At dawn, the sky outside the massive crystal window shifted from dark blue to bright azure.
The southern sky was exceptionally clear and blue.
Golden sunlight filtered through silken curtains into a spacious room. Xu Zihuang, lying on a soft bed, slowly opened his eyes. His long lashes quivered, and his deep-violet pupils reflected a trace of brilliant light as they met the rising sun.
He rose and went to the window. An endless expanse of ocean stretched before him, waves crashing audibly against the rocks.
Stretching slightly, he felt a comfort that ran from spirit to flesh, nearly making him groan aloud.
"All that is past is but a prologue."
Whispering softly, Xu Zihuang dressed and washed in the adjoining bathroom. From today, a new chapter of his life began.
The castle had seven floors, and his room was on the top level.
When he descended to the first-floor hall, Rong Jin had already prepared a carefully crafted breakfast.
A large, golden-brown slice of butter-fried Demonic Killer Whale tail meat lay before him. Taken from the twenty-thousand-year Demonic Killer Whale, its flesh was highly beneficial for Soul Masters—nourishing strength, fortifying bones, especially helpful for adolescents whose bodies were not fully developed.
Beside it was a bowl of clear soup, stewed with century-old jade ginseng and gastrodia, nourishing both brain and body.
After breakfast, Xu Zihuang felt warm and comfortable all over.
Leaving the hall, he passed two gardens of rare blossoms. A marble path stretched from the castle at the mountainside down to the inner bay.
"Young Master, everything is ready." Meng Lang and several men, waiting by the garden, quickly approached.
Xu Zihuang nodded and walked toward the bay.
The inner bay was in fact a port—small in scale but private, belonging to Viscount Yao Yang.
Several grand warships clad in metal armor were moored there, including the very one Xu Zihuang had sailed upon.
But today, Meng Lang and the others did not use them. Instead, they drew out two narrow boats from their soul tools. Powered by injected soul power, the small boats needed no sails.
Xu Zihuang lightly tapped his foot and landed on the bow of one boat. The two boats left the bay, sailing northward along the island for about two kilometers before stopping at a cliff over thirty meters high.
"Here will do." Xu Zihuang studied the cliff, then leapt up to its flat, ten-square-meter top—an ideal spot for tide-tempering.
Meng Lang and the others exchanged uneasy glances but obeyed Xu Zihuang's orders. Stowing the boats, they leapt into the sea and released their martial souls.
Aside from Meng Lang, the other five included three Soul Kings and two Soul Emperors, all with water-attribute martial souls.
The two Emperors stayed back to guard the area. Even in shallow waters, sea soul beasts could appear, and Xu Zihuang's safety allowed no carelessness.
Meng Lang and the three Soul Kings lined up before Xu Zihuang in the sea, floating with the aid of their martial souls.
"Young Master, are you ready?"
"Begin." Xu Zihuang inhaled deeply, eyes firm.
The men said no more. Blue soul power flared across their bodies as they unleashed their soul skills—Meng Lang his third, the others their second, fourth, and fifth.
Though different, the effects were the same: to drive the waves.
The sea boiled, then abruptly stilled.
But it was only the calm before the storm.
In the distance, waves surged one after another toward them. Soon, a massive wave as high as Xu Zihuang's perch crashed down, striking him with deafening force.
Though suffocating, the impact was not as unbearable as he had imagined. Yet the sheer power drove his body backward, slamming him into the cliff wall.
Struggling to open his eyes underwater, Xu Zihuang saw only a world of blue. Muscles taut, soul power surging, he still couldn't resist being battered into the rock.
Two opposing forces crushed him at once. Even with his strong body, he choked, swallowing mouthfuls of seawater.
Dragged under, he clawed at cracks in the stone, blood seeping from torn fingertips as he clung desperately.
Barely steadying himself, he had no time to check his mangled fingers before the next wave engulfed him, stronger than the last.
After over ten impacts, his body went numb—meridians, flesh, bones all dulled. Even the searing pain in his hands faded.
Sensing his limit, he waved for them to stop.
Meng Lang quickly pulled the pale Xu Zihuang from the water, asking anxiously about his condition. But Xu Zihuang lacked even the strength to speak. By the time they returned to the bay, Meng Lang carried him on his back.
Hearing the commotion, Elder Cheng arrived. At the sight of Xu Zihuang's battered state, the usually mild man erupted, scolding furiously:
"You call this watching over the Young Master?!"
Fluffy, rainbow-hued dandelions of light drifted into Xu Zihuang's body, healing his wounds. But the numbness would take longer to fade.
"This was my idea—it has nothing to do with them. Leave me. I need to cultivate." Xu Zihuang managed a bitter smile, cutting Cheng off.
He had accepted it. To gain strength, pain was inevitable.
Though still angry, Cheng said no more.
Once the others withdrew, Xu Zihuang drew out dried ten-thousand-year whale tendon and the head oil of a Demon Great White Shark, consuming portions of both before entering cultivation.
Though tortured, the results were worth it. After pushing his body to its limits, his cultivation and absorption of the medicines grew faster.
An hour later, to everyone's surprise, Xu Zihuang, dressed clean again, appeared in the castle's underground chamber.
The chamber spanned over five hundred square meters and was well-insulated. The Imperial Dragon Regiment often crafted soul tools here.
Xu Zihuang nodded to them, then set to work at a table, attempting to inscribe a second third-grade core array.
There were no shortcuts—only repeated attempts. But with his Golden Pupils martial soul, he held innate advantages: sharper sight, flawless memory. Many arrays failed from tiny errors. For him, such mistakes were rare.
Half a month later, he successfully inscribed his second third-grade core array, drawing closer to becoming a true third-rank Soul Engineer.
At the same time, he endured up to fifteen waves in tide-tempering.
Thereafter, his days followed a rhythm: tide-tempering in the morning, soul tool crafting in the afternoon, cultivation at night.
A year later, he had increased his endurance from less than a quarter-hour to two full hours. Through this near-self-torture, his physique, willpower, and cultivation all advanced rapidly.
During this period, an incident occurred: the head of the Whale Shark Pirate Group, Jing Gu, who had purchased the Demon Great White Shark head soul bone, was ambushed, his soul bone stolen, and he himself gravely wounded.
The balance of the Moon South Archipelago was shaken.
All suspicion pointed to Crocodile Luo, leader of the Demon Crocodile Pirates. But Jing Gu himself remained silent.