A blinding red light suddenly erupted from between Xiao Wu's brows, spreading outward as a ring of crimson luminescence. Wherever the red light passed, everything was dyed the color of blood, and in that instant, all motion ceased.
Seeing this, Tang San's body trembled as well, feeling Xiao Wu convulsing in his arms. The golden trident mark on his forehead blazed with golden radiance, and he screamed with nearly every ounce of strength he possessed: "En—ough—!"
A pure, radiant divine light burst forth from the mark. At the same time, two terrifying beams of red light shot from Tang San's eyes, merging with that blue radiance. In the span of a single breath, every surrounding scene melted away like ice and snow. Blue and red light fused together, forming a dual-colored ring that expanded outward at incredible speed, sweeping clean everything in its path. Wherever the light touched, the scenery dissolved into blue mist, and the blue mist was then purified into transparent air. Everything vanished.
When clarity returned, Tang San and Xiao Wu were already standing on a hexagonal platform. At its center rose a hexagonal pillar roughly fifteen meters tall, slender and straight. The magical runes on its surface shimmered uncertainly — this was clearly the Sacred Pillar of Sea Illusion.
Standing before the pillar was a middle-aged man with a stunned expression. He appeared to be around fifty, reasonably handsome in feature, though his face was deathly pale at the moment. On his body, two yellow, two purple, and five black Soul Rings were arranged in neat order — a full nine. He wore a black robe, and floating around his body was a serpentine band of light, unmistakably his Martial Soul — an extraordinarily unusual one.
Tang San did not recognize it, of course, but this Illusion Douluo's Martial Soul was a wondrous and exceedingly rare sea Soul Beast known as the Illusory Serpent — somewhere between a Beast Martial Soul and an Tool Martial Soul, which was why it appeared floating on the Illusion Douluo's surface rather than manifesting as a body fusion.
But none of that mattered to Tang San anymore. All he could see was a sea of blood.
The Illusion Douluo was profoundly shocked. He had clearly seen his domain completely seize control of Tang San and Xiao Wu's emotions. If things continued as they were, these two examinees would undoubtedly lose. Yet just then, the miraculous dual-colored light released from Tang San's body had not only shattered the illusion but destroyed his entire domain, unleashing a devastating spiritual shock upon him. Even a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse like himself was left momentarily breathless.
Tang San's initial assessment had been correct. The Illusion Douluo was one of only two domain possessors among the seven Sacred Pillar Guardian Douluo of the Sea God, and ranked second in overall strength — even more powerful than the Sea Spear Douluo. His strength lay precisely in his domain. Tang San had once witnessed Shi Nian's illusion domain, and compared to this, it was child's play. The Illusion Douluo's illusion domain could make illusions completely real, not merely deceive. Attacks sustained within the illusion were entirely genuine, as if an entirely new world had been created. Should one become lost within it or sustain an unhealable wound, death in the real world would follow. It was outrageously domineering. Even the Sea Dragon Douluo, the most powerful of the seven Sacred Pillar Guardians, was unwilling to fight him.
Holding Xiao Wu tightly, Tang San gazed at the Illusion Douluo with blood-red eyes. "You shouldn't have used that scene to provoke me. No one can hurt my Xiao Wu — not even mentally."
Tang San's voice, brimming with aggression and chilling killing intent, sounded extremely harsh. The Illusion Douluo snorted coldly. "Digging out the most painful experience in an enemy's heart and striking at it is a characteristic of my domain. Don't think you can speak to me however you like just because you've received the Sea God's Nine Trials. You haven't passed them all yet."
Tang San said nothing more. He answered with action. A blinding white light erupted and, in the span of an instant, engulfed the platform of the Sacred Pillar of Sea Illusion.
The Illusion Douluo watched as the world before his eyes transformed. Everything around him had turned to the color of blood. A tangible, horrifying killing intent surged toward him like razor-edged blades, accompanied by ear-piercing shrieks of agony rushing in from every direction.
A domain? The Illusion Douluo's heart lurched. At this moment, his own domain had been broken by Tang San using the Sea God's Light and the Purple Extreme Demon Eye, leaving him temporarily unable to deploy it. As someone who had mastered domains, he knew full well the power of such an ability. His body flickered, swiftly merging with the coiling Illusory Serpent as he released his Martial Soul avatar.
The Illusory Serpent, a phantom serpent a full ten meters long, radiated alternating flashes from its nine Soul Rings. At the sixth Soul Ring, dark light blazed forth, painting his spectral body entirely black. It twisted, whipped, and drove forward, actually shaking apart the tangible killing intent. Space around his body warped rapidly as tiny fissures quickly merged, as though tearing open a rift in space itself.
