decoration. Yet the moment this black long spear appeared, the surrounding light seemed to be devoured by the spear, becoming much dimmer. And merely looking at this long spear gave one's soul and consciousness the illusion of annihilation and dissipation.
Wang Qiu'er, whose pretty face was faintly flushed, had her pupils contract slightly. She restrained all her mixed emotions and fixed her gaze on the long, black spear in Xu Zihuang's hand.
So this is the annihilation attribute?
She had seen Xu Zihuang's memories, which included two instances of him using the power of annihilation. The first was against that eight-thousand-year Dark Evil God Tiger, and the second was to intimidate those plant-type soul beasts in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
But at that time, Xu Zihuang's control over the annihilation attribute was limited. Now, with his cultivation growth and close observation, Wang Qiu'er truly felt the terrifying power of this annihilation attribute.
Even if Di Tian were here, he would likely be suppressed in terms of attributes.
Xu Zihuang held this black long spear in his right hand and swept it horizontally, placing it behind him. That proud bearing of standing above the clouds overlooking all beings was difficult to describe in words.
Like a heaven-supporting divine spear standing between heaven and earth.
This was the complete first soul skill of his Purple Radiance Thunder Prison Dragon martial soul. Annihilation Divine Spear. A rare weapon-type soul skill that perfectly fused the two most domineering attributes in the world today, extreme thunder and destruction.
"Evil beast, you already deserve death!" Xu Zihuang coldly shouted with an indifferent expression.
At the same time, the golden Sea God Trident rune at his brow burst with brilliant light.
Whether it was a miscalculation by Tang San or whether he had other intentions in scheming against Xu Zihuang, the Trident imprint he left on Xu Zihuang had not been taken back.
And this just happened to give Xu Zihuang room to operate.
Although using Tang San's name to deal with these powerful sea soul beasts might not necessarily affect the overall situation, it could at least disgust Tang San to some extent.
Xu Zihuang had never been someone who swallowed his anger. Since that selfless God King wanted to scheme against him, what did he have to worry about? Their faces had already been torn apart anyway.
An extremely dazzling golden Trident phantom appeared out of thin air behind Xu Zihuang. Golden light rippled, forming a dazzling ring of light that bloomed outward.
The terrifying aura of the Patterned Octopus melted away like ice and snow. Suppressed by this majestic aura, even the soul power within his body became stagnant.
The surging waves on the sea surface also calmed down.
"You are the Sea God's envoy?!"
The eight small eyes of the Patterned Octopus were filled with horror.
But before he could finish speaking, the Annihilation Divine Spear in Xu Zihuang's hand distorted space and instantly pierced through one of his eerie green eyes.
"Ah—" A shrill scream resounded through the sky. The ferocious beast-level Patterned Octopus truly felt the threat to its life, and intense fear surged in its heart.
The entire eyeball melted away without a trace under the profound black light emitted by the Annihilation Divine Spear, erased from this world on every level.
Acting decisively, it immediately used soul power to sever a large chunk of flesh around that eye along with the Annihilation Divine Spear, finally stopping the spread of the black light.
Under normal circumstances, Xu Zihuang might not have succeeded so easily, as there was still a significant gap in cultivation between him and this Patterned Octopus. But just now, the octopus had been intimidated by the Sea God's aura, and the Golden Eyed martial soul's spatial control was sudden enough, leading to the current situation.
Of course, the effect of Wang Qiu'er's Eye of Destiny also played a part.
The Patterned Octopus was truly frightened. Lowering its head, it begged in terror: "Respected Sea God envoy, if there has been any offense, please forgive me!"
He did not doubt the authenticity of Xu Zihuang's identity as the Sea God's envoy. The Sea God's aura could not be faked, and only a Sea God envoy could possess such terrifying talent and strength. He even felt that Xu Zihuang before him was the chosen successor of the Sea God.
"Hmph!" Xu Zihuang flicked his sleeve and coldly snorted, perfectly imitating the demeanor of a certain God King.
"Since this is your first offense, I shall spare your life for now. If there is a next time, what awaits you will be the same fate as those Demon Soul Great White Sharks. Remember, the Sea God's dignity is not to be challenged."
Rays of light began to appear around Xu Zihuang, exceptionally clear, reflecting various scenes.
The images in these scenes were from when he had previously severely injured the Demon Soul Great White Shark King Xiaobai, though Xu Zihuang deliberately omitted the scenes with the Demon Empress.
Seeing these, even with the strength of this ferocious beast-level Patterned Octopus, its body could not stop trembling.
How could he not recognize the identity of the Demon Soul Great White Shark King Xiaobai? That was the mount of the first-generation Sea God, with cultivation exceeding three hundred thousand years. Whether in terms of cultivation or racial talent, there was a huge gap between him and the Demon Soul Great White Shark King Xiaobai.
Even the Demon Soul Great White Shark King had been severely injured by Xu Zihuang—how could he possibly be a match for Xu Zihuang?
Xu Zihuang's tangible, corporeal-level spiritual power swept over, looking down from above at the giant octopus as he commanded: "Transmit to me all your memories regarding your knowledge of that Star Sea Continent. You yourself possess spiritual attributes, so doing this should not be difficult for you."
"Yes, respected Sea God envoy." The giant octopus transformed back into human form, respectfully and humbly kneeling and saluting Xu Zihuang. Only now did he realize that the scenes Xu Zihuang had projected earlier were spiritual power materialization, achievable only at the tangible, corporeal level.
With such talent, there could be no mistake! The one before him must surely be the successor chosen by the Sea God!
After surviving the ordeal, not only did he feel no anger at having one eye blinded by Xu Zihuang, but he was instead extremely grateful.
A solid, deep-purple light orb separated from the giant octopus's head and was drawn by Xu Zihuang into his own sea of consciousness.
Xu Zihuang read the contents expressionlessly, while the giant octopus waited respectfully and obediently at the side, not daring to disturb him.
Wang Qiu'er, who had witnessed everything from beginning to end, had a strange look flash in her eyes.
A moment later, under Wang Qiu'er's protection and gaze, Xu Zihuang slowly opened his eyes.
He said nothing more. After giving the giant octopus another look, he used the Golden Eyed martial soul's true body ability to take Wang Qiu'er and leave this sea region.
But Wang Qiu'er keenly noticed the subtle curve at the corner of Xu Zihuang's mouth.
The sea surface returned to calm. Looking up at the spot where Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er had disappeared, the giant octopus let out a long breath of relief.
"Good thing I was cautious enough and didn't act rashly, or I would have fallen here today. Deep Sea Demonic Whale King? Evil Demonic Orca King? Demon Soul Great White Shark King? Heh heh. So what if your bloodlines are noble and your racial talents are powerful? Didn't you all end up perishing miserably anyway?" He smiled smugly in disdain.
"Only by being like me can one live long."
But after his emotions settled, a persistent thought emerged in the giant octopus's mind that he could not shake.
The Sea God is ruthless even toward the Demon Soul Great White Shark clan that served him for tens of thousands of years. Is such a deity truly worthy of faith?
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