Dan-Devour

Time slipped by, second after second, amid the deathly silence and unseen standoff in the Storm Sea Abyss.

Inside the joined hulls, the Soul Masters of the Raging Waves Team had nerves stretched taut as bowstrings. The hum of detection Soul Tools formed the background noise, while the glow of the soul power barrier provided the only light, illuminating faces tense, exhausted, and frightened. Captain Mo Lin stood motionless before the flagship's command station, like a stone statue. Only his hawk-sharp eyes moved, fixed on the dozens of detection screens before him, letting no anomalous fluctuation escape.

Three ships joined together, Sea Emperor Protection fully activated, detection power pushed to the maximum. This was the strongest defensive and surveillance formation they could achieve in the deep sea. In theory, even if that forty-thousand-year Deep Sea Demon Octopus King attacked in person, they could hold out within this combined fortress for a considerable time, and might even drive it back.

But theory was only theory. Their opponent was not a deep-sea behemoth that charged with brute force, but an intelligent hunter skilled in concealment and poison, with an uncanny means of delivering certain death. Lao Chen's silent, unnoticed death hung over every heart like a nightmare.

"Captain, the combined barrier has consumed 23% of its energy. At the current output, it can last twelve more hours at most," the Soul King responsible for monitoring energy reported hoarsely.

Twelve hours. Mo Lin's brows drew tight. Maintaining such an intense defense consumed far more than expected. Prolonged tension also placed an immense burden on his teammates' minds and soul power. That poison beast... seemed to be waiting for the moment they could no longer hold on.

"How is treatment progressing?" Mo Lin asked.

"The three severely wounded Soul Kings are stable, but the poisoning runs deep, and their martial souls are damaged. They won't be able to fight anytime soon. Deputy Captain Liu—the poisoned Soul Emperor—is doing slightly better, but the toxin is stubborn and continues slowly eroding his soul power. He has only about half his strength left," the healing Soul Master answered quickly.

Nearly half their fighting strength had been lost, all to poisoning. It was a devastating blow to morale and their ability to sustain combat.

"Detection results?"

"No high-energy life signs or abnormal concentrations of toxins within a five-thousand-meter radius. But... the abyssal turbulence and natural soul power fields are causing severe interference. We can't rule out the target possessing extremely advanced concealment skills and lurking in a detection blind spot or interference zone."

Mo Lin fell silent. He knew that poison beast was still nearby, like the most patient venomous snake, waiting for its prey to expose a weakness. Knowing danger lurked in the darkness, yet being unable to see or touch it, was the greatest torment of all.

They could not keep waiting passively like this. Their opponent could afford a battle of attrition; they could not. And headquarters... was probably waiting for news as well.

"Pass the order," Mo Lin said, his voice decisive in the silent command room. "In two hours, reduce the Sea Emperor Protection barrier's output to 70%. Shrink the detection radius to three thousand meters and concentrate on precision. Meanwhile, prepare to launch three groups of Decoy Submersibles. Have them simulate life signs and soul power fluctuations and cruise slowly in three different directions to test its response."

He intended to beat the grass and startle the snake—or lure it out of its hole. He would lower their defenses to expose a "weakness," then use the decoys to probe the enemy's location and attack patterns. As long as the poison beast attacked a decoy, it would inevitably reveal itself. At that moment, the Deep Water Imprisonment Net and High-Frequency Soul Power Oscillator waiting at the ready, along with a thunderous strike from him and the other uninjured Soul Emperor, would descend in an instant!

With the orders given, the team began making subtle adjustments to its soul power circulation. Though they remained vigilant, a restless sense of readiness began spreading through the joined hulls.

What they did not know was that, some twenty-eight hundred meters away, in a pocket of absolute darkness doubly concealed by violent undercurrents and a natural soul power vortex, Jingtian was silently "calculating," like the calmest of mathematicians, using his perception as his pen.

His perception did not penetrate the thick combined barrier directly—that would trigger an alarm. Instead, he inferred the conditions inside through the barrier's energy flow, the density of the detection ripples, and the faint changes in soul power fluctuations coming from within the hulls.

The barrier's energy output frequency shows a periodic decline of roughly 0.3%. Seventeen relatively active points of soul power fluctuation inside, three weak points—probably the wounded—and two condensed points—probably Soul Emperors... Hmm, the brightest one, the Quasi-Soul Saint, hasn't moved. Total active life signs... including the wounded, twelve remain.

