Whale Pod

When Jingtian returned to the temporary cave with the scarred mother whale, whose eyes were filled with reverence and gratitude, and the young whale that followed close behind her, both fearful and curious of Jingtian, the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale inside immediately emitted a soul hum mixed with surprise and concern. It cautiously glanced at Jingtian, then at the new companions. When it saw the mother whale's bone-deep wounds in particular, a trace of pity born from shared suffering appeared in its eyes.

Jingtian did not waste time on pointless communication. He settled the mother whale and young whale in a relatively dry area on the other side of the cave, then used the Ninth Tentacle to release pure Silence energy once more, treating the mother whale's most serious wounds while sending a strand of gentle energy to nourish the young whale's frightened soul. The young whale was initially timid and shrinking back, but under its mother's soothing and the embrace of that warm energy, it gradually calmed down. It even began curiously touching the tips of Jingtian's tentacles with its immature snout.

Seeing this, the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale also gathered its courage and sent over a mental wave full of gratitude and inquiry, likely asking about its mate.

"Alive. Recovering. Needs time," Jingtian replied briefly, turning his attention to the inside of the cave.

What had once been an empty, freezing cave now seemed crowded and full of "life" with the arrival of three enormous Deep Sea Demon Whales—two of them heavily wounded—and one young whale. The sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale guarded its unconscious mate, while the seventy-thousand-year mother whale protected her child. Though they were all injured and weak, their near-instinctive dependence on and reverence for Master after surviving certain death filled the entire space with a strange sense of unity.

Jingtian sensed their conditions, calculating rapidly in his mind.

Fifty-thousand-year blue Demon Whale: Most severely injured, with damaged essence. Its life was being sustained by his energy. It would have no combat power in the short term and was purely a drain and burden. But if saved, it had great future potential and was also an important bargaining chip for controlling its mate, the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale.

Sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale: Its injuries were lighter, though its Soul Power had been greatly depleted. It had already regained some mobility. Its loyalty was extremely high because he had saved its mate, and it was familiar with the surrounding waters. It was an excellent guide and an entry-level combat force.

Seventy-thousand-year mother whale: Her external wounds were severe, she had lost too much blood, and her Soul Power was exhausted. However, her will to survive was strong—for her child. With an energy supplement, she would recover quickly. Her loyalty was equally high. Once recovered, she would be the strongest combat force currently available.

Ten-thousand-year young whale: No combat power, but great potential. It was the mother whale's absolute weak point and the bond securing her loyalty.

"Resources are limited. They must be used efficiently." Jingtian's cold thoughts reached a decision. He stopped continuously treating the mother whale, whose injuries had already stabilized, and focused most of his effort on maintaining the fifty-thousand-year Demon Whale's life. At the same time, he began accelerating the absorption of the residual life essence from the two squads he had killed earlier, which he had not yet fully digested, converting it into a form of energy that was easier to absorb.

Then he did something that left all three adult Demon Whales utterly shaken.

He controlled the Ninth Tentacle and evenly injected the gentlest, purest life energy refined from the enemies he had devoured into the three adult Demon Whales, as though distributing a meal. The two severely wounded ones received a larger share.

This was not treatment. This was feeding—an investment! He was using the enemies' flesh and blood to rapidly restore the injuries and Soul Power of the combat forces under his command!

"Hiss—"

"Wooo..."

The sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale and the mother whale simultaneously released disbelieving soul rumbles filled with comfort and gratitude. They could clearly feel streams of warm, powerful energy rapidly merging into their dried-up meridians and damaged bodies, healing their wounds, replenishing their Soul Power, and even soothing their souls, which had been worn down by prolonged flight and battle. For Soul Beasts, this direct bestowal of energy was far more impactful than any words.

Even the unconscious fifty-thousand-year Demon Whale's aura seemed to become imperceptibly more solid and stable.

The young whale also swam closer, letting out a faint, yearning cry. Jingtian separated out a thread of the purest, gentlest energy and sent it into its body, helping it grow and steady its frightened emotions.

