Echo

Inside a vast stone cavern within the Seafloor Hydrothermal Fissure Cluster, the stench of sulfur mingled with the faint glow of toxic miasma, creating an oppressive atmosphere cut off from the world. Jingtian coiled within the shadows at one corner of the cavern. His Ninth Tentacle rested on the frigid ground like the quietest sentinel, its tip flickering rhythmically as it received the Deep Sea Echo emitted by Moyuan—something no mortal could hear.

Moyuan's enormous body floated at the center of the cavern. Under the Silence energy Jingtian continuously released, along with its own vitality, its wounds had temporarily stopped worsening, but recovery remained far away. Its eyes, filled with wisdom and pain, were tightly shut. At the spot on its forehead where the Soul Bone Core should have shone with a deep blue light, only faint, unstable ripples of energy now spread outward—it was driving an ancient secret communication technique of the Demon Whale race with all its strength.

This was not the transmission of sound, but an exceedingly concealed, targeted "call" based on soul resonance and deep-sea Spirit Energy fluctuations. It was like lighting a faint signal lamp in the lightless black depths, one only its own kind could "see," carrying a specific frequency. Every "lighting" and "extinguishing" consumed what little soul power and life force Moyuan had left. Yet it held nothing back. Its eyes contained only profound resolve.

Time passed slowly as they waited.

One day, two days... five days passed.

Moyuan's aura grew weaker and weaker, and its massive body occasionally trembled faintly. Jingtian did not urge it on. He merely silently converted a portion of his recovered Soul Power through the Ninth Tentacle into gentle nourishing energy, pouring it into Moyuan's body to sustain its most basic life functions and the expenditure of its technique. This was a gamble. Moyuan's life was the stake, and they were gambling on whether they could obtain valuable intelligence before it burned out completely.

On the evening of the sixth day.

Moyuan's massive body suddenly shuddered. Its tightly closed eyes flew open, filled with exhaustion—but deep within them, a trace of indescribable excitement and... piercing grief ignited.

"Benefactor..." Its weak yet clear thought came through, choked as though it were weeping blood. "I contacted them... three... none of them... can hold on much longer..."

"Speak." Jingtian's thought was concise and cold, like an ice awl steeped in poison, though he suppressed an almost imperceptible ripple deep within.

Moyuan dared not delay. Forcing itself to endure, it shared with Jingtian three fragmented streams of information it had captured through the Deep Sea Echo, each filled with utter despair and the agony of impending death.

Information One:

Location: Southwest, approximately 1,500 nautical miles away, at the border between a complex coral reef known as the Shattered Star Seabed and the Shipwreck Graveyard.

Distress callers: A female Demon Whale with approximately 75,000 years of cultivation, accompanied by a Young Whale of approximately 10,000 years.

Enemies: Four human Soul Masters—two Soul Douluo and two Soul Saints—leading six Demon Soul Great White Sharks with an average cultivation of around 30,000 years.

Situation: To protect the Young Whale, the mother whale had sustained multiple wounds. Her speed had greatly diminished, and she had been surrounded by the enemy in a relatively open stretch of seabed. Relying on the complicated terrain and the Whale Breath Mist she released to interfere with perception, she was barely holding them off, but her Soul Power consumption was immense, and the Young Whale was terrified and weak. The information carried the Young Whale's shrill cries and fluctuations indicating the mother whale's Soul Power was nearly exhausted. They were in imminent danger and might not last half a day.

Information Two:

Location: Due west, approximately 2,000 nautical miles away, in the Abyss Stairs near the edge of the continental shelf—a series of steep undersea cliffs.

Distress caller: A mature male Demon Whale with approximately 83,000 years of cultivation, violent in temperament and rich in combat experience.

Enemies: Five human Soul Masters—three Soul Douluo and two Soul Saints—and eight Demon Soul Great White Sharks with an average cultivation of 40,000 years, commanded by a 60,000-year Demon Soul Great White Shark leader.

Situation: The Demon Whale had attempted to use the complex terrain of the Abyss Stairs to ambush its enemies, only for them to see through the plan and surround it instead. Its left flank had been badly injured, but its ferocity had erupted, and it was still resisting fiercely. It had already killed a ten-thousand-year Demon Soul Great White Shark and wounded a Soul Saint. Yet the information carried the frenzied fluctuations of its Soul Power burning intensely, nearly beyond its limits, as well as the enemy's sharp killing intent as they tightened the encirclement and launched their final assault. It might die of exhaustion or be slain under concentrated attacks within one or two hours.