He had "counted" them clearly. Not one had escaped. They were all huddled inside that iron turtle shell.

What were they waiting for? Reinforcements? For me to lose patience and attack first? Or... were they preparing some kind of trap?

Jingtian's "gaze" settled on the combined barrier, still firm, but with what seemed to be an exceedingly subtle change in "brightness" to his perception. They seemed to be... adjusting their energy output?

Was the consumption too great, forcing them to lower the output? Or were they deliberately showing weakness to bait me into biting?

Either way, it was an opportunity for him. An opportunity to test a certain conjecture—and perhaps shatter the enemy's courage once again.

His Dan-Devour had successfully killed an Early Soul Emperor in an instant. But how effective would it be against those above that level, especially the Quasi-Soul Saint? He was uncertain. Dan-Devour worked by locking onto the life origin and soul imprint and eroding them, theoretically ignoring physical and energy defenses. But the target's level of life and strength of soul would inevitably affect how quickly Dan-Devour took effect and its ultimate results.

Previously, he had lacked a suitable opportunity to strike that Quasi-Soul Saint. Now, with the enemy tucked behind his defenses and his soul power fluctuations relatively stable, he made the perfect "target." And if they really were lowering the barrier's output or preparing some other maneuver, the fluctuations in soul power and mental energy at that moment might expose a gap he could exploit.

He waited for the ideal moment, for the instant their self-satisfied "trap" sprang, to deliver the deadliest blow.

As for that possible trap? Jingtian sneered inwardly. Before the utterly uncanny, indefensible Dan-Devour, most traps were laughable.

Time continued passing.

Two hours soon elapsed.

Inside the joined hulls, a sharp light flashed through Mo Lin's eyes. "Now! Lower the barrier output! Launch the Decoy Submersibles!"

Humm—

The enormous deep-blue barrier covering the hulls visibly dimmed, its energy fluctuations weakening. Though still thick, it no longer felt quite so "airtight."

At the same time, three spindle-shaped Soul Tools, each roughly human-sized and simulating Soul King-level soul power and life signs, slipped silently out of launch ports on three different sides of the joined hulls. Like three nimble little fish, they swam into the dark abyss in different directions.

The trap had been set. The hunters waited with their net spread.

At the very instant the barrier's output dropped and the decoys cleared the hulls—

Jingtian moved in the shadows!

He ignored the three ridiculous decoys and made no attempt to assault the still-powerful barrier. His entire mind locked onto the deepest, brightest source of soul and life fluctuations within the joined hulls—Quasi-Soul Saint Mo Lin!

His ten-thousand-year soul power and poison source surged with unprecedented intensity! Creating even a trace of Dan-Devour imposed an immense burden, but he held nothing back!

Poison erosion, annihilation, soul lock, spirit energy marking... Every property was driven to its limit, fused, compressed, and transformed! A strand of Intangible Dan-Devour, more concentrated, more inscrutable, and deadlier than the one that had killed Lao Chen, followed his will. Ignoring the weakened but still formidable Sea Emperor Protection barrier, it seemed to cross the void and "stamp" down on Mo Lin's position with flawless precision!

This time, Jingtian "felt" it more clearly. Dan-Devour met almost no meaningful resistance as it passed through the barrier, as though the barrier did not exist. But the instant it "stamped" into Mo Lin's body, it encountered powerful resistance!

Mo Lin was, after all, a Quasi-Soul Saint. His life origin was immensely robust, and his soul, tempered many times, was extraordinarily resilient. Dan-Devour's erosion no longer swept through like splitting bamboo, as it had with Lao Chen. Instead, it was like the sharpest drill meeting the hardest alloy, producing a silent sensation of "friction" and "struggle" that made even Jingtian's soul tremble!

Inside the hull, Mo Lin was preparing to strike in concert with the decoys and deliver a fatal blow to the poison beast when his body suddenly convulsed! An unprecedented coldness and weakness, rising from the deepest reaches of his soul, spread through him instantly like the most vicious curse! He felt his vitality and soul power being frantically "devoured" by something invisible and formless, yet terrifying beyond measure!

"Urgh—!" Mo Lin let out a muffled cry of pain, shock, and fury. His face turned paper-white in an instant, and the once-steady soul power fluctuations around his body fell into violent chaos. Even the nascent domain he had been about to unfold nearly collapsed!

