The seaside in the early morning was incredibly peaceful. Fishermen anxious to head out to sea were adjusting the sails on their boats, while many others repaired damaged fishing nets on the shore. Children ran around giggling between the boats; this was the rare moment of tranquility in their day.
The newborn sun had already revealed a corner above the distant sea horizon, its light and warmth slowly spreading toward the human world.
Shen Hanyu and the others purchased some essential food and water. Renting a boat that was bound to sink was somewhat excessive for four Title Douluo, so everyone unanimously agreed that flying would save time.
However, before departing, Shen Hanyu still went to several nearby auction houses and spent several hundred thousand gold soul coins to buy a specially made small boat to handle any unexpected situations.
One must always make thorough preparations; otherwise, if one day you end up with no bones left, there won't be a chance for regret.
In the sky, several seagulls and unknown seabirds soared, then flew toward the nearby sandy beach.
Looking down from midair, the azure seawater was vast and deep, and occasionally, one could see many sea soul beasts surfacing to breathe.
You Mengchu was a native of the island region and extremely familiar with the ocean. Although her martial soul had no connection whatsoever to the sea, someone who lived on an island could hardly lack understanding of the ocean.
Dugu Bo had also visited the seaside during his travels in his youth, but after being brutally beaten by a powerful soul beast on a small, isolated island, he lost much of his enthusiasm for the ocean, replaced instead by vigilance and a sense of crisis.
The awakened Haixi was extremely excited in the sea of consciousness, but when she heard that Shen Hanyu and the others were preparing to hunt the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, she instantly fell silent. Even the others who had awakened were left stunned, and the atmosphere grew somewhat heavy.
After a long pause, Haixi asked weakly:
"Hanyu, how exactly do you plan to make your move?"
Shen Hanyu thought for a moment and finally said:
"We'll take it one step at a time."
Haixi immediately bristled. Her beautiful fish tail slapped against Shuangying's body, waking the still-sleeping Shuangying. The huge snake pupils showed some displeasure.
"You are not sea soul beasts, so you don't know what the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King represents in the ocean. According to legend, that fellow began dominating the seas when he was already over five hundred thousand years old. Afterward, by constantly devouring, he wiped out countless powerful races across the ocean in a short time, finally pushing his cultivation to that terrifying level."
"But fortunately, while that fellow doesn't have a good attitude toward us oceanic ferocious beasts, at the very least, he maintains a 'you don't provoke me, I don't provoke you' stance. When I was little, the elders of the mermaid tribe told me that he even has quite a deep connection with the rumored Sea God in the ocean. The humans on that island also greatly fear him and dare not provoke his wrath…"
Shen Hanyu asked, somewhat surprised:
"You know about Sea God Island?"
Haixi said somewhat indignantly:
"I've lived in the ocean for three hundred thousand years anyway. Besides, any soul beast over a hundred thousand years in the ocean basically knows these things. I'm not like that big-chested brainless woman beside you…"
"Hmph!"
Snow Empress suddenly let out a cold hum, frightening Haixi back into Shuangying's embrace.
Shuangying looked at the little thing in her arms with a headache. Although the other party had a cultivation hundred thousand years higher than hers, she had the temperament of a child, leaving her truly helpless.
Shen Hanyu chuckled softly and said helplessly:
"Haixi, do you know any other information?"
Haixi, remembering she was inside the sea of consciousness, mustered a bit more courage. She poked her head out and continued:
"That fellow is extremely mysterious in the ocean, but he does have a wife and a daughter. His wife is also a deep-sea demonic whale, likewise a ferocious beast in cultivation. As for his daughter… anyway, no soul beast has ever seen her."
Shen Hanyu nodded slightly, then withdrew from the sea of consciousness.
Haixi viciously flipped her middle finger at Snow Empress inside the sea of consciousness, then turned back to see Shuangying's resentful gaze. Feeling a little embarrassed, she rubbed herself against Shuangying's cool and comfortable body…
…
Under the scorching sunlight, four streaks of light swiftly streaked across the sky. Their terrifying auras caused ripples to appear on the surrounding seawater, startling many deep-sea soul beasts into fleeing back to their original spots.
By afternoon, the sunlight grew even more intense, but for soul masters of their level of cultivation, it was merely somewhat glaring. With their deep soul power regulating their bodies, they felt almost nothing.
A lone island appeared on the distant sea surface. After exchanging glances, the four slowly landed on the rugged rocks of the island.
You Mengchu looked at the boundless ocean around them, then at Shen Hanyu, who was studying the map, and said somewhat irritably:
"I really think this young lady must be possessed to help someone I've only known for a few days, and who even tricked me, go hunt such a terrifying soul beast…"
"By the way, don't you want to show some sincerity, you stingy guy…"
Shen Hanyu looked up strangely at You Mengchu and said:
"After this trip is over, I'll give you one soul bone as payment. How about it?"