Information Three:

Location: Northwest, approximately 800 nautical miles away, in the Hydrothermal Vent Forest near a gigantic undersea volcano crater.

Distress callers: Two Demon Whales. One had approximately 60,000 years of cultivation and relatively light injuries; the other had approximately 50,000 years of cultivation, but had suffered a horrifying tear across its abdomen and was bleeding without stop, leaving it in terrible condition.

Enemies: Three human Soul Masters—one Soul Douluo and two Soul Saints—leading five Demon Soul Great White Sharks.

Situation: The two Demon Whales appeared to be mates or companions. The more severely injured one had nearly lost the ability to move, its life force flickering like a candle in the wind. The other refused to abandon it, laboring to circle through the chaotic energy field and intense heat of the vent forest with its injured companion, trying to shake off their pursuers. The enemies did not seem eager to launch a direct assault. They were more like herding and wearing them down, waiting for the best opportunity. The strongest signal in the information was the increasingly faint life pulse of the heavily wounded Demon Whale, along with the soul cry of the other, filled with despair and the will to die. The injured one could stop breathing at any moment, and the other might collapse or die alongside it.

Three streams of information, three different battlefields, all pointing toward the same end—death counting down in hours, or even less.

Jingtian's cold thoughts instantly stripped away every redundant consideration. Low risk and high reward, advantages and disadvantages of terrain, difficult temperaments... before the two core factors of "can't hold on much longer" and Dan-Devour, they all became meaningless.

Dan-Devour was the strongest weapon he had prepared to break a deadlock in such an extreme situation!

Save those who could not hold on first. Once they died, there would be nothing left!

Like a poisoned blade leaving its sheath, his thoughts instantly locked onto Information Three—the Hydrothermal Vent Forest, and that dying pair!

The reasons were cold and efficient:

Closest distance: Only 800 nautical miles away. At full speed, he could reach them in the shortest possible time!

Weakest enemies: Only one Soul Douluo led them. This was the combination Dan-Devour was most likely to wipe out in an instant!

Clear objective: Saving them meant gaining two Demon Whales. Even if one was badly injured, saving it would mean combat strength. If it could not be saved... its life essence could still be used. The other would surely become utterly loyal.

Environmental interference: The chaotic energy currents and high temperatures of the Hydrothermal Vent Forest would affect him, certainly, but they would also greatly interfere with the enemy's perception and coordination, creating ideal conditions for his Dan-Devour ambush! The enemy's "herding" tactic showed that they too feared the environment and had not fully taken control of the situation.

"Information Three. The Hydrothermal Vent Forest. That pair." Jingtian's thought was decisive, carrying an unquestionable killing intent.

"But... Benefactor, that environment is dangerous for you..." Moyuan worried instinctively.

"What is there to fear?" Jingtian cut it off, his thought radiating confidence cold to the extreme. "Notify the one still alive. Tell it to hold on at all costs. Even if it has to burn its life away, it must hold on for half an hour! Tell it reinforcements will arrive immediately. Have it move toward the most active core of the volcano crater, where the eruptions are fiercest, and lure the enemies there too!"

"Yes!" Shaken by the icy killing intent and absolute confidence in Jingtian's thoughts, Moyuan said no more. It immediately focused the last of its mind and sent a powerful, brief directive filled with command toward those coordinates.

"You stay here. Continue recovering and maintain the bare minimum of perception." Jingtian gave Moyuan his final order as his body slipped from the shadows like a ghost. "Wait for me to return."

Before his words had even faded, his massive body had already merged into the darkness. The Ninth Tentacle erupted with unprecedented force, propelling him like the swiftest black arrow in the deep sea as he tore through the water and raced northwest!

He drove his speed to the limit of his current condition, even at the cost of slightly depleting his fundamental Soul Power!

Eight hundred nautical miles. He had to arrive within half an hour!

Concealment and stealth were cast aside. Saving lives was like fighting a fire—the struggle was for that single instant between life and death!

The deep sea was plowed open by his savage speed, leaving a brief gap in his wake. Low-level soul beasts along the way fled in terror. Jingtian paid them no mind. There was only one thought in his heart:

Faster! Even faster!

Dan-Devour was ready, and his poison fangs thirsted for blood.

How could Death be late for its appointment?

The Hydrothermal Vent Forest. That desperate pair. That self-righteous hunting squad...

He was coming.

Bearing an invitation from death, and... cold life.