"I can't watch anymore. I really can't watch anymore. These two are just too shameless..." Ma Hongjun kept saying, but he didn't dare step forward to expose the pair. His own record of embarrassing deeds was honestly worse than those two shameless guys'.
However, the two people at the center of the situation—Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong—had already softened their expressions. Ning Rongrong gazed at Oscar, who was looking at her with a gentle smile, and couldn't help reaching up to trace the scar on his cheek. Even though she knew that Oscar and Dai Mubai's defense of each other had its share of posturing, Oscar's five-year absence had always been her sore spot. The moment she saw the scar on his face, her heart turned to mush.
Over on Zhu Zhuqing's side, things were much the same. She asked softly, "Did you... did you really tell Little Ao that if we failed the family trial, you would...?"
Dai Mubai sighed. "When you first came to Shrek Academy, I understood your purpose. You were there to push me. But in truth, how could I have been willing to drag you down with me? I'd already made up my mind back then. If I couldn't pass the family's trial in the future, I would shoulder the entire burden alone. No matter what, I'd find a way to keep you safe. What kind of man would drag a woman down with him? But later, as I spent more and more time with you, I fell irreversibly in love with you. My heart started to grow selfish. I didn't want to die anymore, because I wanted to spend every beautiful day of the future with you, to go through every spring, summer, autumn, and winter together. That's why I started cultivating desperately—not for survival, but so I could be with you just a little longer."
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes reddened. She knew that what Dai Mubai and Oscar had said earlier carried an element of theater, but she could feel with absolute clarity that every word Dai Mubai spoke now came straight from the heart.
What happened before didn't matter. What mattered was that this man loved only her now, and that was enough. Why cling to everything in the past? Besides, neither Zhu Zhuqing nor Ning Rongrong had ever intended to take it too seriously. They just wanted to give their men a little wake-up call. Now that both men had bared their hearts, there was no need to keep pressing the issue.
Bai Chenxiang pinched the roll of fat on the fatty's waist. "Look at them—willing to give up so much for the person they love. And you called them shameless. Hmph, I think the one with a shameless heart is you."
"I..." Ma Hongjun was rendered speechless. "Xiangxiang, you have to believe me! For you, I'd give up everything too."
Hearing this, Bai Chenxiang's gaze softened a few degrees. Every time they faced danger, the fatty had always thrown himself in front of her without hesitation. To say she felt nothing at all was simply impossible. Ma Hongjun's appearance couldn't compare to Dai Mubai or Tang San, but the sense of security she felt around this man was beyond question.
Seeing that Bai Chenxiang seemed to accept his words, the fatty was overjoyed. He quickly straightened up and said solemnly, "I'm going to go cultivate. I need to reach level seventy and break through to the Soul Saint realm as soon as possible. That way, I'll be able to protect you even better." With that, he turned and walked off, leaving Bai Chenxiang with his broad, solid back.
With both couples now understanding each other, the atmosphere had settled. Oscar's seventh soul skill, while laughable, had undeniably boosted the overall strength of the Shrek Seven Devils once again.
"Little San, should we try to take on the second trial now?" Having smoothed things over with Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai turned to Tang San.
Tang San nodded. "We can start the attempt. Before we go all out, we need to figure out what sea soul beasts in the ring-shaped sea pose a threat to us, and roughly what level they are." The moment he mentioned this, a slight worry stirred in his heart. He silently prayed that his guess wouldn't turn out to be correct. Otherwise, this ring-shaped sea—which wasn't particularly wide—would truly become an insurmountable chasm.
Dai Mubai said, "Then lay out the plan. We'll follow your lead."
The authority Tang San had established among the Seven Devils wasn't built on strength alone. His intelligence, his iron will, and his well-rounded abilities all earned the deep respect of his companions. Even someone as proud as Dai Mubai would never contest his leadership.
Tang San said, "I have a plan. I'm going to make one circuit across this ring-shaped sea. You all watch carefully and observe what sea soul beasts are in there. Mubai, you and Zhuqing stand by to use the Specter White Tiger for backup at any moment. Rongrong, boost me. Little Ao, would your Golden Flying Centipede work on Soul Bone skills?"
Oscar shook his head. "No, it only boosts Soul Ring skills. Self-created soul techniques, domains, and Soul Bone skills are all excluded."
Tang San said, "Then give me one of your Excitement Sausages."
Oscar said, "Do you want to try my Mirror Image Sausage instead? Maybe you can't use your own soul skills, but you might be able to use ours."