You Mengchu's eyes lit up, then she asked:
"Can I choose the position?"
Shen Hanyu raised an eyebrow and said:
"Any position you want. Asking you to take action once at this price is reasonable."
You Mengchu was about to pat Shen Hanyu on the shoulder, but remembering Snow Empress was nearby, she could only give him a "you're pretty sensible, kid" look.
Dugu Bo coughed twice from the side and asked somewhat expectantly:
"And what about this old man?"
Shen Hanyu gave Dugu Bo a disdainful glance and said:
"The soul bones I gave you before, even if you set aside a set for Dugu Yan, you should still have two left, right?"
Dugu Bo chuckled and said:
"Who would ever complain about having too many soul bones on their body?"
Shen Hanyu: "..."
That logic was true, but Shen Hanyu still felt a bit shortchanged.
"Fine, anyway, I'm not short of two soul bones for you two."
Shen Hanyu shrugged and agreed.
…
With the promise of soul bones, the two clearly had much more motivation, and their mental states improved noticeably. As they put it, work felt different when there was pay.
Shen Hanyu could only laugh at this; the appetite of working people was truly easy to satisfy.
But seeing Snow Empress's aloof and cold expression nearby, Shen Hanyu had an idea. He stepped forward and sighed dramatically:
"Xue'er, I think I'm about to go broke…"
Then, under Snow Empress's bewildered look, he continued:
"Rich lady, I'm hungry… food please…"
Snow Empress: "???"
Snow Empress was amused into a smile by Shen Hanyu, then said somewhat dominantly:
"It's fine. From now on, big sister will take care of you."
Shen Hanyu: qaq?
"In the depths of my palace in the Extreme North, I still have quite a few soul bones. Back then, you didn't ask for them, so I thought you didn't care for those soul bones and never mentioned it to you…"
Snow Empress said softly.
Shen Hanyu was stunned, then instinctively asked:
"Roughly how many?"
Snow Empress tilted her head in thought, then said:
"The powerful solitary soul beasts of the Extreme North that fell and were collected by me, the ones left behind after I killed them, some offered to me by other races, and a few that Bing'er thought looked nice and gave me as decorations…"
"There should be about twenty or so…"
The rich-lady Snow Empress's heaven-defying statement left Shen Hanyu momentarily pondering life. Goodness, he had thought he was already a soul bone tycoon, only to realize now that his girlfriend was an even bigger hoarder. Why hadn't he thought of this before? Shen Hanyu scratched his head raw, trying to figure it out.
In other words, if Snow Empress had this many in her collection, what about Di Tian? What about the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King? What about Miss Silver Fish?
Hiss—
No matter how he thought about it, it looked like a huge fortune waiting to be made…
It seemed a trip to the Star Dou Great Forest was inevitable sooner or later. Not for anything else, just to go sightseeing!
And conveniently bring back some souvenirs…
Thinking about it now, weren't You Mengchu, and Dugu Bo basically perfect "cheap labor"?
Hiss—
Massive profit!
Snow Empress watched Shen Hanyu's serious expression, the smile on her lips growing even more enchanting. Her snow-white hair was blown by the sea breeze, a few strands falling across her lips. Against the azure sky and deep blue sea, even fairy tales wouldn't dare write romance this way.
Shen Hanyu looked at Snow Empress's tender red lips, then at the two third wheels eating in the distance, silently suppressing the heated thoughts in his heart…
…
The speed of Title Douluo was astonishing.
In just three days, they had already reached the depths of the ocean.
During the journey, they encountered a sea storm, but fortunately, it was short-lived, and with their high cultivation, they weren't swept in.
Right after flying out of the storm zone, they were attacked by a reckless eighty-thousand-year-old blue poison octopus. Shen Hanyu was quite curious about this thing's intelligence. The four of them had barely concealed their auras; any sea soul beast with a brain would have fled ten thousand miles away. Yet this one insisted on challenging the impossible. The result was Shen Hanyu spearing and severing four of its tentacles with one strike, after which it promptly executed a tactical retreat.
According to the shady map sold by that unscrupulous merchant, this place was at most three hundred kilometers from Sea God Island, and the straight-line distance to the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's territory was still over seven hundred kilometers, already extremely close.
This was already the heart of the ocean. The surrounding sea depth was at least a hundred meters, the water cold and profound. At times, the waves rose dozens of meters high, a perfect habitat for powerful sea soul beasts.
With their current combat power, challenging Sea God Island would still be somewhat difficult. The root issue lay with Bo Saixi, a Limit Douluo who could withstand the energy of the sea and the divine power of the Sea God. In terms of realm alone, Snow Empress was slightly inferior, though this was understandable; after all, this wasn't Snow Empress's home territory.
Moreover, when facing a highly intelligent and immensely powerful soul beast like the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, there were many ways to hunt. If all else failed… then they could only wrong the great Sea God a little and make him suffer…
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