After letting go, Mu Ye kept a close eye on Huo Yuhao, ready to step in the moment he showed signs of being unable to continue.
This place was far more dangerous than ordinary seas. Once his spirit power ran dry, his life force would be next. Mu Ye had no intention of letting his disciple lose his life for something like this.
But as he waited… one minute, two minutes, ten minutes passed.
In the end, even after Huo Yuhao burst out of the sea, Mu Ye still hadn't needed to act.
"…."
Mu Ye clicked his tongue softly. Looking at Huo Yuhao's pale yet composed expression, he sighed inwardly.
At this level of cultivation, being able to fight his way out of such a sea area alone… their Body Sect hadn't seen a genius like this in a thousand years.
The Body Sect's cultivation demanded extreme perseverance. The process was unbearably painful. Without sufficient willpower, it was impossible to endure it.
And Huo Yuhao's willpower was among the strongest Mu Ye had ever seen.
Setting aside the sect's biases for someone like him… it was worth it.
With a firm step forward, Mu Ye placed a hand on Huo Yuhao and used his spirit power to stabilize his depleted vitality.
"Meditate," he said in a low voice. "Cultivate the Innate Secret Method. Further stimulate and strengthen your innate energy."
Huo Yuhao nodded, closed his eyes, and entered meditation. At the same time, his mind reviewed the information he had just gathered, along with the deductions of Elder Electrolux and the others.
Given the current situation, Tang San's Sea God divine seat was most likely gone.
It couldn't have been the God King of Destruction. Destroying a divine seat and weakening the Divine Realm's foundation wasn't his style.
Which meant… it had to be Old Gold.
Huo Yuhao clicked his tongue inwardly.
Old Gold had truly gone all out. He had even destroyed the Sea God's divine seat. In the end, overwhelming strength had crushed overwhelming calculation.
Did that mean he and Gu Yuena had already won without doing anything?
Not exactly.
When the Divine Realm merged into the Great Divine Realm, the chaotic energy would cause God Kings, near–God Kings, and divine artifacts to undergo further refinement. That, in itself, was a tremendous opportunity.
Tang San, the Sea God and Asura God, was merely at a temporary disadvantage. He was still alive.
Moreover, judging from Tang Wulin's situation, Tang San had only lost his divine seat, not his cultivation. As long as he still possessed control over the Sea God's power, his comprehension of laws and techniques would remain intact.
Just like Rong Nianbing, who had passed on his divine seat yet could still wield the power of emotions.
Surely, the Sea God himself didn't need the divine seat just to use his own techniques.
A strange look flickered in Huo Yuhao's eyes before he shook his head.
No point overthinking it. That was a God King.
Never underestimate someone like that.
Still… the loss of the Sea God's divine seat, the return of ocean authority to the plane, and the continued existence of the plane consciousness… all of these were good signs.
The Douluo Plane had treated him well. Naturally, he hoped it would remain stable. Although he couldn't fully perceive that level of existence, it seemed his past actions had indeed made a difference.
As he continued circulating the Innate Secret Method, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes. A faint gray light flickered within them.
Mu Ye immediately noticed. His gaze sharpened, locking onto Huo Yuhao's eyes with surprise and curiosity.
He understood what that gray glow represented. It was an external manifestation of innate energy.
What surprised him was that its aura differed from anything recorded in the Body Sect.
There might be… unexpected changes.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao turned his gaze toward the vast vortex ahead.
According to the Snow Empress's deductions, this place had once been altered by Tang San's divine power. However, it had already been explored by many powerful figures, including Limit Douluos. The divine fragments here had long been extracted.
Those fragments now contained only faint residual energy. Most likely, the battle back then had been so intense that Tang San had abandoned the Sea God divine seat, igniting his divine fire to strengthen himself.
That would explain why the remaining fragments were so weak, reduced to ordinary energy crystals.
So then… what exactly was the ocean rejecting?
The Sea God's aura had already faded.
What remained here?
The answer revealed itself fifteen days later, when Huo Yuhao descended to a depth of two thousand meters and stood on the seabed.
"What it hates… is here."
His boots sank into the soft seabed. The immense pressure threatened to crush him, but a layer of energy armor formed from his blood, vitality, and spirit power barely held it at bay.
Enduring the pain, he activated his Spiritual Detection to its fullest.
The dark seabed unfolded in his perception. Jagged reefs, scattered sediment… and a faint blue glow.
"That's it."
He stepped forward and used his spirit power to clear away the sediment, revealing an object resembling a sapphire.
It emitted no energy fluctuations.
Over the past days, he had continuously communicated with the ocean, searching for the root of its hostility. In the end, this was the only place it pointed him toward.
The true depths of the Abyssal Deep were far beyond his reach. The pressure there was dozens of times stronger, with no elemental energy to sustain him. Even a Title Douluo would risk death.
Fortunately, what he was searching for was here, in the outer region.
After confirming safety with Electrolux, Huo Yuhao prepared to retrieve the sapphire.
But suddenly—
A blinding light erupted from the depths of an ocean trench.
A deafening explosion followed, sending a powerful shockwave surging outward.
A low roar echoed through the seabed.
A massive black figure shot upward through the water, its sharp white fangs gleaming in the darkness.
A ten-thousand-year Demon Soul Great White Shark.
Not far behind, another colossal figure rose slowly from the trench. Its body shimmered with deep blue light, and its enormous eyes glowed like gemstones.
A ten-thousand-year Abyssal Demon Whale.
Both bore fresh wounds, as if they had just fought each other. But now, they had found a more important target.
Huo Yuhao.
The shark's blood-red eyes locked onto him, filled with killing intent.
The whale, meanwhile, focused on the sapphire beside him.
Hidden nearby, Mu Ye quietly moved closer, ready to intervene at any moment.
The Abyssal Demon Whale let out a deep cry.
Instantly, the surrounding seawater grew heavy and viscous.
Huo Yuhao's body felt as if it were being crushed. The pressure around him multiplied, slowing his movements drastically.
This was the innate domain of a super sea spirit beast.
***
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