"Little White? Little Whitey? White as in 'moron,' more like. What a fitting name," Oscar muttered under his breath.
Dai Mubai glanced at Xiao Wu, whose expression was none too pleasant, her eyes still cold and sharp, and cleared his throat before dragging Zhu Zhuqing off to one side. The fatty and Oscar caught on immediately — Oscar pulled Ning Rongrong along, and the fatty waved a greeting at Bai Chenxiang, who had just descended from the sky. In Tang San's eyes, these unfaithful bastards had already scurried off at lightning speed, leaving only him and Xiao Wu standing there.
The Xiao Wu standing before him no longer looked like a beautiful woman — she was more like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Tang San's spiritual power was extraordinarily formidable; he could clearly sense that Xiao Wu was teetering on the edge of losing control. An idea struck him, and mimicking the tone the King of the Magic Soul Great White Sharks, Little White, had used earlier, he said, "It was my fault. I'm apologizing. I'm sorry, Xiao Wu. You know, I—"
Xiao Wu snapped back to her senses. Seeing Tang San's ingratiating, apologetic smile, she could no longer keep her stern expression intact. She burst out laughing.
The moment he saw her smile, Tang San felt a wave of relief. If she was laughing, things were manageable. He hurried forward to take her hand.
Xiao Wu took a step back, dodging his outstretched hand. Her smile vanished, replaced by that icy look once more. "Don't touch me. Do you remember what I told you last time?"
Tang San put on a sheepish grin. "Xiao Wu, come on. I know I was wrong now, don't I? It's not that I didn't want you to share the burden with me. It's just that in that situation, I was nervous! And when I'm nervous, I—" At this point, even he couldn't keep making excuses. The facts were plain as day, and Tang San had never been one for smooth talk. He could only stare at Xiao Wu with an embarrassed look on his face.
Suddenly, Xiao Wu stepped forward, seized his right arm, brought it to her mouth, and bit down hard on his forearm.
Tang San winced in pain but didn't dare make a sound. He obediently let Xiao Wu keep biting while carefully controlling his Soul Power to prevent it from reflexively pushing back.
Just as Tang San had no idea how to explain himself to Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu — though angry — didn't know how to punish him either. Tang San had refused to let her appear during that moment of danger precisely because he wanted to protect her. So she could only resort to this method to vent her frustration.
When Xiao Wu finally released her grip, Tang San immediately dropped his grimacing expression and looked at Xiao Wu with innocent concern. "Xiao Wu, are your teeth okay?"
Xiao Wu froze for a moment, then, seeing his eager-to-please expression, couldn't help but burst out laughing again. She threw herself into his arms and pounded his chest with her fists. "You big dummy, you're the worst. I'm ignoring you."
Tang San stood there foolishly, letting Xiao Wu pummel him, his heart finally at ease. Whenever he faced Xiao Wu, even though his mind was razor-sharp in battle, it turned to complete mush.
"I'm going back now." Xiao Wu seemed to have tired herself out from the punching. She bit him once more on his solid chest, a flash of red light flickered, and she returned to his body. Xiao Wu's true body, naturally, reverted to its previous vacant, blank-eyed state.
Tang San held Xiao Wu's true body in his arms, silently sighing with relief. He rubbed his chest and looked down at the dazed Xiao Wu in his embrace, a pang of heartache surging within. He would rather be bitten by Xiao Wu every single day and watch her get angry than see that emptiness and confusion in her eyes.
He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and held her tightly, secretly swearing an oath. Once the Sea God Island trials were over, no matter what, he would revive Xiao Wu first. Level seventy-six — he was still fourteen levels away from reviving her.
"Made up already?" Ma Hongjun poked his head out from behind, craning his neck to peek.
Tang San turned around. The other five Devils and Bai Chenxiang had all gathered nearby, each one straining to hold back their laughter, looking thoroughly punchable. He said irritably, "You lot are the most unfaithful bunch I've ever seen."
Dai Mubai cleared his throat. "Xiao San, you can't really blame us, can you? Xiao Wu finally reunited with her true body and wanted some alone time with you — we couldn't exactly stick around and interrupt that!"
Oscar immediately deployed his formidable ability to change the subject. "Xiao San, just now that little idiot called you the chosen one of the Sea God or something. What do you think that means? Have you thought about it?"
His topic change was a resounding success. Tang San's gaze turned sharp and focused. He spoke in a deep voice, "I can't say for certain what the real answer is. But judging from the name of my trial, and what that Little White said today, I believe our trials are harder than what they were originally supposed to be. As for why this Sea God — if he even exists — would do this, I can't say. But there shouldn't be any ill intent. The golden light that protected me just now proves that. Since he bears us no ill will, and accepting these trials will be enormously beneficial to improving our strength, we don't need to overthink things right now. All we need to do is push ourselves to grow stronger. By the time we leave here, our goal should be level eighty. When we return to the continent then, we'll at least have the strength to protect ourselves. We won't need to fear the powerhouses of Spirit Hall."
