A fierce blue-gray radiance erupted from her body all at once, and the surrounding seawater boiled almost instantaneously. The massive glow rapidly merged with the entire Ring Sea, and the moment the seawater was tinged by that radiance, Ma Hongjun's forward charge slowed dramatically.
The Demon Shark Domain — the exclusive domain of Xiao Bai, the King of the Magic Spirit Great White Sharks. Once activated, all seawater within its range would become as controllable as her own body. The sheer energy contained within it, combined with the elemental opposition between water and fire, naturally hampered Fatty's advance.
Although the intensity of the Phoenix Flame was purer than Xiao Bai's energy, the gap in their overall strength more than compensated for the elemental disadvantage. Even with Ning Rongrong's amplification, Fatty couldn't change that situation.
At the same moment the domain erupted, Xiao Bai's massive body swept through the water, commanding all the sea soul beasts to charge at the Shrek Seven Devils from below while simultaneously using her domain to compress the seawater against them. She simply refused to believe that Ma Hongjun alone could contend with the ocean under her domain's control.
She was right, of course — Ma Hongjun alone could never stand against a hundred-thousand-year powerhouse like the King of the Magic Spirit Great White Sharks. But he wasn't alone!
A surge of gold-red light exploded forth. A figure that had been trailing at the rear of the Seven Devils suddenly accelerated, streaking past the others to arrive at Ma Hongjun's side. The same gold-red radiance blazed from his body, and he too transformed into a colossal fire phoenix. Though his radiance couldn't compare to Fatty's, and he had only a single phoenix head, the Phoenix Flame that soared to life in an instant helped Fatty forcefully withstand the tremendous pressure from the surrounding water. Their previously sluggish speed surged forward once again. Pushing through the water, they had already broken through to a depth of eighty meters in the Ring Sea.
This was... Xiao Bai's eyes widened. She realized she had fallen into the trap of habitual thinking once again.
The one who had suddenly unleashed the Phoenix Flame was none other than Oscar. Normally, he relied on the Duplicate Mirror Sausage made with Dai Mubai's blood as the catalyst, but this time, he had chosen to consume one made with Ma Hongjun's blood. Before entering the water, he had already eaten his seventh Soul Skill — the Tenacious Golden Fly. Now, combined with the effects of the Duplicate Mirror Sausage, the Phoenix Flame radiating from his body was every bit as powerful as Ma Hongjun's. The only difference was that with a single head, his elemental attributes were somewhat inferior.
As Oscar charged forward, Ning Rongrong, using her Split Attention skill, fired off the same three amplifications in rapid succession, landing them on Oscar's body. With the combined Phoenix Flame from both of them, they forcefully withstood the energy erupting from within Xiao Bai's domain. Although their forward speed still wasn't what it had been at the start, they didn't slow to a stop either.
At the same time, Ma Hongjun did something that infuriated and stunned Xiao Bai in equal measure. In his Martial Soul Avatar state, all seven phoenix heads rose simultaneously. Seven rings of gold-red light merged together during their release into the air, then abruptly expanded outward.
This fused gold-red ring of light didn't completely evaporate the seawater beneath him, but it transformed every drop within its range into gold-red, spreading across the surface like molten lava. The instant this happened, the Seven Devils' advance accelerated again, and in the blink of an eye they closed in on the hundred-meter depth — a barrier they had never before breached.
A domain. This was the power of a domain. Xiao Bai's pupils contracted sharply. This guy actually dared to use a domain against her on her own territory? And he had never used this domain before!
Indeed, the ring of light released by Ma Hongjun's Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix was precisely his domain — a domain that only Soul Masters who had reached the Titled Douluo level could generally awaken. This was the greatest benefit the inner core of the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent had bestowed upon him. He called it the Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix Domain. When activated, any non-living substance within its range would be assimilated by the Phoenix Flame. Ma Hongjun could only deploy this domain in his Martial Soul Avatar state, and within the domain, the fire attribute of his own Phoenix Flame was boosted by fifty percent. Unless the domain was shattered, he was effectively immortal within its range, able to achieve rebirth through the Phoenix Flame at any moment.
Only Tang San knew about the domain — Ma Hongjun had quietly told him after obtaining his seventh Soul Ring, keeping it secret from even the other companions. Despite his rough exterior, he was in fact very meticulous in his thinking. Given how grueling their trials would be, revealing his newly acquired ability at a critical moment would produce the greatest surprise effect. It was precisely for this reason that, during the final three days of rest, Tang San had devised the very strategy they were now employing.