Tang San smiled bitterly. "No point trying. My Soul Rings are all locked down. Even with your Mirror Image Sausage, I probably couldn't use any copied skills. Don't worry. I have Instant Transmission and Invincible Golden Body. Even if I can't pass the trial, protecting myself shouldn't be a problem. If I didn't have the Invincible Golden Body, this reconnaissance task would go to Boss Dai."
Without the Blue Silver Emperor's array of skills and the two domains he could unleash in Martial Soul True Body state, Tang San acknowledged that his overall strength now lagged behind partners like Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing who had also reached level seventy or above. Of course, if Tang San's endless self-created soul techniques and his own potential were fully unleashed, the outcome between them was still anyone's guess.
Dai Mubai said, "Then let's begin. Let's see what exactly stands between us and leaving the Sea God Mountain."
Tang San nodded. His toes touched the ground and his body shot forward. The increase in his Soul Power had greatly enhanced his Tang Sect martial arts as well. Stepping through Ghost Shadow Phantom Trail, a trail of faint afterimages trailed behind him. Most peculiar was that the path he traveled appeared to be straight, yet gave off an elusive, unreadable quality.
In a few flashes, Tang San had reached the edge of the ring-shaped sea. He released his Blue Silver Domain, amplifying his senses, then leapt into the air and dove straight into the water. The instant he launched himself, the flight skill of the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone activated. Propelled by the deep reserves of Mysterious Heaven Skill energy, his body shot out like a cannonball, heading straight for the ocean.
BOOM—
The instant Tang San's body left the land by less than five meters, the entire ring-shaped sea erupted into chaos. The already turbulent waves exploded upward almost instantly, crashing heavily against the golden barrier of light ten meters above sea level. Strangely, the surging water didn't splash beyond the ring-shaped sea—it neither struck the ground outside the ring nor rushed up the Sea God Mountain. Tang San's body, in that very instant, was completely engulfed in water. All the Shrek Seven Devils could see was a strange deep-blue aquatic world.
Brilliant light shot from Ning Rongrong's hands like lightning. Though she couldn't use her seventh soul skill—the Nine Treasure Crystal Avatar—with her vastly increased Soul Power, her boosting speed was much faster than before. Six beams of light descended upon Tang San almost simultaneously: strength, agility, Soul Power, defense, attack, and attribute. All six boosts arrived at once, piercing without reservation through the seawater to reach Tang San.
The moment those six beams of light entered the water, Ning Rongrong's expression changed. She said gravely, "My Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's boosts are being affected by an unknown energy in the seawater. The boost effect has been reduced by thirty percent. The actual enhancement I'm providing to Third Brother is less than sixty percent." This was significant—her boosts should have been reaching eighty percent by now. After the thirty percent reduction, the actual boost was barely over fifty.
The Blue Silver Domain's glow emanating from Tang San illuminated his immediate surroundings. Beyond aiding his spiritual detection, it also allowed his companions on the Sea God Mountain to see clearly what was happening underwater.
The instant his entire body was submerged, Tang San immediately identified the problem. Within the seawater, there seemed to be a special kind of energy that sluggish his movements and accelerated the depletion of his Soul Power. Even the range of his Blue Silver Domain's detection was drastically reduced by the water's resistance. Current after current of undersea flow battered his body. Combined with the powerful buoyancy of the water, his figure destabilized in an instant.
Fortunately, Tang San had once trained beneath a waterfall and had at least some understanding of water. Otherwise, with the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone propelling him forward, he would likely have lost control of his body entirely.
Despite Tang San's formidable control, plunging underwater so suddenly still made adaptation difficult. This wasn't his first time entering the water, but he could clearly sense that the seawater in this ring-shaped sea was different from any other. Beyond that energy that seemed to constrain him, the water's resistance was abnormally strong. Most importantly, Tang San didn't know how to move efficiently through the water. The flight skill of the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone could propel his body, but in water this thick with resistance, he needed time to adjust before he could move smoothly.
But before Tang San even had time to adapt, he was already in mortal danger. The arrow-shaped fish that had appeared when they first climbed the Sea God Mountain—and had attacked Bai Chenxiang—materialized around him from every direction without warning. Their speed underwater was terrifyingly fast, even faster than when they had leapt from the surface and traveled through the air. In the span of a single heartbeat, over a hundred arrow-shaped fish had formed a ring around Tang San. Blue-violet light swirled around their bodies, and dense Soul Power fluctuations wove together into a net in the seawater, sealing off every path forward and back.