"Captain!" The Soul Emperor and Soul Kings beside him blanched.

"It's that poison! That uncanny poison!" Fighting the agony of his soul being gnawed apart and the terror of his rapidly draining vitality, Mo Lin roared hoarsely, "It... it ignored the barrier! Everyone, transfer your soul power to me immediately! Stabilize my origin! Hurry!"

He frantically drove his own soul power against the uncanny corrosive force while absorbing the soul power his comrades supplied. Yet the poison of Dan-Devour clung like a festering sore to the bone, stubborn beyond measure. Though his fierce resistance and the external support greatly slowed its erosion, it did not stop. Little by little, relentlessly, it continued devouring his vitality and the foundation of his soul power!

And at the instant Dan-Devour struck Mo Lin and chaos erupted aboard—

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Four extremely faint yet hair-raising "muffled sounds" rang out almost simultaneously at different points inside the hulls!

They came from four other Soul Kings standing nearby, either transferring soul power to Mo Lin or distracted by doing so! Their cultivation and soul strength were far inferior to his. Jingtian diverted part of his attention and simultaneously released weakened strands of Dan-Devour—with smaller ranges and slightly weaker locks, but more than sufficient for Soul Kings. Under those attacks, they could not even scream. Like candles whose flames had been pinched out, their life signs vanished instantly. They fell stiffly to the floor, their deaths identical to Lao Chen's!

Another four Soul Kings, dead in an instant!

Within two short breaths, Captain Mo Lin had been grievously wounded and left on the brink of death, while four Soul Kings had inexplicably perished!

The dreadful shadow of death, like the densest ink, utterly saturated every inch of the joined hulls! Every survivor, Soul Emperor or Soul King alike, had lost all color in their face. Their eyes brimmed with disbelief, terror, and despair.

What kind of monstrosity was this poison?! Even Sea Emperor Protection couldn't stop it?! Their captain was a Quasi-Soul Saint!

"Re... retreat!! Now! Maximum speed! Leave these waters! Return to Sea God Island!" Mo Lin exhausted his last strength roaring the order, his voice filled with unprecedented panic. He knew that if they did not flee now, everyone—including him—would die here today! This poison beast's terror had utterly exceeded their understanding and ability to respond!

The surviving Soul Masters snapped awake as though from a dream and scrambled to operate the joined hulls. They could not even spare a thought for retrieving the decoys or maintaining an optimal formation. They forcibly severed the connections, making the barrier flicker violently. Three ships—the damaged vessel was temporarily abandoned—unleashed all their propulsion and fled like dogs driven from their home, trailing disordered soul power light as they raced for their lives away from the Storm Sea Abyss!

Jingtian did not pursue. Releasing several strands of Dan-Devour in succession—especially the full-strength strike against Mo Lin—left him feeling weak even with his ten-thousand-year cultivation, and had consumed a substantial amount of his poison source. Besides, he had achieved his objective: gravely wound, perhaps even kill, the enemy leader, create maximum panic, and force them to retreat.

He coldly "watched" the three Soul Tool ships fleeing in panic, his perception firmly locked onto the increasingly faint life fluctuation aboard one of them, still struggling stubbornly—Mo Lin.

He can last this long after being struck by my Dan-Devour... A Soul Saint really is no simple opponent, Jingtian assessed inwardly. But once Dan-Devour takes root, it clings like maggots to bone. Unless I die, or you possess power beyond my understanding to forcibly extract it, then...

His "gaze" seemed to pierce the endless seawater, seeing those three ships flee back to what the humans called "Sea God Island," seeing Mo Lin receive emergency treatment—only to have his life and soul completely "devoured" three days later, dying in despair and agony.

You were waiting for reinforcements, waiting for your trap to work.

And all I was waiting for... was the countdown to your deaths.

At the dark edge of the Storm Sea Abyss, the ten-thousand-year poison beast slowly sank into deeper shadows and began devouring the soul power and resources remaining aboard the abandoned, damaged Soul Tool ship, replenishing what he had spent.

After this battle, the name "Dan-Devour" would surely shake the human soul master world alongside the news of the Raging Waves Team's near-total annihilation. He had also learned the limits of his ultimate killing move—it could already pose a lethal threat to a Soul Saint, but could not kill one instantly. It needed time to erode its victim.

For the moment, these waters were "clean."

But an even greater storm might only just have begun to brew.