Tidal Body Refining

At dawn, the sky beyond the enormous crystal windows gradually shifted from dark blue to bright azure.

The sky of this southern land was exceptionally clear and blue.

The brilliant golden morning sun filtered through the silk curtains and scattered into the spacious room. Xu Zihuang, lying on the soft bed, slowly opened his eyes. His long lashes trembled slightly as his clear, deep-purple eyes met the rising sun, reflecting a trace of magnificent light.

He rose and walked to the window. Before him stretched a vast, boundless expanse of deep blue sea, and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks was distinctly audible.

After stretching his body a little, the comfort that spread from his mind to his flesh nearly made him groan aloud.

"Everything that came before is but a prologue."

Murmuring softly, Xu Zihuang got dressed and went to the room's private washroom to freshen up.

Starting today, a new chapter of his life had begun.

The ancient castle had seven floors in total, and Xu Zihuang's room was on the highest floor.

When he descended the stairs to the first-floor hall, Rong Jin had already prepared a carefully cooked breakfast for him.

There was a large piece of tender, golden-brown fried Evil Spirit Orca tail meat. This piece had been taken from that Evil Spirit Orca with two ten-thousand years of Cultivation. As one of the ocean's supreme predators, the flesh of an Evil Spirit Orca was greatly beneficial to human Soul Masters. It could nourish their strength and also fortify their muscles and bones, especially for minors whose skeletons had yet to fully develop.

The other dish was a large bowl of clear soup slowly stewed with Century-Old Jade Ginseng and Gastrodia Elata. It nourished both the brain and body and could be considered an excellent tonic.

After breakfast, Xu Zihuang felt warm all over, indescribably comfortable.

Outside the castle's first-floor hall lay two flowerbeds blooming with all kinds of rare flowers. A marble-paved path extended from the castle on the mountainside all the way to the Inner Sea Bay.

"Young Master, everything is ready." Meng Lang, who had been waiting beside the flowerbeds, immediately approached with several others when he saw Xu Zihuang.

Xu Zihuang nodded and slowly followed the path toward the Inner Sea Bay.

This Inner Sea Bay was also a harbor. Though not large, it was a private port belonging exclusively to Yaoyang, Viscount of Yuennan.

Several imposing warships clad entirely in metal armor were moored beside the bay, including the warship Xu Zihuang had ridden before.

Four others had come with Meng Lang. Rather than using those warships, they took out two narrow boats from their Soul Tools. The boats had no sails and only needed Soul Power to drive them.

Xu Zihuang lightly tapped off the ground and landed on the bow of one of the boats. The two boats sailed out of the Inner Sea one after the other, then continued north along the island for roughly two thousand meters before stopping beside a rock formation several dozen meters high.

"This place will do." Xu Zihuang examined the steep rock and waved to Meng Lang and the others.

As he spoke, his figure silently landed atop the rock. The summit was around ten square meters in size and relatively flat. It was an excellent location for the Tidal Body Refining he was about to undergo.

Meng Lang and the others exchanged glances, but recalling Xu Zihuang's earlier instructions, they could only put away the two boats in their Soul Tools, leap into the sea, and release their Martial Souls.

Other than Meng Lang, three of the remaining five were Soul Kings, while the other two were Soul Emperors. Without exception, all of their Martial Souls possessed water attributes.

The two Soul Emperors retreated slightly and kept watch over the surrounding waters. Sea Soul Beasts rarely entered such shallow waters, but nothing was absolute. With Xu Zihuang's safety involved, they could not afford to be careless.

Meng Lang and the other three Soul Kings lined up side by side, using their Martial Soul abilities to float upon the waters directly before Xu Zihuang.

"Young Master, are you ready?"

"Come." Xu Zihuang took a deep breath, his gaze turning exceptionally resolute.

Meng Lang and the others said no more. Dense blue Soul Power radiance flashed around their bodies as they each activated a soul skill.

Meng Lang used his third soul skill, while the other three Soul Kings used their second, fourth, and fifth soul skills respectively.

However, all their soul skills produced the same effect: driving the waves.

The surrounding seawater began to churn before abruptly settling into stillness.

But this was only the calm before the storm.

In the distance, wave after wave could be seen surging toward them. Before long, an enormous wave crashed head-on. It rose to exactly the same height as the rock beneath Xu Zihuang's feet, then slammed heavily into his body with a thunderous boom.

Though the wave struck him with overwhelming force, the impact was not as fierce as Xu Zihuang had imagined. It was powerful enough to leave him breathless, but still within his limits. Yet the immense force carried by the wave drove his body uncontrollably toward the rock wall behind him.