The moment the Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix Domain was unleashed, its first effect was to block every sea soul beast from approaching. The terrifying aura of flame forced those charging beasts to halt at the perimeter, none daring to press forward.
Since the second trial was led by the King of the Magic Spirit Great White Sharks, Xiao Bai, there were in fact no other overwhelmingly powerful sea soul beasts in the Ring Sea besides her. This was perhaps a balancing mechanism built into the trial. And in truth, Xiao Bai alone was terrifying enough. Within the Ring Sea, while she wouldn't launch lethal attacks, her individual strength was equivalent to blocking several Titled Douluo-level sea soul masters. Passing this trial was anything but easy — especially with all of Tang San's Soul Skills and Ning Rongrong's seventh Soul Skill sealed.
Facing the obstruction of Xiao Bai's domain, Ma Hongjun released his own domain for the first time after obtaining his seventh Soul Ring: the Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix Domain.
And the reason the Seven Devils could now advance rapidly was, naturally, thanks to the domain's effects. The Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix Domain assimilated all seawater within its range into fire-attribute energy. While it wasn't true molten lava, it was absolutely beyond Xiao Bai's control. Xiao Bai was especially enraged that Fatty had the audacity to deploy a fire-attribute domain within the Ring Sea against her. She knew that releasing an opposing elemental domain in this environment would consume Soul Power at a staggering rate. Ma Hongjun couldn't possibly sustain it for long.
But the Shrek Seven Devils had never been a one-man army. The sausages Oscar had already prepared, the support of Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda — all of these maximized Fatty's capabilities. The moment he activated his domain, he had already consumed an Excitement Pink Sausage. And more important still was Tang San's strategic command.
Over the course of nearly a year, the Shrek Seven Devils had spent almost the entire time locked in constant struggle against Xiao Bai. They understood her strength better than anyone. Under these circumstances, how could Tang San not have made precise calculations? He had long prepared for the worst-case scenario. The fact that they had already reached the hundred-meter mark exceeded even his expectations.
Hummm — the Ring Sea shuddered violently. In her fury, a ring of crystalline blue ripples spread outward from the center of Xiao Bai's forehead, chasing straight after the Shrek Seven Devils. At the same time, the blue-gray radiance emanating from her body intensified sharply, and all the seawater in the Ring Sea condensed as if solid. Forget about the Seven Devils, whom she was deliberately targeting — even the other sea soul beasts in the water were now locked in place, unable to move.
Indeed, Tang San's domain possessed an evolutionary skill, and the hundred-thousand-year sea soul beast Xiao Bai had her own evolutionary ability as well. The intensified gray-blue radiance emanating from her body was the evolutionary skill of her Demon Shark Domain — Solidification. This was Xiao Bai's most powerful means of blocking the Shrek Seven Devils.
The blue ripples emanating from her head, however, were not a domain ability at all. They were a special spiritual attack — the one that had nearly killed Tang San before — called Despair Wave. Once an enemy was successfully engulfed by it, they would be unable to move, and all their Soul Skills would be temporarily sealed, leaving them as helpless as fish on a chopping block, utterly at Xiao Bai's mercy.
While unleashing these two formidable abilities simultaneously, Xiao Bai's massive body was also on the move. In virtually a single flash, she had closed the distance to the Shrek Seven Devils. The position she chose was clever — not the head-on Ma Hongjun or Oscar, but the middle of the formation: the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Rongrong, who provided their amplifications.
Ning Rongrong was unquestionably the weakest of the Seven Devils, but her ability was also the most irreplaceable. With her amplification, everyone's overall combat strength was boosted by at least fifty percent — and in certain specialized areas, the increase could reach a terrifying eighty percent.
This was no longer a time for games. Xiao Bai's vast combat experience led her to choose the most optimal attack target at precisely this moment.
From domain enhancement to the release of Despair Wave to the launch of her physical assault — in three prongs, she had simultaneously unleashed the full might of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. Without such power, how could she have kept the Shrek Seven Devils unable to advance beyond a hundred meters all this time?
But the Seven Devils facing her this time were clearly different from before.
The sudden solidification of the seawater did slow their advance, but it didn't bring them to a complete standstill as she had anticipated.
Fatty's Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix Domain, while enormously costly to maintain in the middle of the ocean, was devastatingly effective. Even facing Xiao Bai's domain evolution skill, that boiling, lava-like domain continued to drive them forward.
And the instant Xiao Bai charged upward with Despair Wave, she was struck by a counterattack from the Seven Devils. The one who attacked her was none other than the soul and undisputed leader of the Shrek Seven Devils — Tang San, whose every Soul Skill had been sealed.