The Illusion Douluo, whose signature ability was domains, naturally had his own methods for dealing with them. The sixth Soul Skill he was now deploying was called the Body of Shattered Illusion, designed specifically to break through illusions and domain-type abilities. Relying on Titled Douluo-level power, unless the opponent possessed a domain of equal Titled Douluo rank with overall strength surpassing his own, it was extremely difficult to contain him.
But just as he appeared on the verge of breaking free from the Slaughter Domain, a powerful surge of blue light appeared before him. The bone-chilling, strength-sapping aura within the Slaughter Domain that had made even his blood run cold suddenly intensified to a terrifying degree. Facing that blue light, he was forced to halt his movements and gave a low shout, twin beams of brilliant blue light erupting from his serpent eyes.
The Illusion Douluo had already made up his mind — the moment he broke through Tang San's domain, he would plunge into the Sea within the Sea and wait for his own domain to recover. His domain could even use seawater to generate illusions. The reason he hadn't done so earlier was that he didn't believe Tang San was worthy of facing his most powerful domain abilities. But now things were different. Facing an opponent who also possessed a domain, he would naturally respond with his full strength.
Unfortunately, he would no longer have the chance.
BOOM — a violent collision erupted instantaneously. The surrounding Slaughter Hell deepened further in its bloody hue. The Illusion Douluo felt as though his brain had been smashed by a sledgehammer. His Illusory Serpent Martial Soul avatar trembled violently within the Slaughter Domain, shrinking with every shudder. The agonizing pain from his spiritual world wrung an involuntary groan from his lips.
As his body contracted, the Martial Soul avatar shattered, and his true form reappeared.
Even Tang San himself hadn't expected that the Purple Extreme Divine Light, having entered the Vast Ocean realm, would be this powerful. Against a Titled Douluo who specialized in spiritual-force domain attacks, even weakened by the Slaughter Domain and further incapacitated from a spiritual shock that rendered him unable to use his domain, to directly shatter the opponent's Martial Soul avatar — it spoke volumes about the current might of the Purple Extreme Divine Light.
In truth, Tang San's spiritual power was the strongest among all his current abilities, and in his fury, that spiritual force had erupted with terrifying destructive power. The Illusion Douluo, unaware that Tang San's spiritual strength had reached such a terrifying level, had chosen a head-on clash and naturally paid a heavy price.
Tang San never gave his opponents a chance. This had been the creed of the Tang Sect in his previous life, and one he had held to ever since arriving in this world — especially once he had confirmed an enemy as such. The red light blazed once more as the glow of his eighth Soul Ring spread outward again. Within this blood-red Slaughter Domain, the energy — seemingly fused with the domain itself — descended upon the Illusion Douluo in an instant.
The eighth Soul Ring's second skill, an active pre-emptive control ability — Blue Silver Orca Demon's Grip, unleashed.
Head splitting, blood streaming from his seven orifices, the Illusion Douluo had no way to resist. His entire being plunged into a three-second state of dizziness. And as he released this eighth Soul Skill, Tang San had already teleported into midair. His left leg transformed into a scythe of crimson light — the Evil Spirit Left Leg Bone's Evil Orca Axe — and slashed downward as though cleaving heaven and earth apart.
The agony of the illusion, Xiao Wu's sorrow — all of it had served as the most potent catalyst. From the moment he had shattered the Illusion Douluo's domain, Tang San's heart had been consumed by killing intent. The opponent before him was one of the seven Sacred Pillar Guardian Douluo, and he didn't care in the slightest. Xiao Wu's sacrifice was an eternal wound in his heart — how could he remain calm under these circumstances?
The greater his killing intent, the more terrifying the Slaughter Domain became. This strike from his left leg contained every shred of his strength. The Illusion Douluo, never renowned for his defenses and currently trapped in a stunned state, how could he possibly withstand such a blow? Tang San's attack was in no way inferior to that of a Titled Douluo — let alone a berserker's all-out, self-sacrificing strike.
Just as the Illusion Douluo was about to perish beneath the Evil Orca Axe, Tang San suddenly felt his body tighten. His entire being was restrained, and the offensive power of the Evil Spirit Left Leg Bone plummeted. A golden glow ignited across his body, binding him as though in chains.
With a thunderous impact, the Illusion Douluo's body was sent hurtling backward, slamming hard into the Sacred Pillar of Sea Illusion before bouncing off and crashing to the ground. This time, he slipped directly into a prolonged unconsciousness. His blood had even stained the illusory runes on the Sacred Pillar red.