Submerged beneath the wave, Xu Zihuang struggled to open his eyes. Before him was nothing but an azure world. Every muscle in his body tensed, and the Soul Power within him rapidly circulated, yet he was still hurled heavily against the rock wall.

Two opposing forces acted upon his body at once. Even with his formidable physique, he could not hold back his breath and opened his mouth, gulping down several mouthfuls of seawater.

Then the wave receded, dragging his body back into the sea.

At that moment, he had no time to carefully feel the changes in his body. He hurriedly lowered his center of gravity and dug both hands fiercely into the cracks in the rock.

His fingers scraped violently against the hard stone, and streaks of crimson seeped from his fingertips.

At last, he barely managed to stop himself. Before he could inspect his ten fingers, already a bloody mess, another wave even stronger than the previous one swallowed his body again.

After more than ten impacts, Xu Zihuang's entire body had gone numb. His meridians, flesh, and bones all felt numb. He could not even feel the pain that ran from his fingers to his heart.

Feeling that he was nearing his limit, he could only wave his hand to signal for them to stop.

Meng Lang hurriedly rescued the pale-faced Xu Zihuang and asked about his condition. But Xu Zihuang did not even have the strength to speak. By the time they returned to the Inner Sea Bay, Meng Lang had personally carried him back to his room.

When Elder Cheng rushed over after hearing the news and saw Xu Zihuang in such a wretched state, even he, with his normally mild temperament, could not help but shout at Meng Lang and the others, "I told you to watch over the Young Master! Is this how you watch him?!"

Fluffy dandelions emitting multicolored halos merged into Xu Zihuang's body, and the wounds across his body rapidly healed. However, the numbness throughout his body could not be relieved so quickly.

"Elder Cheng, this was my own idea. It has nothing to do with Meng Lang or the others. You should all leave first. I need to cultivate for a while."

Having regained a little strength, Xu Zihuang sat up and spoke with a bitter smile, stopping Elder Cheng.

He took it quite calmly. If he wanted to gain power, how could he possibly avoid paying a price?

Elder Cheng cast an angry glance over Meng Lang and the others, then looked at Xu Zihuang. In the end, he said nothing more.

After everyone left the room, Xu Zihuang took out some dried Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber and the Demon Soul Great White Shark Head Fish Oil he had obtained only the night before from his Soul Tool. After consuming some of each, he entered a state of cultivation.

Although he had endured tremendous pain earlier, it had all been worthwhile. After pushing his body to its limits, both his cultivation speed and his absorption of the medicinal effects of the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber and Demon Soul Great White Shark Head Fish Oil seemed to have increased.

An hour later, Xu Zihuang, now dressed in clean clothes once more, appeared again in the basement beneath the castle under everyone's astonished gazes.

The basement covered more than five hundred square meters and had excellent soundproofing. The members of the Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps usually crafted Soul Tools here.

Xu Zihuang gave everyone a slight nod, then went straight to a worktable and began attempting to inscribe his second Level 3 Core Formation.

There were no shortcuts to inscribing Core Arrays. One could only try again and again. However, Xu Zihuang, with his Body Martial Soul with Spiritual Attribute, the Golden Eye, possessed an enormous innate advantage. His eyesight was at least several times better than an ordinary person's, and with his photographic memory, he could memorize those Core Arrays almost completely after looking at them just a few times. Core Array inscriptions often failed because of minute errors, but such mistakes rarely occurred with Xu Zihuang.

Half a month later, he successfully inscribed his second Level 3 Core Formation. This brought him another step closer to truly becoming a Level 3 Soul Engineer.

The maximum number of wave impacts he could withstand also reached fifteen.

In the days that followed, he continued his routine of Tidal Body Refining in the mornings, studying Soul Tool crafting in the afternoons, and cultivating Soul Power at night.

A year later, the time he spent on Tidal Body Refining had increased from less than a quarter of an hour to two hours. Through this nearly self-abusive training, his physical fitness, willpower, and Soul Power Level all improved at a rapid pace.

During this period, a minor incident occurred. Jing Gu, the leader of the Whale Shark Pirates who had purchased the Demon Soul Great White Shark Head Bone, was attacked, robbed of that Soul Bone, and seriously injured. Because of this incident, the situation in the Yuenan Islands also became tense.

All signs seemed to point toward E Luo, leader of the Demon Crocodile Pirates. Yet Jing Gu, the victim himself, made no response whatsoever.

The Shrek Academy arc will begin soon. Let's go! Send some recommendation tickets and make an investment.