As Xu Zihuang neutralized the attack of the sea demon elephant, four more surged toward him.
Sharp tusks stabbed at his body from all directions.
Of course, he could have chosen to use his second soul skill, Mirror of Ruin, to suppress them completely. These five sea demon elephants were not a particularly powerful soul beast species. With cultivation of only a little over a thousand years, they could not possibly withstand his second soul skill.
But doing so would go against his true intent.
For the past six months, he had been fighting soul beasts not just to temper his combat experience, but also with another purpose in mind—to push himself to the brink of life and death, in order to touch the chance for his martial soul's second awakening.
His thoughts spun, and having made up his mind, Xu Zihuang took a deep breath and dove headlong into the sea.
The average depth of this inland sea was about a hundred meters. Such pressure was nothing for his physique to endure.
At a depth of a hundred meters, visibility was only about one percent of normal. Yet with the powerful eyesight granted by his Golden Eyes, the effect was negligible.
Suddenly, a chill swept from behind. Xu Zihuang raised his head sharply.
The five thousand-year sea demon elephants chasing him spewed out volleys of ice projectiles.
These icy-blue spheres glowed with intense soul power as they cut through the water. Wherever they passed, the seawater froze at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving behind jagged trails of ice.
This was Ice Burst Bomb, one of the sea demon elephant's innate soul skills.
Though its name resembled the Ice Explosion Technique of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan in the Extreme North, the power was worlds apart.
Hundreds of ice bombs sealed off Xu Zihuang's path.
As he gazed at the barrage, golden patterns around his pupils gleamed brighter.
Then something strange occurred.
It was as if Xu Zihuang could see into the future. With the slightest movement, he slipped past each ice projectile with ease.
Body tracing!
"As expected." Xu Zihuang's heart stirred. He brushed aside strands of purple hair that floated before his eyes.
Of course, he could not predict the future—what he was doing was calculating the trajectories.
During three years of cultivation, he had inadvertently discovered a martial soul instinct of his Golden Eyes, which were of the spiritual attribute.
Only exceptionally powerful martial souls could possess innate instincts. For example, in the original story, Wang Dong's Goddess of Light Butterfly could fly from birth—this was the sign of a top-tier martial soul.
And the instinct of Xu Zihuang's Golden Eyes was to grant him dynamic vision beyond that of ordinary people.
In other words, everything he saw could be slowed down tens of times at will. Predicting the paths of hundreds of projectiles was no problem.
Dark red light flashed. Xu Zihuang slowly raised his arms. From his palms, crimson crystals spread up toward his wrists until both arms were completely encased.
Layer upon layer of dark red crystalline scales formed. His arms grew massive, his hands transforming into dragon claws, likewise covered in the crystalline scales.
He had not switched martial souls, nor had his second martial soul—the Purple Radiance Thunder Prison Dragon—absorbed any soul rings. It was impossible for him to undergo a dragon transformation like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan.
This was merely the result of finely controlling his Golden Eyes' second soul skill with spiritual power to condense such dragon arms.
With his sheer strength, and the durability of these crystals far surpassing cold iron, he—though a control-type soul master—now had the capital to face even assault-type battle soul masters head-on.
"Let's hope this time works." Xu Zihuang's eyes turned cold. Rather than retreat, he advanced, dragon claws raised to meet the five sea demon elephants.
Xu Zihuang was already swift underwater, but these sea beasts were born in the ocean and even faster.
Yet no matter how fast they were, in his eyes, they moved like snails.
His left claw gripped one's tusk with precision, while his right claw viciously stabbed into its eye.
Blood spread through the water as the beast roared and thrashed. In an instant, the seawater was dyed red.
The moment his right claw pierced through its eye socket into its brain, the struggle ceased. Purple light gathered over the corpse and drifted upward.
The other four, enraged by the blood of their companion, went into a frenzy.
Unless they were apes or wolves—species known for cunning—most soul beasts at the thousand-year level had little intelligence, acting mainly on instinct.
These four sea demon elephants were clearly of the latter kind.
And that was exactly what he wanted.
Xu Zihuang darted about the seabed, fending off their attacks.
Unnoticed, half an hour slipped away.
The rapid drain of soul power and stamina, along with prolonged lack of air, made his face flush red.
Yet still, he had not felt that desperate brush with death.
Of the four pursuers, only one remained.
"Still too weak." Xu Zihuang sighed regretfully, halting. The crimson dragon claws of crystal on his arms shattered apart.
From afar, he gazed at the last scarred sea demon elephant. A ripple of dark red quietly enveloped it.
Condense. Shatter.
With that, all five thousand-year sea demon elephants perished by his hands.
Splash—!
Water surged as Xu Zihuang resurfaced. With a push against the rocky wall, he landed steadily on the port square at the bay's edge.
"Young Master, how do you feel?" Linlong, who had been waiting with the others, hurried forward.
Catching his breath, Xu Zihuang shook his head helplessly.
"Still too weak. If only we could catch a thousand-year Demon Soul Great White Shark, maybe that would give me some pressure."
His words sounded arrogant, but to the Imperial Dragon Soul Tool Regiment, it seemed only natural.
Their Young Master had the strength to back it up.
As Xu Zihuang dried his clothes and hair with soul power, he casually asked,
"Has Elder Wang emerged yet?"
"Not yet."
"I see." He nodded, tied back his dried black mid-length hair, and walked toward the castle.
"Elder Lin, if Elder Wang emerges, inform me at once. I'll be in the basement working on soul tools."
His imperial brother at Shrek Academy and Caitou were three years older than him. By that measure, he and Huo Yuhao were of the same age.
Shrek Academy's freshman enrollment was half a year away.
If he wished to enter Shrek, now was the time to begin preparations.