After doing all that, Jingtian had consumed a considerable amount of energy himself. But he did not care. He immediately coiled near the cave entrance and entered a deep state of regulation, devouring the dense free energy in the cave's seawater at a terrifying speed—energy that had naturally gathered because several top-tier Soul Beasts were clustered together—as well as the remaining "stock" in his body that he had yet to digest, replenishing himself.

Time passed amid silent, efficient recovery. Inside the cave, there was only the steady breathing of the Demon Whales—the sound of flowing water—and the occasional contented gurgle from the young whale.

About two hours later.

Jingtian was the first to open his eyes. His aura had already returned to its peak. Thanks to the successive high-intensity battles, devouring, use of Dan-Devour, and more precise control over his own power, his cultivation had faintly advanced another step, steadily moving toward ninety thousand years.

He sensed the cave.

The sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale had recovered the best. More than half its injuries had healed, and about fifty percent of its Soul Power had returned. Its eyes gleamed brightly, and it had regained considerable combat strength. The way it looked at Jingtian was filled with almost fanatical loyalty.

The seventy-thousand-year mother whale's external wounds had scabbed over under the effects of the energy and her own vitality. Her bleeding had stopped, and around thirty percent of her Soul Power had returned. Though she was still weak, she could move freely. She might barely manage a brief battle, but there would be no problem with following them over a long journey. Her gaze toward Jingtian held deep maternal gratitude beneath its reverence.

The fifty-thousand-year Demon Whale remained unconscious, but its life aura was much more stable than before. Its wounds showed signs of slowly healing. It was no longer in danger of dying at any moment, but waking up and regaining its combat strength would still require massive resources and a long time.

Nourished by both its mother's energy and Jingtian's, the young whale had regained its liveliness. It feared Jingtian less now and felt closer to him, swimming curiously around beside its mother.

It was time.

Jingtian's thoughts swept through the minds of the three adult Demon Whales like an icy tide.

"The last location. Abyss Stairs. Your companion, eighty-three thousand years old, is surrounded."

He conveyed the vague information and location regarding the final battlefield from Moyuan's intelligence, then looked at the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale. "Route. Fastest. Safest."

The sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale nodded its enormous head. A trace of gravity flashed through its eyes, but there was even more absolute obedience to Master's command. Through soul waves, it transmitted a string of complex route information. This journey was farther—two thousand li—and the route was more complicated. They would need to cross the edges of several known territories belonging to powerful Sea Soul Beasts and even pass through an unstable undersea earthquake zone.

"It stays behind. Guards her." Jingtian pointed at the fifty-thousand-year Demon Whale as he gave the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale his order. Then he looked at the mother whale. "You follow. Bring the child too." Bringing the young whale would naturally be a burden, but it was also the guarantee that the mother whale would give her all in battle without divided loyalties. Besides, the young whale might prove useful under certain circumstances, such as when they needed to slip into a narrow area.

Though worried about its mate, the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale did not hesitate to send a wave indicating compliance. It carefully rubbed its head against its unconscious mate, then swam resolutely to the cave entrance to await orders.

The mother whale immediately curled her body around the young whale and released a soul cry declaring that she was ready to depart at any moment.

"Move."

There was no needless rallying speech. Jingtian's enormous body slid out of the cave first and activated Guixu Assimilation once more. This time, however, he did not conceal himself completely. Instead, he released a gentle Spirit Energy field carrying a sense of guidance and protection, faintly enveloping the three Demon Whales behind him—the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale, the seventy-thousand-year mother whale, and the young whale. It would help them coordinate their speed to a certain extent, reduce water resistance, and conceal part of their auras.

Led by the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale, the group sped toward Abyss Stairs like a silent, swift ghost fleet in the deep sea.

This time, he was no longer alone.

Behind him were the Demon Whale fangs that had begun to take shape, filled with gratitude and reverence for him.

And their goal was to rescue the final fang, the strongest one so far, then fully consolidate this pieced-together, scarred yet potential-filled deep-sea force and grasp it in his hand.

The territory of the deep-sea hunting ground was quietly expanding with the movement of this small "whale pod."

And the nightmare of Sea God Island and the Demon Soul Great White Sharks might only just have begun.