Two beams of resplendent purple-gold light met Xiao Bai as she surged upward. The beams pierced straight through the center of the Despair Wave, hurtling directly toward her forehead.
When she first spotted the purple-gold light, Xiao Bai didn't think much of it. With a body tempered over a hundred thousand years, there were many attacks she simply didn't need to worry about. But she quickly realized something was wrong. The purple-gold light seemed entirely unaffected by the refraction of the seawater, and as it drew closer, she could clearly feel that her senses — which moments ago could encompass the entire Ring Sea — had suddenly gone dull.
A spiritual attack? A high-intensity concentrated spiritual attack, at that. Xiao Bai finally made the correct judgment, though a beat late. She was proud, but far from foolish. Her spiritual power was formidable, and she understood all too well the terror that followed when a spiritual attack took effect. The charged, concentrated spiritual strike Tang San had launched at her gave even her a powerful sense of danger.
Of course, Xiao Bai wasn't afraid that Tang San's Purple Extreme Divine Light could actually injure her. Under the circumstances, with both sides engaged in a spiritual power collision, Tang San hurting her was essentially impossible. However, she knew perfectly well that even though Tang San couldn't truly harm her, this kind of mutually damaging collision would still plunge her into a brief daze — even if Tang San would suffer far worse. But for her to be dazed, even momentarily, meant her domain would vanish temporarily. And that delay was the opening Ma Hongjun and Oscar needed. With their flying speed, even one or two seconds without the domain's obstruction could allow these guys to break through and reach the far shore.
Xiao Bai would never allow the Shrek Seven Devils to pass their trial so smoothly — that would constitute dereliction of duty on her part. Left with no choice, she abandoned the attempt to use Despair Wave to immobilize them all and blow them out of the Ring Sea. Under her perfect control, the Despair Wave abruptly contracted, pressing down against Tang San's Purple Extreme Divine Light. She redirected all of her attack into a single point, focusing everything on Tang San alone.
In that instant, Xiao Bai's momentum hadn't slackened — she had already plunged into Ma Hongjun's Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix Domain. She could clearly see what looked like a faint smile forming at the corner of Tang San's mouth.
What was he smiling about? The moment that thought surfaced in Xiao Bai's mind, she sensed something was terribly wrong. A primal wave of panic swept through her entire body. The Ring Sea, which had been completely under her control, seemed to have severed its connection with her. The scorching heat radiating from all around made her spirit shudder. Her forward charge faltered abruptly, and even the concentrated Despair Wave aimed at Tang San was affected, its power drastically diminished.
With a soft pop, Tang San grunted underwater. Blood flowed simultaneously from all seven orifices of his face, trickling out like tiny serpents. His vision went white as he temporarily lost his sight. Xiao Bai's spiritual power was, after all, far superior to his. Even weakened by entering the overlapping range of both his and Ma Hongjun's domains, it still inflicted considerable damage on Tang San.
Xiao Bai's massive body also staggered from the spiritual collision. But this also reawakened her senses. The Demon Shark Domain, which had momentarily relaxed, surged back with renewed force. The atmosphere inside the Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix Domain made her profoundly uncomfortable, but even so, she didn't retreat. Instead, her body pivoted, and her shark tail whipped toward Ning Rongrong. The strike was both impossibly fast and devastatingly powerful. If it connected, Ning Rongrong would instantly lose combat capability, and the Seven Devils would be forced to abandon her — for Ning Rongrong alone could never cross the sea. This was Xiao Bai's specialty: attacking what the enemy could not afford to lose, the surest way to shatter their chance of passing the trial.
But her shark tail didn't land as she had hoped, because a figure wreathed in crimson flame had already surged upward, wrapping its arms around the tail the very instant it began to sweep forward.
...
"Xiao Ao, when Fatty opens the way and releases his domain, Xiao Bai will absolutely fly into a rage and counterattack. And her target will definitely be Rongrong. That's when your duplicate body comes into play. If I'm guessing correctly, to avoid truly hurting Rongrong, Xiao Bai won't use an energy attack — she'll use her powerful physical body, most likely that shark tail of hers. When that happens, use your duplicate body to block her."
...
As his duplicate body tightly embraced Xiao Bai's shark tail and detonated in a fierce self-explosion, Tang San's instructions echoed through Oscar's mind. Watching the shark tail sweep toward him, he couldn't help but marvel at the absolute perfection of Tang San's judgment.