Tang San had faced countless crises in his life, and this sudden encirclement didn't faze him in the slightest. He had endured situations far more dangerous. Though the underwater environment was deeply unfamiliar, he reacted correctly in the shortest possible time.
Breath-holding underwater was nothing for someone who had broken through level seventy. The Mysterious Heaven Skill's internal energy circulated rapidly through his unobstructed Eight Extraordinary Meridians, creating a smooth internal breathing state. In this state, Tang San could endure for at least half a shichen without feeling any sense of suffocation.
Yet in this moment, Tang San truly recognized how important the Ocean Sky Shield had been to him. If the Ocean Sky Shield were with him now, he wouldn't need to be so passive. He could rapidly sink beneath the surface, unaffected by the churning waves, and wouldn't need internal breathing to fight off the urge to breathe.
He reined in the energy erupting from the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone. A flash of black light appeared in his hand, and the Clear Sky Hammer, faint dark runes shimmering across its surface, materialized in Tang San's left palm. Having evolved alongside Tang San's growing strength, the Clear Sky Hammer now weighed over a thousand jin. The instant it appeared in his grasp, it dragged his body rapidly downward toward the sea floor.
When Tang San had been motionless before, the arrow-shaped fish had merely surrounded him. Now that he moved, they surged into action as well, charging at him all at once. In an instant, over a hundred arrow-shaped fish hurtled toward Tang San like countless Soul Power-infused arrows, determined to pierce through his body.
The Shrek Seven Devils watching from shore could see it all clearly. As the arrow-shaped fish charged, their entire bodies turned that same blue-violet hue they had radiated earlier, streaking through the water like bolts of light—dazzlingly bright. Tang San, trapped in the middle of the ring-shaped sea, had virtually no way to dodge this many arrow-shaped fish in open water with no cover. The water's resistance made it impossible for him to leverage the advantages of Ghost Shadow Phantom Trail.
Dai Mubai and the others felt their hearts tighten involuntarily. They certainly didn't believe these arrow-shaped fish could seriously harm Tang San—having broken through to the Soul Saint realm, Tang San's current strength could only be described as terrifying. The arrow-shaped fish appeared to be roughly thousand-year Soul Beasts. Though they were numerous, they shouldn't be enough to threaten Tang San's life. But the critical issue was that this second trial carried an important restriction: during the trial, they were forbidden from harming any sea soul beast in the ring-shaped sea. This meant that even with the Clear Sky Hammer in hand, Tang San absolutely could not kill them. And judging by the speed of these arrow-shaped fish's charges, even if Tang San didn't attack and simply let them collide with his body, the result would be catastrophic. These arrow-shaped fish were launching suicide attacks. What could Tang San do? What would he do?
Tang San provided his answer swiftly. The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand moved as if weightless, sweeping from lower left to upper right in a diagonal arc while his body rotated once in the water. Even this water, thick with resistance, couldn't slow him down.
Deep black light erupted from the Clear Sky Hammer. Though the hammer bore no Soul Rings, it now demonstrated the terrifying explosive power befitting a top-tier tool Martial Soul. Where the black light reached, the seawater churned violently. The group that had hurried to the shore could see it clearly—the water around Tang San twisted violently, and every arrow-shaped fish that had charged toward him was hurled away by an invisible force within the water, scattering in every direction. They had charged fast, but they were repelled even faster. They flew outward like countless blue-violet beams shooting from Tang San's body. Tang San's own figure no longer sank but hovered in the water—he had clearly controlled the Clear Sky Hammer's weight with his Soul Power.
However, the arrow-shaped fish's attack had only just begun. Having been scattered in an instant, they quickly reoriented themselves within the ring-shaped sea and charged at Tang San again. This time, however, they didn't attack all at once. The hundred-plus fish displayed remarkable intelligence, dividing themselves into ten groups and launching nearly seamless wave after wave of attacks. Each group consisted of roughly a dozen fish. The moment the first group was knocked back by the Clear Sky Hammer, the second group pounced immediately. They seemed to have figured out that Tang San wouldn't dare hurt them, growing more ferocious and faster with each wave. The churning water constantly distorted with shimmering halos of light.
Facing this evolved attack pattern from the arrow-shaped fish, Tang San's expression remained as calm as still water. The Clear Sky Hammer danced in his left hand, each strike deflecting the fish with precisely calibrated force—enough to keep them from reaching him, while using the undercurrents generated by the hammer to fling them aside without harming them.