Dai Mubai asked, "So what do we do next?"
Without hesitation, Tang San said, "Everyone keeps training underwater — except for Hongjun, who should continue focusing on breaking through to level seventy. We need to keep entering the water and practice fighting in an aquatic environment. The ocean currents already provide tremendous resistance, and there's a strange energy permeating the water. That pressure works in our favor. Besides, by constantly pushing through the oceanic Soul Beasts led by the King of the Magic Soul Great White Sharks and engaging them in real combat, our fighting ability in the sea will keep improving. Little White herself said she won't truly attack us. So don't you think she's the perfect sparring partner? Instead of worrying about passing the trial, let's first practice underwater combat under her assault. That way, it's essentially like we're fighting in conditions similar to a domain."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded. "Exactly. If we can coordinate seamlessly underwater, then on land, our teamwork will be even faster and more airtight."
Ma Hongjun said, "Third Brother, what if I train with you guys too? There aren't any suitable Soul Beasts here for my seventh Soul Ring anyway. Even if I reached level seventy, I wouldn't be able to break through."
Tang San replied, "Who said you can't get your seventh Soul Ring without a suitable Soul Beast? Don't worry about any of that right now — just train hard and break through your bottleneck. I'll have a way to help you obtain your seventh Soul Ring when the time comes."
"Really?" Ma Hongjun blinked in surprise but didn't press further. He simply chose to trust Tang San outright. In truth, it wasn't just him — the other six Shrek Seven Devils all harbored a near-blind trust in Tang San. He never made empty promises, and his character was someone you could place absolute faith in.
Zhu Zhuqing asked, "Third Brother, when do we start?"
Dai Mubai laughed heartily. "Do you even need to ask? Time is tight, the mission is urgent. Having a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast as a sparring partner isn't something you stumble upon every day. And we won't even be truly attacked. Obviously, we recover our Soul Power first, then start right away."
The group exchanged knowing smiles and, in unison, sat cross-legged to begin cultivating and restoring the Soul Power they had expended. Oscar, in particular, set to work energetically crafting his imitation Mirror Sausage once more.
Tang San had not taught the others his internal breathing technique, because the Soul Power cultivation methods of this world differed considerably from his Mysterious Heaven Skill. Having studied under the Great Master for many years, he was well aware of this. The others' Soul Power would be very difficult to circulate using his internal breathing method. But each person's Martial Soul was different, and they each had their own approaches.
From that day forward, the Ring Sea — which had lain dormant for who knew how many years while it guarded the Sea God Mountain — became a flurry of activity. Every day brought tumultuous, storm-like waves and violent surges of light, churning the seawater into a constant churn of whirlpools.
Swimming was a skill with many techniques, but like Soul Power cultivation, there were no real shortcuts. Practice made perfect. Although the Shrek Seven Devils were all landlubbers, they trained in the water every single day, and with their formidable strength to back them up, they adapted remarkably fast. Their swimming ability improved almost daily. They couldn't yet move through the water like fish, but at least aquatic movement no longer posed a major hindrance.
Even Xiao Wu would spend time each day returning to her true body to join everyone underwater. What made the others envious was that the King of the Magic Soul Great White Sharks, Little White, would never attack Xiao Wu — and in fact, would deliberately avoid her during engagements.
Little White's words after that battle had not been empty boasts. Her true strength could only be fully displayed in the open ocean. A hundred-thousand-year oceanic Soul Beast in its home sea was a truly terrifying existence. Tang San was certain that even four or five Titled Douluo might not be able to defeat her in the ocean. Still, she did hold back. Although everyone was regularly beaten black and blue, Little White only ever drove them out of the Ring Sea before ceasing her attacks, and she never truly harmed them.
Through constant underwater battles, the group came to realize that their opponents weren't just the oceanic Soul Beasts — it was the entire Ring Sea itself. Under Little White's control, every single drop of seawater became their enemy, repelling them at every turn. Of all of them, Xiao Wu was the only one Little White never touched. Her attacks against Tang San were comparatively gentle, perhaps because of the awkward incident from before — though she absolutely never went easy on him. For her, she was the examiner for their second trial, a power and duty bestowed by the Sea God, and no matter how powerful she was, she would never dare play favorites.
