As Xu Zihuang was neutralizing the attack of the Sea Demon Elephant, the other four Sea Demon Elephants surged forward.
Their sharp tusks pierced towards his body from all directions.
Of course, he could have chosen to use his second soul skill, Mirror of Destruction, to completely suppress them. After all, these five Sea Demon Elephants weren't particularly powerful soul beast species, with cultivation only around a thousand years, so they would have no chance against his second soul skill.
But doing that would go against his true intentions.
The reason he had been battling various soul beasts for the past six months was entirely to refine his practical combat experience. However, he had another purpose in mind: to put himself in life-threatening danger to trigger the second awakening of his body martial soul.
With thoughts racing through his mind, Xu Zihuang made a decision. He took a deep breath and dove toward the seabed.
The average depth of this inner sea bay was around one hundred meters, and the water pressure at that depth was something Xu Zihuang's physique could easily withstand.
At one hundred meters below the seabed, visibility was only one percent of normal, but with the powerful vision provided by his Golden Eyes, the effect of the dimness was almost negligible.
Cold currents surged from behind him, and Xu Zihuang suddenly looked up.
He saw the five pursuing Sea Demon Elephants spitting out ice projectiles from their mouths.
These ice projectiles were ice-blue in color, and when they moved through the water, they caused powerful fluctuations in soul power. The seawater along their paths froze visibly, forming ice trails of various shapes.
These were Ice Explosive Bullets, one of the Sea Demon Elephants' most formidable soul skills and also their innate soul skill.
Although the name was similar to the Ice Explosion Technique of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan from the Extreme North region, their power was worlds apart.
Hundreds of ice projectiles blocked Xu Zihuang's path.
Xu Zihuang stared at the dense barrage of ice projectiles coming towards him, and the golden patterns around his pupils became even more dazzling.
A strange scene unfolded.
It was as if Xu Zihuang could see the future, as he effortlessly dodged each ice projectile with the slightest movement.
Dynamic Vision!
"As expected," Xu Zihuang's mind stirred as he gently brushed aside the strands of purple hair drifting in the seawater that obstructed his vision.
Although he could not predict the future, he could anticipate the trajectories of these ice projectiles.
In the three years of training, he accidentally discovered that his spiritual attribute martial soul, Golden Eyes, possessed a unique innate ability.
Generally only exceptionally powerful Martial Souls had such an innate ability. For example, in the original story, Wang Dong's Martial Soul, the Radiant Butterfly Goddess had the innate ability to fly, showcasing the prowess of a high-level Martial Soul.
On the other hand, the martial soul innate ability of Xu Zihuang's Golden Eyes was to give him superior dynamic vision, allowing him to perceive everything around him in slow motion, up to tens of times slower at his will. Predicting the trajectories of the hundreds of ice projectiles was an easy feat.
A flash of dark red light flickered, and Xu Zihuang slowly raised his arms. Dark red crystals began spreading from his palms to his wrists, completely enveloping both arms.
One by one, dark red crystal scales formed, making his arms extraordinarily large, and his hands transformed into dragon claws, also covered in dark red crystal scales.
He had not switched his martial soul, nor had his second martial soul, the Purple Brilliant Lightning Destroying Dragon, obtained a soul ring, nor could he achieve the dragon transformation abilities similar to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
He was simply using his spiritual power to delicately control the second soul skill of his Golden Eyes, condensing these dragon arms.
With his own immense strength and the hardness of the dark red crystals, which far exceeded cold iron, as a Control System soul master, he now had the power to directly confront a similarly ranked Strength System soul master.
'I hope this time I can achieve my goal,' Xu Zihuang thought as his gaze turned cold, and instead of retreating, he charged forward, using his dark red dragon claws to shield himself and charging towards the five Sea Demon Elephants.
Xu Zihuang was already moving swiftly through the water, but the five Sea Demon Elephants, creatures naturally adapted to the sea, were even faster.
However, no matter how fast these Sea Demon Elephants were, in Xu Zihuang's eyes, they moved as slowly as snails.
His left dragon claw precisely seized one of the Sea Demon Elephant's tusks, while his right claw brutally pierced through its eyeball.
Crimson red blood spilled everywhere, and the Sea Demon Elephant howled as it struggled. The surrounding seawater quickly turned blood red.
But the moment Xu Zihuang's right claw pierced through its eye socket and into its brain, the struggles abruptly ceased. Purple light began to condense on the massive corpse of this Sea Demon Elephant and floated towards the surface.
The other four Sea Demon Elephants, arriving slightly late, were enraged by the sight of their comrade's blood and went berserk.
Unless they were particularly intelligent species like apes or wolves, most soul beasts didn't develop significant intelligence until they reached the ten-thousand-year mark. They mainly acted more on instinct than intellect.
The four Sea Demon Elephants in front of him were clearly the type with low intelligence.
However, this was exactly what he wanted to see.
Xu Zihuang moved swiftly through the seabed, dodging and countering the attacks of the four Sea Demon Elephants.
Before he knew it, half an hour had passed in the blink of an eye.
The rapid consumption of his soul power and physical strength, along with the prolonged lack of oxygen, caused his face to flush red.
But he still didn't feel that sense of imminent danger he was seeking.
Only one of the four Sea Demon Elephants was left.
"They're still too weak," Xu Zihuang sighed regretfully and stopped moving. The dark red crystal claws on his arms shattered.
From a distance, he watched the last Sea Demon Elephant, its body covered in wounds. Dark red ripples quietly enveloped it.
Condense, Shatter.
With that, the five 1000-year-old Sea Demon Elephants were all met their end at Xu Zihuang's hands.
Splish, splash——!
Splashing sounds filled the air as Xu Zihuang's figure resurfaced; he leapt and he used the rock wall to propel himself, landing smoothly on the harbor square by the sea bay edges.
"Young Lord, how do you feel?" Lin Long, who had been waiting nearby, quickly stepped forward with the others.
Xu Zihuang steadied his breathing and shook his head with a hint of frustration.
"They're still too weak. Maybe if we could catch a thousand-year-old Demon Soul Great White Shark, it might give me some real pressure."
Although Xu Zihuang's words sounded arrogant, no one present from the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion thought there was anything wrong with them.
Their Young Lord indeed had the strength to say such things.
Xu Zihuang dried his clothes and hair using his soul power, casually asking, "Has Uncle Wang come out of his seclusion?"
"Not yet."
"Is that so?" Xu Zihuang nodded slightly, tying his now dry black medium-length hair into a bundle, and stood up and walked back towards the castle.
"Lin Long, if Uncle Wang comes out, notify me immediately. I'll go to the underground chamber to work on crafting some soul tools."
His imperial cousin at Shrek Academy, He Caitou, was three years older than him, which meant he was the same age as Huo Yuhao when you accounted for the age difference.
Shrek Academy would enroll new students six months later.
If Xu Zihuang wanted to enter Shrek Academy, he needed to start preparing now.
Please leave some recommendation votes and investment, and feel free to give suggestions. I'll be heading to Shrek soon. Don't worry, I won't be flattering Huo Yuhao; in my book, Huo Yuhao is not even worthy of carrying the protagonist's shoes.