Tang San touched down softly and stared blankly ahead. Xiao Wu's entire body was wrapped tightly around his, locking his limbs in place with all her strength. It was Xiao Wu's fifth Soul Skill from back then — Soft Bone Lock.
"Why, Xiao Wu?" Tang San looked at his beloved, bewildered.
"Ge, you can't kill him. I understand how you feel. But this is Sea God Island — we can't kill anyone here. If you killed him, how could we ever hope to live on Sea God Island? Ge, calm down. Don't do anything foolish!"
To stop Tang San, Xiao Wu had exerted every ounce of her strength. Though her body was remarkably resilient, the energy Tang San had poured into that strike had been so terrifying that Xiao Wu, who had strained herself to hold him back, was injured — a thin thread of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing the blood at Xiao Wu's lips, Tang San was horrified. He hurriedly stuffed a recovery sausage into her mouth and asked urgently, "Xiao Wu, how are you? It's all my fault — I hurt you. Get down and let me check your injuries. I'll listen to you, I won't kill him, I promise." Compared to Xiao Wu, what was the life of the Illusion Douluo worth?
Xiao Wu finally exhaled in relief when she saw Tang San's emotions stabilize. She released the Soft Bone Lock and set her feet on solid ground. "Ge, I'm fine. I'm not as fragile as I used to be." She obediently ate the recovery sausage and gave Tang San a bright smile. Tang San carefully examined her body with Soul Power and spiritual force, confirmed she was indeed not seriously hurt, and only then did his mood settle.
The runes on the Sacred Pillar of Sea Illusion simultaneously enveloped both their bodies. They had defeated the third Titled Douluo. However, this trial had not been as easy on their resources as they had imagined. Whether in Soul Power or spiritual force, Tang San's consumption far exceeded what he had expended against the Sea Horse Douluo. Now that his emotions had steadied, he finally felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
Two uses of Soul Bone skills, two deployments of his eighth Soul Skill, two releases of the Purple Extreme Divine Light, and the mental toll of the illusion — all of it combined to make fatigue impossible for Tang San to suppress.
Fearing that killing intent might flare up again in his heart, Tang San didn't even spare another glance at the Illusion Douluo. He brought Xiao Wu ashore and rejoined his companions. He knew he needed to rest. Fortunately, very little time had been consumed so far. After greeting everyone and eating a recovery sausage, he sat cross-legged on the ground and immediately entered a meditative cultivation state.
At this point, Ning Rongrong, Oscar, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ma Hongjun were all cultivating as well, with Dai Mubai standing guard over them.
The yellow-robed and purple-robed sea Soul Masters guarding the Sacred Pillar of Sea Illusion exchanged bewildered glances, the fear in their eyes when looking at Tang San impossible to hide. They had not been caught within it, but they had been able to see the clash between Tang San and the Illusion Douluo inside the Slaughter Domain. Witnessing Tang San's final, berserk axe kick that sent the Illusion Douluo flying — that horrifying power — sent chills through their hearts. Now, seeing Tang San enter a cultivation state, they hurriedly sent several people over to carry the Illusion Douluo back to Illusion City for recovery.
Tang San cultivated for a full two hours before finally opening his eyes. Guided by Bai Chenxiang's direction, he advanced toward the next target.
At this point, nearly five hours had elapsed since they had begun the Fifth Trial. The flame in the sky had diminished by roughly one-seventh — this represented the trial's time limit. Based on the current situation, the fifth trial was progressing smoothly.
The next one to face the trial was Ma Hongjun. The Fatty was brimming with confidence. He had every reason to believe that his opponent would be no stronger than the Sea Spear Douluo Dai Mubai had faced. And he was certain that even if his overall strength didn't quite match Dai Mubai's, his burst output was arguably superior. If Dai Mubai had been able to pass with relative ease, then he would have no problem at all.
And the facts proved this true. When Ma Hongjun and Ning Rongrong encountered the Sea Ghost Douluo, whose Martial Soul was the Devil Ray, under Tang San's spiritual-force detection and command along with Oscar's sausage support, Ma Hongjun secured victory in roughly the time it took to eat a meal. The subsequent challengers, Tang San and Xiao Wu, naturally also passed this fourth Titled Douluo's trial without the slightest difficulty.
The Sea Ghost Douluo left the deepest impression on everyone with his utterly grotesque appearance — truly befitting the title of Sea Ghost.