But as the days wore on and everyone endured Little White's daily beatings within the Ring Sea, a certain camaraderie gradually took root. They developed genuine respect for Little White's strength. And Little White, in turn, grew curious about the group. In her eyes, these land-dwelling Soul Masters, as they steadily adapted to fighting in the ocean, were beginning to reveal their true colors. They were still far from being her match, but on land, bringing them down would cost her dearly — possibly even her life. That was, of course, assuming Tang San could use his Blue Silver Emperor Soul Skills. As the examiner, she knew exactly what restrictions were placed on Tang San — two hundred-thousand-year Soul Skills were sealed, and his two great domains couldn't be used at full power. Those restrictions were already incredibly severe.
In the blink of an eye, three months had passed. From the start of the second trial to now, exactly half a year had gone by.
"Ahhhh — Little White, can't you be a little gentler? Girls are supposed to be gentle!" Oscar was spat out of the Ring Sea by an underwater current and slammed onto the beach. The pain that shot through his entire body nearly knocked him unconscious, and he couldn't help but let out a loud complaint.
However, right behind him, Tang San, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu were all ejected from the Ring Sea in succession. None of them were in any better shape — they all looked utterly bedraggled.
Little White's great shark head emerged from the Ring Sea. She spoke to Oscar in human tongue, "Xiao Ao, Big Sister has already been very gentle. Otherwise, I would've split your backside into eight pieces. Rongrong, honestly, I have no idea what you see in this guy. He's so sleazy — and that 'Firm Golden Fly' or whatever? Are all men among your humans this perverted? Tell you what, let me introduce you to a handsome ocean Soul Master. He's way more innocent than him."
Ning Rongrong stared at Oscar speechlessly, her eyes full of amusement. As a support Soul Master, Little White had been especially considerate of her. When Little White took human form — a beauty in her own right — she lacked that jealous streak human women often had toward other attractive women. On the contrary, she had grown quite close to the three girls among the Seven Devils. Of the three, only Xiao Wu gave her the cold shoulder because she had nearly killed Tang San. Zhu Zhuqing, though somewhat aloof, would exchange a few words with her during breaks in combat. It was Ning Rongrong who had the best rapport with Little White — when they weren't fighting, they had become genuine friends.
Oscar scrambled to his feet, mortified. "Little White, you can't slander me like that! I'm a perfectly pure, innocent man, and you're calling me perverted? Calling me sleazy? Can I help it what my Soul Skills are? I was born with them!"
"Pure, you say?" Little White's large eyes dripped with contempt. "Give me a break. Soul Skills are born from the heart. If you weren't a pervert deep down, how could you have such a perverted Soul Skill? One look at those eyes of yours tells me everything I need to know. Next time, I'll hit you even harder. Same Soul Skills — how is it that the gap between you and Dai Mubai is so enormous?"
"Never hit a man in the face, Little White — and here you are slapping mine right to the ground! I will never forgive you!" Oscar hopped up and down on the beach in a rage. But his Soul Power was already mostly depleted, so even if he wanted to charge back in, he couldn't. The others watched the whole scene with amused expressions. For some reason, Oscar and Little White seemed to be natural-born rivals. Every time the group was spat out, Little White couldn't resist throwing a few barbs his way.
Little White shot him a provocative look. "Come on, then! Come get me! I'll be waiting for you in the sea, nice and clean. What, afraid? Should be — afraid you can't handle it. Oh, but Xiao Ao, let me remind you — a man really shouldn't be unable to handle it."
"You—" Xiao Ao was so furious he couldn't form words. But he couldn't beat her in a fight, and his usual quick wit was completely useless against Little White.
"Can't be bothered with you. I'll be waiting in the sea. Hurry up and recover. Don't keep me waiting too long." With that, Little White turned and headed back into the depths of the Ring Sea. On her way out, her massive tail couldn't resist sending a wave of seawater crashing into Oscar, sending him tumbling head over heels.
"Little White, I'm coming for you!" Oscar, pushed to his breaking point, was about to charge into the sea when Ning Rongrong hurriedly grabbed his waist and held him back.
"Xiao Ao, what's going on between you and Little White? Why is she always targeting you? It's not like you peeked at her while she was bathing," Dai Mubai said from the side, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.
Oscar huffed furiously, "How should I know? This creature seems to deliberately go after me every single time. I'm always the first one thrown out. And the one who lands the hardest. Has being handsome fallen out of fashion or something?"
"Xiao Ao, can you stop being so full of yourself?" Dai Mubai laughed. "Rongrong, you'd better watch out. There's a saying — the deeper the hate, the deeper the love. Maybe Little White has taken a fancy to your Xiao Ao. That's why she keeps picking on him. His peach-blossom eyes are quite popular with the ladies, you know."
Ning Rongrong snorted. "Aren't your dual pupils just as attractive to women? I trust our Xiao Ao."
At Ning Rongrong's words, Oscar's earlier fury vanished in an instant, and he looked at Dai Mubai with a smug grin. However, the very next thing Ning Rongrong said nearly made him collapse.